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Satellite dish pointing calculator for Tooway Ka band system on KA-SAT.



Instructions for people in Europe pointing Ka band antennas at Tooway satellite service on KA-SAT satellite at 9 deg east orbit position.

In the upper, dynamic map, put your mouse cursor to your location and then double click or simply drag the map. Alternatively input your town name, and country if necessary.

The map image will move so that the chosen point is in the centre. The latitude and longitude of the dot at the centre of the map is then displayed below the map, together with your satellite dish pointing angles: azimuth, elevation and polarisation or skew angle. To improve accuracy, click on the plus sign at the top left side of the map.  The scale changes so that you can home in accurately on your location.  Repeat several times.  Select Map or Satellite view options and see the satellite photo image of the ground or even a view of your own house as seen from space !   Alternatively input your town name, and country if necessary.

Note: The service is only sold to end users via independent reseller companies. Contact your reseller if you have problems. Do not call Skylogic.

Tooway spot beam coverage
KA-SAT spot beam coverages
These beams cover all Europe and beyond. Ideal for the "NOT SPOTS" !

Dish pointing

1. In the case of KA-SAT, the polarisation is circular, so rotational adjustment amount of the feed system is not required. This represents a major simplification for installation, compared with linear polarisation as used in Ku band. There are two different circular polarisations, right hand circular polarisation (RHCP) and left hand circular polarisation (LHCP).  Some information suggests that KA-SAT beams type and are RHCP and beams types and are LHCP.  Different beams use different polarisations and the most recent outdoor TRIAs (model RT4000N-010 or later version) have an electro-magnetic polarization switch that is designed to operate at least 500 times, so you don't need to change the polarisation manually.

2. Set the beam elevation angle (up/down) using the up/down scale on the bracket behind the dish.  You may find that it helps to initially set the elevation a couple of  degrees higher than calculated to allow for sagging of the dish until everything is tight.

3. For the azimuth angle (sideways) use a magnetic compass or the blue line relative to your house wall, roof edge or garden wall or some local landmark to find the approximate bearing and then swing the dish boldly sideways to find the satellite on the first swing.  Then spend half an hour peaking up. Peaking up to the exact centre is really important since the 30 GHz transmit beam is narrower than the 20 GHz receive beam.

Peaking up is really important for long term service quality and minimum outage time during rain fades.

All beams are assumed to be circular and shown as 0.5 degrees in diameter, as viewed from the satellite, approximately corresponding to the -4.5dB contour at 30 GHz.. The beam shapes and exact beam centre positions are only approximate. There is sufficient overlap so that there are no gaps in most places in Europe. Please advise me of any errors or more accurate information if you know more. Seven beams (77 - 83) are somewhat larger diameter, approx 0.8 deg diameter.  I'm not sure why, maybe the beam contour assumes larger earth station antenna diameter.

If you put your mouse cursor on the beam type (1 to 4) a message will appear telling you the Tooway beam number and the associated terrestrial Gateway (GW1 to GW8).

News Dec 2012: No more new customers are being added to the Iraq spot.

Safety Warning:  The results of this page may be in error,  The beam centres and beam shapes and sizes are approximate. The latitude and longitude are not intended for the blind navigation of aircraft, ship or other vehicle purposes. Dish pointing angles may be wrong.  Magnetic azimuth bearings are approximate.  Use is entirely at your own risk.  Apply common sense and don't believe every number that comes out of a computer system.  Take care with Tooway satellite dish install and pointing not to injure others by dropping tools or hurting yourself by falling down.

This page is on the satsig.net web site and is strictly Copyright Satellite Signals Limited (c) 2009 All rights reserved.
Please report any copyright infringements to eric@satsig.net ,
also feedback on technical errors or problems with this page. Many thanks.

Page started 28 Sept 2009, amended 13 Sept 2011 with spot beam numbers, gateways, amended 28 Sept beam 15 moved a few miles south east.
Amended 18 Dec 2012, V3+key, 13 Jan 2013. Lat amended 11 April 2013. Name of the Cyprus gateway teleport (GW1) corrected to "Hellas Sat Teleport, Cyprus"
Amended 1 August 2015 to work better on mobile small screen devices. Amended 10 June 2021.