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

 

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

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.  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.

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.  It is not clear if this applies to the uplink or/ downlink or to the feed system or the composite antenna, since the single optics reflector reverses circular polarisation from the feed itself.  If different beams use different polarisations it may be necessary to reassemble the feed horn polariser to the TRIA in alternative positions, at 90 deg to one another, +/- 45 deg either way from the linear polarisation. The 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.