SatSig topic:

Directions for Astra & Hotbird

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May 15^th, 2006 at 12:47pm

Hi, I am new to this forum/from Northern Ireland in the UK and am not very tech minded. I wish to know if anyone can help me by showing me what direction to point my 80cm dish with Monoblock. Is the direction the same as a Sky Dish or more to the left or right. I know there are different settings for tilt etc which I will be able to manage but I am stuck with the 13degrees East bit. Please help.

May 15^th, 2006 at 1:34pm

First you need to work out where you are in terms of latitude and longitude. Go to https://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm

Then write down your location in decimal degrees and also in degrees and minutes.

Then go to https://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm Input your location and +13 deg orbit longitude for Hotbird. Calculate and write down your elevation, azimuth and polarisation angles. Adjust the polarisation by +3.5 deg.

For Astra use +19.2 longitude and adjust the polarisation by +7 deg.

Alternatively use https://www.satsig.net/sf.htm You will need your location in degrees and minutes.

Best regards, Eric.

+/- signs amended 16th May

May 20^th, 2006 at 7:21pm

thanks for the link to the website to calculate orientation - I had just about given up with the cheapy camping set I bought from Lidls on Thursday until I tried this - although I have had to stick the dish at the far end of the garden (is a pole a good idea?) we are currently watching the Eurovision coverage in Spanish on TVE (Astra?) - bit of a fluke really - got the general direction from the calculation on-line, fiddled about with the compass and hit the "high tone" on the reciever (Silvercrest sl65) - might try to find Hotbird when we get fed up with german and spanish!!!

Jun 30^th, 2006 at 12:00am

Hi Eric, Im very new to set up a satellite TV antenna. From lat-long-finder I got my position:

latitude= 65.6213,Longitude=22.1497
Lat = 65 deg, 37.3 min North
Long = 22 deg, 9.0 min East

If I want to recieve 0.8 W Thor 3 , the page suggest me these :

Dish elevation = 36.4, Azimuth = 183.5, Polarisation = 0.8

Well, when I use sf.htm I get the Dish Elevation 13.97, Azimuth 204.93, polarisation 10.02

Im confused, Please help me. Can you please explain me about elevation, azimuth and polarisation?

Thank you for being with a helpfull site like this.

Moshiur.

Jun 30^th, 2006 at 4:34am

When entering a west longitude (or south latitude) into the SatSig calculator, the number must be preceded with the minus (-) sign. For north and east, the plus (+) sign is assumed. I entered -0.8 sat location and the lat/lon you provided - and got elevation ~14 degrees, azimuth ~205 degrees, and tilt ~10 degrees.

-Elevation represents the angle at which the dish is pointed above the horizon. Think of the horizon as zero, and zenith as straight up. 0 to 90. Your dish will be angled at an elevation somewhere in between. Read your installation manual, some dishes have a minimum elevation angle, and 14 degrees is rather low.
-Azimuth represents the angle of the direction that your dish will deviate from north. When using a compass, you use the number that represents magnetic azimuth. In your case 215 degrees would be the same as 35 degrees west of south.
-Tilt (or skew) represents the angle that the dish is rotated on it's horizontal axis. Think steering wheel. In the case of linearly polarized ROTV, this angle is important in getting all the "channels" of opposing polarization.

Hope that helps

//greg//

Jul 4^th, 2006 at 10:19pm

I've removed an error in the software for page
https://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm

For latitudes in excess of 60 deg north or south the dish pointing output figures 'froze' and stopped varying according to location. The magnetic azimuth bearing is not accurate in the polar regions and once you go that far the display now changes to say the true bearing, and the dish pointing outputs keep on varying with location - I hope.

Sorry to those people affected.

Best regards, Eric.

Jul 5^th, 2006 at 1:06am

Thank you Eric and Greg.
I think the lat-long-finder is working good now.