Setting satellite elevation angle help. (1 Viewer)

doeflax

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Aug 12, 2014
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ok, this may sound like a stupid question, but I have read many posts regarding how to best obtain the dish angle when chasing your satellite of choice. Many applaud the use of an inclinometer, or even a smart phone app to help set the dish elevation angle. My question is, can I place a straight-edge across the face of my dish, then sit my smartphone complete with a spirit level app on top, that reads the angle of my sat dish, and set the angle from this ? If I know the elevation of the area I am at, would this not be an easy way of obtaining the correct elevation angle before tackling the azimuth ??
 
Apr 22, 2013
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When I fitted the dish on my house, the dish came with the data that when the dish was facing horizontal it was actually focused to a elevation of 23 degrees. So I think you may need information about the dish itself.
To get the required elevation at any location you can use http://www.dishpointer.com/ you need to set your location and which satellite you are interested in.
 

bobandjanie

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Hi, the dish elevation angle will change depending where you are, so just get a meter / sat finder and that will give you the strongest signal.:)
We use an app if no other dishes are around, but they are only a guide as is a compass. (y) Bob.

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Aug 6, 2013
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It's hard to find the satellite unless you start with (near enough) the correct elevation. I marked the elevation on my dish as South, Midlands, & North so I could set it in advance of searching for the satellite. I did this when the dish was already set up and working as I travelled around the UK & once done it made setting up very easy - aim the dish South then slowly turn it left (East) until the meter on the TV screen 'kicked'. Then move it slowly back for max strength & quality. I could see the TV screen through the van window & setting up took seconds - certainly a lot less time than the auto dome thingy I acquired with my current van takes.
 
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doeflax

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ok, thanx for the rapid response guys. You can guess, this will be my 1st attempt to set up my mobile sat dish on its tripod. Yes, I understand that the elevation etc will change dependant on location, but was really interested as to what denotes zero degrees on my sat dish for calibration purposes. My dish doesn't face exactly 90 deg from the tripod pole, it's slightly elevated in the rest position. Now do I subtract the angle of the dish from the desired elevation, and if a straight edge was placed across the face of my dish will this be useful to determine the dish angle ?
 

OldAgeTravellers

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.......... if a straight edge was placed across the face of my dish will this be useful to determine the dish angle ?
Hi doeflax you are probably sorted now but what you propose is only any use if as "someoneelse" suggested you have the offset angle of the disk. (which rarely come with them"
I have just been setting up a large 1.1mtr dish at my house in the South of France for the new tighter Astra F beam.
I found the easiest way was to find the direction for the Astra 28.2E for your Lat:Long from the dish pointer site then lay a broomstick or similar on the ground and set the angle with a compass, it needs to be away from the dish because the metal dish affects the compass. Then looking across the top of the dish align the arm exactly with the broom stick. Then just raise and lower the inclination while watching the strength meter onscreen to get maximum signal and quality.
Then just rotate the dish horizontally a little to check that the direction is perfect.
Now mark the angle on your dish clamp then it is easy to just look up the settings in future for your longitude and set the appropriate elevation then you only have to sweep for direction. Then don't forget to adjust the skew angle of the LNB.
Do it at home first where you will not have an audience like you would on-site.
It is then worth making a simple inclinometer calibrated for your dish so it is easy to get elevation from dishpointer then just rotate slowly for direction.
Hope you get it sorted, once you are familiar with the system it is very easy. I actually found the phone apps useless as there was always an effect from the large metal dish.
Steve

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pappajohn

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If you use an eliptical dish then once the dish is at 28.8° then it needs setting almost vertical.
From that position the elevation movement is miniscule....no more than 1".... and is very easy to find astra 2.
Usually takes me less than 2 minutes to find and lock using a tripod.

So....set horizontal angle first then vertical by adjustment until you get a signal.
Doesnt need to be a good signal as fine tuning will sort that out.
 

schojac

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Might not work for you but - I have a camos + dish and my procedure is as follows.

9 rotations to lift the dish and then, using the TV signal meter, rotate until signal is found. Minor adjustment to improve signal. I have used this exact procedure for over two years with no problems except the odd tree; I tend to be little more observant now. The number of rotations changes with location for example France where I managed to obtain a signal in the Pyrenees.
 

cbrookson

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If you have Android mobile or tablet then this works well - there are Apple IOS equivalents .............

Cheers

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Nov 12, 2010
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ok, thanx for the rapid response guys. You can guess, this will be my 1st attempt to set up my mobile sat dish on its tripod. Yes, I understand that the elevation etc will change dependant on location, but was really interested as to what denotes zero degrees on my sat dish for calibration purposes. My dish doesn't face exactly 90 deg from the tripod pole, it's slightly elevated in the rest position. Now do I subtract the angle of the dish from the desired elevation, and if a straight edge was placed across the face of my dish will this be useful to determine the dish angle ?
If its a tripod intended for a sat dish, like Maxview, it probably has angle markings on the side of the mounting and I've always found they put me in near enough the right place for the satellite; this has worked for me from the UK down to the south of Spain and for many different satellites including Astras 1 & 2, and several Eutelsat birds.
Good luck
 

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