Finding south using the sun?

Mijas

I've just discovered my compass measurements are all out since I was just leaving it on the floor of the roof terrace and its readings must be distorted by the metal/iron in the concrete becuase when I hold it in my hand I get very different readings and as I lower towards the ground the readings all change?

My question is is I use the sun bearing in mind I am in Southern Spain

do I take the position at 12 GMT to be south?

12GMT = 2:00pm local time correct?

approx mid-way between east and south is where my Sat for Astra 2D should be pointing as setup data for my location says True 132.7/Magn 134.7

As always any helpful comment always appreciated!

Huevos

No it's not correct. The sun crosses the zero meridian at 12 GMT. Malaga is nowhere near the zero meridian. Also because the earth is not in a circular orbit around the sun the precise time the meridian is crossed deviates up to half an hour over the year.

Forget this idea of using the sun. People install satellite systems in Britain every day and the sun never shines there. A fixed dish is pretty simple to set up. Just set the correct elevation and LNB skew for your location and then just swing the dish around the pole to nail the correct satellite. If you want to get a rough idea where to point use _dishpointer.com

rolfw

LOL, it isn't quite as bad as that.

Rolf If you enjoy our site, you can help support it by wearing our unique branded merchandise, you can do this by clicking on my baseball cap, making a direct donation with Paypal by clicking on the Donation button below, or using our site supporting advertisers, to do this, click on the central image below. Follow us on Twitter, click on the twitter image.