Need a sunny day next week

[Captain Jack]

So next week the sun will be right behind the Clarke Belt, so for those considering new locations for their dishes, it's the perfect time to check for line of sight issues.

I use this site to check when a particular satellite will be affected by the sun's interference as a result of it being behind one. The whole thing will last from around 26th February to 3rd March. So, if you lose signal during the day for 10 minutes - you'll know why.

 

[Archived-1]

At what angle does the signal hit the dish CJ, will it depend on what bird your looking at I guess ?,

I would imagine a laser pen used at night fastened to a certain part of the dish would do the job at any time of the year to see if your line is clear to a certain point ?.

 

[Captain Jack]

The laser method would work too - never thought of that but again you need to calculate the angle and it's just easier to use the sun.

This picture here is of the sun behind 46E early in the morning in Oct last year. I can clearly see where the signal is hitting (sun light) and where it isn't (shade).

 

[Archived-1]

But surely you would have to do this at an exact time of the day for the bird your looking at, the sun could be lower/higher than 46E ?

 

[Captain Jack]

Yep, you have about a 10 minute window for each satellite each day.

 

[Archived-1]

Thanks CJ, a quick google and 46E will hit my dish at a angle 15.5° at my location if I am reading things correct, what part of the dish does the signal hit please. if nothing is in the way will it hit all of the dish ?

 

[Captain Jack]

Well, yes 15.5 degrees is how high the satellite is above horizon, rather than the angle it hits the dish at. There's probably a formula to calculate various angles but I suspect to do what you propose is probably a bit trickier with an offset dish than a PF one.

With a PF one, you could just attach a small camera to the centre of the dish and see what the obstructions are at various locations. I believe @Vipersan did something like that.

 

[Archived-1]

Thanks CJ, its become quite clear to me now, your elivation is the angle the sat comes in at for each bird, easy to work out now .

 

[Captain Jack]

Found VS's thread... http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/disaster.145302/page-25#post-753096

 

[Archived-1]

Ive been out and bought a laser pen, I will cut some wood tomorrow at precise angles for my needs and do some tests.

 

[Lazarus]

Don't dazzle any Pilots, will you, Martin

 

[Archived-1]

Don't dazzle any Pilots, will you, Martin

knowing my luck tivu I probably will I live on a flight path, I will check here before I do any tests and make sure the coast is clear .
http://planefinder.net/

 

[Captain Jack]

Nice site!!!

 

[Captain Jack]

Did a little time lapse video on my phone. You can see my problem here with the eastern satellites. 46E starts at about 8:50 with very little sunlight/signal falling on the dish. The dish only becomes fully illuminated at about 11:40 when it's around 5E. Video finishes at 15:31, which is just past 45W.

This is the worst case scenario though... the sun is still tracking just below the Clarke Belt. It will be closest to the arc on Sunday/Monday, so will be good to check it then...

 

[Channel Hopper]

Snow this weekend ( apparently). Does that help ?

 

[Archived-1]

Just looking at this. and if I am looking at it correct 60E ish should be having problems around this time CJ ?

 

[Captain Jack]

Around that, yes. Been taking time lapse videos over the past few days, so it's giving me a good idea of dish illumination at various points. Today is a sunny day, so will be more accurate than before as the sun approaches the arc... I think peak will be tomorrow and Monday.

 

[Archived-1]

The sun just stated to hit my 1.2 dish at 7.57 what position would the sun be then please CJ? (S12 4LA).

 

[Archived-1]

The sun was a little late appearing today in my location, but at around 9.10am this is what I had, I've yet to do any laser pen test as I need to get my accurate saw out to mitre some angles, but it looks like the new dish will be going around 3ft in front of where the 1.2 is now at 1ft to the right,

The laser pen test will confirm this.