where to point it ?

[lizzyhermit]

the satelite dish that is. for you travelers with satellite TV's, how do you know the alignment settings for your antenae ? I found an online page that gives azimuth/elevation by zip code but some places, believe it or not, don't aford computer connections.

 

[B.G. Smith]

On mine (Dish Network) you hook up the receiver and turn on the TV and hit menu on the Dish controller, then 6-1-1, then scroll to peak angles, enter the zip where you are located and the settings will appear on screen. The signal strength will also appear at the bottom of the screen if you can position the TV to where you can see it while pointing the dish. The easiest way is to but the little meter that hooks into the cable at the dish and shows signal strength, saves lots of time and trouble. It's about $40. 00 bg

 

[klenger]

My DirecTV receivers have an antenna alignment page that shows the azimuth and elevation by zip code or lat/long. The data base is stored in the receiver, so you don't need to connect to anything to see it.



Also, if you have the azimuth and elevation settings for any given location (lat/ling), it's pretty simple math to calculate the numbers for a different location within a a few hundred miles. Basically, you need to add or subtract the lat/long differences from the elevation and azmuth numers respectivley. In other words, if you travel 1 degree north in latitude, you need to drop the elevation of the antenna by 1 degree. East/West correction depends on which side of the satellite you are on.

 

[Casey Balvert]

Download the small program from this site. Provide the lat and long of your location and it will give you all the info you need to point your dish. I keep it on my lap top.



http://www.smw.se/smwlink/smwlink.htm