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Old August 30th 05, 03:43 PM
Roger Conroy
 
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"Richard Harrison" wrote in message
...
John L. wrote:
"I am in East Anglia in the United Kingdom."

I was in Scotland a few weeks ago. I noticed many satellite dishes and
was surprised at how low the elevation angles were. Most were nearly set
horizontally. Some had dish feeds which were actually depressed below
the horizontal. I concluded that their vertical beamwidts were deep
enough to work anyway. I assumed that the users actually were getting a
picture. I suspect that in Edinburg, you can start by setting the
vertical angle with a carpenter`s level. It works that way with most
terrestrial microwaves. In East Anglia, I suppose you are farther south
and need some vertical elevation angle on your dish, but not much.

You can get your bearings with a fix on the north star, some accurate
maps, and information on where the bird is parked in orbit.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI


Your reference to "getting a picture" implies that you are refering to
satellite television. Many of the dishes have off centre feeds set below the
apparent axis of the parabola. that means the incoming signal is at the
oppsite angle above.
Those dishes also have very narrow beamwidth making aiming VERY
precise.

The original poster is asking about an antenna for the Worldspace satellite
radio service. The antennas used for that application have very much wider
beamwidth.
In addition it's a different satellite in a different location.

Hope this clears the matter up a bit.

73
Roger ZR3RC