On Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:39:03 -0500, John S
wrote:
Easier than what I suggested? Actually, all he has to do is step outside
at 12:54 and look at the Sun's location. (I admit it is more accurate to
do this in the winter.)
Well, your method only works at exactly 12:54PM, requires remembering
daylight savings time, requires dark glasses to avoid blindness, works
badly in fog, need to get it right the first time, and offers no way
to document the results. At 12:54PM, the sun is almost directly over
head with no point of reference, as you would have at the horizon.
Manually translating the sun's overhead direction, to azimuth at the
horizon, requires considerable guesswork. A plumb line might helpful.
Incidentally, trees are a very real problem with antenna sighting:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/DBS/index.html
That's my view of the DirecTV bird at 101 degrees. The photos were
taken during the bi-annual solar outage, where the sun gets behind the
satellite belt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_outage
Note the branch shadows on the dish, which are blocking the signal.
[1] Yes, the earth really is flat.
[2] When I didn't have a printed map handy, I've used my laptop LCD
screen and 3ea flat head screws.
I am afraid I cannot tell whether items [1] and [2] are just screwing
with me or that you are sincere.
As far as this measurement is concerned, the earth is essentially flat
over fairly small areas. No spherical geometry required. Even the
United Nations has adopted the flat earth map for its flag.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg
Antarctica is a collection of icicles around the outer edge.
The 2nd item is for real. I was on top of a mountain, trying to aim a
dish without a map. I had Street Atlas USA v5 on my then ancient
Toshiblah 100CS laptop, which I used for my initial bearing. Other
than having a difficult time holding the laptop, problems viewing the
screen in the sunlight, and too short a base line, it worked.
By the way, Jeff, you have a great deal to offer the group by way of
your vast experience. If I have been disrespectful of that, then I
apologize.
Thanks and not a problem. You have a long way to go before such
comments become a problem.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558