II have recently purchased a satellite receiver (ASR WS201) and I am
having little success in getting it connected. I don't know if this is
the correct place to seek such help, but I'm giving it a try anyway.

I am located in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. According to the
satellite location map I should be pointing south and low. I'm having
no success in getting any signal at all and I would like to at least
decide whether it is my equipment (in which case is it the antenna or
the set) or is it a problem with the area I am in.

I have no experience with satellite stuff and I would be grateful for
any pointers about simple tests that could be carried out, or at least
where I could go for help. I have tried the home page for the AMI
website but there are problems with that also (www.amisb.co)

Thanks

John L

wrote in message
...
II have recently purchased a satellite receiver (ASR WS201) and I am
having little success in getting it connected. I don't know if this is
the correct place to seek such help, but I'm giving it a try anyway.

I am located in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. According to the
satellite location map I should be pointing south and low. I'm having
no success in getting any signal at all and I would like to at least
decide whether it is my equipment (in which case is it the antenna or
the set) or is it a problem with the area I am in.

I have no experience with satellite stuff and I would be grateful for
any pointers about simple tests that could be carried out, or at least
where I could go for help. I have tried the home page for the AMI
website but there are problems with that also (www.amisb.co)

Thanks

John L

Satellite dish aiming is very critical. You must know the precise position
of the desired satellite, and then calculate the required azimuth and
elevation for the dish. More than a degree or two off, and you will get
nothing. Try http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm There are many other sites,
just Google "satellite dish aiming".

Regards,

Frank

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 12:08:07 +0100, wrote:

I am located in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. According to the
satellite location map I should be pointing south and low. I'm having
no success in getting any signal at all and I would like to at least
decide whether it is my equipment (in which case is it the antenna or
the set) or is it a problem with the area I am in.

Hi John,

These things take a lot of patience and knowing where the satellite is
in the sky. "South and low" is not very distinctive, and there in the
UK you are not expected to aim at the horizon, but rather some 35-45
degrees above (which would be low, compared to directly overhead).

I have no experience with satellite stuff and I would be grateful for
any pointers about simple tests that could be carried out, or at least
where I could go for help. I have tried the home page for the AMI
website but there are problems with that also (www.amisb.co)
Perhaps because you are missing the full URL:
http://www.amisb.com/
rather, you need to go to:
http://www.worldspace.com/coveragema...ennaguide.html
an notice what they mean by low and South East instead (towards the
Sudan-Uganda-Congo).

If there is anything in the way, you won't get your signal.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

wrote in message
...
II have recently purchased a satellite receiver (ASR WS201) and I am
having little success in getting it connected. I don't know if this is
the correct place to seek such help, but I'm giving it a try anyway.

I am located in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. According to the
satellite location map I should be pointing south and low. I'm having
no success in getting any signal at all and I would like to at least
decide whether it is my equipment (in which case is it the antenna or
the set) or is it a problem with the area I am in.

I have no experience with satellite stuff and I would be grateful for
any pointers about simple tests that could be carried out, or at least
where I could go for help. I have tried the home page for the AMI
website but there are problems with that also (www.amisb.co)

Thanks

John L

Hi John L

I suppose you know that the satellite is above central Africa. That
means that the antenna needs to be able to have a clear view of that point
about 22,300 miles above the equator in Central Africa. The antenna with
that receiver is not extreemely directional. Set the antenna in the South
East angle in the Low position.

Did you Google on Worldspace?

Jerry

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

"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

Roger, ZR3RC wrote:
"These dishes also have very narrow beamwidth making their aiming very
precise."

You are right. Even an 18-invh dish needs a pretty good elevation angle
in the UK to get best reception in the KU band from a satellite parked
over the equator. I checked the Direct TV website. A geostationary
synchronous bird flys at more than 22 000 miles above the earth`s
surface. The horizontal distance is always a fraction of the altitude of
the satellite, so the elevation angle for line of sight is substantial
no matter what the azimuth. I am still puzzled as to why so many dishes
I saw in Scotland were aimed so low.

Direct TV gives instructions on how to align a dish in their service.
They send an initial elevation angle "tick-mark" setting to the
customer. It is then up to him to acquire the bird and optimize setting
the dish for best signal.

Direct TV has 3 satellites available to the customer, and though they
are several degrees apart along the equator, one azimuth setting of the
dish is expected to give satisfactory signals from all three.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

"Richard Harrison" wrote in message
...
Roger, ZR3RC wrote:
"These dishes also have very narrow beamwidth making their aiming very
precise."

You are right. Even an 18-invh dish needs a pretty good elevation angle
in the UK to get best reception in the KU band from a satellite parked
over the equator. I checked the Direct TV website. A geostationary
synchronous bird flys at more than 22 000 miles above the earth`s
surface. The horizontal distance is always a fraction of the altitude of
the satellite, so the elevation angle for line of sight is substantial
no matter what the azimuth. I am still puzzled as to why so many dishes
I saw in Scotland were aimed so low.

Direct TV gives instructions on how to align a dish in their service.
They send an initial elevation angle "tick-mark" setting to the
customer. It is then up to him to acquire the bird and optimize setting
the dish for best signal.

Direct TV has 3 satellites available to the customer, and though they
are several degrees apart along the equator, one azimuth setting of the
dish is expected to give satisfactory signals from all three.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

Richard

This a L band receiver. Their satelites for the ASR WS 201 pump out alot
of power with traveling wave tube amplifiers at about 1,400 MHz..
The OP may be on the far edge of the coverage "footprint" from the
satellite over Africa so his antenna positioning could be more critical that
locations closer to Central Africa.

Jerry

"Richard Harrison" wrote in message
...
Roger, ZR3RC wrote:
"These dishes also have very narrow beamwidth making their aiming very
precise."

You are right. Even an 18-invh dish needs a pretty good elevation angle
in the UK to get best reception in the KU band from a satellite parked
over the equator. I checked the Direct TV website. A geostationary
synchronous bird flys at more than 22 000 miles above the earth`s
surface. The horizontal distance is always a fraction of the altitude of
the satellite, so the elevation angle for line of sight is substantial
no matter what the azimuth. I am still puzzled as to why so many dishes
I saw in Scotland were aimed so low.



Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

Richard

I suspect that you have confused yourself about the distance and elevation
angle to satellites. I'm sure you can clear up the situation if you
consider the distance to the geostationary satellite 22,300 miles above the
equator when it is viewed from somewhere near the North or South Pole.

Jerry