TELEsatelit - TELE-satellite International Magazine
TELEsatelit - TELE-satellite International Magazine
TELEsatelit - TELE-satellite International Magazine
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FEATURE<br />
Satellite Installation<br />
iPhone, iPad and iPod Apps<br />
for Antenna Alignment, or:<br />
How your smartphone turns<br />
into a great tool<br />
for DXers and<br />
installers<br />
Thomas Haring<br />
Smartphones are currently turning our mobile<br />
world upside down and have conquered large<br />
segments of the consumer market. They<br />
allow us to not only stay in touch through<br />
conventional phone calls but also to check our<br />
mail, hook up to the Internet, stay up to date<br />
on social networking platforms like Twitter<br />
and Facebook, listen to music, shoot photos<br />
and help us with all sorts of everyday tasks.<br />
Yet, smartphones can also be used in the<br />
professional realm – to help with the installation<br />
of <strong>satellite</strong> antennas, for example.<br />
If we look at all the shiny smartphones<br />
on offer these days there is one particular<br />
kind that seems to ride a gigantic<br />
wave of success: Of course we’re talking<br />
about the Apple iPhone which – in combination<br />
with the iTunes store – offers<br />
a wealth of additional applications (socalled<br />
apps) to pimp it up.<br />
<strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong> has looked at a range of<br />
apps that might be handy with regard to<br />
<strong>satellite</strong> reception.<br />
DishPointer Compass<br />
and DishPointer Maps<br />
Some issues ago we introduced apps<br />
from DishPointer (<strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong> issues<br />
02-03/2008 and 12-01/2010) and obviously<br />
they are featured in this overview<br />
as well.<br />
Both apps specifically deal with <strong>satellite</strong><br />
antenna installation and alignment and<br />
they start out with determining the current<br />
location with the help of the iPhone’s<br />
buit-in GPS receiver.<br />
Next, you enter the <strong>satellite</strong> position<br />
you’d like to receive and the app then<br />
calculates azimuth, elevation and skew<br />
parameters. In theory, these values are<br />
all you ever need to correctly set up your<br />
dish, and most antennas feature a small<br />
scale to help you find the correct position.<br />
But if you don’t have a compass at our<br />
disposal there’s one answer you still need<br />
to find, even though the azimuth angle is<br />
known: In which horizontal direction do<br />
you need to move the antenna?<br />
The DishPointer Maps app provides the<br />
answer by looking up data from Google<br />
Maps. On the phone’s display you see<br />
your location and its surroundings in map<br />
view, <strong>satellite</strong> view or hybrid view combining<br />
both, with an arrow clearly indicating<br />
which way your <strong>satellite</strong> antenna should<br />
120 <strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong> — Global Digital TV <strong>Magazine</strong> — 12-01/2011 — www.<strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong>.com<br />
■<br />
DishPointer Compass superimposes the Clarke Belt on<br />
the camera to create augmented reality<br />
point. Comparing certain striking points<br />
on Google Maps with their real-world<br />
counterparts quickly lets you achieve a<br />
rough alignment of your antenna.<br />
Another aspect that needs to be<br />
addressed – preferably BEFORE starting<br />
with the actual installation job – is evaluating<br />
the local environment. DishPointer<br />
Compass comes into play now as it finds<br />
out whether or not a desired <strong>satellite</strong> position<br />
can be received at the actual location<br />
and which reception range a motorised<br />
antenna is able to cover. Perhaps there<br />
are trees, buildings or other obstructions<br />
in the way of perfect reception?<br />
After all, it’s of no use to do all the<br />
tricky work and mount an antenna only to<br />
find out afterwards that the signals you’re<br />
looking for don’t reach the LNB.<br />
With DishPointer Compass it’s easy to<br />
avoid such disappointment. It let’s you<br />
know which <strong>satellite</strong>s can be received at