Satellite Antenna Alignment v2.80

The program "Satellite Antenna Alignment" is used to calculate the angles necessary for installing satellite dishes. The main difference from similar software is the possibility to calculate the position for all satellites at once. Thus, you get a clear picture about what satellites can be physically visible from the location where the dish will be installed. It should be kept in mind that the program makes a purely theoretical calculation according to formulas and in real circumstances a lot of additional factors should be taken into account when a satellite dish is installed. These factors include various obstacles (buildings, trees), the landscape, the altitude, transponder orientation, polarization, etc. Nevertheless, this program will allow you to evaluate the position quite precisely. The calculation can be saved to a text file, copied to the Windows clipboard or printed out at once. It is possible to save the list of locations for which the calculation is done. Later on, you will not have to enter the coordinates of these locations again. Just select them from the table.



Additionally, the program has a mechanism for calculating the azimuth of the sun and you can do everything without a compass now! The azimuth is calculated for the location the coordinates of which you specified for calculating the azimuths of satellites. You can specify the date (the current date is taken by default) and calculate how the sun moves with a one minute discontinuity. The calculation results are displayed in the table to the left. Both the azimuth and the elevation are calculated for the sun for the current moment of time. Thus, you can install the satellite dish without a compass at all. First, find the azimuth of the satellite you need. Then calculate the azimuth of the sun for the day on which you are going to install the dish. Find the azimuth of the sun that is most close to the azimuth to the satellite and you will see the time (and date) when the sun will be in the same direction where the satellite is. Turn the dish to the sun at the specified moment of time, the azimuth of the sun coincides with the azimuth of the satellite at this moment. Or just note this direction and install the dish later. Remember to specify your time zone for calculation (Moscow: +3 GMT). The program also calculates the azimuths of the sunrise and sunset, as well as the time and elevation when the sun is exactly in the south.

The program draws a simple diagram representing the four directions. The yellow sector is daytime, its eastern part is sunrise and its western part is sunset. The same diagram can be used to schematically represent the direction to the satellite you need. Select the satellite from the drop-down list and the red line will show the direction to it (azimuth). If the elevation is negative, no red line is drawn (the satellite is not visible).

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