[amsat-bb] Re: Sat antenna fixed elevation -- how many degrees is the best?

[Rick Mann]

On Feb 19, 2008, at 9:52 AM, Bill Dzurilla wrote:

> I've seen people with fixed elevations of 25, 30, 35
> degrees, any consensus on which is the best?  And how
> well, if at all, does an antenna with a fixed
> elevation of 30 degrees or so perform when the sat is
> higher than 60 degrees?


I had a contact a couple weeks ago with ISS. I used an Arrow II 2m  
antenna mounted on a tripod, and my friend handled the pointing. While  
I understand this wasn't strictly necessary, it was part of the fun.

Later we discovered that the compass we used as a reference was  
magentically reversed, and we were pointing in completely the opposite  
direction from ISS. We were always able to hear ISS, but there were  
times when ISS couldn't hear us. In the end, we probably shouldn't  
have bothered.

For more distant satellites, it probably makes more difference.

At least, now we finally know which way North is, generally, at our  
location.

-- 
Rick