ELEKTOR FORUMS

In his March 2011 article, Klaus Hirschelmann has described his solution to determining the pointing angles for a satellite dish based upon the GPS position of the dish and the satellite's position above the equator. Armed with the resultant azimuth and elevation angles he suggests that you simply point your dish and your television signal should be found.

However there has been no mention made of the effects of magnetic declination at the dish's position and the need to adjust the calculated angles for this real world effect upon your compass when pointing the dish. Here in Australia the declination angle can be as much as -3 degrees in the far west and +15 degrees in the far east of our "wide brown land". A traveller relying upon the Satfinder and his magnetic compass alone might have to be content to watch the birds in the trees instead of television. Clearly there is scope for a project improvement that would apply the declination corrections to the calculated angles.

Cheers,

Ross McKenzie
Melbourne Australia