This entry was posted on 1/5/2007 2:26 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
The first step in erecting an FTA antenna is
choosing a place to put it. If you're limited to your apartment
balcony, you just put it there and take what you can get there. But if
you've got a house with some land, then picking the spot with clear
angles to all the satellites you want to see can take some work. Especially if your lot is aligned at an angle, it can be difficult to work out the compass angle, and exactly what's in the way.
Enter Google Maps. Just find a satellite close-up of your house, like this one:
Zoom in on your house, and you'll get a perfectly north-south aligned image of what you've got to work with. You can even use the shadows to determine the height of any obstacles. Figure out what angles you'll need to the satellites you want, then find a dish site that's clear for all of them.
Note that the photo won't be exactly current, so you might have to consider trees that have grown or any new construction in the line of sight. But on a snowy winter day, you may prefer this way to find your antenna site from the comfort of your computer chair.
