Re: Satellite Internet Reply #25 – September 18, 2005, 10:38:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58176"Does the [Direcway satellite] system work as well with the dish at the lower height?" Sure. Today I have it only about three feet off the ground--minimum tripod height--and it's working fine. It doesn't care, as long as it has a line of sight to the satellite. And I can tell you that it is MUCH easier to lift the dish into place this way than with the tripod at five or six feet height. Again--before you give up on the idea, find somebody who has one and will let you try setting it up.Andy BairdSeibert, Colorado
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #26 – September 18, 2005, 10:49:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58177"trees are generally more of a problem as your latitude increases (because the antenna shoots closer to the horizon as you move North in latitude)." Right. And of course there tend to be more trees in the north than in the southwest (the southeast is another story! ;-). "While we were at our baby daughter's summer home in UP Michigan we were surrounded by big trees and no one, tripod or roofmount, could get on the Internet." Paul, I wasn't there, so you can take the following statement with a grain of salt. But my experiences in very heavily wooded, old-growth (= TALL trees) northeastern campgrounds have convinced me that with the Align-A-Site device in hand, you can just about always find a hole in the trees that will get you an internet connection with a tripod-mount dish. You may have to walk around and check out several sites, but that only takes a few minutes. Without Align-A-Site, though, in such a situation you don't have a prayer. I can't overemphasize what a difference it makes--you have to use one to appreciate it.Andy Baird
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #27 – September 18, 2005, 11:33:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58180Right. And I've always got on the Internet in a campground. But our daughter's summer home on a lake in UP Michigan is not a campground. The datastorm found the Internet satellite thru the trees. That's why we were able to get DirectTV. But the Internet signal was too weak. Since I knew the direction of the Internet satellite, it appeared to me iffy if a fixed antenna on the roof of their house could even get them Internet in this remote UP Michigan location, let alone anything on the ground.best, paulQuotePaul, I wasn't there, so you can take the following statement with a grain of salt. But my Quoteexperiences in very heavily wooded, old-growth (= TALL trees) northeastern campgrounds Quotehave convinced me that with the Align-A-Site device in hand, you can just about always find Quotea hole in the trees that will get you an internet connection with a tripod-mount dish. You Quotemay have to walk around and check out several sites, but that only takes a few minutes.
Re: Follow the rules regarding satellite internet Reply #28 – September 19, 2005, 06:21:42 am Yahoo Message Number: 58183Bit Stringer wrote:Quote...let us think about a cell phone next to your ear... The microwave radiation from cell phones and push-to-talk radio antennas is dissipated in all directions. In contrast, the radiation transmitted by satellite communications equipment is concentrated in the direction of the satellite. (It's similar to the way a flashlight's reflector concentrates the light from the bulb.)So the potential exposure to someone standing in the path of the satellite transmission is greater. That's why the FCC rules require restrictions to public access near the satellite communications equipment.The FCC safety rules are the result of decades of studies by government and industry groups. It's important that people who use tripod-mounted satellite equipment understand and follow the rules.--oryoki
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Follow the rules regarding satel Reply #29 – September 19, 2005, 08:15:49 am Yahoo Message Number: 58184On Mon, 2005-09-19 at 10:21 +0000, oryoki2000 wrote:QuoteThe microwave radiation from cell phones and push-to-talk radio antennas is dissipated in all directions. In contrast, the radiation transmitted by satellite communications equipment is concentrated in the direction of the satellite. (It's similar to the way a flashlight's reflector concentrates the light from the bulb.) I agree with your description of the radiation patterns other than that the beam up to a satellite is not a pencil beam but one of several square feet. The radiated energy is spread over those several square feet. Roughly the same area of skin would be needed to collect it all. Any piece of that skin would collect a small portion of the total radiation. On the cell phone, how much of the "all directions" is blocked by your head? The part of your head closest to the antenna is collecting that portion of radiated energy with a considerably smaller area of skin. Proximity is the big factor here.QuoteSo the potential exposure to someone standing in the path of the satellite transmission is greater. I believe you're jumping to a conclusion here.QuoteThat's why the FCC rules require restrictions to public access near the satellite communications equipment.The FCC safety rules are the result of decades of studies by government and industry groups. These same folks are pooh poohing the dangers of cell phone use.QuoteIt's important that people who use tripod-mounted satellite equipment understand and follow the rules.--oryoki I am not suggesting that there are no dangers with satellite antennas, only that it is comparable to cell phone use. Informed or not, most people are willing to accept the cell phone usage risk.Alex '05 MB
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Follow the rules regarding satellite Reply #30 – September 19, 2005, 12:49:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58186Here's a thread on the subject:http://www.datastormusers.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/1/t/000807.html#000000>best, paul
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #31 – September 19, 2005, 01:02:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58188"The [MotoSAT]/DataStorm found the Internet satellite thru the trees."Right--they're very good at doing that."But the Internet signal was too weak." And that's exactly my point. The MotoSAT/Datasorm setup knows where to aim, so it can find a weak signal through a screen of trees. What it can't do--because it can't drive your rig--is move around the campsite until it finds a little two- or three-foot blue-sky hole in the canopy, through which a full-strength signal can be received. That's what you can easily do with an Align-A-Site...and then you can plunk down your tripod there (even if "there" is in a location where you can't park your rig) and get a good connection to the internet. Again, in my travels this summer in the northeast I've stayed in at least half a dozen places where the only possible way to get a good signal was through a little hole in the trees that would have been impossible to locate or exploit in any other way than with an Align-A- Site and a portable dish. Remember that post a couple of months ago in which I talked about walking around Ocean Wood Campground in Maine with the Align-A-Site in hand? In less than 45 minutes of strolling, I surveyed every electric site in the heavily wooded campground, and came up with a list of six or eight that I *knew* had a clear line of sight to the satellite I'm using (AMC-9). What's more, in every case the hole in the trees was very small, and only visible from a location on the campsite where it would have been impossible to park a motorhome. Let me emphasize again that I'm not putting down the MotoSAT automatic pointing system. If I had the money and the space on Gertie's roof, I'd be tempted to add one just for the convenience. But *it can only work from where you park.* It can't know--nor can you, unless you were to kneel on the roof with an Align-A-Site in hand while your spouse maneuvered the rig--that perhaps just a couple of feet to the south-southwest, the dish would be able to see a tiny circle of clear blue sky. Before I learned to use the Align-A-Site, I didn't really understand this. I think you have to see it in action to really "get it." Sometime at a get-together, ask somebody who has one to demonstrate.Andy BairdSeibert, Colorado
Re: Follow the rules regarding satellite internet Reply #32 – September 19, 2005, 01:13:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58189I agree with both sides here. The power from the DirecWay dish is low, it's spread over 3/4 of a square meter, so your head would intercept only a tiny fraction of the power, it's aimed upward at a roughly 45° angle so that a person would have to be standing extremely close to the antenna--just about with their nose touching the LNB assembly--to even be in the beam when the tripod is as low as mine is right now (bottom of dish 44" off the ground instead of the mandated 60")...and they'd have to stand there a good long time to be get even a minimal exposure. Nevertheless, Oryoki is right to point out that the FCC regs were made to *ensure* safety, and I've always believed in playing it safe.Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #33 – September 19, 2005, 01:25:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58190I have read the information on the Align-A-Site website, and there is one thing that puzzles me. The Align-A-Site appears to use an ordinary compass for setting the Azimuth. How does the compass compensate for magnetic variation/declination and deviation? Or does the Azimuth shown in the dish pointing information take variation/declination into account when you feed in your zip code? Of course it can't do anything about magnetic deviation, but that's pretty small normally compared to variation/declination, which can be as much as 30-degrees or more.Dick
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #34 – September 19, 2005, 02:36:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58192I've done enuf surveying in a former life that I understand your point and agree with it. My point is that the site topography and dense tall trees at my daughter's summer home in UP Michigan would defeat an Align-A-Site unless I put the tripod across the lake Campgrounds are another matter. I've always been able to get on at campgrounds, even in dense trees at Grand Canyon National Park. Had I a tripod mount I would not have had to move my RV to do so in the 10% of the cases where this was necessary. Had I had the larger 0.98 or 1.3 meter antennas I might have even been able to get on the Internet at my daughter's home in the UP.Tripods used to be looked down on at Datastormusers.com until Dustyfoot point out that he had customers who HAD to have a Datastorm automagic AND a tripod manual antenna. For example, oil well logging trucks that cannot move to get a signal on their Datastorm when blocked by trees and then used their tripod mount.To each their own. If your needs or style of camping means a tripod mount is your best choice go for it! Don't let anyone tell you it's not legal, especially if they're trying to sell you a Datastorm...best, paulPS> BTW, Don Bradner, the owner of DatastormUsers.com , developed a number of utilities, including a pointing utility. Once you're at a site it tells you the satellite direction relative to the direction your RV is pointing. I'm quite sure it's not as flexible or accurate as an Align-A-Site but its been very helpful to me from time to time.QuoteBefore I learned to use the Align-A-Site, I didn't really understand this. I think you have to Quotesee it in action to really "get it." Sometime at a get-together, ask somebody who has one
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #35 – September 20, 2005, 01:18:25 am Yahoo Message Number: 58207"The Align-A-Site appears to use an ordinary compass for setting the Azimuth. How does the compass compensate for magnetic variation/declination and deviation? Or does the Azimuth shown in the dish pointing information take variation/declination into account when you feed in your zip code?" You hit the nail on the head: the lookup tables in the DirecWay receiver give you a magnetic (i.e., compensated for local deviations) heading when you tell it your ZIP code.Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #36 – September 21, 2005, 03:46:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58244Jonna wrote: (snip) . . . Personally, if I traveled alone and moved frequently I would consider shelling out the big bucks for an automatic motosat unit. . . . Hey Jonna, I'd always had in my mind that these things cost $5-6,000. But when I 'Googled' Motosat, I ran across this site and it talks about costing asking if you or any of you other satellite internet people have heard about it coming down in price this much.OR, have they left out $3,000 worth of important pieces?Sarah Lusting over the idea of having a Motosat - parked in Englewood, CO
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #37 – September 21, 2005, 04:30:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58246"when I 'Googled' Motosat, I ran across this site and it talks about costing What's the URL, Sarah?Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #38 – September 22, 2005, 11:01:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58287Well dang, I guess that would help. Here it is - it was just one of those shot-in-the-dark google hits. http:// satellite.superservicecenter.com/Products/79.php or http:// tinyurl.com/ajuz9 I'm sure some very important thingy is missing, or my brain's fried.Let me know what you think - Sarah
Satellite Internet Reply #39 – September 17, 2005, 12:50:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58082Quote I guess I am more worried about the physical aspects - how heavy the components are, and how difficult it is to lift and work with them. Jackie, not to worry. Although Earl puts the satellite together, I've disassembled it, and I can easily handle all the various parts.Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TK Honey Bear Campground Ophir, ORSee where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #40 – September 17, 2005, 12:50:46 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58083QuoteIf you choose a tripod-mounted DirecWay system as many of us have, you can set it up yourself, but I'll tell you that putting the dish on top of the tripod is a chore--it is bulky and fairly heavy, a very awkward thing to lift and position on top of a small mounting post while standing on a stepladder. Andy, I don't know anything about your mounting system (or maybe you have a larger dish than we do) but I can easily lift the dish on top of the tripod all by myself...and no stepladder needed.Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TK Honey Bear Campground Ophir, ORSee where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: Satellite Internet Reply #41 – September 17, 2005, 10:13:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58125"I can easily lift the dish on top of the tripod all by myself."Remind me not to ever try to arm-wrestle you, Linda! ;-)Andy Baird
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #42 – September 18, 2005, 12:12:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58144Quote I guess I am more worried about the physical aspects - how heavy the components are, and how difficult it is to lift and work with them.Jackie, not to worry. Although Earl puts the satellite together, I've Quotedisassembled it, and I can easily handle all the various parts.Linda Hylton Thanks, Linda. Everyone in the group has really given me a lot to think about.Jackie
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #43 – September 21, 2005, 04:47:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58248QuoteI'd always had in my mind that these things cost $5-6,000. But when I 'Googled' Motosat, I ran across this site and it talks about costing Sarah, are you sure they were talking about the roof-mounted automatic system (Datastorm) rather than the tripod-mounted system? If they were talking about the Datastorm, for that price, I might consider adding it to our LD!Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TK Timer Valley SKP Park Sutherlin, OR See where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #44 – September 22, 2005, 11:04:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58288Oh heck Linda - I think that the thing I was looking at was probably just for satellite TV, not internet. I went back and looked at the page - duh!!!
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #45 – September 23, 2005, 11:54:42 am Yahoo Message Number: 58296"the thing I was looking at was probably just for satellite TV" Yup, and it's not even a complete system--just an antenna. The confusing part is that it's labeled "MotoSAT," which is a designation I though only applied to satellite internet systems. Either I was wrong (won't be the first time! ;-) or the seller's description is incorrect. In any case, your mistake was a natural one, Sarah.Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #46 – September 23, 2005, 12:35:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58301In a message dated 9/23/2005 8:55:08 AM US Mountain Standard Time, writes: The confusing part is that it's labeled "MotoSAT," which is a designation I though only applied to satellite internet systems. MotoSAT is a brand name (or perhaps the name of the company), and isn't necessarily synonymous with satellite Internet (Datastorm), although a lot of us think of it in that way. However, I've seen any number of satellite TV dishes on top of rigs with the MotoSAT name on them.Linda Hylton 2004 Red 23.5' TK Timer Valley SKP Park Sutherlin, OR See where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite Internet Reply #47 – September 23, 2005, 04:48:09 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58321Yup. Motosat makes satellite TV gadgets, too. For example, see:http://www.motosat.com/products/tv_t2/index.html>best, paulQuoteYup, and it's not even a complete system--just an antenna. The confusing part is that it's Quotelabeled "MotoSAT," which is a designation I though only applied to satellite internet systems.
Topic: Satellite Internet (Read 6 times)
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Topic: Satellite Internet (Read 6 times)
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