Satellite internet access August 18, 2005, 10:58:47 pm Yahoo Message Number: 56999So far I've done it four times. The first three times it took me several hours to Quoteget aimed properly. This time I did it in under two hours...but I suspect it was sheer luck that I hit the satellite so quickly. Obviously I need a lot more practice, since folks like the Hiltons and Jonna Harlan report being able to get online in under an hour. But aiming has not come easily to me. Andy, it will get easier as you have more practice. We probably have an advantage, since Earl was used to setting up and aiming a TV satellite dish. With the Direcway dish, you just have to add skew to the elevation and azimuth. Also, we had our installer at our house, physically showing us how to align the dish. If I recall correctly, you ordered yours via the mail. I agree with you about the Align-A-Site. If we're in the trees, we always use it to find that hole in the trees before we even bother taking all the equipment out of the car! Another good installer is Maxwell Satellite -- www.maxwellsatellite.com for the very same reasons that Andy recommended Dustyfoot. When we got our setup, they weren't offering the Align-A-Site, but may be offering it now...I know that Glenn was playing around with one the last time we saw them, and was thinking about offering it. For anyone thinking about getting satellite Internet, I highly recommend the Datastorm Users Group Forum at www.datastormusers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/index.html . There's also a Yahoo Group for satellite Internet, RV Internet By Satellite at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RVInternetbySatellite .Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TKFrom Mountain View RV Park Joseph, ORSee where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: Satellite internet access Reply #1 – August 19, 2005, 08:23:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57031"Andy, it will get easier as you have more practice." Well, inspired by your example, I connected in record time tonight: 20 minutes to physically set up the dish, less than 10 minutes to aim and about 10 minutes to pass the cross-pol test (but that wasn't my fault; the time was spent waiting in queue). Was I elated! ;-) I could probably have aimed it even faster, but the OPI still isn't working, so I had to use the "look through the window at the computer" method. The signal-strength display in my browser doesn't update as frequently as the one on the OPI, so I can't slew the antenna as quickly when using the computer's display. But still, I'm not complaining! If I can consistently do it this fast, I'll be happy. I attribute my success to having recalibrated the Align-A-Site. At my last campsite, once I had a good signal, I carefully adjusted the Align-A-Site mount so that it read correctly. This time, I dialed in the numbers on the Align-A-Site, adjusted the dish until the Align- A-Site was happy (no need to level the tripod), and found that put me very close--just slightly off in azimuth. "We probably have an advantage, since Earl was used to setting up and aiming a TV satellite dish." I've done that too. Thought it would give me a head start, but it didn't help. Aiming this dish seems to be much more critical. "Another good installer is Maxwell Satellite...When we got our setup, they weren't offering the Align-A-Site, but may be offering it now." Many people I trust have recommended Maxwell, so you can't go far wrong with them. But whoever you buy from, factor in the extra $150-$175 cost of a separately purchased Align-A-Site if the vendor doesn't include one. Dustyfoot includes the Align-A-Site in their $1,495 price. Maxwell's website lists their setup--essentially identical to Dustyfoot's, but *without* Align-A-SIte--at $1,500. It might be worth a call to Glenn at Maxwell to see whether he has changed his mind, but not yet updated his site...but as of now, the Maxwell system is effectively $150-$175 more expensive, because you have to buy your Align-A-SIte separately--and I consider this a mandatory accessory for a tripod-mount satellite system.Andy Baird
Re: Satellite internet access Reply #2 – August 20, 2005, 02:35:32 am Yahoo Message Number: 57042Andy,While not technically necessary, we have found that it goes a lot faster if the tripod is level. We usually put the level on it before we put the dish on and it seems to help. It helps most in areas where finding the sat is going to be difficult due to trees or being on the edge of the footprint.Jonna in Tortuga, 2001 Teal RB find us here http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1013
Re: Satellite internet access Reply #3 – August 20, 2005, 09:45:58 am Yahoo Message Number: 57047"we have found that it goes a lot faster if the tripod is level. We usually put the level on it before we put the dish on and it seems to help." Thanks for the tip, Jonna. I usually level the tripod, but since Dustyfoot says their mounting bracket is not guaranteed to be square, I'm not too fussy about it. Last night I didn't bother. At least in theory, with the Align-A-SIte it doesn't matter whether the tripod is exactly level. It certainly worked as advertised for me last night. :-)Andy Baird
location Reply #4 – August 20, 2005, 10:24:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 57049Andy, Since you're apt to be anywhere now, how about adding your location when you post? It's nice to see where everyone is.Karen - still in jersey
Re: location Reply #5 – August 20, 2005, 09:23:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57073"Since you're apt to be anywhere now, how about adding your location when you post? It's nice to see where everyone is." Truth is, I'm apt to be in the same place for weeks at a time. (I just spent six weeks in Eastport, Maine, for example.) I don't move very fast, so my location doesn't change very often. I do put it down in my signature when I think of it, but I don't always remember to. I'll try to do it more often in the future. :-)Andy Baird Pocasset, MA
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite internet access Reply #6 – August 21, 2005, 10:57:59 am Yahoo Message Number: 57086QuotePart of the problem, Andy, is that your AMC-9 satellite has moved! I bet that the Dustyfoot set up was for its original position at 85 deg West which was current at the time you bought the equipment. Wow, I didn't know they could move a satellite! So you're saying that when Andy goes into his setup screen and puts in a Zip Code or the GPS coordinates, his modem is giving him the wrong coordinates because the satellite has moved? Shouldn't this be information that would be sent to the modem for automatic download? You'd think, anyway!Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TKFrom Mountain View RV Park Joseph, ORSee where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite internet access Reply #7 – August 21, 2005, 11:04:48 am Yahoo Message Number: 57087And the OPI magically started working again last night, after two months of nothing but error messages! The result was that I got aimed in five minutes, my best time yet. :-)Yea! Andy, we occasionally have problems with our OPI, too (actually, I'm not sure it's the OPI that's causing the problem, but it's something in the setup). About the only way I've found to clear the problem up is to shut down the computer and modem, and boot them both back up.Linda Hylton2004 Red 23.5' TKFrom Mountain View RV Park Joseph, ORSee where we are: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=1167
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite internet access Reply #8 – August 21, 2005, 11:43:09 am Yahoo Message Number: 57092On Sun, 2005-08-21 at 07:55 -0700, Linda Hylton wrote:QuoteSo you're saying that when Andy goes into his setup screen and puts in a Zip Code or the GPS coordinates, his modem is giving him the wrong coordinates because the satellite has moved? Shouldn't this be information that would be sent to the modem for automatic download? You'd think, anyway! Where one points the dish in the sky depends on where you are (ZIP code or GPS coordinates) and where the satellite is known to be. At least the very first time you try to establish contact the satellite, you are going on what your computer thinks is the location of the satellite. If that doesn't match reality you've got a problem. I have no idea if the satellite location is downloaded to update what your computer "knows". I agree it would make sense to do that. Otherwise, you would need some file from your vendor or have to manually update satellite location information on your computer.Alex '05 MB Charlotte, NC
Re: Satellite internet access Reply #9 – August 21, 2005, 03:16:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57100"we occasionally have problems with our OPI, too...About the only way I've found to clear the problem up is to shut down the computer and modem, and boot them both back up." Believe me, Linda, I tried that literally dozens of times over the two-month period when all mine would do was give me an "8L8" error indication. Didn't help in my case. I didn't do anything different yesterday, and it just started showing signal strength...that's why I said "magically," because there is no rational explanation. I still don't know whether it's a hardware problem or, as some have said in the DataStorm user group, a software issue with Hughes and the AMC-9 satellite. And as of this morning--after restarting the computer and DW6000 receiver--it's back to the same old flashing "8L8." :-(Andy Baird
Re: Satellite internet access Reply #10 – August 21, 2005, 03:28:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57101"The very first time you try to establish contact the satellite, you are going on what your computer thinks is the location of the satellite. If that doesn't match reality you've got a problem. I have no idea if the satellite location is downloaded to update what your computer 'knows'." I agree, but with one big exception: as I understand this system--at least with the DW6000 satellite receiver, I don't know about the older ones--your computer knows nothing about any of this. *All* the information--the lookup tables that give satellite coordinates for ZIP codes, the most-recent-settings data, etc.--is stored in the satellite receiver itself, in flash RAM. None of this info resides on your computer. In fact, there doesn't even have to be a computer connected, as Jonna can tell you--you can plug a WiFi router directly into the satellite receiver. That's why no software installation is required to use one of these things. You just point your web browser to the receiver's local IP address (http://192.168.0.1) and the info is read out by your computer from the receiver. Now, whether the lookup tables in the receiver can be or have been remotely updated by Hughes Direcway--well, that beats me. They certainly OUGHT to do that when a satellite is moved, but I don't know whether they do. Maybe this is covered somewhere in the DataStorm user group site, but I haven't had time to look. :-)Andy Baird
Was: Satellite internet access, now OPI Reply #11 – August 21, 2005, 07:37:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57108We too are on the Dustyfoot portable system (on the AMC-9 satellite) and have had problems with the OPI stuck on "8L8" -- probably for about the last three months. Fortunately, there are two of us and we just use our walkie talkies to relay the signal strength displayed on the computer and actually prefer that to trying to look at the OPI while aiming (obviously, not a solution for solo RVers.) We also tried all the obvious -- turning on/off, rebooting, checking connections, but to no avail. About a month ago, we got an email with an attached file from our dealer (not Scott, but a sub-dealer of his) claiming that it should fix the problem (we needed an update to the software in the receiver I think?), but we haven't tried it out yet as we've been away from our RV for various reasons for the past 2 months and haven't needed to set up the internet system. I'll relay his info in this post and can privately email the setup file that he sent -- although we haven't tried it yet.Also, a note to Andy -- our Align-a-Site calibrated holder was also detached in transit to us, so we did not have a calibrated system when we first set it up and it took us about 6 hours to get a signal -- very frustrating, but once calibrated and with several practices, we've gotten much faster with our set-up and can now get a signal in about 5 minutes although the set-up of the tripod, dish, cables and getting through all the software "tests" still takes us almost an hour, but it has definitely been worth it.Here's a copy of the email that we got from our dealer: . . . This is what Tom sent me. It looks like it just loads by itself. If not goto the setup screen. Don't pick antenna pointing but look at the last one. It will say upload config file. Click that one and follow the prompts. It will load in a sec or two. When the file is in than you should have no problems with the OPI. Paul Angerami Satellite Advantage From: "T. Mason" masontj@...> Date: Sat Jul 16, 2005 6:02:55 AM America/Los_Angeles To: "'Paul Angerami'" dish_paul@...> Subject: RE: OPI bin. file Reply-To: masontj@...> This was on the Vantive site under documents, but not as obvious as it should have been. If the customer just leaves his dish up and online, the file will automatically download. I noticed the other day when I commissioned a system that the file installed right after the reboot after the commissioning. And the opi worked fine while pointing, before the download. Go figure.Anyway, here's the sbc file that they wanted loaded, the newest one.Good luck. Thomas Mason, MCSE, AANG, Sr. Consultant Management Assistance, Inc.
Re: Was: Satellite internet access, now OPI Reply #12 – August 21, 2005, 08:59:59 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57113"our Align-a-Site calibrated holder was also detached in transit to us, so we did not have a calibrated system when we first set it up" That makes three of us that I know about so far. This situation appears to be the rule rather than the exception. The dish is heavy, and so is the other stuff, and it's in a BIG box (about the size of an industrial washer). Dustyfoot/Satellite Advantage crams it with bubble wrap--many, many yards of it!--so I don't really blame them...but I guess without custom-fitted foam inserts, it just is not possible to prevent the various pieces from shifting and, at least in the cases I know of, knocking loose the Align-A-Site mount. Mind, I don't want to scare anybody off from buying one of these systems. Once you get your dish aimed by more traditional means (which admittedly will likely be time- consuming the first time you do it), it IS fairly easy to recalibrate the Align-A-Site mount...and once that's done properly, aiming becomes pretty easy. At least, it has been for me the past two nights--under ten minutes both times. :-) "About a month ago, we got an email with an attached file from our dealer (not Scott, but a sub-dealer of his) claiming that it should fix the problem (we needed an update to the software in the receiver I think?), but we haven't tried it out yet" Ah! I hadn't heard this. I'll query Paul Angerami about it, since I also bought from his company. Thanks for the tip! "we've gotten much faster with our set-up and can now get a signal in about 5 minutes although the set-up of the tripod, dish, cables and getting through all the software 'tests' still takes us almost an hour..." I've found that I can set up the hardware solo in fifteen minutes. I use a small folding stepstool to get up where I need to be; otherwise, lifting that dish into place would be all but impossible for me. Aiming, as mentioned, now takes 5-10 minutes. All that's left after that is passing the cross-pol test, and that can take anywhere from a minute to ten minutes depending on how busy Direcway is. By the way, I use Gary Villere's (freeware) SatTool software for Macintosh to force-feed lat/ long values to the receiver. I don't know whether it's necessary, but it can't hurt. Gary's a lot smarter than I am about this stuff! :-)Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite internet access Reply #13 – August 21, 2005, 09:56:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 57116On Sun, 2005-08-21 at 19:28 +0000, Andy Baird wrote: Quote"The very first time you try to establish contact the satellite, you are going on what your computer thinks is the location of the satellite. If that doesn't match reality you've got a problem. I have no idea if the satellite location is downloaded to update what your computer 'knows'." I agree, but with one big exception: as I understand this system--at least with the DW6000 satellite receiver, I don't know about the older ones--your computer knows nothing about any of this. *All* the information--the lookup tables that give satellite coordinates for ZIP codes, the most-recent-settings data, etc.--is stored in the satellite receiver itself, in flash RAM. None of this info resides on your computer. In fact, there doesn't even have to be a computer connected, as Jonna can tell you--you can plug a WiFi router directly into the satellite receiver. I accept what you say, Andy. It makes a better design for the receiver/modem to have that information and be a special purpose computer with networking and a browser interface. That would makes it independent of the type of the attached computer (PC/Mac/whatever) and the operating system on it. All one needs is a computer with a working browser.Alex '05 MB Charlotte, NC
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: Satellite internet access Reply #14 – August 22, 2005, 12:25:33 am Yahoo Message Number: 57118The DW6000 was a big upgrade from the previous systems because it does not need software installed on the computer. Previous versions of the modem, the 4000 and I believe the 4020, needed the software installed on a windows machine, macs were out to lunch. This meant that mac users had to have a judas pc to control the modem and configure it. As I understand it, the DW 6000 contains a version of windows OS as well as space for all of the software previously installed on a pc. That's why you can connect to it for configuration via a wireless ap. If you need to, you can take your laptop outside with you and still connect to the modem inside. Updates are force fed to the modem once you are connected, I would be surprised if you don't already have this update Andy, now that you have been connected. If not, try leaving it on and connected overnight.Jonna in Tortuga, 2001 Teal RB find us here http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1013
Topic: Satellite internet access (Read 2 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: Satellite internet access (Read 2 times)
previous topic - next topic