*** Satellite Finder Help

This is [VersionBuildString]

For updates, visit http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder

Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2014, P. Lutus. All rights reserved.

Satellite Finder is CareWare (no money, now or ever). If you are curious about
CareWare, you may choose to drop by http://www.arachnoid.com/careware at your
leisure. It's not a requirement, and Satellite Finder is essentially free.

At this point, you may wonder -- if SatFinder is free, why bother mentioning that
it is copyrighted? The answer is to prevent people from selling my free program.
Yes, it happens.

*** Quick Introduction

Satellite Finder is a Java program that locates the relative positions of

geostationary satellites for provided positions on Earth.

Satellite Finder requires a Java 1.7.0 or newer runtime engine.

The inputs to Satellite Finder are:

1. A configuration file that lists the satellites of interest and their orbital
positions, and
2. The surface position of interest.

The first requirement is met by a data file in the Satellite Finder user directory
(located on this machine at [userDir]/.SatFinder/satlist.txt). A default version of
this file is provided when the program is first run. The user may edit this file to
suit personal requirements and to accommodate changes in the names and positions of
satellites as time passes.

On multi-user systems, each user gets a separate copy of this data file. This
assures that individual choices do not create global changes to Satellite Finder.

The second requirement, that of surface position, can be met by entering a US state
and city, or a US ZIP code, or by directly entering a geographical position.

Once a position has been entered, Satellite Finder produces a list of satellites
and their azimuth and elevation angles for the entered position. Both true and
magnetic azimuth are computed, as well as elevation and skew angle, for each
satellite in the list. The position coordinates may be used to point satellite
dishes or conduct site surveys for dish placement.

In the satellite list, the heading "Name" can mean the name of a satellite or a
particular satellite receiver dish model, depending on context. "Longitude" means
satellite longitude on the geostationary arc, "Azimuth True" means the desired
horizontal pointing angle, "Azimuth Magnetic" is the same information corrected for
magnetic declination, "Elevation" means the desired vertical pointing angle, and
"Skew:0" and "Skew:90" refer to dish skew angles using the two most common
conventions. All angles are in degrees.

*** In Depth

When Satellite Finder is first run, the program creates a set of data files to
speed up the computation of satellite positions based on US states, cities and ZIP
codes. These data files are located on this machine at [userDir]/.SatFinder. This
data file creation task only happens once, so subsequent program starts are much
faster than the first.

After having run Satellite Finder once, to change the satellite list to suit your
own preferences, simply edit the plain-text file located at
[userDir]/.SatFinder/satlist.txt. Each record in this file consists of a satellite
name, a comma, and a longitude position in decimal degrees. West longitudes are
entered as negative numbers, East longitudes positive.

* NOTE: when upgrading to a new SatFinder version, be sure to delete the directory
located at [userDir]/.SatFinder before running the new version. This assures that
any satellite changes are made part of your custom user data.

In typical field work a magnetic azimuth bearing is required. Satellite Finder uses
a lookup data table of magnetic declinations derived from a NOAA declination
predictor program named “GEOMAG” (more on this below). Both true and magnetic
azimuth values are computed and provided in the display for each satellite. The
magnetic declination values stop being valid for latitudes greater than +-80
degrees.

*** Specifics of Data Entry

The easiest way to use Satellite Finder is to choose a state, then a city, using
the provided lists. These selections will produce a list of satellite positions for
the chosen city in the right-hand window.

Another method is to type in a ZIP code, then press "Enter," in the ZIP code entry
pane. This also will create a list of satellite position data.

Finally, one can type in a geographical position (latitude and longitude) in

decimal degrees and press "Enter." This is the required method for non-US
locations.

Each of the described entry methods automatically produces a data list when your
entry is complete. For the state/city selection method, making a state and city
selection triggers the generation of the data list. For ZIP code and geographical
coordinate entry, pressing "Enter" in the entry pane causes the data table to be
generated.

The satellite data list can be copied onto the system clipboard for use elsewhere.
Just click the "Copy to Clipboard" button.

*** Troubleshooting

To solve mose common problems with Satellite Finder, simply delete the directory
located on your system at [userDir]/.SatFinder, then run Satellite Finder again.
This causes Satellite Finder to perform a new data installation, which updates the
ZIP code database and the satelite list. This step is particularly important when
upgrading from versions 4.4 to 4.5 or newer, at which point the ZIP code database
was completely restructured.

*** Satellite Dish Installation Issues

Most satellite dishes come with clear instructions (or such instructions can be
downloaded from the Web). The easy steps are setting the azimuth (horizontal
angle), usually with the help of a hand compass. The elevation (vertical angle) is
also relatively simple because most dishes have a calibrated elevation scale.
For the increasingly popular satellite dishes able to receive more than one
satellite, there is a third required adjustment -- skew. In SatFinder, the
rightmost values in the satellite data table are "Skew:0" and "Skew:90".These two
values are used to adjust the tilt of a satellite receiving dish, with both
commonly used ways to express the skew angle.

A word of explanation. Whenever a dish is located at a terrestrial longitude

different than the orbital longitude of the satellite it's pointed toward, there is
a difference in rotation angle between the satellite's sense of the horizontal and
that of the dish site, and this difference may need to be accounted for.

Skew is only important for dishes that are equipped to receive more than one
satellite (or non-U.S. dishes that don't use circular polarization). If your dish
only has one microwave sensor and uses circular polarization (i.e. all U.S.
dishes), don't bother adjusting skew.

By contrast, many newer dishes are equipped to receive two or three satellites
simultaneously. These dishes need the skew adjustment. Multi-satellite dishes
typically have a separate scale and adjustment for skew, clearly marked.

Negative "Skew:0" skew values, or "Skew:90" values less than 90 degrees, mean the
dish is to be tilted toward the east (or counterclockwise when viewed from behind
in the Northern hemisphere) by the specified angle. Positive values, or values
greater than 90 degrees, mean a tilt toward the west (or clockwise).

For skew adjustments to be effective, the mounting mast for a multi-satellite dish
must be vertical. The symptom of a bad skew adjustment is the inability to receive
all the satellites equally well.

*** Miscellaneous Notes

In recent SatFinder versions, a list of satellite dish pointing angles for

DishNetwork and DirecTV dishes are provided to simplify dish alignment. If you have
a typical multi-LNB satellite dish from one of these vendors, you should be able to
find your dish model in these lists -- just use the pointing azimuth and elevation
values for your model. For single-LNB dishes, use the listed values for the
satellite you're interested in receiving.

The magnetic declination in Satellite Finder is computed using a table of values

generated by "geomag", a magnetic declination program supplied by NOAA
(http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/geomag). There are actually two data tables which
provide reference years of 2005 and 2010, and the program provides an estimate of
the declination based on both the entered location and the computer's current date
and time. The value provided by Satellite Finder, and the value provided by NOAA,
will always differ to some extent, but the program's accuracy is more than adequate
for dish alignment.