Satellite HS computer uplinks
Updated
This
person has posted several items of interest.
I have not visited his web site, thus I cannot comment on it. (John
Adams 12/2005)
Steven
Fletcher
Currently in Lancaster, CA
http://RVbasics.com
.
The
satellite system you have for Internet is that an expensive set up and do you
get a signal everywhere you've parked?
Hi, an unobstructed view of the Southern sky is the key. So that means we can't
park in the middle of the trees and get a signal. We also chose a satellite
that covers the lower 48, plus down into
Yes, the roof mount system (automatic aiming) is expensive. It runs about
$5,000 or so. But there are other options for tripod mounted systems (portable
and you must aim it) that are considerably less.
When we first started, we used Starband with a tripod. You have to get
certified by the FCC as an installer so you can aim the dish every time you
move. My husband happens to be really good at it (the Satellite Stud! ;0)
You're aiming at a satellite that's about the size of the bottom of a Coke can,
plus you're messing with a "real" communications satellite, so
precision is important.
It worked very well, but since we are on the move a lot, and can't exactly set
up a huge satellite dish in Wal-Marts parking lot, we opted for the roof
mount. Plus you have to take it apart and carry the whole darned thing with
you. It takes a surveyor's tripod to hold it up, so it's pretty bulky. We
carried the dish itself on a bike rack on the back of our 5W.
One advantage of the tripod system is that if you are in an area with trees,
you can run your cable out to position the satellite for a signal (just like a
TV satellite system on the ground).
Now we just hit a button to stow it before we travel, and hit a button for
automatic aiming when we stop. We also have what's called a "bird on a
wire" which is an attachment that allows us to receive our Dish TV signal on it as well.
We love boondocking...but we love having the technology to stay connected as
well. Pretty nice to be able to work from Grand Teton National Park, or the
parking lot of the Mill Casino in Coos Bay, Oregon, watching the boats on the
bay.
Cheers,
Tina
************************
Subject:
Re: Satellite antenna (12/2005)
Thanks, that looks quite interesting. The "coming soon" Speed
Ray 2000 looks like it might be an option.
I've seen many INMARSAT
radomes that look like a 12" diameter R2-D2,
and I suspect I could find a place for one of them.
I will appreciate any other info folks can pass along. The prices
look affordable - not cheap, but bearable - but it's the space and
weight that I am challenged by at present.
At present I get my internet connection via Verizon BroadbandAccess,
and it works great coast to coast and out to about 20 miles off
shore. But there are some dead spots inland (
and I'd like a system that works on the high seas. I keep looking
at "Connexion by Boeing" but that is
still aimed at the high end and
doesn't have an 'little guy' end user version yet.
.
In a
message dated
So the only real
options for us mobile folks are StarBand > or Direcway.
Do these
have both satellite TV as well as broadband Internet?
After a bit of searching it looks as if I must get something like
Starband or Directway and then use Dish Network for
the TV component. Starband is
out of the question. They cost about six grand to set up if I'm reading
it
correctly. Also, again if I'm reading it correctly, Starband *must* be
set up by
a technician and won't work in a mobile setting.
I guess what I'm looking for is a reasonable cost for
equipment as well
as a reasonable cost/month for service, say in the $100-$125/month range
including say HBO. The site
is RVInternetBySatellite@yahoogroups.com
Incidently, it would be very helpful if folks would change the
subject from
a Digest number to the message.
Gene
DW6000, DW117, wifi'd
Location is: http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=2178
Or it is: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?WA0IQM
We have
Starband Internet. Initial cost was ~$1,500 which includes
training so that you become an installer.Sturdy
tripod + a Birddog
satellite finder included. Monthly is ~$56 on a 3 year contract.
Dish
TV can be set up using a "Bird on a Wire". We have traveled all
over
the
when not in a dense forest setting with no opening to the south. We
got our setup from Ron Brundage @ronbrundage.com.
Great service!
Cathy
And for
an example of how "web accelerators" work
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/high-speed2.htm
.
I have
been researching using Satellite internet service for the time
I am on the road. My intended use would be to setup a tripod Dish
internet system in fairly remote settings. I have taken and passed
the Starband certification test for installer of a 360 system.
One question I cannot quite get a clear answer to in my research is;
If I have a mobile Starband setup, and I move a fair number of miles
from my last setup position, can I setup again without needing to use
a phone (as in utilizing CBACs)?
From what I can determine, even as a certified installer, I need to
have access to a phone line to establish that my cross pol
and co pol
are below a certain measurement and that this can only be
accomplished with a phone link.
Does this mean that mobile
Starband setups must occur within an area
where phone service is possible? If not, please explain how I could
move to a new location and properly setup and confirm my satellite is
aimed to create no problems.
Thank you...
Jim
From: "Terry Cannon" <russTcannon@sta>
Subject: RE: Setting up
Mobile Starband without phone access
Jim,
When you purchase from an authorized StarBand
Manual-Flyer dealer, they will
make that CVACS call for you. You do not need to make the call to get
on-line, only to check your setup to make sure that your cross-pol is within
limits. So you can email or instant message your dealer,
and they will make
the call for you. I've learned that instant messaging works really good for
this, because the dealer can be listening to CVACS and instantly relaying
the numbers back to you via the internet.
Hope that answers your questions!
.
Subject:
RE: Re: Setting up Mobile Starband without phone access
You can set up your starband
system and be online even without passing
crosspol although if you follow proper set up you
should be well within
the proper limits. Once online you can IM or email your dealer or a
friend and they can call it in for you to check. The key here is making
sure that the LNB is calibrated to the skew scale on the back of the
dish.
technically starband uses
the skew on the back of the reflector to
adjust the polarity offset of the LNB. This value changes according to
your location relative to the satellite. However there is so much slop
in the donut polarizer scale coupled with the inaccuracy of the skew
scale and it is easy to be off by a few degrees.
Almost all satellite locating programs return a number called the polar
offset, which is the angle defining the relationship between the LNB and
the TX antenna on the satellite
Most professional VSAT installers that were brought up on round dishes
use an inclinometer on the LNB while the feed arm is parallel to the
ground (the angle scale on a polar offset antenna like starbands
standard antenna will read 12)to set this angle. The
value on the
inclinometer is 90 minus the skew. So for instance if you are horizontal
polarity and your skew is 40 then an inclinometer on the LNB will read
50 degrees off horizontal. If the polarity is vertical then the value is
off vertical.
Facing the
dish as if you are the satellite.
Antenna site west of satellite longitude rotate clockwise
Antenna site east of satellite longitude rotate counterclockwise
once you tweak that angle (and it will be right on or close if the skew
is set right) precisely with an inclinometer you can then crank up to
your final elevation and your cross pol will always
be under 1 IF your mast is absolutely plumb
Always peak the dish for max with elevation and azimuth to get a good co-pol.
By and large once you have the LNB set to a true horizontal or vertical
the skew setting should suffice. I just feel that the closer to zero and
more accurate we all are the better for everyone on the transponder.
Think of it this way.take your dish and set the skew to 90 and the
polarizer to horizontal or vertical depending on what you are supposed
to be. Now if the elevation is set to 12 the feed arm should be just
about parallel to the ground. You should now be able to rest a level on
the LNB and it will be perfectly horizontal or vertical. You will notice
that there is quite a bit of slop in the polarizer because the donuts
can also slop back and forth by at least 1 or 2 degrees in each
direction. "calibrating" your polarizer like
this truly sets the LNB to
the skew scale. Now setting by using the skew should be more accurate.
It's sort of like tuning up your dish. It's easy if you go from
horizontal to vertical to be off sync with the skew scale on the back of
the reflector because of the "play" in the feed horn parts.
A 2 degree difference in polarizer angle is as much as 4-6 points in cross-pol.
If you always follow this
rule and keep the LNB calibrated to the skew
scale on the back of the dish and the mast is absolutely plumb and the
antenna is peaked to max sig you will never have a
problem. For years
many *B mobile users used this method and rarely called in.
Basically follow this rule and don't worry about
calling in all the time at set up.
OK this was a very wordy post but I hope everyone gets the point.
Max
www.orbitalenterprises.net
..
I know
that Max already gave you a detailed synopsis, but let me try to give
you a shorter answer. Yes, you can do what you want to do. Here is the flow
of a StarBand setup anywhere, whether out of cell
range or not:
1. Run your "Point Dish" program - using either a zip code or LAT/LON
values, it will give you your pointing parameters (Azimuth, Elevation, and
Skew) for your location to find your satellite.
2. Do a clean setup with a plumb mast and your dish set to the numbers
obtained in step 1.
3. Using the Birdog meter that comes with your
Manual-Flyer kit, verify that
you're pointed at the correct satellite and that your signal is peaked per
the training provided.
4. Connect your modem to the dish, power up the modem and wait for it to go
through it's boot-up and hand-shake with the NOC.
5. You're now on-line and have full internet access.
6. Now, if you have a phone available, you call CVACS. If not, you email
your installer or dealer and
they will make the CVACS call on your behalf
and check your setup for you and relay the information back to you.
If you have done your setup as prescribed in the training, most often you
will be passing your cross-pol parameter the first
time. If you are not, you
will be close and a little tweak will clean you up. The prescribed
"passing"
score for cross-pol is especially stringent to
discourage sloppy setups, but
nothing terrible will happen if you are slightly out of spec for a bit while
you read it and tweak.
Is that more clear?
Terry Cannon
http://www.RoVinginternet.com
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 05:57:05 -0700
From: <elaine@the>
Subject: Satellite
We have had DirecWay for over 2 1/2 years and are
very happy with it.
Starband and DirecWay are the only relatively
inexpensive ways for RVers to
get faster internet on the road. Prices have gone up since we bought ours
for $1300 but the price is still the same at $60 a month. We chose Direcway
for several reasons, one being that there was no
contract to sign for three
years (you know just in case a wonderful, cheaper, better system came out.
We have friends with Starband that are just as happy with their system as we
are with ours. It is really just a matter of which is best for you. Do your
research and decide which fits your needs better. As far as I know neither
one will bill your internet and TV together and give you a deal on it which
seems like a good idea but maybe they are under completely different
management or something. The only trouble we ever have is a really bad rain
storm that can block the satellite.
You will wonder how you ever got along with it after you get it and the
setup is really fast after you do it a few times.
..
There are
a growing number of free WiFi access points all over the US and
many web sites like http://www.wififreespot.com/ and sites the list
Campgrounds with WiFi like
http://www.camplan.com/ and of course, KOAs
are
trying to spread WiFi to all of there RV parks with a nominal fee.
I personally have used and given up on satelite
internet access as the ping
time makes using it for other than e-mail too slow, but many like it. Also
Version is rolling out broadband high speed access over there Cellular net
($59/mo) and have added many new cities.
But as with any new technology, it will be awhile before WiFi is where we
all would like it.
I think
the difference is that the $599 is the Direcway
equipment installed at your home. The $1500 is the same equipment plus the stuf you need to make it mobile. This generally includes a
tripod modified for the dish, a OPI meter to help aim
it, and other things that go into the portable operation.