The fastest, easiest and most accurate way to find True South

[Sky_Pilot]

Go to the web site of your local newspaper and then go the the "Weather" section.

This section will usually tell you when the Sun rises and when it sets for that day for your area.

If not, then go to weather dot com and input your location and it will also display the times the Sun rises and sets.

So for example, if the Sun rises at 7:00 AM and Sets at 5:30 PM, the Sun will be at True South half way thru the day, so in the above example, we have 10 hours and 30 minutes from the time the Sun rises until it sets.

Divide that time in half, which is 5 hours and 15 minutes, and add that to the time the Sun rises.

7:00 AM + 5 Hours and 15 Minutes comes out to 12:15 PM

At 12:15 PM, you would then point your Dish and Motor assembly, with the Motor set to the "0" position directly at the Sun because at 12:15 PM, the Sun is at True South for your location.

Of course, your Sunrise/Sunset time will vary depending on your location and the time of year.

Set the Motor elevation for your location, which is usually your Latitude.

Then set the Dish Elevation using any of the Dishpointer dot com (hint) web sites out there, and you are done.

Use your STB to drive your Motorized Dish to your farthest East and West sats to verify that your Dish elevation is correct.

You may have to tweak the Dish elevation a bit to peak, but this is by far the easiest, fastest and most accurate way to set up a motorized dish and you don't even need a compass.

Takes about 5-10 minutes.

[creativegenius]

I thought you were going to say 'Buy some Stocks'

Creative Genius

[grizzliebear]

Originally Posted by creativegenius

I thought you were going to say 'Buy some Stocks'

Creative Genius

that's funny

[Sky_Pilot]

I think (hope) the market bottomed out already and is on the way back up.

As for using this method to find True South, it really does work and is fast, easy and accurate.

I recently bought a DG-280 motor to replace my GeoSatPro 120 and used the above described method and it took me less then 10 minutes and I only had to adjust the Dish elevation about .5 degrees to peak it perfectly.

Knowing what your Dish elevation should be and having an Inclinometer (About $10.00 on ebay) then using the Sun to find True South makes the job 100x easier.

The first time I set up my motorized system I was sweating, swearing and frustrated and it took about 2 hours. I wish I thought about this back then.

Of course, this method won't work if it's raining or snowing or if there are heavy clouds or fog completely blocking the Sun.

[derby62]

They also have a big bouy down in Key west on land that you can use. It's just gonna be a bear to back up straight to get were your going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!