How critical is antenna pointing?

Othernet Hardware
1

I received my DIY receiver kit a couple of weeks ago, but have not been successful receiving more than a handful of packets from I4F1-APAC here in Tokyo. I don’t know what the typical beamwidth is for this patch antenna, but outdoors on the balcony slowly tweaking around where my satfinder app suggests I should be pointing the best I’ve been able to achieve is an SNR of just over 2 dB. I’ve tried crudely shielding the LNA with aluminum foil and separating the LNA from the Elonics receiver by a meter without noticeable improvement. I tried out in a neighboring park in an attempt to avoid any local noise sources without appreciably better luck.

Just how critical is antenna position to getting a usable signal?

2

Hello, the antenna should be pointed directly on the sat.

But 2° off or so should not matter at all.
Do you have a clear view on the sat? Because there should be no building between you and the sat.

Otherwise use a spectrum analyzer (PC + SDR + Spektrum Software) to search for interference or other strong signals.

And greetings from Germany on the other side of the planet :slight_smile:

regards,
Manuel

3

If you have a clear view of the sky, you may have a local noise problem, what is the Rssi figure? ( This is a rough measure of the “noise floor”) I found that a nearby Satellite TV dish was causing severe noise depending upon what channel they were watching!

4

With my indoors setup using a good USB extension cable to get the C.H.I.P. computer away from the antenna a bit helps a lot.

5

Hi… I am located on Long island, New York, USA…

​I’m wondering if you can help me out…how critical it the pointing of the Antenna on the Outernet set up and is the antenna omnidirectional? My friend, who has one, told me to point it south.

I can’t get a lock on a Sat.

I hooked up the components, add power…I am able to pick up the hotspot and log in…but when I go to Tuner I can’t get a lock on the SAT. Down further on the list of values it always says SEARCH but I think 4 times for a second or two it did switch to SIGNAL DETECT but never locked on. I attached everything to a plastic tray and even went outside rotating it at different angles and directions.

Oh, I also switched the SAT in Tuner from the default to: Americas.

So, my conundrum is… I am not sure if I am still not pointing it in the right direction or if I should be concerned that something is defective.

Any suggestions? Thanks

6

The Patch antenna has about a 25 degree reception angle from vertical, but being more accurately pointed is always better. Don’t know where on Long Island you are, but the magnetic direction from Flushing is 227 deg with a 38 deg elevation angle. From Montauk, it is 230 deg with a 36 deg elevation angle. Ken

7

Thanks, I will give it another try.

8

I have my unit working now, thanks for the help.