We downlink in the EU beam of SES4. I doubt anyone will have luck receiving it in the US from another transponder.
@Martin has your package arrived yet?
Unfortunately not. the USPS tracker says it passed through a facility in Frankfurt March 9 at 1:43 pm after beeing held in customs. But the DHL tracker says they are still waiting for the shipment details.
That was me (the one in the UK)…switched mine on to test the cables worked, and the LNB - the DC reports it’s working fine…just got to find a spot!
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Will SES-4 be 183 and 11529.7 tomorrow Sunday 17 Mar? I’m going to find a clear view then to try it. Ken
@kenbarbi: it is currently 165 and 11529.7, and will be the same tomorrow as well. Do please monitor this thread in case I have to make a unplanned change.
OK - - I’ll be out 24 hours from now (1600 EDT on 17 Mar) in the mid-afternoon, and will report back. Skylark won’t be on line as I’ll be remote. Ken
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It appears that Zoltan has lock in Budapest. Ken
Reception Report SES-4 Annapolis, MD
No signal received on portable Dreamcatcher - - tests run from 1030 to1100 EDT 17 Mar on SES-4 22W using 165 and 11529.7 from 2 different locations with clear sky views. Elevation of 18.6 deg, azimuth (magn) 125.3 deg, and skew of -45.1 deg. During this time period SES-4 reported signal lock in Budapest, Hungary. Ken
There now is a Thread for EU Beam report, i got my Station Online today after receiving my DC 3.03 here in Germany.
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Hi All, I’m in the UK and happy to test and report, but how do I order a 3.03 to the UK? The delivery options are not suited for Europe.
Roger
Today I did a first test of my tracking antenna on the boat. Unfortunately my new LNB didn’t arrive in time before I left, so I could’t actually try to catch the test signal from the Astra satellite to see if the setup is really stable enough. But the motors I used seem to be fast enough to generally compensate the movements (the sea was quite choppy today). The LNB always was pointing in the general direction. But it wasn’t perfectly still (I’ll upload a video soon). Can anyone tell me how much movement the LNB can take during reception without loosing the signal?
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you may want to contact @wbrown , he has done some great data graph’s while comparing two lnb’s. He may be able to setup two side-by-side lnb’s and get a snr versus pointing angle offset. Say +/- a couple of degrees. and if a lock is maintained
My dual setup is torn-down unfortunately
I always found that I could, at least in azimuth, be waaay off and still get a good-enough signal, with a bare lnb. With my dual setup, I had the LNBs indoors, shooting out of an open window. The window had metal frames, so there could have been some sort of reflection going on that allowed me to be so off azimuth and still get reception. I initially planned to do an azimuth vs signal test, but in messing with the setup, realized it would have provided practically useless data. So I never did it.
Maybe if my dual-setup had been outdoors I would have had a different experience.
Anyway my indoor through-the-window experience would seem to suggest one can conservatively be 5-10 degrees off in either axis and it will still be ok. The first file I ever received via othernet was with me holding the LNB out of a window. I doubt I kept it that well aligned.
Here are the antenna test lab results for a very similar LNB.
“XZ-Plane” (Phi=0) Elevation
“YZ-Plane” (Phi=90) Azimuth
| Angle (Degrees) | XZ-Plane Gain (dBi) | YZ-Plane Gain (dBi) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 13.4 | 13.5 |
| 2 | 13.4 | 13.4 |
| 4 | 13.2 | 13.2 |
| 6 | 12.9 | 13.0 |
| 8 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| 10 | 12.3 | 12.3 |
| 12 | 11.9 | 11.8 |
| 14 | 11.3 | 11.2 |
| 16 | 10.7 | 10.5 |
| 18 | 10.2 | 10.0 |
| 20 | 9.5 | 9.2 |
| 22 | 8.6 | 8.4 |
| 24 | 7.8 | 7.6 |
| 26 | 6.9 | 6.8 |
| 28 | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| 30 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| 32 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| 34 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| 36 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| 38 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 40 | -0.7 | -0.5 |
| 42 | -1.9 | -1.5 |
| 44 | -3.0 | -2.5 |
| 46 | -4.0 | -3.8 |
| 48 | -5.1 | -4.8 |
| 50 | -6.2 | -6.0 |
| 52 | -7.0 | -6.8 |
| 54 | -8.1 | -7.6 |
| 56 | -8.7 | -8.5 |
| 58 | -9.4 | -9.7 |
| 60 | -9.9 | -10.4 |
| 62 | -10.5 | -11.8 |
| 64 | -11.0 | -12.4 |
| 66 | -12.0 | -12.9 |
| 68 | -12.8 | -13.7 |
| 70 | -13.9 | -13.8 |
| 72 | -14.3 | -15.2 |
| 74 | -15.2 | -15.9 |
| 76 | -15.4 | -16.8 |
| 78 | -15.8 | -18.2 |
| 80 | -16.4 | -18.2 |
| 82 | -16.9 | -19.0 |
| 84 | -17.6 | -19.0 |
| 86 | -18.9 | -20.2 |
| 88 | -19.7 | -20.4 |
| 90 | -20.7 | -20.9 |
| 92 | -21.6 | -19.9 |
| 94 | -22.4 | -20.7 |
| 96 | -22.5 | -21.0 |
| 98 | -22.8 | -21.7 |
| 100 | -23.1 | -23.1 |
| 102 | -23.7 | -23.9 |
| 104 | -25.4 | -22.2 |
| 106 | -25.4 | -24.3 |
| 108 | -26.3 | -23.1 |
| 110 | -25.6 | -25.1 |
| 112 | -26.4 | -26.9 |
| 114 | -25.9 | -28.2 |
| 116 | -26.7 | -29.3 |
| 118 | -28.0 | -25.2 |
| 120 | -30.0 | -24.8 |
| 122 | -30.0 | -24.6 |
| 124 | -30.0 | -23.9 |
| 126 | -30.0 | -24.4 |
| 128 | -30.0 | -23.3 |
| 130 | -30.0 | -23.3 |
| 132 | -30.0 | -24.1 |
| 134 | -30.0 | -21.0 |
| 136 | -30.0 | -21.8 |
| 138 | -30.0 | -21.9 |
| 140 | -30.0 | -24.9 |
| 142 | -30.0 | -25.2 |
| 144 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 146 | -30.0 | -28.4 |
| 148 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 150 | -30.0 | -29.7 |
| 152 | -30.0 | -25.7 |
| 154 | -30.0 | -26.9 |
| 156 | -30.0 | -25.2 |
| 158 | -30.0 | -25.7 |
| 160 | -30.0 | -25.2 |
| 162 | -30.0 | -28.0 |
| 164 | -30.0 | -27.8 |
| 166 | -30.0 | -29.5 |
| 168 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 170 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 172 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 174 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 176 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 178 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 180 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 182 | -29.2 | -27.2 |
| 184 | -29.6 | -30.0 |
| 186 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 188 | -30.0 | -30.0 |
| 190 | -30.0 | -27.1 |
| 192 | -30.0 | -24.3 |
| 194 | -30.0 | -22.5 |
| 196 | -30.0 | -22.7 |
| 198 | -30.0 | -23.8 |
| 200 | -30.0 | -24.5 |
| 202 | -30.0 | -24.7 |
| 204 | -30.0 | -24.8 |
| 206 | -30.0 | -24.2 |
| 208 | -30.0 | -22.3 |
| 210 | -30.0 | -23.3 |
| 212 | -30.0 | -23.0 |
| 214 | -30.0 | -23.0 |
| 216 | -30.0 | -22.5 |
| 218 | -30.0 | -22.2 |
| 220 | -28.4 | -20.4 |
| 222 | -28.1 | -20.9 |
| 224 | -27.5 | -18.5 |
| 226 | -28.0 | -19.2 |
| 228 | -28.2 | -20.8 |
| 230 | -29.3 | -21.8 |
| 232 | -29.6 | -27.0 |
| 234 | -30.0 | -27.9 |
| 236 | -29.8 | -26.3 |
| 238 | -30.0 | -23.3 |
| 240 | -30.0 | -21.8 |
| 242 | -28.4 | -23.0 |
| 244 | -28.2 | -23.5 |
| 246 | -28.6 | -23.1 |
| 248 | -28.3 | -21.5 |
| 250 | -27.1 | -20.5 |
| 252 | -27.5 | -20.6 |
| 254 | -26.9 | -20.8 |
| 256 | -24.5 | -20.6 |
| 258 | -23.8 | -20.9 |
| 260 | -22.0 | -21.1 |
| 262 | -21.1 | -20.1 |
| 264 | -20.1 | -19.1 |
| 266 | -20.4 | -18.9 |
| 268 | -19.9 | -17.9 |
| 270 | -19.1 | -17.0 |
| 272 | -17.8 | -16.9 |
| 274 | -16.8 | -16.2 |
| 276 | -15.9 | -15.5 |
| 278 | -15.7 | -15.0 |
| 280 | -15.1 | -14.1 |
| 282 | -14.7 | -14.0 |
| 284 | -14.4 | -13.0 |
| 286 | -14.1 | -13.1 |
| 288 | -13.0 | -12.0 |
| 290 | -12.4 | -11.5 |
| 292 | -11.5 | -11.0 |
| 294 | -10.8 | -10.2 |
| 296 | -10.0 | -9.3 |
| 298 | -9.4 | -8.7 |
| 300 | -8.9 | -7.7 |
| 302 | -8.3 | -6.7 |
| 304 | -7.7 | -5.7 |
| 306 | -6.8 | -4.6 |
| 308 | -6.0 | -3.7 |
| 310 | -4.8 | -2.5 |
| 312 | -3.7 | -1.3 |
| 314 | -2.7 | -0.3 |
| 316 | -1.6 | 0.7 |
| 318 | -0.5 | 1.8 |
| 320 | 0.7 | 2.8 |
| 322 | 1.9 | 3.8 |
| 324 | 3.0 | 4.8 |
| 326 | 4.1 | 5.8 |
| 328 | 5.1 | 6.7 |
| 330 | 6.1 | 7.5 |
| 332 | 7.0 | 8.4 |
| 334 | 8.0 | 9.1 |
| 336 | 8.8 | 9.8 |
| 338 | 9.6 | 10.6 |
| 340 | 10.3 | 11.1 |
| 342 | 10.9 | 11.7 |
| 344 | 11.5 | 12.2 |
| 346 | 12.0 | 12.6 |
| 348 | 12.4 | 12.9 |
| 350 | 12.7 | 13.2 |
| 352 | 13.0 | 13.4 |
| 354 | 13.3 | 13.5 |
| 356 | 13.4 | 13.6 |
| 358 | 13.4 | 13.6 |
This doesn’t look too bad. I think my tracker should be able to stay within +/- 10 deg. Would it be any problem if it is moving around constantly within this margin?
Here is the video from the boat: https://youtu.be/7CW1thuIHME
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@Martin What is the total cost of the ABS material? And the other parts? How many GPIO are required to run all of the peripherals? I imagine the software is not compute intensive at all.
@Syed I can’t tell the price of the ABS/PCL. But not very much. The parts are designed to be printed as quickly as possible and therefore also use little material. The motors are around 1,70 € each including the drivers. Plus an Arduino nano type board which you can get for 2,50 € and the magnetometer/accelerometer should be also around this price. I guess apart from the Dreamcatcher the most expensive component was the bucket. I’d like to add a GPS module still so it can calculate the local azimuth and elevation. And I use 16 GPIOs. 3x4 for the motors, 2 as switches for the end positions of elevation and skew and 2 more for the magnetometer/accelerometers i2c bus. The software is quite simple I guess.
When are you going back out on the water? Do you have the new LNB?
Unfortunately I live quite far away from the place where my boat is docked. I think I’ll go at the end of Juli or beginning of August. I don’t have the new LNB. Currently I am using the LNB I bought as a template to design my device before I had the Dreamcatcher. It was the cheapest I could find on amazon but it seems to be working way better than the Maverick or the Octagon I bought recently. It is a SatConn High Performence SHQ-101 Single LNB.