The azimuth from a GPS is only accurate when in motion. You can program the GPS
for true north or magnetic. Yes, the geo-sync birds are in the Clarke belt (over
the equator). It's not that easy to spot the bird. A couple degrees off and no
lock. Close (enough)......only counts in horseshoes, hand gernades, and atom
bombs. ;-)
Rick

rad0 wrote:

> Thanks
>
> > Channel Master makes a little box that goes inline for about $39.00. It's
> just a
> > through put with a tap that powers (from the receiver) a simple RF amp/det
> that
> > drives a meter and piezo device. It will not degrade your receive
> performance.
> >
> > To answer your second question, it's possible but not that practical
> unless you
> > want to do it for the sake of saying you did it. You'd have to accurately
> know
> > your azimuth (flux gate compass), lat/lon with GPS, calculate in your
> magnetic
> > variance, lash it together with a few servos, write a program to sense and
> aim,
> > hoping to get the right satellite, hope you have a clear shot at the bird,
> and
> > maybe it will work. Or, just buy one that does just that, for about $800.
> >
> I didn't know you could buy them for $800, but anyway, I've never really
> been able
> to do anything cheaper or better than Mr Market, so I guess it is just so I
> could say
> 'I did it' ... this is a hobby for me
>
> accurately knowing your azimuth, this I'm not sure how to calculate...but
> can not everything
> be calculated with the data from a gps??  it gives heading, not sure if it
> is mag heading though
>
> And aren't the satellites directing over the equator?  or close enough for
> aiming purposes??
>
> Thanks again
>
> Altitude is the angle up from the horizon. Zero degrees altitude means
> exactly on your local horizon, and
> 90 degrees is "straight up". Hence, "directly underfoot" is -90 degrees
> altitude. Azimuth is the angle along
> the horizon, with zero degrees corresponding to North, and increasing in a
> clockwise fashion. Thus, 90
> degrees is East, 180 degrees is South, and 270 degrees is West. Using these
> two angles, one can describe
> the apparent position of an object (such as the Sun at a given time).
>
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