DIY Friday: Satellite Survey Tool

 

 

 

So you get yourself an app phone, like the iPhone or some Android thing. Buy the DishPointer app so you can figure what satellite you can see. What then, rocket scientist?

You need a satellite survey tool to make something out of the data you collected. Here’s a beauty via Instructables. Here’s all you’ll need…

  • 1 compass that has degree markings zero to 360. and a sighting glass.
  • 1 childs protractor.  Mine was same size as a computer CD. Lucky me.
  • 1 half-inch plastic PVC pipe. cut into 3 pieces.  Length is not real critical. I used a piece 12 inches long, another one 6.5 inches, and a third one about 1.5 inches.
  • 1 end-cap for pvc
  • 1 plastic "tee" fitting
  • 2 pvc "splice" fittings
  • Some string
  • 1 cotter pin 
  • 5 or 6 inches of solder to wrap around the cotter pin.
  • a hot-glue gun and 3 or 4 glue sticks
  • a piece of sandpaper to sand off the lettering on the pvc pipes.

 Then go to Lyngsat and find your free-to-air channels.