SOFTWARE REPORT

App for Satellite Antenna Alignment

Satbeams
mobile

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fast and visual information on receivable satellites at a

given location
satellite data are available offline and can be updated at
any time
footprints can be visualised to determine the required
antenna diameter
satellites are shown automatically as soon as the
camera is activated

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SOFTWARE REPORT

App for Satellite Antenna Alignment

Useful app
for satellite antenna
alignment
Its the same problem we
are faced with again and
again. Theres a satellite
antenna to be set up and
aligned, but is the satellite
we are aiming at receivable
at all at our location? Actually, thats two questions
packaged into one. Number
one: Is the location within
the satellites footprint and is
the antennas diameter sufficient for reliable reception,
especially at the fringes of
the footprint? Number two:
Is there a direct line of sight
between the antenna and
the satellite, or does a tree
or building stand in the way?
Those are key questions that
beg answering before you
should even think about installing a satellite antenna,
because whats the point
of going to great lengths if
you dont know (a) whether

youll be successful in the

end and (b) which location is
best suited for the antenna
in order to achieve optimum
results.
The people behind the
www.satbeams.com website
have come up with a new app
for smartphones and tablets
that can help answer those
essential questions quickly,
hassle-free, and in a matter
of seconds. The best part?
You can do all that offline
and dont need an Internet
connection that may incur
additional costs. All you need
to shell out is a one-time
charge of EUR 10.00 to purchase and download the app
to your smartphone or tablet from Google Play Store or

Apple iTunes Store.

Next, you need to create a free account at www.
satbeams.com in order to
be able to download up-todate satellite data from the
Internet. The app will automatically access a Satbeams
server and obtain all current data, a process that in
our case only took slightly
less than 90 seconds on an
LTE connection. The Satbeams mobile app then automatically switches to the
main menu, which is pretty
much filled to the brim with
features and functions and
therefore may look slightly
overwhelming at first sight.
But rest assured, the two

05-06/2015
Satbeams App
Find available satellites
with total ease

www.TELE-audiovision.com/15/05/satbeams

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major functions of the app

can be launched quickly and
without further ado. You can
always have a closer look
at all other entries (About,
Products & Services, News,
Contact and Help) at a later
stage. In actual fact, all they
do is either refer you to the
Satbeams website or offer
general information and assistance.
We did appreciate that
the Augmented Reality (AR)
function of the app activates
automatically to superimpose the Clarke Belt on the
current camera view whenever users point their smartphone or tablet towards the
sky. This way you can find
out simply by moving your
device whether or not the
desired satellite can be received with an unrestricted
line of sight from your location. The orbital positions
that are available are shown
along a virtual Clarke Belt.
During our test this feature
gave no reason for complaint. The only thing you

need to take care of is activating the GPS function of

your smartphone or tablet,
otherwise the device wont
be able to determine the
current location.
With the help of the footprint function the Satbeams
mobile app can display the
footprints of all direct-tohome (DTH) satellites worldwide on a virtual globe. We
looked very closely at the
accuracy of individual beams
coming from one and the
same satellite. After all,

theres a huge difference between channels transmitted

from ASTRA 2A and ASTRA
2F, for example, that need
to be received in Central Europe, even though both satellites carry British TV and
radio stations from 28.2
East. While in one case an 80
cm antenna will do, the other
beam requires an antenna
diameter of at least three
meters in Central Europe. As
hoped, the app takes care of
those subtle (and not so subtle) differences and precisely

indicates all relevant information. Looking for some icing on the cake? Well, there
you go: Apart from a range
of technical details, the app
also immediately calculates
the right azimuth and elevation parameters for all satellites.
We found it very useful
that more than one footprint
can be shown at the same
time, and the range of customisation options for the
virtual globe is almost unlimited. This way you may opt to

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1. Before you can start using the app you

need to create a free account at www.satbeams.com
2. Registration page
3. Updating the database via the Internet
4. Main menu of the Satbeams mobile app

5. Presentation of the Clarke Belt above a

virtual globe
6. All DTH satellites are listed in a comprehensive database
7. Presentation of the footprint of ASTRA 2F
28.2 East

8. In night mode you can clearly observe

which parts of the world are currently facing
the sun
9. The current weather can be shown, if
required

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10. Presentation of a satellites footprint

without scaling rings
11. Presentation of a satellites footprint
with scaling rings but without colouring

12. You can even have the population

density indicated (the darker the red colour,
the higher the population density)
13. Simultaneous presentation of two
different footprints

add borders between states,

a cloud cover between the
sky and the surface or nighttime view, if thats to your
liking. One thing we found a
little quirky but interesting
nonetheless is that you can
change the way countries
are presented according to
their respective population
densities. The same level
of detail is available for the
footprints as well, which can
be presented with or without
full colouring, scaling lines,
etc. The entire screen con-

14. Each satellite comes with a wide range

of technical details that can be called up at
any time
15. Settings menu of the app

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16
tent can be shared with friends via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with a
single touch on the screen.
Still, the only aspect that really matters for a satellite alignment app is the
accuracy of the provided data, and it is
in this field that you simply cant fault
Satbeams. The app relies on the same
database that is made available to users of the standard website, and we all

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know that this is probably one of the
most comprehensive and most up-todate satellite databases around.
With all that praise for Satbeam and
its mobile app we did, however, notice
that the popular daily frequency lists
that are available from www.satbeams.
com have not made it to the app. What
a pity, since the most current transponder data right on the smartphone

16. Free line of sight all satellites shown

here on the virtual Clarke Belt can easily be
received at this location
17. Obvious from this picture: All satellites
further out then approximately 40 West
cannot be received at this location

or tablet would have been an awesome

treat. Other than that, the app is a
valuable tool for everyone dealing with
antenna alignment that needs to be accomplished easily and quickly.

Download im Google Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/
details?id=com.letsplaymobile.satbeams
Download im iTunes Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/satbeams/
id863040249?ls=1&mt=8

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