Yesterday around 1:28 PDT my 2-way satellite connection died, I called
tech support and after powering down my computer and restarting it
worked OK. But it then occurred to me that I had a Sun blockage. This
happens twice a year for a number of days when the Sun gets inside the
beam between my antenna and the satellite.
Today I used double sided tape to put a mirror on the windowsill making
a Sun image on the ceiling. I marked the ceiling at each 5 minutes past
the hour PDT and when the signal strength was dropped to 6.0 (it's
normally 6.7) and again when it was 5.0 (that's where the satellite
system dies). I have used a yellow highlighter to mark from 6.0 to 5.0
and from 5.0 to 6.0. In the future a Red highlighter can be used for
the area where the signal is below 5.0.
I plan to do more in the next few days.
The length from 1:00:00 pm to 2:00:00 pm is 25.5 inches. It's
approximately 6 feet horizontally from the mirror to the center of the
line on the ceiling. It's approximately 68 inches vertically from the
mirror to the ceiling.
Is that enough information to draw sundial lines, or do I need to mark
more points in addition to the above dozen or so points?
Having Fun,
Brooke Clarke, N6GCE
w/Java http://www.PRC68.com
w/o Java http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PRC68COM.shtml
http://www.precisionclock.com
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