Checking for a Clear Line-of-Site
How can you tell if you can get HughesNet, Viasat or some other satellite Internet Access solution at your location?
First, you will need to know which satellite or satellites you have to choose from for service.
For example, different services use different satellites.
You will want to check with your service provider to see which satellite you will need to use for service.
HughesNet Gen5
(Ka-Band Satellites)
Echostar 19 (E19) @ 97W
Echostar 17 (E17) @ 107.1 West
HughesNet HN7000s
(Ku-Band Satellites)
Galaxy 28 (G28 /IA8) @ 89 West
Galaxy 17 (G17) @ 91 West
Galaxy 16 (G16) @ 99 West
SatMex 5 (SM5) @ 117 West
SatMex 9 (SM9) @ 117 West
Horizon 1 (H1) @ 127 West
iDirect
(Ku-Band Satellites)
SatMex 9 (SM9) @ 117 West
Galaxy 18 (G18) @ 123 West
Wildblue
(Ka-Band Satellites)
Wildblue 1 @ 111 West
Viasat
(Ka-Band Satellites)
Viasat 2 (V2) @ 70 West
Galaxy 28 (G28) @ 89 West
Viasat 1 (V1) @ 115 West
Once you know which satellite(s) are available in your area for you to use, you can use a site like https://satbeams.com/footprints to check the over-all satellite footprint, and then you can use a site like https://dishpointer.com to find a clear line-of-site from your intended antenna location.
https://dishpointer.com will give you an icon that you can drag around over a Google Earth Map Overlay to find the best location for your antenna.
In order to check the line-of-site accurately, you should collect the Azimuth and Elevation from the https://dishpointer.com site or from an app and then check it from the intended site location. You can use a compass such as this one, and an elevation gauge (inclinometer) such as this one, or you can get a nifty two-n-one tool that will do both for you, such as this one. An inclinometer is a great investment that will save you time setting our portable systems up or moving them around if you intend on doing so.
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We recommend using a cheap magnetic compass to find your azimuth because smartphone apps can be 10 – 15 degrees off sometimes. This is actually our number 1 support call and solution when our customers cannot find the satellite.
Contact Us if you are in our local service areas and would like use to perform a site survey to check out your site to see if and where you can find a clear line-of-site or if you have any questions about this process.