[A/S] Re 2-way satellite internet

["etaoin_shrdlu_00" <davidyahoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I haven't mounted my dish on my (71 Tradewind) AS yet, but it's 
been carried to campgrounds inside same and set up... sort of 
in line with the FCC rules but not exactly.

The applicable FCC rule (if someone really needs the CFR 
citation I'll go look it up) is that the licensee of a transmitter is 
responsible to see that emissions are within the parameters of 
the license (when you buy service, you operate under their 
license). As with almost all 2-way and broadcast licenses, it is 
now entirely up to the licensee, not the FCC, to develop a 
procedure for ensuring that these parameters are met. In my 
case, I was able to convince a Starband dealer that I was 
qualified, and he gave me his codes and password to get the 
installation  commissioned.  Reading the agreement he signed, 
he'd be in the soup if he were identified, so please don't ask. I 
too have an FCC GROL license and have worked in 2-way and 
broadcast for many years, and I guess my explanation of how to 
point a dish using a spectrum analyzer was enough.

There are two real problems for the licensee to worry about. One 
is pointing the dish at the right satellite, which is easy with a 
satfinder, and easier with a spectrum analyzer. More critical is 
adjusting the skew of the dish so that your transmissions are 
entirely horizontally or vertically polarized, as required for the 
transponder you're using. Adjacent transponders on the same 
bird use opposite polarization, so a few degrees off in skew will 
result in your signal getting into the next transponder. If the dish 
is truly plumb, you can align the receiver for maximum on your 
transponder (and alternate ones above and below it in 
frequency); when the receiver is right, the transmitter will be too. 
You can get close with a protractor and satfinder, but you can't  
be sure of getting it right without a good spectrum analyzer -- my 
(elderly) lab grade HP 141T was barely up to the task. I guess 
that the automatic pointing system mentioned used some 
version of this technique. The other (better) method is to use the 
satellite's own test system, that reads back the correct 
polarization and cross polarization signal strengths from your 
transmitter. But there are only a few test channels available and 
it's not in the satellite companies' marketing plan to give users 
access to these facilities. I would expect that the doubled price 
for mobile users might include more frequent access to the test 
channels so the automatic stuff could be checked.

In short, the FCC rule tosses the responsibility for compliance 
back to the licensee. Starband and Hughes *could* develop a 
system to allow people to do it themselves, but they have chosen 
not to, and they are within their rights  I guess. This has to be 
fixed sometime soon, because people do in fact pick their 
dishes up and move them around, so it would make a lot of 
sense to give people the option of getting access to the 
alignment system already in place -- with this and a cell phone 
you can be done in 5 minutes.

David J
California