Fixed and Mobile Satellite Internet Access Links
Forums and websites related to StarBand®:
www.MobileInternetSatellite.com
Barb Nolley and Joe Laube are fellow SMSN Dealers and run this great site that is mostly devoted to StarBand and Hughesnet mobile satellite systems. It is especially nice for those seeking information on how to network their systems. The site and forums are free and a great resource.
www.rovinginternet.com
Another great fellow SMSN Dealer. Terry Cannon sells Tripods, Parts,
and Complete Starband or HughesNet systems for taking your Internet
dish and HDTV dish on the road.
www.StarBand.com
StarBands official website.
www.geo-orbit.org G-27
This is a foot print coverage image of the G-27 satellite at the 129 degree orbital slot, formerly known as IA-7 and before that as T-7. Look at the second image, the Ku band footprint, the standard .75 meter antenna will give you internet connectivity just about anywhere within the 46 db line and even out to the 44 db line although signal quality will be low and maintaining a solid connection may be difficult near that line. A .98 meter antenna will take you out to the 42 db line and a 1.2 meter will pretty much keep you connected anywhere within the 40 db line.
You should take the foot print coverage maps with a grain of salt since the map is meant to give you a general idea. It reads just like a topo map especially where the lines are close together. At these points the cliff effect comes into play and the signal will drop off very rapidly.
As you approach the outer limits of your antennas performance in a particular location you will notice that at night you will stay connected fine but as soon as 10AM to about 6 PM roll around you will lose receive lock because the satellites signal will not be strong enough to over come the background solar noise.
www.geamericom.com AMC-4
This is the GE-4 satellite footprint that StarBand also uses. The same above info for G-27 and antenna size applies to this footprint. This satellite is not currently accepting new accounts but is being used for older 48x service. New 48x account commissioning on this satellite ended on Dec 31st 2006.
www.geamericom.com AMC-6
This is the GE-6 satellite footprint that Spacenet uses. The same above info for T-7 and antenna size applies to this footprint. This satellite is used for Spacenets commercial enterprise services.
www.spacecom.com
Twice a year, in the spring and the fall, coincident with the spring and fall equinoxes (March 20/21 and September 20/21, i.e. when the seasons change), the sun passes across the equator where it crosses (passes) directly behind each satellite in the orbital belt. This will cause a several min black out in communications for satellite users. This sites sun outage calculator allows you to plan ahead and prepare for it.
www.geo-orbit.org
If you want more info on sun outages this link will take you to a detailed explanation of the phenomena.
Groups devoted to mobile satellite
Data Storm Users
Mr. Don Bradner, probably the most knowledgeable authority on Datastorm/Motosat Auto Pointing Units, runs this impressive site. It used to be mostly devoted to Hughes Net auto pointing systems but now also has a section of the forum devoted to portable tripod systems and other service providers. The site is frequented by many friendly users and dealers who are always willing to help out newbies and other satellite internet users. If you want the scoop on auto-pointing systems for your RV there really is no better place for information. Another fun feature of this site is an interactive map where members can plot their location as they move around with their portable systems and leave messages for each other. It is obvious that Don is devoted to sharing in an open style his knowledge of Hughs Net systems and other aspects of satellite internet. If you do become a frequent visitor and use his interactive map please consider making a donation to the site.
General satellite info:
www.geo-orbit.org
This is the big kahuna, Grande Burrito of satellite informational sites. Absolutely jam packed with a multitude of topics and information. If you can't find it here, it does not exist or is really obscure. This is a large site - with over 170 web pages, 500 images and 2000 source and cross reference links - it has much good info buried deep within. Enter into the search engine satellite keywords or words of your satellite interest and it will display a page of hyperlink results for content of this site.
www.lyngsat.com
Want to know who is using what satellite, what transponder and what frequencies? Then this is the site to check.
www.astro.com/atlas
Need to know the longitude and latitude of any city in the world so you can then figure out if it's in your satellites footprint. Just enter the name. It's really an astrology site but works great for this purpose.
www.satsig.net
International Satellite Internet broadband service providers and dish pointing. Review, compare and choose alternative international service providers. This site also has a great forums section divided into regions, North and South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, India, Australia, Asia.
Fun satellite links:
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview
This one is cool. I don't even know how to describe it. Check it out, quite amazing.
www.terraserver.microsoft.com
High resolution photos (.25 meters per pixel) of anywhere from outer space as taken by satellite cameras.
Speed tests
www.pcpitstop.com/internet
Make sure when you select the download speed test you scroll down and click on Satellite connection
www.dslreports.com/tools
performance.toast.net
I usually select the "shuttle and text" test for downloads
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