Re: [amsat-bb] Re: True North - Sorry - 1 hour error in original calc.

[Doug Braun NA1DB <na1db@xxxxxxxxx>]

All this sounds complicated!  Myself, I simply wait until my tracking
program (Sattrack for Unix) says that the sun is at an azimuth 
of 180 degrees.  Or I could also read the sun's azimuth at any
given moment, point my antennas there, and visually check them for error.

Doug 
NA1DB

At 08:34 PM 2/7/01 , Clifford Buttschardt wrote:
>Hey all, this is JUST too complicated!  Indeed true North or South is
>easily gotten by calculations of "Local Apparent Noon" as many of us that
>have done navigation, but what is important is what time is midway
>between sunrise and sunset.  The very worst error is two minutes and for
>ham purposes, that is minor!  Simply find the time of local sunrise and
>sunset and divide by two.  This assumes that all the local differences are
>already calculated-----which is usually done by the TV personalities who
>have no clue what they are expounding, but they sure try hard. 
>      This eliminates the problem of local or UTC time.  As has been
>suggested earlier, I wish all of us would be on UTC, but then, this not
>likely to happen, but the idea of satellite operators on UTC is excellent!
>      Do consult some local charts if you can.  On the coast the sunrise
>and sunset is gotten easily.  Do not be surprised if that figure is
>quite different from local noon!  In any case the result is usually no
>more than the difference between your house and the local pub!
>Cliff K7RR
>
>
>----
>Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
>To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org 


_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

----
Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org