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| The reference to 28.2ºE
in connection with the position of Astra 2, although strictly accurate,
can be confusing. It actually refers to the line of longitude at which
the satellite system is located above the equator. So the exact compass
bearing of the system depends very much on where are you at the time.
It's unlikely that a compass will be accurate enough to aim the dish by
compass bearing alone, but it will get you in the right general area to
start aiming the dish more precisely. (Of course,
geologists will tell you that the magnetic north and south poles flip
over every million years or so and that we're overdue for the next one -
which will make a bit of a mess of this page!) The following information is a list of compass bearings and dish settings for various cities and major towns across Europe - just pick the one nearest to you. The capital city is listed first, followed by other towns in alphabetic order. (I make that point to emphasise that certain other towns are above my home town Manchester only in terms of alphabetic sequence, not in importance!) |
| Compass bearing (in degrees) |
Dish elevation * (in degrees) |
Skew (degrees from vertical, clockwise as you face the dish) | ||
| United Kingdom | ||||
| London | 146 | 26 | 14 | |
| Aberdeen | 145 | 20 | 11 | |
| Aberystwyth | 142 | 24 | 16 | |
| Barnstaple | 141 | 24 | 16 | |
| Belfast | 141 | 20 | 14 | |
| Birmingham | 145 | 26 | 15 | |
| Bristol | 142 | 25 | 16 | |
| Caernarfon | 142 | 23 | 15 | |
| Canterbury | 147 | 26 | 13 | |
| Cardiff | 142 | 25 | 16 | |
| Edinburgh | 144 | 20 | 12 | |
| Fort William | 142 | 19 | 13 | |
| Glasgow | 143 | 20 | 13 | |
| Inverness | 143 | 19 | 12 | |
| King's Lynn | 146 | 24 | 13 | |
| Londonderry | 139 | 20 | 15 | |
| Manchester | 144 | 23 | 14 | |
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 145 | 22 | 12 | |
| Penzance | 139 | 24 | 18 | |
| Plymouth | 141 | 25 | 17 | |
| Swansea | 142 | 24 | 16 | |
| Ullapool | 143 | 18 | 12 | |
Austria |
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| Vienna | 164 | 34 | 4 | |
| Graz | 162 | 34 | 4 | |
| Innsbruck | 157 | 33 | 8 |
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| Salzburg | 160 | 33 | 8 |
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Belgium |
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| Brussels | 150 | 27 | 11 | |
| Antwerp | 150 | 27 | 11 | |
| Bruges | 149 | 27 | 12 | |
Czech Republic |
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| Prague | 162 | 31 | 4 | |
Denmark |
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| Copenhagen | 161 | 25 | 3 | |
| Aarhus | 159 | 24 | 5 | |
| Esbjerg | 156 | 27 | 6 | |
| Skive | 158 | 23 | 5 | |
France |
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| Paris | 147 | 29 | 14 | |
| Bourg-en-Bresse | 149 | 32 | 13 | |
| Brest | 140 | 26 | 18 | |
| Caen | 144 | 27 | 15 | |
| Calais | 148 | 27 | 13 | |
| Chartres | 146 | 29 | 15 | |
| Châteauroux | 145 | 30 | 16 | |
| Clermont-Ferrand | 147 | 32 | 15 | |
| Dijon | 150 | 31 | 13 | |
| La Rochelle | 142 | 30 | 18 | |
| Le Mans | 144 | 29 | 16 | |
| Lyon | 149 | 32 | 14 | |
| Marseilles | 148 | 35 | 15 | |
| Nice | 151 | 35 | 13 |
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| Orleans | 147 | 29 | 15 | |
| Perpignan | 146 | 34 | 17 | |
| Rouen | 146 | 28 | 15 | |
| St Malo | 143 | 27 | 17 | |
| Strasbourg | 154 | 31 | 10 | |
| Tours | 145 | 30 | 16 | |
Germany |
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| Berlin | 161 | 28 | 4 | |
| Dortmund | 154 | 27 | 9 | |
| Dresden | 162 | 30 | 4 | |
| Dusseldorf | 154 | 28 | 9 | |
| Frankfurt | 156 | 30 | 8 | |
| Göttingen | 158 | 28 | 7 | |
| Hamburg | 158 | 25 | 5 | |
| Hannover | 158 | 28 | 7 | |
| Leipzig | 160 | 30 | 6 | |
| Mannheim | 154 | 31 | 10 | |
| Munich | 159 | 33 | 7 | |
Greece |
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| Athens | 174 | 46 | -2 | |
| Salonica | 172 | 42 | -1 | |
Holland |
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| Amsterdam | 152 | 27 | 10 | |
| Eindhoven | 152 | 28 | 10 | |
| Groningen | 154 | 26 | 8 | |
Hungary |
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| Budapest | 168 | 34 | 1 | |
| Pécs | 166 | 36 | 3 |
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Ireland |
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| Dublin | 140 | 22 | 16 | |
| Cork | 137 | 22 | 18 | |
| Galway | 137 | 21 | 17 | |
| Limerick | 137 | 21 | 17 | |
| Tralee | 135 | 21 | 19 | |
| Waterford | 138 | 22 | 17 | |
Italy |
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| Rome | 157 | 39 | 10 | |
| Florence | 156 | 36 | 10 | |
| Genoa | 156 | 36 | 12 | |
| Milan | 154 | 35 | 11 | |
| Naples | 159 | 40 | 9 | |
| Rimini | 159 | 37 | 8 |
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| Turin | 153 | 34 | 12 | |
| Venice | 158 | 36 | 9 | |
Luxembourg |
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| Luxembourg City | 152 | 29 | 11 | |
Norway |
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| Oslo | 160 | 20 | -1 | |
| Stavanger | 154 | 20 | 0 | |
| Tromsø | 170 | 11 | -4 | |
| Trondheim | 160 | 17 | -1 | |
Poland |
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| Warsaw | 171 | 30 | -1 | |
| Krakow | 170 | 32 | 0 | |
Portugal |
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| Lisbon | 129 | 31 | 30 | |
| Faro | 130 | 33 | 31 | |
| Oporto | 131 | 30 | 28 | |
Romania |
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| Bucharest | 177 | 39 | -5 | |
| Constanta | 180 | 39 | -7 | |
Slovakia |
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| Bratislava | 165 | 34 | 3 | |
Slovenia |
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| Ljubljana | 161 | 35 | 6 | |
Spain |
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| Madrid | 136 | 33 | 23 | |
| Alicante | 139 | 37 | 24 | |
| Almería | 136 | 37 | 27 | |
| Badajoz | 133 | 33 | 28 | |
| Barcelona | 143 | 36 | 20 | |
| La Coruña | 133 | 29 | 25 | |
| Malaga | 134 | 36 | 28 | |
| San Sebastían | 140 | 32 | 21 | |
| Seville | 132 | 34 | 32 | |
| Valencia | 140 | 36 | 23 | |
| Valladolid | 136 | 31 | 24 | |
Sweden |
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| Stockholm | 168 | 22 | -1 | |
| Jämtland | 165 | 18 | 0 | |
| Orebro | 164 | 22 | 1 | |
Switzerland |
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| Bern | 152 | 32 | 12 | |
| Basel | 154 | 32 | 10 | |
| Geneva | 151 | 33 | 13 | |
| Lucerne | 154 | 33 | 11 | |
| Wengen | 154 | 33 | 11 | |
| Zurich | 155 | 33 | 10 |
| * | Don't forget that most dishes are of the offset type. This means that the signal strikes the face of the dish at an angle and is reflected downwards to the LNB. Therefore the dish has to be aimed some way below the given angle of elevation. Only with prime-focus dishes such as the Multimo should the dish be pointed directly at the satellite. |
| The above figures were derived
using calculations provided by the SES-Astra website, http://www.ses-astra.com:80/consumer/en/how-to-receive-astra/installation-assistant/index.php The skew values take account of the fact that Astra 2 is tilted by 7º relative to the earth's axis. Alternatively you can use www.dishpointer.com which displays the bearings on a Google map of your location. The 2 websites generate slightly different azimuth bearings but the differences are too small to have any practical effect (my view is that most compasses are not accurate to within 2 degrees). On the other hand, the Google view might give you a nearby landmark that you can use to aid alignment. |
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