TELEsatélite - TELE-satellite International Magazine
TELEsatélite - TELE-satellite International Magazine
TELEsatélite - TELE-satellite International Magazine
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lar smartphone into an indispensable tool<br />
for professional and amateur installers.<br />
Here at <strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong> we’ve been using<br />
both DishPointer apps for some time now<br />
and can unreservedly say that you’d be<br />
hard pressed to find a more reliable way<br />
of determining the reception situation at<br />
any given location. No more unnecessary<br />
work and no more wasted time and<br />
money.<br />
Price:<br />
DishPointer Maps - 5,99€ (7,99 US$)<br />
DisPointer Augmented Reality - 7,99€ (9,99 US$)<br />
DishPointer Compass - 15,99€ (19,99 US$)<br />
Rating: very good<br />
EasySat<br />
EasySat comes with a database of 173<br />
<strong>satellite</strong>s complete with their full names<br />
and orbital positions. Thanks to the builtin<br />
positioning system of the iPhone this<br />
app calculates azimuth, elevation and<br />
skew of any desired <strong>satellite</strong> with regard<br />
to the current location. There is also a<br />
virtual Clarke Belt for you to select the<br />
desired <strong>satellite</strong>s, or you may choose to<br />
pick your preferred orbital position from<br />
a pre-stored list.<br />
For those of you with an iPhone 3GS<br />
or iPhone 4 with integrated compass<br />
there even is a convenient graphic display<br />
showing <strong>satellite</strong> installers the way<br />
to the correct azimuth value. Red and<br />
green arrows pop up until you point<br />
the phone accurately in the direction of<br />
the required <strong>satellite</strong>. If you now point<br />
the antenna in the same direction as<br />
well you have already achieved a rough<br />
alignment. We tried it out in a real-world<br />
scenario and were very pleased with the<br />
results.<br />
Price:<br />
EasySat - 3,99€ (4,99 US$)<br />
Rating: good<br />
Satellite Sliderule Pro<br />
& Satellite Augmented<br />
Reality<br />
This app comes in two versions: One<br />
is for the iPhone 3G without compass<br />
(Satellite Sliderule Pro), and the other<br />
is for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 with<br />
compass (Satellite Augmented Reality).<br />
Both versions show a world map with<br />
geographic borders of all countries and<br />
superimpose grid-like rulers for determining<br />
azimuth and elevation values.<br />
Depending on the <strong>satellite</strong> that is to be<br />
received the grid is moved along the<br />
map like a slider and the app shows<br />
which <strong>satellite</strong> is to be found at the current<br />
position of the grid. You then need<br />
to find your own location on the map<br />
and read the values that are indicated<br />
with circles.<br />
In our test we were not really<br />
impressed by that approach since the<br />
world map appears rather small on the<br />
iPhone’s display. This makes it difficult<br />
to accurately determine your actual<br />
location, which in turn may lead to significant<br />
deviations from correct parameters.<br />
The augmented reality version of this<br />
app uses the integrated camera of the<br />
iPhone and superimposes the Clarke<br />
Belt with the corresponding <strong>satellite</strong><br />
positions. As with the DishPointer Compass<br />
app you need to point the iPhone<br />
towards the sky and move it until the<br />
Clarke Belt appears on the display.<br />
Unfortunately this feature, too, is<br />
inferior to the DishPointer app: While<br />
the Satellite Augmented Reality app<br />
features a comprehensive list of prestored<br />
<strong>satellite</strong>s – all of which can be<br />
selected or unselected for displaying –<br />
we didn’t appreciate the fact the Clarke<br />
Belt itself is not shown as a continuous<br />
■<br />
7. The Satellite Sliderule app creates a grid<br />
that you can slide across a world map<br />
8. Circles indicate the azimuth and elevation<br />
values<br />
9. The Satellite Augmented Reality app shows<br />
the positions of previously selected <strong>satellite</strong>s on<br />
the display. Unfortunately, the Clarke Belt itself<br />
is missing.<br />
line. Instead, <strong>satellite</strong>s seem to float<br />
freely which is confusing at times. In<br />
addition, there are seven virtual buttons<br />
in the upper section of the display<br />
for limiting <strong>satellite</strong>s by alphabet. In our<br />
opinion this feature serves no useful<br />
purpose and wastes valuable display<br />
space – after all, the iPhone’s display is<br />
on the smaller side for <strong>satellite</strong> installation<br />
anyway.<br />
To be fair, this app is less expensive<br />
than most competing products with €<br />
1.59 (US$ 1.99) for the simpler version<br />
and € 3.99 (US$ 4.99) for the augmented<br />
reality version. On the other hand, due<br />
to limited usability we still cannot wholeheartedly<br />
recommend this solution.<br />
Price:<br />
Satellite Sliderule - 1,59€ (1,99 US$)<br />
Satellite Augmented Reality - 3,99€ (4,99 US$)<br />
Rating: sufficient<br />
www.<strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong>.com — 12-01/2011 — <strong>TELE</strong>-<strong>satellite</strong> — Global Digital TV <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
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