TELEsatélite - TELE-satellite International Magazine

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DishLoc
The DishLoc app sports a clever design
and easy-to-use interface. It comes with
an extensive database of all direct-tohome
satellites, determines the current
location by using the iPhone’s integrated
GPS receiver and adjusts the list of satellites
accordingly. We genuinely liked that
approach because it just wouldn’t make
sense for a German user to be shown satellite
positions such as ECHOSTAR 14 at
119° West, for example. Unless you decide
to dig a hole through the earth you’ll never
have a chance of receiving signals from
that position in Germany.
As a next step, one or more satellites
can be selected for detailed analysis. As
soon as the current location is set either
manually or determined via GPS all satellite
entries come with correct azimuth,
elevation and skew values. We found this
to be a very convenient feature. There are
two options available when you go about
the antenna alignment: You can either
switch to map view which comes with
arrows (similar to DishPointer Maps) and
superimposes the available satellite positions,
or you activate the augmented reality
mode which uses the iPhone camera to
create a combination of camera view and
Clarke Belt – complete with available satellites.
We tried both options and both delivered
flawless results which matched those of the
128 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 12-01/2011 — www.TELE-satellite.com
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1. Various settings that are available with
Satellite Tracker
2. The plus version uses a map to indicate
the actual footprint of a selected satellite
DishPointer apps. The app also inserts a
reticle in addition to the Clarke Belt, which
makes it even easier to find the perfect
antenna alignment. There are a number
of optional settings and all iPhone models
are supported. The app even works with
the iPod touch, even though there might
be some restrictions due to different hardware
used by Apple. To sum up, the Dish-
Loc leaves nothing to be desired.
Price: DishLoc - 10,99€ (13,99 US$)
Rating: very good
Conclusion
As you have seen, quite a number of
apps deal with satellite antenna installation
and alignment. Obviously, this overview
can only provide a snapshot of what
is available at a given point in time, as the
number of apps increases almost by the
day. Resourceful software developers are
probably working on even better solutions
this very moment and – as always –
beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While
particular features may be an absolute
must for some, others will go out of their
way to avoid them. We have tried to establish
factual criteria for rating all apps in this
overview, but we would still urge our readers
to try out and see for themselves which
app they like best. For a rough orientation
have a close look at the screenshots provided
or the information available on the
iTunes store.
3. Augmented reality view of DishLoc
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4. DishLoc only shows those satellites that can
actually be received at the current location
5. The blue lines in the DishLoc app indicate
the antenna’s position for receiving signals of a
particular satellite. For illustration purposes we
selected several satellites on this screenshot.
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