Sun Fade


		Sun Fade

Sun transit fades for geosynchronous satellites occur when the sun crosses the earth’s equatorial plane during the spring and fall equinoxes. At these times, the sun aligns directly behind the satellites for a few minutes each day. When the sun moves directly behind the satellite relative to your receive antenna, the satellite signal can be overwhelmed by the enormous amount of thermally generated radio frequency (RF) noise radiated by the sun. This can cause reception interference. During these periods, RF noises from the sun can briefly and temporarily degrade the signal from any satellite distribution system. This web tool will allow customers to calculate predictions for sun outages in their area. The information that you will need to provide is:

Dish diameter size in meters
Frequency Band, i.e. C-Band or Ku-Band
Which Seasonal Equinox, i.e. Spring or Fall
What year for Sun Fade Predictions, i.e. 1998, 1999, etc

If you would like to find out the coordinates for your site, you can access the U.S. Census Bureau’s web site and search by either zip code or city name.

Please note however, the True Azimuth calculation is relative to the geographic North Pole. On the earth’s surface, a compass points to the magnetic North Pole rather than the geographic North Pole. The angular difference between these two directions is called Magnetic Declination. If you don’t account for magnetic declination in your azimuth setting, the azimuth calculation for your antenna location will be less precise. Use our Magnetic Declination Map to find out the declination value for your site.

If you have any questions, please contact our webmaster.