WeatherTrac Industries
Geostationary Satellite Bearing Calculation V2
Last modified: October 14, 1998
NOTE: East+/West- sign convention is different than the previous version. West negative was selected to be consistant with a right-handed coordinate system. A special thank-you to Mike Carman/NCWCD for reporting an unrelated slight error in our previous version.
Use this page to check the line-of-site between your station location and a geostationary satellite of interest. This is useful to determine if there are any interfering buildings, trees, or even mountains between your proposed dish site and the satellite.
Enter your approximate station latitude, longitude, and the satellite subpoint longitude in signed fractional degrees for the satellite of interest. The applet below will calculate an azimuth and elevation angle from your station location to the satellite. Enter latitude as positive North and longitude as negative West fractional degrees. For example, Philadelphia, PA (U.S.A.) would be entered as latitude 40.0 and longitude -75.5; Sydney, Australia as latitude -40.0 and longitude 151.0.
Some approximate subpoints for WEFAX satellites worldwide are as follows:
| GOES-8 | -75 (75 West) |
| GOES-9 | -105 (105 West) |
| GOES-10 | -135(135 West) |
| METEOSAT-7 | 0 (Greenwich Meridian) |
| GOMS/ELEKTRO | 75(75 East) |
| GMS-5 | 140 (140 East) |
Elevation angle is presented in degrees above the horizon, with 0 degrees at the horizon and 90 degrees directly overhead.
Azimuth angle is compass bearing, with 0 degrees being North, 90 degrees East, 180 degrees South and 270 degrees West.
Use your browser BACK button to return.