Here's a quick and dirty trick for estimating elevation I learn in an astronomy club. I'm pretty average so it works great for me. Extend your arm position your hand facing back at you. On average, supposedly, each finger width represents 2 degrees. Hence each hand span, including thumb, is 10 degrees. I use this method all the time and I am usually pretty close.

EMike

EMike McCardel, KC8YLD ARRL Ohio Section Affiliated Club Coordinator Associate Direction of Education, AMSAT-NA AMSAT-Edu Moderator Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 9, 2012, at 15:47, Wayne Estes w9ae@charter.net wrote:

To measure elevation you can buy a simple elevation gauge or protractor.

"Eyeballing" the elevation should get you within 10 degrees of the actual elevation which is well within the beam width of your antennas.

When using headphones it's easy to "peak" the antennas by ear. Simply wave the antennas back and forth and stop when you get the best quieting (on an FM sat). Or stop slightly "ahead" of the best quieting, so you won't have to adjust it again so soon.

Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, Cn83ik _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb