Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with satellite

What's in this old satellite image?

BradNelson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:53:30 -0800

Minneapolis: What was this tent for? This parking lot is now Gold Medal Park. This now-out-dated satellite image shows a huge tent and series of smaller tents in a parking lot that has since been converted into a park (and the site of the new Guthrie Theater). But it seems quite large to be a mere temporary facility. Does anyone remember what it was for?

Reliable, faster internet access from an apartment in Beijing.

bleecker — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:29:14 -0800

Will be moving to Beijing and would like to have high speed reliable internet service in my apartment. We'll likely be living in one of the US or HK developed apartments along Chao Yang park. I've worked with DSL connections in serviced apartments in Beijing and Shanghai and was not thrilled with the throughput (70kbs) or reliability. The Great Firewall is not an issue as far as completely blocking sites, but I'm sure it affects transfer speeds from the US sites I'd be accessing. I've done some digging and have come up with:

1. Dual DSL lines and a load balancing router: wouldn't really increase throughput of a single connection but might help with simultaneous transfers and reliability.
2. Satellite internet: Pricier and legally shadowy. No guarantee that I could even put up/properly direct a dish.

Are there any other options I should consider? Are there "commercial only" options that may be possible?

Bonus question:
Is there some way I could increase the likelihood that I would be able to create VPN connections to the US. (In my experience, I was able do so with 1 out of the 2 DSL connections I used in China).

Interesting GPS applications?

vizsla — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:16:37 -0800

What are useful/fun/collaborative things that can be done with a PDA, computer and a small GPS device these days?

If I must have a title, make it some pithy comment about the Yukon's Menstruation, I suppose.

converge — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:02:33 -0800

What is this? 60°24'37.66"N 130°48'59.78"W. View it in satellite on Google Maps or Earth. This has been bugging me for a couple of months. Forest fire? Maybe. But it seems to go much higher than the tree line (yeah, I get that the heat could possibly distort the sat pic) and shows up in a few sources (though, this area is probably not photographed much). I'm sure its not beetle kill. Might it be a huge copper deposit or some such?

realtime satellite orbit data?

sharksandwich — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:24:59 -0800

I vaguely recall seeing some kind of online/download that tracked in near realtime all of the satellites orbiting earth, allowing the user to pan around. Am I insane, or does that exist?

It's So Shiny, Now If Only It Worked

Ms. Saint — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:43:58 -0800

My Toshiba Satellite laptop has this problem. But, there's a catch: I'm pretty computer illiterate and don't know how to fix it. I have a Toshiba Satellite A75-S206, which I bought about three and a half years ago. It seems to have the regular overheating problems. I've sent it in for repairs twice now. Each time, it came back and worked pretty well for about a year.. Then started overheating again. Sometimes, I can get it to stay on for a few hours, but sometimes it won't stay on for even five minutes.

External fans do not help. Propping it up so it has better air circulation does not work. Holding it over bags of ice does not work.

I've read online (particularly in the ask.me question I linked to) that changing the fan can sometimes help things out. I'm also pretty sure that the fan and heat sink (I don't even know what or where that is) could use a nice cleaning. I'd like to know how to take my laptop apart myself, so that I can clean it out whenever it needs being done. However, like I said, I'm pretty computer illiterate. So, here are my questions:

1) The best answer in the previous question alludes to "websites with walk-throughs" for various models. Can anyone link me to a good one?

2) Is dissembling my laptop and installing a new fan something I should even try to do, given that all of my computer hardware experience is installing a video card in a desktop computer?

3) If I shouldn't try doing it myself, how much can I expect it to cost me to get a fan professionally installed? If I just went someplace and said, "It overheats, known problem, fix it," would they know what to do?

4) Am I completely wrong that this might actually help my laptop? Is there anything else I could/should try? I'm so tired and frustrated with it not working -- it hasn't been reliable for about a year and a half now. It would be so nice if it could actually be even slightly reliable.

Calling All Ecohydrologists

a_green_man — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:39:45 -0800

What does a river look like from above, over time? If you were to look at a river estuary from a satellite over a period of 100 or 1000+ years, what might it look like? A writhing snake-shape whipping at the lake/ocean? How much will it 'roam'? What might it do? I'm thinking more of flatland deltas where the terrain isn't terribly channeling.

and I would love to see any animations/movies/etc that would illustrate how a river moves over time. Do any of you know of anything like this?

How can you detect arsenic in soil from a satellite?

destro — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:50:36 -0800

How is it possible to detect arsenic in soil from a satellite? Fort Reno in DC was recently closed down because they identified arsenic in the soil from a satellite, but I'm not sure how that would be possible. Can you do x-ray fluoresence from space? Is there some other technique that's available that can see beneath the surface of land from that far away?

Where on the island of Cyprus is a really large satellite dish?

thewalrus — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:18:45 -0800

CyprusFilter: Where on the island of Cyprus are these large satellite antennas located? They belong to CYTA, the telecommunications authority of Cyprus. I know the antennas are somewhere in the Makarios area but cannot seem to locate them by Google Earth. Can someone familiar with Cyprus find the antennas and give me their latitude/longitude? I imagine the biggest dish is a noteworthy landmark if anyone lives near it.

Note: This is a commercial teleport, not the UK military/RAF facility near Episkopi which is located at 34°41'12.54"N x 32°50'48.30"E.

Help me with satellite provider parental controls.

drstein — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:16:19 -0800

Help me figure out which satellite provider has the best parental controls, specifically restrictions on time of day. We're moving to a new place at the beginning of June and the only viable choice for TV is Dish Network or DirecTV. The girlfriend has a 12 year old boy who is generally good.

We don't mind him having a TV in his room since we know we can use the V-Chip and block certain channels, but what we'd really like to do is set up restrictions on the time of day that the TV can be viewed. He's an ADHD kid and if you have a squawking box powered on at 3am, he'll zone out in front of it and won't sleep.

I'd like to know if any of you have experience with the time of day restrictions on the Dish Network or DirecTV hardware.

* Yes, I have searched both websites but cannot find anything beyond basic information. I'm interested in personal experiences.
* Please, no "Why does he need a TV?/Take the TV away!/etc" types of answers. I see nothing wrong with kids watching cartoons on a Saturday morning, but watching Cartoon Network at 3am on a school night is another story.

wimax systems interfering with c-band satellite terminals

thewalrus — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:04:20 -0800

Telecom nerd filter (again): Documented instances of 802.16-2004 or 802.16e-2005 WiMax installations interfering with C-band satellite systems? 3.40 GHz to 6.425 GHz frequency range. Several months ago I came across a blog post from a VSAT service provider in Indonesia. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it again, but he was concerned the possibility of fixed WiMax (802.16) installations interfering with C-band satellite systems.

C-band VSATs receive in the 3.40 GHz to 4.20 GHz range, and transmit from 5.80 to 6.425 GHz. This overlaps with the spectrum used by some fixed WiMax setups, particularly first and second generation Motorola Canopy systems that are being deployed in many developing countries.

Does anyone know of a documented instance of a WiMax system partially or totally interfering with the operation of a C-band VSAT or earth station? How close was the offending WiMax setup to the VSAT dish? Was it a point-to-point LAN/MAN bridge link, or a sectorised city covering WiMax base station installed on a hilltop? Any information on the satellite terminal that was interfered with (size of dish, electronics and modem used by dish, configuration) would also be useful.

I've lost the AC adapter, and I need to turn this laptop on.

cheeken — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:48:42 -0800

Is there a cheap (free) way to get information off my old Toshiba Satellite laptop now that I've lost the AC adapter? Read more about my plug-holes of differing sizes inside. I feel like I'm so close to finding the solution for this problem that it's really frustrating, but I can't figure it out, so here I am.

I have an old Toshiba Satellite (model# ps261u) that I'm no longer using. However, I was just looking for some older documents on my current laptop (another Toshiba Satellite [model# M55-S139]), and they aren't there, so I'm sure that they are on the old Toshiba.

The problem is that I've lost the AC adapter for the old one and none of the AC adapters for *anything* that's in the house (I've checked them all) fits the plug-hole on the old laptop. The metal thingy in the middle of the old plug-hole is thicker than all of the new laptop plugs. (Wow...this sounds dirrrrty.)

Among the current AC adapters I've tried (in case this helps):
New Toshiba laptop
Girlfriend's Toshiba laptop (newer still)
An older-model Dell laptop
DSL Router
Electric Drill charger

All too small.

My plan is to power it on, put in a jump drive and away I go...it's the powering it on that's the problem.

Is there some way I'm not thinking of to power this thing? Also, if it's more feasible, should I take out the hard drive and plug it in to something (this is less than ideal, of course) and get the documents that way?

name that documentary!

ddaavviidd — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:15:01 -0800

Help me find the title of this documentary with pirated, never-seen tv clips. A couple of years ago in a movie class I saw a documentary that presented a bunch of clips which were not meant to be shown on screen: a guy had set up his satellite dish to pick up the signal from live broadcasts. We basically saw what was going on during commercial breaks, or rehearsals. There were clips from Larry King talking about his pharmacist, and another one with a us presidential candidate preparing for his speech, and asking his assistant to go get some stuff at the corner store.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? I'm trying to find the title of that documentary. Thanks!

So basically this is all your fault, VISTA

Countess Elena — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:32:14 -0800

What should a bone-novice know about installing extra memory in a laptop, a Toshiba Satellite A135-S2386? The Toshiba Satellite was a nice cheap buy, but it really doesn't have enough RAM for all the crap it won't let you uninstall or take off startup, much less all the programs I want to run. I bought another 256 MB card, under the impression that it would be relatively easy to pop it in there and get going again with more RAM.

And maybe it is, but then, maybe it isn't. I don't know. Not a clue what I am doing. I don't dare open it up without knowing: what damage could I do, besides static or dust? Will the memory card just pop into place, or do I delicately fit it into position? With my bare hands? Should I hear a "click"? Which side is up?

There doesn't seem to be a tailor-made Internet guide for this particular model. But is the particular model's build important or not? The user manual does not encourage self-sufficiency -- it tells you that you mustn't open the thing up yourself, which surprised me when I turned to it, since I know everyone does it anyway.

In short: HALP.

Manage multiple Internet connections in XP

Emanuel — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:47:30 -0800

My system has multiple Internet connections, and I want to be able to specify which of these connections particular applications will use. I run Windows XP Pro. Connection A is EVDO. It's low-latency but has a limited amount of bandwidth usage per month (with steep overage charges if I exceed it), and is ideal for highly interactive applications (such as VNC, Remote Desktop, SSH, Skype, and certain web sites).

Connection B is satellite. It's high-latency, but without any limitations on monthly bandwidth usage, which makes it ideal for large downloads and general web browsing.

I want to be able to specify that certain applications use connection A (e.g. PuTTY, VNC, and RoyalTS), and have the other applications use connection B. I'd also like to be able to block certain applications from accessing the Internet at all, or only allow them to access certain IP address ranges. If it were possible to have connections from an application to certain IP addresses use connection A, and connections from the same application to other IP addresses use connection B, that would be really cool (but this is functionality I can live without if that is not possible).

Another very nice feature would be the ability to monitor total bandwidth usage on each Internet connection. If it was possible to monitor bandwidth usage per-application, that would be even better!

Can anyone recommend some software that will help? Googling gives me tonnes of hits for blocking and firewall software, but I didn't come across anything that looked like it does what I want.

Ideally, this would be one package with a nice GUI, but mixing and matching is fine, and I'm entirely comfortable with a text editor and the command-line if required. If I need to, I'd be OK with setting up a Linux (or *BSD) firewall box to manage my connections, but I'd rather not have to resort to that (recommendations for distributions that would make this relatively painless are appreciated).

Can I count on my GPS during an extended blackout?

CarlRossi — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:20:05 -0800

Say there's another huge blackout like the Northeast had a few years ago, and let's say it lasts two months... Will a GPS unit in my dashboard and powered by my car still be able to connect to the satellites it needs to, to direct me on my way?

Any way to load a short list of sites locally from the harddrive?

genial — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:03:40 -0800

Is there any way to cache a set list of websites so they load from the hard drive instead of dynamically? My setup: Satellite "broadband" in which what they really mean to advertise is "Faster than dial up but still slow enough at basic browsing to make you want to pull your hair out." We have a wireless router running DD-WRT.

Obviously I've looked into maximizing what I have for the time being because DSL isn't out here and it doesn't look like it's coming anytime soon. I've got Fasterfox running for whatever little good that might do. I block ads. I've even tried a paid service that would resample images to make the web a little less pretty but load quicker, but found it not worth the $5/mo. So here I am onto my next scheme.

The idea: There are certain sites I go to almost everyday that haven't changed in FOREVER. Google (my homepage), Gmail login page, and a few others to name a few. My biggest lag even when these sites are cached is the amount of time it takes for the computer to say to the site "Anything new? No? Alrighty, I guess I'll load now." I figure if I can localize certain sites so they're running off the hard drive it would speed up those specific page loads.

Am I way off the bat here or am I on to something that will possibly make my non-dynamic browsing a bit less teh suck?

Is satellite internet the only option?

gazole — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:22:35 -0800

I'm looking for broadband internet connectivity options for my (quite non-tech-savvy) in-laws. They live in a somewhat rural area in Wisconsin where no cable or DSL service exists. Their kids & grandkids are scattered about the U.S. and we rely on the internet to keep in touch, send photos & movies, etc. The problem is, they only have dialup internet, and the quality of their rural phone line is such that their 56k modem usually connects at 14.4k or worse, with frequent dropped connections and so much latency that one can't tell a call was dropped for several minutes.

The most obvious solution is satellite internet. I've looked into WildBlue and HughesNet, but I have some major reservations about satellite:

- High cost of entry ($300 or more up front for hardware + install)
- High monthly costs, especially considering how much bandwidth you get (best I've seen is $50/mo for 512k down/128k up - ugh!)
- Seems like satellite users get a lot of downtime (from sampling the broadbandreports.com forums) and/or need a lot of tech ability to keep the connection up.

We have to find something faster and more reliable than their awful dialup. Given that cable and DSL are completely unavailable out there, are there any alternatives to shelling out and bolting the dish on their house?

Perfect HDTV picture: Buy now or wait?

stewiethegreat — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:26:09 -0800

I haven't owned a tv since 2004. Since then, I've been downloading my shows, at first at compressed HD quality, and then more recently 720p and 1080i/p. I don't want to watch broadcast TV that looks like YouTube, I want a beautiful picture. Should I wait until 2010 to get an HDTV and service? Back in the day, I had digital cable on several TVs in an apartment on the other side of the country from where I live now. When I moved in 2004, I decided to save money and productivity by eliminating broadcast and cable/sat tv from my life. Indeed, I have been far more productive as a result. But, I still download a select few shows in hi-def and watch them on my laptop. Starting this past season, I've taken to downloading all of them in 720/1080 i/p depending on the rips available.

I'm starting to get in the mood to build an entertainment system again, and my field's audio, so I have that covered. My question is about the video side:

What HDTV, tuner, upscaler, DVD, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player and HD cable/sat video service should I get for the most beautiful visual entertainment experience? (I've heard the DirecTV's video compression sucks, for example.) Will prices on this stuff drop dramatically after the big switch to HDTV in a few years?

I'm willing to invest in good equipment. So far, everything that I've seen at Best Buy looks like a youtube video, albeit with great color saturation, and I'm not going to waste my time and money on this if that's all I'm going to get. I'm also willing to wait a few more years until the broadcast and equipment quality catches up with what I had on my CRT.

So, what do I need? Should I wait? Thanks!

How should I setup satellite radio in my car?

Rewind — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:04:04 -0800

Any satellite radio users able to offer some insight on the best method of installation? My lovely girlfriend surprised me with Sirius satellite radio for Christmas and I am thrilled no end. However, I’m wondering if I could pick the brains of my fellow AskMeFites as to the best way to set it up.

The unit she ended up getting me was a Stratus, which seems like a good fit, however given my current setup, I’m wondering if I should go another route. I currently have the Alpine CDA-9851 in my car along with the KCA-420i interface adaptor for my iPod. I love my setup, and I’m thrilled to be adding satellite radio to the mix but I’m wondering whether I should keep the Stratus and use it as essentially a 2nd unit to control the satellite radio, or whether I should return it and get the necessary components to have the service controlled directly through the Alpine.

The pros to the Stratus as I see them are more presets, the ability to see more than one line of text so you can see artist/song/channel info, and can (relatively) easily see what’s on the other channels with less scrolling through the display. The downside however is the fact that it’s a 2nd head unit, and that it would plug into my cigarette lighter (or whatever they’re called these days) thereby ensuring that I wouldn’t be able to use my GPS at the same time. Also, there seems to be a queston regarding the sound quality unless I have a direct connection.

The pros to the control through the Alpine are that it’s all one unit, which means less wiring all over and power is coming from a source other than the cigarette lighter. The downside however would seem to be that it only displays one line of text so that I’d have to hit a button each time I wanted to scroll through artist name/song/category, etc. Also, I’m worried that the scroll will be interminably slow. Currently, I control my iPod through the head unit and it is suh-low as molasses. It’s great to be able to do that, but I find I have to set everything up in playlists to actually find music efficiently. I’m worried that the scroll through the Sirius channels would be just as slow. Of course, I could upgrade my current Alpine head unit to one that displayed two/three lines of text (and I haven’t yet ruled that out) but that might be quite cost prohibitive.

Anyway, any MeFites have a similar setup to those described above and are there any major (or minor) pros/cons you’d be willing to share? Thanks in advance.

What do I need to send/receive text messages via satellites?

mateuslee — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:41:13 -0800

What device can be used to send/receive text messages from very remote locations? I'm about to go to southern rural Peru in a couple weeks to do some linguistic research - to facilitate this trip, it may be a good idea to report some of my findings to my colleagues who have access to libraries and their own expertise. Ordinarily, this would mean going to an Internet-café, but given the remote location of where I'll be, the poor roads, lack of public transportation, etc it could turn out that I travel 2-3 days to report a finding, wait a day to receive a response, and then realize that either (a) the finding is uninteresting or (b) it is interesting and now I must go back to the village to gather more detailed data. I don't have much time and four false-leads would be enough to ruin the trip.

If I had something like a "satellite Blackberry", that'd be ideal. Google searches yield all kinds of cool gadgets, but most of it is way more technical (and heavy/cumbersome!) then I'd like. No need for a word-processor or a computer.

I found plenty of satellite phones, but given the time difference and the nature of the data (very technical - but easily summarized with alpha-numeric equations), a text message device is ideal.

If anyone knows, it'll be you guys. Thanks as always!

Help me choose an XM Radio receiver

jdroth — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:46:47 -0800

I've tried to resist, but I can't any longer — I want to subscribe to satellite radio. XM has at least two stations that I'll listen to almost constantly (channels 4 and 44, though 28 and 81 sound appealing, too). After hearing the web-based "free trial", I'm ready to sign up but I don't know anything about receivers. I'll mostly be listening at home. I don't have a stereo setup, but I do have lots of Macs (including Airport Express). I'd like to be able to listen in my car, too. Which receiver options are best? I know that XM and Sirius are merging — is this any reason to wait to purchase equipment? (I found XM Fan from a previous AskMe question and will check that out. But I know and trust Mefites better than strangers at a fan board.)

Replace Toshiba M55 CMOS battery

mysterious1der — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 07:58:36 -0800

Mrs. mysterious1der's laptop (M55-S331) won't keep time accurately. I've torn apart and repaired (board swaps, not actual board level repair) dozens of Dell laptops, but this is my first Toshiba. Lo and behold, the CMOS battery is soldered to the motherboard. Do I either have to unsolder it and resolder a new one, or get a new motherboard? (Google seems quite proud of itself for finding results that match 4 out my 5 search terms, just not the critical one - M55)

Oh, say can you see...

laughinglikemad — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:35:32 -0800

The first transatlantic television image was that of a fluttering American flag. My grandfather was the cameraman. Two words: Christmas gift. For years, my mother has wanted to find a print of that flag, to give to her father. But for a seemingly iconic image, prints have proved strangely elusive. The satellite was Telstar, the image was broadcast on July 10, 1962, and my grandfather worked for Second City at the time.

Anyone know where we can procure this stray bit of American history?

HD Cable or Satellite provider in NYC?

Jujee — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:48:08 -0800

We bought an HDTV. Which provider would you recommend? Should we go Cable or Satellite? What are your experiences? We're in NYC. TIA!