[tkrandall]

Stupid thought of the day......

I realize they are 22,000+ miles up, but I wonder how bright (and how much power it would require) a flashing beacon would have to be on the sats so you could see them with the naked eye at night from the ground. Let's say each sat had it's own morse code type pattern, and they flashed the beacon (one sat per longitude parking position) for a half hour or so on some regular schedule when the moon is not full. Sure would help with LOS issues.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

I like the idea but it does seem like it would take a lot of power. I suspect it would be cheaper to give away free dish reaiming.

 

[Upstream]

I would guess that any beacon would be too small to be visible from Earth, especially in populated areas with lots of ambient light. The satellites already reflect sunlight to the Earth, and they aren't visible with the intensity of sunlight. Any beacon would be much less powerful than the reflected sunlight.

 

[Mertzen]

You'd need a laser powerful enough to also take someone's eye out :lol:

 

[paulman182]

The only beacons that could be anywhere near feasible would only visible at night.

And don't forget that there are multiple satellites at, or very near, many of the orbital locations.

 

[n3ntj]

Stupid thought of the day......

I realize they are 22,000+ miles up, but I wonder how bright (and how much power it would require) a flashing beacon would have to be on the sats so you could see them with the naked eye at night from the ground. Let's say each sat had it's own morse code type pattern, and they flashed the beacon (one sat per longitude parking position) for a half hour or so on some regular schedule when the moon is not full. Sure would help with LOS issues.

I can tell you scientifically and financially, the idea is not feasible. A mega laser would be needed that would take up so much power, the solar arrays would need to be much bigger than they are and there'd be little power left for sending us programming. Plus, you'd only be able to see these lasers, maybe, at night. Get a D*tech do help you align your dish and let the power the satellites can get from the sun to provide HD channels to us.

 

[veryoldschool]

That would be a extremely LARGE beacon, and the energizer bunny couldn't supply the power for it.

 

[tkrandall]

It was just a thought for the day.....a novelty thing. I know how to align my dish, read a compass, shoot an elevation angle, etc. Notice I said no moon (dark skies), and one sat per main longitude position. All I was saying it would be neat if there were a way to actually see, naturally or through an electronic viewer device of some sort (if sush a thing could be made to exist), the birds from where you are standing.

 

[paulman182]

It is possible to see them with a big enough telescope, and star charts to make sure you are seeing the satellite and not a star.

And many satellites that appear to move about the sky are visible with the naked eye at certain times. But they orbit much closer to the earth than our DirecTV sats.

 

[Doug Brott]

That would be a extremely LARGE beacon, and the energizer bunny couldn't supply the power for it.

Not to mention that if it DID work someone on the ground would start complaining about light pollution .. :grin:

 

[tkrandall]

Yeah, the astronomy experts would definitely not like it.

 

[n3ntj]

And many satellites that appear to move about the sky are visible with the naked eye at certain times. But they orbit much closer to the earth than our DirecTV sats.

You are referring to LEOs.

 

[flipptyfloppity]

It's not really possible. People talk of lasers here, but lasers are visible only if you are in the beam. So in order for everyone in the US to be able to look up and see the satellite, the "beam" would have to spread to cover the whole US, it would be a cone.

As the light emitted is now spread over 6,000,000 square miles, it would have to be VERY bright at the source in order to be still visible. That's never going to happen.

I could submit a more succinct indication that this is financially feasible. That is that if it were feasible, the night sky would already be filled with flashing Budweiser and Coca-Cola logos.

 

[curt8403]

maybe they could use a very intense beam to burn the Directv logo into the surface of the moon.

or vaporize clouds in Georgia/Florida

 

[gfrang]

Ok i just did the math.Based on the loss of sat. life the sats. will encounter our monthly bill will go up 68.4856783214862000 bucks on average. I would rather use a compass and point to the sky. :eek2:

 

[houskamp]

put a reflector on it like the moon landing site

 

[curt8403]

put a reflector on it like the moon landing site

dump 2 tons of powdered graphite on the surface.

 

[veryoldschool]

put a reflector on it like the moon landing site

So are you going to lend me the laser to bounce off it?

 

[yusukie88]

I herd from my father that back in the day at one point. nasa sent up a rocket containing a very large inflatable balloon that was very reflective. The balloon would orbit the earth and reflect sunlight making it easly visible to the naked eye. The only purpose of course was novelty but why not?

 

[carl6]

"Back in the day", Russia sent up a basketball sized polished aluminum satellite called Sputnik. I remember sitting in my back yard watching it pass overhead in the evening sky, reflecting light.

Just a little bit has happened since that very first satellite was launched. Our tomorrow's should be interesting indeed.

Carl