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« on: September 24, 2016, 02:06:45 PM »
I just read most of this thread and the subject of geosynchronous satellites, the kind that brings TV signals to a lot of paying customers around the world is mentioned a few times. We are told that the satellites are in perfect sync with the orbiting Earth directly above the equator and they send down to us crystal clear TV signals. I know the signals are crystal clear because I use to subscribe to DirecTV and the picture quality was nearly perfect. At the time I believed there were satellites up there beaming down the TV signals to my dish antenna. I also know that the dish has to be pointing spot on to a supposedly satellite in order to receive the signal. Off by almost any amount will cause the signal to pretty much go south. It is very critical getting the antenna position correctly if you want a good signal. Once the antenna is set correctly and the mounting bolts and nuts are tight, It never has to be repositioned, or at least mine never did. This thought leads me to ask the question, why not? I'm sure most of us has heard the Earth wobbles on it's axis as it rotates. This is like a spinning top will wobble a little as it spins around and the wobble increases as it slows down until it stops spinning and falls down. The Earth, we are told does the same thing. This wobble is called Chandler wobble, it was named after Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891. He is credited with discovering it. Over a period of slightly more than a year (about 430 days), the Chandler wobble shifts the north-south spin axis of the Earth about three to six meters. In 2005 it actually shifted by 180o. This is where I have to wonder if geosynchronous satellites are really bring TV signals to our televisions or is it something else? I simply don't see how the Earth can wobble 3 to 6 meters per year and we never have to re-adjust our satellite dishes. Like I stated above, the dishes are very non forgiving. If you are off just a slight bit, the signal goes south.
The way I see it is, If the Earth wobbles or actually move six meters throughout the year, that to me is the same as your satellite dish moving six meters also, in reference to the stationary satellite beaming down TV signals. Anyone who has a dish knows you can't move your dish six inches let alone six meters and expect to receive a good TV signal. I've never heard of a method that compensates for this wobble, so I lean towards believing they must be using another method to beam TV signals to us or the Earth is not wobbling or rotating like we are told.