|
|
Dish | A satellite dish is a type of parabolic antenna designed with the specific purpose of transmitting signals to and/or receiving from satellites. A satellite dish is a particular type of microwave antenna. Satellite dishes come in varying sizes and designs, and are most commonly used to receive satellite television.
Modern dishes intended for home television use are generally 45.72 cm (18") to 80 cm (31") in diameter, and are fixed in one position. This type of system is referred to as direct broadcast satellite or DBS. Systems commonly used with communications satellites for Ku-band free-to-air and ethnic broadcast reception use a slightly larger antenna, typically about one metre in size. Older types of home satellite dishes, called television receive-only or TVRO, were several metres/feet in diameter and had motors which could position the dish to receive signals from several different satellites (polar mount).
A common misconception is that the LNBF (low-noise block/feedhorn), the device at the front of the dish, receives the signal directly from the atmosphere. See, for instance, this BBC News 24 countdown [1] that shows a "red data stream" being received by the LNBF directly instead of being beamed to the dish, which because of its parabolic shape will collect the signal into a smaller area and deliver it to the LNBF. read more ...
| Satellite Calculators | If you want to try and receive a certain satellite, then you can get the Azimuth and Elevation for that satellite from where you are trying:
1. Pick the satellite that you want in the 'Satellite' field.
2. Select your location in the 'Location' field and click on 'Calculate Look Angle'.
If the satellite you are looking for is not located in the 'Satellite' chart, enter its location in degrees in the 'Longitude' field.
Example: Enter 91 for Nimiq or Galaxy 7.
If the location you are looking for is not in the 'Location' chart, enter its location in the 'North Latitude (+90° to -90°)' and 'West Longitude (0° to +360°)' charts.
With this Calculator you will get an azimuth value which requires the magnetic deviation of your location to be added or subtracted to or from it. Then you will have the real compass bearing. Go get the Magnetic Deviation Chart. Happy hunting! read more ...
| The Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT) | The Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT) is a small satellite designed and built by officer students, faculty, and staff at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). The main objective is to support the Space Systems Engineering and Space Systems Operations Curricula by providing a "hands-on" hardware project where exposure to the many facets of a space system development and life cycle can be experienced. PANSAT further provides educational training while in orbit through a space-based laboratory for officer students at NPS.
PANSAT was launched from the Shuttle into a low-Earth orbit on the STS-95 Discovery mission as part of the third International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3) experiment.
The spacecraft itself provides store-and-forward (packet radio) digital communications using direct sequence spread spectrum modulation. PANSAT operates in the amateur radio 70 cm band with center frequency at 436.5 MHz, a bit rate of 9842 bits per second and 9 MB of message storage. Amateur radio ground stations will be able to utilize PANSAT via a bulletin-board type user interface read more ...
| How Satellite TV Works | When satellite television first hit the market, home dishes were expensive metal units that took up a huge chunk of yard space. In these early years, only the most die-hard TV fans would go through all the hassle and expense of putting in their own dish. Satellite TV was a lot more difficult than broadcast and cable TV. read more ...
| | |
|
|