EE

February 1987
30

SATELLITE TV RECEPTION:
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
by J Et R v. Terborgh

With the growing interest in domestic reception of signals from

geostationary TV satellites, but with many aspects of the subject
still surprisingly hard to find in various publications, this article is
a round-up of questions, simple ones and complicated ones,
and associated answers, clear and to the point.

The reception of satellite TV according to the satellite stan-

services is a subject encom- dards used in Northern
passing so many aspects of America, where IDUs were
electronics, mechanical engin- originally designed for the
eering, applied telecom- 500 MHz wide 4 GHz downlink
munications, and other fields of band. In practice, the use of
interest, that it is not surprising these modules in Western
to have baffled quite a number Europe makes it impossible to
of readers, both those who are receive transponders broad-
actually in the process of casting above 10 GHz +
building the Elektor IDU, de- 1450 MHz = 11,45 GHz. In Table
scribed over the past few 2b in [A], you can see what this
months, and those who take a means for ECS-1...
general interest in following The AT3010 610 MHz IF ampli-
any publication that has fier/demodulator provides a
something to do with the pres- 3 dB bandwidh of only 26 MHz,
ent subject-matter. which is expected to give diffi-
But to begin with, a few points culty in proper reception of the
must be made expressly clear. future DBS services, which will
1. Depending on the specific operate with 36 MHz wide
aspects raised in the ques- downlink channels.
tions, these—and the associated A. It certainly will. In general, fed with 18 V, but not over the
answers—are dealt with in cable losses between the downlead cable. Any modifi- Q. What about the funny round
separate sections in this article. LNB and the IDU should not ex- cations required in the IDU? arrows at the polarization
2. The following convention ap- ceed about 4 dB. Long runs of A. Regulator IC8 can be re- selector switch on the IDU?
plies concerning references low-loss—i.e., fairly rigid— placed by an 18 V series A. Circular polarization—see
to earlier articles on satellite TV coaxial cable tend to be costly regulator circuit based around [A]—offers a number of tech-
reception in Elektor Elec- as well as cumbersome to in- the L200 or 78GU, provided it is nical advantages over conven-
tronics: stall permanently, requiring fed with a separately obtained tional, linear polarization.
[A]: Satellite TV reception, quite a bit of digging and dril- input voltage of about 24 V. Fig. 26 shows the essential dif-
September 1986; ling before the signal is availa- Remove Li and run a separate ferences between these
[B]:Indoor unit for satellite TV ble at the IDU input. supply cable from point + LNB systems.
reception, parts I, 2, and 3; Oc- A possible solution to your pro- on the PSU/vision/sound board Linear polarization is either
tober 1986, November 1986, and blem is the fitting of the IDU RF to the relevant connection on horizontal (H) or vertical (V) with
January 1987. board (see [B]; part 1) into a wa- the LNB. respect to the earth plane, caus-
3. The answers to all questions terproof, temperature regu- ing the 1/4 A probe inside the
are necessarily short and to lated enclosure as close as pos- waveguide input of the LNB to
the point. In many instances, sible to the dish stand. A length have to be positioned as re-
further information can be of inexpensive, multi-way scree- The IDU design quired for reception of the rel-
found in the publications men- ned cable can then be run to Q. Why have you not used the evant transponder.
tioned at the end of this article. the home, along with the base- Type AT1020 and AT3010 Circular polarization is either
band output cable, made in modules from Astec? These clockwise (cw) or counter-
RG58 or TV coax. Do not forget, units are specifically made for clockwise (ccw), and requires a
however, to lay out the tuning satellite TV reception and come specially shaped waveguide-to-
The system set-up voltage circuit for a relatively ready-made, requiring no ad-. PC board coupler.
Q. The only suitable location for low output impedance, in order justments whatsoever. At present, satellites only
my dish forces me to use to prevent hum and noise being A. The main disadvantage as- transmit linearly polarized
some 25m of fairly expensive picked up (steer clear of mains sociated with these devices signals, and LNB feeds suitable
downlead coax, which in- wiring!). is the limited IF range of the for cw/ccw operation are,
troduces an attenuation of converter module AT1020, therefore, still fairly uncommon
11.5 dB at 1750 MHz. Will this im- Q. I intend to use an older type which is designed to accept the units. If it is recalled that
pair reception? LNB which requires to be LNB IF range of 950-1450 MHz, polarization of downlink signals
 EE
February 1987

is essentially a method of allow-

ing two transponders to operate
at about the same frequency
without causing interference at
the receiving station, circular
polarization has the following
advantages over linear
polarization:
1.co-channel station discrimi-
nation is typically 15 dB
better;
2. downlink signals are less
severely affected by Faraday
rotation in the atmosphere;
3. depending on the construc-
tion of the LNB feed, the dish
illumination, and hence the
dish efficiency, is slightly im-
proved.
It should be noted here that the
use of a round LNB feed does
not necessarily mean that the
system can receive circularly
polarized signals only: a round
waveguide of specific diameter
does nothing to the polarization
of the incoming wave, and is,
therefore, often used with
steerable H-V polarizers to
enable the LNB to be rotated
over 90°, using a bearing ring
around the feed, and a small,
remote-controlled servo or
stepper motor to select horizon-
tal or vertical reception.

Fundamentals
Q. Why do satellites not
transmit in AM, so that
private reception is possible Fig. 26. Linear (H/V) and circular (cw/ccw) polarization.
with a conventional TV set,
without the need for a special
likelihood of unacceptably high a single satellite TV channel oc- dealing here with a composite
FM demodulator?
intermodulation products from cupies a greater bandwidth colour video signal). The
A. Transmitting an amplitude-
the power output stage; than all short-wave bands modulation index, m' , thus
modulated TV signal re-
2. with a suitably dimensioned together? works out at only 1.35. Note that
quires highly linear operation
combination of pre- and de- A. Yes. There is nothing mys- sound subcarriers in the base-
of the transponder power out-
emphasis, the obtainable S/N terious about the output band spectrum are disregarded
put stage, which must conse-
ratio for both vision and sound bandwidth of 27 to 36 MHz re- for the moment, in order not to
quently be biased for class A or
is higher at a given receiver C/n quired for each transponder in complicate things unnecessar-
class AB operation, resulting in
input ratio; the satellite; it is merely the ily.
a relatively low overall ef-
3. no power is wasted in the already high frequency of the In theory, it can be shown that
ficiency. From about 5 GHz on-
process of modulating the modulating signal that causes the RF output signal from an FM
wards, sufficient transmitter
power for satellite TV services carrier; the wide output spectrum. In transmitter contains an infinite
can only be obtained from 4. vestigial sideband sup- fact, TV transponders are gen- number of harmonics whose
travelling wave tubes (TWTs), pression is entirely irrelevant. erally operated at a remarkably amplitudes decrease as they
which require to be operated in The fact that an FM TV system low modulation index, m' : are further away from the car-
Class C at very high acceler- typically occupies a greater rier. Without going into the
ation voltages to output a car- bandwidth than an AM system m'=,Lf/frnv complex mathematics of FM at
is of no consequence what- low values of m' , some 98% of
rier power level of the order of
10-30 W at an acceptable soever in view of the vast where Af is the maximum in- the total RF energy produced
efficiency—which is extremely capability in this respect of the stantaneous deviation from the by the transmitter is contained
centimetre-wave bands accom- carrier, and fmv is the maximum in a bandwidth, BW, written as
important in view of the limited
battery power available in the modating satellite TV uplinks frequency in the modulating Carson's rule:
craft. and downlinks. signal causing that deviation.
FM offers the following advan- With the still widely used peak- BW 2(m' +1)fmv
tages over AM: to-peak deviation of 13.5 MHz,
1. with several carriers trans- Q. I am utterly confused by the .A.f is of course 6.75 MHz, while With the previously mentioned
use of terms relating to the fmv is usually about 5 MHz (it system parameters, this gives
mitted by a single
transponder, there is less system bandwidth. Is it true that will be recalled that we are BW = 23.5 MHz, exclusive of
 EE
February 1987

sound carriers, which can be The use of (14a) with parameters which has puzzled many con- approximate indication of the
expected to occupy a further Afpp = 13.5 MHzpp, fro,/ = 5 MHz, structors of the IDU: maximum height of obstruc-
5 MHz or so. BW= 36 MHz, and C/n= 9.66 dB to be able to line up the dish tions, given a specific angle of
With a tendency on part of results in aerial, one needs a fully elevation?
transponder leaseholders to S/N(video, rms)= operative receiver; A. The answer to this question
use relatively large values of 10logio(78.74)+ 9.66 +13.2 dB to be able to align the receiver, is best given in the form of
deviation (up to 28 MHzpp) so as S/N(video, rms)= 41.8 dB. one needs to have the dish ad- the formula
to improve the attainable S/N From this it is seen that (14) is a justed to "see" the satellite.
ratio at limited RF power, there slightly too optimistic S/N cal- Practice does it! With a few h =k + d • sina
is, at present, increasing culation, yielding the so-called helping hands available at the or
pressure on receiver manufac- unweighted quasi-peak value. time of positioning the dish, you d=(h-k)/sina
turers to give up the widely Formula (14a), obviously more will find that this is not nearly as
used 27 MHz bandwidth stan- complex than (14), is the more difficult as it may seem at first where
dard (for Af =28 MHzpp, BW authoritative of the two, as it is sight. In fact, by studying the h = height of obstruction in
works out at 38 MHz). given by the EBU in Literature following questions and line-of-sight path to satel-
Reference [5]. answers, sufficient insight can lite;
Q. I am under the impression be acquired to be able to go d = horizontal distance be-
that the quality of reception round the majority of difficult- tween dish and obstruc-
offered by my receiving system ies encountered while lining up tion;
is slightly improved as its gets and tuning in. k = safety margin; 1 metre is
colder outside. Why is that? Dish location and
recommended;
A. Refer to Fig. 6 in [A] to see adjustment Q. / can not decide on a a = angle of elevation for the
that the noise figure, Fas, of Let us consider the following suitable location for my dish dish.
your LNB is a function of its chicken-and-egg problem, in the garden. Can you give an Especially with trees, due ac-
noise factor and the ambient
temperature; the curve shown
is relevant to To= 17 °C, but the Table 5.
inset calculations make it quite
>LIST
evident that Tr, and hence 10 REM azimuth and angle of elevation for geostationary satellites
Pn(sys), decrease with lower 20 DIM Orb(6):RESTORE:MODE3:REM 24x80 text only
values of To . It goes without 30 H=180/PI:REM rad-deg conversion
40 FOR X=0 TO 5:READ Pos%:Orb(X)=Pos%:NEXT X
saying that the final S/N figure is 50 R=6371:ALT.35822:REM See EE September 1986
improved accordingly. 60 PRINT"*** Longitude and orbital position WEST of Greenwich: PRECEDE BY MIN
US SIGN ***":PRINT
70 INPUT"Longitude of location ?"LO:LO=LO/H
Q. With reference to Satellite 80 INPUT"Latitude of location ?"LA:LA=LA/H
TV reception in the 90 GOSUB 1000
100 B=LO-SAT
September 1986 issue, I am able 110 AZI=180+H*ATN(TAN(B)/SIN(LA))
to follow all the calculations 120 AZI=INT(AZI+0.5):PRINT:PRINT "Azimuth = ";AZI;" degrees
130 WS." West of South":ES=" East of South":SS=" straight South"
from system noise to the 140 IF AZI=180 THEN PRINT" = ";SS:GOTO 170
theoretical S/N formula, (14). Yet 150 IF AZI<180 THEN PRINT "= ";180-AZI;" degrees ";ES:GOTO 170
I am intrigued by the origin of 160 PRINT "= ";AZI-180;" degrees ";WS
170 ELE=11*ATN((COS(LA)*COS(B) -R/(R+ALT))/SQR(1-(COS(LA)^2*COS(B) -2)))
the constant, x, given as 180 IF ELE<1 THEN PRINT"Satellite below horizon":GOTO 70
147.3 dB for 36 MHz system 190 PRINT"Elevation = ';INT(ELE+0 -5);" degrees":PRINT
bandwidth. 200 GOTO 60
1000 PRINT"Which satellite ?":PRINT
A. Formula (14) is a purposely 1010 PRINT"1 = INTELSAT V F1/7 (FRG) +60 deg. E"
simplified evaluation of the 1020 PRINT"2 = EUTELSAT 1 F-1 (ECS-1) +13 deg. E"
1030 PRINT"3 = EUTELSAT 1 F-2 (ECS-2) +07 deg. E"
standard S/N calculus reading 1040 PRINT"4 = INTELSAT IV A F2 (NORDIC-1) -04 deg. W"
1050 PRINT"5 = TELECOM F-1 (F) -08 deg. W (not in CSS band)"
1060 PRINT"6 = INTELSAT V F4 (UK/US) -27.5 deg. W"
S/14(video, rms).
1070 PRINT"7 = other satellite"
10loglo[3/2 •(Afpp/frov)2 • BW/fmv] 1080 PRINT:INPUT"Select 1-7 --->"N
+ C/n + 13.2 [dB] 1090 IF N>=1 AND N<=6 THEN SAT=Orb(N-1):SAT=SAT/H:RETURN
(14a) 1100 IF N=7 THEN INPUT"Orbital position of satellite --- >"SAT:SAT=SAT/H:RETURN
1110 GOTO 1080
in which 5000 REM geostationary arc; orbital positions East to West
5010 DATA 60,13,7,-4,-8,-27.5
S/N(video, rms)= weighted, effec-
tive signal-to-noise ratio at the
output of the receiver's FM vi- >RUN
*** Longitude and orbital position WEST of Greenwich: PRECEDE BY MINUS SIGN ***
sion demodulator;
Afpp = peak-to-peak deviation Example: Dundalk, Ireland
resulting from modulating the Longitude of location 7-6.5
FM transmitter with fmv; Latitude of location ?54
fmv = highest video frequency Which satellite ?
in uplink & downlink baseband 1 = INTELSAT V F1/7 (FRG) +60 deg. E
spectrum; 2 = EUTELSAT 1 F-1 (ECS-1) +13 deg. E
BW= theoretical bandwidth of 3 = EUTELSAT 1 F-2 (ECS-2) +07 deg. E
4 = INTELSAT IV A F2 (NORDIC-1) -04 deg. W
transponder's output spectrum; 5 = TELECOM F-1 (F) -08 deg. W (not in CSS band)
C/n= theoretical carrier-to- 6 = INTELSAT V F4 (UK/US) -27.5 deg. W
7 = other satellite
noise ratio at the input of the re-
ceiver's FM vision demodu- Select 1-7 --->6
lator—see (12);
Azimuth•= 205 degrees = 25 degrees West of South
13.2= the effect of pre-
Elevation = 26 degrees
emphasis and r.m.s. weighting 86082- 4 - T5
to CCIR Report 637-1.
 EE
February 1987

count should be taken of their +8 dB, good reception will be

growth and their leafing. very difficult, if not impossible,
even if all equipment is known
Q. I live in Dundalk, Ireland, to function satisfactorily. Very
and I have a complete good reception requires a C/n
satellite reception system. I am, ratio well in excess of 14 dB.
however, at a loss to understand B. The dish location should of-
how the dish is to be pointed at, fer an unobstructed line of
say Intelsat VF4. Do I have to sight to the relevant satellite. Go
turn it 27.5° west of south? If so, to the planned dish site and use
at which angle of elevation? the compass to find south, i.e.
What is the difference between the needle should register with
azimuth and orbital position? the N indication. Stand with
A. In [A] it was already stated your back to the north and im-
that there is a complex re agine a horizontal line, starting
lationship between the terms from the compass pivot, across
raised in your question. Given the calculated azimuth value on
the longitude and the latitude of the dial, straight to an orien-
the terrestial location, and the tation point well removed from
orbital position (OP) of the your position—see Fig. 27. This
satellite, the azimuth, expressed point may be any fairly high,
as an angle y with respect to the well discernable object, such
geographic north, and the as- as a tree top, a building, a
sociated angle of elevation, a, neighbour's aerial mast, a lamp
(see Fig. lb in [A]), are obtained post, a traffic sign, etc. Straight
from the trigonometrical above this point, a considerable
equations area of the sky should be vis-
Fig. 27. Using a compass to find the approximate azimuth for the ible, i.e. there must not be
dish aerial (example). higher objects further towards
y=180+ arctan [tan(Lo-Op)/sin La]
the horizon. In western Europe,
/ cos La • cos(Lo-Op)-r/(r + a)i most satellites can be received
a= arctan
171-cos2La • cos2(Lo-Op) program should not be too hard 40. Selection of item 7 from the
with angles of elevation of the
to patch for other computers list of satellites enables
order of 20° to 35°, i.e. they are
where and their specific BASIC syntax establishing the aerial position
sufficiently high up in the sky to
Lo = longitude of location; conventions, while graphics ap- for services yet to be
ensure a line of sight path with
La = latitude of location; plications may be added as re- commisioned—e.g DB satellites,
the dish mounted on a post in
Op = orbital position of satellite; quired. see Fig. 9 in [A].
the ground. However, in
a & r = see (1) in [A]. Since it was deemed useless to With the positioning angles
densely built areas, it may be
A pocket calculator providing have the computer present the calculated and noted on a piece
necessary to raise the dish well
the stated trigonometric func- resulting angles with, say, of paper, you are now nearly
above the ground to ensure a
tions should be set to its degree 9-digit precision, lines 120 and ready for the first practical at-
clear view in the appropriate
mode, and longitudes as well as 190 use the INT(x +0.5) instruc- tempt at receiving the satellite.
direction.
orbital positions west of the tion to attain a precision of First, however, consider the fol-
Greenwich meridian should be +0.5° for azimuth and angle of lowing points:
elevation, respectively. At the A. Your location should be In view of both the inaccuracy
entered with a preceding
minus sign. It should be borne end of the program are 6 orbital within the satellite's foot- of most types of compasses,
in mind that the result of the positions given as DATA items print. Calculate the expected and the difference between the
azimuth calculation is an angle and put into an array called C/n ratio as set forth in [A]; if magnetic and the geographic
expressed in degrees with POS% by the READ loop in line this works out as lower than north, it is recommended to first
respect to the geographic adjust the aerial elevation as
north, so that east, south and shown in Fig. 28. Make sure that
west correspond to 90°, 180° the protractor is held exactly
and 270°, respectively, similar to parallel with the dish axis and
the indication on a magnetic read the angle of elevation,
compass. Depending on the which is the same as a shown in
specific terrestial location, Fig. lb in [A]. With a sufficiently
there is a difference between heavy plummet, and in the
the geographic and the mag- absence of gusts at the time of
netic north, making a compass adjustment, the angle of elev-
only suitable for finding the ap- ation can be set with an accu-
proximate satellite position, not racy of about +1°. Owners of an
the final azimuth. None the less, offset dish or a Polar Mount
a good quality compass will system (see [A]) can not make
soon prove indispensable dur- use of the above procedure,
ing the setting up of the system, and should consult the dish
as will be seen further on in this supplier for positioning in-
article. structions.
Table 5 is the listing of a univer- Never attempt receiving a
sal dish positioning program satellite without having at least
based upon the previously an idea of its whereabouts in
given trigonometrical calcu- the sky; it is a waste of time and
lations. Though written for the Fig. 28. Using a plastic protractor and a plummet to set the angle rightly comparable to finding a
Acorn and BBC micros, the of elevation (example). needle in a haystack.
 ~~
~~
EE
February 1987
34
Upon reaching the requisite
angle of elevation, provisionally
lock the relevant dish adjust-
ment(s). If the dish has a hole at
the centre of its reflective sur-
face, look through it to check
whether the LNB feed is exactly
on the dish axis, i.e. the feed
aperture should offer optimum
illumination.
Unlock the aerial azimuth ad-
justment(s) and make sure that
the dish can revolve freely
around its mounting system,
without any change in the set
elevation. Use the compass as
explained to roughly determine
the azimuth, and use the IDU
SCAN facility as detailed in the
section Aerial positioning unit
in Part 3 of [B]. Turn the dish
very carefully across the ex-
pected azimuth range; as the
3 dB directivity of a 1.5 metres
Fig. 29. To line up a dish aerial, the required azimuth and angle of elevation must be set separately.
dish is only about 1°, aiming it at
the satellite is in no way com-
parable to adjusting, say, a UHF A. Yes, there are. You may try such as sports, games, con- Copernicus, at OP 60° E, which
TV aerial! Consult Fig. 29 if you ECS-2 at OP 7° E, which ferences, etc. (Eurovision Ser- is above the Indian Ocean. This
are still unsure about the differ- transmits three EBU newsfeed vice, co-ordinated from EVC, satellite carries four German TV
ence between a and y. channels operated at pre- Brussels). Also on ECS-2 is the programmes, and can be re-
Once you have managed to see scheduled times and intended VISNEWS newsfeed channel, ceived with very good quality,
the first synchronization bars, it to provide unedited news and Televerket Norway, which provided the dish elevation can
is a relatively simple matter to flashes to many of Europe's transmits in C-MAC. be reduced to about 10°
peak all dish and LNB feed con- national TV broadcast organiz- The Nordic-1 satellite at OP (average value in the UK).
trols for maximum S-meter ations. These transponders are 4° W beams down Sveriges I If you are the fortunate owner of
deflection. Spend some time in also used as two-way relay sta- and II in C-MAC. an outdoor unit comprising a
finding the correct focal point tions carrying technical instruc- If your location allows a wide Polar Mount and a steerable
for the LNB input, and see tions for camera crews during view towards the East, you may polarizer, it is highly interesting
whether the polarization can be important international events, try Intelsat VF12, nicknamed to spend an afternoon or so in
optimized by rotating the feed
over a small range. Depending
on the angle of elevation, there 30
is a polarization offset angle to GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES
be taken into account. Es- 135° E SAKURA A2 (1983) JAPAN
130° E SAKURAB2 (1983) JAPAN
pecially with a smaller than 20°, BAND BOTH 17.E PALAPA B3 (1985) INDONESIA
EXISTING • r 1 3 E PALAPA B2 (1984) INDONESIA
it is well worth trying to estab- PROPOSED o o 110° E BSE-2. BS-2A (1984).
lish the correct polarization off- )-BS-2B (1985) JAPAN

set, which may amount to ±45° NTELSAT IV F8 179° E

NTELSAT IV Fl 174° E
PALAPA B1 (1983) INDONESIA 108° E
ISCOM I MD. 105° E
IM• o

as viewed from the front of the AUSSAT III (1985) AUSTRALIA 164° E
AUSSAT II (1984) AUSTRALIA 160° E INSAT 18 (1983) INDIA 94 E
dish. AUSSAT I (1984) AUSTRALIA 156° E
GORIZONT USSR 90 E •
You will probably find that • 143° W SATCOM V us RADUGA USSR 86° E
0-139.W SATCOM IR (1983) us PALAPA A2 INDONESIA 83° E •
manual adjustment of the dish o• -135° W SATCOM I, GALAXY I (1983) us PALAPA Al INDONESIA 77° E
W SATCOM IIIR us
soon becomes a routine job, W COMSTAR IV, TELSTAR IIIC (1984) us
and spotting various satellites 123° W WESTAR V us
• —%-119° W SATCOM II, SPACENET I (1984) us
within 5 minutes or so can be 116° W ANIK Cl CANADA
11
INTELSAT IVA F6. INTELSAT V F5 63° E
14; W ANIK 02 CANADA INTELSAT V F12 60°E
done with the help of two or ° W ANIK C2 'CANADA
GORIZONT USSR 53° E
Ov ,
"°:,— 109° W ANIK B CANADA
three orientation points at a W GTE II (1984) US
W ANIK 01 CANADA
familiar location, and a few 0,-103° W GTE I (1984) us
simple notes as a guide in set- 102° W ILHUICAHUA (1985) MEXICO
W SBS I us
ting the two dish angles plus • --- 99° W WESTAR IV US
• —■97° W SBS II us
RADUGA usso W° E •

the tuning dial indication on the 95° W COMSTAR II. TELSTAR IIIA (1983) us ARABSAT (1986) 26° E 0
94° W SBS III us ARABSAT (1986) 19° E o ASTRA 6(1987)
IDU for a specific transponder. ECS-2 (1984) ESA 15° E •o
74° W GALAXY II (1983) us ECS-1 (1983) ESA 10 E 0
70° W SPACENET II (1984) us TELE-X (1988) SWEDEN 5° E
o 53° W INTELSAT IV F7 10° W DTELECOMM I (1983)
TELECOMM II (1983) FRANCO-GERMAN
_....„....„..„,Z---
• 11ALLEY I (1986) UK 31° W-1 11.5° W SYMPHONIE I.
INTELSAT IVA F4, 34.5° W VA .„.../. SYMPHONIE II FRANCO-GERMAN
Miscellaneous INTELSAT V F2
—79° W WESTAR I. WESTAR II,
1 3 • • .. 14° W GORIZONT ussn
• L-18.5° W INTELSAT WA Fl
matters and the — ADVANCED WESTAR II (1984) us
—83° W SATCOM IV us
19° W TV-SAT A3 (1986) GERMANY L-SAT (1987) ESA
— LUX-SAT (1987) LUXEMBOURG TDF 1 (1987) FRANCE
future —85° W ILHUICAHUA (1985) MEXICO
— 87° W COMSTAR III, TELSTAR 1118 (1984) us
21.5° W INTELSAT IVA F2
24.5° W INTELSAT V F3. SIR/0 ITALY
—91° W WESTAR III. ADVANCED WESTAR I (1984) us
Q. Apart from ECS-I and 27.5° W INTELSAT IV F4. INTELSAT V F4
86082 - 4 - 30
Intelsat VF10, are there more
satellites transmitting TV pro-
grammes? Fig. 30. Communications and TV satellites operating in the 4 GHz (C) 11 GHz (Ku) bands.
 EE
February 1987

scanning the geostationary arc required output power of some examples, will hold twice as 52 dBW type, to be positioned
for further satellites; many are 300 W still worries the many transponders as TV-SAT 1, at OP 19° West (see Fig. 9 in
scheduled for launching, while engineers at Marconi, each producing an EIRP of [A]). It is our understanding that
existing ones are sometimes Thomson-CSF, Telefunken and about 50 dBW, enabling good Astra will be operational in the
operated on an experimental G&C. Although the availability reception with a 1 metre dish summer of this year, i.e., even
basis; we have seen trial of sufficient battery power to and an LNB with a noise figure earlier than the Franco-German
transmissions in various MAC feed the DB transponders is en- of less than 2 dB. It will be in- project. With our readers, we
standards, as well as test charts sured with solar panels exten- teresting to see how these ser- are very keen on receiving the
in encrypted video with accom- ding over some 20 metres, the vices will do as compared with first high or medium power
panying datachannels in the stability of the carrier output the prestigious TV-SAT and TDF signals from orbital positions
audio section of the baseband. level still does not meet the set combination. assigned to DB satellites. Mean-
To round off this answer, Fig. 30 requirements for good quality RTL (Radio Television Luxem- while, we will do our best to
shows an overview of currently reception on earth during worst bourg) has taken the daring keep you abreast of the latest
operative satellites; it must be case atmospheric conditions. step of having RCA develop and developments!
noted, however, that many of 3. The economic viability of DB build the Astra satellite, which RGK;Bu
these only transmit digital data services remains rather is said to be a six-channel,
for use in international business questionable; the follow-up
communication systems. Others projects, TV-SAT 2 and TDF-2,
have either a very low output are now in real danger of being
power, or a very narrow cancelled altogether. Also
downlink beam. there are numerous political
and commercial problems in-
Q. What is causing the delay in volved in finding leaseholders
getting started with the for the transponders on board
European direct broadcasting of these craft. Meanwhile, re-
projects? ceiver technology has not
A. Although expressly prom- come to a standstill. Once TV-
ised by the French and SAT & TDF-1 are operational,
German broadcasting organiz- their huge transmit power
ations, last year did not see the rating may well be superfluous
commissioning of their joint for LNBs with a noise figure of
DBS project, TV-SAT & TDF-l. In the order of 1.8 dB. Refer to the
order to avoid adding to the calculations in [A] to under-
stand that a 1.2 dB improvement Work in progress: engineers at AEG are building and testing a
general confusion about the
section of a DB satellite.
future of direct broadcasting by in LNB noise figure is equiv-
satellite, the following points alent to an EIRP increase of
summarize the problems in- about 3 dB.
volved: In view of the above consider-
1.Both ESA and NASA have ations, it is not surprising to
been forced to re-organize read about swift progress being
launch schedules because of made in the development of
their research into the possible medium-power transponders.
cause of technical failures in Often referred to as quasi-DB
carrier rockets used in attempts Satellites, a new series of or-
to put satellite payloads into biting craft is currently being
orbit. developed. These satellites, of
2. The final reliability of high- which the new Intelsat V FII
power TWTs providing the and Eutelsat F-2 types are good Eutelsat 1-F1 in orbit.

Literature references: For further reading: • Fernsehsatelliten, by Stratis * A catalogue of technical

[5].Direct broadcasting ex- • Satellite TV applications Karamanolis. Available publications can be obtained
periments with OTS; synthesis (ed. April 1986). Plessey through Elektor Electronics' free of charge from
of results. EBU Technical Semiconductors. Book Service (£4.95). European Broadcasting Union
Publications no. 3231-E. • Various articles in EBU • Technical Centre • Att. M.
• World Satellite Almanac, by Systermans • Avenue Albert
[6].Essential characteristics Mark Long. Available from Review (technical):*
for a Eutelsat I receiving earth Pan European DBS project- Lancaster 32 • B-1180 Brussels
Harrison Electronics • Cen- • Belgium.
station having the minimum tury Way • March • Cambs. Europa TV, by F Kozamernik
required performance for PE15 8QW. Telephone: (0345) (no. 215).
television. EBU Technical 51289. The C-MAC/packet system
publication no. 3248-E. for direct satellite television,
• Satellites today. Home sat by H Mertens & D Wood (no.
Various articles in Elektor ellite TV installation and
Electronics: 200).
troubleshooting manual. The The performance of C-MAC
Satellite TV receiving equip- hidden signals on satellite TV
meat, February 1986, p. 27 ff. in a hardware simulation of a
These books are available DBS transmission chain, by
Electric propulsion for satel- from Universal Electronics, P Shelswell (no. 212).
lites, September 1986, p. 65 ff. Inc. • 455 Groves Road •
Jockeying for supremacy in Suite 13 • Columbus • Ohio Satellite transmitter powers
Europe's own space race, 43232 • USA. Telephone: for DBS, by G J Phillips (no.
October 1986, p. 36 ft 614-866-4605. 216).