C-band Satellite

Well satellite TV has come a long way since the early days when it was first invented. All of us remember C band or compromise band as it was known. What this basically means is that it is a part of the spectrum, the electro-magnetic spectrum. This part lays in the microwave range of frequencies. Satellite communications uses C band normally. Some use a form of circular polarization, some use a form of linear polarization. It all depends on what exactly you are trying to accomplish.

You can think of C band as much more open and available than satellite services today. C band has a sharp contrast with that of the dishes in use today. The dishes that are used today have strict laws on them for encryption, programming, viewing, billing, signals, and so on. The receiving equipment of today is also a lot more substantial than it was back in the old days.

When people think of television receive only systems they think of C band. It is where it made its name so to speak. In fact did you know that this original system was a great performer even in bad or stormy weather? It could handle rain and any kind of inclement atmosphere with a pretty good reception. The video quality was not as affected as the dish systems of today are.

C band is still in use though and plays a very important role in today’s world. The number of satellite systems which are geostationary C band satellites exceed thirty. These satellites provide over one thousand audio and video services to all of North America. C band is not talked about that often anymore because of the newer and better DBS services, yet it is still a full time satellite TV service for raw feeds and things of that nature.

The small dish is indeed, the number one success in the satellite industry today. But who knows how long that will last? Will the C band make some sort of a comeback? Unless it can be reduced in size it is likely that it will not. Most folks do not want a ten or twelve foot wide dish sitting in their yard or on their roof for that matter. This is one of the main reasons the industry as we know it today has made a great step forward in getting more customers to their subscription base.

With all this talk about North America though, what does Europe use? We all know that their voltage level and requirements are different for computers and the like. Europe uses a system called Ku band. This system is the dominating system in Europe and other foreign parts of the world. However, there are satellites that serve those countries as well. In fact there is one satellite which covers Australia, Africa, Europe, and Asia together. That is a massive amount of coverage for just one object. Which satellite system do you use? If you use a small dish system now would you ever consider a C band dish? Most likely not as I would imagine. The small dish is here to stay.