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C Band 4 GHz bis 8 GHz
X Band 8 GHz bis 12 GHz
Ku Band 12 GHz bis 18 GHz
K Band 18 GHz bis 26.5 GHz
Ka Band 26.5 GHz bis 40 GHz
130 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 05-06/2013 — TELE-audiovision.com
Satellite Reception in the Ka-Band
TELE-audiovision has always
been reporting on the latest de-
velopments in the Ka-band. We
did this, for example, in the 08-
09/2007, 10-11/2009 and 08-
09/2011 issues. And now, once
again, it‘s time for an update. We
want to take a closer look at the
situation in Europe.
Here are a few of the basics regard-
ing the Ka-band to refresh your mem-
ory. The spectrum for satellite TV re-
ception we are interested in is broken
down into the following bands (table
1).
Note that Ku stands for „K-under“,
that is, UNDER the K-band, and Ka
stands for „K-above“, that is, ABOVE
the K-band.
The first big hurdle in the Ka-band
is its enormous frequency range.
While a standard universal LNB can
receive practically the entire Ku fre-
quency range, several different LNBs
would have to be used for the K/Ka-
band since each LNB typically covers
only about 500 MHz. The LNBs that
are used for the Ka-band are not con-
sumer LNBs that are manufactured
and marketed in the millions; instead,
they are professional LNBs with corre-
spondingly higher prices.
For satellite DXers and TVRO fans
who have limited budgets, there is a
Ka-Band Satellite
Reception in Europe
Vitor Martins Augusto
way to sneak into the Ka-band world.
There are precisely two inexpensive
ways to do it:
1) The Irish TV provider Saorsat of-
fers an FTA package in the Ka-band
and you can get the necessary con-
sumer LNB that operates in the 19.7
to 20.2 GHz range from an LNB manu-
facturer via the Internet at a cost of
around 40 Euros.
2) The American TV provider DirecTV
carries some of their programming on
two satellites in the Ka-band. For this
there are several LNBs that are mar-
keted under the label SL3. Used ver-
sions of these LNBs can be purchased
in the USA quite inexpensively.
Keep in mind though that if you have
them shipped to Europe, the customs
The „White Ka“ LNB by Inverto
is a consumer LNB for Ireland,
that fits regular satellite dishes
without any modification. It is
actually a TwinLNB.