37 What About This Mysterious Ku Band?
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This article is from the Satellite TV FAQ, by Gary Bourgois flash@lopez.marquette.mi.us with numerous contributions by others.
37 What About This Mysterious Ku Band?
Ku band satellites don't require as large a dish to receive, some have 32
transponders instead of the 24 on C band. The true satellite junkie will
want KU because "it is there". In addition, there is talk of more and
more transmissions on this band. SBS6, for example is one busy bird, with
MANY sports and newsfeeds. KU offers a LOT to those who want to
experiment and explore. G4 and G7 have beautiful KU signals, and if you
live in the Northern USA, there is some very interesting stuff on the ANIK
satellites on KU band.
Ku band satellites are harder to tune than C band, often requiring extensive
manual adjustments. Ku is also more weather sensitive. Ku programming
services are not as well documented as C band. On a larger dish (like a 10
footer) the KU signals are as narrow as a laser beam. One brief touch of the
actuator and the signal is gone. GETTING it in the first place (tracking) is
not a job for the faint of heart. HOWEVER if you have your dish tracked for
the KU band, it will be DEAD ON for C band.
PBS is now on KU, and ABC also has feeds there, both on the
T-401 Satellite. This could be the push that gets many folks to upgrade
to KU.
NBC feeds all its programming on K2, a KU satellite. The NBC programming is
all in the clear, though there are rumors they may scramble.
ALL NEWS CHANNEL is also seen on SBS6 quite often when
the two CONUS channels are not being used for newsfeeds.
The two ANIK satellites have a LOT of KU on them, including an UNCUT MOVIE
SERVICE In the CLEAR, Two Music Channels, Regional Public Networks, ASN
(Atlantic Satellite Network) and plenty of French stuff. These two birds
can be seen well ONLY in the NORTHERN part of the USA, However. Conversely,
There is MEXICAN stuff on the Morellos Birds that can only bee seen in the
Southern USA. Such is the way of KU, much narrower spotbeams.
KU is also the place to look for NEWS and SPORTS feeds, and backhauls of all
sorts. International type programming (Chinese, Russian, Japanese language)
and many educational feeds are all up there. For the dyed in the wool dish
head, KU is where it is at.
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