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138 139TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 07-08/2013 — www.TELE-audiovision.com www.TELE-audiovision.com — 07-08/2013 — TELE-audiovision International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志
New in the
Ka-Band -
Update
• a new band for the satellite enthusiast
• hard to receive as no consumer LNBs are
available
• possible to receive programmes directly from
African countries
• Ka-band reception suitable for DYI DXers
Satellite Reception in the Ka-Band
View of Vitor's workshop. Using the
meters available to him, he can detect
virtually all satellite signals. Currently he
focuses on the Ka band, a new field for
satellite DX experiments.

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140 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 07-08/2013 — www.TELE-audiovision.com
Satellite Reception in the Ka-Band
Did you notice? In the previous is-
sue 05-06/2013 of TELE-audiovision
the layout of the Ka band article on
pages 138 and 139 turned out a bit
different than expected. It always
showed the same spectrum of Hellas
Sat 2 in the Ku and Ka bands, rather
than an individual spectrum for each
satellite between 39.0°E and 30.0°W.
We’re terribly sorry about that and
have prepared the correct pictures in this
issue. This time, each satellite comes with
the spectrum of the current Ku band and
Ka band (in the 19.7 to 20.2 frequency
range). There’s currently only one con-
sumer LNB available to receive that par-
ticular frequency range, namely the In-
verto White Ka.
Just have a look for yourself and in case
you’re wondering: Yes, this is actually
what you get, or more appropriately, what
you don’t get – apart from the TooWay
Internet service and a single transponder
on Hotbird 13.0°E (which we could not
use either) there’s absolutely nothing in
the 19.7 to 20.2 GHz range. Zero, nada,
rien. When you look at Europe as a whole,
The Same Spectrum
– Again and Again
Vitor Martins Augusto
In the previous issue 05-06/2013 of TELE-satellite we ran a report about initial attempts at receiving TV signals in
the Ka band. This is where the mix-up happened. This time, however, all the spectrums are shown as planned.
The original report can be accessed with the following link:
http://www.tele-audiovision.com/TELE-audiovision-1305/eng/vitorsworkshop.pdf
this LNB will only be of use in Ireland,
where you can receive Soarsat. This pro-
vider, however, uses a spot beam which
means you’re left in the dark outside Ire-
land, even with large antennas.
We also mentioned the DirecTV SL3
LNB in our original article. Of course we
tried that LNB as well, but found noth-
ing in the 18.3 to 18.8 GHz range. This
LNB’s feed is only compatible with circu-
lar signals, while satellites beaming their
signals to European users transmit linear
signals. What’s more, the SL3 feeds don’t
simply contain a dielectric which can be
replaced. Rather, the feeds are cast and
cannot be replaced so exchanged. I’m
currently trying to disassemble the entire
LNB and then use a standard linear feed
from a Ku band LNB. Should this attempt
eventually bear fruit I will definitely re-
port on it with a special article. So let’s
keep our fingers crossed!
As far as the Ka band is concerned we
have received first reports of success

3. 142 143TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 07-08/2013 — www.TELE-audiovision.com www.TELE-audiovision.com — 07-08/2013 — TELE-audiovision International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志
from the new group of Ka band
satellite DXers who have succeed-
ed in receiving signals from Ka
band transponders in the 21.2 to
22.2 GHz range from Eutelsat 7A
(7.0°E) and Eutelsat 16A (16.0°E)
in Central Europe. Direct feeds
from African providers can be re-
ceived from those transponders.
What makes matters even more
interesting: Those transmissions
are free to air, which is great news
for people from Africa living in Eu-
rope. Channels from Angola, Sen-
egal and Congo are available this
way, among others.
Unfortunately, however, it’s not
all gold:
1) Symbol rates are consistently
low, in the 1000 to 2150 range.
This means that some receivers
may not be able to actually pro-
cess those signals. This is one of
the reasons why we always look at
receiver behaviour with low sym-
bol rates in TELE-audiovision test
reports.
2) Ka band LNBs for the 21.2
to 22.2 GHz range are currently
very hard to get. They are only
produced in small numbers for
professional applications, which
means you might have to accept
long delivery times.
One thing is for sure: The Ka
band is becoming an ever more
interesting reception range and
creates a new playground for sat-
ellite DXers who are through with
everything the C and Ku bands
have to offer.
Comparison
Ku (10.7-12.7GHz) vs
Ka (19.7-20.2GHz)
Each pair shows the respective
satellite in the Ku-Band (10.7 GHz
– 12.7 GHz) and in the Ka-Band
(19.7 GHz to 20.2 GHz). Notice that
a valid signal requires an RF level
above approximately -59 dBm.
Eutelsat 9A at 9.0E contains 4
transponders in the Ka-Band,
which belong to the TooWay
satellite based internet service.
Using the KWS VAROS 109 it
was possible to see a Ka-Band
transponder on Hotbird at 13.0E.
I received some feedback with a
satellite modem, but since I have
no valid subscription, I could not
further test the reception.