Flat Panel Antenna's

goaliebob99 · Jan 2, 2015

I saw this on the internet and noticed that the technology could be scaled not only to KU but to Cband, and other bands as well. This really interests me as this may be a low profile way to put up an antenna, have the ability to see all the satellites (Only tuned to one at a time) in the arch and never have to steer an antenna. If this would allow one to put up a flat panel without the HOA ever knowing or even low profile to public view, it could expand the industry.

Has anyone read more into this, or is this only a pipe dream and I wonder how this would perform with various modulations.

http://www.omniaccess.com/news/omni...-flat-panel-antenna-at-monaco-yacht-show/1498

ken2400 · Jan 2, 2015

http://ask.slashdot.org/story/04/03/10/2126244/flat-panel-antenna-for-c-band-tvro

. Raine · Jan 3, 2015

Interesting, I'd never heard of that before. Wish they'd put more info into the article.

beavs2112 · Jan 3, 2015

K9SAT said:
I saw this on the internet and noticed that the technology could be scaled not only to KU but to Cband, and other bands as well. This really interests me as this may be a low profile way to put up an antenna, have the ability to see all the satellites (Only tuned to one at a time) in the arch and never have to steer an antenna. If this would allow one to put up a flat panel without the HOA ever knowing or even low profile to public view, it could expand the industry.

Has anyone read more into this, or is this only a pipe dream and I wonder how this would perform with various modulations.

http://www.omniaccess.com/news/omni...-flat-panel-antenna-at-monaco-yacht-show/1498

K9SAT please don't hold your breath until this comes to a store near you at a reasonable price. technically possible but hardly HOA friendly or wallet friendly or fta hobbiest friendly. A c-band wavelength is still a c-band wavelength. that can't be changed. to quote from the article "phase-shifting topology allows for multiple antenna modules to be combined into a single logical antenna. These modules can be configured as a single conformal antenna or a distributed array, placed on multiple locations aboard the yacht " so its like a phased multiple antenna array. so instead of one steerable parabolic ku antenna reflector say 1.2m in diameter now you have say (just guessing @ a number here since I don't have my rf engineering guide handy) five flat fixed location 1" thick flat panel antennas but they probably still have to be 1.2m wide with a probably incredibly expensive electronic computer to combine the out of phase signals into one useful rf signal. so for c-band you probably need to have 5 - 10 foot wide 1" thick flat panel antennas along with the very expensive computer. so you have also five times the cabling now. if you go with less panels you have less received signal so you might need a crapload of amplification which generally leads to other worse problems.

PALL MALL · Jan 3, 2015

I found some ku flat panels recently while looking up specs of the openbox s9. They seem to be cheap and readily available in the uk. The biggest one I seen had 4 lnbs. Couldnt find the sat dealers website but was able to find them on ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281211376911

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/360986706562

Titanium · Jan 3, 2015

Two different technologies.

The KU-band phase array panels were often used on SUVs 10 years ago for Dish and Direct in-motion installs. They are used in the airline industry for the live entertainment systems. Talked with some engineers at 2014 CES who were showing next generation phase array panels. Still extremely expensive, but have their niche market.

The other linked KU-band flat panels are actually very shallow parabolic type with a sub reflector and LNB. These work well with high power satellites, but not enough gain to use with the lower power FSS satellites in North America. Worked with a developer many years ago and tested his product on DBS satellites. Worked very well, but was only a single satellite solution.

goaliebob99 · Jan 3, 2015

Titanium said:
Two different technologies.

The KU-band phase array panels were often used on SUVs 10 years ago for Dish and Direct in-motion installs. They are used in the airline industry for the live entertainment systems. Talked with some engineers at 2014 CES who were showing next generation phase array panels. Still extremely expensive, but have their niche market.

The other linked KU-band flat panels are actually very shallow parabolic type with a sub reflector and LNB. These work well with high power satellites, but not enough gain to use with the lower power FSS satellites in North America. Worked with a developer many years ago and tested his product on DBS satellites. Worked very well, but was only a single satellite solution.

That's kind of a bummer. It seems like the technology potential is there but it needs to be developed more to really make it feasible. It would be a niche market anyhow.

Martyn · Jan 3, 2015

Assuming it's the same thing, I used to have one of these back in the early nineties. BSB was a four-channel DBS service for the UK, back when the DBS slots were divvied up and each European country got four channels. It used a hybrid system called D-Mac and the square dish, called a "squarial," was it's unique calling card. BSB was overtaken by Sky, which broadcast more channels but in analog PAL. An early lesson in consumers preferring quantity over quality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squarial

And pictures:
https://www.google.com/search?q=squ...IDsjyoASNnoHoBw&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1273&bih=730

Anyway, after BSB failed, er, "merged" with Sky, I bought one cheap. The dish was put into use for French DBS signals and the receiver was re-chipped for a very small amount of money to unlock several Scandinavian movie and entertainment channels that used the Eurocrypt encryption system that had been totally hacked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroCrypt

Ah, the good old days

ken2400 · Jan 3, 2015

Lets try this link
http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/threads/plywood-fresnel.111473/

. Raine · Jan 4, 2015

Ah, the plywood fresnel dish, Primestar31 had posted the plans of one for me a year or two back, I haven't yet got the time to do anything serious with it yet!

Cham · Jan 4, 2015

I would like to see this phased array technology used in FTA; like specially built LNBFs and receivers that would allow several separate dishes to be connected together as a motorized unit to maximize signals... just like the radio telescopes do... We could all start our own SETI program!

Down side might be for satellite managers to drop their transponder power so only these type of systems would receive satellite transmissions... would save enormous amounts of $$ for launched assets even if ground station costs go up for commercial interests. Might spell the end for FTA, but I doubt it would happen quite that way.