We certainly wouldn't need the tower itself, but it would be excellent for certain amenities. There is also ample space within the facility, if we were to remove the rest of the hardware that was intended for the original use. The actual owner pulled all the copper out for salvage long ago, but left quite a bit of junk (some good stuff, too - toys to us).
It's not easy to do, nor cheap. Best thing to do is get a buisness model/plan written up and go hunt venture capital. There's a thing here in MN (yes, i'm in iceberg's territory, just north of the metro vs him in the southland) called the "idea bank". It's quite facinating. It's a bunch of bank presidents who stick money into new ideas, if they like it, they back it for a cut until you can buy them out. (which is how they end up with the money in the first place) Look around for these types of groups. But remember, they're bankers, they want to make money. So have numbers in hand when you talk to them.
Absolutely. I had a pretty fair idea that this was not going to be simple, nor inexpensive. There is no way that I would do this without investors such as that group of bankers that you mentioned. That was sort of my plan, besides any government grants or other means of support (whatever I could find).
Getting all of the specifics from the technical end lined up and then researching the cost of this all is first on my agenda. Then the legal aspects and then the overall programming costs. These are just generalities and there is much more to be concerned with (insurance, employment, upkeep, maintenance, taxes, etc., etc., etc.)
From my contact through Intelsat, I have found that lease for one channel on a C-Band sat would currently run $25,000/month with a three year contract. This is actually a little more than expected as it calculates out to about $35/hour. He didn't provide a quote or even an estimated price for space on a Ku band.
I do not wish to go C-Band. I would rather it be Ku-Band, so he informed me that space on 127.0 might be available for FTA use. But, who is to say by the time this is all put together if any space would be left there. I haven't researched the footprint of that sat lately, so I don't know if it is desirable or not. I would like the transmission to reach as many as possible. That is why a sat near 97 +/- 10 degrees might be better.
It is all a matter of wishful thinking and nice dreams right now, but I am going to continue to research this all if for nothing more than the pursuit of knowledge.
Gordy
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