s-band?

[truckracer]

I ran across a website selling "s-band" lnbf's. after researching a little i found that s-band means "satellite band radio". Does that mean their are radio communications in this part of the spectrum? If so could you possibly hear two way ham radio like transmissions? If so, would the transmissions be analog or digital?

It looks like the IF frequency of the s-band lnbf is 950-1450 mhz just like othe satellite lnb's. Wonder if my analog c/ku band receiver would step through the frequencies properly?

Or would my fortec ultra mpeg-2 box pick up anything?

Just curious

 

[DieFledermaus]

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cach...ite&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a

Try this link as a starting point. S band is a helix antenna that is omni directional for the most part. It is used for live video feeds from police and tv helicopters. also some military and weather.

Maus

 

[mkm4]

I ran across a website selling "s-band" lnbf's. after researching a little i found that s-band means "satellite band radio". Does that mean their are radio communications in this part of the spectrum? If so could you possibly hear two way ham radio like transmissions? If so, would the transmissions be analog or digital?

It looks like the IF frequency of the s-band lnbf is 950-1450 mhz just like othe satellite lnb's. Wonder if my analog c/ku band receiver would step through the frequencies properly?

Or would my fortec ultra mpeg-2 box pick up anything?

Just curious

Well, XM and Siruis use S-band, that's proably why that web site thinks that it stands for "satellite band radio".

But, here is a really comprehensive site that talks about s-band:
Monitoring Microwave Video

 

[mikekohl]

S-Band was very popular ten years ago and more in the Middle East, with a single channel apiece on adjoining Arabsat satellites in the 2500 and 2600 MHz downlink frequency range.
Egypt Satellite Channel and MBC (Middle East Broadcasting) were once carried, and users as far away as Sweden and southern regions of Africa could get reception. These signals disappeared with a later generation of satellites, and now the only S-band transmissions of note are over the Indian subcontinent. Another area might be for premium channels on an Indonesian satellite around 108 East
(check Lyngsat for exact details). But nothing in North America.

Any sale of these is probably surplus and dirt cheap because the market collapsed in the Middle East. I remember LNBs alone wholesaling for over 200 dollars ten years ago.

Similar devices have also been sold by California Amplifier for downconversion of MMDS frequencies, a few hundred MHz below the Arabsat S-band signals mentioned above.