Hi to all on this site. I am interested in getting my old C band Sat. system resurected from a long time of being idol. Have lost all contact as to where C band stands today. Where should I look to get me up to speed as to what is available on the Sats now. Interested in Sub. Carriers for audio. and any new developments going on..I have been retired for a couple of years and have pretty much caught up on all the projects that I didn't do before retirement. I now can get back to fun things. Thanks for reading this and look forward to seeking more info.........Waldome..
sub carrier info
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I haven't noticed any subcarriers for several years. I used to scan every channel on every sat on a regular basis looking for subcarriers, and would also occasionally scan for SCPC stuff too, however that stuff is pretty much gone. There may be some still out there, but I stopped looking for it years ago.
It's really easier for them to do the same thing via digital now. If you're looking for non-video signals to play with, I'd recommend getting a PCI computer card receiver (one that's compatable with TSREADER) and download a trial copy of TSREADER, then slave that to your C-band dish. Look at Lyngsat for a list of what's on the sats, ie North & South America - LyngSat . It isn't complete by any stretch of the imagination, but it gives you an idea. It won't have any subcarriers listed though.
The only subcarriers I've seen out there are (if you can call them that) the Spanish language of some of the analog feeds on G16 where it says 6:20/6:80 stereo 5:28 Spanish mono
but you're right BJ I havent seen a true subcarrier in a while
but you're right BJ I havent seen a true subcarrier in a while
There is still LOTS of audio to listen to on satellite, it is all in a digital format though. Different terminology and different technology, but in the end you get the same result - lots of fun stuff to listen to. Get your hands on a digital free-to-air receiver and enjoy!
There are lots of threads on this discussion board about choosing the right receiver. My only tip is to get a receiver with "Blind Scan" so that it can hunt out the digital signals for you.
There are lots of threads on this discussion board about choosing the right receiver. My only tip is to get a receiver with "Blind Scan" so that it can hunt out the digital signals for you.
Analog audio, for all intents and purposes, is dead.
There are only 2 analog subcarrier services left that aren't related to program audio channels (i.e. a mono mix or a descriptive video/alternate language audio channel).
There are 2 analog SCPC feeds left that are known to transmit anything on them (and 4 others that are quiet carriers that may or may not have anything on them occasionally).
For comparison, there are 540 FTA DVB-S digital audio feeds/services on C and Ku throughout the North American arc.
There are only 2 analog subcarrier services left that aren't related to program audio channels (i.e. a mono mix or a descriptive video/alternate language audio channel).
There are 2 analog SCPC feeds left that are known to transmit anything on them (and 4 others that are quiet carriers that may or may not have anything on them occasionally).
For comparison, there are 540 FTA DVB-S digital audio feeds/services on C and Ku throughout the North American arc.
THis thread got me trying to remember what I used to do to find subcarrier, and not all of it was actual audio programming. Several of my favorite subcarriers were actually some APT (a form of FAX transmission of images). There used to be AP, UPI news fax, which would be pictures that you'd see in tomorrow's newspapers, and my favorite of all, was a GOES TAP subcarrier that was on a regular TV sat. This was a retransmission of a variety of weather images from the GOES weather satellites. They cycled through multiple image types. Really interesting.
But relative to finding the subcarriers, there were two types of subcarriers, although they were really all the same. Many were just sent along with some video channel, and would generally be up above the normal 6.2/6.8 MHz audio. These were pretty easy to find, just with a regular analog receiver. The second type, however, most people called FM^2 subcarriers, but actually the other subcarriers and the regular audio associated with the video were really also FM^2 too. These FM^2 subcarriers were on channels that didn't have any video programming at all, and you could find the subcarriers at any frequency from zero up to 9 MHz or so. You couldn't use the regular analog receiver to receive these though, because those will only tune down into the 5 MHz range, and no lower, because the video and color info was found down there.
I'd usually look for these FM^2 subcarriers by going through the channels on my analog receiver. Eventually you'd see a channel that didn't have video, but had what looked like full quieting video, ie a black or slightly speckled black screen rather than the random static screen. This showed that there was a carrier on this channel, but no video on the carrier. When I'd find this, I'd go to my ICOM receiver, which would tune FM in the short wave range of 0-9 MHz, and connect this to the baseband output of the analog receiver. I'd then spin the dial on the ICOM, looking for audio. I'd have to scan sats in a couple different bandwidths, because some of the subcarriers were very narrow band, and other ones were quite broadband.
I'd find lots of things that were interesting. I actually didn't listen that much, but had most of my fun just finding the subcarriers.
Now, with all the digital transponders out there, I guess I couldn't use the same search method, as some of the wide band digital transponders give similar dark screen quieting appearance, so I'd probably end up trying to check out dozens of transponders that were just digital transponders.
Anyway, the old FM^2 days were fun, but as mentioned above, there is LOTs more to be found now that things have gone digital, however it's also easier for them to encrypt or put it in modes that we can't listen to, so to some extent the stuff you found back then tended to be more interesting.
But relative to finding the subcarriers, there were two types of subcarriers, although they were really all the same. Many were just sent along with some video channel, and would generally be up above the normal 6.2/6.8 MHz audio. These were pretty easy to find, just with a regular analog receiver. The second type, however, most people called FM^2 subcarriers, but actually the other subcarriers and the regular audio associated with the video were really also FM^2 too. These FM^2 subcarriers were on channels that didn't have any video programming at all, and you could find the subcarriers at any frequency from zero up to 9 MHz or so. You couldn't use the regular analog receiver to receive these though, because those will only tune down into the 5 MHz range, and no lower, because the video and color info was found down there.
I'd usually look for these FM^2 subcarriers by going through the channels on my analog receiver. Eventually you'd see a channel that didn't have video, but had what looked like full quieting video, ie a black or slightly speckled black screen rather than the random static screen. This showed that there was a carrier on this channel, but no video on the carrier. When I'd find this, I'd go to my ICOM receiver, which would tune FM in the short wave range of 0-9 MHz, and connect this to the baseband output of the analog receiver. I'd then spin the dial on the ICOM, looking for audio. I'd have to scan sats in a couple different bandwidths, because some of the subcarriers were very narrow band, and other ones were quite broadband.
I'd find lots of things that were interesting. I actually didn't listen that much, but had most of my fun just finding the subcarriers.
Now, with all the digital transponders out there, I guess I couldn't use the same search method, as some of the wide band digital transponders give similar dark screen quieting appearance, so I'd probably end up trying to check out dozens of transponders that were just digital transponders.
Anyway, the old FM^2 days were fun, but as mentioned above, there is LOTs more to be found now that things have gone digital, however it's also easier for them to encrypt or put it in modes that we can't listen to, so to some extent the stuff you found back then tended to be more interesting.
FM^2 channels still exist on two Ku-band transponders but I'm sure their days are numbered because they can also be heard in digital format.
My way of finding FM^2? The spectrum analyzer signature. Pretty unique. When I thought I had a hit because of the signature, I used a Microsat 150 to tune them.
My way of finding FM^2? The spectrum analyzer signature. Pretty unique. When I thought I had a hit because of the signature, I used a Microsat 150 to tune them.
looking at old Lyngsat charts there was a LOT of audio subcarriers on analog back in the day
some channels had 3-4 or more
some channels had 3-4 or more
I think there are lots of hams here. I'm N3JLQ, however I haven't been on the air in years, except to use the ham radio to have my wife tell me when I'm getting S/Q readings on the TV inside. (she's a ham too, but hasn't been on the air either.)
I used to have several ham antenns up but I've basically taken them all down, and put up scanner antennas instead, since I've gotten more interested in listening to aircraft.
I see that you're right underneath the upper end of the AR-631 air refueling loop. I bet that you see a lot of KC135 tankers refueling all sorts of planes. I listen to them on 295.8 MHz. Sometimes the fighters refuel there, then fly up a low level route right over my house, so I often listen on that freq hoping to get some advanced warning that they're headed this way.
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