SelfSat’s Flat Antenna replaces the satellite dish

[chris]

All those high-def TV channels that Freesat is broadcasting right now for free could be directed straight onto your HD TV using this flat antenna. No need to install a satellite dish. Just screw the H21D on the wall and paint it.

It’s good news for anyone that lives in a shared block or a Grade 1 listed castle that can’t get planning permission to fit a proper satellite dish. Thanks to a radical redesign of the receiver dish, the H21D flat antenna is able to pick up the Freesat signal via a flat surface and send it to your Freesat set-top box. Just clamp it onto the side of a building, a window, or prop it up on the supplied stand. The surface is paintable so that it can match the wall your mounting it on and it even comes with floral and football team stickers. Your local council planning authority will have no idea that your secretly enjoying free HD satellite telly. Suckers.

Out soon costing £150

Source:electricpig

 

[Sandbox]

Wow pretty cool! It's hard to visualize how big the thing is - any idea about dimensions?

A mate of mine lives in a listed building, this will be of interest to him

 

[rolfw]

I've seen them in the flesh and they will have their uses, it is often better to look and see if there are places to tuck a dish away when it is a sensitive building or area. One of our supporting advertisers sells them.

Sqish Spec

Input Satellite Frequency 	10.7 - 12.75 GHz
Polarization 	Dual Linear (Horizontal & Vertical)
Antenna Gain 	33dBi at 12.7GHz
Size (W x D x H) 	475 x 259 x 74mm
LNB 1 	1 Output Switchable: H/V, high/low band
LNB 2 	2 Output Switchable: H/V, high/low band
LNB 4 	4 Output Switchable: H/V, high/low band
Changeover Low Band/High Band 	0/22KHz Tone Switching
LNB Output Frequency 	950-1950/1100-2150MHz
L.O. Frequency 	9.75/10.6GHz
LNB Noise Figure @ +25°C 	0.7dB Typ
Phase Noise 	minus 80dBc/Hz (@10KHz)
minus 95dBc/Hz (@100KHz)
minus 110dBc/Hz (@1MHz)
Input VSWR 	2.5:1 Typ
Image Rejection 	40dB Min
Conversion Gain 	55dB Typ
Output VSWR 	2:1 Typ
Gain Flatness 	6dB p-p Max
Power Supply 	Vertical +12 to +14V (13V DC Typ)
Horizontal +16 to +19V (18V DC Typ)
Output impedance/Connector 	75ohm/F-Type Female
Current Consumption 	150mA Max
Operation Temperature 	-30°C to +60°C
Storage Temperature 	-40°C to +80°C

 

[satelliteman]

I assume they require alignment

M*plins do something similar I believe and was tempted to purchase one myself to test the signals on

 

[rolfw]

Yes, you align them just as you would a prime focus dish.

 

[satelliteman]

Be interested to see the technical measurements MER & BER of one working

 

[rolfw]

I'm thinking of ordering one, but unsure as to whether I will find an application for it.

I guess that if the satellite you want is perpendicular to the wall, then it will look relatively unobtrusive, particularly if you paint it.

 

[satelliteman]

If you get one Rolf, be interested in the above results for 28e

 

[2cvbloke]

It's nothing new, there have been plenty of FPAs over they years, the most iconic being the BSB Squarial...

 

[Sandbox]

Would painting it have any effect on it's performance?

 

[Topper]

Would painting it have any effect on it's performance?

Not at all providing you used a paint that did not contain lead oxide or zinc oxide or any other metallic componants

 

[bigtee]

Could someone in the know please confirm what the stated 'antenna gain' of 33dBi at 12.7GHz translate to in regular dish size? Thanks.

 

[dxsat]

33dbi gain is pretty low, I would say you could only use one of these in southern England. By comparison, a Raven 60 cm mini dish has a gain of 35.9 at the same frequency. It will have even lower gain than 33dBi at 10.7 ghz, the band used by the BBC. Probably the equivalent to a 45 cm conventional parabolic dish.

 

[rolfw]

It is not really being sold as an improvement on a zone 1 minidish, simply as an alternative in difficult situations.

 

[Sandbox]

So intended market is:

a. those who live in listed properties
b. people that loath the sight of a satellite dish (not us)
c. difficult installation areas where a dish wont do

 

[satelliteman]

Correct, although a conventional satellite dish is the most prettiest thing one could look at, well not true