Listen Up UHF, S and X-Band Section

[Channel Hopper]

I had been thinking a while back about setting up sections for the less common frequencies out there that require - in the main - a dish.

As usual, domestic chores, an extended delay in setting up a suitable location, two break ins and Covid have put things on hold, but yesterday Dreamsat brought it to the fore with potential useful detail for other forum members.

Currently I doubt there is the need to provide individual sections but should more than one turn out to be poplular then the detail can be separated.

 

[s-band]

Maybe an 'every band not already covered' section? UHF, L, S, X, Ku (>13G), 26G, 32G, Q band.....

 

[dreamsat]

I would also prefer extra areas. the overview is lost and when everything about several satellites is now in one post. Nothing is subsequently moved and one often has the problem of finding one's own contributions again.

 

[satesco]

In 2005, when this forum started(am I wrong?), no one foresaw the directions and interests of those who started it. If the format it has taken (sections, topics, etc.) has remained the same, I must say that, forgive me for saying so, the forum no longer corresponds to the requirements and developments in the field of satellite transmission.
If before, when it was founded, it could seem "insular", because the internet was not such an imperative and necessary presence, and the messages were addressed to a target (English?) audience/members, now it has diversified, become international, and the themes have diversified too. Among them is the broadcasting section, which is now more, but does not include X, S, or UHF bands. But we should have a special section for separate Ku, C, Ka, X, S, etc. band broadcasts.
As any satellite enthusiast can see, the trend is that most of them have shrunk in every country (in Europe), and the forums are becoming more muted, or disappearing for lack of activity. The few left want to share their experience with those in other countries and feel drawn to forums where the interest is still there and where they can get the expected feedback. And the SatsUK forum is one of these. It would be a shame not to capitalize on this trend.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks. Based on the answers received there is now a poll, closing in a fortnight.

An X-band section will start shortly regardless, some here know I have been dabbling with the upper (8.5 GHz) for a while. In the next few weeks I will have a dedicated reflector to take on the homebrew kit without swopping components at the expense of the other reception bands.

Voting is anonymous, though it would be good if anyone with other band experience speaks up with their reasons and perhaps what they have received (and what may be annoyingly just out of reach)

 

[s-band]

Here are my observations of things that might be included, there are very few TV related but some, e.g. meteo, produce images:

UHF - Pirates on milsats, mainly in S America and Iberia around 200-300MHz also some around the search and rescue band around 405MHz.
Turkmenistan SECAM TV has been seen coming through Meridian 9 at around 990MHz

L band - Inmarsat Aero around 1545MHz

Meteo around 1.7GHz

S-Band 2.2-2.3GHz
- In 2021 Space X video was decoded but that game was over when they encrypted it
- Geo/MEO/LEO beacons and narrow data
- DSN but most too weak
- DSN Example: Chandrayaan 2 Lunar Orbiter


2.5-2.7GHz
- Way back in 1990ish, Saudi Ch2 on Arabsat

- If you happen to be far enough East there's some TV on SES7 108.2E
- If you're far enough west you might get Sirius XM radio

X band - Quite a lot
Below 7.25GHz DSN uplinks if they bounce off something, here's the Chang'e 5 uplink via the Moon.


7.25-7.75 Milsat and some Meteo. There was one reported test of TV on Astra 28.2E but that's all I know of.
- Example of GS & Data on WGS9

- Lots of other weird things
- TT&C Beacons

7.75-8.4 Earth Observation
- This where most of the better meteo pics can be received although I've not done that
- Here's Cosmo Skymed 1 a LEO with SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). The downlink is more than 200MHz wide it can be seenat the low end of this plot with the SAR at 9.6GHz.


8.4-8.5GHz Busy DSN band
- Some things have been decoded e.g. Tianwen 1
- STEREO-A is easily received at the moment as it is close at around (9Mkm) Here's a 195nm pic from it:

- Here's some DX, Juno at just under 900Mkm


With the exception of Arabsat S Band (3m Winegard dish) and Inmarsat Aero (Helical antenna) all examples were on a 1.2m dish. Higher bands to follow.....

 

[John]

i have found on 29,0° east a Video in ACM/VCM continous

Could someone that is established in the reception of these bands share with us that are not established , what lnb / feed equipment is in use and also the source for others to aquire the required equipment .

 

[s-band]

13-17GHz
- Extended KU (13.4-13.65GHz) which is generally included in normal KU on this forum.
- USA-139 around 34W 8.5incl. An old SigInt satellite, looks a bit sick but has what appears to be a couple of OQPSK signals one of which is above 12.75GHz

- The TDRSS downlinks are around 14-15GHz but the beams are tight on the White Sands Earth station, I think. I've not managed to see anything.
- Some Russian craft ate listed around 15-16GHz by ITU but I've not found those either.

25.5-27.0GHz
- EDRS A & C geo with very wide bandwidth 4 OQPSK signals each (2 on each polarisation)

- Wide band downlinks for the Near Space Network. It's unlikely that anything will be decodable due to the low power density but they are detectable. e.g. JWST & Euclid



31.8-32.3GHz DSN
Used for wide band links from deep space craft e.g. Bepi COlombo at 113.2Mkm


Q-Band
Not a lot here yet and it's I can't see there being much TV. The only thing receivable at the moment is the experimental beacon on Alphasat 25.9E. The are a few listings in ITU, including Eutelsat 65WA 65.2W but that's in the trees for me.


That's as high as I can go.

The problem with the more esoteric stuff is that info is spread around. A lot of people use Twitter (not me) and that's a pain as it's a transient resource. Many of the more interesting Twitter posts link to users' blogs. For real time discussions, mainly DSN, there's #hearsat on IRC and Discord. There's the DSN group here: Amateur-DSN groups.io Group. Most of my observations are here

 

[moonbase]

Could someone that is established in the reception of these bands share with us that are not established , what lnb / feed equipment is in use and also the source for others to aquire the required equipment .

I have some brand new Elite Antennas feeds and waveguides for X-Band. The feed is for a four support arm setup but should be possible to get it mounted on a three feed support arm setup.
As usual, for sale at huge wad.

Paul from UHF SatCom also makes these to a very high standard, I have seen first hand his setup and the quality of his work, absolute top notch.

 

[s-band]

Interesting. I wonder why Spanish TV would be broadcast that way.

If it's broadcast, it might be for Spanish forces (Danish forces TV was on mil Ka band C).

Could someone that is established in the reception of these bands share with us that are not established , what lnb / feed equipment is in use and also the source for others to aquire the required equipment .

MB's feeds are the ultimate for PF dishes for Milsat but bits of plumbing will make a decent offset feed. My stuff is a mix of floor sweepings, Ebay, home made and professional. It depends what you want it for. In reality, the chance of getting any watchable TV on X is minimal.

For lower bands (<17GHz) I use LNAs at the dish and down-convert indoors. Higher bands (18-41GHz) use modified VSAT and terrestrial link kit with home made LNAs with down-conversion at the dish but LOs fed from indoors.

 

[John]

@ 30.9°East Extended Ku
Decided to take a look after many months of not looking .... the usual marker at 13.410V is still present but i now see at low levels 13.427V & 13.593V. Only using a 1.2mtr Gibertini.
Anybody else able to take a look and update ?.
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[dreamsat]

I can't see anything vertically. Horizontal can be telemetry or beacon.

 

[John]

@ 30.9°East Extended Ku
Decided to take a look after many months of not looking .... the usual marker at 13.410V is still present but i now see at low levels 13.427V & 13.593V. Only using a 1.2mtr Gibertini.
Anybody else able to take a look and update ?.
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View attachment 154424

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Another scan today with a new Ext Ku lnbf ...
Same signals as before but a better frequency accuracy.
The 13583.75 signal appears to be a marker, with Circular polorisation but not sure if L or R due to using a Linear lnbf.

13400.75 V is a marker, 13424.25 V is un-lockable.