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Using a Small Satellite Array as C-Band Receiver?

Posted by Cliff on from the neat-projects-used-to-slip-through-loopholes dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Many local zoning ordinances prohibit big (6~8 ft) satellite dishes. Is it possible to use many smaller dishes to achieve the same effect as one big dish in picking up C-band transmissions? I know that moving large number of dishes, for satellite tracking purposes, would be a pain but are there any other issues?" Obviously building a satellite array is possible, but what are the engineering issues involved in building such a project? How much space is realistically needed? And, of course, the bottom line: how much would doing something like this cost?

2 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Do what the NSA did for years. by starfighter_org · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They put up little white dome tent like structures to cover up the dish. The point was so people couldn't see where the dish was pointing/that there was a dish at all. all you need is something to hide it. Maybe a small privacy fence section with a nylon roof?

  2. Some c-band thoughts by Adrenochrome · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hi there. I still use C-Band. All the channels I want to watch (Discovery, TLC, Fox News) for $100 a year. Add a MPEG-FTA receiver and get lots more unencrypted channels. Getting all the feedhorns properly in-phase on just one bird will be a major PITA. In order to aim at a different bird, the entire array would have to move together somehow in order to maintain the phase relationship of the combined antenna. Best bet is to put up the biggest offset focus dish your covenant will allow (probably 1 meter, you might get away with a 1.2m dish) and get the most sensitive C-Band LNB you can get, which I believe is a 15 degree. No guarantee though, bigger IS better. You want an offset focus dish so that the LNB is pointing at the sky instead of the ground. Less background noise in the sky...