- Joined
- Feb 18, 2002
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
i'd like to chime in on the power from the satellite: while klingens is correct that the satty is only putting out ~100 Watts for a continent (i don't know what the area for a TV satellite is, but for a military satellite at 225,000 miles above the earth, it is 1/3 of the earth. And the signal is of course stronger at the center of the "footprint" than the edges.) The power level measured at the earth-terminal (the little dish in this case) is measured in dBm's (decibels referenced to 1 milliwatt) and is not a lot... it is important to point out that the equipment is only using freq's that it is "tuned" for. the center freq in this bandwidth is the carrier freq. and the power generated by it is miniscule.
BUT
the dish is capable of collecting and amplifying more than just the carrier freq. (or any number of them) it can collect and amplify ANY frequency that is thrown at it. Including microwaves that have nothing to do with the transmission of telecommunications. the same waves that can be scavenged for use in generating power similar to the way a solar panel works.
the wattage that is being read by Janglur's equipment does not necessarily have to be the carrier from the satellite. it might be the by-products of the transmission from the satellite. (like resonant freq's that are produced by the feed-horns on the satty. ) when i was in the army, and we tried to come up on the bird, we would sometimes find a "side-hump" and try to hit it with our signal, and our controllers would see SOME signal hitting the bird, but no traffic... we'd have to make sure we were dead center on the satty to actually pass traffic over it. it's not enough to be close.
sorry for drifting off topic...
anyways, just because the freq that carries the data isn't pushing 14 watts into anyone's meters, it isn't impossible to be receiving enough radiation from a source that added up generates some significant (-ish) power. After all, that's what a satellite dish does: provide passive gain for a signal.
AND
GL with this project, i'm interested in seeing how it comes out
BUT
the dish is capable of collecting and amplifying more than just the carrier freq. (or any number of them) it can collect and amplify ANY frequency that is thrown at it. Including microwaves that have nothing to do with the transmission of telecommunications. the same waves that can be scavenged for use in generating power similar to the way a solar panel works.
the wattage that is being read by Janglur's equipment does not necessarily have to be the carrier from the satellite. it might be the by-products of the transmission from the satellite. (like resonant freq's that are produced by the feed-horns on the satty. ) when i was in the army, and we tried to come up on the bird, we would sometimes find a "side-hump" and try to hit it with our signal, and our controllers would see SOME signal hitting the bird, but no traffic... we'd have to make sure we were dead center on the satty to actually pass traffic over it. it's not enough to be close.
sorry for drifting off topic...
anyways, just because the freq that carries the data isn't pushing 14 watts into anyone's meters, it isn't impossible to be receiving enough radiation from a source that added up generates some significant (-ish) power. After all, that's what a satellite dish does: provide passive gain for a signal.
AND
GL with this project, i'm interested in seeing how it comes out