HDTV Forum

what is c-band and how can you benifit form this

Chris

It's the "big dish" type of satellite dish. I only know a little about them.

They've been around longer than Directv/DishNetwork minidishes. One of my uncle's had one at his farm in the late 70s/early 80s. I don't remember much about it.

I believe a C-Band dish is on a rotator that can be used to point it at different satellites. Signals are compressed less so you should get a better picture than you can with cable or the minidishes. More channels are available (even raw feeds used to be available so you could see and hear what sports announcers were up to during commercial breaks but I'm not sure if that's possible anymore). I think subscription fees may be less but the equipment cost is substantial. It's also not really that viable for most of us living in urban and suburban areas who don't have the space or could never get approval from a homeowners association for these big dishes.

Still, it's out there if it meets your needs. I live in a condo. I'll be sticking with my Directv, at least until something significantly better comes along.

Kevin

Here is a web site link that may help answer some C-band questions,

http://www.c-band.com/C-Band%20World.htm

Steve

C-band is where all tv signals start from, cable, small dish. That is the cable and Dish/DTV download the channels from c-band, digitize it add their encoding and uplink the signals to their satellites. Thus the signals that they sell to you is a second generation signal. Those of us that have c-band are watching a first generation signal. Here is a link to check out c-band digital:

http://forums.satforums.com/SatForumMas ... p?action=8

hdteal

I have an HD C-band setup. I started with C-band in '82. Had a hiatus after a move from '87 to '91. Started up again, and went digital then, upgraded again in '99, and once again in '01 when I added the HD setup.
I have HBO, SHO, STRZ, and ENC E & W HD outputs, and Discovery HD Theater, plus digital variants of all of them, Max, TMC, ENC, Bravo, a myriad other digital, analog, oh and a Nebraska edu HD station, too, which makes for a lot of channels.
It's been great to us, with minimal upkeep, and we recorded to SVHS for years, now DVD+RW or +R's (all analog and digital, not the HD) and a digital DVD recording looks like a first run movie DVD.
It's beautiful. The HD's beautiful, too!
I may be able to answer lots of questions, too. Let me know.

This link is good, though a bit outdated, it still has good info.