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What are Ku Band and C Band frequencies? How do they differ?

April 26, 2017band differ frequencies KU

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What are Ku Band and C Band frequencies? How do they differ?

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Most Free To Air satellite content is broadcast on either C Band or Ku Band. C Band is the original frequency allocation for communications satellites. C Band uses 3.7 to 4.2Ghz for uplink; 5.9-6.4Ghz for downlink. C band requires a large dish, usually 6 feet in diameter. C band dishes vary between 3 feet and 9 feet in diameter, depending upon signal strength. The higher frequencies of Ku Band are more vulnerable to signal quality problems caused by rainfade than C Band satellite frequencies. The Ku Band uplink uses frequencies from 14 to 14.5GHz; the downlink uses frequencies between 11.7 and 12.7GHz. Ku Band dishes can be much smaller than C Band dishes. Ku Band dishes vary from 2 feet to 5 feet in diameter. Ku Band satellites typically transmit with far more power than C Band satellites. At one time, most Free To Air satellite programming was transmitted via C Band, but FTA programming has now migrated primarily to Ku Band.