Telamon wrote:

In article ,
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:


The actual uplink is usually in the 10 to 25 watt region for
video,
and it would take less for a narrow audio only signal. An all solid
state microwave transmitter would only consume a few hundred watts.
The studio equipment would use more energy than the uplink. BTW, i
have been trying to track down the owner of an abandoned C-band video
confrencing earth station that was built by Microdyne. I want the
equipment because the system is serial number one, and the only
uplink they ever built.

I figured a few hundred watts for uplink power of the final PA but as
you mention there are facilities that need to be supported along with
the uplink dish. People are often surprised at how much power is
consumed by support facilities for the electronics, lights and air
conditioning. I have managed facilities that consume 100 KW and did not
transmit any signal, just lights, electronic equipment, air
conditioning, and heating.


WACX TV in Orange City Fl. has a 500 KW Onan diesel generator to
power their 195 KW transmitter, the control room, air conditioning and
tower lights in case of an emergency.



People tend to forget the cost of putting the satellite into orbit.
This is a cost that can not be ignored either.

I don't know where you go looking for C band uplink equipment.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

When I worked in CATV back in the mid '80s the line was, "A 20 Watt
TWT is worth $1,000 on the ground, and $1,000,000 in orbit". The Sat
owner would auction off the useful life of each of the 24 transponders
for about $1,000,000, depending on the type of bird, the shape of each
antenna, and its orbital parking spot. Most had two to six spare TWTs
that could be switched in when one of the 24 original TWTs failed, or
got too weak to use. The output power of each transponder was
controlled by the uplink power levels. The signals were uplinked in the
6 GHZ region, mixed against the onboard L.O. and retransmitted in the 4
GHZ region.


This is an abandoned facility a couple miles from here, and I want
the equipment to add to my collection of unique equipment built by my
former employer (Microdyne). How often do you get a chance to collect
something with serial number 1? Also, it is the earth station that was
used by Captain Midnight to jam HBO over 20 years ago, so its a piece of
history.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida