Reception problems and options

Extract

Let us now consider the apparatus needed for satellite reception. First of all, we must decide what signals we want to receive. If we are content with the ‘normal’ signals, that is to say the signals intended for reception in a particular country, then a parabolic antenna of 0·7-0·9 m is required. This can be fixed, since only one satellite position is involved and the receiver need only cover half of the 800 MHz band. The 1977 plan has been so arranged that certain transmissions from neighbouring countries with similar cultures and languages can also be received by the same set-up but a larger antenna. I have called these adjacent transmissions, and examples are the UK and Ireland, Germany and Austria, and so on.