Satellite TV Bands

C-Band

C band satellite systems use a 6 to 12 foot dish for reception of television and data transmissions. C-band covers from 3.7 to 8 GHz, however the frequency range for satellite television is from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz. Used mostly for commercial satellite television transmissions, C-band is becoming less of a residential option.

Ku-Band

Ku band is the frequency range from 12 to 18 GHz. When discussing Ku-band satellite TV we only consider, the range between 11.7 and 12.7 GHz. 11.7 to 12.2 GHz is called the FSS-band and the 12.2 to 12.7 GHz range is called DBS band

Part of the Ku-band spectrum used for Fixed Satellite Service. Virtually every dish in the 1 meter to 1.7 meter size is used for FSS band reception. FSS satellites can be spaced 2 degrees apart, which limits their maximum power output to avoid adjacent satellite interference. Hughesnet uses it for their satellite Internet service. Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite systems also use the FSS band.

The DBS band ranges from 12.2 - 12.7 GHz and is reserved for high powered satellites intended for the delivery of digital television. DIRECTV and DISH Network are DBS Satellite system providers. DBS Satellites are spaced 9 degrees apart. The wide spacing of DBS satellites allow for very high powered transmissions which results in the ability to use a small 18" dish.

K-Band

K band is the frequency range from 18 to 27 GHz.

Ka-Band

Ka-band ranges from 27 GHz to 40 GHz. Ka-band is used by Wildblue and eventually by DIRECTV. Wildblue uses Ka-band for delivering of satellite broadband and DIRECTV uses Ka-band to supplement their existing Ku band channel capacity.

DIRECTV plans to use two sections of Ka bandwidth. 18.3 - 18.8 GHZ and another 500 MHz band at 19.7 to 20.2.

Wildblue uses 19.7 to 20.2 GHz for the signal sent to the Wildblue customers dish (User Downlink) and 29.5 to 30.0 GHz for sending signal out to the satellite from the users dish (Users Uplink). Go here for more information on Wildblue Satellite Internet frequency allocations.