Satellite Update – Sept. 8, 2011

By Doug Lung
published


From FCC Report SAT-00805:

  • • The FCC International Bureau's Satellite Division granted, with conditions, an application from Satellite CD Radio LLC to modify its authorization for FM-6 in the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) to operate at 116.15 degrees west longitude (WL) instead of the previously authorized location of 115.2 degrees WL. Satellite CD Radio also received authorization to conduct in-orbit testing of FM-6 at 120.50 degrees WL for 30 days, commencing 12 days following launch and with authority to use specified frequencies in the SDARS 2.3 GHz and 7.0 GHz bands to support telemetry, tracking and telecommand operations necessary for the testing, and to relocate FM-6 to 116.15 degrees WL after in-orbit testing is completed. SDARS operations are authorized in the 2320-2332.5 MHz (space-to-Earth) and 7050.5-7072.5 MHz (Earth-to-space).
  • • 95 Licensee Subsidiary LLC was granted authority to construct, launch and operate a 17/24 GHz Broadcasting Satellite Service (BSS) space station at 95.15 degrees WL, offset 0.15 degrees from the 95 degree WL location specified in Appendix F to the 17/24 GHz BSS Report and Order. Operation is authorized in the 17.3-17/9 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 24.75-25.25 GHz (Earth-to-space) bands. Operation in the 17.7-17.8 GHz (space-to-Earth) band is limited to international service only. Operation is allowed at full power and with full interference protection.
  • • The FCC dismissed two Letters of Intent as premature. Both Letters sought to use a Ka-band satellite at 97.1 degrees WL licensed to the United Kingdom to access the U. S. market. One was filed by Hughes Network Systems, LLC and the other by Inmarsat Hawaii, Inc.
Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.