CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
The use of satellite in communications systems is very much a fact of everyday life,
as is evidenced by the many homes which are equipped with antennas, or dishes
used for reception of satellite television. What may not be so known is that satellite
forms an essential part of telecommunication system worldwide, carrying large
amount of data and telephone traffic in addition to television signals.
Satellite offer a number of features not readily available for with other means of
communications because very large areas of earth are visible from a satellite, The
satellite can form the star point of a communication net linking together many users
simultaneously, Users

who may be widely separated geographically. The same

feature enables satellites to provide communications links to the communities in

sparsely populated areas which are difficult to access by other means. Of course
Satellite signals ignore political boundaries as well as geographic ones, which may
or may not be desirable feature.
The world is fast changing technologically and this could be noticed in aspect of
communication, Information is now being easily and readily relayed to various part of
the world, At a particular instant, any event is taking place.
Free to air satellite can be defined as a satellite system primarily designed to receive
in clear or unscrambled satellite broadcasts. At the present time, There are literally
hundreds of channels of news, sports, networks, special interest programming, ethic
channels and foreign language channels that are available without a subscription.
These selections is also constantly changing, with new channels coming online and
some old ones going offline or changing their broadcast schemes. Most
broadcasters have switched their broadcast to digital, although there are still a
number of analog broadcasts, mostly in the C-band range that are available.

The term should not be confused with free to view which describes TV available
without subscription but which is encoded and may therefore be restricted
geographically.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Information is indispensable thing to our society and to the general world at large
which we cannot do without. The need for this project was brought into consideration
due to the problem we have with dissemination of information, entertainment and
staying tune with happenings around the world in the college.
Ibogun being a remote area makes access to information, most especially
happenings around the world very hard to collect. By virtue of this project, the entire
college community will stay tune with happenings around the world and the project
will ease part of the problem in telecommunication encountered in the college.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of this project is to implement a free to air satellite cable network television.
The objective is doing site surveying, ensuring theres a strong signal reception
(communication with the satellite), position of the satellite dish making sure the
running of the cables wont be tampered with and configuration of the FTA receiver.

1.4 MOTIVATION
Household expenses are rising rapidly as inflation continues to soar due to the
decline in the economic fortune of the country, so the savvy consumer looks to find
every possible discount and free offer of services used on a regular basis. One way
to save a lot of money from the monthly budget is to navigate options to save money
on the service that offers the most entertainment value for the family; satellite TV.
Though, there are other pay per view satellite television providers with different
packages and monthly subscriptions ranging from 3000 to 10000 naira respectively,

Nigerians prefers to save money and spend it more on pressing family issues than
paying for the entertainment making pay per view satellite television a luxury only the
rich can afford.
Free to air satellite television as a project offers the possibility for the assessment of
the innovative approaches that exploit available technology to develop an affordable
solution to this problem. The application is unique as the receiver is motorize so as
to enable it pick lots of television channels (over 100 channels) for free using either
the C-Band and Ku-Band presented to the general public for possible
implementation.

1.5 METHODOLOGY
The free to air satellite television will be implemented using a 1.8m satellite dish ( Ku
band or C-band ) for the reception of signals, the satellite dish/ receiver will be
motorized so as to enable it pick a lot of television channels, The FTA receiver will be
configured as well.

1.6 SCOPE & LIMITATION

The scope of the work carried out is to implement a digital satellite television
reception in C-Band. The satellite receiver is motorized so as to pick a lot of
television channels from different satellites using C- Bands. The design is limited to
Computer engineering department of Olabisi Onabanjo University due to
unavailability of raw materials for fabrication, and tools to aid effective installation.

1.7 REPORT OUTLINE

This project is subdivided into five chapters with CHAPTER 1- consisting of the
introduction, background of study, aims and objectives of the project, Justification,
Methodology, Scope & Limitation of the project and moving to CHAPTER 2Literature Review which includes the origin, history, development and reviews of the

project. CHAPTER 3- Research Methodology; Theory, design and implementation of

the project, discussing extensively the theory behind satellite communications, types
of satellites, satellite orbits, architecture of satellite communication, satellite
television and types, satellite TV antennas and frequency bands, components used,
Modulation and Coding. CHAPTER 4- Gives the Results of tests, screen shots
during installation as pictures and to conclude the project is CHAPTER 5Conclusion, and Recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Satellite Communication
Communication satellites, whether earth orbit (GEO) or non-GEO, provide an
effective platform to relay radio signals between points on the ground. The users who
employ these signals enjoy a broad spectrum of telecommunication services on the
ground, at sea and in the air. In the recent years, such systems have become
practical to the point where a typical household can have its own satellite dish. That
dish can receive a broad range of television programming and provide broadband
access to the internet. These satellite systems compete directly in some markets
with more established broadcasting media, including over the air TV and cable TV
and with high speed internet access services like digital subscriber line (DSL) and
cable modems. In addition, GEO and Non GEO satellite will continue to offer unique
benefits for users on the go with such mobile services as two way voice ad data, and
digital audio broadcasting. The accelerated installation of undersea fiber optics that
accompanied the internet and telecom boom of the late 1900s put more capacity into
the service than markets could quickly absorb. Curiously, these new operators claim
that satellites were obsolescent. Quite to the contrary, satellite communication
continues to play increasing role in backbone networks that extend globally. Just how
well we employ satellites to compete in markets depends on our ability to identify,
develop and manage the associated networks and applications.

2.2 The Origin of Satellites

The space Age begun in 1957 with the U.S.S.R launch of the first artificial satellite
called Sputnik which transmitted telemetry information for 21days. Sputnik attained
an altitude of 560miles (900 Kilometers) above the earth and a speed of 17,000
miles per hour, circling the earth every hour and half. The radio signals fascinated
both radio enthusiasts and western scientists.

This achievement was followed by 1958 by the American artificial satellite score,
which was to broadcast President Eisenhowers Christmas message. Two satellites
were deployed in 1960; A reflector satellite called Echo and Courier. The courier
was particularly significant because it recorded a message that could be played back
later. In 1962, active communication satellites (repeaters) called Telstar and
Relayed were deployed and the first geostationary satellite called Syncom was
launched in 1963. It flew in an orbit circling 22,300 miles over the Atlantic Ocean.
Using this satellite, The first telecommunication took place between a US navy ship
in Lagos, Nigeria and a Naval station in Lakehurst New Jersey, USA on July 26
1963.
A satellite is geostationary if it remains relatively fixed (stationary) in an apparent
position relative to the earth. This position is typically about 35,784KM away from the
earth. Its elevation angle is orthogonal (i.e. 90 o) to the equator and its period of
revolution is synchronized with that of the earth in inertial space. A geostationary
satellite has also been called a geosynchronous or synchronous orbit or simply a
geo satellite. The first series of commercial geostationary satellites (Intelsat and
Molnya) was inaugurated in 1965. These satellites provided video (television) and
voice (telephone) communications for their audiences. Intelsat was the first
commercial global satellite system owned and operated by a consortium of more
than 100nations, hence its name, which stands for International Telecommunication
Satellite Organization. The first organization to provide global satellite coverage and
connectivity, It continues to be the major communications provider with the broadcast
reach and the most comprehensive range of services.
Other providers for industrial and domestic markets include Westar in 1974, Satcom
in 1975, Comstar in 1976, SBS in 1980, Galaxy and Telstar in 1983, Spacenet and
Anik in 1984, Gstar in 1985, Aussat in 1985-86, Optus A2 in 1985, Hughes-Ku in
1987, NASA ACTS in 1993, Optus A3 in 1997, and Iridium and Intelsat VIIIA in 1998.
Even more are planned. Some of these satellites host dedicated military
communication channels. The need to have market domination and a competitive
edge in military surveillance and tactical fields results in more sophisticated
developments in the satellite field.

2.3 History of Free to Air Satellite

The concept of receiving free to air signals dates back to the inception of satellite
broadcast in the mid 1970s and 1980s where large C/Ku band satellite systems
were used to tap hundreds of available channels from the satellite. The downsides of
these systems were extremely large dish sizes and expensive equipment. These
made satellite systems prohibitive for many people. However over the years,
increasingly powerful commercial satellites and improvements in technology have
brought prices and dish sizes down quite dramatically.
The mid 1990s saw the introduction of digital direct to home technology, which for
the first time allowed main stream users to access a wide variety of channels not
available via their local cable company, while enjoying incredible picture and sound
quality, all from a dish far smaller than had ever been seen before. The small dish
evolution nearly caused the extinction of the large dish industry which simply could
not compete on sizing, price or ease of installation.
The late 1990s saw the digital revolution speed to large dish industry with services
such as 4DTV which brought the same digital picture and sound as the small dish
systems to large dish users, although a new and expensive decoder was required for
reception.
The last several years has seen most broadcasters switch their broadcast to digital,
which allowed broadcast to be compressed, allowing more channels per satellite
transponder and also a superior picture and sound quality. As well, a common digital
standard known as MPEG2-DVB has been adopted by many broadcasters, which
allows all free to air satellite channels that use the DVB (Digital Video Broadcast)
standard to be received from one satellite decoder.
Free to air market has slowly begun to see a small comeback, primarily due to an
abundance of programming not available anywhere else, such as international and
foreign language channels as well as improved picture and sound quality.