
History BUDs were originally marketed in the late 1970s with the earliest dishes being made of solid fiberglass and later models being made of wire mesh and solid steel or aluminum Fiberglass dishes are most commonly found on low rise commercial buildings while the wire mesh counterparts are typically found on residential buildings BUD systems of the time came at a high cost usually several thousand dollars They work by receiving a low power C Band 5GHz frequency modulated analog television signal directly from the original distribution satellite the same signal received by cable company headends Because analog channels took up an entire transponder on the satellite and each satellite had a fixed number of transponders dishes were usually equipped with a polar mount and actuator to sweep the dish across the horizon to receive channels from multiple satellites Switching between horizontal and vertical polarization was accomplished by a small electric servo motor which moved a probe inside the feedhorn throat at the command of the receiver commonly called a polarotor setup Higher end receivers did this transparently switching polarization and moving the dish automatically as the user changed channels Originally all channels could be received in the clear ITC and free of charge In 1986 HBO began using the now obsolete VideoCipher system to encrypt their channels This met with much protest from owners of big dish systems most of which had no other option at the time for receiving such channels Eventually HBO allowed dish owners to subscribe directly to their service although at a price much higher 12 95 month than what cable subscribers were paying This led to the 1986 attack on HBO s transponder on Galaxy 1 by Captain Midnight One by one all commercial channels followed HBO s lead and began encrypting their channels Analogue encryption using VideoCipher and VideoCipher II could be defeated and there was a black market for illegal descramblers In the mid 1990s channels began moving their broadcasts to digital TV transmission using DigiCipher scrambling and conditional access resulting in the rapid decline of the BUD era In addition to encryption DBS services such as PrimeStar had been reducing the popularity for BUDs since the early 1990s Signals from DBS satellites operating in the more recent Ku 160 band are higher in power due to improvements in the solar panels and energy efficiency of modern satellites and therefore require much smaller dishes than C 160 band and the digital signals now used require far less Signal Strength at the receiver resulting in a lower cost of entry Each satellite also can carry up to 32 transponders in the Ku band but only 24 in the C band and several digital subchannels can be multiplexed MCPC or carried separately SCPC on a single transponder General advancements in noise abatement have also had an effect As a consequence of this BUD systems were virtually extinct by 2000 Popularity BUDs were most popular in rural areas beyond the broadcast range of most local TV stations The mountainous terrain of West Virginia for example makes reception of over the air television broadcasts especially in the higher UHF frequencies very difficult From the 1970s to the early 1990s DBS systems weren t available and cable TV systems of the time only carried a few channels resulting in a boom in sales of BUDs in the area which led to the systems being termed the West Virginia state flower The term was regional known mostly to those living in West Virginia and surrounding areas Support for BUDs dried up when strong encryption was introduced around 1994 Many long disconnected BUDs still occupy their original spot Due to the number of systems in existence their lack of usefulness and because many people consider them an eyesore used BUDs can be purchased for very little money Current uses The free analogue channels that BUDs were built to receive are mostly a memory As of 2009 there are 23 C band satellites and 38 Ku Ka band satellites Most of the channels have converted to digital so need an upgrade to be received and many are large networks ethnic and religious Skyvision com also sells over 150 channels for people who want to receive premium channels on a C band dish The dishes themselves can be modified to receive free to air and DBS signals The stock LNBs fitted to typical BUDs will usually need to be replaced with one of a lower noise temperature to receive digital broadcasts With a suitable replacement LNB provided there is no warping of the reflector a BUD can be used to receive free to Air Fta and DBS signals Several companies market LNBs LNBFs and adaptor collars for big dish systems For receiving FTA signals the replacement should be capable of dual C Ku reception with linear polarization for DBS it will need a high band Ku LNBF using circular polarization Older mesh dishes with perforations larger than 5mm are inefficient at Ku frequencies because the smaller wavelengths will pass through them Solid fiberglass dishes usually contain metal mesh with large diameter perforations as a reflector and are usually unsuitable for anything other than C band Large dishes have higher antenna gain which can be an advantage when used with DBS signals such as Dish Network and DirecTV virtually eliminating rain fade Restored dishes fitted with block upconverters can be used to transmit signals as well BUDs can still be seen at antenna farms for these reasons so that video and backhauls can be sent to and from the TV network with which a station is affiliated without interruption due to inclement weather BUDs are also still useful for picking up weak signals at the edge of a satellite s broadcast footprint the area at which a particular satellite is aimed For this reason BUDs are helpful in places like Alaska or parts of the Caribbean Modern equivalents Large parabolic antennas similar to BUDs are still in production by companies such as Fortec Star and Standard Antenna Manufacturing Inc New dishes differ in their construction and materials New mesh dishes have much smaller perforations and solid dishes are now made with steel instead of fiberglass New systems usually include a Universal Lnb which is switched electronically between horizontal and vertical polarization obviating the need for a failure prone polarotor As a Complete System they have a much lower noise temperature than old BUDs and are generally better for digital Ku reception The prices on these dishes have fallen dramatically since the first BUDs were produced from several thousand dollars to as little as 189 as of 2008 Typical uses for these systems include receiving MPEG2 DVB S or ATSC free to air signals and at cable and DBS headends References http www fcc gov cgb consumerfacts consumerdish html Installing Consumer Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes FCC http www fcc gov cgb consumerfacts consumerdish html Retrieved 2008 11 21 160 http www satelliteguys us thelist http skyvision com pages information_center fta_channelguide pdf http skyvision com programming digital html 6 5 Fortec Star with Polar Mount C Ku Band Satellite Systems Tuning Tracking External links How to set up and align a BUD Modern BUD systems LNBs and other parts for BUDs Actuators Dish Positioners LNBs and other parts for BUDs Categories Television technology Broadcast engineering Radio frequency antenna types Satellite televisionHidden categories Articles with limited geographic scope USA centric Articles to be merged from October 2008 All articles to be merged Articles to be merged from April 2008 Articles lacking sources from April 2007 All articles lacking sources
I am an expert from firstaidsplint.com, while we provides the quality product, such as first aid splints Manufacturer , China arm splint, ,and more.
Linear Ku Band LNBF – LNB Model# Blue Blazer for FTA Free To Air & International Channels