Are there still alot of feeds on C band

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SatJoe44

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Nov 23, 2025
80
31
Crossville, Tennessee
I am getting a new fta setup and am trying to decide on a c/ku setup or just a plain ku motorized system. Would it still be worth getting a c band if I am only looking for feeds?
Thanks
 
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I am getting a new fta setup and am trying to decide on a c/ku setup or just a plain ku motorized system. Would it still be worth getting a c band if I am only looking for feeds?
Thanks
If I were in your shoes I'd get a nice Ku setup. Ideally a 1.2 meter Ku dish. The only problem is finding a motor that will move it. A 90 cm dish will do the job nicely though for the most part. There is just too much uncertainty on C-Band with 5G taking over much of the spectrum and causing interference.
 
I don't know if it's worth the expense of getting a large (12+ footer) dish but there is still a bit of FTA on C band right now. I don't think Ku has enough services worth installing a Ku dish. JMO
 
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I am getting a new fta setup and am trying to decide on a c/ku setup or just a plain ku motorized system. Would it still be worth getting a c band if I am only looking for feeds?
Thanks
I'd say it depends... if you are in an urban/suburban area, 5G interference is probably going to make it very difficult and frustrating. But if you are in a more remote area, it might be still ok for a while . But then there's the question of content... if you are after US feeds, as the bandwidth is reducing, it's likely that feeds will move away from C-band. But if you have an interest in non-US content, there is still a lot of Latin American stuff up there in C-band, including below 4 GHz (would work only if you're really away from 5G)
 
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I haven't found anything on ku that catches my eye and keeps me coming back. Don't actually know if getting a fixed position dish would be worth it for either band. The cost for going c band would certainly be a lot higher for a polar mount vs a ku with Stab style usals motor.
Still rather confused with multistream. There are more and more ms transponders on c band popping up. Some give the codes needed to receive them. But from what I've seen are usually encrypted. So the whole FCC auction thing and c band going away anytime soon. Multistream and packing more channels in a single transponder, who knows.
Europeans using ku band also have (from what I understand) the capability of using subscription access cards for their FTA receivers. Not so much here though.
 
I haven't found anything on ku that catches my eye and keeps me coming back. Don't actually know if getting a fixed position dish would be worth it for either band. The cost for going c band would certainly be a lot higher for a polar mount vs a ku with Stab style usals motor.
Still rather confused with multistream. There are more and more ms transponders on c band popping up. Some give the codes needed to receive them. But from what I've seen are usually encrypted. So the whole FCC auction thing and c band going away anytime soon. Multistream and packing more channels in a single transponder, who knows.
Europeans using ku band also have (from what I understand) the capability of using subscription access cards for their FTA receivers. Not so much here though.
Yeah I am just in it for the feeds. I just assumed there were more on ku nowdays. I miss the whole nostalgia of c band though, especially analog.
 
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Yeah I am just in it for the feeds. I just assumed there were more on ku nowdays. I miss the whole nostalgia of c band though, especially analog.
Fiber-based high speed internet and high speed data through cellular networks decimated Ku feeds. Then, Starlink came along to cause even more destruction. Traditional satellite can't compete with the lower cost and easier setup of video over the internet for the types of feeds once common on Ku.

C band has been affected too, but not nearly as much because C band still has the selling point of very high reliability due to its resiliance to rain fade. In the next five years, though, all but 40 MHz of C band spectrum in the United States will be auctioned off to the cell phone companies, meaning that most of the remaining feeds there will likely have to move to Ku or go to the internet.
 

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