Interesting thread. If Lyngsat is correct, it seems SES6 no longer has transponders in that band. I can only find any on 65W.
worth noting that Hispasat 30W6 also has capability in the 4.5-4.8 range, but i'm not aware of any TV/radio activity there, not even any data transponder (as PortalBSD would usually also reports those). There's also one of the Amazonas at 61W but again, not sure that there's any actual activity.
I have actually experimented a bit with 65W C band recently...
here is what I did: I have several regular C-Band LNBs, and I have a SDR, so, considering the LO frequency at 5150 and that 4500-4800 range, that brings the IF download range to 350-650 MHz, outside of the range of a normal receiver, even with the special driver on the MIO4K that would allow tuning down to 700 MHz
so I installed a polarotor on an 8ft dish, aimed at 65W, and looked with various LNBs at what the spectrum look like between 350 and 650 MHz, without much expectation since LNBs are supposed to filter stuff. And the result was better than expected. While my Titanium C2-PLL did not show anything as it takes its filters seriously, older LNBs were rather permissive, and an old Norsat was the best and showed well defined transponders that matched what's listed on PortalBSD and Lyngsat. So that's a first step, but does not help me much. I tried using the software DVB-S2 demodulator with the SDR but no luck (but I rarely had any luck with that software).
recently there was a
thread about someone trying to receive something also out-of-band and Brian suggested a DirecTV device that is used with Ka service to transpose the unconventional IF to the normal range for older DT receivers (see post #5 in that thread). Based on the information given, it sounded like it would transpose my 350-650 signals to about 1700-2000 MHz or something like that, within the normal 950-2150 range. I bought it and tried but am getting absolutely nothing visible on the spectrum that would match what is expected. Maybe I got a defective device, or more likely I don't know how to use it. i tried sending some 22kHz in case it needed something to activate it, but no luck there either. If anyone has more details on that DirecTV (Zinwell) device, I'm interested.
I also openned the LNB to see if the LO could be adjusted, but the adjustment only covers a few MHz, far from what I would need. I guess I could try replacing the crystal from 25 MHz to 27 MHz, but i'm not sure I want to go there and possibly destroy that LNB
In the end, any solution that work would allow reception of a few Brazilian channels, some of which we already get on other birds (14W, 22W, 40.5W or 61W), so it's not like i need to get those, it's more about the technical challenge of "it's there so I must try", and I cannot justify buying a proper 4.5-4.8 Norsat LNB that would probably cost a couple hundred bucks. That does not mean that I'm giving up either ...
