A transportable satellite ground station for television relay

Since 1978 IBA has been experimenting with a transportable satellite ground station designed to transmit television signals via the OTS satellite using the 14 GHz up-link frequency band. The aim of these experiments has been to develop the use of transportable satellite up-links for reporting news and events by satellite on a national and international scale. The paper describes the background to the requirement for such terminals and reports on the technical results obtained. The practical experience gained has made it possible to define the desirable features of operational terminals of this type and these are considered. The future for television news reporting via satellite will depend on the economics of this method in comparison with others and on whether satisfactory technical and regulatory methods can be devised to safeguard the use the geostationary orbit. The extent of these problems and the possible solutions are considered.