Fibre satellite distribution

Additional outlets can be added to increase the number of receivers within one home without accessing the central antenna or main infrastructure.

The losses in a fibre system are almost negligible so very long cable runs of hundreds of metres are possible without any signal reinforcement.

[2] [3] [4] While optical fibre has been used for telephone and Internet backbone data, and even for television and multimedia carriage for terrestrial cable, for many years, use for satellite IF distribution has been held back by considerations of cost and installation convenience.

[6] The complete spectrum of Ku-band satellite reception stretches from 10.70 GHz-12.75 GHz across two signal polarisations, or a bandwidth of about 4000 MHz.

If the installation is a conversion from an electrical system to fibre, an existing redundant coaxial signal cable can be used for the power supply.

An optical output LNB showing both the fibre connection (right) and the electrical connection for power
Close-up of fibre optic cable stripped back to show the six layers of construction - the fibre at the centre surrounded by the core, a buffer layer, wound steel armour, Kevlar strands, and the PVC jacket
An eight-way optical signal splitter to feed eight virtual LNBs or further splitters from a single optical feed
A virtual LNB with four electrical outputs for four tuners
A 1m optical fibre cable with fitted connectors for other fibre distribution equipment