Satellite Dish for NASA-TV - by Lucille Roxburgh for CSFS Newsletter
For several years SHAW CABLE had a channel devoted to NASA-TV. Suddenly
the Canadian Radio & Television Commission prohibited SHAW from providing it.
Many of us wrote letters to CRTC asking that SHAW be "allowed" to continue to provide
NASA-TV. NASA provides all sorts of education programs for students of all ages (as
well as parents and grandparents) AND THERE IS NO FEE AND NO ADVERTISING.
I have learned more about science in the last few years than in the rest of my life, from
NASA-TV. No matter how old you are you can always learn something new.
Another big thing is that on NASA-TV we can find out about CANADIAN
astronauts, scientists and projects more than we can get from any Canadian source. The
CSA website, if you can make your way around in it, has some interesting stuff, but
unfortunately the Canadian TV channels do not present Canadian space information of
any consequence. So what about this "Canadian Content" thing?
When we discovered NASA-TV on SHAW Cable (in 1996 I think) we found it
fascinating and exciting to be able to watch live launches and hear live communications
between the astronauts and mission control, and all the other programming from NASA the education programs, interviews, news conferences, etc, and it seemed we were
watching NASA-TV more than any other channels. Now we have been waiting for a
year and a half or more for CRTC to decide what their regulation will be for SHAW
CABLE.
So we lost patience. One day (spring 1999) I had the idea that a friend might still
have an old satellite dish - a very large one – which years ago had resided in his back
yard but his wife hated it overlooking her lovely garden, so he eventually dismantled it
and stored it at his plant. Peter phoned him, he still had it and said we could use it. So
after two pick-up truck loads they managed to get all the pieces into our back yard.
Peter got this huge dish put together, then with the help of sons, grandsons, and
neighbours they got it up on its stand. It was hooked up to an old TV on the workbench
in the garage. They managed to get the dish pointed at the NASA satellite alright, but
there was not much of a picture - mostly snow.
Our friend found a man who worked in the antenna business and he came and got
things hooked up properly, but a piece of the electronics was not working, so the expert
took it away and repaired it. MAGIC! - A picture.
Then Peter had the job of getting all the cables from the antenna into the house, not
easy with his bad knee, but everything worked just great. Switching between SHAW
Cable and the NASA satellite was a little tricky, but Peter found a switch at Radio Shack
which is just dandy – a controller, much like a channel changer, to switch back and forth
between Cable and the NASA Satellite without having to get up and change connections
behind the TV.
At first there was a static crackling especially during live broadcasts, but then NASA
did some work on their satellite and that has mostly disappeared, so I guess it turned out
to be their problem, not ours.
It's great to have NASA-TV back. We have watched several launches
and lots of new programming.
Some information Peter gave me:
Antenna: - 11 1/2 ft dia.
manufactured by Antenna Development and Manufacturing, Inc,
Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Receiver - Drake Company - Miamisburg, Ohio
ESR 24 receiver in the range 3.7 - 4.2 GHZ