Which is exactly what the FunCube guys did, and look at what they've wrought!! 73, Jim wb4gcs@amsat.org
When DirecTV designed their satellite broadcast system, did they worry
about backward compatibility with the multitude (or so it probably seemed) of existing C-band BUD (Big Ugly Dish) owners? All of whom were then receiving analog FM, I might add.
If not, then why are they still in business?
Probably because they didn't design a satellite. They designed an entire _/*system*/_ including ground station components as well as flight hardware. The ground system components were made available such that their target audience was able to upgrade their BUD installations with only reasonable expenditures of time, effort and money. But that's just a guess in my part.
I'd love to chat with you on the new digital hamsat, but if it's going to require I spend $5k+ on hard-to-source, esoteric components and cobble them together with duct tape, then it'll be a while before I'm QRV. So, the first few days after launch those 60 DV channels may be a little quiet.
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