MV>>> Not so. Bidirectional satellite has been available since the turn of MV>>> the century. I have seen it demonstrated at hamfests. It has its MV>>> pros and cons but it DOES exist.
RB>> I didn't say it didn't exist.
MV> Yes you did. This what you wrote:
RB>>>> Slower and more expensive. Aside from which, only really practical RB>>>> for download. Upload is via the phone line, so we're back with the RB>>>> Telekom.
MV> "Upload is via the phone line".
Congratulations, Michiel. You've just won the award as "fido adversary of the month". A worthy contribution.
The fact is that phone uploads are the rule, at least in Germany, not the exception. The exception would be a full-scale satellite transmission system which is so large and prohibitively expensive that most people are not interested. Except, of course, people like you, who will pay any amount for their hobby.
Many people living outside (larger) cities would be gratedul if you were right. Instead, they make do with phone lines and clamor for better connectivity outside built-up areas. Now, why do you suppose they do that?
RB>> But not with an 80cm dish, nor even a 1m dish,
MV> So now you are narrowing it down to: "Upload is via the phone line, MV> umless you have a dish > 1 meter"
No, I was trying to clarify the situation for people like you, who presumably have never dealt with such a situation. I investigated it many years back, and found it totally uninteresting. Unlike you, I am not willing to pay the earth for a bandwidth I not only don't need, but which is available in Datteln without such a massive outlay of cash and effort.
MV> But there yiou are wrong too. I have seen it work with a disk mounted MV> on a camper. Looked like a 60 cm dish. Certainly not 1 meter.
Reception, yes. Transmission, no. THAT _you_ will have to "prove". See, I know fido rules too.
RB>> From what I've read, the hardware is quite large and expensive.
MV> We were disussing possible competition for Gerrit's 50M DSL line. MV> Satellite is a possibility. The equipment you have read about may heve MV> been large and expensive, but technology does not stand still. What I MV> have seen in that camper of a fellow ham was not large. It was just an MV> extra box added to a normal satellite TV camper setup. Expensive? MV> That's relative of course.
And you are absolutely _certain_ that this was a _transmission_ dish? Just how? Were you invited in and discussed this with the owner, or are you simply assuming?
