What's channels are available on satellite?

There are basically 2 types of systems that are available for reception of Satellite TV channels.  Click here to download a PDF of most free to air channels available on satellite. 

C Band systems.

A C band system utilises a larger dish generally around 1.8 - 3.0 metres in diameter.  This type of system will enable you to watch (mostly) foreign language channels from the Asia Pacific regions.  Although there are a limited few English speaking channels, most people purchase one of these systems in order to view programs in a specific language.  If you purchase a fixed dish, this will be locked onto a chosen satellite and you will only be able to view programs from that particular satellite.  If you motorise your dish, when correctly aligned, you will be able to view channels from all of the available satellites that transmit C band programs.  We have listed most of the more common channels that are free to air below (no subscription required).  The most common satellites available from within Australia are:

Telstar 10 - This satellite carries several Arabic Dubai channels, ERT and RIK SAT Greek programs and a few others.  It is low on the horizon from the East coast of Australia and is difficult to receive in Brisbane but can be received in Sydney, Melbourne and other Western states.  Telstar 10 on Lyngsat.
Thaicom 5 - The most common programs on this satellite are Korean Central TV and Vietnamese VTV4.  We can only pick up the Global beams on this satellite.  Click here for Lyngsat. 
Insat2E - Insat2E carries mainly Indian TV programs.  These are Asianet, Jeevan TV, Asianet News, Asianet Plus, Asianet Suvarna, Amrita TV, NE Hi Fi, Raj Musix, TV5, Win TV, Makkal TV, Tamilan TV, Kairali Channel, Kairali People, Kairali We, Manorama News Channel, Mega TV, Subhavaartha TV, Kalaignar TV, ETV Urdu.  We can reliably receive the wide area beams in Australia although it is reported that zone beams can be picked up in NT and NW Western Australia.  Insat Lyngsat info here.
Asiasat2 - This satellite broadcasts quite a range of Arabic channels such as Emirates Channel, Al Nile, Press TV, Alalam News Channel, Alkass, Kuwait Space Channel, Jame Jam TV Network 3, Syria Satellite Channel, Yemen TV, Abu Dhabi TV Europe, Oman TV, Saudi Arabian TV 1, Qatar TV, Sudan TV, Sharjah TV, Jamahirya TV, Saudi Arabian TV2, Al Jazeera TV.  There is also RTR Planeta which is Russian TV, Rai International 3 (Italian), TVE International Spanish, RTP (Portuguese) and Cubavision.  Lyngsat here.
Asiasat3s - This popular satellite broadcasts Now TV, Bloomberg, TV5 (French), DW TV (German), Star Utsav (Urdu), several Sahara Hindi Channels, several PTV Pakistan TV channels,  Zee Music and Zee Smile (Indian) and quite a few Chinese channels.  Lyngsat here.
PalapaC2 - Looking for Indonesian programs, then this is the satellite to point to.  Several Indonesian channels can be received from Australia including TVRI National, RCTI, Bali TV, SCTV, Global TV, Metro TV and TV Anak Spacetoon.  We can only receive the Asean Plus beams.  Lyngsat here.
ChinaSat6B - This satellite is the best for Chinese programming.  Too many to list.  More info at the Lyngsat site.
Asiasat4 - Nothing much here at the moment.
Apstar 6 - Used to be loaded with Chinese channels but they have all now moved to Chinasat6B.
Telstar18 - Not much here. Lyngsat link.
Intelsat8 - MTV China, Australia Network Asia, TVBS channels (Chinese), BBC World Japan, NHK World TV Japan.  Lyngsat link.
Intelsat2 - Australia Network Pacific, BBC World and that's about it.  Lyngsat here.

Most of the free to air channels are broadcast on C band while some are broadcast on KU band.  C-band range of frequencies extends from 3.4 GHz to 6.7 GHz. As the signal strength is relatively weak, larger antennas are needed to receive the signal.  Most of Australia can receive C band broadcasts using a 2.3 metre mesh dish or 1.8metre solid.

2.3 M C BAND DISH + LNB

KU Band Systems.

A KU Band dish system receives local strong beams that are focused into (in our case) Australia and due to the strength and frequency of the signal, a small dish will suffice.  Sizes in the range of 65cm to 1.2 metre are common.  There is not a huge choice of programming that is free to air but still worth listing.  There are also several Pay TV providers in Australia on different satellites so these have been listed as well.

Optus D2 (replaces B3's location) - This satellite offers the most choice of free to air programming on a KU band small dish.  Programs available are:  Kurdsat, Oman and Abu Dhabi (Arabic), TVR International (Romanian), Russia Today (English), ERT (Greek), Thai TV Global, Duna TV (Hungarian), TRT International (Turkish), BVN (Dutch).  There is also a range of religious TV programming on this satellite including: EWTN, Hope Channel, 3ABN, The Church Channel, Inspiration Network, Daystar, TBN, JCTV, God TV and Smile of a Child.  More info on the Lyngsat website.
Optus C1 - This satellite broadcasts all of the pay TV channels for Foxtel and Austar which are scrambled and require subscription.  It also carries the Aurora free to view channels which include ABC, SBS, Imparja, Seven Central, GWN and Win TV.  These channels can be viewed with an official smartcard however, access to the commercial channels will only be granted if you are in an approved licence area or currently travelling in a caravan.  Info on the Lyngsat site.
Optus D1 - This satellite replaced the Optus B1 satellite towards the latter half of 2007.  It is used for distribution of ABC and SBS digital terrestrial services throughout Australia as well as the New Zealand pay TV channels and New Zealand's freeview TV service (New Zealand programs cannot be picked up in Australia).  Southern Cross Broadcasting is quite often on this satellite as well.  No smartcard required for access either.  If you're looking for a way to get better reception of ABC, ABC2, SBS and SBS2 in widescreen format then this is the satellite to go for.  Lyngsat site here.
Intelsat8 - Formerly called Pas8, this satellite now broadcast the SelecTV line up of Pay TV channels.  Well priced and with movies, if you've had enough of the 'other' pay TV providers then perhaps SelecTV could be the answer.  Lyngsat here.
 

Ku-band is generally considered to extend from 12 to 18 GHz. However, satellite communication engineers use the term "Ku-band" to refer to an extended frequency range from 10.7 GHz to 18.4 GHz. This frequency range actually includes part of the X-band (8-12 GHz) and part of the K-band (18-27 GHz). Almost all Ku-band satellite systems employ at least part of the X-band frequency range (10.7-12 GHz).  Smaller 65-120 cm dishes are sufficient to receive Ku band in all of Australia. 

90cm KU BAND DISH + LNB