It is a modern-day technological miracle that we are able to receive crisp pictures, clear sound in our television sets, from satellites, orbiting thousands of miles up in the space.
The electronics that made this possible is a wonderful weather-proof device called the LNB-Low noise block downconverters.
Low noise block downconverters-known as LNB-is a receiving device that is installed on the DTH dish antenna used for TV reception.
Satellite signals become very weak during the time it travels over 22000 miles to reach a dish antenna. The “dish” part of an antenna works like a lens that focuses most possible signals on LNB and therefore the curvature on the dish.
LNB receives low-level microwave frequency beamed by the satellite that is projected by the dish antenna, amplifies it, down converts the signals to a lower frequency band and sends them through a cable to a receiving set in an apartment or a building.
Therefore, the LNBs perform two functions-1) that of an amplifier and 2) and that of the down converter of super-high satellite signals to a lower frequency conducive for TV reception.
Both these functions are important to deliver the signal through a regular cable.
However, it is found that only older satellite dishes used LNBs. The newer and the modern versions of dish antennas use a more compact LNBF-Low Noise Block Downconverters plus Freedom.
As the industry has totally shifted to the use of LNBFs so much so that they don’t even highlight the “F”-for freedom-anymore. LNBFs have completely replaced the LNBs.