Satellite services in Malaysia open the doors to contemporary telephone and data transmission facilities whilst at the same time foster and strengthen the union between its peninsula and the Borneo continent. Satellite communications also contribute significantly to the quick growth of computer networking in Malaysia, as well as providing the new high definition (HD) direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television services. Satellite systems with operating frequencies of Ku-band and higher have been extensively used for Earth-space communications in the temperate climate countries for decades. The same cannot be said for tropical region. One of the likely limiting factors is the absence of accurate rain fade information. Satellite engineers and designers have to establish the required fade margin to overcome rain attenuation; which need to be incorporated into the system in the eifort to accomplish the preferred link performance. This is also applied in the case of the recently launched the Malaysian MEASAT-3B satellite. With this in mind, a comprehensive set of previously acquired signal measurements can certainly shed lights on the propagation characteristics to be endured. In this paper, the probable fade margins are proposed. They are based on deductions and estimations of 1 year (2009) local radar-derived rainfall rate data and the latest ITU-R rain attenuation prediction model.
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