Satellite TV
Satellite TV has been in competition with cable TV ever since it appeared on the scene in the early 1990’s. Until recently, Cable TV has been the clear winner in this contest, but its lead over satellite TV is rapidly shrinking. This is evident by the sight of Satellite TV dishes springing up around neighborhoods like mushrooms after a rain shower.
The primary reason for installing a Satellite TV system was because there really was no other available option. Remote rural areas, where cable service is not available, are where people often installed a satellite TV system. The early Satellite TV systems were expensive and difficult to install, but all this has changed with affordable Satellite TV service from providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network, and EchoStar. The completely digital signal transmitted to your home from the satellites is far superior to the analog signal from many cable providers.
Satellite TV signals are broadcast from satellites in geosynchronous orbits, which means they remain fixed in one place in the sky relative to the Earth. Each satellite revolves around the Earth once every 24 hours, so you only need to aim the dish at the satellite once to achieve a lock on the broadcast signal.
Satellite TV customers typically get their programming through a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) provider, such as DirecTV or DISH Network. The provider selects programs and broadcasts them to subscribers as part of a subscription package.
Today, Satellite TV signals are completely digital, which means much better picture and sound quality. These digital satellite signals are in the Ku frequency range from 11.7 GHz to 14.5 GHz.
The provider doesn’t produce any original programming; instead it pays other companies such as HBO or ESPN, for the right to broadcast their content via satellite. This is similar to the way Cable TV companies work.
If the Satellite TV provider includes local programming as part of its package, it will receive the local programming either over the air or over a fiber optic network. It then combines the local signals along with the other programming sources and broadcast a compressed and encrypted digital signal to the satellite.
The satellite in turn, rebroadcasts the signal on a different frequency band to subscribers’ homes where it is captured by a satellite dish. A satellite dish is a special kind of antenna designed to focus the signal into a narrow beam. It does this by reflecting the signal off the parabolic surface of the dish to a feed horn, which passes the signal on to the receiver.
The receiver de-scrambles the encrypted signal and also converts the compressed digital into an analog format that a standard television can receive. Some dish and receiver setups can also output an HDTV signal.
Since the receiver can only send one channel at a time to the receiving line in your home, it’s not possible to tape one program while watching another. You also can’t watch two different programs on two TVs hooked up to the same receiver. In order to do these things, which are standard on conventional cable, you need to buy an additional Satellite TV receiver.
The receiving system also keeps track of pay-per-view programs and periodically phones a computer at the provider’s headquarters to transfer billing information via a modem. Receivers also pick up a programming schedule signal from the provider and present this information in an onscreen programming guide. In addition, many receivers also have parental lockout options as well as DVRs for program recording.
These receiver features are just added bonuses to the technology of satellite TV. With its movie-quality picture and sound, satellite TV is becoming a popular investment for consumers.