Buy a Satellite

Satellite TV was still in its infancy stage with the big monster dishes. While I was browsing in a local electronics store one day I saw a guy giving a demonstration about the new DIRECTV© 18 inch digital satellite TV dish.

Needless to say I was very impressed and purchased the satellite TV system on the spot. I knew it would save me from digging up my yard and I could actually get more channels than I got with cable.

After the tech guy hooked it up and left I was like a kid with a new toy. I couldn't believe how it transformed the picture and sound quality on my television. It was like a completely different TV.

DIRECTV© channels are 100% digital-quality picture and sound, including local network channels. If you haven't experienced quality like that before you are in for a real treat.

Cable TV tries to compete with digital satellite TV technology by offering digital cable. But if you compare both the picture and sound quality, the DIRECTV© super clear picture and crystal clear sound wins hands down any day.

But that was only the beginning of the many things I discovered. I didn't need a TV guide anymore because the on screen programming guide tells me what shows are on, who's starring in the show and what it's about.

I have an incredible variety of over 200 channels of every kind of programming I could think of and some I never dreamed of.

Then, I checked out the pay per view movie service with up to 55 different choices of movies and special events a day that I could easily order with my remote.

Does anyone like sports? What are you kidding? DIRECTV offers sports packages that will put a smile on any sports fans face. How about NFL Sunday Ticket, NBA League Pass, MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, ESPN Game Plan and ESPN Full Court. That doesn't even include the regional sports networks I now have access to.

If you are a music lover, DIRECTV© offers 31 different audio-only channels that range from choices like Soft Rock, Jazz and Country to Hit List, Easy Listening and a lot more.

I work out of my home and by selecting a DIRECTV© audio channel to soft music, I can have the music I like in the background when I work.

Having a party? Just turn on any channel you like and you'll never have to touch it again because there are no commercials or interruptions. Just great digital quality music 24 hours a day at your fingertips.

When I moved again to another home, DIRECTV© customer service made it about as easy as it gets. I just gave them my new address, and they not only sent a brand new replacement satellite TV dish to my new home, they provided complimentary standard professional installation for everything including the receivers. I didn't pay a penny for anything. How's that for a no-hassle move?

With cable, I would have had to pay another deposit and that is just extra money I get to keep in my wallet instead of giving it to the cable company.

If you're thinking about switching from cable to satellite TV or moving to another home, consider DIRECTV©. It's simply a better value than cable and a smart choice you're whole family will enjoy.

With cable rates increasing an average of 8% per year it's no mystery why more than 12 million customers nationwide have made the switch to DIRECTV® service.

Over 10 years have gone by now since I bought that first satellite TV dish and I love it as much now as when I first got it. I recommend DIRECTV© to so many people because I know they will absolutely love it.

Only once in a great while a product comes along that actually over delivers. DIRECTV© can not only save you money each month over cable but is a smart choice and an incredible value.

Copyright © 2004 1 Stop Shopping Online.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article may be re-published "as is" (unedited) as long as the author's bio paragraph (resource box) and copyright information is included. The URLs in the resource box should be set as hyperlinks if used on a web page.

About The Author

Gary Gresham is the webmaster for http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com. You can experience this same DIRECTV® service he mentions in this article for your home or office through this online link: http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com/satellite-tv.html

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, call alert services, electronics goods as well as web hosting. You can find more of his writings at SatelliteTVIssue.com. Dear webmaster,

Setting up your satellite system isn’t as difficult as you might think. In addition to installing the dish itself, you’ll need to program that little black box known as your satellite receiver. Don’t know where to start? Not to worry… just follow these steps and you’ll be up and running in no time at all.

Assuming your dish is already installed and your receiver is properly connected, turn your receiver and your television set ON. You’ll see a screen called “Point Dish/Signal Strength Setup” where you’re going to test the reception from your satellites.

Choose the “Check Switch” option and you’ll see a new screen. Choose “Check” or “Test” and you’ll get a message that your system check is in progress. When the test is complete, you’ll see an Installation Summary on your screen that shows reception details for two satellites. DISH Network customers will see data for two satellites: 110 West and 119 West. Transponders should show “ALL” and the message “Satellite Reception Verified” in the status area. You can exit this screen.

Now look at your Point Dish/Signal screen again. Do you show good strength under the 119 West listing? If so, move the check mark to the 110 West listing. Do you show good strength there as well? If not, you’ll need to go back and fine-tune your dish positioning until you have the strongest possible signal from both satellites. Once you’re satisfied with your signal strength, you’re ready to download your software. Simply exit the Point Dish/Signal Strength menu and you’ll be prompted to confirm that your dish positioning is complete. Answer “Yes” and another prompt will appear confirming the download of your programming software. Let the software download completely - do not interrupt this process.

Once the receiver’s memory has been upgraded, you’ll need to order your programming. DISH Network customers can press the “SYS INFO” button on the receiver front panel. This will display the “Important System Information” screen that includes various serial numbers and software versions. Call DISH Network and customer service representative will walk you through the rest. With your programming complete, you can begin enjoying your new satellite system. In addition to browsing programs with the up and down channel buttons, you can also preview your channels using the Program Guide.

To access the Guide, press the “GUIDE” button on your remote. You can sort your guide program viewing in a few different ways, so take a few minutes to customize the Program Guide to suit your needs.

Enjoy the show!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV and has written numerous articles on the satellite television industry. Kate Ivy has written for a variety of publications and websites and is the owner of Ivygirl Media & Design.

This is the experience of most people that enjoy satellite TV; Smooth reception no matter what weather it is outside. (Of course an hurricane that can destroy your house may be capable of moving your satellite dish as well.)

Bad weather doesn’t do much to Satellite antenna reception. But sometimes your antenna can loose reception completely and generally there are some obvious reasons for it that you can solve your self very quickly:

No Satellite TV but Free Coffee

You come home from work, sit down in the couch switch on the TV and your Satellite TV Receiver and….. Nothing! Your son brings you a cup of coffee and asks how your day was.

When these 2 very rare events occur at the same time and your son is not playing with his basketball outside in the yard like he usually does, you better go check your antenna on the roof (or where ever your antenna is located.) If a very familiar basketball got stuck between the dish and the receiver, you know what to do!Gardens, Trees and Satellite TV

It is the middle of summer, every day is a sunny day, your garden is doing great, you need to water the plants and trees practically every day, but it is worth it. They grow very fast, you get compliments from your neighbors all the time and you’re very happy. You don’t even get upset because your satellite tv seems to have problems every now and then. However, it is getting worse as the weeks pass and you don’t have a clue why. You look at your antenna, trying to follow the line of sight to the skies where somewhere, though invisible to the naked eye, the satellite is doing its work. But your eyes don’t get any further than one of your trees that has grown so much it is now in the line of sight to the satellite. 2 possible solutions; either cut the top out of the tree, or move your antenna so that it can “see” over or along the side of the tree.Kites, Birthdays and Satellite TV

You got your son a kite for his birthday. The next day all Satellites seem to have fallen out of the sky.……. Well, you get the picture.

Of course the examples described above are not to be taken too serious. However, in very rare cases reception problems may occur. In case you hired an installation company for the installation of your Satellite TV system, it is best to call them if you have any problems. However, if you are able, do check if there are any problems that can can be cause by external factors. They may be easy to solve and save you the costs of the installation company visiting. Do not take any risks climbing on the roof to reach your antenna. Have qualified people take the risks for you. They are trained and use safety equipment to prevent injuries.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

About the Author: Brian Stevens is a professional freelance writer and webmaster who has written extensively on cable TV and satellite TV. For more information on satellite TV vs. cable TV, click on: http://www.thesatellitetvguide.com/satellite-tv-vs-cable-tv.htm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, electronics goods as well as web hosting. Find more of his writtings about satellite TV deals at http://www.satellitetvissue.com.

What would be the future of Satellite TV? That may seem to be a difficult question, but extrapolating what we know about the past into the future and some educated guesses, we may very well end up with a reasonable picture of what the future of satellite TV looks like. The future of satellite TV will be guided by these properties:

1 Receive and Transmit

What would be possible if you could not only receive, but also transmit? And in the same bandwidth as you receive? That would change the whole world. It is possible now to use the satellite for Internet purposes, but in a very simple and inefficient way. You receive via satellite, but transmit via phone. Upload capacity is completely limited by the dial up connection.

The idea of being able to transmit to a satellite from your home is new and will probably one day be reality. At the moment companies can use satellites to connect offices all over the country via satellite. Bandwidth is limited, or very expensive. Another problem for home use is the size of the satellite dish. At least 4 foot for small bandwidth and up to 10 feet or even more for higher bandwidths. In point 3 this bandwidth issue is explained in more detail.

2 Equipment Size and Costs

Your satellite equipment at home may seem small, but it is small because all it has to do is receive. Transmitting requires different equipment. Not so much in the house, but on the roof at the antenna there is need for a relative big transmitter. Also these are still pretty expensive and for domestic use just not affordable.

In the future this will change. Equipment will get smaller, and cheaper. Eventually when satellites are able to relay much more data than now (see point 3), having 10.000.000 transmitters on the ground won't be a problem.

3 Satellite Capacity and Coverage

This will always be the bottle neck of satellites; how much data can they relay and how small an area can they cover. A satellite has multiple dishes and each dish can cover a part of the earth; small parts like just one state or big parts like the whole continental United States.

In the future satellites will be able to relay much more data, and cover much smaller areas. Especially the smaller coverage areas will be important. Having full capacity available for just a small area means higher bandwidth available for a small amount of people. Especially in urban areas it will be great to have a satellite cover just one neighborhood.

4 Antenna Size

This is a very important issue. Small antennas of 18 inches already exist, but these can receive only. The opening angle of an antenna like this is too big to get enough signal power to reach the satellite. In the future however, antennas will get better and eventually small antennas can be used to transmit to the satellite.

5 New Technologies

This will be the really interesting part. New technologies may open up possibilities that are never heard of before.

Imagine watching a movie in 3D, you sitting on your couch but watching a show as if you are in the audience when the TV show was recorded. You're not really having a TV at home anymore, but a 3D entertainment room. (for those of you who like StarTrek, a not so strange idea). Normal Satellite TV will still be available of course.

In the future Satellite TV will open up so many possibilities that it is hard to imagine what our lives will be like in 30, or even just 20 years from now. To give an idea of how fast things are going. 50 years ago, there was nothing in space that was made by humans. Now there are even satellite graveyards (specific orbits where obsolete satellites are "parked"). The possibilities of satellite TV technology are growing faster every year. What took 10 years to develop 30 years ago is now done in 2 years.

Satellite TV is one of the driving forces for satellite technologies because the need to please million of subscribers is much stronger than the need to please the relative limited needs of communications for commercial purposes. The future of satellite TV is so bright, that a supernova would pale in comparison!

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV

About the Author: Brian Stevens is a professional freelance writer and webmaster who has written extensively on free satellite TV systems. For more information on free satellite TV systems and service, go to http://www.TheSatelliteTVGude.com

Choosing a Satellite TV Provider - Part 2

By Gary Davis Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety, providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sections intact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

RATING DISH NETWORK and DIRECTV POINT by POINT:

Satellite equipment - DirecTV - FREE DISH Network - FREE Satellite Installation - DirecTV - FREE (up to 5 tv's) DISH Network - FREE (up to 4 tv's) Picture Quality - DirecTV - Outstanding DISH Network - Outstanding Pricing - DirecTV Total Choice Package $39.99 per month DISH Network America's Top 60 Package $24.99 per month

Programming Quantity - DirecTV offers programming packages up to 250 channels DISH Network has the capacity to offer up to 500 channels Programming Quality - DirecTV has outstanding programming package options with a heavy emphasis on seasonal sports packages. DISH Network also has outstanding programming package options with somewhat less of an emphasis on sports. Customer Care - DirecTV - Outstanding with both online and 800 toll free support. DISH Network - Outstanding with both online and 800 toll free support.

FINAL CONSLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATION:

Both DISH Network and DirecTV offer an outstanding television viewing experience. The picture reception for both is far superior to that of cable tv. DISH Network's entry level package is cheaper than DirecTV's; but then the Total Choice package comes with alot more channels. DirecTV is stronger in the area of sports coverage, while DISH Network places somewhat more of an emphasis on its premium movie packages and foreign programming options. And both have outstanding customer care, both having won the prestigious J.D. Power Award in recent years for providing the best overall service among satellite and cable subscribers.

Our recommendation is that both DirecTV and DISH Network offer a superior television viewing experience than cable tv. Both are alot cheaper than cable, offer superior picture quality and free equipment and instalation. Both also offer superior customer care service compared to local cable providers. If you're a big sports fan and just have to have that certain premium sports package, then DirecTV is for you; but if you're not a huge sports fan and cost is an issue, then you might want to go with DISH Network and it's entry level America's Top 60 at just $24.99 a month. Also, remember that DirecTV will require a one year commitment, whereas with the DISH Network there is no contract to sign, meaning you can cancel your service at anytime and not have to pay a penalty.

Whichever satellite provider you choose, you can't go wrong. As a subscriber of the DISH Network and a sales person that has several years experience in the satellite tv industry (have sold both DirecTV & DISH Network)I highly recommend that you drop cable, stop feeding the pig and switch to satellite tv service today. The vastly superior picture quality alone that DBS satellite technology provides makes it worth the change. It's like heaven watching tv with no more squiggly lines running across the tv screen!

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, electronics goods as well as web hosting. Find more of his writtings about satellite TV deals at http://www.satellitetvissue.com.

Do you want to get more channels while saving money but not sure if you should go with digital cable or satellite TV? Then this article is meant directly for you! The commercials seen on TV and the ad's displayed all over the internet can be overwhelming at best. Below we will hope to help make your choice simplified for you!Cost Difference between Digital Cable VS Satellite TV:Most cable companies include local franchise fees along with local broadcasting fees on your monthly bill. Digital cable varies starting at $30-$40 per month and up depending on the package you choose it can go up as high as $90 per month.While Satellite packages usually offer betters deals based on how much money is spent per channel. Some satellite companies offer a price point between of $25 for over fifty channels. With most satellite companies pricing may be a little higher per month unless committing to twelve months of programming up front. A twelve-month satellite commitment will usually ensure lower cost up front and most even free installation of the satellite dish.Programming differences between Digital Cable VS Satellite TV:Most Satellite TV systems can support over 250 channels of programming. All channels are of digital quality. One downside is satellite offers less local channels and may not have local channels in some areas. Most satellite companies also offer HD TV services that are compatible to your satellite TV service.Digital cable on the other hand can support over 300 channels of programming of digital quality. Digital Cable has more local channels available in most major cities. Most cable companies now offer Video on Demand (a library of movies and TV shows that you can order at your leisure). HDTV services are becoming more popular amongst cable companies now and not just thru satellite TV as in the past.Difference of Equipment:Satellite equipment typically includes a satellite dish that is installed outside the home that is visible to everyone. A satellite receiver is also essential per TV. Most satellite receivers today also come with a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) which the cable company has not yet been able to offer as of now. Most satellite companies run specials on free installation and equipment when you agree to a 12 month contract.Digital cable also requires one receiver per TV but that is all the equipment needed. Should you disconnect your service the receivers will be turned into the cable company where as with Satellite TV you own the dish.In closing:In the end the prices are comparable but it depends on which system will best suit your television needs and what you are more comfortable with. Both Digital TV and Satellite TV both have their disadvantages and advantages, you make the call!

Copyright © 2005 Jim Teler

About Jim: Jim Teler is a avid budgeter who strongly believes that satellite TV is a savings over cable for most households in America. In addition to raising his two children with his wife, Jim also does freelance writing for websites, including those who sell Dish Network (http://www.bestsatellitetvsystem.com) systems like http://www.bestsatellitetvsystem.com.

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, electronics goods as well as web hosting. Find more of his writtings about satellite TV deals at http://www.satellitetvissue.com.

Do you want to get more channels while saving money but not sure if you should go with digital cable or satellite TV? Then this article is meant directly for you! The commercials seen on TV and the ad's displayed all over the internet can be overwhelming at best. Below we will hope to help make your choice simplified for you!Cost Difference between Digital Cable VS Satellite TV:Most cable companies include local franchise fees along with local broadcasting fees on your monthly bill. Digital cable varies starting at $30-$40 per month and up depending on the package you choose it can go up as high as $90 per month.While Satellite packages usually offer betters deals based on how much money is spent per channel. Some satellite companies offer a price point between of $25 for over fifty channels. With most satellite companies pricing may be a little higher per month unless committing to twelve months of programming up front. A twelve-month satellite commitment will usually ensure lower cost up front and most even free installation of the satellite dish.Programming differences between Digital Cable VS Satellite TV:Most Satellite TV systems can support over 250 channels of programming. All channels are of digital quality. One downside is satellite offers less local channels and may not have local channels in some areas. Most satellite companies also offer HD TV services that are compatible to your satellite TV service.Digital cable on the other hand can support over 300 channels of programming of digital quality. Digital Cable has more local channels available in most major cities. Most cable companies now offer Video on Demand (a library of movies and TV shows that you can order at your leisure). HDTV services are becoming more popular amongst cable companies now and not just thru satellite TV as in the past.Difference of Equipment:Satellite equipment typically includes a satellite dish that is installed outside the home that is visible to everyone. A satellite receiver is also essential per TV. Most satellite receivers today also come with a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) which the cable company has not yet been able to offer as of now. Most satellite companies run specials on free installation and equipment when you agree to a 12 month contract.Digital cable also requires one receiver per TV but that is all the equipment needed. Should you disconnect your service the receivers will be turned into the cable company where as with Satellite TV you own the dish.In closing:In the end the prices are comparable but it depends on which system will best suit your television needs and what you are more comfortable with. Both Digital TV and Satellite TV both have their disadvantages and advantages, you make the call!

Copyright © 2005 Jim Teler

About Jim: Jim Teler is a avid budgeter who strongly believes that satellite TV is a savings over cable for most households in America. In addition to raising his two children with his wife, Jim also does freelance writing for websites, including those who sell Dish Network (http://www.bestsatellitetvsystem.com) systems like http://www.bestsatellitetvsystem.com.

Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there’s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ‘there’s nothing on TV’, switch to satellite. The differences couldn’t be more obvious.

Cable quality vs. Satellite quality

With the limited bandwidth that cable offers, it’s no wonder the quality is poor. First, the cable wire comes from a hub transmission system somewhere near your home. At source, the signal is passable, but by the time it runs through your community, splitting to each house, the signal has degraded. As the cable is RF (radio frequency) based, it has converted from an audio/video signal (at source) to RF and then needs to re-convert back into audio/video for your television. Along the way, anything broadcasting through the air has tried to get into the cable line and will appear as noise on your TV screen.

Unfortunately, we are our worst enemy as well. Look at your cables and splitters inside your house. Poor quality RG6 or RF cable can cause great loss of signal too. Turn on your TV and have someone bend your cable in half and watch for ghosting on your picture. If it is ghosting, you have unshielded cables! Replace them with something better like Monster Cable. RF cable has a tough time producing stereo sound too, so don’t expect great audio. Another culprit of poor cable quality is the cable splitter. Most splitters have just a positive and negative wire inside (it’s a noise box). Throw it out and again replace with a good splitter (Monster Cable makes quality ones).

Satellite signals stay digital until the receiver. That means better picture and audio. The picture can be 2-3 times better resolution from your cable picture. The sound from the satellite receiver is true stereo and can be Dolby Digital surround depending on the program you are watching. Plus there are many more channels to choose from.

By the way, if you have a digital box from the cable company, you have only a handful of digital channels, the rest are the same if you remove the cable box.

Satellite companies like Direct TV (or DirecTV) and Dish Network, provide national satellite service with hundreds of digital stations. The picture is clear and crisp, especially if you spring for a high definition receiver to match your HD ready TV. While most cable signals are below 150 lines of interlaced resolution, standard satellite can approach DVD quality (480i) and HD content will be sent at either 1080i or 720p (progressive). A regular 27” TV has the capability of no more than 500i while a HD television can produce the full range.

What are interlaced and progressive signals? Interlaced broadcast was developed from the old NTSC format where the designers in the 1920’s and 30’s couldn’t get the TV to scan every line from the top of the screen to the bottom fast enough. They needed to cheat by having the TV scan all the odd lines; 1, 3, 5 etc. then go back and scan the even lines; 2, 4, 6 etc. The result is thick black lines running horizontally across your screen and only half the picture appearing. These flickering lines prevented you from sitting close to the television without getting eye strain. As the TVs got bigger, you sat farther away.

The new HD televisions scan all the lines progressively and refresh the screen much quicker. It is like looking through your front window with horizontal blinds. Turn the rod so the blinds are half open. The street outside is now half covered like interlaced pictures and you only see half the picture at one time. Now pull the cord to fully open the blinds. You now see the entire window unobstructed or like a progressive signal.

Satellite TV and Radio: Your #1 Source for Satellite Television and Satellite Radio.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Satellite TV and Radio is a resource-based site bringing the latest satellite TV and radio information. If you want to read more, please visit my site.http://www.satellite-tv-and-radio.com

About the Author: Justin Koh is a freelance writer whose articles have appear in most major ezines. You can find his latest dish network news and articles at http://www.dishnetworkcenter.info

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, call alert services, electronics goods as well as web hosting. You can find more of his writings at SatelliteTVIssue.com. Dear webmaster,

About the Author

John Hutchinson is a internet author and independent columnist. A frequently visited site of his is http://www.kaptainsatellite.com - Dish Network & DirecTV Satellite Providers.

About the Author: Edward Hutchinson is a independent columnist and internet author . A frequently visited site of the author is http://www.kaptainsatellite.com - Deals on Dish Networks.

The original concept of satellite television is often attributed to writer Arthur C. Clarke, who was the first to suggest a worldwide satellite communications system. Funding for satellite technology in the U.S. began in the 1950s, amidst the space race, and the Russian launching of the satellite Sputnik in 1957.

The first communication satellite was developed by a group of businesses and governmententities in 1963. Syncom II orbited at 22,300 miles over the Atlantic; the first satellite communication was on July 26, 1963, between a U.S. Navy ship in Lagos, Nigeria and the U.S. Army naval station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Overloaded land based distribution methods had the telephone companies utilizing satellitecommunication way before the television industry even came into the picture. In fact, it was not until 1978 that satellite communication was officially used by the television industry.

In 1975, RWT's co-founder and BBC transmitter engineer Stephen Birkill built an experimental system for receiving Satellite Instructional Television Experiment TV (SITE) transmissions, beamed to Indian villages, from a NASA geostationary satellite.

Birkill extended his system, receiving TV pictures from Intelsat, Raduga, Molniya and others. In 1978, Birkill met up with Bob Cooper, a cable TV technical journalist and amateur radio enthusiast in the U.S., who invited him to a cable TV operators' conference and trade show, the CCOS-78. It was there that Birkill met with other satellite TV enthusiasts, who were interested, and ready to help develop, Birkill’s experiments.

Interest in Television Receive Only (TVRO) satellite technology burst forward. The American TVRO boom caught the attention of premium cable programmers, who began to realize the potential of satellite TV. Back in the mid-1970s, TV reception was the under the control of international operators, Intelsat and Intersputnik.

On March 1, 1978, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) introduced Public Television Satellite Service. Satellite communication technology caught on, and was used as a distribution method with the broadcasters from 1978 through 1984, with early signals broadcast from HBO, TBS, and CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network, later The Family Channel). TVRO system prices dropped, and the trade organization, Society for Private Commercial Earth Stations (SPACE), and the first dealerships were established.

Broadcasters realized that everyone had the potential to receive satellite signals for free, and they were not happy. But the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was governed by its open skies' policy, believing that users had as much right to receive satellite signals as broadcasters had the right to transmit them.

In 1980, the FCC established the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), a new service that consisted of a broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit, facilities for transmitting signals to the satellite, and the equipment needed for people to access the signals. In turn, broadcasters developed methods of scrambling their signals, forcing consumers to purchase a decoder, or a direct to home (DTH) satellite receiver, from a satellite program provider.

From 1981 to 1985, the big dish satellite market soared. Rural areas gained the capacity to receive television programming that was not capable of being received by standard methods.

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA) was founded in 1986 as a merger between SPACE and the Direct Broadcast Satellite Association. But by this point, American communication companies had soured on the prospect of satellite TV.

Broadcast cable was very successful at this time, and the satellite industry received a lot of negative press coverage. Fifty percent of all satellite retailers closed their businesses.

Business eventually recovered, but the illegal theft of pay television signals was still a problem. Ultimately, encryption has proven to be the ultimate salvation of the satellite industry as it has made the transition from a hardware to software entertainment-driven business.

Early successful attempts to launch satellites for the mass consumer market were led by Japan and Hong Kong in 1986 and 1990, respectively. In 1994, the first successful attempts in America were led by a group of major cable companies, known collectively as Primestar.

Later that year, Direct TV was established, and in 1996, the DISH Network, a subsidiary of Echostar, also entered the satellite TV industry. DISH Network’s low prices forced competing DBS providers to also lower their prices. And an explosion in the popularity of digital satellite TV ensued.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV and has written numerous articles on the satellite television industry. Kate Ivy has written for a variety of publications and websites and is the owner of Ivygirl Media & Design.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR This article is provided by http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com Satellite TV offers an incredible variety of channels, greater value, superior quality audio and video and can save you money each month over cable. Take advantage of fantastic satellite TV offers now at http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com/satellite-tv.html

Popularity

Both Cable TV and Satellite TV are popular. Although cable still is more popular overall, satellite TV has made huge gains on cable TV.

Equipment

Cable TV systems require a cable to be installed from the network to your house. If your street has no cable you may need to wait a while before it is available in your area. Besides the cable you need a receiver. With digital services you need an additional box.

Satellite TV requires a satellite dish, a receiver and a cable from the dish to your TV (no digging in your garden).

Reception Quality

Cable TV has analog channels and even though you can upgrade to digital services, analog channels will still be analog, meaning an often fuzzy picture. Satellite TV is completely digital, which gives you all the advantages of digital systems. Very heavy rain or snow can obstruct reception briefly, but generally this happens very rarely. Reception quality is much better with Satellite TV.

Programming

Here it gets really interesting. Cable TV can handle up to 260 channels. Satellite TV can handle more channels. Also, Satellite TV is more advanced in HDTV (High Definition Television) services.

Pricing

Usually Satellite TV is less expensive than Cable TV due to many additional costs that are related to Cable TV: franchise fees, taxes, plus costs for any pay per view services, and equipment costs. Dish Network Programming Package starts at only $29.99 per month.

Interactive Services

In general Satellite TV has more interactive services than Cable TV. Digital services like Dish Network's DVR (Digital Video Recorder) which gives the option to rewind while recording even in live broadcasts, EPG (Electronic Program Guide), Instant Weather, video on demand, etc. are all available on Satellite TV, but not all are available on Cable TV.

High Speed Internet

Cable has high speed broadband internet services. Satellite has this too, but is somewhat slower.Directv®: offers Direcway High Speed Internet, which is ultra fast but somewhat expensive.Overall conclusion: Satellite TV is less expensive, has better picture quality (digital signal) and gives you more channels and programming options than cable TV.

Webmasters - you may freely use this article in your newsletter or website, providing you re-print the article exactly as it appears, including the Byline, Bio and a link back to Dish Network Satellite TV.ws

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

Choosing a Satellite TV Provider - Part 2

By Gary Davis Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety, providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sections intact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

RATING DISH NETWORK and DIRECTV POINT by POINT:

Satellite equipment - DirecTV - FREE DISH Network - FREE Satellite Installation - DirecTV - FREE (up to 5 tv's) DISH Network - FREE (up to 4 tv's) Picture Quality - DirecTV - Outstanding DISH Network - Outstanding Pricing - DirecTV Total Choice Package $39.99 per month DISH Network America's Top 60 Package $24.99 per month

Programming Quantity - DirecTV offers programming packages up to 250 channels DISH Network has the capacity to offer up to 500 channels Programming Quality - DirecTV has outstanding programming package options with a heavy emphasis on seasonal sports packages. DISH Network also has outstanding programming package options with somewhat less of an emphasis on sports. Customer Care - DirecTV - Outstanding with both online and 800 toll free support. DISH Network - Outstanding with both online and 800 toll free support.

FINAL CONSLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATION:

Both DISH Network and DirecTV offer an outstanding television viewing experience. The picture reception for both is far superior to that of cable tv. DISH Network's entry level package is cheaper than DirecTV's; but then the Total Choice package comes with alot more channels. DirecTV is stronger in the area of sports coverage, while DISH Network places somewhat more of an emphasis on its premium movie packages and foreign programming options. And both have outstanding customer care, both having won the prestigious J.D. Power Award in recent years for providing the best overall service among satellite and cable subscribers.

Our recommendation is that both DirecTV and DISH Network offer a superior television viewing experience than cable tv. Both are alot cheaper than cable, offer superior picture quality and free equipment and instalation. Both also offer superior customer care service compared to local cable providers. If you're a big sports fan and just have to have that certain premium sports package, then DirecTV is for you; but if you're not a huge sports fan and cost is an issue, then you might want to go with DISH Network and it's entry level America's Top 60 at just $24.99 a month. Also, remember that DirecTV will require a one year commitment, whereas with the DISH Network there is no contract to sign, meaning you can cancel your service at anytime and not have to pay a penalty.

Whichever satellite provider you choose, you can't go wrong. As a subscriber of the DISH Network and a sales person that has several years experience in the satellite tv industry (have sold both DirecTV & DISH Network)I highly recommend that you drop cable, stop feeding the pig and switch to satellite tv service today. The vastly superior picture quality alone that DBS satellite technology provides makes it worth the change. It's like heaven watching tv with no more squiggly lines running across the tv screen!

Pole Antenna

A Pole antenna basically consists of one metal pole that transmits it signals around it as if it was the center of a sphere. In all directions the transmitted signal has the same power. The length of the antenna is determined by the frequency of the transmitted signal.

Radio waves, like light waves, always travel at the same speed, which is about 186.000 miles (300.000 km) per second. One wave length is determined by the frequency of the signal by the following formula:

Wavelength = speed of light / frequency

This results in higher frequencies having shorter wavelengths. A pole antenna doesn’t have to have the length of a complete antenna but can also have a length of about ½ , 1/8, or 1/16 of the wave length. This is done mostly for practical purposes (shorter antennas). Wave lengths for pole antennas can go as high as 1 to 2 Giga Hertz. A cell phone for instance works at frequencies of 950 Mega Hertz which is almost 1 Giga Hertz.

Satellite TV or Parabolic Antenna

A satellite TV Antenna or parabolic antenna works on the same principle. The frequencies used by satellite transmissions are of much higher frequencies; 2 Giga Hertz or higher. Wavelengths get so short at these frequencies that it is not possible anymore to transmit using a pole antenna and transmit in all directions. The power needed would be very high because high frequencies are subject to much more resistance from the atmosphere.

Bundling all the transmitted power into a beam improves the power transmitted in one direction by a huge factor. Depending on the distance between the transmitter and the receiver the amplification compared to a normal pole antenna can be as high as 40 to 50 dB (which is as much as 10.000 to 100.000 times amplification).

In reality the beam is not completely straight, but gets wider over the distance. The angle is small, but in case of an antenna on a satellite that transmits all over the USA the angle is actually a little bigger so that the whole USA is covered.

The antenna at your roof or in your garden is pointed at the satellite and receives the signal and does the same thing; it bundles the radio waves into a point, thus amplifying the radio signal with 40 to 50 dB. (see illustration below).

Amplification in the whole path is extremely big. The transmitting antenna amplifies, the receiving antenna amplifies, the transmitter it self amplifies, and the receiver itself also amplifies the signal. A total amplification of over 120 dB (over 1.000.000.000.000 times) is necessary because the atmosphere and also the long distance just decrease the signal power a lot.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

About the Author: Justin Koh is a freelance writer whose articles have appear in most major ezines. You can find his latest dish network news and articles at http://www.dishnetworkcenter.info

Popularity

Both Cable TV and Satellite TV are popular. Although cable still is more popular overall, satellite TV has made huge gains on cable TV.

Equipment

Cable TV systems require a cable to be installed from the network to your house. If your street has no cable you may need to wait a while before it is available in your area. Besides the cable you need a receiver. With digital services you need an additional box.

Satellite TV requires a satellite dish, a receiver and a cable from the dish to your TV (no digging in your garden).

Reception Quality

Cable TV has analog channels and even though you can upgrade to digital services, analog channels will still be analog, meaning an often fuzzy picture. Satellite TV is completely digital, which gives you all the advantages of digital systems. Very heavy rain or snow can obstruct reception briefly, but generally this happens very rarely. Reception quality is much better with Satellite TV.

Programming

Here it gets really interesting. Cable TV can handle up to 260 channels. Satellite TV can handle more channels. Also, Satellite TV is more advanced in HDTV (High Definition Television) services.

Pricing

Usually Satellite TV is less expensive than Cable TV due to many additional costs that are related to Cable TV: franchise fees, taxes, plus costs for any pay per view services, and equipment costs. Dish Network Programming Package starts at only $29.99 per month.

Interactive Services

In general Satellite TV has more interactive services than Cable TV. Digital services like Dish Network's DVR (Digital Video Recorder) which gives the option to rewind while recording even in live broadcasts, EPG (Electronic Program Guide), Instant Weather, video on demand, etc. are all available on Satellite TV, but not all are available on Cable TV.

High Speed Internet

Cable has high speed broadband internet services. Satellite has this too, but is somewhat slower.Directv®: offers Direcway High Speed Internet, which is ultra fast but somewhat expensive.Overall conclusion: Satellite TV is less expensive, has better picture quality (digital signal) and gives you more channels and programming options than cable TV.

Webmasters - you may freely use this article in your newsletter or website, providing you re-print the article exactly as it appears, including the Byline, Bio and a link back to Dish Network Satellite TV.ws

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

TVRO – TeleVision Receive Only 

TVRO was the first satellite system available for home viewing of satellite TV. It required a relatively big dish of 3 to 6 feet in diameter and worked in C-Band. Frequencies of around 4 G Hertz are called C-Band and require bigger dishes because the wave length of these frequencies is longer than in Ku-Band which requires a much smaller dish of about 18 inches. Ku-Band is at 12 to 14 G Hertz. 

TVRO systems also need a movable dish because it needs to get all the channels of many satellites. C-Band satellites have much less channels available than Ku-Band satellites and therefore more satellites are needed to provide enough channels. Possibilities that exist with TVRO systems is that you can also receive free channels and independent feeds from for instance news companies. You could for instance receive the unedited material that is broadcasted from a news crew somewhere in the coverage area of the satellite. They transmit their materials to their headquarters using a C-Band satellite. Many of these types of feeds are not scrambled and are available to everyone with the proper equipment. 

TVRO systems are often referred to as Big Dish TV, C-Band Satellite TV and BUD (Big Ugly Dish). 

DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite 

Satellite TV via DBS is done in the Ku-Band. These satellites work on higher frequencies and can transmit higher power signals. This means that much smaller dishes can be used to receive the signal. A small dish of 18 inches is already enough to receive all satellite TV by Satellite TV. This makes it possible to have satellite TV from an apartment on the 10th floor, if you have a clear line of sight to the south. 

DBS is for everyone. The satellite dish is so small that it is not an obstacle like with for instance the TVRO dishes of 3 to 6 feet. Once installed the dish needs no maintenance since it is aimed at just one satellite. Some dishes actually have 2 or more feeds which makes it possible to receive the signals from more than 1 satellite. 

There are no free channels available on DBS satellites as these are often owned and used by the satellite TV provider it self, while TVRO satellites often are used by those who rent space on the satellite for a limited time. TVRO systems are meant for, for instance, transport of unedited materials between continents, but also within one continent. 

DBS is meant for everyone with a simple, low cost installation of the system. Often the installation is for free as it really is very easy to do. The only thing that is needed is a bit of knowledge of where to find the satellite and the tools that make this even easier. A qualified installer will find the satellite and point it to maximum reception within minutes.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

Satellite TV is Making the Cable Companies Run Scared

Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there’s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ‘there’s nothing on TV’, switch to satellite. The differences couldn’t be more obvious.

Cable quality vs. Satellite quality

With the limited bandwidth that cable offers, it’s no wonder the quality is poor. First, the cable wire comes from a hub transmission system somewhere near your home. At source, the signal is passable, but by the time it runs through your community, splitting to each house, the signal has degraded. As the cable is RF (radio frequency) based, it has converted from an audio/video signal (at source) to RF and then needs to re-convert back into audio/video for your television. Along the way, anything broadcasting through the air has tried to get into the cable line and will appear as noise on your TV screen.

Unfortunately, we are our worst enemy as well. Look at your cables and splitters inside your house. Poor quality RG6 or RF cable can cause great loss of signal too. Turn on your TV and have someone bend your cable in half and watch for ghosting on your picture. If it is ghosting, you have unshielded cables! Replace them with something better like Monster Cable. RF cable has a tough time producing stereo sound too, so don’t expect great audio. Another culprit of poor cable quality is the cable splitter. Most splitters have just a positive and negative wire inside (it’s a noise box). Throw it out and again replace with a good splitter (Monster Cable makes quality ones).

Satellite signals stay digital until the receiver. That means better picture and audio. The picture can be 2-3 times better resolution from your cable picture. The sound from the satellite receiver is true stereo and can be Dolby Digital surround depending on the program you are watching. Plus there are many more channels to choose from.

By the way, if you have a digital box from the cable company, you have only a handful of digital channels, the rest are the same if you remove the cable box.

Satellite companies like Direct TV (or DirecTV) and Dish Network, provide national satellite service with hundreds of digital stations. The picture is clear and crisp, especially if you spring for a high definition receiver to match your HD ready TV. While most cable signals are below 150 lines of interlaced resolution, standard satellite can approach DVD quality (480i) and HD content will be sent at either 1080i or 720p (progressive). A regular 27” TV has the capability of no more than 500i while a HD television can produce the full range.

What are interlaced and progressive signals? Interlaced broadcast was developed from the old NTSC format where the designers in the 1920’s and 30’s couldn’t get the TV to scan every line from the top of the screen to the bottom fast enough. They needed to cheat by having the TV scan all the odd lines; 1, 3, 5 etc. then go back and scan the even lines; 2, 4, 6 etc. The result is thick black lines running horizontally across your screen and only half the picture appearing. These flickering lines prevented you from sitting close to the television without getting eye strain. As the TVs got bigger, you sat farther away.

The new HD televisions scan all the lines progressively and refresh the screen much quicker. It is like looking through your front window with horizontal blinds. Turn the rod so the blinds are half open. The street outside is now half covered like interlaced pictures and you only see half the picture at one time. Now pull the cord to fully open the blinds. You now see the entire window unobstructed or like a progressive signal.

Satellite TV and Radio: Your #1 Source for Satellite Television and Satellite Radio.

Satellite TV and Radio is a resource-based site bringing the latest satellite TV and radio information. If you want to read more, please visit my site.

Other articles Information on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Dish Network Satellite

It's a complicated question. In short, a satellite TV system is a wireless system delivering television programming directly to an end user. The whole system you can see in your home, a satellite dish, satellite decoder, and a remote.

The small satellite dish, about 18 to 24 inches in circumference, is installed outside your house; with the satellite decoder linked to your TV. Television and satellite TV stations transmit programming via a digital signal (satellite TV signals).

Satellite TV 'Who'?

Two main providers of satellite TV in United States are Direct TV satellite TV and Dish Network satellite TV. Both satellite TV companies are promoting hard with their free satellite TV deals all over the country.

Nowadays, satellite TV business is turning into a huge success, where satellite TV became the fastest selling consumer electronics product ever to enter the market.

Why is satellite TV so success?

The short answer: pay LESS, get MORE!

Benefit 1: Amazing Savings.Benefit 2: Varieties, varieties, and varieties!Benefit 3: Quality customer service.Benefit 4: Choose your own satellite TV program!Benefit 5: Instant! Easy! Convenient!

Topnotch picture quality, superior value and plenty of programming, if you want all these, digital satellite TV system are definitely your choice.For more details on the benefits of satellite TV deals, visit this page: http://www.satellitetvissue.com/benefits.htm

So, how satellite TV works?

To make things simple, this is what happens in your satellite TV system. Satellite TV broadcast stations, for example Dish Network or DirecTV satellite TV, use a powerful satellite antenna to transmit digital waves to the surrounding area.

Satellite TV viewers can receive the signal with a smaller satellite antenna. The digital signals used to broadcast television emit signals from the broadcast satellite antenna in a straight line.

To receive these signals, the satellite dish has to be in the direct line of sight of the antenna. Blockages such like trees or buildings in between would not cause any problems on the digital waves.

Is satellite TV suitable for you?

For United States, I can say that satellite TV is the right choice for 95% of the citizens. The figure would goes higher with current satellite TV market condition, with Dish Network and DirecTV offering free satellite TV deals all year long.

Compare satellite TV deals to cable TV! Either free satellite TV from DirecTV or Dish Network offers you more satellite TV program choicesup to nearly 300 channels! With current free satellite TV deals, you can even have your "own" satellite TV station with the satellite TV pay-per-view deals. This is different from normal cable TV, where you are forced to purchase whatever system your region offers and pay whatever price it offers. Direct TV and Dish Network offer you this advantage.

Cable TV users, ATTENTION! i am not going to say this twice.

If you are looking for your next home entertainment system, take time to discover DirecTV and Dish Network promotion in our site, you will love them. For cable TV subscriber, I am sure you will be make a switch very soon when you check out these free satellite TV deals! Check it yourself, browse those Free satellite TV offers from Direct TV and Dish Network satellite TV systems, check those satellite TV benefits in details and you will know what am I talking about. Pay less, and have more with free satellite TV system from Direct TV or Dish Network!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teddy L.Cc., a successful freelance internet webmaster/writer. He is currently running 4 internet websites including http://www.satellitetvissue.com offering satellite TV deals

It's a complicated question. In short, a satellite TV system is a wireless system delivering television programming directly to an end user. The whole system you can see in your home, a satellite dish, satellite decoder, and a remote.

The small satellite dish, about 18 to 24 inches in circumference, is installed outside your house; with the satellite decoder linked to your TV. Television and satellite TV stations transmit programming via a digital signal (satellite TV signals).

Satellite TV 'Who'?

Two main providers of satellite TV in United States are Direct TV satellite TV and Dish Network satellite TV. Both satellite TV companies are promoting hard with their free satellite TV deals all over the country.

Nowadays, satellite TV business is turning into a huge success, where satellite TV became the fastest selling consumer electronics product ever to enter the market.

Why is satellite TV so success?

The short answer: pay LESS, get MORE!

Benefit 1: Amazing Savings.Benefit 2: Varieties, varieties, and varieties!Benefit 3: Quality customer service.Benefit 4: Choose your own satellite TV program!Benefit 5: Instant! Easy! Convenient!

Topnotch picture quality, superior value and plenty of programming, if you want all these, digital satellite TV system are definitely your choice.For more details on the benefits of satellite TV deals, visit this page: http://www.satellitetvissue.com/benefits.htm

So, how satellite TV works?

To make things simple, this is what happens in your satellite TV system. Satellite TV broadcast stations, for example Dish Network or DirecTV satellite TV, use a powerful satellite antenna to transmit digital waves to the surrounding area.

Satellite TV viewers can receive the signal with a smaller satellite antenna. The digital signals used to broadcast television emit signals from the broadcast satellite antenna in a straight line.

To receive these signals, the satellite dish has to be in the direct line of sight of the antenna. Blockages such like trees or buildings in between would not cause any problems on the digital waves.

Is satellite TV suitable for you?

For United States, I can say that satellite TV is the right choice for 95% of the citizens. The figure would goes higher with current satellite TV market condition, with Dish Network and DirecTV offering free satellite TV deals all year long.

Compare satellite TV deals to cable TV! Either free satellite TV from DirecTV or Dish Network offers you more satellite TV program choicesup to nearly 300 channels! With current free satellite TV deals, you can even have your "own" satellite TV station with the satellite TV pay-per-view deals. This is different from normal cable TV, where you are forced to purchase whatever system your region offers and pay whatever price it offers. Direct TV and Dish Network offer you this advantage.

Cable TV users, ATTENTION! i am not going to say this twice.

If you are looking for your next home entertainment system, take time to discover DirecTV and Dish Network promotion in our site, you will love them. For cable TV subscriber, I am sure you will be make a switch very soon when you check out these free satellite TV deals! Check it yourself, browse those Free satellite TV offers from Direct TV and Dish Network satellite TV systems, check those satellite TV benefits in details and you will know what am I talking about. Pay less, and have more with free satellite TV system from Direct TV or Dish Network!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teddy L.Cc., a successful freelance internet webmaster/writer. He is currently running 4 internet websites including http://www.satellitetvissue.com offering satellite TV deals

About the Author: Brian Stevens is a professional freelance writer and webmaster who has written extensively on free satellite TV systems. For more information on free satellite TV systems and service, go to http://www.TheSatelliteTVGude.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, electronics goods as well as web hosting. Find more of his writtings about satellite TV deals at http://www.satellitetvissue.com.

What would be the future of Satellite TV? That may seem to be a difficult question, but extrapolating what we know about the past into the future and some educated guesses, we may very well end up with a reasonable picture of what the future of satellite TV looks like. The future of satellite TV will be guided by these properties:

1 Receive and Transmit

What would be possible if you could not only receive, but also transmit? And in the same bandwidth as you receive? That would change the whole world. It is possible now to use the satellite for Internet purposes, but in a very simple and inefficient way. You receive via satellite, but transmit via phone. Upload capacity is completely limited by the dial up connection.

The idea of being able to transmit to a satellite from your home is new and will probably one day be reality. At the moment companies can use satellites to connect offices all over the country via satellite. Bandwidth is limited, or very expensive. Another problem for home use is the size of the satellite dish. At least 4 foot for small bandwidth and up to 10 feet or even more for higher bandwidths. In point 3 this bandwidth issue is explained in more detail.

2 Equipment Size and Costs

Your satellite equipment at home may seem small, but it is small because all it has to do is receive. Transmitting requires different equipment. Not so much in the house, but on the roof at the antenna there is need for a relative big transmitter. Also these are still pretty expensive and for domestic use just not affordable.

In the future this will change. Equipment will get smaller, and cheaper. Eventually when satellites are able to relay much more data than now (see point 3), having 10.000.000 transmitters on the ground won't be a problem.

3 Satellite Capacity and Coverage

This will always be the bottle neck of satellites; how much data can they relay and how small an area can they cover. A satellite has multiple dishes and each dish can cover a part of the earth; small parts like just one state or big parts like the whole continental United States.

In the future satellites will be able to relay much more data, and cover much smaller areas. Especially the smaller coverage areas will be important. Having full capacity available for just a small area means higher bandwidth available for a small amount of people. Especially in urban areas it will be great to have a satellite cover just one neighborhood.

4 Antenna Size

This is a very important issue. Small antennas of 18 inches already exist, but these can receive only. The opening angle of an antenna like this is too big to get enough signal power to reach the satellite. In the future however, antennas will get better and eventually small antennas can be used to transmit to the satellite.

5 New Technologies

This will be the really interesting part. New technologies may open up possibilities that are never heard of before.

Imagine watching a movie in 3D, you sitting on your couch but watching a show as if you are in the audience when the TV show was recorded. You're not really having a TV at home anymore, but a 3D entertainment room. (for those of you who like StarTrek, a not so strange idea). Normal Satellite TV will still be available of course.

In the future Satellite TV will open up so many possibilities that it is hard to imagine what our lives will be like in 30, or even just 20 years from now. To give an idea of how fast things are going. 50 years ago, there was nothing in space that was made by humans. Now there are even satellite graveyards (specific orbits where obsolete satellites are "parked"). The possibilities of satellite TV technology are growing faster every year. What took 10 years to develop 30 years ago is now done in 2 years.

Satellite TV is one of the driving forces for satellite technologies because the need to please million of subscribers is much stronger than the need to please the relative limited needs of communications for commercial purposes. The future of satellite TV is so bright, that a supernova would pale in comparison!

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV

Pole Antenna

A Pole antenna basically consists of one metal pole that transmits it signals around it as if it was the center of a sphere. In all directions the transmitted signal has the same power. The length of the antenna is determined by the frequency of the transmitted signal.

Radio waves, like light waves, always travel at the same speed, which is about 186.000 miles (300.000 km) per second. One wave length is determined by the frequency of the signal by the following formula:

Wavelength = speed of light / frequency

This results in higher frequencies having shorter wavelengths. A pole antenna doesn’t have to have the length of a complete antenna but can also have a length of about ½ , 1/8, or 1/16 of the wave length. This is done mostly for practical purposes (shorter antennas). Wave lengths for pole antennas can go as high as 1 to 2 Giga Hertz. A cell phone for instance works at frequencies of 950 Mega Hertz which is almost 1 Giga Hertz.

Satellite TV or Parabolic Antenna

A satellite TV Antenna or parabolic antenna works on the same principle. The frequencies used by satellite transmissions are of much higher frequencies; 2 Giga Hertz or higher. Wavelengths get so short at these frequencies that it is not possible anymore to transmit using a pole antenna and transmit in all directions. The power needed would be very high because high frequencies are subject to much more resistance from the atmosphere.

Bundling all the transmitted power into a beam improves the power transmitted in one direction by a huge factor. Depending on the distance between the transmitter and the receiver the amplification compared to a normal pole antenna can be as high as 40 to 50 dB (which is as much as 10.000 to 100.000 times amplification).

In reality the beam is not completely straight, but gets wider over the distance. The angle is small, but in case of an antenna on a satellite that transmits all over the USA the angle is actually a little bigger so that the whole USA is covered.

The antenna at your roof or in your garden is pointed at the satellite and receives the signal and does the same thing; it bundles the radio waves into a point, thus amplifying the radio signal with 40 to 50 dB. (see illustration below).

Amplification in the whole path is extremely big. The transmitting antenna amplifies, the receiving antenna amplifies, the transmitter it self amplifies, and the receiver itself also amplifies the signal. A total amplification of over 120 dB (over 1.000.000.000.000 times) is necessary because the atmosphere and also the long distance just decrease the signal power a lot.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR This article is provided by http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com Satellite TV offers an incredible variety of channels, greater value, superior quality audio and video and can save you money each month over cable. Take advantage of fantastic satellite TV offers now at http://www.1stopshoppingonline.com/satellite-tv.html

Setting up your satellite system isn’t as difficult as you might think. In addition to installing the dish itself, you’ll need to program that little black box known as your satellite receiver. Don’t know where to start? Not to worry… just follow these steps and you’ll be up and running in no time at all.

Assuming your dish is already installed and your receiver is properly connected, turn your receiver and your television set ON. You’ll see a screen called “Point Dish/Signal Strength Setup” where you’re going to test the reception from your satellites.

Choose the “Check Switch” option and you’ll see a new screen. Choose “Check” or “Test” and you’ll get a message that your system check is in progress. When the test is complete, you’ll see an Installation Summary on your screen that shows reception details for two satellites. DISH Network customers will see data for two satellites: 110 West and 119 West. Transponders should show “ALL” and the message “Satellite Reception Verified” in the status area. You can exit this screen.

Now look at your Point Dish/Signal screen again. Do you show good strength under the 119 West listing? If so, move the check mark to the 110 West listing. Do you show good strength there as well? If not, you’ll need to go back and fine-tune your dish positioning until you have the strongest possible signal from both satellites. Once you’re satisfied with your signal strength, you’re ready to download your software. Simply exit the Point Dish/Signal Strength menu and you’ll be prompted to confirm that your dish positioning is complete. Answer “Yes” and another prompt will appear confirming the download of your programming software. Let the software download completely - do not interrupt this process.

Once the receiver’s memory has been upgraded, you’ll need to order your programming. DISH Network customers can press the “SYS INFO” button on the receiver front panel. This will display the “Important System Information” screen that includes various serial numbers and software versions. Call DISH Network and customer service representative will walk you through the rest. With your programming complete, you can begin enjoying your new satellite system. In addition to browsing programs with the up and down channel buttons, you can also preview your channels using the Program Guide.

To access the Guide, press the “GUIDE” button on your remote. You can sort your guide program viewing in a few different ways, so take a few minutes to customize the Program Guide to suit your needs.

Enjoy the show!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV and has written numerous articles on the satellite television industry. Kate Ivy has written for a variety of publications and websites and is the owner of Ivygirl Media & Design.

This is the experience of most people that enjoy satellite TV; Smooth reception no matter what weather it is outside. (Of course an hurricane that can destroy your house may be capable of moving your satellite dish as well.)

Bad weather doesn’t do much to Satellite antenna reception. But sometimes your antenna can loose reception completely and generally there are some obvious reasons for it that you can solve your self very quickly:

No Satellite TV but Free Coffee

You come home from work, sit down in the couch switch on the TV and your Satellite TV Receiver and….. Nothing! Your son brings you a cup of coffee and asks how your day was.

When these 2 very rare events occur at the same time and your son is not playing with his basketball outside in the yard like he usually does, you better go check your antenna on the roof (or where ever your antenna is located.) If a very familiar basketball got stuck between the dish and the receiver, you know what to do!Gardens, Trees and Satellite TV

It is the middle of summer, every day is a sunny day, your garden is doing great, you need to water the plants and trees practically every day, but it is worth it. They grow very fast, you get compliments from your neighbors all the time and you’re very happy. You don’t even get upset because your satellite tv seems to have problems every now and then. However, it is getting worse as the weeks pass and you don’t have a clue why. You look at your antenna, trying to follow the line of sight to the skies where somewhere, though invisible to the naked eye, the satellite is doing its work. But your eyes don’t get any further than one of your trees that has grown so much it is now in the line of sight to the satellite. 2 possible solutions; either cut the top out of the tree, or move your antenna so that it can “see” over or along the side of the tree.Kites, Birthdays and Satellite TV

You got your son a kite for his birthday. The next day all Satellites seem to have fallen out of the sky.……. Well, you get the picture.

Of course the examples described above are not to be taken too serious. However, in very rare cases reception problems may occur. In case you hired an installation company for the installation of your Satellite TV system, it is best to call them if you have any problems. However, if you are able, do check if there are any problems that can can be cause by external factors. They may be easy to solve and save you the costs of the installation company visiting. Do not take any risks climbing on the roof to reach your antenna. Have qualified people take the risks for you. They are trained and use safety equipment to prevent injuries.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

About the Author: Brian Stevens is a professional freelance writer and webmaster who has written extensively on cable TV and satellite TV. For more information on satellite TV vs. cable TV, click on: http://www.thesatellitetvguide.com/satellite-tv-vs-cable-tv.htm

About the Author

John Hutchinson is a internet author and independent columnist. A frequently visited site of his is http://www.kaptainsatellite.com - Dish Network & DirecTV Satellite Providers.

About the Author: Edward Hutchinson is a independent columnist and internet author . A frequently visited site of the author is http://www.kaptainsatellite.com - Deals on Dish Networks.

The original concept of satellite television is often attributed to writer Arthur C. Clarke, who was the first to suggest a worldwide satellite communications system. Funding for satellite technology in the U.S. began in the 1950s, amidst the space race, and the Russian launching of the satellite Sputnik in 1957.

The first communication satellite was developed by a group of businesses and governmententities in 1963. Syncom II orbited at 22,300 miles over the Atlantic; the first satellite communication was on July 26, 1963, between a U.S. Navy ship in Lagos, Nigeria and the U.S. Army naval station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Overloaded land based distribution methods had the telephone companies utilizing satellitecommunication way before the television industry even came into the picture. In fact, it was not until 1978 that satellite communication was officially used by the television industry.

In 1975, RWT's co-founder and BBC transmitter engineer Stephen Birkill built an experimental system for receiving Satellite Instructional Television Experiment TV (SITE) transmissions, beamed to Indian villages, from a NASA geostationary satellite.

Birkill extended his system, receiving TV pictures from Intelsat, Raduga, Molniya and others. In 1978, Birkill met up with Bob Cooper, a cable TV technical journalist and amateur radio enthusiast in the U.S., who invited him to a cable TV operators' conference and trade show, the CCOS-78. It was there that Birkill met with other satellite TV enthusiasts, who were interested, and ready to help develop, Birkill’s experiments.

Interest in Television Receive Only (TVRO) satellite technology burst forward. The American TVRO boom caught the attention of premium cable programmers, who began to realize the potential of satellite TV. Back in the mid-1970s, TV reception was the under the control of international operators, Intelsat and Intersputnik.

On March 1, 1978, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) introduced Public Television Satellite Service. Satellite communication technology caught on, and was used as a distribution method with the broadcasters from 1978 through 1984, with early signals broadcast from HBO, TBS, and CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network, later The Family Channel). TVRO system prices dropped, and the trade organization, Society for Private Commercial Earth Stations (SPACE), and the first dealerships were established.

Broadcasters realized that everyone had the potential to receive satellite signals for free, and they were not happy. But the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was governed by its open skies' policy, believing that users had as much right to receive satellite signals as broadcasters had the right to transmit them.

In 1980, the FCC established the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), a new service that consisted of a broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit, facilities for transmitting signals to the satellite, and the equipment needed for people to access the signals. In turn, broadcasters developed methods of scrambling their signals, forcing consumers to purchase a decoder, or a direct to home (DTH) satellite receiver, from a satellite program provider.

From 1981 to 1985, the big dish satellite market soared. Rural areas gained the capacity to receive television programming that was not capable of being received by standard methods.

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA) was founded in 1986 as a merger between SPACE and the Direct Broadcast Satellite Association. But by this point, American communication companies had soured on the prospect of satellite TV.

Broadcast cable was very successful at this time, and the satellite industry received a lot of negative press coverage. Fifty percent of all satellite retailers closed their businesses.

Business eventually recovered, but the illegal theft of pay television signals was still a problem. Ultimately, encryption has proven to be the ultimate salvation of the satellite industry as it has made the transition from a hardware to software entertainment-driven business.

Early successful attempts to launch satellites for the mass consumer market were led by Japan and Hong Kong in 1986 and 1990, respectively. In 1994, the first successful attempts in America were led by a group of major cable companies, known collectively as Primestar.

Later that year, Direct TV was established, and in 1996, the DISH Network, a subsidiary of Echostar, also entered the satellite TV industry. DISH Network’s low prices forced competing DBS providers to also lower their prices. And an explosion in the popularity of digital satellite TV ensued.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV and has written numerous articles on the satellite television industry. Kate Ivy has written for a variety of publications and websites and is the owner of Ivygirl Media & Design.

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, call alert services, electronics goods as well as web hosting. You can find more of his writings at SatelliteTVIssue.com. Dear webmaster,

TVRO – TeleVision Receive Only 

TVRO was the first satellite system available for home viewing of satellite TV. It required a relatively big dish of 3 to 6 feet in diameter and worked in C-Band. Frequencies of around 4 G Hertz are called C-Band and require bigger dishes because the wave length of these frequencies is longer than in Ku-Band which requires a much smaller dish of about 18 inches. Ku-Band is at 12 to 14 G Hertz. 

TVRO systems also need a movable dish because it needs to get all the channels of many satellites. C-Band satellites have much less channels available than Ku-Band satellites and therefore more satellites are needed to provide enough channels. Possibilities that exist with TVRO systems is that you can also receive free channels and independent feeds from for instance news companies. You could for instance receive the unedited material that is broadcasted from a news crew somewhere in the coverage area of the satellite. They transmit their materials to their headquarters using a C-Band satellite. Many of these types of feeds are not scrambled and are available to everyone with the proper equipment. 

TVRO systems are often referred to as Big Dish TV, C-Band Satellite TV and BUD (Big Ugly Dish). 

DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite 

Satellite TV via DBS is done in the Ku-Band. These satellites work on higher frequencies and can transmit higher power signals. This means that much smaller dishes can be used to receive the signal. A small dish of 18 inches is already enough to receive all satellite TV by Satellite TV. This makes it possible to have satellite TV from an apartment on the 10th floor, if you have a clear line of sight to the south. 

DBS is for everyone. The satellite dish is so small that it is not an obstacle like with for instance the TVRO dishes of 3 to 6 feet. Once installed the dish needs no maintenance since it is aimed at just one satellite. Some dishes actually have 2 or more feeds which makes it possible to receive the signals from more than 1 satellite. 

There are no free channels available on DBS satellites as these are often owned and used by the satellite TV provider it self, while TVRO satellites often are used by those who rent space on the satellite for a limited time. TVRO systems are meant for, for instance, transport of unedited materials between continents, but also within one continent. 

DBS is meant for everyone with a simple, low cost installation of the system. Often the installation is for free as it really is very easy to do. The only thing that is needed is a bit of knowledge of where to find the satellite and the tools that make this even easier. A qualified installer will find the satellite and point it to maximum reception within minutes.

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety,providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sectionsintact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written several articles on satellite TV.

Satellite TV is Making the Cable Companies Run Scared

Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there’s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ‘there’s nothing on TV’, switch to satellite. The differences couldn’t be more obvious.

Cable quality vs. Satellite quality

With the limited bandwidth that cable offers, it’s no wonder the quality is poor. First, the cable wire comes from a hub transmission system somewhere near your home. At source, the signal is passable, but by the time it runs through your community, splitting to each house, the signal has degraded. As the cable is RF (radio frequency) based, it has converted from an audio/video signal (at source) to RF and then needs to re-convert back into audio/video for your television. Along the way, anything broadcasting through the air has tried to get into the cable line and will appear as noise on your TV screen.

Unfortunately, we are our worst enemy as well. Look at your cables and splitters inside your house. Poor quality RG6 or RF cable can cause great loss of signal too. Turn on your TV and have someone bend your cable in half and watch for ghosting on your picture. If it is ghosting, you have unshielded cables! Replace them with something better like Monster Cable. RF cable has a tough time producing stereo sound too, so don’t expect great audio. Another culprit of poor cable quality is the cable splitter. Most splitters have just a positive and negative wire inside (it’s a noise box). Throw it out and again replace with a good splitter (Monster Cable makes quality ones).

Satellite signals stay digital until the receiver. That means better picture and audio. The picture can be 2-3 times better resolution from your cable picture. The sound from the satellite receiver is true stereo and can be Dolby Digital surround depending on the program you are watching. Plus there are many more channels to choose from.

By the way, if you have a digital box from the cable company, you have only a handful of digital channels, the rest are the same if you remove the cable box.

Satellite companies like Direct TV (or DirecTV) and Dish Network, provide national satellite service with hundreds of digital stations. The picture is clear and crisp, especially if you spring for a high definition receiver to match your HD ready TV. While most cable signals are below 150 lines of interlaced resolution, standard satellite can approach DVD quality (480i) and HD content will be sent at either 1080i or 720p (progressive). A regular 27” TV has the capability of no more than 500i while a HD television can produce the full range.

What are interlaced and progressive signals? Interlaced broadcast was developed from the old NTSC format where the designers in the 1920’s and 30’s couldn’t get the TV to scan every line from the top of the screen to the bottom fast enough. They needed to cheat by having the TV scan all the odd lines; 1, 3, 5 etc. then go back and scan the even lines; 2, 4, 6 etc. The result is thick black lines running horizontally across your screen and only half the picture appearing. These flickering lines prevented you from sitting close to the television without getting eye strain. As the TVs got bigger, you sat farther away.

The new HD televisions scan all the lines progressively and refresh the screen much quicker. It is like looking through your front window with horizontal blinds. Turn the rod so the blinds are half open. The street outside is now half covered like interlaced pictures and you only see half the picture at one time. Now pull the cord to fully open the blinds. You now see the entire window unobstructed or like a progressive signal.

Satellite TV and Radio: Your #1 Source for Satellite Television and Satellite Radio.

Satellite TV and Radio is a resource-based site bringing the latest satellite TV and radio information. If you want to read more, please visit my site.

Other articles Information on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Dish Network Satellite

About the Author

Teddy L.Cc., an experienced freelance internet webmaster/writer, frequent writter on issue regarding satellite TV deals, call alert services, electronics goods as well as web hosting. You can find more of his writings at SatelliteTVIssue.com. Dear webmaster,

Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there’s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ‘there’s nothing on TV’, switch to satellite. The differences couldn’t be more obvious.

Cable quality vs. Satellite quality

With the limited bandwidth that cable offers, it’s no wonder the quality is poor. First, the cable wire comes from a hub transmission system somewhere near your home. At source, the signal is passable, but by the time it runs through your community, splitting to each house, the signal has degraded. As the cable is RF (radio frequency) based, it has converted from an audio/video signal (at source) to RF and then needs to re-convert back into audio/video for your television. Along the way, anything broadcasting through the air has tried to get into the cable line and will appear as noise on your TV screen.

Unfortunately, we are our worst enemy as well. Look at your cables and splitters inside your house. Poor quality RG6 or RF cable can cause great loss of signal too. Turn on your TV and have someone bend your cable in half and watch for ghosting on your picture. If it is ghosting, you have unshielded cables! Replace them with something better like Monster Cable. RF cable has a tough time producing stereo sound too, so don’t expect great audio. Another culprit of poor cable quality is the cable splitter. Most splitters have just a positive and negative wire inside (it’s a noise box). Throw it out and again replace with a good splitter (Monster Cable makes quality ones).

Satellite signals stay digital until the receiver. That means better picture and audio. The picture can be 2-3 times better resolution from your cable picture. The sound from the satellite receiver is true stereo and can be Dolby Digital surround depending on the program you are watching. Plus there are many more channels to choose from.

By the way, if you have a digital box from the cable company, you have only a handful of digital channels, the rest are the same if you remove the cable box.

Satellite companies like Direct TV (or DirecTV) and Dish Network, provide national satellite service with hundreds of digital stations. The picture is clear and crisp, especially if you spring for a high definition receiver to match your HD ready TV. While most cable signals are below 150 lines of interlaced resolution, standard satellite can approach DVD quality (480i) and HD content will be sent at either 1080i or 720p (progressive). A regular 27” TV has the capability of no more than 500i while a HD television can produce the full range.

What are interlaced and progressive signals? Interlaced broadcast was developed from the old NTSC format where the designers in the 1920’s and 30’s couldn’t get the TV to scan every line from the top of the screen to the bottom fast enough. They needed to cheat by having the TV scan all the odd lines; 1, 3, 5 etc. then go back and scan the even lines; 2, 4, 6 etc. The result is thick black lines running horizontally across your screen and only half the picture appearing. These flickering lines prevented you from sitting close to the television without getting eye strain. As the TVs got bigger, you sat farther away.

The new HD televisions scan all the lines progressively and refresh the screen much quicker. It is like looking through your front window with horizontal blinds. Turn the rod so the blinds are half open. The street outside is now half covered like interlaced pictures and you only see half the picture at one time. Now pull the cord to fully open the blinds. You now see the entire window unobstructed or like a progressive signal.

Satellite TV and Radio: Your #1 Source for Satellite Television and Satellite Radio.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Satellite TV and Radio is a resource-based site bringing the latest satellite TV and radio information. If you want to read more, please visit my site.http://www.satellite-tv-and-radio.com

The satellite tv industry has made huge gains on the cable tv industry in the past several years. With the price of cable tv skyrocketing every year, many cable subscribers are making the switch over to satellite tv. Okay so you've decided to switch to satellite tv; but which satellite tv provider do you choose? A satellite tv provider is a company that owns and operates satellites in geostationary orbit around the earth. These satellites broadcast the satellite signal down to your satellite dish and from their the signal is transferred to your receiver (black box). The two largest satellite tv providers in the United Sates are DirecTV and DISH Network. The vast majority of satellite tv subscribers in the United States use one or the other so this article will concentrate on comparing the two satellite giants in an attempt to help you decide which of the two is best foryou.

With the almost exponential growth of the satellite tv industry, both DISH Network and DirecTV are now in a position where they can afford to offer the satellite equipment (dish and receivers) free to their subscribers. So for starters both DISH Network and DirecTV offer free satellite equiipment. Basically the only qualifiers are that you be a first time subscriber and that you have a credit card for monthly billing purposes. So if the equipment is free how do the two providers make any money? Well, you do have to pay for the monthly programming of course. The price of your monthly programming bill depends on which programming package you choose.

DISH Network's America Top 60 programmng package starts at $24.99 per month and local channels are available. DISH Network presently is not making new subscribers commit to a one year contract. You can end your subscription at any time with no financial penalty to pay. DirecTV's entry level programming package is called the Total Choice package and comes with local channels and is $39.99 per month. With the Total Choice package you get over 130 channels. DirecTV does require you to sign a one year subscription agreement. If you cancel your service before the year is up, then you have to pay a penalty fee to DirecTV.

As both satellite giants use the very lates technology in their satellites and receiving equipment, what differentiates the two is in the programming options that they provide to their subscribers. I would rate DirecTV somewhat ahead of the DISH Network in their sports packages, as they offer seasonal sports options like the N.F.L. Sunday Ticket that DirecTV has exclusive rights to. Both providers offer tons of premium movie packages to choose from including HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax. All these come with multiple channels per movie package. As DISH Network has more satellites in orbit than DirecTV does they have the capacity to offer up to 500 viewing channels, whereas with DirecTV, you can 'only' get 250 channels. Also, DISH Network offers alot more foreign programming packages than DirecTV does.

Both DISH Network and DirecTV offer 100% digital picture and CD quality sound in all of their programming. So again, they are tied in this important quality. This technology allows for a crystal clear perfect picture that cable tv simply cannot provide.

DISH Network, a subsidiary of EchoStar Communications, was founded in 1996 by Charles Ergan. While not quite as old as DirecTV, DISH Network was the fastest satellite provider to reach the 100,000 subscriber level doing so in just four short months. Presently, DISH Network has over Nine million satellite tv subscribers in the 50 United States and District of Columbia. DISH Network has many 'firsts' to its credit, including being the first company to offer a satellite tv reciever that had a built in DVR (digital video recorder).

DirecTV was begun in 1994 and is the largest satellite tv provider in the United States. When it first launched in 1994, Direct TV was the first satellite TV company to offer all digital-quality, multi-channel TV programming through the use of direct broadcast satellite (DBS) technology. DBS technology is now the standard for the satellite tv industry and we have the ingenuity of the DirecTV engineers to thank for it. While DirecTV does not have as large a bandwidth allocation as the DISH Network does, to counter this DirecTV has arranged to have to exclusive deals with programming companies to cater to the programming whims of their subscribers.

In the all important area of customer care, both DirecTV and DISH Network offer outstanding customer care and support. Both offer online Faqs sections and help sections to their websites. You can also call both toll free to get help with any problem you may be having. Pay-Per-View movies may be ordered either by using your remote control or calling the 800 toll free number for either provider.

Both DirecTV and DISH Network offer free professional installation as part of their free satellite tv promotions. One difference is that DirecTV will install your equipment for free in up to five rooms, where DISH Network presently only installs for free in up to four rooms of your home.

continued >>>

By Gary Davis Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety, providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sections intact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

About The Author

Gary Davis is the owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written numerous articles about satellite TV.

Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Email: customerservice@dish-network-satellite-tv.ws

This article may be considered science fiction, just like Arthur C. Clark once had a scientific vision about 3 satellites orbiting the earth in geostationary orbits to make global communications possible. Everything in this article is merely a scientific vision and an extrapolation of current technologies into the future.

What would be the future of Satellite TV? That may seem to be a difficult question, but extrapolating what we know about the past into the future and some educated guesses, we may very well end up with a reasonable picture of what the future of satellite TV looks like. The future of satellite TV will be guided by these properties:

Receive and Transmit

Equipment Size and Costs

Satellite Capacity and Coverage

Antenna Size

New Technologies

1 Receive and Transmit

What would be possible if you could not only receive, but also transmit? And in the same bandwidth as you receive? That would change the whole world. It is possible now to use the satellite for Internet purposes, but in a very simple and inefficient way. You receive via satellite, but transmit via phone. Upload capacity is completely limited by the dial up connection.

The idea of being able to transmit to a satellite from your home is new and will probably one day be reality. At the moment companies can use satellites to connect offices all over the country via satellite. Bandwidth is limited, or very expensive. Another problem for home use is the size of the satellite dish. At least 4 foot for small bandwidth and up to 10 feet or even more for higher bandwidths. In point 3 this bandwidth issue is explained in more detail.

2 Equipment Size and Costs

Your satellite equipment at home may seem small, but it is small because all it has to do is receive. Transmitting requires different equipment. Not so much in the house, but on the roof at the antenna there is need for a relative big transmitter. Also these are still pretty expensive and for domestic use just not affordable.

In the future this will change. Equipment will get smaller, and cheaper. Eventually when satellites are able to relay much more data than now (see point 3), having 10.000.000 transmitters on the ground won't be a problem.

3 Satellite Capacity and Coverage

This will always be the bottle neck of satellites; how much data can they relay and how small an area can they cover. A satellite has multiple dishes and each dish can cover a part of the earth; small parts like just one state or big parts like the whole continental United States.

In the future satellites will be able to relay much more data, and cover much smaller areas. Especially the smaller coverage areas will be important. Having full capacity available for just a small area means higher bandwidth available for a small amount of people. Especially in urban areas it will be great to have a satellite cover just one neighborhood.

4 Antenna Size

This is a very important issue. Small antennas of 18 inches already exist, but these can receive only. The opening angle of an antenna like this is too big to get enough signal power to reach the satellite. In the future however, antennas will get better and eventually small antennas can be used to transmit to the satellite.

5 New Technologies

This will be the really interesting part. New technologies may open up possibilities that are never heard of before.

Imagine watching a movie in 3D, you sitting on your couch but watching a show as if you are in the audience when the TV show was recorded. You're not really having a TV at home anymore, but a 3D entertainment room. (for those of you who like StarTrek, a not so strange idea). Normal Satellite TV will still be available of course.

In the future Satellite TV will open up so many possibilities that it is hard to imagine what our lives will be like in 30, or even just 20 years from now. To give an idea of how fast things are going. 50 years ago, there was nothing in space that was made by humans. Now there are even satellite graveyards (specific orbits where obsolete satellites are "parked"). The possibilities of satellite TV technology are growing faster every year. What took 10 years to develop 30 years ago is now done in 2 years.

Satellite TV is one of the driving forces for satellite technologies because the need to please million of subscribers is much stronger than the need to please the relative limited needs of communications for commercial purposes.

The future of satellite TV is so bright, that a supernova would pale in comparison!

By Gary Davis Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety, providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sections intact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

About The Author

Gary Davis is the owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written numerous articles about satellite TV.

Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Email: customerservice@dish-network-satellite-tv.ws

Practically all broadcast systems use antennas to transmit and receive radio signals. These antennas are based on single metal pole to which the carrier signal is sent through a cable. First let’s talk about how this most simple type of antenna works:

Pole Antenna

A Pole antenna basically consists of one metal pole that transmits it signals around it as if it was the center of a sphere. In all directions the transmitted signal has the same power. The length of the antenna is determined by the frequency of the transmitted signal.

Radio waves, like light waves, always travel at the same speed, which is about 186.000 miles (300.000 km) per second. One wave length is determined by the frequency of the signal by the following formula:

Wavelength = speed of light / frequency

This results in higher frequencies having shorter wavelengths. A pole antenna doesn’t have to have the length of a complete antenna but can also have a length of about ½ , 1/8, or 1/16 of the wave length. This is done mostly for practical purposes (shorter antennas). Wave lengths for pole antennas can go as high as 1 to 2 Giga Hertz. A cell phone for instance works at frequencies of 950 Mega Hertz which is almost 1 Giga Hertz.

Satellite TV or Parabolic Antenna

A satellite TV Antenna or parabolic antenna works on the same principle. The frequencies used by satellite transmissions are of much higher frequencies; 2 Giga Hertz or higher. Wavelengths get so short at these frequencies that it is not possible anymore to transmit using a pole antenna and transmit in all directions. The power needed would be very high because high frequencies are subject to much more resistance from the atmosphere.

Bundling all the transmitted power into a beam improves the power transmitted in one direction by a huge factor. Depending on the distance between the transmitter and the receiver the amplification compared to a normal pole antenna can be as high as 40 to 50 dB (which is as much as 10.000 to 100.000 times amplification).

In reality the beam is not completely straight, but gets wider over the distance. The angle is small, but in case of an antenna on a satellite that transmits all over the USA the angle is actually a little bigger so that the whole USA is covered.

The antenna at your roof or in your garden is pointed at the satellite and receives the signal and does the same thing; it bundles the radio waves into a point, thus amplifying the radio signal with 40 to 50 dB. (see illustration below).

Amplification in the whole path is extremely big. The transmitting antenna amplifies, the receiving antenna amplifies, the transmitter it self amplifies, and the receiver itself also amplifies the signal. A total amplification of over 120 dB (over 1.000.000.000.000 times) is necessary because the atmosphere and also the long distance just decrease the signal power a lot.

By Gary Davis Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Webmasters: You may reprint this article in its entirety, providing you leave the Byline and About the Author sections intact, including the links to Dish Network Satellite TV.

About The Author

Gary Davis is the owner of Dish Network Satellite TV, has several years experience in the Satellite TV Industry and has written numerous articles about satellite TV.

Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws

Email: customerservice@dish-network-satellite-tv.ws

Gone are the days where you could spot a satellite dish six blocks away. Today’s dish is drastically smaller, much more reliable and considerably less expensive than its enormous ancestor.

So, just how does Satellite TV work?

First, you need to understand how the antenna broadcasting system works. Traditional television broadcasting antennas use radio waves to transmit their programming. Each broadcasting station operates at a unique frequency that identifies the station to the FCC and allows your receiver to select a particular “channel”. These radio waves are carried from the station’s antenna to yours which, when tuned to the specific frequency picks up the waves for your television to interpret and project.

Unfortunately, radio waves can only travel so far when emitted from an antenna and are subject to distortion as objects get in between the two points of communication.

Enter the Satellite

A satellite is actually any object that orbits a larger object, such as the Earth. Our Moon is considered a satellite and, in theory, the Earth would be a satellite to the Sun. Man-made satellites follow this same premise. A man-made satellite is placed into position just over 20,000 miles above the Earth. It is programmed to orbit the Earth so that the satellite stays in sync with the Earth’s rotation. This means that a satellite that is positioned over the United States will stay over the United States, despite the Earth’s constant movement.

These man-made satellites are electronic boxes that contain a communication system, a power source and a navigational system. Many satellites use rechargeable batteries as their power source, feeding off the Sun’s natural energy source via large solar panels. The communication system is designed to relay information back and forth through those same radio waves that the traditional broadcasting system uses but at 20,000 miles over the Earth, satellites have a much better range than a regular antenna and aren’t as affected by trees, buildings and other objects that might obstruct a traditional antenna’s path.

Satellite, Meet My TV

With its capabilities well established, it was only a matter of time before the media industry began pondering the satellite’s potential in television.

Like traditional broadcasting antennas, satellite television works with radio waves as well but with a much broader range. The older, larger dishes transmitted analog signals that rarely required decoding. Today’s smaller dish systems send digital signals, which produce a higher quality of sound and video. This digital signal is encoded into MPEG-2 format – the same format as your DVD’s - and transmitted to your receiver box where it is decoded and translated into an analog signal that is then fed to your television. Why all the fuss? Digital produces enhanced video and audio that you just can’t get from analog.

So how does it all work?

In order to receive satellite programming, you’ll need a broadcast satellite provider. These providers have contracted with the various programming providers such as HBO, Showtime and of course, all your local channels. The programming providers send their programming to the satellite providers who in turn send it back out via satellite to your dish. It is then transmitted from the dish to your receiver box where it is decrypted and shown on your television.

Satellite television gives us the ability to have a seemingly endless supply of programming without bulky equipment or a multitude of unique connections. And because satellite technology is wireless, you have the freedom to move your entertainment system as much as you’d like.

(Webmasters - you may freely use this article in your newsletter or website, providing you re-print the article exactly as it appears, including the Byline, Bio and a link back to Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws.)

About The Author

Gary Davis is owner of Dish Network Satellite TV and has written numerous articles on the satellite television industry. Kate Ivy has written for a variety of publications and websites and is the owner of Ivygirl Media & Design.

Dish-Network-Satellite-TV.ws