Satellite dishes bring digital-quality television to your home

Satellite dishes can be seen on or near homes and apartments in practically every neigborhood in every city throughout the U.S. What once was seen as the domain of cable companies is quickly becoming a hotbed of competition among nationwide satellite television providers such as Dish Network and DirecTV.

Here's how satellite television works: service providers such as Dish Network and DirecTV either own or lease the use of a network of satellites in geosynchronous orbit high above the earth. They negotiate with numerous television networks for access to their data (channel information), and transmit that information to the satellite network. From there it is "beamed" back to earth, where it is received by special satellite dishes* and decoded by a translator box into a viewable television signal, which is fed to your tv set or other viewing device. This is of course an oversimplification of what actually takes place, but it will hopefully help you to understand the power and quality of the signals being broadcast by these orbiting satellites.

Cable companies are dependant on coaxial or fiber-optic cables, which must be connected to any building whose occupants desire to receive a cable signal. Line quality and other factors limit the signal quality of cable-based systems.

In contrast, once a tv signal is uploaded to a satellite it can be re-broadcast all over the U.S. with the same consistent signal quality, whether you live near New York or Old Faithful. Remote areas can have access to hundreds of high-quality television channels thanks to satellites and satellite dishes - something that is impossible (or prohibitively expensive) with land-based cable systems.

Today's television satellite dishes are extremely small and portable, and are easily attached to your roof, apartment building, or mobile home. You can even take your dish with you if you travel in an RV - though you will have to "realign" the dish each time you stop!

Recommended Satellite Dishes:

DirecTV has the largest subscriber base of any sat company in North America - and with good reason...

Dish Network has some of the lowest-priced packages around - find out more about it...

Satellite Dishes FAQ:

Why can't I use PIP (picture-in-picture) with my satellite tv system?
Each LNB (see below) is capable of receiving signal data from just one channel at a time, re-modulating it for display, and feeding it to your converter box. In order to display multiple channels on one tv set (or two different signals on two different tv sets), you must have two (or more) LNB's attached to your satellite dish.

Sometimes my satellite signal is spotty or intermittent. What causes that?
This could be caused by a number of things. First, you could have some damaged wiring between the dish and the receiver, or between the receiver and the tv. Occassionally when the wiring is being pulled into the house it can catch on something sharp and the insulation can get torn, exposing the cable to damage. Replacing the entire wiring system is the only solution in this instance.
Secondly, sunspot activity could be interfering with the satellite broadcast signal. This will generally last only a short period of time, and there is nothing you need to do in these instances.
Thirdly, adverse weather conditions in your area can potentially disrupt signal quality. Again, this is a temporary problem that requires no attention on your part, unless you know an effective stop-the-rain dance.
Finally, your dish may simply need re-aligning. Wind, sleet, or wet snow may have moved your dish, and you will need to go outside and realign it. Consult your owners manual on the proper way to make this adjustment.

How can I receive and display satellite signals without paying for them?
Who do you think you are...O.J. Simpson? "Bootloading" is an illegal activity which deprives signal providers of their rightful revenue. The more people subscribe to the myriad of excellent satellite programs available, the more cost effective they will become for all. Shame on you for even bringing it up!

* technically, it is received by a device called an LNB, which stands for Low Noise Block. This is the small metal device at the end of the dish. If you have multiple receivers in your home, you will have a concomitant number of LNB's attached to your dish.

Good luck in your search for the best satellite dishes.

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