How Satellite TV Works

How Satellite TV Works:

Up and Back With Satellite TV

Satellite TV dishes are everywhere; it seems like everyone has one, is getting one, or wants one. Television is one of those things that most people take for granted: you grab the remote, turn it on, and watch your show. But for some people, it is not that easy. For those who live in remote areas or rural areas, their TV choices can be very limited. Cable is not the answer for those folks - some areas do not have cable installed even today. This is part of the reason why satellite TV caught on and has become so popular. But how does satellite TV work?

With regular TV, the broadcasting station sends out radio waves that your television antenna picks up and translates into pictures and sound. But those radio waves tend to travel in straight lines, which isn’t very practical for those who don’t live close by the broadcasting towers. The big problem is the curve of the Earth, although there are other obstacles.

Satellites remove the issue of the curve of the Earth. There are hundreds of satellites currently in the sky in geosynchronous orbit with the Earth. What this means is they are moving at a rate of speed and at an altitude that keeps them at the same place over the Earth all the time. Once a satellite dish receiver has been set to obtain a signal from a satellite, it won’t have to be adjusted.

Here, in a nutshell, is what happens next:
• the broadcasting center recieves a signal from a variety of sources and then beams that signal to the satellites; these sources include providers like CNN or HBO.
• the satellites then bounce the signals back to earth.
• an individual dish receives the signal and sends it to a receiver hooked up to a TV which translates it into…
• the shows that you watch

The individual satellite dishes are actually antennae consisting of a bowl-shaped area with a smaller focusing antenna called a feed horn. The feed horn faces the concave surface of the dish to absorb the waves that are collected and focused by the dish. The main component of the feed horn is the LNB, the low noise blockdown converter. If you are currently shopping for a dish, you’ll note the new models have 3 LNBs to improve reception and allow HDTV broadcast through the dish. The converted signal is then sent to the receiver on your TV where it is unscrambled and converted to a form that your television can use. Visualizing the path that these signals take makes it easier to understand how satellite TV works.

Simple, eh? And enjoyable! Get Satellite TV in your home as soon as tomorrow by choosing from one of the

two satellite tv providers

. Make your selection now!