Satellite

Ever got confused over what is the difference between DBS ( Direct Broadcast Satellite) and DSS( Digital Satellite System)?

And what is so special about Satellite Systems?

More and more consumers are using satellite systems for a wide range of reasons. Firstly, the audio and video quality is much better than over the air broadcasting and cable TV. Secondly, there is so much more programming available.

It is a vast improvement over the old satellite system which require much large satellite dishes and which need to reposition itself all the time. The digital satellite is much smaller than the old analog satellite dishes and it has fixed mounting. Its size is from 18 to 24 inches. The service provider, mainly DISH network or Directv broadcast signal to the geostationary satellite which in turn rebroadcast the signal to earth. The reason why the old analog dish was much bigger was due to the weak signal being transmitted to the satellite dish. The new digital satellite possess an array of 120 W transponders and sends a much more powerful signal than the miserly 16 W provided by the large satellites.

THe stallite system consist of the satellite dish, receiver .

Satellite dish

The receiving satellite dish is parabolic shaped so that when signals hit it, they are reflected and concentrated onto a specific spot which is the feedhorn. The transmitting antenna behaves exactly in the opposite manner. The transmitting signals is emitted out from the feedhorn and the parabolic shape dish focuses the signal into a narrow beam.

The main component in the feedhorn is the Low Noise Block (LNB) which amplifies the signal and converts it into frequencies compatible with home theatre hardware as well as filtering out noise and then send to the receiver.

Receiver

You need to slot in a decoder card into the receiver. It contains a microchip to descramble the signal received. Earlier, I mentioned the digital signal has been compressed using MPEG2, so now the receiver will convert it back from digital to analog format so that TV can accept the signal.

The receiver has a memory which stores information such as what pay per view programs you have watched during the month. Billing information for your programs watched is relayed to the provider's computer via a telephone line.

Digital Satelite system is an industry hit primarily because it is able to carry lots more channel than the old analog satellite. It is possible through the use of digital video compression technology known as MPEG-2. It reduces the data in digital video signal from 168 Mbps to 3.5 Mbps and thereby enables the digital satellite to transmit 200 channels whereas an analog satellite without MPEG2 compression technology will only be able to transmit only 30 channels.

You need a decoder card for insertion into the receiver in order to descramble the signal. A phone line must also be hooked up to the receiver. Service is activated by calling the service provider. It recognises the serial no and identies you and makes billing possible for your pay per view programs.

If you want connection to more than one TV set , then you should get a dual LNB dish to receive more than one channel of programs. A single LNB dish allows you to hook up to more than one TV set but all have the same programming

Also you want service provider to feature local programmes as well. The bandwith is limited so broadcaster objective is to cram as much programming as possible .