FAQ - Satellite TV

What is the difference between satellite TV and a dish network or DirecTV?
Satellite TV is a huge style dish made in the 90's usually but is the same as Dish Network and Directv. Also Satellite TV is another way of bringing you your network and local and favorite channels without having to pay a corporate company such as Cableone or Classic or COX or Cambridge.

Dish Network and Directv or DTV.. the differences in these two are simple... Basically here's the deal Dish Network runs of 6 Great Huge Satellites but only uses 2 to 3 depending on your local stations. Directv uses 4 satellites but they are overloaded with 20 million customers and cause Directv to pixelate or lose signal while Dish Network can hold 20 million and not pixelate or lose signal. Another huge deal between them are the dishes and storms. Dish Net can withstand 100mph winds and still not lose a signal DTV can withstand 100mph and lose signal constantly... The main deal here is the design of the dishes the switches and such and also a main factor is who installed them and the ends.

Can the weather affect your satellite system?
Yes, it can. Severe weather conditions can have an adverse effect on your satellite television system. Here is how different weather conditions can affect a satellite television system:

• Winter: This time of the year can be the worst environmental enemy of a satellite system. Very cold weather can slow down or even totally spoil the satellite motor. This will obviously mean no picture. Piling up of ice and snow can throw the dish out of alignment and can even warp the dish itself. The actuator arm could freeze up which would mean that it will not swing around and will be stuck in one position only. This will severely affect the picture and quality. You could minimize some of these problems by trying to keep snow from piling on to the dish. Do not scrape off ice but sweep it away if possible. Never under any circumstances should you use hot water or any water on the dish to melt the ice or snow.
• Storms: Winds of high speeds can dis-align the satellite dish and disrupt your picture. Very bad storms such as a hurricane could even cause the dish to fall over. Lightning can also strike a satellite dish and cause it to malfunction. To avoid this you can use a surge protector that will protect your dish from power fluctuations. If you live in an area which has frequent storms or high velocity winds, then you should consider putting up a dish that will withstand such conditions.
• The Sun: The sun, the earth, and the satellites over the equator, come into alignment two times annually. At these times, solar outages occur which can affect the satellite dish. But this condition lasts for only few minutes at a time, over two weeks and is a problem only in the daytime and not during night.
• Rain: Rain does not have much of an effect on a satellite television system.

A satellite system is mostly outdoors and thus these weather conditions will have an effect on it. You can cover the system or build it in a shed to minimize problems.

What can you do if your housing complex does not allow a satellite dish?
If your housing complex does not let you put up a dish you can take certain measures to counter this. But it will require some effort on your part and also some money.

The first thing to know is that it is illegal for your complex committee to stop you from putting up a satellite dish. So if you do want legal recourse, the law will be on your side. But this will not come cheap to you as you will have to pay the lawyerís fees that could set you back by quite a bit. You could try to scare your complex committee people by telling them that you are not averse to taking legal action and that if you do decide to go ahead, they WILL LOSE and might even end up paying your expenses along with their own.

If you must file a legal case, then you can take the help of ASTA (The American Satellite Television Alliance) who have very efficient deals to help you prepare your case and win it. ASTA even provides you with all the necessary information for a small fee. Many people have used the information given by ASTA as well as their services to successfully get their satellite dish put up.

In case you do not want to go the legal way and do not want to spend your time and money in this pursuit, then too you can do certain things to get your dish. You could hide it or even disguise it. There are many satellite dishes available for this express purpose. You can get one that looks like a beach umbrella or even one which has a covering and looks like a plain old shed. The latter is also advisable as dishes should be covered in some way to protect them from the natural elements.

If you are still looking for a place and not yet bought one, then it would be better to first enquire into this and then make a decision accordingly, if a satellite dish is that important to you.

What do you need to set up a satellite television system?
To set up a satellite television system, you will need the following equipment:

• A Satellite Dish: This is a parabolic reflector which can be made of solid aluminum, perforated aluminum or wire mesh. It is by far the most visible part of a satellite system. The dish can be small, such as a KU-band dish which is 3-4 feet, average that is 7-12 feet, or the big commercial C-band dish which is 16-20 feet. The 10 feet size dish is the most commonly used one. The dish helps to relay the microwave signals coming from the satellites.
• A Mount: A mount is set on a 3-inch pipe which is in turn set in the ground with concrete. The most popular type of dish mount is the Polar Mount, which is so called as it is developed to coincide with the earths axis and track the satellites in the geosynchronous belt.
• Actuator: This equipment has a motor which makes the dish swing so that it can focus on the individual satellites in orbit. The most common lengths for an actuator arm are 18-24 inches. A second actuator can also be used to adjust the vertical height of the dish for better spotting of satellites.
• Satellite Cables: Many wires and cables are needed to connect the various parts of the satellite system. Cables are required to connect the dish to the actuator etc, thus the need for satellite cables.
• The LNB: This is the little device which magnifies the signals from the dish and even turns them into better frequency bands. LNB means Low Noise Block converter and the most used block nowadays is 950 to 1450 MHz.
• A Feed Assembly: This is needed to put the LNB as the focus of a dish. Different types of feed assemblies include Single C Band, Dual C Band, and Dual Feed with C and KU Band.
• Receiver: This device carries the signal from the LNB and creates the television picture. A receiver may or may not have a built-in descrambler.
• Descrambler: Most cable services, sports events, and pay-per-view programs are relayed in a scrambled form. To be able to watch such programs, they have to first be descrambled. A descrambler is a device used for this purpose.