Satellite Television Direct Broadcast Via Satellite

Satellite television, like other communications relayed by satellite, starts with a transmitting antenna located at an uplink facility. Uplink satellite dishes are directed toward the satellite that its signals will be transmitted to, and are very large, as much as 9 to 12 meters (30 to 40 feet) in diameter. The increased diameter results in more accurate positioning and improved signal reception at the satellite. The signal is transmitted to devices located on-board the satellite called transponders, which retransmit the satellite signal back towards the Earth at a different frequency.

The satellite signal, quite weak after travelling through space, is collected by a parabolic receiving dish, which reflects the weak signal to the dish's focal point and is received, down-converted to a lower frequency band and amplified by a device called a low-noise block downconverter, or LNB (Direct broadcast satellite dishes use an LNBF, which integrates the feedhorn with the LNB).

A new form of satellite antenna, which does not use a directed parabolic dish and can be used on a mobile platform such as a vehicle, was recently announced by the University of Waterloo. [1]

The signal, now amplified, travels to a satellite receiver box through coaxial cable (RG-6 or RG-10; cannot be standard RG-59) and is converted by a local oscillator to the L-band range of frequencies (approximately). Special on-board electronics in the receiver box help tune the signal and then convert it to a frequency that a standard television can use.

There are two primary types of satellite television distribution: direct broadcast satelliteDirect broadcast satellite or DBS is a relatively recent development in the world of television distribution. Direct broadcast satellite" can either refer to the communications satellites themselves that deliver DBS service or the actual satellite televis (DBS) and television receive-onlyTelevision receive-only or TVRO refers to satellite television reception equipment that is based primarily on open standards equipment. This contrasts sharply with direct broadcast satellite (DBS), which is a completely closed system that uses proprietary (TVRO).

1 Direct broadcast via satellite

DBS systems rely upon proprietary reception equipment, most often in the form of a television set-top signal descrambling box. This measure assures satellite television providers that only authorised, paying subscribers have access to the content.

2 Satellite television by continent and country

2.1 United Kingdom

The first commercial DBS service, Sky TelevisionThe name Sky Television may refer to: British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) in the United Kingdom SKY Network Television in New Zealand., was launched in 19891989 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 7 Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins January 8 the Kegworth Air Disaster A British Midland Boeing 737 cra and served customers in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly.

2.2 United States

Hughes's DirecTVDirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that broadcasts digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States. Owned by DirecTV Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group, DirecTV was launched in 19, the first high-powered DBS system, went online in 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an and was the first North American DBS service. In 1996, Echostar's DISH Network went online in the United States and has gone on to similar success as DirecTV's primary competitor. In 2004, Cablevision's Voom service went online, specifically catering to the emerging market HDTV owners and afficianados. Commercial DBS services are the primary competition to cable television service, although the two types of service have significantly different regulatory requirements (for example, cable television has public access requirements, and the two types of distribution have different regulations regarding carriage of local stations).

2.3 Canada

In Canada, the two legal DBS services available are Bell Canada's ExpressVu and StarChoice. The CRTC has refused to license American satellite services, but nonetheless hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Canadians access or have accessed American services - usually these services have to be billed to an American address and are paid for in U.S. dollars. Whether such activity is grey market or black market is the source of often heated debate between those who would like greater choice and those who argue that the protection of Canadian firms and Canadian culture is more important.

In addition, Canadian satellite providers continue to be plagued by the unquestionably black market devices which "pirate" or "steal" their signals.

Although there are no official statistics, the use of American satellite services in Canada appears to be declining as of 2004. This is probably due to a combination of increasingly aggressive police enforcement and an unfavourable exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. currencies.

2.4 Australia and New Zealand

Satellite television in Australia has proven to be a far more feasible option than Cable television, due to the vast distances between population centres. The first service to come online in Australia was Galaxy Television , which was later taken over by Cable Television giant Foxtel, which now operates both Cable and Satellite services to all State capital cities and the Southwest. Its main metropolitan rival is Optus Television, while rural areas of the Eastern States are served by Austar. In neighbouring New Zealand, SKY Network Television now offers multichannel digital satellite TV, in addition to its terrestrial UHF service.

2.5 Europe

In Europe, DBS satellite services are found mainly on Eutelsat and Astra, with Canal Digital , Viasat and UPC being the main providers in Western Europe, Scandinavia and Central Europe.

2.6 Japan

Japan's main satellite system is SKY Perfect.

2.7 Latin America

Latin America's main satellite system is DirecTV Latin America .

Multichoice is the satellite for both South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

3 Television receive-only

Television receive-only, or TVRO, refers to satellite television reception equipment that is based primarily on open standards equipment. This contrasts sharply with direct broadcast satellite, which is a completely closed system that uses proprietary reception equipment. TVRO is often referred to as "big dish" satellite television.

TVRO systems are designed to receive analog satellite signals from both C-band and K_u-band satellite television or audio signals. TVRO systems tend to use larger rather than smaller satellite dish antennas, since it is more likely that the owner of a TVRO system would have a C-band-only setup rather than a K_u-band-only setup. Additional receiver boxes allow for different types of digital satellite signal reception, such as DVB/ MPEG-2 and 4DTV.

Direct broadcasting satellites which can be received by what are known in Chinese as little ears have had a major role in breaking the government monopoly of information on Mainland China. Although met with frequent and generally unsuccessful efforts to regulate them, satellite dishes are fairly common in urban Chinese cities. Satellite television has also played an important role in broadcasting to expatriate communities such as Arabs, and overseas Chinese.

4 See also

satellite dish
microwave antenna
DiSEqC

5 Channel descriptions

Music Choice

Television Satellites

<Hide>

Home > Satellite television