Frequent Question

Q: Why are satellites used for TV broadcast and what do they do?

A: The satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit, 22,300 miles above the equator. Since the earth is round, signal cannot transmit further straight because there are lot of obstacle on the land. Other meaning, if the space craft puts the satellite over Central of America, the satellite will always traveling with the planet and the remain over the Central of America. The TV signal is digitally compressed and sent to the satellites through radio wave, where it is amplified by about 120 watts and then sent back toward the centre of the United States at over 12 GHz. On the other hand, You can receive the signal from anywhere in the country as long as the signal have a clear path to the satellite.

Since trees and other hindrance can block the signal, signal in radio waveform is transmitted near line of sight across the path that is partially obstructed. So the direction of the dish angle is very important and it also depends on where you are located.

Q: I have trees and mountain that might be in the way; how can I ensure the clear view before I order?

A: A few ways you can find out to check the network availability.
1. The easiest way is to observe around your house area and check the Satellite TV dish from your neighbor houses. Normally the technician installs the dish at some open area such as on the roof, at the balcony, in the garden etc. The location is depends on the house structure. If you found it somewhere near your house, it proves that you have no problem to install the Satellite TV.
2. Basically, those on the East coast aim the dish to the southwest and those on the West coast aim the dish southeast. The further North, the lower the elevation angle. In Texas the look angle would be very close to South and possibly more than 50 degrees elevation. In Maine, the look angle would be somewhere toward the southwest and might be 27 degrees elevation. If the suspected obstacle is out of the path, then it should be fine for the installation. In case you have a tree problem, the little mount that comes with the dish is the same diameter as 1 5/8" OD pipe. You may be able to attach a piece of pipe to the end of the house to get over the trees, just be sure the pipe is plumb.
3. If you are a careful person, you want to make sure for your network coverage, just gives a call to the retailer administrator. They will gladly assist you.

Q: If I put the dish on an outside wall, will the roof overhang cause a problem?

A: The signal comes in about 20 degrees above the dish. So that, a large overhang could distort the signal if the dish is too low and too close. If you have a large overhang, try to relocate the dish to a higher place until you make sure you receive a good view from your Satellite TV.

Q: How does a satellite system work?

A: A satellite system consists of a dish, LNBF(Low Noice Block Converter Feedhorn) and a receiver with a remote control. Higher Frequency will cause more loses when the microwave is sent back to earth, therefore the signal need to be amplified. The dish is a type of Satellite Antenna and customized in different size by electronic design. It is normally used in Satellite Television. The signal will first be amplified when it hit on the parabolic dish. The signal is then reflected to the LNBF at the focal point, about 12 inches facing the dish. The bigger the dish, the more amplification. Low Noise is the technology of amplification and mixing work for the signal attenuation free before the signal pass to the receiver through coaxial cable. Low Noise is needed since the signals are transmit from Satellite in high frequency. Unwanted Signal is coupled with the signal and it is affect the video quality

When the signal is received by feedhorn, the good quality RG-6 coaxial cable will carry the down converted signals in 950 - 2150MHz frequency to Satellite receiver. Finally the receiver will convert the digital signal to analog signal and show in your TV.

The Dish 500 is a 20 inch elliptically shaped parabola, so it can pick up two satellites at the same time. This allows the 500 channel capability. Originally, all the Dish 500's came with two Dual LNB's and the suitable switches to connect the 4 outputs from the LNB's to two receivers. With an SW-44 switch, you could connect up to 4 receivers. Later, the two Dual LNB's were combined into one part, called the Twin LNB to make the installation easier. The Quad LNB was added for up to 4 receivers

Q: What if I want HDTV or Foreign channels?

A: The Dish 500 picks up both 110 and 119 satellites (orbital position) for all the customary programming. HDTV, foreign channels and some new local channels are broadcast on satellites located at 61.5 and 148. You just need to choose the one with best clear view. Therefore, to pick up three satellites, you will need an 18 inch dish with an LNB in addition to the Dish 500 and a way to connect both dishes to your receiver(s).

Each type of LNB you have on the Dish 500 has different connection. If you are using the standard TWIN LNB (that doesn't have DP or DishPro printed on it), for one receiver you would connect one input from an SW-21 switch to the Twin LNB and another input from the other side of SW-21 to the 18 inch dish to the other side of the SW-21 switch. For two receivers, you need a dual LNB on the 18 inch dish and an extra SW-21 switch.

For more than two legacy receivers and a second dish, you can use the legacy Quad LNB and two SW-21 switches to bring the signal from both dishes to two receivers. If you want HDTV and/or international channels on up to 4 receivers, you can also choose SW-64 switch. The SW-64 switch has 6 inputs and 4 outputs for up to 4 receivers.

If you have a new DP Twin LNB, or the DP Quad LNB you can try the new DP-34 switch to connect the two dishes. The DP-34 switch has two inputs for the DP Twin or DP Quad and a third input for a DP single LNB. There are four outputs on the DP-34 switch to connect up to four receivers and all the receivers are able to receive programming from all three satellites. You can definitely jam the DP-34 switches to connect up to 12 receivers, with or without the second dish. Adding the DP Quad LNB is more expensive than the DP Twin with the DP-34 switch. But if you already have the DP Quad LNB you can use the DP-34 switch with it. The standard LNB's will not work with the DP-34 switch.

Q: What does the satellite receiver do?

A: The receiver decompresses and de-multiplexes the digital channels after receiving the data signal from the Satellite dish and Feedhorn. The output to your TV is either, S-Video, the raw audio video (RCA type connectors) or to either channel 3 or channel 4, if your TV doesn't have the other connectors. Digital Dolby is also available for your home theater sound system on the better Dish Network receivers.

Q: What are the differences in the various satellite receivers?

A: The receiver electronics process information and change channels. The interactive TV Guide and Menu system is like a computer operating system. The hardware and the Guide/Menu system work together to continually retrieve programming information from the satellite. With up to 500 channels, you will be using the TV guide and Menus all the time, so ease of use and speed are very important. The early model receivers required a download from the satellite every time you wanted information on a listed program. The new DP301 has a memory chip that stores about 4 hours of the program guide information at a time. The DP510 and DP721 are fantastic because 7 to 9 days of program information is stored on the hard disk with every download.