There is no “one” best satellite dish. The best satellite dish for you depends upon several factors. Satellite Dish Size The larger the satellite dish, the better it will receive signals. Therefore, the largest satellite dish available is always the best satellite dish — except that few of us want a nine foot satellite dish bolted onto our home. A satellite dish should be as small as possible, while still being large enough to deliver good signal quality. Closer to the equator, smaller satellite dishes work perfectly well. The closer Read More

The DirecTV Slimline Dish is a relatively recent addition to DirecTV’s collection of HD-enabled satellite dishes. A DirecTV Slimline Dish is roughly 18” tall and 22” oval. Since DirecTV satellites are positioned in the Southern Hemisphere, all DirecTV Slimline Dishes must have a clear view of the Southern sky in order to receive DirecTV services. When installed properly, however, a DirecTV Slimline Dish provides the user with clear, high-definition television and Internet. How DirecTV Slimline Dishes Work A DirecTV Slimline Dish works in the same manner as most other satellite Read More

Dish Network is a leading U.S. provider of satellite television entertainment services founded on March 4, 1996 by Charlie Ergen (Founder & chief executive). It is headquartered in Meridian, Colorado.  Dish Network currently provides satellite entertainment services to over ten million customers using DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) technology. Dish Network provides advanced digital satellite television to the home, including hundreds of videos, audios and data channels, personal video recording, HDTV, sports and international programming. It’s corporate management comprises of Charles Ergen (Founder, Chairman, President and CEO), Carl Vogel (Vice Chairman), Read More

Free To View satellite is a British variant of Free To Air satellite. Regular Free To Air satellite exists in Great Britain, but Free To View satellite gives the viewer access to additional channels not available via a normal FTA receiver. FTV satellite content is offered exclusively through Freesat from Sky, a British satellite television serviced offered by British Sky Broadcasting Group plc. British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is often known as BSkyB, and trades as Sky. While regular Free To Air satellite channels are unencrypted, Free To View satellite Read More

The TiVo is compatible with all Dish Network receivers that support IR control. IR control is provided all recent Dish Network receivers. However, there is no need to purchase a TiVo. Dish Network provides satellite receivers with built in DVR (Digital Video Recorder) capabilities. Dish Network provides two models of DVR receivers, one for standard definition and one for HDTV. Features of the Dish Network HDTV DVR include: Independently watch and record programming on two TVs TV1: View and record high definition or standard definition programming TV2: View and record Read More

Satellite television networks currently available in the United States include FTA, TVRO, DBS, and DSS. DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) EchoStar's Dish Network utilizes DBS technology to distribute paid programming over Ku Band. DSS (Direct Satellite Service) DSS is actually a type of DBS. DirecTV uses DSS technology to provide paid programming over Ku band. FTA (Free To Air) Some television networks transmit in the clear over C Band and Ku Band. In addition to scheduled programming, many television networks use these frequencies for backhauls, which is transmitting unedited video from Read More

A DirecTV access card is a type of electronic card, roughly the size of a credit card, which provides programming to subscribers. DirecTV access cards may be provided to a customer along with his/her receiver box or separately, but must be activated before any programming can be used. When the user chooses a package and provides DirecTV with a payment method, DirecTV will activate the access card, which can then be inserted in the top-right corner of the DirecTV receiver box in order to provide programming to the subscriber.   Read More

Reducing Signal Theft by Blacklisting Access Cards DirecTV maintains a list of cancelled access cards. If an access card with a blacklisted CAM ID is utilized, you will receive the “Call Extension 745” error message. Reducing Signal Theft with ECM (Electronic Counter Measures DirecTV and Dish Network engineers also broadcast hostile signals that instruct the satellite receivers to cause unauthorized access cards to stop working. These attacks are commonly known as ECM (Electronic Counter Measures). Common ECM attacks are: Datastream updates Datastream updates are new software which is sent to Read More

While millions of people watch television each day, many of them are not quite sure how the technology works. Television has been around for many decades and although some of its components have changed over the years, the way in which television broadcasts work is pretty much the same. Elements of Broadcast Television There are a several major parts that are required in order to receive television broadcasts. They include an image source, a sound source, a transmitter, a receiver, a display device, and a sound device. Image Source The Read More

TVRO stands for "TV Receive Only", but that really does not give you a good sense of what TVRO is. The term TVRO is used to describe both Free To Air satellite and paid programming over similar equipment. Free To Air satellite is unencrypted. TVRO premium analog channels are encrypted using VideoCipher II RS. TVRO premium digital channels are encrypted using Digicipher II. TVRO programming is encoded with MPEG-2. TVRO Programming For free TVRO programming, see What is Free To Air? Paid TVRO programming is available from National Programming Service Read More