When satellite TV was first introduced in the USA, satellite tv service was very expensive and had extremely bulky equipment that took up a lot of shelf space. During this period, only the most avid television fans would go through the hassle and expense of installing their own satellite tv dish systems. Satellite TV systems at that time were certainly more problematic than normal broadcast and cable tv services but the program features made it still worthy to avid tv fans.

Times have certainly changed as we fast forward to today's technology advantages over yesterdays. Today, you can look just about anywhere and see a compact satellite tv dish perched on homes all across the United States. Drive through any big neighborhood and your sure to see several satellite tv dishes on homes. The major satellite TV companies (currently Dish Network and DIRECTV) are easily recruiting more customers every day with the new digital receivers and HDTV programming, movies, sporting events and news from around the world.

Satellite TV works a lot like normal broadcast television does. Satellite tv is a wireless system for delivering television programming directly to your home. Both broadcast TV and satellite TV transmit programming via a radio signal.

Broadcast television stations use a powerful antenna to transmit radio waves to the surrounding community area. Viewers can pick up the signal with a much smaller antenna. The main limitation of broadcast television is it's broadcasting range ability. The radio signals used to broadcast television shoot out from the broadcast station antenna in a straight outward line. In order to receive these signals, the users tv antenna has to be in the direct "line of sight" of the broadcasting antenna. Small obstacles like trees or small buildings are not a big problem; but a big obstacle, such as the Earth hills and mountains, will reflect the radio waves.

If the Earth were perfectly flat, you would be able to pick up broadcast television thousands of miles away from the broadcasting source. But because the planet is curved, the earth eventually breaks the line of site signal. The other problem with broadcast television is that the signal is often distorted even in the local viewing area. In order to get a perfectly clear signal like you find with cable tv service, you have to be in very close proximity of the broadcast antenna without many obstacles in the pathway.

Satellite TV service instantly resolves the problem of range and distortion issues by transmitting broadcast signals directly from satellites orbiting above the Earth. Since satellites are in space, there are far more customers in the line of site. Satellite television systems transmit and receive radio signals using specialized antennas called satellite tv dishes.

The television satellites orbiting Earth are all in geosynchronous orbit, meaning that they stay in one place in the sky relative to the Earth alignment. Each satellite is approximately 22,200 miles (35,700 km) above the Earth. At this altitude, the television satellite will revolve around the planet once in every 24 hour period -- the same period of time it takes for the Earth to make one full rotation. In other words, the satellite keeps the exact pace with our moving planet to remain perfectly aligned for customers in the line of site. You only need to direct the dish at the satellite one time, and from then on the satellite tv dish picks up the signal without any further adjustments.

At the core, this is how satellite TV systems work and how you receive a satellite tv signal. This is also why anyone in the USA with a clear view of the Southern sky can subscribe to satellite TV programs.

For more information and to order DIRECTV®, please call:	For more information and to order DISH Network, please call:
Call: 1-866-385-5788	Call: 1-866-580-8712
Promo Code: Satellite TV Deal	Promo Code: G-1563

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