Once a family or an individual decides to switch from cable to satellite, they must contact a satellite TV provider. The provider has all of the equipment and dish for ones home. They know exactly how to install a family's satellite system for trouble free service. While it is true that someone can install their own system, it isn't recommended. Trying to install the dish while on a ladder can be tricky. Once the dish is installed, one must point the dish into the correct latitude and longitude for the satellite to begin streaming.

Satellite television is a common thing nowadays, especially for the USA and Canada. If you are unfamiliar with it, here is a brief satellite TV guide to put some light on the subject.

The first stop in our satellite TV guide is: How satellite television works?

Satellite television is not a new thing, although the latest technology has made it even sweeter. In general, here is how it all works: the programming is received by an uplink station that transmits it to the satellite; than the satellite relays it back to earth and the transmission is received by satellite dishes. Then the signal is decoded by and received and voila – you are enjoying hundreds of TV channels with superb quality.

The second thing that many consumers are unaware is: What equipment shall I buy in order to watch satellite TV channels?

DirecTV Satellite dishes are hardware one purchases to view television premium channels much like cable services do, the difference is that DirecTV satellite dishes deliver all programming in digital quality. DirecTV satellite dishes are often purchased, but in some areas may be rented; sometimes DirecTV offers special promotions in which the satellite dishes are given away for free with a contract for programming.

From Space To The Living Room

DirecTV has satellites in space which transmit the programming signals from DirecTV, to the end user's (customer's) personal DirecTV satellite dish, then to the customer's receiver, and finally to the end user's television. This process happens very quickly, the information is delivered in packets, which is the reason that during storms, when signals can be weaker, it is common for the picture to be pixilated until the weather clears.

All Digital Programming

Cable providers used to benefit from the advantage of having a monopoly on expanded TV service. With the developing of satellite TV companies, the television service marketplace is now dominated by a great competition between the increasing number of providers. The key for choosing the right satellite TV company is to ask the potential provider a lot of questions.

Steps in Choosing a Satellite TV Company:

1. Contact local satellite TV companies and ask for a price list. The prices will range from $15 for basic services to $100 for premium packages. Some providers may have additional costs for hardware, such as control boxes or satellite dishes, as well as for programming. Make sure you ask about all the costs, as well as contract commitments.

2. Check out the channel programming they are offering and decide what combination is best for you.

Channels from a satellite TV are broadcasted wirelessly from a base station to TV satellites that orbit the earth. These artificial satellites, known as Clarke Belt, all stay in their specific areas in space relative to the Earth.

When you subscribe for a satellite TV, channel signals will be re-transmitted by the artificial satellites back to the Earth. Your satellite dish (or antenna) captures these signals, while a satellite receiver decodes and processes the signal to send it to your television.

Understanding Signals, The Dish And Satellite Receivers

Satellite signals are just like radio waves that transmits various analog or digital programming of channels. These waves are then reflected to the satellite dish to capture concentrated signals, sending them off to your receiver via your satellite cable network. The main job of your satellite receiver is to convert these signals (of hundreds of different frequencies) into viewable satellite TV channels.

What Is C-band Satellite TV?

C-band satellite TV is a range of transmission frequencies that radio and TV channels are using to transmit to satellite dishes.

How Many Channels Can You Receive?

Full-size C-band satellite TV dishes can make the "500 channel universe" a reality. They can provide over 250 channels regularly and another 250 on occasion.

How Big Is a Satellite Dish?

The size of the dish you have to purchase depends on where you live. In the Central United States, you can use a dish that can have between six and ten feet in diameter. If you live on the coast, you should buy an 8-10 foot dish.

How Much Do C-band Satellite TV Dishes Cost?

The average price of a satellite TV dish is about $2,000, although they can vary in price. You can usually get one from a local provider, which you can search for in the phone book under "Television" or "Satellite".

So you're thinking about subscribing to a satellite TV network. Your local cable company may not have all of the programming that you want. And, basically, a cable company has no competition except a satellite TV network. Before you become too set on those hundreds of channels, high def capability, affordable packages and the like, make sure that your home has the necessary components to work with a satellite TV network.

What It Takes

Don't worry. The satellite companies are motivated to make the needs as basic and simple as possible. However, these needs are very basic to the operation of a satellite system. First, you will need an unobstructed southern view. The signal is so small that you can't see it. It will bounce off anything that blocks it. You will need access to the southern sky that is not obstructed by trees, buildings or anything else. This is non-negotiable.

Satellite TV is nowadays a growing business with millions of subscribers worldwide. What used to be a luxury only for the rich and famous just a few years ago is no an affordable option for almost anyone. The growth rate of satellite TV has beaten cable TV in many countries and there are many satellite TV dealers providing these services. However, as with any other hot product, there are a lot of scammers as well.

Ordering Online

There are many satellite TV dealers who sell there products online as well. After you place your order with an online satellite TV dealer, you have to choose the number of satellite systems you want to receive. Online dealers usually offer up to 4 free systems often along with an incentive gift as well, such as a DVD player or a home theater system.

Who wouldn't be interested in an opportunity to get satellite TV for free? Those digital quality channels, that CD quality sound, and the immense variety certainly tempts many a person. There are many detractors and doubters on the prospect, but still others swear by the ability to get satellite TV for free. Personally, I am a sceptic and so I shall take that outlook to task.

Too good to be true?

Generally, the offer of free satellite TV is found on the internet or from various people that claim to have pirated satellite signals or have found different ways to come into possession of illegal cable. There is a certain stigma to the notion of getting something for free and many people find these types of offers to be too good to be true. Traditionally, I am one of those people so the idea that I could get satellite TV for free sounds a little funny to me. Still, an investigation was warranted.

You now own all the satellite equipment you need to start receiving satellite TV broadcasting and the longer it sits in your garage the more frustrated you become. Many satellite service companies are offering free satellite TV installation along with free equipment when you agree to keep a certain level of programming for a certain amount of time. However, some people just do not want to wait and buy their own equipment and install it themselves.

Contrary to popular belief, satellite TV installation is not all that difficult if you can use a few basic tools and a have some understanding of how to run wires through the house without leaving them lying on the floor. The most difficult part of satellite TV installation is in aligning the disk to point at the satellite.

When you receive satellite TV the signal must come from somewhere. But where? It comes from satellite dishes rotating the earth that companies and other people paid for to put up there for you to watch these shows regardless of where you live. The people that provide you with these channels and movies are called satellite TV service providers. These men and women work day and night to bring you high quality analog and digital cable and only ask for a small amount of money in return.

In the next few minutes you will have learned what a satellite service provider is and isn't and how that moving picture gets to your television screen.

What does a satellite TV provider do?

A satellite TV descrambler is also called "legal boxes". Some satellite channels (such as HBO) are encrypted and authorized users only can access them. If you are to watch such channel, you will need a satellite TV descrambler to decode the signal. A satellite TV descrambler can be bought by an authorized reseller, however you will need a valid subscription with your satellite television provider as well.

In certain cases, you will not need a separate satellite TV descrambler as it might be built in your receiver. A tip for the ones that are not technical savvy – such receiver will be caller IRD or Integrated Receiver Descrambler. There is one thing you should consider in case you are offered to get an IRD. Make sure you are buying a VC-II RS integrated receiver descrambler. VC-II RS is a forthcoming broadcasting system so you should be prepared or at least have an RD that can be upgraded to VC-II .

In this world there are many ways to get things for free, little are legal ways. When satellite TV was first invented you had the right to watch the broadcasts for free because of the broadcaster's right to broadcast them. When the broadcasters where told this they didn't like it very much and decided to take action in order for them to stay in business.

The following paragraphs will let you know why signals aren't free, how they can be, and how they become available to you through paying.

Why it INS'T call free satellite TV

This question is an easy one to answer. It applies the same concept of why food isn't free. For one, it pays the workers who get it to your television set. It keeps the broadcast running so you may watch the shows that they deliver. Also certain signals require a decoder that allows the television to read and understand the scrambled data and allows it to form a picture. In the beginning satellite TV was free because the invention of encrypted signals had not been developed yet.

Satellite TV used to be considered a luxury just a few years ago. Cheap satellite TV was just a fantasy. The prices of a system with a satellite TV dish and electronic boxes ranged from $2,000 to $10,000. The installation cost was another few hundreds dollars.

With so many TV satellite companies competing for getting more customers, cheap satellite TV has become a reality, and guess what, the installation is generally free.

Satellite TV Systems

Here are the things you can usually get from a satellite TV company:

* A free satellite TV dish, as well as mounting stand

* Several free receivers and universal remote controls

* Free installation in several rooms

* Free digital video recording receivers to record your favorite shows

* Optional HDTV receivers for high definition reception.

*

A free to air satellite TV is a satellite television you can receive without subscription. You will see it as FTA satellite TV as well. Unlike other subscription-based services (such as the Direct TV or Dish Network services), you can watch a variety of programs with no monthly cost.

Something else interesting to be pointed out is that there are certain channels are advertised as free to air satellite TV channels but in fact, they are paid. Some of them depend on donations, for others the consumer should pay a license fee (such as BBC).

If you are eager to try this option, here is a list of the equipment you will need.

The Satellite dish

Just about fifty years ago, people were wondering who would actually pay for television. Nowadays, there are millions of subscribers worldwide and cable companies are competing with satellite TV providers, offering hundreds of channels and interactive services to get more customers.

Here is a cable vs satellite TV review referring to the companies that provide television services in the United States and Canada.

Prices

The pricing is very important in a cable vs. satellite TV review. As satellite companies don't have to pay any taxes to the local governments and have smaller infrastructures, customers get a better price-quality balance. Although the low-end price for cable TV is now better, it only has a third of the channels and it can't compete with the most affordable package from satellite TV.

Edge: Satellite

Programming

No matter how good your system may be, you will never see a picture without the installation of a valid satellite TV card. Only about the size of a credit card, they slip into a spot, usually in the front of the satellite receiver and contain a small chip that can be programmed over the satellite with the information about your programming choices. Without the satellite TV card in place and registered with the satellite TV company, your system will not function.

Many people however try to beat the system on a consistent basis by buying a satellite TV card and programming equipment that allow them effectively to steal satellite service, receiving all channels being broadcast by the satellite company. To help deter this theft, satellite providers have developed what they call electronic counter measures to render the cards useless. Satellite service providers keep in communication with the programming cards through the satellite system and can send out the system essentially to erase the programming authorizations on the card.

What A Descrambler Does

A satellite TV descrambler is a satellite receiver which transmits the free to air signals to the television set; free to air is often called FTA and descramblers are also known as FTA receivers. FTA signals are unencrypted signals that travel freely over the air waves and may be picked up by the satellite dish and then transmitted to the receiver and the television.

Availability

Some channels are always encrypted and others are only encrypted for a time; there are websites which will tell a FTA satellite owner which channels are likely to work in which areas, these websites aren't always the most accurate and may not be updated regularly.

Time Warner Company, HBO, and others always encrypt their television channels; while many international channels never encrypt their channels. To pick-up the channels two pieces of information much be entered into the receiver for the satellite television descrambler to work properly.

There are many bargains when it comes to shopping for something that you really need and desire, and a good deal is a great thing to come by. Almost daily, calls go out by telemarketers across the world offering incredible savings on almost anything imaginable, from phone bills to life insurance rates. When shopping for a great deal, one has to always be wary of reading the "fine print," as some deals can be too good to be true. When looking for a good satellite TV system, it is very important that one ends up with both a quality product and a good, money-saving bargain as well. Finding a satellite TV deal is a great way to save on your entertainment and television viewing recreation time. Enjoying your satellite system while paying a low price is the smart and cost-effective way to go, so let's take a look at how to get a satellite TV deal.

HDTV or also known as High Definition Television means broadcast of television signal with a higher resolution than the traditional formats. Today many satellite TV service providers offer HD satellite TV to their users. HDTV is broadcasted digitally.

What are the benefits?

There are some benefits of HD satellite TV that will provide you with amazing home theater experience. The most important ones are:

- Greater image quality compared to traditional television formats (PAL, SECAM or NTSC). In addition, there is no quality drop in case of bad signal.

- More realistic and sharp colors.

- Significantly increased clarity and detail which is a vital feature of users using larger screen sizes.

- Two to five times more visual information thus less or no gaps between scanning lines. This feature practically allows you to watch a film with the same quality as it was shot.