| <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { | | | | your signal. Conversations with technical support |
| margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> | | | | or some customer service agents can get you |
| Satellite dish equipment is an often-bypassed | | | | the full information before you place an equipment |
| consideration for people considering new service. | | | | order. With five LNB's, you can get four different |
| Most people simply allow the representative to | | | | outputs. This is important when considering digital |
| choose the equipment that's installed, when they | | | | video recorders. If you have four different |
| should be more aware of the best options for | | | | outputs to the receiver, you can more easily |
| their situation. Although equipment differs | | | | record a variety of programming at the same |
| between service providers, there are some | | | | time. Each of these LNBs will be pointed toward a |
| similarities and lessons that can be easily | | | | different satellite orbit. In a nutshell, it's like having |
| understood by customers. | | | | four different satellite dishes in one. This is a huge |
| | | | | technological leap forward from a single dual LNB |
| The size of the satellite dishes and their | | | | of years past, or a single LNB on a large satellite |
| appearance is often the first thing that customers | | | | dish that actually had to change position with a |
| consider. Many older customers remember the | | | | motor. |
| days of huge backyard satellite dishes that | | | | |
| spanned over 10 feet in some cases. These days | | | | Making an HD upgrade, as discussed above, is |
| are long gone as all providers have switched to | | | | something being considered by a number of |
| the mini-dish setup. The first thing to realize when | | | | customers. This has become a large issue with |
| considering dish appearance is to avoid round | | | | slightly older dish setups as more people want to |
| dishes if you want high definition programming | | | | upgrade to HD TV's as prices keep coming down. |
| – but those details will be covered in detail | | | | Most people who want to select an high-definition |
| further down. New oval-shaped dishes receive | | | | version of their favorite sports package (NFL |
| local and national HD programming, and can | | | | Sunday Ticket, etc.) should consult with their |
| eliminate some of the local channel concerns that | | | | provider to see about upgrading their dish to one |
| have plagued satellite TV customers for years. | | | | of types described above. Many providers now |
| They feature an integrated Ku and Ka band | | | | offer equipment buy-back to encourage service |
| switch that allows for this new type of service. | | | | upgrades. In addition, installation of a new type of |
| Again, this will only be found on oval typed dishes. | | | | dish may require new, specialized configurations, |
| | | | | wiring, or setup. If you're well-versed in dish |
| Another thing to consider on the technical side is | | | | installation, this might be easy, but most seek the |
| the number of Low-Noise Blockers, sometimes | | | | assistance of a professional installer. You can |
| called Low-Noise Blocker Converters (often | | | | easily find one through your satellite provider, or |
| abbreviated LNBC). This is the most important | | | | by consulting and independent contractor. |
| consideration, and can greatly affect the quality of | | | | |