| Some people are content to sit back and enjoy | | | | service in that it sends the signal and reflects it to |
| their new satellite network dish with no concern | | | | the focal point, usually the satellite. The network |
| for how it actually works. Others are not so | | | | dish uses a low-noise block down converter or |
| passive. Were you the kind of kid who wasn't | | | | LNB to convert the signals your dish gets from |
| satisfied until you had taken everything apart and | | | | the satellite into electric energy, thus turning the |
| figured out how it worked? If this sounds like you, | | | | electromagnetic energy from the satellite into |
| then here are a few basic explanations of how | | | | television channels for you to watch. |
| your satellite TV service works. | | | | Most of the dishes used for television purposes in |
| Satellite TV systems are the result of many | | | | today's day and age are in a fixed position, but |
| other kinds of satellite technology. Everything | | | | many other dishes are not fixed. They actually |
| from radio signals to police communication devices | | | | move to get clearer shots at the signal. |
| use satellite dishes to communicate with satellites | | | | If you have an Echostar dish from DISH |
| that are orbiting the planet. | | | | Network, that dish does not need to move to get |
| The signals transmitted use your network dish to | | | | the signal because of its design. |
| eliminate the need for thousands of miles of wire | | | | It includes several technological gadgets and |
| and cable that are ordinarily used to transmit any | | | | pieces to grab the signal from the satellite dish, as |
| kind of data signal, whether it is a phone | | | | long as the network dish points in the right |
| conversation or your favorite television station. | | | | direction, usually south. |
| Satellite TV service occurs because of the dish's | | | | Though you don't really need to understand the |
| shape, known as "parabolic". Parabolic essentially | | | | intricate details of how your network dish works, |
| means that it is a conic section, or an inverted | | | | the knowledge may help you when the time |
| curve, generated by a circular dip into a surface | | | | comes to make decisions about upgrades or |
| of some sort. | | | | additional services. If nothing else, this knowledge |
| There's all sorts of math equations that can | | | | will help give you a greater appreciation for the |
| accurately describe this better, but if you're ever | | | | technology that you have at your fingertips. |
| driven past a satellite dish or stared at your own, | | | | As the field continues to grow, this base of |
| you know what parabolic is. | | | | knowledge will help you understand the changes |
| This parabolic surface provides satellite TV | | | | and improvements made. |