- Satellite Dishes
C band dishes
Parabolic antennas and satellite television are not something from the past. People use them more than ever. In the 80’s it was mostly the large C band parabolic antennas, generally mesh dishes, from 3 to 5 m. in diameter, for domestic use. They are still very popular, because they have a lot of programming, and work in the 4 GHz frequency range, reason why they don’t loose signal when it is raining.
Ku band dishes
Lately Ku band parabolic dishes have been predominant. They work in a higher frequency range, 12 GHz. The antennas are offset, the LNB is not centered, and they are much smaller. It is easier to install them, but when there is a storm or heavy rain, you can loose the signal.
Receivers
Initially satellite television was transmitted in analog form. Today most of the channels are transmitted in digital form. It has several advantages: there is a correction system that eliminates small errors when the signal gets weaker, and a compression system that allows the transmission of many channels in one of the satellites transponders.
There are still analog channels on C band, but since many channels changed to digital, with the former satellite receivers there are not too many channels left to see, and many people have changed it for an analog/digital receiver like the 4DTV from Motorola. The receivers for Ku band are all digital.
Many channels are scrambled, and it is necessary to subscribe with the company who transmits them, like Sky in Mexico, or DirecTV or Dish Network in the United States, or StarChoice in Canada. But there are also many open channels, which can be seen in C band or Ku band with FTA (Free To Air) receivers.
The Mexican satellites are transmitting many free channels, educational, local stations from different states, and channels from other Latin countries. And in other satellites there are many ethnic channels, with programming from various countries from Europe, Arabic countries, China, Korea, and many more. If you are looking for some special programming, please contact us. We know all the systems, and probably we can help you.
