The Super Dish is a satellite dish deployed by DISH Network in November 2003.

Technology

The Super Dish has a dish shaped reflector that is 36" x 20". It receives signals from three orbiting

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s. The Super Dish Provides local channels from the K_u band from SES Americom's AMC-15 satellite. It also provides local and international channels from EchoStar 9, which is also known as Galaxy 23/EchoStar 9 due to a joint partnership with

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

. These two satellite services, and their older

Fixed Service Satellite Fixed-satellite service (FSS, or fixed-satellite radiocommunication service) is – according to ''article 1.21'' of the International Telecommunication Union, International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) ITU Radio Regulations, Radio Regulations ...

technology, were added to provide additional capacity that allows the DISH Network to complete the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

's " must-carry" requirements for local channels, and make room for

HDTV High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

channels. The Super Dish receives standard

Direct broadcast satellite Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

(DBS) services in circular polarization at 12.7

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

from EchoStar's existing 110°W and 119°W slots. The 105°W and 121°W slots are received in same-frequency EM at 11.7 GHz at a lower power. Consequently, Super Dish-compatible receivers are capable of receiving both circularly-polarized and linearly-polarized signals across two distinct frequency bands, originating from as many as four satellites.

Services

Local channels in most major cities were available as digital broadcasts over DISH Network using Super Dish, but HDTV has since been moved to the 61.5 and 129 satellites. In 2007, most of the services at the 121° location were moved to the Anik F3 satellite at the 118.75° location. Existing Super Dish subscribers were retrofitted with a "repoint kit" to receive most of the same services via the Anik F3 satellite, also in the medium-power FSS band. Business services were provided to several commercial customers, including many Wachovia Bank branches. These Wachovia branches, now owned by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

, can still be seen with a Super Dish installed, through which they receive the "Wells Fargo TV" service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Superdish Radio frequency antenna types Antennas (radio) Dish Network