The Super Dish is a satellite dish that was deployed by the DISH Network in November 2003 as a means to provide more channels for their subscribers. Its elliptical reflector (The part that gives the SuperDish its "dish" shape) is 36" x 20" - more than 50% larger than the round 20" Dish 500. The Super Dish receives signals from three orbiting satellites, as opposed to a Dish 500 which only receives signals from two satellites. The Super Dish's three satellites are at 110°W, 119°W, and either 105°W or 121°W depending on customer requirements. The 105-degree orbital slot provided local channels via K_u band from SES Americom's AMC-15 satellite. The other, 121-degree orbital slot provided local channels and international packages via K_u band from EchoStar 9, which is also known as Galaxy 23/EchoStar 9 due to a joint partnership with Intelsat.

Technology

These two satellite services, and their older

Fixed Service Satellite Fixed-satellite service (short: FSS | also: fixed-satellite radiocommunication service) is – according to ''article 1.21'' of the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – defined as ''A radiocommunication s ...

technology, were provided to add additional capacity that lets the DISH Network satisfy the

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

's " must-carry" requirements for local channels, and make room for HDTV channels. In addition, several dozen international services have been added to DISH Network's channel lineup. 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. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

(DBS) services in circular polarization at 12.7GHz from EchoStar's existing 110°W and 119°W slots. The 105°W and 121°W slots are received in linear polarization at 11.7 GHz at a much lower power. As a result, Super Dish-compatible receivers must be able to receive circularly-polarized and linearly-polarized signals at two different frequency ranges from up to four satellites.

Services

Super Dish enabled DISH Network customers receive

High-definition Television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

(HDTV), international, and/or local channels, all on one dish system. 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. In 2007, most of the services at the 121-degree location were moved to the Anik F3 satellite at the 118.75-degree 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, can still be seen with a Super Dish installed, through which they receive the "Wells Fargo TV" service.http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/Dish-USA-121W.html Dish USA on EchoStar 9 at 121.0°W

References

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

Technology

Services

See also

References