The Super Dish is a

satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radi ...

that was deployed by the

DISH Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

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 SES Americom was a major commercial satellite operator of North American geosynchronous satellites based in the United States. The company started as RCA Americom in 1975 before being bought by General Electric in 1986 and then later acquired by ...

'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 Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

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 se ...

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 jurisdiction ...

's "

must-carry In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system. North America Canada Under current CRTC regulations, the lowest tier of service on ...

" 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 In electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization state in which, at each point, the electromagnetic field of the wave has a constant magnitude and is rotating at a constant rate in a plane perpendicular to t ...

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 In electrodynamics, linear polarization or plane polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a confinement of the electric field vector or magnetic field vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation. The term ''linear polarizati ...

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 Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asse ...

branches. These Wachovia branches, now owned by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

, 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