Why doesn't DirecTV use all of the transponders?

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

I was looking through the system menu on my DirecTV receiver and I noticed while playing in the satellite signal strength portion of the system menu that not all of the transponders are being used. For instance, some of the transponders have no signal where as others have signal strength in the upper 90 range on the same satellite. And then there are some spots that just have a big X in the spot where a number should be.

Why is that? Why would DirecTV not want to use all of the capacity of their satellites in orbit? Seems like such a waste of a satellite in orbit.

Scott Greczkowski · Nov 17, 2015

The ones you are not receiving are spot beams transponders which are aimed at other locations.. Nothing to worry about there.

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

If it shows 0 signal I'm sure those are spotbeams and you are not in the footprint. Those are the satellites that have a (s) after them

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

OK, what our spotbeams? What is the purpose of those?

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

spotbeams are for locals. It only works within a couple hundred miles of a location. It allows satellite companies to reuse the spotbeams transponders to put local stations up. No reason to have them be shown to the whole US. So as example in Minneapolis (where I am) if I take my receiver and travel to Chicago and plug it in, I wont get Mpls locals because I'm out fo the spotbeam

Think of a wall as the US. Now take a flashlight and shine it about 6 inches away from the wall. Where there is light would be the spotbeam for that part of the US

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_beam

Scott Greczkowski · Nov 17, 2015

Regular beams are called CONUS beams as the signal reaches all of the Continental US.

Spotbeams on the other hand are special transponders which instead of being sent across the USA are only sent to the area where they are meant to serve, so on your spot beam you see Cleveland Ohio locals, While on that same transponder for me are Hartford CT locals.

That's the cliff notes version.

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

OK so what I see in these pictures below is normal?

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

A whole bunch of N/A, even some 0 numbers as well. Those are spotbeams being used in other areas?

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

trparky said:
A whole bunch of N/A, even some 0 numbers as well. Those are spotbeams being used in other areas?

N/A means that transponder isn't lit up on that satellite
0 means you are out of the spotbeams

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

on satellite 101 TP18 thats a spotbeam
satellite 99 (s) that is all spotbeams. The low numbers means you are on the fringe of the spotbeam (like TP16 as example that shows 59 signal. Closest city is Toledo that uses that spotbeam for locals)
103 (s) thast looks normal. I think I had 2 TP's that showed a number here in Minneapolis

The reason none of the HD sats (99 or 103) have numbers between 25-32 is I **think** those satellites only have 24 transponders on them

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

OK, so why would DirecTV not have any satellite transponders lit up in those areas that have N/A? That sounds like an awful waste of satellite space.

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

I dont get what you're asking.

The original satellites (101, 110, 119) are KU Band and can have up to 32 transponders being used.
The HD sats (99 & 103) are KA Band and can only have 24 transponders used (thats how they are built). Thats why 25-32 show "N/A" as there is no transponder there

99 & 103 have more than one satellite at that location so they have to balance the workload (channels)

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

I didn't know that.

KA vs. KU? Huh?

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

One other question, not particularly related to this original question that I had but I'm going to ask you anyways. Based upon the screenshots that I posted, what do you think about the signal strengths of my particular installation?

moghedien14 · Nov 17, 2015

trparky said:
OK, so why would DirecTV not have any satellite transponders lit up in those areas that have N/A? That sounds like an awful waste of satellite space.

There are four satellites at the 101 location. Other locations don't have as many:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirecTV_satellite_fleet

Also, Directv has to get the signals from the content providers, which I imagine takes up capacity on the satellites also...

Scott Greczkowski · Nov 17, 2015

The signal levels look very good.

Troch77 · Nov 17, 2015

Let's not forget about Licensing.

Just because a satellite has 32 transponders, doesn't mean they carry a license for each one.

Just like Directv and Dish share the 110 and 119.

And same with the 101, while they may have 4 satellites, I believe they are still only aloud to use 32, not all 128 TP if they each have 32.

trparky · Nov 17, 2015

How can two satellites share the same orbital location? Yes, I know that there is a lot of space up there (yeah... I know, that was bad but I had just to :biggrin2

) but a satellite is... quite huge. Just like here on Earth, two objects can't be in the same exact location in space.

Mr Tony · Nov 17, 2015

trparky said:
I didn't know that.

KA vs. KU? Huh?

different frequencies they use

Why doesn't DirecTV use all of the transponders?

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