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It's not a coincidence that both DIRECTV and DISH have satellite antennas that are about 36″ wide. There's a FCC rule called OTARD that says an HOA can't stop you from putting up an antenna if it's smaller than one meter (39.37″) in any direction. Both US satellite providers have kept this rule in mind when designing their equipment. After all, it wouldn't help business if HOA's around the country didn't allow people to put up satellite dishes, right?
But, is it possible that today's satellite dishes could get smaller? Technology has advanced a lot since the late 2000s when today's satellite dishes were first released to the public. You would think that today it would be possible to make much smaller devices, right? In order to understand where we are now, we first have to understand why dishes got bigger in the first place. I touch on this subject a bit in this article, but it's worth going a little further.
Back in the days before DIRECTV and DISH existed, my tech buddies and I used to talk about the dream of the "set-top dish." This would have been a satellite antenna about 12″ in diameter that was capable of being placed inside. That dream never came to pass for two reasons. First is that satellite signals are so weak that they can't make it into your house. The antenna simply has to be outside. The second is that the aiming needs to be so precise that you would never want the dish to be anywhere you could jostle it.
The compromise that actually worked was a dish 18″ in diameter. Satellite services all around the world use round dishes with very similar characteristics, and both DIRECTV and DISH used them too, at first. They're small enough to mount easily and can be aimed even by your average homeowner. That worked well, until satellite TV really began to "take off."
By the mid-2000s, DIRECTV and DISH were in a pair of races. The first was to see who could provide local channel service to 90% of the country. The second was to see who could put up the most HD channels. That meant expanding the satellite fleet so it could handle thousands of locals and hundreds of HD channels. Those HD channels took up to four times the satellite capacity as older SD channels.
Both companies responded by launching additional satellites. However, there are only so many satellites that can sit in one point in space. They found themselves putting satellites in many different orbital slots, and that meant in order to receive all of them, you needed to make some sort of change.
DISH initially let customers put up two round dishes, while DIRECTV almost immediately came up with dishes that pointed at two satellites at the same time. The "one dish" solution is the one that customers favored.
The problem with pointing at two locations at once is that you need to focus everything on one point, and when signals are coming from different directions a simple round dish won't do. You need a dish that is, in essence, multiple round dishes stitched together. The result is an oval-shaped dish.
This graphic I made many years ago illustrates the point. At the time, DIRECTV had five primary satellite locations. Each one hit at a different point of the dish, and was focused on a different point on the front of the dish. DISH did something similar as well.
It got to the point where DIRECTV and DISH both operated satellites at seven locations. For DIRECTV, you needed to see five at once for most channels while the other two were used for international channels. DISH used two different sets of three satellites plus one for international, so aiming was a little easier.
Operating a satellite is expensive. It costs a lot to put the thing up there, and it costs a lot to keep monitoring it. Having multiple satellite locations is great, but it's even better if you can use larger satellites and fewer locations. Both DIRECTV and DISH spent the 2010s and early 2020s simplifying their fleets. DIRECTV was able to take three satellite locations out of service, the ones used for international programming. They did this by launching massively large satellites that used something called the reverse band for extra channel capacity. The company is also working now to eliminate a fourth satellite location so that the only ones left are a small constellation at 99, 101, and 103 West longitude.
DISH simplified its fleet by changing the way its signals are encoded. They were able to eliminate two satellites, one from their eastern "arc" and one from their western "arc." This means no matter where you are in the country you really only need to see two satellite locations unless you subscribe to an international package. If you're on the east, you point at satellites at 61 and 77 degrees, while westerners point at satellites at 110 and 119 degrees.
There's no doubt in my mind that DIRECTV dishes could get much smaller. All three satellites are now in a spread of only four degrees of the sky. That says to me that it would be very possible to have a satellite dish 18×24 inches in size. With DISH it's a little more complex. DISH's Western Arc still has a spread of nine degrees, while the Eastern Arc has the same spread of 16 degrees that it always had. So, it wouldn't be possible to make Eastern Arc dishes smaller, and Western Arc dishes might not get smaller enough to notice.
The truth is, though, those dishes probably won't get smaller. And there's a simple reason for it: it just won't make a difference to enough people. It would take a lot of time and cost to engineer a smaller dish, and it probably wouldn't result in anyone being any happier with their satellite service. Those who think the dish is ugly would probably still think it's ugly if it got a little smaller. Re-engineering the dishes to be smaller would just please those few people (like myself) who get a particular kick out of engineering things so they're perfect. Unfortunately there aren't enough of us for it to probably make economic sense.
The post When will DISH and DIRECTV satellite dishes get smaller? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
But, is it possible that today's satellite dishes could get smaller? Technology has advanced a lot since the late 2000s when today's satellite dishes were first released to the public. You would think that today it would be possible to make much smaller devices, right? In order to understand where we are now, we first have to understand why dishes got bigger in the first place. I touch on this subject a bit in this article, but it's worth going a little further.
The original dream: 18″ or smaller
Back in the days before DIRECTV and DISH existed, my tech buddies and I used to talk about the dream of the "set-top dish." This would have been a satellite antenna about 12″ in diameter that was capable of being placed inside. That dream never came to pass for two reasons. First is that satellite signals are so weak that they can't make it into your house. The antenna simply has to be outside. The second is that the aiming needs to be so precise that you would never want the dish to be anywhere you could jostle it.
The compromise that actually worked was a dish 18″ in diameter. Satellite services all around the world use round dishes with very similar characteristics, and both DIRECTV and DISH used them too, at first. They're small enough to mount easily and can be aimed even by your average homeowner. That worked well, until satellite TV really began to "take off."
Why dishes got bigger
By the mid-2000s, DIRECTV and DISH were in a pair of races. The first was to see who could provide local channel service to 90% of the country. The second was to see who could put up the most HD channels. That meant expanding the satellite fleet so it could handle thousands of locals and hundreds of HD channels. Those HD channels took up to four times the satellite capacity as older SD channels.
Both companies responded by launching additional satellites. However, there are only so many satellites that can sit in one point in space. They found themselves putting satellites in many different orbital slots, and that meant in order to receive all of them, you needed to make some sort of change.
DISH initially let customers put up two round dishes, while DIRECTV almost immediately came up with dishes that pointed at two satellites at the same time. The "one dish" solution is the one that customers favored.
The problem with pointing at two locations at once is that you need to focus everything on one point, and when signals are coming from different directions a simple round dish won't do. You need a dish that is, in essence, multiple round dishes stitched together. The result is an oval-shaped dish.
This graphic I made many years ago illustrates the point. At the time, DIRECTV had five primary satellite locations. Each one hit at a different point of the dish, and was focused on a different point on the front of the dish. DISH did something similar as well.
It got to the point where DIRECTV and DISH both operated satellites at seven locations. For DIRECTV, you needed to see five at once for most channels while the other two were used for international channels. DISH used two different sets of three satellites plus one for international, so aiming was a little easier.
And then things actually got simpler
Operating a satellite is expensive. It costs a lot to put the thing up there, and it costs a lot to keep monitoring it. Having multiple satellite locations is great, but it's even better if you can use larger satellites and fewer locations. Both DIRECTV and DISH spent the 2010s and early 2020s simplifying their fleets. DIRECTV was able to take three satellite locations out of service, the ones used for international programming. They did this by launching massively large satellites that used something called the reverse band for extra channel capacity. The company is also working now to eliminate a fourth satellite location so that the only ones left are a small constellation at 99, 101, and 103 West longitude.
DISH simplified its fleet by changing the way its signals are encoded. They were able to eliminate two satellites, one from their eastern "arc" and one from their western "arc." This means no matter where you are in the country you really only need to see two satellite locations unless you subscribe to an international package. If you're on the east, you point at satellites at 61 and 77 degrees, while westerners point at satellites at 110 and 119 degrees.
So if things are simpler, why aren't the dishes smaller?
There's no doubt in my mind that DIRECTV dishes could get much smaller. All three satellites are now in a spread of only four degrees of the sky. That says to me that it would be very possible to have a satellite dish 18×24 inches in size. With DISH it's a little more complex. DISH's Western Arc still has a spread of nine degrees, while the Eastern Arc has the same spread of 16 degrees that it always had. So, it wouldn't be possible to make Eastern Arc dishes smaller, and Western Arc dishes might not get smaller enough to notice.
The truth is, though, those dishes probably won't get smaller. And there's a simple reason for it: it just won't make a difference to enough people. It would take a lot of time and cost to engineer a smaller dish, and it probably wouldn't result in anyone being any happier with their satellite service. Those who think the dish is ugly would probably still think it's ugly if it got a little smaller. Re-engineering the dishes to be smaller would just please those few people (like myself) who get a particular kick out of engineering things so they're perfect. Unfortunately there aren't enough of us for it to probably make economic sense.
The post When will DISH and DIRECTV satellite dishes get smaller? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
1 Replies
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530 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n43A0sNukCg
Direct YouTube Link - SpaceX Seeks to Conduct 450 Starship Launches a Year in Texas!
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n43A0sNukCg
Direct YouTube Link - SpaceX Seeks to Conduct 450 Starship Launches a Year in Texas!
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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5 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68506 Replies
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2671308 views
Marques Brownlee
Time for another AWESOME video from Marques Brownlee!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scwlR0QHGOk
Direct YouTube Link - The NEW Tesla Roadster: My Honest Reaction
The official MKBHD Website!
The MKBHD Store
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scwlR0QHGOk
Direct YouTube Link - The NEW Tesla Roadster: My Honest Reaction
The official MKBHD Website!
The MKBHD Store
0 Replies
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5 views
iJustine
Time for another AWESOME video from iJustine!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m44iKsdN1-Q
Direct YouTube Link - NVIDIA RTX Spark launch party!!!
The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m44iKsdN1-Q
Direct YouTube Link - NVIDIA RTX Spark launch party!!!
The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!
0 Replies
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17 views
For quite a while now, people with a VIP211k have been losing their recordings on their activated external HDDs... even when there's nothing physically wrong with HDD. I believe this is an intentional and underhanded tactic that Dish is pulling in an attempt to force users away from the VIP211k.
They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.
Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.
On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.
It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.
I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.
Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.
On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.
It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.
I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
168 Replies
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7496 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Has anyone subscribed to NBA League Pass for 2026-27 and try to link their account to NBA.com to stream League Pass? I purchased it for 2026-27, and when I linked, I got a message saying success, but then I receive an error that my linked subscription does not include the preseason games for NBA League Pass. Is that how it has always been? I know satellite doesn't have the preseason games on the NBA League Pass channels, but I thought that I was able to stream the preseason once I linked my account on NBA.com?
2 Replies
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87 views
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
143 Replies
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1468 views
Nah, you just don't understand how ignore works, which is why you made your own NFL thread thinking there wasn't one
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
530 Replies
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18125 views
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. 
WTF… …What the Foxbat!Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat.
S
wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming youWTF… …What the Foxbat!
I know. Here's what Scott has in store for me if I get out of line:wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming you
S
OMG to freaking funny
You're no fun.
I thought I would come here and find lots of complaints about the update to the dish anywhere mobile app, but am not seeing any. It used to look just like the desktop webpage. Now you can no longer filter by sports channels or movie channels. Plus that they made it look like a big button telephone and you see fewer channels in the screen which requires more scrolling. Yes I realize you can look at sports then select which sport you want to look at, I just liked being able to see all sporting events in the guide with all other channels being filtered out. Am I alone in the wilderness on this?
7 Replies
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158 views
Supporting Founder
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Apple has finally released their Apple TV 4K with built-in Siri and a microphone so it can respond to your queries even if you don't have the remote. It also increases in price, to $299. I had been planning on updating my current Apple TV 4K streamers, but that's $600 for the two of them, and that's a pass at this point.
At $299, it had better come with 256 GB of Storage, Gigabit (or better) Ethernet, the latest HDMI tech and standards, and one year of free Apple One. But it probably won't…
At $299, it had better come with 256 GB of Storage, Gigabit (or better) Ethernet, the latest HDMI tech and standards, and one year of free Apple One. But it probably won't…
Apple TV 4K
Apple TV 4K. New Siri AI and hands-free control. Stunning picture and immersive HomePod surround sound. Works with your Apple and smart home devices.
www.apple.com
20 Replies
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333 views
S
. apple's been making money off of software and not hardware for a while
they all do that anyways.. ever notice your cell phone slows down when you come up for an upgrade..
. apple's been making money off of software and not hardware for a while
You should have looked in the APP STORE instead.
