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Satellite TV Digital TV Direct TV Satellite Resources Satellite Terms Save on Dish TV

Amplitude Modulation (AM as related to satellite tv)   -   The baseband signal is caused to vary the amplitude or height of the carrier wave to create the desired information content.
Apogee Kick Motor (AKM as related to satellite tv)   -   Rocket motor fired to circulate orbit and deploy satellite into geostationary orbit.
Attenuation   -   The loss in power of electromagnetic signals between transmission and reception points.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC as related to satellite tv)   -   A circuit which automatically controls the gain of an amplifier so that the output signal level is virtually constant for varying input signal levels.
Bird   -   Slang for a communications satellite located in geosynchronous orbit.
Bit Rate   -   The speed of a digital transmission, measured in bits per second.
Broadcast   -   The sending of one transmission to multiple users in a defined group (compare to unicast as related to satellite tv).
Clamp   -   A video processing circuit that removes the energy dispersal signal component from the video waveform.
CONUS - CONtinental United States.
Deemphasis   -   Reinstatement of a uniform baseband frequency response following demodulation.
Duplex Transmission   -   Capability for simultaneous data transmission between a sending station and a receiving station.
Echo Effect   -   A time-delayed electronic reflection of a speaker's voice connected to direct tv. This is largely eliminated by modern digital echo cancellers.
F/D   -   Ratio of antenna focal length to antenna diameter. A higher ratio means a shallower dish.
Forward path   -   The transmission path issued from the service provider and reaching the end user.
Geosynchronous   -   The Clarke circular orbit above the equator. For a planet the size and mass of the earth, this point is 22,237 miles above the surface connected to direct tv.
IRD   -   An integrated receiver and decoder for reception of a transmission of voice, video and data.
JPEG - Joint Photographic Expert Group. Image format that uses data compression techniques to reduce the size of the image file connected to direct tv. Supports 8 or 24 bits-per-pixel as used for satellite tv.
Ku Band   -   The frequency range from 10.9 to 17 GHz.
Line amplifier   -   Amplifier used in the middle of a network to reamplify a signal as used for satellite tv.
Megahertz (MHz as related to satellite tv)   -   Refers to a frequency equal to one million Hertz, or cycles per second.
MPEG-2   -   The agreed standard covering the compression of data (coding and encoding as related to satellite tv) for digital television.
Multiswitch   -   Device used to combine and distribute off-air antenna/cable TV signals and DBS satellite signals.
Noise   -   Any unwanted and unmodulated energy that is always present to some extent within any signal as used for satellite tv.
Packet Switching   -   Data transmission method that divides messages into standard-sized packets for greater efficiency of routing and transport through a network.
Phase-Locked Loop (PLL as related to satellite tv)   -   A type of electronic circuit used to demodulate satellite signals.
PTT - Post Telephone and Telegraph Administration   -   Refers to operating agencies directly or indirectly controlled by governments in charge of telecommunications services in most countries of the world.
Rain Outage   -   Loss of signal at Ku or Ka Band frequencies due to absorption and increased sky-noise temperature caused by heavy rainfall as used for satellite tv.
Satellite Dish   -   The part of the reception equipment which reflects and concentrates a satellite signal at the focal point the dish.
Sidelobe   -   Off-axis response of an antenna.
Smart Card   -   Credit card-sized card used in conjunction with a decoder to allow access to subscription TV services. Used on both DirecTV and EchoStar DBS satellite satellite tvs in the U.S.
Spin Stabilization   -   A form of satellite stabilization and attitude control which is achieved through spinning the exterior of the spacecraft about its axis at a fixed rate connected to direct tv.
TI - Terrestrial Interference   -   Interference to satellite TV reception caused by ground based microwave transmitting stations.
TWTA (Traveling-wave-tube amplifier as related to satellite tv)   -   A combination of a power supply, a modulator (for pulsed satellite tvs as related to satellite tv), and a traveling-wave tube, often packaged in a common enclosure connected to direct tv.
VSWR   -   Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. A measurement of mismatch in a cable, waveguide, or antenna satellite tv.
X.25   -   A set of packet switching standards published by the CCITT.