A

Access Card
- a credit-card-size plastic card included with each receiver. This removable card identifies each individual receiver and provides billing information. Smart card is the other term for access card.

Additional Outlet
- refers to the additional outlet that lets you connect more than one receiver to the dish.

Antenna
- A device attached to your television to enhance reception of local program signals.

Audio/Video jacks
- Mainly there are three jacks; one for the video, one for the right speaker and one for the left.

Automatic Frequency Control (AFC)
- A socket which automatically controls the frequency of a signal.

Azimuth
- refers to the horizontal direction of a satellite.
    
B

Bmac
- A method of transmitting and scrambling television signals.

Bandwidth
- refers to the range of frequencies occupied by a signal.

Baseband
- this is in reference to the raw satellite TV signal before it is re-modulated to become a signal suitable for TV.

Beam
- a satellite transmission pattern which may be wide, narrow or spot.

Bird
- Another term for satellite.

Bit
- Refers to binary digit, the smallest unit of data in a digital system.

Bit rate
- The speed of digital transmission, measured in bits per second.

Blackouts
- Broadcasts or programming services that is not available in certain areas due to contractual agreement.

Broadcast
- The sending of one transmission to multiple users in a defined group.

C

Caller ID
- a feature in some satellite receivers that displays the phone number of the caller on your TV when the phone rings while you are watching TV.

Carrier
- An analog signal that is modulated by manipulating its amplitude (making it softer or louder) or its frequency (shifting it up or down) in relation to the incoming signal.

C-band
- A signal frequency range (3.70-4.20ghz).

Check switch
- a procedure that starts a series of tests in DISH Network satellite TV system receivers which confirms that a good signal connection between the receiver and the multi-sat dish switch exists.  A list of which satellites you can receive is displayed at the end of the test.

Clarke Belt
- named after Arthur C. Clarke, Clarke belt is an orbit used by satellites at a height of 22,250 miles. At this orbit, satellites make an orbit 24 hours yet remain in fix position relative to the Earth's surface.

Closed captioning
-  provides text stream in broadcast for narrative description of action, sounds, dialogue and other elements of the program/picture. This option is great for hearing impaired and areas where audio is undesirable.

Companding
- A noise-reduction technique that applies single compression at the transmitter and complementary expansion at the receiver.

D

DBS
- Digital Broadcast Satellite is a high power satellite that uses Ku-band frequency to deliver programming signal directly to a small dish.
    
Digital Audio Broadcasting
- refers to the method of transmitting digital audio.

Digital Compression
- The process that translates video images into digital code which takes up less transmission space than the original signal.

Diplexer
- A useful device that combines two input signals into one. It is often used in satellite systems to combine the signals from multiple LNBs into a single line.
 
Downlink
- A signal's path from satellite to antenna.

DTH
- Direct To Home is the official term used by the Federal Communications Commission (FTC) to refer to the satellite and broadcasting industry.

DVB
- The broadcast standard for digital television and radio using MPEG II compression.

Dual LNB
- An 18" dish with single LNB and two outputs.

E

Earth station
- The term use to describe the combination or antenna, low-noise amplifier (LNA), down-converter, and receiver electronics. used to receive a signal transmitted by a satellite.

Echo Canceller
- An electronic circuit which eliminates the echo effect on satellite telephony links.

Electronic program guide (EPG)
- An on-screen listing of available channels and programs. Some program guides provide key word searching feature to conveniently find the program you want to watch and record.

Elevation
- The angular distance of a satellite from the horizon.

F

Feed Horn
- a device that collects the signals at the focus of satellite dish and channels them to LNB.

Feed horn Probe
- used to pick up polarized signals from the feed horn cavity; either vertically or horizontally.
    
Fixed Dish System
- A satellite system which the dish does not have to be moved. Examples of fixed dish systems are Dish Network and DirecTV.

Five LNB
- A dish with five LNB and four outputs.

Footprint
- refers to the geographical area in which signals can be received.

G

Geostationary
- This refers to the satellites that orbit the Earth 22,300 miles above the equator and rotate at the same speed and direction as the Earth's surface.

H

Hard reset
- A hard reset is the same as rebooting a computer.

HDTV (high definition television)
- A television system that delivers clean and sharp pictures. Generally, HDTV uses digital transmission.

Hertz (HZ)
- refers to cycles per second.

Hybrid Satellite
- A satellite which carries two or more communications payload.

I

Interactive TV
- a TV service that lets you use remote control to access financial information, get program trivia, news, weather reports and respond to free offers while watching TV.

IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder)
- a satellite receiver with built in decoder for unscrambling subscription channels.

L

LNB (Low Noise Block down-converter)
- amplifies received signals and converts them from microwaves to lower frequency signals which are then sent along a cable to the satellite receiver.

Locks & Limits (Parental Controls)
- allows you to restrict viewing TV programs or channels with adult or sensitive themes.

M

MPEG
- the acronym for Moving Pictures Experts Group which defined the standards for moving pictures like movies.

MPEG I/II Compression
- the modern method for compressing digital signals.
 
N

Noise Figure
- a measure of performance of an LNB in decibels, the lower the signal the better.
   
O

Offset
- a type of dish with the focus and feed below its center.

P

Pay Per View (PPV)
- a conditional service which allows the user to pay or buy one particular program.

R

Rain fade
- the loss of signal from the satellite during heavy rains.

Receiver
- the device that takes signal from a satellite dish and converts them to appear on TV.

R/F connectors
- an alternative term for Radio Frequency connectors which are typically used with coaxial cable.

RG59
- a type of coaxial cable commonly use for cable TV.

RG6
- the type of cable recommended by DBS for digital satellite TV installations.

S

Satellite Dish
- is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive microwaves from communications satellites, which transmit data transmissions or broadcasts, such as satellite television.

T

Transponder
- refers to the equipment inside a satellite, responsible for receiving single uplinked channel and rebroadcast it back to Earth.

Threshold
- the measure of sensitivity of a satellite receiver measured in decibels.

U

UHF Remote
- Ultra High Frequency remote control that can operate the receiver from another room.

Uplink
- The transmission of a signal from Earth to a satellite.