Types Of Satellite TV Systems - TVRO And DBS

You may think that there is only one type of satellite TV system...but you're incorrect. There is, in fact, two different formats of satellite TV: TeleVision Receive Only (TVRO) and Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS). Each satellite TV system is built differently and functions in its own fashion. Dish Network, for example, is a DBS system. However, not all satellite TV systems are DBS.

Below is a break down of each system. Read through it and gain a better understanding of the TVRO and DBS satellite TV systems.

TVRO - TeleVision Receive Only

TVRO was the first satellite system available for home viewing of satellite TV. It required a relatively big dish of 3 to 6 feet in diameter and worked in C-Band. Frequencies of around 4 G Hertz are called C-Band and require bigger dishes because the wave length of these frequencies is longer than in Ku-Band which requires a much smaller dish of about 18 inches. Ku-Band is at 12 to 14 G Hertz.

TVRO systems also need a movable dish because it needs to get all the channels of many satellites. C-Band satellites have much less channels available than Ku-Band satellites and therefore more satellites are needed to provide enough channels. Possibilities that exist with TVRO systems is that

you can also receive free channels and independent feeds from for instance news companies. You could for instance receive the unedited material that is broadcasted from a news crew somewhere in the coverage area of the satellite. They transmit their materials to their headquarters using a C-Band satellite. Many of these types of feeds are not scrambled and are available to everyone with the proper equipment.

TVRO systems are often referred to as Big Dish TV, C-Band Satellite TV and BUD (Big Ugly Dish).

DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite

Satellite TV via DBS is done in the Ku-Band. These satellites work on higher frequencies and can transmit higher power signals. This means that much smaller dishes can be used to receive the signal. A small dish of 18 inches is already enough to receive all satellite TV by Satellite TV. This makes it possible to have satellite TV from an apartment on the 10th floor, if you have a clear line of sight to the south. This is the system used by Dish Network and other satellite TV providers.

DBS is for everyone. The satellite dish is so small that it is not an obstacle like with for instance the TVRO dishes of 3 to 6 feet. Once installed the dish needs no maintenance since it is aimed at just