The role of Satellites
Customers from the start have learned the advantages of the small satellite dishes that come with their subscription. These dishes act like antenna and pick up the signal sent down to Earth from the satellites. Customers also always get what’s known as a digital integrated receiver/decoder (IRD), or receiver for short. These are like the boxes that you are familiar with from cable. The satellite receiver, though, decodes what the dish brings in, separating each channel and translating it into your television’s -language.
High above your home, there are the six high-tech satellites that circle the Earth and beam down the television programs to your dish. The satellites are an unbelievable 22,300 miles above the planet. They provide the hundreds of channels every day to Directv satellite receivers for existing customers and new customers. These satellites get all of their audio and visual information, which make up the signal for each of your channels, from digital broadcast centers in Castle Rock, Colorado, and in Los Angeles, California. These centers receive the channels from the individual content providers, like ESPN or HBO, and shoot the shows up to their satellites.
It’s hard to believe that this kind of technology exists. But these satellites in outer orbits above the Earth can receive signals from pinpoint locations in the United States, digest these signals, and then beam them back to your individual satellite dish in Sante Fe, New Mexico, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jacksonville, Florida, or wherever you happen to live.
