Dish TV

HOW TO BUY SATELLITE DISH TV

1. A direct competitor of cable TV, satellite TV companies are increasingly becoming the most popular choice among consumers.
2. The four basic steps to getting started are contact a satellite TV company; determine how many TVs in the household will be linked to the system; choose a programming package; and pick a receiver.
3. Receivers, ranging from the basic to the high definition, vary when it comes to features and functions.
4. High definition provides six times greater image sharpness and sound clarity than regular TV.
5. Although some satellite packages will include network stations, access to local channels requires installation of additional hardware.

Professor (Research) Emeritus H. Taylor Howard, a renowned radio scientist who built the first home satellite dish and led several experiments to explore the moon and planets, died Nov. 13, 2002 , when his single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Calaveras County Airport, California. He was 70.

In 1976, as a result of his private experiments with video transmission from communications satellites, he built the first homemade, privately owned satellite receiving system in his backyard. It was a large dish-shaped antenna that he used to pick up programs that cable TV content providers offered for distribution to their subscribers.

When he wrote a check for $100 to HBO to pay for movies he had watched, the company returned his check, saying that it dealt only with large cable companies, not individuals. Howard then published a how-to-do-it manual on his system. Soon afterward, with mechanical engineer Bob Taggart, he co-founded Chaparral Communications Inc. of San Jose to produce the parts for the system that he continued to improve. Within six years, Chaparral became a $50 million company.

Thanks to Howard, millions of network viewers who have long tired of the limited selections and redundant commercial spots, are enjoying the hundreds of choices in programming from around the world in the comfort of their own living rooms. A direct competitor of cable TV, satellite TV companies are increasingly becoming the most popular choice among consumers who simply want more and better quality programming for their money.

The four basic steps to getting started are: contact a dish or satellite TV company; determine how many TVs in the household will be linked to the system; choose a programming package (basic, movie or network value) with varying costs; and pick a receiver.

A typical promotion offers a complete, state-of-the-art satellite TV system (a $149 value, for example) as well as a free professional installation (a $199 value, for example) for only $49.99. The company touts that the consumer’s first bill shows a $49.99 credit so the system is free. The only requirement is to agree to a monthly programming package comprised of whatever is the promotion.

Receivers, ranging from the basic to the high definition, vary when it comes to features and functions. Mid-range priced receivers let the viewer skip through commercials on recorded programs, rewind sports to create instant replays, or pause live TV in case the phone rings. Others can record up to 90 hours of a viewer’s favorite programming and still others allow the viewer to record two television programs at the same time, watch a recorded program while viewing live TV, or view Picture-in-Picture programming on any TV. High definition provides six times greater image sharpness and sound clarity than regular TV, among other state of the art features.

It is important to always keep in mind that although some satellite packages will include network stations, access to local channels requires installation of additional hardware.