Unlike terrestrial television, which uses a series of land-based transmitters, satellite television relies on satellites positioned some 22,000 miles above the earth's surface.
By revolving with the earth in geostationary orbit, these are powered by solar energy and maintain a constant position above us.
There are now literally hundreds of satellites in the sky, although not all broadcast television programmes ( satellites can have many different functions including telephony and global tracking ) and many of these satellites, their beam or "footprint" does not cover Malaysia.
It is the Measat satellites that interests us most because all the televison and radio channels we received on Astro are transmitted from this satellites.
More than 400 of transponders are available on Measat and Astro which are the only satellite tv providers for Malaysia has more than 100 of these on measat . All the channels are scrambled and have to be paid for.
To receive some of the basic packages, viewers need a decoder and have to subscribe to receive the smart card which "unlocks" the decoder. The system encryption that Astro are using are known as DVB, Mediaguard 2, videoground and cryptoworks. Then there are the radio channels. Each transponder has a stereo subcarriers, and these can be used for either added language soundtracks or for satellite radio.
Picking up the Astro channels is easy. All you need is a satellite system, usually comprising a receiver and a dish. Viewers in most parts of the country need a 60cm dish while in some parts where the signal is weaker, an 80cm dish is needed to achieved between 80%-90% signal strength but most of us would be able to receive between 74%-80% which is good enough.
Prices to purchase a system now are very reasonable, one have to pay only the installation costs which is around RM50 and subscribe to a minimum channels on offer by Astro. For reception of the Astro channels, the dish has to face the measat satellite, positioned at 91.5 degree west.
Ideally you will have a west facing wall which the dish can be put on, but this is not essential. Nor does it matter how high the dish is located as long as it has clear sight of the satellite. Many house buyer nowadays take into account the wall that the house is facing so that they could erect the dish there inorder to receive Astro. If the house is facing east and the backyard are covered by tall buildings then its up to the installer to locate its suitability.
A good and proper trained installer will make sure that the dish is located on your property discreetly.
No comments:
Post a Comment