DISH encyclopedia topics

Technical information

Satellites & locations

In 1987, EchoStar applied for a DBS license with the Federal Communications Commission and was granted access to geostationary orbital slot 119° West longitude in 1992.

In 1996, EchoStar and Dominion Video Satellite, Inc., proprietor of the Sky Angel DBS service, formed a technical agreement where Dominion has co-located its FCC-licensed DBS frequencies and channels on the same DBS satellite, EchoStar III (61.5° West longitude), carrying DBS frequencies and channels licensed by the FCC to EchoStar. The two DBS companies operate independently of one another, and subscribers to each service are not required to subscribe to both services, however, this technical agreement enables individuals, at their option, to subscribe to both services using the same satellite receiving system.

In 1999, EchoStar obtained the broadcasting assets of a failed joint venture between ASkyB and MCI WorldCom, including 28 transponders at the 110°W orbital location.

On May 1, 2005, EchoStar added the first ten of the 21 original Voom channels. These channels were made available at a 61.5°W orbital slot position. (The Voom channels ultimately were available from either 61.5°W or 129°W locations.) EchoStar planned to carry all 21 original Voom channels by 2006. As of May 15, 2008, all Voom channels were removed from DISH Network due to a contractual dispute between the two service providers.

On February 15, 2006, Echostar X, the tenth satellite in Echostar's fleet, was successfully launched. By mid-May it successfully began broadcasting from the 110°W orbital location to satisfy a legal mandate (passed by Congress in December 2004) for single-dish local-into-local service.

On March 14, 2008, the AMC-14 satellite owned by SES Americom and under contract to EchoStar Corp failed to reach its intended orbit after being launched from Kazakhstan. The Ku-band satellite was to be used by DISH Network to increase the number of their HD channels from the current slate of 50 to between 70 and 100. SES and Lockheed Martin are exploring ways to attempt to bring the functioning satellite into its correct orbital position. In the event that their effort is successful, the extra use of fuel needed to correct the orbital error is anticipated to significantly reduce AMC-14's originally expected service life of 15 years.

DISH Network Satellite Locations List

Please refer to the article "DISH Network Corporation" for detailed satellite location information.

61.5° — Eastern/Central/Mountain U.S. (HD Programming & Int'l)#
72.7° — Eastern/Central/Mountain U.S. (HD Programming/SD Programming)*#
77° — Eastern/Central/Mountain U.S. (HD Programming/SD Programming & HD Locals(market depending))*#
110° — Entire U.S./Alaska/Hawaii/Puerto Rico (Local Channels & Secondary core programming)
105° — Local Channels in specific geographical areas of CONUS
118.7° — Some International programming and some HD Local Channels
119° — Entire U.S./Alaska/Hawaii/Puerto Rico (Local Channels & Main core of programming)
121° — International programming/Local Channels in specific geographical areas of CONUS
129° — Central/Mountain/Partial Eastern U.S. (HD Programming & Local Channels)
148° — Western/Central/Mountain U.S. (Local Channels & Int'l)

Note: Which satellite carries one's own local channels varies. * New satellite locations go live Aug. 22, 2008, # Can be used independently from 110, 119 using 1000.4 Dish

Satellite dishes

DISH Network offers different types of satellite receiving equipment for obtaining signal from its diverse satellite fleet. Most of their consumer boxes are manufactured by Sanmina-SCI Corporation to EchoStar specifications. Prior to the December, 2001 merger of SCI Systems and Sanmina, DISH Network receivers were produced at factories in Huntsville, Alabama and Fountain, Colorado. Currently, receiver assembly takes place in Guadalajara, Mexico.

DISH 300

DISH Network's first satellite antenna was simply called the "DISH Network" dish. It was retroactively named the "DISH 300" when legal and satellite problems forced delays of the forthcoming DISH 500 systems. It uses one LNB to obtain signals from the 119°W orbital location, and is commonly used as a second dish to receive additional high-definition or ethnic programming from either the 148°W or 61.5°W orbital locations. The 119°W slot is one of two primary orbital locations, the other being 110°W, that provide core services.

DISH 500

After EchoStar obtained the broadcasting assets of a failed joint venture between ASkyB and MCI Worldcom, it had more than doubled its capacity by adding 28 transponders at the 110°W orbital location. Since EchoStar also owned the adjacent 119°W orbital location it developed the DISH 500 to receive the signals of both orbital locations using one dish and an innovative dual-LNB assembly. Although the new 20-inch DISH 500 was slightly larger than the then-current 18-inch DISH 300 and DirecTV dishes it had the distinct advantage of obtaining signals from EchoStar's two adjacent satellite locations for a theoretical 500-channel capacity. The DISH 500, as a result, provided very large capacity for local-into-local service, nationwide programming, and business services. In order to migrate existing customers to DISH 500, DISH Network provides value-added channels in addition to local channels that can only be received with the DISH 500 and newer systems. Some of these channels exclusive to these newer systems are History Channel International, Boomerang, The Science Channel, and Planet Green. With the launch of EchoStar X in 2006 at 110°W thousands of local channels will only be available with a DISH 500 system.

DISH 1000

In spite of all this capacity, EchoStar still needed to fulfill the dream of nationwide high-definition television and conceived the DISH 1000 system to receive signals from 110°W, 119°W and 129°W orbital locations. Originally, DISH Network high-definition subscribers required two separate satellite dishes. Today, approximately 70% of DISH Network subscribers can receive nationwide HDTV channels using the 129°W orbital location, but since the 129°W does not effectively cover the entire United States this solution is not available for large populations of customers in the Northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and deep Southern regions of the United States. Because of issues with low signal strength it has been replaced with the DISH 1000.2(not shown). The 1K.2 has a 10% larger reflector for better signal strength and an integrated LNB for easier installation. The DISH 1000.2 is 23" in Diameter.

SuperDISH, DISH 500+, and DISH 1000+

During DISH Network's quest for capacity, they had accumulated an array of satellite broadcasting technologies, orbital locations, and surplus capacity using non-mainstream technologies requiring larger dish sizes. To capitalize on these broadcasting assets, DISH Network started providing extensive ethnic programming that receive programming from lower-powered satellites broadcasting in the non-DBS portion of the FSS band. DISH Network offers specialized equipment for these customers including larger dish antennas.

The SuperDISH, DISH 500+, and DISH 1000+ systems receive DBS signals from both of the primary 110°W and 119°W locations (129°W for DISH 1000+) as well as lower-powered FSS signals from either 121°W, 105°W, or 118.75°W. To underscore how exotic these systems can be the DISH 500+ and 1000+ systems receive circularly-polarized signals in the non-DBS portion of the FSS band — the only American satellite television service to do so.

Broadcast technology

While for years DISH Network has used standard MPEG-2 for broadcasting, the addition of bandwidth-intensive HDTV in a limited-bandwidth world has called for a change to an H.264/MPEG4 AVC system. DISH Network announced as of 1 February 2006, that all new HDTV channels would be available in H.264 format only, while maintaining the current lineup as MPEG-2. DISH Network intends to eventually convert the entire platform to H.264 in order to provide more channels to subscribers.

Both a standard receiver and a receiver with built-in DVR (Digital Video Recorder) are available to subscribers. The DISH Network ViP722 HD DVR, replacement to the ViP622, has received great reviews from CNET and others. Both a standard receiver and a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) are available to subscribers for an upgrade fee. Currently DISH Network charges $5.98 per DVR as DVR service fee, which covers cost of licensing EPG(Extended Program Guide) from TV Guide.

Criticisms and Controversies

Fee Disclosures (2004)

In 2004, thirteen states charged that Echostar, parent company of DISH Network, had not disclosed termination fees to potential customers and had debited customers' bank accounts for hidden fees. The company settled the lawsuit, paid $5 million, and promised to disclose all terms prior to signing contracts with potential customers.

Gay Television Network/Triangle Television Network (2001-2002)

Dish Network began negotiations with GTN (Gay Television Network) to carry the channel. GTN sent out a press release on February 2, 2001, announcing its launch and that its channel would be carried by Dish Network. Dish Network responded by denying that any contract had been signed and that the press release was premature. The president of GTN responded by calling Dish Network "homophobic". In April 2002, Dish Network signed a contract to carry GTN, now renamed Triangle Television Network, but a launch date has not been announced as of 2005.

Management

Charles Ergen: Founder, Chairman, President and CEO
Carl Vogel: Vice Chairman
R. Stanton Dodge: Executive Vice President of Legal
Bernard L. Han: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mark W. Jackson: President, EchoStar Technologies
Dean Olmstead: President of Fixed Satellite Services
Steven B. Schaver: President of EchoStar International

References

History

EchoStar was formed in 1980 by its chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen as a distributor of C band TV systems. In 1987, EchoStar applied for a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) license with the Federal Communications Commission and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west longitude in 1992.

On December 28, 1995, EchoStar successfully launched its first satellite, EchoStar I. That same year, EchoStar established the DISH Network brand name to market its home satellite TV system.

In 1998, EchoStar purchased the broadcasting assets of a satellite broadcasting joint venture of News Corporation's ASkyB and MCI Worldcom. With this purchase EchoStar obtained 28 of the 32 transponder licenses in the 110° W orbital slot, more than doubling existing CONUS broadcasting capacity at a value of $682.5 million. The acquisition inspired the company to introduce a multi-satellite system called DISH 500, theoretically capable of receiving more than 500 channels on one dish. In the same year, Echostar — in association with Bell Canada — launched Dish Network Canada.

In January 2005, EchoStar bought the broadcasting assets of the troubled HDTV DBS company Voom, including its Rainbow 1 satellite co-located with EchoStar 3 at 61.5° W. On April 29, EchoStar announced that it would expand its HDTV programming by adding the first 10 of 21 original Voom channels and mirror the channels on a CONUS slot.

On January 1, 2008 EchoStar split into two separate businesses: DISH Network Corporation and Echostar Corporation. DISH Network Corporation, the larger of the two resulting companies, focuses on US-based marketing of satellite television, while EchoStar Corporation runs a majority of the satellite fleet and other signal infrastructure.

Controversies

There recently have been accusations that Dish Network has homophobic business practices, as they refuse to add any LGBT programing to their line up, such as the Logo channel and Here! (which are carried by DirecTV and most major cable companies). Dish also apparently backed out of a contract with GTN (Gay Television Network) to carry the channel.

Satellite fleet

Orbital Locations Vary
Most of the satellites used by DISH Network are owned and operated by Echostar Corporation. Since EchoStar frequently moves satellites among its many orbiting slots this list may not be immediately accurate.
Refer to Lyngsat.com and Dish Channel Chart for detailed satellite information.

Dish Network Satellites
Satllite	Location	Launched	Type	Notes
EchoStar I	148° W	1995 28 December	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)	Dish Network appears to be in the process of moving international programming from this satellite to Anik F3 (118.75°), potentially as a precursor to discontinuing use of this satellite.
EchoStar II	148° W	1996 10 September	Lockheed Martin Astro Space Series 7000 (AS-7000)	On July 14, 2008, EchoStar 2 satellite experienced a substantial failure that appears to have rendered the satellite a total loss.
EchoStar III	61.50° W	1997 5 October	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
EchoStar IV	77° W (incline)	1998 8 May	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX	EchoStar IV at 77° W is not licensed to serve customers in the United States. EchoStar has placed the satellite in this Mexican controlled orbital slot to serve future DBS customers in Mexico.
EchoStar V	129° W	1999 23 September	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	EchoStar V was moved from 110 to 129 and is currently providing HD national and HD and SD local stations
EchoStar VI	72.7° W	2000 14 July	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	Currently only MPEG-4 programming.
EchoStar VII	119° W	2002 21 February	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
110° W	2002 21 August	Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) FS-1300
EchoStar IX/ Galaxy 23	121° W	2003 7 August	Space Systems/Loral FS-1300	Customers use SuperDISH 121 to receive this non-DBS, medium-powered signal. Satellite is jointly owned by EchoStar and Intelsat. The K_u band is owned by EchoStar. K_a band payload owned by EchoStar and not currently in use. C band payload owned by Intelsat and is known as Galaxy 23. Non-DBS Programming has now been removed from EchoStar IX and is being provided from 118.7
EchoStar X	110° W	2006 15 February	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space A2100AX
Echostar XII/ Rainbow 1	61.5° W	2003 17 July	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	Rainbow 1 was launched by Cablevision/Rainbow DBS and used for the Voom DBS service at 61.5° W until the satellite and transponder licenses were sold to EchoStar in 2005. March 2006 saw DISH Network rename it to EchoStar 12. It is co-located with EchoStar III at 61.5° W.
AMC-15	105 °W	2004 14 October	Lockheed-Martin AS-2100	Customers use SuperDISH 105 to receive this signal. Non-DBS, medium-power AMC-15 is owned by SES Americom and replaced AMC-2 at the 105° W orbital location. EchoStar leases the entire bandwidth of the AMC-15 satellite. Non-DBS Programming has now been removed from AMC-15 and is being provided from 118.7
Anik F3	118.75° W	2007 12 April	Astrium Eurostar 3000	Customers use the 26-centimeter DISH 500+ or DISH 1000+ to receive this non-DBS, medium-powered signal. Anik F3 is leased by EchoStar from Telesat Canada to serve CONUS customers. It broadcasts on non-DBS FSS frequencies using circular polarity (the only satellite serving the United States in this mode). It permanently replaces AMC-16 which was temporarily placed at 118.75° W due to delays in Anik F3 production. AMC-16 moved back to 85° W when Anik F3 was fully operational.
AMC-14 (satellite)	61.5°	2008 March 14	Lockheed-Martin A2100AX	Satellite Launch Failure, not in intended orbit
EchoStar XI	110 °W	2008 16 July	SS/L 1300
EchoStar 15	TBD	TBD	unknown	Announced 2008