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Arthur C. Clarke's Vision

Sir Arthur C. Clarke is generally credited with coming up with the concept of

using satellites in geosynchronous orbits to relay communications signals around

the world. In his honor, these are sometimes referred to as Clarke orbits. A

geosynchronous orbit simply means that the satellite is placed at an altitude of

22,300 miles above the earth's equator and travels at the same speed as the earth's rotational

speed. This keeps the satellite in the same spot above the earth at all times.

Clarke wrote an article titled "Extraterrestrial Relays", which was published

in Wireless World Magazine back in 1945. In his article Clarke, envisioned

three 'space platforms' placed at 22,300 miles above the earth and that worldwide

communications could thus be achieved.

Father of Satellite TV

But it is H. Taylor Howard a Stanford University Professor and former NASA scientist

Emeritus, who is generally acknowledged as the 'Father

of Satellite TV'. Howard designed and built the first satellite antenna and receiver

in his San Andreas, California garage in 1976. Howard died in a plane crash in 2002

at the age of 70. Now 32 years after Howards invention, it is doubtful that he

could have envisioned the quantum leap that satellite TV technology has made.

First Satellite - Sputnik

The very first satellite ever placed into earth orbit was Sputnik, which was launched

by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The launch of Sputnik began what is commonly

referred to as the "space race". The United States answered with the successful

launch of Explorer I on January 1, 1958. Later that same year, NASA was created on Oct. 1, 1958, to perform civilian research related to space flight and aeronautics.

First Communications Satellite - Syncom II

The first communication satellite named Syncom II was developed by a group of businesses and government entities in 1963. Syncom II orbited at 22,300 miles over the Atlantic; the first

actual satellite communication was on July 26, 1963, between a U.S. Navy ship in Lagos,

Nigeria and the U.S. Army naval station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. However it wasn't

until 1978 that the television industry began using satellite communication for the

television industry. In 1975 a BBC engineer by the name of Stephen Birkill

built an experimental system for receiving Satellite Instructional Television.

Over the next three years Birkill continued to work on his system and in 1978 he

met Bob Cooper, a cable TV technical journalist and amateur radio enthusiast in the U.S

and Cooper invited Birkill to a cable TV operator's conference and trade show CC)S-78.

It was at the trade show that several satellite TV enthusiasts decided to help Birkill

with his experiments. Also, on March 1, 1978 the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

introduced the Public Television Satellite Serivce and as satellite technology

improved it was used more and more by broadcasters.

Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)

In 1980, the FCC established the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), a new service

that consisted of a broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit, facilities for

transmitting signals to the satellite, and receiving equipment (black box) needed for people to access the signals. In turn, broadcasters developed methods of scrambling their signals,

forcing consumers to purchase a decoder, or a direct to home (DTH) satellite receiver,

from a satellite program provider. Before this signals could be receive by anyone

with a dish at no charge. Both DISH Network and DIRECTV are Direct Broadcast Satellite

providers. Soon after from 1981 to the early 1990's the 'big dish' market soared.

You could see these big ugly dishes a mile away. But they were cumbersome and very

hard to install.

As this stage of satellite TV development; it was much easier to

just have cable TV. Also the average cost of pruchasing a satellite dish and system

back in 1980 was a staggering $10,000. By 1985 that cost had dropped to around

$3,000., but still a hefty price to pay. In 1984 the U.S. Congress passed the 1984

Cable Act. This Act allowed for cable providers to scramble their transmission signals

thus bringing an end to the days of free satellite TV. In short, the 1984 Cable Act made

it illegal to steal satellite signals without paying for the programming.

Satellite TV - Enter DIRECTV and DISH Network

In the early 1990's four large cable companies joined together to launch a Direct

Broadcast Satellite company named Primestar. In June of 1994 the Hughes DIRECTV

Satellite System was launched. DIRECTV later purchased Primestar.

DIRECTV pioneered the development of the mini-dish, a small 18" diameter dish.

Today, DIRECTV boasts over 16 million households that have DIRECTV service. In 1996 the DISH Network Company a division of EchoStar Communications Corporation was formed and DISH now boasts over 13 million U.S. households with DISH Network Satellite Service. Both companies now

offer hundreds of programming channels to watch and each offers over 70 national channels

in High-Definition (HD). Both DIRECTV and DISH Network also offer dozens of satellite

radio channels and both have now gotten into providing High Speed Internet service.

Where satellite dishes alone once costs $10,.000., today both the satellite giants

offer complete satellite systems, including the satellite dish for free.

Today satellite TV is broadcast all over the world; making Arthur C. Clarke's dream a reality.

G Alan Davis is owner of Digital Dish, has over five years experience in the satellite TV business, selling both DIRECTV and DISH Network and has written numerous articles on the subject.

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