Why does a TV Satellite Dish have to face South?

There are more than a handful of satellites in the sky that practically cover every part of the earth.


Why then does a TV satellite dish have to face south to catch TV signals?


What's stopping these companies from making their signals available for all directions?|||TV satellites are all in geosynchronous orbit over the equator. That's necessary so that they appear to be in one position. If you're anywhere in the northern hemisphere, your dish antenna has to be pointed at some southerly direction toward the equator. The actual azimuth bearing depends on which satellite you need to receive.





TV satellites don't transmit in all directions. Their transmitting antennas are directed at a specific "footprint" in their target area. For example, Dish and DirecTv serve the U.S., with different transmitter beams covering different segments of the nation.





If the transmitted signal was broadcast in all directions, the power level of the signal would be too weak to be useful. Concentrating the signal into a tight beam allows it to be received on the surface from a distance of some 22,000 miles.|||Not all TV satellite dishes have to face south.


Yours does because it is a K band system (like Direct TV uses) via a satellite in a geostationary orbit.





Geostationary orbits can only be accomplished with equatorial orbits, and since you are in the northern hemisphere this means the satellite will always be south of you.





Very few communication satellites use polar orbits, or any orbit inclined out of the equatorial plane for that matter, to prevent the need for constant reaming of the receiver dish.|||Because you are north of Texas (where the satellites are in space) to get signal.





Best option is to get cable: http://www.sathookup.com/charter-cable.p鈥?/a> if you don't have line of sight needed to obtain satellite signal.