Long trips: now you can watch TV channels from different satellites

In this post we will address the issue of long trips. When we talk about long trips we are not only referring to European routes, but those exceeding the limits of Europe.

In this type of travel, passengers can be of different nationalities in each case and therefore have a different predilection of TV channels. On the other hand, the satellite signal footprint is limited and it is not visible in the whole area of travel of these large routes.

It is also important to note that in these major travels we can feel the earth curvature and it makes a variation of the angle at which the antenna points to the satellite and therefore we should change the graduation of the antenna LNB (Low Noise Block) to keep the system running.

So, how can we still provide satellite TV?

To answer this question we will first:

Begin with the physical problem of the earth curvature and how it is affecting the signal reception. As mentioned above, in long trip, the look angle of the antenna varies with the satellite and that means that the graduation of the LNB has to be physically modified. In traditional systems, this modification consists of a manual adjustment of the antenna, which is unusual for a vehicle on route, as we would have to climb onto the roof, uncover the dish and manipulate it. Currently there are satellite dishes with an automatic system for the angle correction which is called “automatic skew”. Thanks to this technology we do not have to make any physical handling with the antenna, since this is responsible to have the optimum angle at all times.

We will continue responding jointly to the problem of limiting the satellites footprint and receiving channels from different satellites, which is closely related.

As we know satellites are designed to radiate in specific areas and therefore there are areas where we are not able to connect to some satellites. On the other hand, setting channels from different satellites to meet the passengers’ needs, with traditional antennas, would mean to make physical adjustments on the antenna to change the angle of the LNB in order to receive signal from a satellite or another. As mentioned before, this would be unusual for a vehicle on route as we would have to get onto the roof, uncover the dish and manipulate it again. That would be every time we had to change the satellite, either because the satellite tuned at that time would stop having signal (track) or because we would want channels that are on another satellite which obviously has footprint in that area too.

Thanks to the current systems, we are provided by advanced physical controllers that allow tracking the different satellites positions, so that selecting the satellite we want in the controller itself, the system is in charge of aligning automatically the LNB to receive the signal of this satellite. This makes changing satellites to be as simple as changing channels.

As you can see, providing satellite TV in long routes avoiding the impediments that it entails is only possible with the use of advanced satellite TV systems. This is the only way to do it with guaranteed success.

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