Television receive-only
Reception of free-to-air satellite signals, generally Ku band Digital Video Broadcasting, for home viewing is still common in Europe and India, although the TVRO nomenclature was never used there.
On October 18, 1979, the FCC began allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.
Switching between horizontal and vertical polarization was accomplished by a small electric servo motor that moved a probe inside the feedhorn throat at the command of the receiver (commonly called a "polarotor" setup).
[citation needed] By Spring of 1984, 18 C-Band satellites were in use for United States domestic communications, owned by five different companies.
[8] Once a user paid for a dish, it was possible to receive even premium movie channels, raw feeds of news broadcasts or television stations from other areas.
The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 clarified all of these matters, making the following legal:[9][6][10] This created a framework for the wide deployment of encryption on analog satellite signals.
It further created a framework (and implicit mandate to provide) subscription services to TVRO consumers to allow legal decryption of those signals.
This sentiment, and a collapse in the sales of TVRO equipment in early 1986, led to the April 1986 attack on HBO's transponder on Galaxy 1.
[12] Scrambling would also lead to the development of pay-per-view,[10] as demonstrated by the early adoption of encryption by Request Television, and Viewer's Choice.
[14] The growth of dishes receiving Ku band signals in North America was limited by the Challenger disaster, since 75 satellites were to be launched prior to the suspension of the Space Shuttle program.
However, a consequence of the higher frequency used for DBS services is rain fade where viewers lose signal during a heavy downpour.
C-band's immunity to rain fade is one of the major reasons the system is still used as the preferred method for television broadcasters to distribute their signal.
The mountainous terrain of West Virginia, for example, makes reception of over-the-air television broadcasts (especially in the higher UHF frequencies) very difficult.
They became much more popular in the mid-1980s when dish sizes decreased to about six to ten feet, but have always been a source of much consternation (even local zoning disputes) due to their perception as an eyesore.
Until this time ships had not been able to receive television signals from satellites due to their rocking motion rendering reception impossible.
The SeaTel antenna however was stabilized using electrically driven gyroscopes and thus made it possible to point to the satellite accurately enough, that is to within 2°, in order to receive a signal.
The stock LNBs fitted to typical BUDs will usually need to be replaced with one of a lower noise temperature to receive digital broadcasts.
With a suitable replacement LNB (provided there is no warping of the reflector) a BUD can be used to receive free-to-air (FTA) and DBS signals.
BUDs can still be seen at antenna farms for these reasons, so that video and backhauls can be sent to and from the television network with which a station is affiliated, without interruption due to inclement weather.
