SID
The SID corresponds to the Channel number of the digital provider. For example, on EchoStar 7 the NASA channel SID is 213. If you tune your Dish Network receiver to channel 213 you will receive the NASA channel.
Transponder
The abbreviation or acronym often used is TP. The word Transponder is itself the abbreviated concatenation of two words, transmitter and responder. The transponder on a satellite in space receives signals from the earth and transmits signals back to the earth, usually on another frequency.
Multiple channels can now be put on the same transponder frequency as a result of compression technology. For example, the NASA channel is one of 13 total channels on transponder 11 at frequency 12370 of the satellite EchoStar 7.
Transponder frequency is typically in Mhz (Megahertz). There is also polarity to be observed when tuning a receiver. The polarity can be denoted as L = Left, R = right for circularly polarized DBS satellites and H = horizontal, V = vertical for linearly polarized satellites.
FEC
FEC is Forward Error Correction, which is an encoding scheme to sense and correct errors in the digital bit stream segments as received and decoded by the receiver. Convolutional coding is stated as a fraction.
Due to noise issues there can be many errors during the reception of a satellite broadcast. The receiver cannot notify the transmitter about the error since a receiver can only receive. So error correction data is also sent along with the regular satellite signal, it is provided without the receiver even asking.
SR
SR is the Symbol Rate, the rate in MHz in which segments of digital data are transmitted and received. This can be compared to the term "bitrate" or "baud" used in the computer world.
Example 1: The NASA FTA Channel on EchoStar 7
NASA Channel reception info:
- Satellite: EchoStar 7
- Transponder Number: 11
- Transponder Frequency: 12370
- Transponder Polarity: Vertical
- SR and FEC: 20000, 5/6
- Encryption: none
- SID: 213
Example 2: The FOX News Channel on EchoStar 7
Fox News Channel reception info:
- Satellite: EchoStar 7
- Transponder Number: 6
- Transponder Frequency: 12297
- Transponder Polarity: Horizontal
- SR and FEC: 20000, 5/6
- Encryption: Nagravision 2/3
- SID: 205
12297/H/20000/5/6
LyngSat Chart for EchoStar 7 and EchoStar 8/10
The most up to date information can be found at LyngSat.
* Lyngsat denotes an R for vertical and L for horizontal polarity for the DN LNB.