I honestly don't know whose idea it was, but all satellites are referred to by a two-character code. The first is a letter, the second is a number. Many of these are common and easy to understand: for instance, G7 normally refers to Galaxy 7.
The person who programs a satellite receiver can choose any satellite codes they wish, so GE-1 may be called W1 in one system and G1 in another. It pays to become familiar with your system and make notes about the abbreviations used to correspond to each satellite. These are generally accepted codes for the C-band satellites present from East to West in the sky as of Summer, 1998:
If you want to see a chart of all the North American satellites, go to the SATCO-DX site. Click on the name of any satellite in this chart to see a transponder and channel list for that satellite.
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Copyright 1997, Dr. Albert E. Powell, Jr.
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