Key:
A – Analogue
D – Digital
75 degreesE:
LMI-1
D The Ukrainian radio multiplex continues to be observed on 12569MHz vertical. The bouquet contains ten radio stations, RadioRetro – A4100, Radio 6 – A4101, Radio 7 – A4102, Radio 8 – A4103, Radio 9 – A4104, Radio 10 – A4105 which are all encoded. In the clear are; SubStation 2000 – A4097, RadioDynamit – A4098 and RadioNewLife – A4099.
68.5 degreesE:
PAS-4 & 7
D China’s new all-news channel CCTV 9 has launched on 4086MHz vertical, VPID 519, APID 647 in Irdeto encoded MPEG-2.
60 degreesE:
Intelsat 604
A Late on the evening of December 24 live coverage of a procession at St Peters in Rome was fed over 4166MHz RHCP and 4188MHz RHCP in clear Pal (see also Intelsat 603 at 24.5 degrees West).
50 degreesE:
Anatolia 1
D This new craft has reached its geostationary slot here. It is currently unoccupied and is inclined by 1.5 degrees. The satellite carries a payload of 24 C-Band transponders and 4 Ku-Band transponders centred on 10990, 11150, 11490 and 11650MHz. So far no details of the footprints are available.
47.5 degreesE:
Eruope*Star B
D The Bulgarian channel, TV 7 Dni (7 Days) which was previously available via Sirius at 5 degrees East, appeared here for two or three days before Christmas on 12558MHz vertical, SR 8680, FEC 3/4, VPID 60, APID 61 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The channel has now left the frequency.
45 degreesE:
Europe*Star 1
D Europe*Star 1 capacity is to be used by Electroteks, a broadcast company based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to supply Europe with two Sri Lankan TV channels. The channels, which broadcast programmes in the Tamil and Sinhalese languages are expected to be available within the next three months. The satellite footprint covers all of Europe at 52 dBW. 24 Ku- Band transponders are on board which operate in the frequency range 11468MHz to 12732MHz.
42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C
D AzTV 1, which hails from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, has changed Symbol Rate to 3750 on 11607MHz horizontal. AzTV 1 uses Turksat’s Turkish beam, which unfortunately does not make the trip to the UK. Another interactive service, Futbol Aktif, has joined the StarDigital line-up on 11469MHz vertical, VPID 1050, APID 1051.
36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & SESAT
D The Turkish channel TRT International has launched via an SCPC carrier here on 12692 MHz vertical, SR 3030, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2. The TV channel is accompanied by three radio services, TRT FM, Voice of Turkey General Service and Voice of Turkey Foreign service. Down at 12245 MHz RHCP Deutsche Welle TV has opened via PIDs V330, A414 via Eutelsat-W4’s Russian beam. BK TV from Serbia has launched here on 12709 MHz vertical, SR 3002, FEC 2/3, VPID 4194, APID 4195. This is the feed from Belgrade for downlinking in Israel (see also Hotbird at 13 degrees East).
28.5 degreesE:
Kopernikus DFS2 & Eutelsat II-F4
D Music channel Deejay TV has launched on 12718MHz vertical, SR 2892, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2 (see also Hotbird at 13 degrees East). In the CzechLink package on 11554MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC _ both CT1 and CT2, the Czech Republics domestic TV channels, are currently free-to-air. Normally they are encoded in Cryptoworks.
28.2 degreesE:
Astra 1D/2A, 2B & 2D
D Astra-2D was launched successfully from Kourou on December 20 at 00:26. The new craft is currently at around 24 degrees East where some transponder tests will be carried out prior to moving to this slot. The Community Channel is now on the air from 10:30-19:30 daily on 12188MHz horizontal. The Urdu language channel from Reminiscent TV, Anjuman, has started regular programmes on 12402MHz vertical, VPID 2320, APID 2321. EuroNews will be available to Sky Digital viewers from April, but via the “back door”. The channel, which is run by ITN, broadcasts in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) will launch via capacity on the new Eurobird satellite which is to be positioned at 28.5 degrees East, just 0.3 degrees from the Astra constellation. Sky mini dishes should be capable of picking up the signal without any adjustments having to be made.
This must be a major boost to EuroNews with a new potential audience of some four million Sky viewers. It looks like ITV2 and a new children’s channel, CITV, will launch via Sky Digital by the end of 2001. Although talks are still continuing there is still no firm information about when ITV will join the package but their inclusion in the package is thought to be imminent. New science offering, The Einstein Channel, is set for a January 25 launch on Sky. The channel will broadcast from 18:00-24:00 weekdays and 09:00-20:00 weekends. The weekend output will be via the S4C digital stream. There is a new Sky 16:9 testcard on 11778MHz vertical, V515, A643. The Money Channel has replaced Discovery Kids and Discovery Wings at 12324MHz vertical, VPID 2305, APID 2306. Family Radio International 2 from the US broadcaster WYFR has launched on 12402MHz vertical via APID 2336.
26 degreesE:
Arabsat 2A & 3A
D The Lebanese channel LBC Sat has launched on 11766MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 3960, APID 3920 in free-to-air MPEG-2.
21.5 degreesE:
Eutelsat II-F3
D As the media circus descended on Dornoch in Scotland for the Madonna wedding several broadcasters were using Eutelsat-II-F3 capacity on December 21. At 14:15 11040MHz horizontal was carrying a live feed from that location whilst the BBC were using their uplink UKI534 on 12506MHz horizontal.
19.2 degreesE:
Astra 1A-C & E-H
D The French digital bouquet from ABSat on 12266MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 is now available in Viaccess as well as Seca encryption. This Astra mini-package is available as part of the Canal Satellite Numerique as an add-on option entitled “Découverte”. It contains AB 1, Moteurs, XXL, Escales and ZIK. In the CSN platform at 11739 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 there is a new children’s channel on offer. TiJi, which is produced by Canal J, is aimed at the under-7s. As with all of the channels here, TiJi is encoded in Mediaguard. RTL 7 has opened within the UPC Direct package on 11876MHz horizontal, VPID 160, APID 80 in Cryptoworks encoded MPEG-2. On 11876MHz horizontal MTV Polska has launched via PIDs V162, A84 in Cryptoworks encoded MPEG-2.
A The IC Radio Network, an in-store radio service from Germany, has launched on 11288MHz vertical, on the back of Sat 1. Five audio subcarriers are used by the service, 7.74, 7.90, 8.12, 8.36 and 8.48MHz. IC previously used the audio baseband behind Viva at 11127MHz vertical. Tamil Broadcasting, a radio service in the Tamil and Sinhalese languages, has launched on the back of SWR at 10892MHz horizontal via the 7.75MHz sub-carrier.
16 degreesE:
Eutelsat W2
D The satellite relay of the Dutch Amateur Television repeater, PI6ALK, has returned to 12729MHz horizontal, SR 2000, FEC 3/4, VPID 4130, APID 4131 in clear MPEG-2 after a short break. On December 21 at 13:10 a live feed from Dornoch on northern Scotland, the scene of Madonna’s “wedding of the year” was sighted on 12540MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 for the US network NBC in clear MPEG-2/NTSC. Another feed from the same location was observed on 11050MHz vertical, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, V308, A256 at 18:32 on the same day. The following day CBS were using 12544MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4 at 15:30, also from Dornoch. Live coverage of Midnight Mass from Bethlehem was fed over 12551MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in clear MPEG-2/NTSC on December 24 at 22:00.
13 degreesE:
HOTBIRDS 1/2/3/4/5
D The up market shopping channel, WishLine, on 12418MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, has launched two more language soundtracks. These are English on APID 89 and French on APID 93. Also, Marco Polo has an additional Polish soundtrack on APID 81 on the same frequency. TV de Mauritanie from the remote West African country of Mauritania is new to digital satellite DTH on 12111MHz vertical, VPID 230, APID 231 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The channel, which is based in Nouakchott, the capital city, has been available via C-Band analogue capacity on Arabsat 2B at 30.5 degrees East for some considerable time. Radio Romania Actualitati has launched on 11623MHz vertical via APID 257 in clear MPEG-2. Also within the Romanian mini-package here Romania Muzica has changed APID to 267. BK TV, which is an independent TV channel based in Belgrade, Serbia and is available terrestrially in some parts of the country, has launched a satellite service on 12220MHz horizontal, SR 6161, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2. The signal arrives here via Israel. It is uplinked from Belgrade onto Eutelsat Sesat at 36 degrees East, and turned around in Israel onto Hotbird. BK TV has been showing some live Premiership soccer matches since it’s arrival on satellite. The games are broadcast in the clear but the video quality is very poor to say the least. At present it is unclear as to the origins of these games but the free-to-air coverage is likely to get stamped on very soon. On December 30 BK TV aired the Ipswich-Vs-Tottenham match live and in full. The BK TV website at http://www.bktv.com/program/sema.html lists forthcoming matches to be shown. RTL 102.5 has been replaced by RTL 102.5 Classics on 11623MHz vertical, APID 254. BET International from Black Entertainment Television has vacated 11034MHz vertical. TF6, the new French channel produced from a joint effort by TF1 and M6 (see Transponder Monitor Nov 29, 2000) is testing on 10911MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 720, APID 730. ART Ala Keefak has been replaced by TV d’Algerie on 12015MHz horizontal, VPID 169, APID 116. The North African channel is encoded in Viaccess. In the GlobeCast package on 12596MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, Radio Telefis …ireann 1 (RTE) from Ireland has launched in clear MPEG-2 via APID 2120. Two new adult channels are set to launch on 11623MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 223, APID 243 on January 20. They are Channel X, which will air erotic programming during the day and Ultra Blue which plans to transmit hardcore programming from 20:00-02:00 nightly. At present a fairly raunchy promo video is running on the stream. Euro Mediterraneo is coming and going at 12520MHz vertical. The channel has been absent from here for some time. Arab News Network (ANN) has launched an additional outlet on 11623MHz vertical, VPID 228, APID 248 in free-to-air MPEG-2.
7 degreesE:
Eutelsat W3
D The EBU have launched a regional news exchange service for south east Europe using Eutelsat-W3 capacity. The Eurovision Regional News Exchange provides Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia with access to news items from the member countries via the new satellite service. TV5 Europe is new on 11262MHz horizontal, SR 20000, FEC 2/3, VPID 4202, APID 4203 in clear MPEG-2. TV – The Technology Channel has launched on 11623MHz horizontal, SR 5398, FEC 5/6, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2.
5 degreesE:
Sirius 2/3
D Ten new audio streams have joined the Viasat package at 11977MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. They are; Club Dance – A2215, Golden Oldies – A2217, Jazz – A2219, Rock – A2221, Classic – A2223, Disco – A2225, Easy – A2227, Soul R&B – A2229, Star FM – A2231 and Power Hit Radio – A2233. TV3 Lithuania and TV3 Latvia have switched to Viaccess encryption on 11881MHz horizontal. There are some new channels available on 11881MHz horizontal too. Gameplay Portal is a new interactive service and two versions of Russia’s Ostankino TV, for Estonia (V5021, A5022) and Lithuania (V5031, A5032) have launched here as well as Nickelodeon Scandinavia, TV 6 and Playboy TV, who share a stream on PIDs V5041, A5042. Nickelodeon airs from 05:00-17:00, TV 6 from 17:00-23:00 and Playboy from 23:00-03:00. Religious radio stations Family Radio and Family Radio International 1 are both now encoded on 12453MHz horizontal. A new interactive service and a software download stream have joined the Viasat multiplex on 12054MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. They are Vader Nyheter and Humax Download SVC.
0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707
D The Chinese state TV channel, CCTV 4, has launched on 11174MHz horizontal, VPID 518, APID 644 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Also CCTV 9, an all-news channel, has started via PIDs V522, A652 on the same frequency. A Stockholm based terrestrial radio station, Radio City 105.9, has launched on 12476MHz horizontal, APID 652 in clear MPEG-2. A new Bulgarian channel, Eurokom, has launched in the Bulgarian mini-package on 12169MHz horizontal, VPID 518, APID 664 in clear MPEG-2.
5 degreesW:
Telecom 2C
D Telecom 2C has now reached this position from 3 degrees East and has taken over duties from 2B.
7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102
D Al-Manar TV, the official Hizbollah TV station, has launched on 12054MHz vertical via PIDs V2003, A3006 in clear MPEG-2.
8 degreesW:
Telecom 2A/D
D A new bouquet from Sitcom World has launched on 12677MHz vertical, SR 10413, FEC 5/6 in clear MPEG-2. It contains three Italian independent channels, Nuvolari – V176, A177, Espresso – V192, A193 and Leonardo – V208, A209.
11 degreesW:
Express 3A
D The multiplex which contained RTS Sat and four radio channels from Serbia on 11518MHz vertical has made an unceremonious exit from Express-3A. Apparently RTS owe approximately 500,000 US Dollars to the satellite’s owners in unpaid carriage charges.
A Voice of Russia has launched on the back of ORT on 3675MHz RHCP via the 8.60MHz sub-carrier. Radio Rossii already occupies the 7.50MHz slot and ORT TV audio can be found at 7.0 and 8.80MHz.
15 degreesW:
Telstar 12
D Hallmark UK has been replaced by a Hallmark promo on 11534MHz horizontal, SR 14999, FEC 3/4. China Television News North America on 12617MHz horizontal is switching in and out of Irdeto encryption.
21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS-803 & NSS-K
D On December 12 at 10:15 a live westbound feed featuring President Clinton’s visit to the UK was relayed on 11687MHz vertical, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to- air MPEG-2/NTSC. The pre feed caption read “US TV POOL PATH 1. COVENTRY/UK”.
24.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 603
A Live coverage of a Christmas Mass from St Peter’s Basilica in Rome was fed over 4188MHz RHCP in clear Pal on December 24 at 2330 (see also Intelsat-604 at 60 degrees East).
30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C
D The all-news channel, SIC Noticias from Portugal, has replaced another news channel CNL on 11811MHz horizontal, VPID 7968, APID 7969 in clear MPEG-2.
34.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 601
D There has been some rare Ku-Band feed activity here of late. Irish state broadcaster RTE is using 11149MHz vertical, SR 4700, FEC 3/4 for occasional feed traffic using 601’s European beam. In the early hours a Christmas Day a feed featuring a recording of the Pope attending a Christmas Eve procession in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome was fed over the feed transponder at 4166MHz RHCP in clear NTSC. Presumably this was destined for Latin America.
37.5 degreesW:
Telstar 11 & Columbia 515
D Some occasional feed traffic from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange have been using 11567MHz vertical, SR 2528, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2. This was the former home of the Polish children’s channel, Fantastic, which is a spin-off from Nickelodeon.
40.5 degreesW:
NSS-806
D Canal 26 from Argentina has launched on 3965MHz LHCP in encoded MPEG. Up at 4045MHz Fox Sports Espanol is a new addition via PIDs V1160, A1120 in MPEG-2/PowerVu. In the Bolivian multiplex at 3917MHz RHCP, SR 20260, FEC 3/4, VPID 1760, APID 1720, Canal 18 TV Catolica is once again encoded after a period in the clear.
43 degreesW:
PAS-3R & PAS-6
D The Mexican Televisa bouquet is switching in and out of encryption once again on 12584MHz vertical.