TRANSPONDER MONITOR

(A = Analog, D = Digital)

78.5 degreesE: S
Thaicom 2&3
D: MRTV, the Myanmar (Burma) based broadcaster, is testing a new international channel named MRTV 3 on 3675MHz horizontal, SR 5788, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2.

75 degreesE:
LMI 1
D: TV Sri Lanka and Radio Lanka have left 3400MHz horizontal and relocated to 410MHz horizontal, SR 5750, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APIDs 1120/1122. Both channels are testing here in clear MPEG-2 prior to launch.

68.5 degreesE:
PAS-4, 7 & 10
D: There is a new multiplex on 3835MHz horizontal, SR 19850, FEC 7/8 with BBC World – encoded – V2160, A2120, ARY Digital – V2260, A2220, feeds – V2360, A2320, B4U Music – V2460, A2420, B4U Entertainment – V2560, A2520 and testcard – V2660, A2620. The cable headend destined Turner multiplex has relocated to 3975MHz horizontal, SR 19500, FEC 3/4 in MPEG-2/PowerVu from 4114MHz horizontal. The line-up remains the same with Cartoon Network Middle East – V1160, A1120, HBO India – V1260, A1220 and CNN International India – V1360, A1320.

A: SAll of the channels previously available via PAS-4 have now been switched over to the new PAS-10. As a consequence signal levels have increased quite considerably in the South East tip of England. The strongest signals come from Discovery Channel India in BMac – 3784MHz, ESPN India, the US based sports network also in BMac on 3863MHz horizontal, Maharishi Open University (Pal) at 3905MHz vertical, MTV India (Pal) on 4035MHz horizontal.

60 degreesE:
Intelsat 604
D: Armenia TV has left 11478MHz vertical, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 1023, APID 1024 and has been replaced by a standard Russian type testcard.

42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1
D: The Turkish channel Mihr TV seems to have left 11146MHz vertical. Bayrak Radio and Television (BRT) from Northern Cyprus has left 12690MHz vertical and moved to 12675MHz horizontal, VPID 4196, APID 4197. The channel is encoded in Nagravision. BRT is also occupying a SCPC carrier at 11495MHz vertical, SR 2999, FEC 5/6, VPID 308, APID 256, ID: ‘BRT. ANA YAYIN’ in clear MPEG-2. 2 Gold Music has left 12675MHz horizontal and moved to BRT’s former frequency 12690MHz vertical. Kanal 7 has been replaced by Kanal 7 International on 11141MHz vertical, SR 4299, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Radyo 7 can be heard via APID 257. In the StarDigital package on 12652MHz horizontal, SR 22500, FEC 5/6 Teleon came under the wrath of the Turkish authorities with an enforced closedown for 24 hours on August 6 for violation of broadcasting regulations. Kral TV is now encoded in the StarDigital package on 12652MHz horizontal, SR 22500, FEC 5/6, VPID 1000, APID 1001. There is a free-to-air promo for the DigiTurk under the EPG banner ‘Lig TV’ on 12537MHz horizontal, SR 6500, FEC 3/4, VPID 288, APID 272. The UK radio stations on 12675MHz horizontal, PrimeTime Radio, Virgin Radio, Capital Gold, Heart 106.2 FM and The Storm are all now encoded.

A: Isik TV has vacated 12518MHz horizontal from where it had been present in clear Pal. Replacing the channel is a caption in Turkish advising viewers to change over to Eutelsat W3 at 7 degrees East, 11658MHz vertical, SR 30000, FEC 3/4, VPID 2100, APID 2200 in MPEG-2.

40 degreesE:
Gorizont 31
D: Now that Telekanal Kultura has left 3741MHz RHCP, SR 4028, FEC 2/3 the stream has been taken over by the Russian channel RTR. Radio Rossii can be heard here on APID 35 (left channel) but Radio Svoboda has left the right channel.

36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & Sesat
D: Following a short period of tests ART Telenet launched on 12328MHz LHCP, SR 3500, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2 last week. A few days later the channel moved to 12356MHz LHCP, SR 3500, FEC 3/4, V4194, A4195.

30.5 degreesE:
Arabsat 2B
D: Bahrain TV has launched on 12712MHz vertical, SR 4686, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in clear MPEG-2. Lebanon’s Tele-Liban has a new free-to-air outlet on 12731MHz vertical, SR 3036, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34.

28.2 degreesE:
Astra 2A, 2B & 2D & Eurobird
D: Real Radio, a regional radio station from Wales, is testing on 12324MHz vertical, APID 659, Sky Channel 896 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The Asian Gold Radio test transmissions on 12344MHz horizontal via APID 2331 have ceased to be replaced by EWTN Radio tests. Sky Box Office Ch.14 switched to 10876MHz vertical from 11914MHz horizontal recently but on August 1 the channel returned to 11914MHz. Sky Box Office Ch.19 is now available on 10876MHz vertical after leaving 11934MHz vertical. On 10862MHz horizontal The Disney Channel UK has joined the line-up in VideoGuard encoded MPEG-2 via VPID 2315, APID 2316. Radio service SBN (Student Broadcast Network) has launched on 12402MHz vertical, APID 2326. SBN is currently in the clear but will no doubt encode later. S4C2, which carries the proceedings from the Welsh Assembly, vacated 12129MHz vertical briefly last week but has now returned. Sky Sports 3 has opened on 11758MHz horizontal via VPID 2314, APID 2315 in MPEG-2/Videoguard. The two promotional channels, Sky Digital Line-Up and Sky Welcome have vacated 12148MHz horizontal and re-appeared on 12207MHz vertical. The PPV service U Direct has ceased broadcasting without warning. The company has gone into liquidation. All of its movie channels have left 12110MHz horizontal and 12402MHz vertical and U Direct Sport has left 12402MHz vertical. The four Sky Box Office channels (Ch. 36-39) on 10921MHz horizontal, SR 22000, FEC 5/6, VPIDs 512/513/514/515, APIDs 640/641/642/643 which had been enjoying a free-to-air period have now encoded once again. The Chinese language channel PCNE on 11758MHz horizontal has changed PIDs to V2332, A2333. The channel is on air from 18:00 to 02:00 in clear MPEG-2. The PIDs for several of the channels on 12129MHz vertical have been changed. The current parameters are; S4C2 – V2313, A2315, Simply Shopping – V2326, A2327, B4U Movies – V2317, A2318 and Zee TV – V2323, A2325. Another soccer club TV channel, Chelsea TV, has appeared in the EPG on 12480MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2320, APID 2320, Sky Digital channel 427. So far only a testcard is carried on the stream, encoded in Videoguard but the channel is launching on August 13 and will cost subscribers GBP6.00 per month. The Christian channel TBN has joined the Sky Digital line-up at Channel 652. The two Asian radio services mentioned in Transponder Monitor August 1, Asian Gold Radio and Sukh Sagar Radio, have been carrying out tests over the past two weeks and will join Sky Digital very soon, probably at Channels 900 and 901. The three Red Hot adult channels have launched on 11954MHz horizontal. Red Hot Films – Sky Channel 989, Red Hot Amateur – Ch. 990 and Red Hot Euro – Ch. 991 are all encoded in Videoguard. These channel previously occupied 12110MHz horizontal. Sky Premier Widescreen has left 11758MHz horizontal and relocated to 11836MHz horizontal, VPID 2319, APID 2320. On 11758MHz horizontal a Premiership Plus promo is being played out via PIDs V2309, A2325, Ch. 432. The History Channel has launched on 12188MHz horizontal, VPID 2311, APID 2312.

26 degreesE:
Arabsat 2A & 3A
A: In the audio baseband behind Kuwait TV on 4167MHz RHCP the Main Arabic Programme from Radio Kuwait has moved to the 7.80MHz subcarrier.

24.2 degreesE:
Astra 1D
D: A Channel D promo has launched via an SCPC carrier at 10714MHz horizontal, SR 2170, FEC 3/4, VPID 309, APID 325 in clear MPEG-2/NTSC.

23.5 degreesE:
Kopernikus DFS1
D: A new free-to-air MediaVision package has appeared on 12720MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 containing ATV – V631, A632, TV Polonia – V641, A642, Kanal D – V651, A652, RTP Internacional – V661, A662 and ERT Sat – V671, A672. An exact copy of this multiplex has started on 12591MHz vertical, SR 26500, FEC 3/4.

19.2 degreesE:
Astra 1A-C & E-H
D: On 11720MHz horizontal Superdom 6 is new in Betacrypt encoded MPEG-2. Up at 12070MHz horizontal Superdom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 have launched along with a new German soccer channel, Bundesliga Konferenz. Animal Planet has launched on 12344MHz horizontal, VPID 164, APID 96 in Mediaguard encoded MPEG-2.

A: Promo channel Astra Vision has opened on 11538MHz vertical in clear Pal with audio via the 7.02 and 7.20MHz subcarriers. The channel is stream-sharing with The GOD Channel which airs here from 05:00-11:00. Astra Vision occupies the stream during GOD’s downtime. The GOD Channel was previously occupying 10832MHz horizontal with a rather unlikely bed- fellow (so to speak), Television X – The Fantasy Channel. Both channels have now left this transponder. Sky One is switching in and out of VideoCrypt encryption on 11318MHz vertical in Pal and is here in clear Pal for some lengthy periods. Maybe this is the final parting gift from the channel before the great Sky analogue switch off is completed.

16 degreesE:
Eutelsat W2
D: The Portuguese channel SIC Internacional has returned to its usual encoded state on 12568MHz horizontal after a period in the clear. The new channel from the Tunisian Islamist Opposition, Zeitouna TV, has commenced regular programming on 11021MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. As stated in Transponder Monitor August 1, this channel airs on Wednesdays and Saturdays only from 20:00-22:00. A Royal Bank of Scotland promo is being played out over the ‘TSP Service 311’ stream within the BT Digital package on 11304MHz vertical, SR 30000, FEC 3/4, VPID 2600, APID 2601 in clear MPEG-2. Also in the same package via VPID 2574, APID 2575, ID: ‘BTV 5’ a caption is displayed stating ‘Test signal from TV studio – For Helpline phone 0800 554 444’. MTV Italia is still in the clear on 11083MHz horizontal, SR 11313, FEC 5/6, VPID 33, APID 34.

A: Television X -The Fantasy Channel, which has just left Astra at 19.2 degrees East, has been using 11178MHz vertical in VideoCrypt encoded Pal for the past few nights.

13 degreesE:
Eutelsat Hotbird 1/2/3/4/5
D: ART Iqra is now encoded in Viaccess on 12015MHz horizontal. Also in the ART multiplex, ART Europe has been replaced by Nile Drama on VPID 164, APID 96. The RAI Lab testcard has vacated 11766MHz vertical. The Dubai Sports Channel has left 12654MHz horizontal along with UAE Radio Dubai. Romania’s Pro FM is new via two streams on 12198MHz horizontal, APIDs 1120 & 1122. This is a cable headend feed in MPEG-2/PowerVu. The parameters for the Discovery multiplex have been changed to SR 27500, FEC 3/4. BET International from Black Entertainment Television has switched to encoded MPEG-2 from the free-to-air transmissions which have been present here for some time. A new French interactive service entitled Astrologie has launched on 10834MHz horizontal. In the Alpha bouquet for Greece on 10949MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 a free-to-air promo is present on VPID 7484, APID 7485 under the ID ‘A-Life’. A new radio station, Radio Zeta, is testing within the Italian Telespazio package on 12673MHz vertical, SR 26500, FEC 3/4, APID 220. The range of Spanish radio stations in the TVE package on 11785MHz horizontal is expanding. In this package you can hear Radio 1 – A3523, Radio Clasica – A3531, Radio 2 – A3539, Radio Exterior de Espana – A3547 and Radio 5 – A3555. Also on this frequency TVE Internacional Europe has replaced TVE Internacional Asia/Pacific. TVE Internacional Europe has vacated 12092MHz horizontal. Italian radio station Radio 24 has launched a free-to-air service on 12558MHz vertical, APID 6923. MTV Lebanon has joined the line-up at 12111MHz vertical, VPID 200, APID 201 in clear MPEG. The Middle Eastern channel is stream sharing with Krisma TV. In addition to the free-to-air signal from Zee Cinema on 12476MHz horizontal Zee TV UK is now also in the clear here.

A: Radio Sweden has switched off its analogue service which could be found on the 7.38MHz audio subcarrier at 10853MHz horizontal. RAI Med has left 11388MHz horizontal but is still available in digital format on 11766MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 from this orbital slot. Test transmissions for the new Polish all-news channel TVN24 are being relayed on 11218MHz vertical in clear Pal with audio on 6.65MHz.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat W1
D: Feed traffic for the Turkish domestic network TRT is carried on 10957MHz horizontal, SR 3099, FEC 7/8, VPID 33, APID 34, ID: ‘Service 1’ in free-to-air MPEG-2.

7 degreesE:
Eutelsat W3
D: The four Turkish state owned domestic TV channels, TRT 1-4, are available in clear MPEG-2 on 11492MHz vertical, SR 30000, FEC 3/4. At 11533MHz vertical Salon 7 is now encoded but Kanal 7 is free-to-air at present. Istanbul FM and Capital Radio (the Turkish one – not the London based FM station) have replaced Radyo Mega and Star FM on APIDs 2504 and 2505 in encoded MPEG-2.

5 degreesE:
Sirius 2/3
D: ORT Estonia and ORT Lithuania have switched from clear MPEG-2 to Conax encryption on 11881MHz horizontal. These two channels are regional versions of Russia’s Ostankino TV.

3 degreesE:
Telecom 2B
Telecom 2B has now left this geostationary slot and is drifting very slowly eastwards.

0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707
D: TV Travel Shop 2 UK is using 11229MHz horizontal, VPID 1200, APID 1201 in free-to-air MPEG-2. YLESat 1 and YLESat 2 from Finland have joined the Deutsche Welle package on 3912MHz RHCP, SR 8022, FEC 1/2. On 11309MHz vertical Cartoon Network Nordic has launched in Conax encoded MPEG-2, VPID 700, APID 701.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102
D: The APID for Oman Radio has changed to 1306 on 11823MHz vertical. The Christian channel, Dream TV, has launched on 11823MHz vertical, VPID 1010, APID 1017 in free-to-air MPEG-2. On August 6 at 12:50 the multiplex on 11823MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 which contains Morico Home Shopping, Iraq Satellite Channel, Palestinian Satellite Channel, MBC, Oman TV, Bahrain TV, Kuwait TV, Al-Andalus TV and TV Liban was experiencing some technical problems. All of the streams were active but no video or audio was present. The fault was rectified later in the day.

8 degreesW:
Telecom 2A/D
D: Two new channels are set to launch on 12684MHz vertical, SR 3254, FEC 3/4. They are Diretta TV on VPID 33, APID 35, ID: ‘Elp_CH1’ and TizianaSat – VPID 34, APID 26, ID: ‘TizSat’. The Marchio Italiano promo channel has changed PIDs to V3601, A3604 on 12688MHz vertical, SR 1879, FEC 3/4. Radio San Marino can be heard on this frequency via APID 3605. The Vietnamese channel VTV4 has returned to 11556MHz horizontal, VPID 4071, APID 4072 in MPEG-2/Conax.

12 degreesW:
Eutelsat II-F2
D: In common with their Eutelsat W2 outlet, SIC Internacional is now encoded on 12574MHz vertical.

15 degreesW:
Telstar 12
D: Two more streams have opened here for occasional feed traffic via Telstar 12’s European beam. They are 11005MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4 and 11495MHz vertical, SR 21700, FEC 7/8. 11568MHz horizontal, SR 3426, FEC 3/4 is used for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints feeds. Seven audio streams accompany the video with Spanish – A4406, French – A4407, Norwegian – A4408, Swedish – A4409, Dutch – A4410, Estonian – A4411 plus natural sound – A4405 audio tracks. A tape loop in the relevant language states; ‘This is the <language> channel for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you are having technical difficulties call the number listed in your operating instructions’.

18 degreesW:
Intelsat 705
D: TV Romania can be found on 11476MHz vertical, SR 2603, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34. The video is encoded but audio is broadcast in the clear.

21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS 803 & NSS K
D: CNN is using 11563MHz vertical, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 for occasional feed traffic. When not actually playing out any video a caption states; ‘CNN NEWSFORCE: Call Newsforce for your archive. Video requests 404-827-4400’.

30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C
D: The Spanish educational service from ATEI has left 12671MHz vertical. Contigo TV is new on 11771MHz horizontal, SR 28121, FEC 5/6, VPID 5201, APID 5202 in clear MPEG-2. Playboy TV Espana, which up to now had been broadcasting in free-to-air MPEG-2 with some very explicit material, is now encoded on 11931MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 1760, APID 1723. Locomotion is now encoded on 11931MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1123.

37.5 degreesW:
Telstar 11 & Columbia 515
D: On August 5 at 14:20 the Viacom stream at 11540MHz horizontal, SR 5997, FEC 3/4, VPID 167, APID 108 was relaying a ‘VYVX NYCM’ caption.

All times in UTC unless otherwise stated.
E-mail: [email protected]
SR = Symbol Rate
FEC = Forward Error Correction
VPID = Video Programme Identifier
APID = Audio Programme Identifier