Transponder Monitor

Compiled by Mike Fallon

90 degreesE:
Yamal 102

D. The Russian channel STS (Set Televizionnykh Stantsiv) has been able to reach potential viewers in Russia’s Far East for the first time. The channel, which airs programmes sourced from many local and regional Russian TV stations, is available terrestrially in most parts of the country but has never reached Russia’s remote Far Eastern region. Thanks to an earth station in Novosibirsk, Siberia the STS signal is uplinked to a satellite, likely to be Yamal 102, covering the East. Here the signal is downlinked and rebroadcast via traditional terrestrial means.

75 degreesE:
LMI 1

D. TV Lanka from Sri Lanka, which has been carrying extensive tests on 3430 MHz horizontal, SR 5750, FEC 3/4, is due to officially launch in the next few days. The channel claims that it is to become the first truly global digital channel emanating from South Asia.

68.5degreesE:
PAS 7 & 10

D. BBC World India is available in digital format on 3775 MHz vertical, SR 19846, FEC 3/4, VPID 1660, APID 1620 in clear MPEG-2. The channel in also fed in Pal on 4181 MHz vertical but this analogue signal is likely to be switched off soon.

64degreesE:
Intelsat 804

D. There have been some PID changes in the TV Africa package on 3667 MHz RHCP, SR 11716, FEC 3/4. The current parameters are ‘TV AFR 1 ENGLISH EAST A’ – V308, A256; ‘TV AFR 2 ENGLISH WEST A’ – V512, A650; ‘TV AFR 2 En Francais’ – V515, A680 and ‘TV AFR 4 Special’ – V513, A660. All four channels are free-to-air.

57 degreesE:
NSS 703

D. A Tower Broadcast Centre caption is in evidence on 4095 MHz RHCP, SR 23000, FEC 2/3, VPID 1460, APID 1420, ID:’NTL/VYVX 203′ in clear MPEG-2.

48 degreesE:
Eutelsat II F1

D. Radio Smile has left 11590 MHz horizontal, SR 2498, FEC 2/3. Euro Mediterraneo continues to use this stream. On 11609 MHz horizontal, SR 2000, FEC 2/3, VPID 3105, APID 3106, EuroMed has been replaced by Magic Star in clear MPEG.

42degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1

D. The mini package containing UK radio stations PrimeTime, Capital FM, Virgin Radio, The Storm and Heart FM 106.2 has left 11804 MHz vertical, SR 27513, FEC 7/8.

A. Three radio channels have left the audio baseband behind Maxi TV/SuperSport on 11684 MHz vertical. They are Radyo Viva – 7.02/7.20 MHz, Show Radyo – 7.74/7.92 MHz and Radyo Nostalji – 8.10/8.28 MHz. Marmara FM has launched on the back of Samanyolu TV at 11122 MHz horizontal via the 7.56 MHz sub-carrier. Show Radyo has opened on 11006 MHz vertical via the 8.10/8.28 MHz audio sub-carriers. On the back of TRT Turk at 11553 MHz horizontal the Voice of Turkey Foreign Service has launched via the 8.28 MHz sub- carrier.

36degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & Sesat

D. The Azerbaijani channels Lider TV and Radio Lider left 12521 MHz horizontal, SR 4339, FEC 1/2 for several days but had returned by November 2.

28.5degreesE:
Eurobird

D. The Red Hot bouquet of channels (Red Hot Euro, Red Hot Amateur, Red Hot All Girl and Red Hot Films) are all temporarily free-to-air on 11661 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. However, to receive these channels a basic DVB receiver is required as a dedicated Sky Digital receiver will not download the channels in clear MPEG-2. The new channel Auction World is carried on 11584 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2327, APID 2328 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Auction World, which is on air from 16:00 to 00:00 nightly, launched on November 1 and is located at Sky Ch.651 in the EPG. There is a new Bangla TV testcard present at 11681 MHz vertical, V2341, A2342 in clear MPEG-2. Sky Box Office 53 is new on 11469 MHz horizontal, VPID 517, APID 645 in Videoguard encoded MPEG-2.

28.2degreesE:
Astra 2A, 2B & 2D

D. More PID changes this time. On 11817 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 the PIDs for UK Horizons+1 have changed to V2334, A2337. Up at 12090 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 Sky MovieMax 4 is now V2312, A2313, Sky Premier 4 – V2316, A2317 and Sky Cinema 2 – V2320, A2321. Red Hot Films and Red Hot Euro have vacated 11954 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The PIDs for Tara and Retail Info on 12265 MHz horizontal have changed to V2305/2313, A2306/2314 respectively. Nick Test has left 12363 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. Pub Channel, Nick Replay and Nickelodeon have new PIDs – V2311/2308/2305, A2312/2309/2306. Bravo, TVX Cable, TV Travelshop and Bravo+ are all sporting new PIDs on 11739 MHz vertical, V2319/2324/2328/2319, A2321/2326/2330/2321. ITV appears to be about to start test transmissions here in readiness for their long awaited launch of a satellite DTH service. Three transponders are in use, 10832 MHz horizontal, 10891 MHz horizontal and 10906 MHz vertical. Although no programming has yet been observed all of these frequencies are occupied by several streams, each of which relate to ITV’s regional services. In the EPG the picture is like this: 10832 MHz is relaying ‘1:1’ – Carlton/LWT, ‘1:2’ – Central West, ‘1:3 – HTV Wales, ‘1:4’ – HTV West, ‘1:5’ – WestCountry South. At 10891 MHz horizontal there is; ‘2:1’ – Anglia, ‘2:2’ – Border England, ‘2:3’ – Border Scotland, ‘2:4’ – Granada, ‘2:5’ – Meridian, ‘2:6’ – Tyne Tees, ‘2:7’ – Yorkshire. Finally 10906 MHz vertical offers ‘3:1’ – Grampian, ‘3:2’ – Scottish, ‘3:3’ – Ulster and ‘3:4’ – Channel. It is still unclear whether viewers will be restricted to view only the region relative to their geographical location within the UK, which is calculated by postcode (as happens with the BBC channels), or if the full range of regional services will be available to all. Some of the streams are carrying a ‘William Road’ caption. This is the location of an NTL switching hub located in London. BBC regional news is to be made available to satellite viewers in the new year by way of a new interactive menu. So far only a UK wide ‘UK Today’ programme has been carried on the satellite service in place of regional news opt-outs. Also, the regional programmes will be location specific so local news for the South for instance will be viewable in any part of the country. The first regions to benefit will be London, the North, the North West, the West Midlands and the South. Ailing music channel Rapture TV has left 12226 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. Simply Music is new on 12422 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2312, APID 2313, Sky Ch.650. The channel airs from 22:00-09:00 daily. Classic Gold 828, Classic FM UK, The Mix, Core and Planet Rock have all launched on 12324 MHz vertical in clear MPEG-2. Britain’s newest food channel, UK Food, launched on November 5 on 11817 MHz vertical, Sky Ch.149. Prior to the launch a promotional video loop was running on the stream for several days. The new channel airs from 07:00-19:00 daily. To entice more subscribers FilmFour held a free weekend on 3/4 November. In common with its sister channel B4U Movies, B4U Music is to encode in the near future. The Asian music channel has been free-to-air within the Sky Digital line-up since it joined the bouquet. Sky Box Office 53 has vacated 12266 MHz horizontal.

26degreesE:
Arabsat 2A & 3A

D. Audio stream Arabic Classics FM has launched on 11860 MHz vertical via APID 256.From Egypt, Nile TV International and ESC 1 have launched on 12620 MHz vertical, VPIDs 2260/2660, APIDs 2220/2620 in clear MPEG-2.

19.2degreesE:
Astra 1A-C & E-H, Astra 2C

D. Belgium’s Radio Vlaanderen 2 is regularly in the clear recently within the Canal+ Nederland package on 12344 MHz horizontal via APID 101. In fact the service officially launched on October 28 and has been free-to-air ever since. Five more channels have joined the Spanish Canal Satelite Digital package on 12441 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. They are Andalucia TV – V515, A663, ETB – V516, A664, Fashion TV – V518, A668, Taquilla 0 – V519, A667 and TeleMadrid Sat – V517, A665. All of these are free-to-air except for the PPV channel Taquilla 0. A new data channel identified in the EPG as ‘STB SamsungCo’ has opened at 12603 MHz horizontal, SR 22000, FEC 5/6. Astra Mosaic 5 is new on 12552 MHz horizontal, V163, A164 in clear MPEG-2. RMF FM, Poland’s most successful commercial radio station, is to launch a TV channel in the next year or so. The new channel, whose working name is RMF TV, is hoping to join the Wizja package on Astra at 19.2 degrees East. No Zap has officially launched on 12460 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 160, APID 80 in clear MPEG-2. Another new arrival is Nordliicht TV on 12552 MHz vertical, V168, A144. This channel is only available on Sundays from 12:00 to 12:30 at present but programming may be extended at a later date. At 11934 MHz vertical, home of the Spanish Canal Satelite Digital package, Cine Classics has launched via PIDs V161, A84. Sport 1 Czechia has vacated 12304 MHz horizontal. Taquilla XY is new on 12581 MHz vertical, VPID 162, APID 88 using Mediaguard encryption.

A. Radio Bremen Zwei has been replaced by NordwestRadio on the 8.10 MHz sub-carrier at 11494 MHz horizontal in ADR. B.TV and Hit-Radio Antenne 1 have moved to 11023 MHz horizontal from 10847 MHz vertical. Japan’s JSTV has vacated 10773 MHz horizontal.

16degreesE:
Eutelsat W2

D. The Romanian channel TVR Cultural on 12680 MHz vertical, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 2160, A2120 is currently free-to-air. Armenia TV has launched on 12620 MHz vertical, SR 2315, FEC 3/4, VPID 1023, APID 1024 in clear MPEG-2. This channel is privately owned and is not to be confused with the state run National TV of Armenia (NTA). A new IP service entitled E-Sat has started on 11053 MHz horizontal.

13degreesE:
Hotbird 1/2/3/4/5

D. Belgrade based TV channel Pink Plus and Radio Pink are still switching in and out of encryption on 12476 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. All of the channels in the Greek Alpha digital platform, that is Alpha News, Alpha Cinema 1, Alpha Cinema 2, Alpha International, Alpha PPV and Alpha Classic, on 10949 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 are now encoded in Viaccess. The German radio station Wirtschaftsradio F.A.Z 93.6FM has returned to the Deutsche Telekom INC platform at 11054 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 5/6, APID 530. Some of the channels in the Russian NTV+ package on 11938 MHz horizontal are still switching in and out of encryption, namely NTV International, NTV Plus Detskij Mir and NTV Plus Nashe Kino. Middle East TV was a newcomer on 12562 MHz horizontal, SR 6140, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, at least for a day. By October 25 the channel had vanished. The German radio channel RTL 102.5, Radio 101 and Radio Rock FM 98.7 have vacated 11843 MHz vertical. A free-to-air Alpha TV promo has launched on 10949 MHz vertical, V7452, A7453. In parallel to the Astra outlet, Radio Vlaanderen 2 launched on October 28 at 12476 MHz horizontal via APID 903. Greek channel Paok TV has launched within the Alpha package on 11304 MHz horizontal, VPID 891, APID 892 in Viaccess encoded MPEG-2 replacing Athlos. The South Korean channel on 11623 MHz vertical, Channel Sun, is now encoded in Viaccess in the GlobeCast package. In the Magna package on 12111 MHz vertical a free-to-air Cavallo Channel promo has launched via VPID 210, APID 211. Swiss Radio International Europe has been replaced by Rete Uno on 12399 MHz horizontal, APID 200 in the SRG/SSR bouquet. The Polish all-news channel TVN is temporarily in the clear on 11128 MHz horizontal, SR 7300, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 650. Hallmark Entertainment Russia and Middle East are both free-to-air temporarily on 12460 MHz vertical.

10degreesE:
Eutelsat W1

D. Radyo Eksen 96.2 FM has left 11019 MHz horizontal, SR 2169, FEC 7/8 where it was co-located with Pop TV and has moved to 10986 MHz horizontal, SR 2199, FEC 5/6 alongside NTV Turkey. The Turkish TV Haber feeds have relocated to 11590 MHz vertical, SR 3778, FEC 5/6, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. The Turkish channel Mesaj TV has left 11105 MHz horizontal. STV Xever is a new arrival at11600 MHz vertical, SR 2200, FEC 5/6, V308, A256 in clear MPEG-2. Ekushey TV has commenced regular programming on 11126 MHz horizontal, SR 3418, FEC 2/3, VPID 1160, APID 1120 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

7degreesE:
Eutelsat W3

D. Erotic channel Private Blue has officially launched on 11534 MHz vertical, V2101, A2252 in Cryptoworks encoded MPEG-2 within the DigiTurk package. The channel airs from 23:00-04:00 nightly. Also in the DigiTurk line-up, Fox News Channel has left 11645 MHz horizontal for 11658 MHz vertical. There is a new NBA.com TV testcard on 11645 MHz horizontal, VPID 2150, APID 2250.

5degreesE:
Sirius 2/3

D. A free-to-air promo for the Ticket PPV service is available on 11804 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 6001, APID 6002. The Hindi and Urdu language channel Asianet continues to broadcast in clear MPEG-2 on 12303 MHz horizontal, SR 25541, FEC 7/8, VPID 1260, APID 1220. Realitatea TV is new on 12686 MHz horizontal, SR 3400, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Discovery Civilisation was replaced by Asianet 1 on 12420 MHz horizontal, V1260, A1220 in clear MPEG-2 temporarily last week. However the Asian channel has now left to be replaced by a testcard. PIN has launched on 11881 MHz horizontal, VPID 5041, APID 5042 in clear MPEG-2 within the Viasat package. On the same frequency the regional versions of Russia’s ORT (Ostankino TV) for Estonia and Lithuania are temporarily free-to-air and a new interactive service entitled Kims has started on 11881 MHz horizontal. Adventist World Radio has launched on 12303 MHz horizontal via APID 1322 in free-to-air MPEG-2. IP service PlanetSky has relocated to 12469 MHz horizontal, SR 5185, FEC 3/4 from its former home at 12111 MHz horizontal

0.8degrees/1degreesW:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707

D. Retro Radio is a new arrival at 12169 MHz horizontal, SR 28000, FEC 7/8 within the Bulgarian digital platform via APID 688. eTV Skandinavien has launched on 12322 MHz horizontal, VPID 522, APID 676 in Conax encoded MPEG-2. B4U Movies, B4U Music, Sony Entertainment TV and the Gujari Channel have all left 11174 MHz horizontal.

A. Despite the recent rapid decline in D2 Mac activity Eurosport has launched in Eurocrypt S2 encrypted D2 Mac on 11862 MHz RHCP. However, the exodus continues with Canal+ Gul leaving 12015 MHz and 12054 MHz RHCP and Canal+ Sverige’s departure from 12092 MHz RHCP last week.

7degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102

D. CNBC US has been replaced by CNN Financial Network on 12073 MHz horizontal, V3092, A3093 in Irdeto encoded MPEG-2.

8 degreesW:
Telecom 2D & Atlantic Bird 2

D. Three Italian radio services are present alongside the Marchio Italiano promo channel on 11563 MHz horizontal, SR 1879, FEC 3/4. They are Tam Tam Network – A36 (left channel), Radio Serena – A36 (right channel) and Radio San Marino – A37. Tiziana Sat has launched a free-to-air service via three streams on 11568 MHz horizontal, SR 6510, FEC 2/3, VPIDs 33/34/3601, APIDs35/36/3604. RTNC ( Radiodiffusion Télévision Congolaise) La Voix de Peuple has launched on 11598 MHz horizontal, VPID 1122, APID 1132 in clear MPEG-2. Up to now the channel, which makes for very interesting watching, was only available via a C-Band feed on NSS 703 at 57 degrees East, 3798 MHz RHCP in clear Secam.

15 degreesW:
Telstar 12

D. The Turkish channels, Mihr TV and Mihr Radyo have run into some trouble. The channels launched here on 12733 MHz horizontal, SR 1925, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APIDs 34/35 just two weeks ago. Apparently they do not have permission from the Turkish Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) to broadcast outside of Turkish territory. To get round this Mihr instigated some kind of agreement with Kanal 7 to use a transponder assigned to that channel for their satellite broadcasts. The RTUK took a dim view of this and imposed a massive 900day ban. They have yet to decide on Kanal 7’s fate.

18 degreesW:
Intelsat 705 & Intelsat 901

D. Intelsat 901 has now reached this slot and is expected to take over duties from 705 in the near future.

21.3degrees/21.5degreesW:
NSS 803 & NSS K

D. A new channel has joined the CNN bouquet on 4013 MHz RHCP, SR 25000, FEC 3/4. It is CNN Financial News Asia on VPID 1420, APID 1460.

27.5degreesW:
Intelsat 605

D. The occasional feed traffic for the music channel Rapture TV on 11665 MHz horizontal have ceased following the channel’s departure from the Sky Digital line-up at 28.2 degrees East.

30degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C

D. All of the channels in the Cabo package for Portugal on 11811 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 are now encoded in Nagravision. Big Brother Portugal has launched on 12012 MHz vertical, VPID 4369, A4370 in Nagravision encoded MPEG-2. The Spanish domestic channels TVE La Primera and TVE La 2 have vacated 11771 MHz horizontal where they had been located for a short time in clear MPEG-2. Canal Panda is new on 11535 MHz vertical in the Portuguese package via PIDs V4128, A4129. Canal Panda is encoded in Nagravision. Flaix FM has opened on 11771 MHz horizontal via APID 3203 in the Retevision package for Spain.

All times in UTC unless otherwise stated.

SR – Symbol Rate
FEC – Forward Error Correction
VPID – Video Programme Identifier
APID – Audio Programme Identifier