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Transponder Monitor

By Staff Writer | January 17, 2001

      Interspace’s in-depth study of European satellite activity, compiled by Mike Fallon

      Key:
      A – Analogue
      D – Digital

      75°E:
      LMI-1
      A Israel’s IBA Channel 2 has launched on 12638MHz horizontal in clear Pal. TV audio is available via the 6.60 MHz sub-carrier.

      62°E:
      Intelsat 602
      A At 09:00 on January 1 a live feed from Jerusalem for a Japanese channel was carried on 4188MHz RHCP in clear NTSC.

      57°E:
      NSS-703
      D A new mini-package containing Star Plus – V512, A640 and Star News – V513, A644 has launched on 11185MHz vertical, SR 9372, FEC 3/4. This is almost certainly the westbound feed out of Singapore for Sky Digital (both channels have just launched in the Sky Digital package at 28.2 degrees East).

      A Radio Nationale Congolaise has joined Voix du Peuple TV on 3798MHz RHCP via the 7.02MHz sub-carrier in clear Secam.

      53°E
      Gorizont 32
      A Russia’ Ostankino TV on 3675MHz RHCP in clear Secam continues to be received well in the south east of the UK on a very modest dish size. This version of the channel is aimed at Russian viewers as Far East as the Urals.

      50°E:
      Anatolia 1
      This is an ex-Palapa craft that originally served Indonesia. It has been leased by Turkish Telekom and will be parked here to offer low cost services for Europe. Anatolia-1 is inclined by 2 degrees.

      47.5°E:
      Europe*Star B
      D The PIDs for the Bulgarian channel TV 7 Dni on 12563MHz vertical have changed. They are now V60, A61.

      45°E:
      Europe*Star 1
      A A caption has been in evidence recently on 12526MHz horizontal in clear Pal with “GlobeCast Northern Europe, Europe*Star 1 at 45°E, Tel: +44(0) 208831 4567, Fax: +44(0) 20 8831 4568. E-mail: [email protected]“. A Europe*Star-1 test card is also present on 11632MHz vertical in clear Pal.

      42°E:
      Turksat 1C
      D Eurasiasat-1, or Turksat-2A, was successfully launched from Kourou on January 8 at 22:09. The new craft will be co-positioned here with Turksat-1C. The original launch date was December 8, 2000 but was scrapped because checks had not been completed. Two previous launch attempts earlier this month were also cancelled because of bad weather at the launch site. Another new StarDigital multiplex has opened, this time on 11671MHz horizontal, SR 7100, FEC 5/6 via Turksat-1C’s Turkish beam. The current line-up is Star 1 – V4176, A4208, Star 2 – V4177, A4209 and Star 3 – V4178, A4210. The PIDs for Eylik TV on 11023MHz horizontal have changed to V308, A256. At 11020 MHz horizontal the parameters for Best TV have changed to SR 2531, FEC 3/4. Karadeniz TV has launched on 11498MHz vertical, SR 2899, FEC 5/6, VPID 308, APID 256 via the European beam in clear MPEG-2. Star Spor has commenced tests on 11469MHz vertical, VPID 1616, APID 1617 in the StarDigital package.

      A Radio Nostalji has launched in the baseband of Maxi TV/SuperSport on 11685MHz vertical via the 8.10/8.28MHz sub-carriers.

      30.5°E:
      Arabsat 2B
      D Al-Shabab TV has launched on 12730MHz vertical, SR 4340, FEC 3/4, VPID 4130, APID 4131 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

      A Radio Television Djibouti has been replaced by Somali TV Network on 4080MHz RHCP in clear Pal.

      28.5°E:
      Eutelsat II-F4
      D Kopernikus DFS-2 has left this slot now and is drifting slowly westwards. The regular VT4 feeds have left 12702MHz vertical. Also, Radio Magdalena and C-Dance have departed too. As expected Serbia’s RTS Sat has been allowed back into the Eutelsat fold following the country’s change of government. RTS Sat has launched on 11188MHz horizontal, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2. Radio Beograd 1 can be heard via APID 4197. This is the feeder for the new Hotbird outlet.

      28.2°E:
      Astra 1D/2A, 2B & 2D
      D The Chinese language channel, PCNE, on 11758MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2324, APID 2325 has extended its broadcasting times from 18:00 to 02:00 daily. Previously the channel closed down at 20:00. A new channel is to join the UKTV line up later this year. UK Food is expected to join Sky Digital in the second quarter of 2001. Channel 4’s new much hyped entertainment channel, E4, is airing a promo video on 12168MHz vertical, Sky Channel 228. However, the promo was only available to subscribers of FilmFour at first but is now available to all. The channel is slated for a January 18 launch on Ondigital, various cable providers and, it seems, Sky Digital. Sky Sports 3 has been replaced by Channel 4 London on 12480MHz vertical, VPID 2319, APID 2320. Trans World Europe, a well known Christian broadcaster which has been available on Astra at 19.2 degrees in analogue format in addition to a number of Shortwave relays around the World, has appeared on 12324MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. So far there has not been any sign of transmissions but the stream is up and running so a launch should be imminent. The Christmas audio channel on 12188 MHz horizontal has closed down. As expected Star News launched on January 14 at 18:30 on 12363MHz vertical, VPID 518, APID 656, Sky Channel 671 and Star Plus opened at the same time on 10921MHz horizontal, VPID 520, APID 648, Sky Channel 672.

      26°E:
      Arabsat 2A & 3A
      D There are two new offerings on 12015MHz vertical. Oman TV has launched via PIDs V2160, A2120 and a NOS TV caption has appeared via PIDs V2960, A2920. For the first time on satellite, Somali TV Network has launched on 11747MHz vertical, VPID 2060, APID 2020 in clear MPEG-2. It replaces Radio Television Djibouti, which has moved to 12015MHz vertical, V2260, A2220.

      A The Palestinian Satellite Channel appears to have vacated 12536MHz vertical where it had been broadcasting in clear Pal.

      21.5°E:
      Eutelsat II-F3
      D The Iranian TV channel Simaye Azadi has launched on 11568MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. Pink Plus TV and Radio Pink from Serbia are occasionally free-to-air on 10961MHz vertical, SR 2891, FEC 3/4. On January 8 at 20:00 a feed from Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, the venue for the Lockerbie trial, was carried on 12531MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 for BBC News. Sky News went to Scotland on the evening of January 9 to get a clear shot of the Lunar eclipse. Their live feed popped up on 11047MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4.

      19.2°E:
      Astra 1A-C & E-H
      D The three Christmas audio streams on 12051MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, from Xtra Music, Christmas Instrumentals (A639), Christmas (A642) and Pop Christmas (A645) have all finished for another year. ORF Sat and Radio Osterreich have both vacated 11954MHz horizontal. The German regional radio station, Antenne Bayern, has launched on 12148MHz horizontal, APID 352 in free-to-air MPEG-2. A new multiplex has opened on 10788MHz vertical, SR 22000, FEC 5/6. It contains ESC 1 (Egypt), RTM 1 (Morocco), TV7 (Tunisia), TV5 France/Belgique/Suisse, Deutsche Welle TV, Arte, RAI Uno and RTP Internacional. This is an exact copy of the platform on 12363MHz vertical. Servicios Interactivos is a new Spanish interactive service which is testing on 11895MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 169, APID 8191 within the Canal Satelite Digital bouquet. A promo is being played out on the stream at present. PolSat and PolSat 2 have left the Polish multiplex on 11992MHz horizontal and have been replaced by Super 1 – V164, A96 and Polonia 1 – V166, A104. Both channels are encoded in Cryptoworks. On the same frequency, Wizja Sport has started via PIDs V169, A110. The Extreme Sports Channel has launched on 11876MHz horizontal, VPID 163, APID 86. It is encoded in Cryptoworks.

      A The Adult Channel has ceased analogue transmissions on 11568MHz vertical. It has been available on Sky Digital at 28.2 degrees East for some time.

      16°E:
      Eutelsat W2
      D Live coverage of the Embassy World Darts Championship was carried on 11043MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2 for BBC Sport last week.

      13°E:
      Hot Birds 1/2/3/4/5
      D There is an Atlas TV testcard present in the GlobeCast multiplex on 12380MHz vertical on PIDs V3022, A3032 in clear MPEG-2. Deepam TV is encoded once again on 10722MHz horizontal, SR 29900, FEC 3/4 after a period in the clear. MT Channel is testing within the Stream package on 11977MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 VPID 523, APID 751. On the same frequency Stream Verde has changed PIDs to V2561, A2562. Some more PID changes – RTL Osterreich and RTL Schweiz on 11604MHz horizontal have changed to V1001, A1002 and V1011, A1012 respectively. A Polish version of the music channel Viva has launched on 11604MHz horizontal, VPID 190, APID 191 in clear MPEG-2. Russian channels NTV and NTV Plus have both been broadcasting in clear MPEG-2 for several days on 11938MHz horizontal. They are normally encoded in Viaccess. SRG SSR from Switzerland has been carrying out some test transmissions 12398MHz horizontal, VPID 167, APID 102 in Viaccess encoded MPEG-2. On 12303MHz vertical Kurdistan TV is new in the Slovenian package via VPID 225, APID 226 in clear MPEG-2. The channel, which is aimed at expatriate Kurds living and working in Europe, has just extended it’s broadcasting times from five hours a day to seven, is on the air from 15:30-00:30 daily. Italy’s Big Brother stream, Grande Fratello Integrale, has started on 11977MHz horizontal in MPEG-2 encoded in Irdeto and Videoguard. The Sailing Channel has completed it’s test phase and is now running regular programming on 12111MHz vertical, VPID 260, APID 261 in free-to-air MPEG-2. CNBC and the National Geographic Channel are sharing a stream in the Greek OTE digital platform on 12188MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 518, APID 650. Pink Plus and Radio Pink have been free-to-air intermittently recently on 12476MHz horizontal in the Belgacom multiplex. Both of these Serbian channels are downlinked from Eutelsat-II-F3 at 21.5 degrees East in Liedekerke, Belgium and turned around onto Hotbird from there by Belgacom.

      D PolSat has left 11431MHz horizontal where it had been available in clear Pal.

      10°E:
      Eutelsat W1
      D Turkey’s Kanal 7 has launched on 11106MHz horizontal, SR 4598, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in free-to-air MPEG-2. During the evening of January 10 live coverage of the Portuguese Division 1 soccer game between Belenenses and Salgueiros was fed over 10968MHz vertical, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2.

      A RTV and Radio Montenegro have left 11079MHz horizontal. Both are available in digital format on Hotbird at 13 degrees East, 12380MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The three Turkish radio stations which were available on the back of InterStar on 11181MHz vertical, Metro FM, Kral FM and Super FM have all left the frequency.

      7°E:
      Eutelsat W3
      D A feed from the Paris-Dakar Rally was fed over 11282MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 2521, APID 2541 in clear MPEG-2 on January 2 at 18:00. Two new channels have started on 11623MHz horizontal, SR 8500, FEC 7/8. They are Marco Polo and .TV – The Technology Channel via PIDs V3100, A3103 and V3201, A3202. Kent FM has joined the Turkish multiplex on 11658MHz vertical, SR 30000, FEC 3/4 on APID 411. Like the other occupants here it is encoded in Cryptoworks. Reuters Financial TV has returned to 12722MHz vertical, SR 1365, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 640 after a short break. The extremely low Symbol Rate makes this channel inaccessible to those with MPEG receivers which do not resolve signals with an SR lower than 2000. .TV-The Technology Channel (V3301, A3303) and Pro Sieben Deutschland (V3600, A3601) have launched on 11638MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 5/6.

      5°E:
      Sirius 2/3
      D CNBC Europe is being relayed by Merlin Communications on 12110MHz horizontal, SR 27195, FEC 3/4, VPID 55, APID 56 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The Iranian opposition TV channel, Simaye Azadi has launched on 12453MHz horizontal, VPID 133, APID 132 in clear MPEG-2.

      0.8°/1°W:
      Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707
      D Three new TV channels have joined the Telenor multiplex on 12303MHz vertical, SR 27800, FEC 3/4. They are; Style E!, Style and E! Entertainment which are all sharing a stream on VPID 521. There are four audio tracks offering Swedish – A668, Danish – A669, Norwegian – A670 and Finnish – A671. All are encoded in Conax. The Christmas Channel audio stream has left 12456MHz vertical, SR 28000, FEC 3/4. ORT Baltic from Russia has vacated 12655MHz vertical, SR 6198, FEC 3/4.

      7°W:
      Nilesat 101 & 102
      D Hallmark Entertainment Middle East has moved to 11862MHz vertical, VPID 3001, APID 3004 from 12073MHz horizontal and the Lebanese channel Future International is also on the move, from 11996MHz horizontal to 11862MHz vertical, VPID 1107, APID 1108.

      8°W:
      Telecom 2A/D
      D Two Spanish soccer matches were fed over 11589MHz horizontal, SR 13600, FEC 3/4 in free-to-air MPEG-2 during the evening of January 10. They were Tenerife-Vs-Majorca – VPID 771, APID 781 and Torrelavega-Vs-Barsa – VPID 774, APID 784 (see also Hispasat at 30 degrees West). Homebase FM, for the UK based DIY retailing group, and Tiles FM have launched on 12525MHz vertical, SR 3254, FEC 1/2, APIDs 4097/4098 in clear MPEG-2. On 12689MHz vertical, SR 1879, FEC 3/4, VPID 3601, APID 3604, Videomarket has launched in clear MPEG-2. Down at 11587MHz horizontal Canal Agro Rural has been replaced by Arab News Network on PIDs V1821, A1831.

      11°W:
      Telecom 2B
      Telecom-2B, which was previously in service at the 5° West slot, is currently parked here.

      15°W:
      Telstar 12
      D China Television News on 12617MHz horizontal is now encoded after a period in the clear.

      18°W:
      Intelsat 705
      D A TVRM testcard from Romania has appeared on 11478MHz vertical, SR 2603, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Late last week the channel commenced regular programming here in the clear.

      30°W:
      Hispasat 1A/B/C
      D The two Spanish football matches (Torrelavega-Vs-Barca and Tenerife-Vs-Majorca) were relayed on 11605MHz vertical on January 10 in parallel with the feeds on Telecom at 8 degrees West. The new Portuguese all-news channel, SIC Noticias, has launched in the TV Cabo package at 11811MHz horizontal, VPID 7968, APID 7969 in clear MPEG-2. A new Television España mini-package has opened on 11731MHz vertical, SR 28120, FEC 5/6 containing two of Spain’s terrestrial channels, TVE 1 – VPID 3105, APID 3106 and TVE 2 – VPID 1057, APID 1058. They are currently free-to-air but will almost certainly encode because of copyright issues. For a Spanish view of last weeks Lunar eclipse 11565MHz vertical, SR 5787, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: “ETT-9” carried live coverage for Spanish television in free-to-air MPEG-2. Spanish 2nd division football was fed over 10846MHz vertical, SR 10846, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, ID: ‘TSA M54’ on January 14 at 16:00 with the Huelva-Vs-Betis match in clear MPEG-2.

      37.5°W:
      Telstar 11 & Columbia 515
      D One of the oldest occupants at this orbital slot, The Landscape Channel, has finally left 11522MHz horizontal, SR 18898, FEC 7/8, VPID 516, APID 644. The Maharishi Open University has started on 11534MHz horizontal, SR 3123, FEC 7/8. There are three streams offering MOU 13 – V47, A33, MOU Euro – V42, A43 and MOU 2 – V52, A37 in clear MPEG- 2.

      40.5°W:
      NSS-806
      D In the Bolivian digital platform on 3919MHz RHCP, SR 20260, FEC ? Canal 18 Catolica is currently free-to-air via PIDs V1760, A1720.

      43°W:
      PAS-3R & PAS-6
      D The Fox News Channel is being fed daily on 12574MHz horizontal, SR 19846, FEC 3/4, VPID 1360, APID 1320 in clear MPEG-2/NTSC. The US channel is relayed here within the Fox Sports multiplex from 11:00-17:00 daily. Fox News is carried on PAS-4 at 68.5 degrees East, 11525MHz horizontal, SR 23000, FEC 3/4 so the feed at this slot may be supplying that outlet.

      59°W:
      PAS-9
      D A new multiplex from BT has opened here via PAS-9’s European beam. The occupants are Doordarshan World – V1160, A1120, Channel 2 (Brightstar caption in NTSC) – V1260, A1220, Zee TV Africa – V1360, A1320, Channel 4 (Brightstar caption in NTSC) – V1460, A1420 and Channel 5 – V1560, A1520.