TRANSPONDER MONITOR

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

Key:
D – Digital
A – Analogue

68.5 degreesE:
PAS-4 & 7
A – The Russian channel RTR was relayed in clear NTSC on 12604MHz horizontal on February 13 at 17:30 for around 30 minutes with audio via the 6.80MHz sub-carrier.

64 degreesE:
Intelsat 804
D – Televisao de Mocambique (TVM) is still available here on 3654MHz horizontal, SR 5631, FEC 3/4, VPID 512. The audio stream on APID 4112 carries TV audio on the left channel and Radio Mocambique Emissao Nacional, the national network with programmes on Portuguese and Tsonga via the right channel.

60 degreesE:
Intelsat 604
A – A feed from Amman, Jordan for Abu Dhabi TV was fed over 4166MHz RHCP in clear Pal on February 13 at 17:30.

48 degreesE:
Eutelsat II-F1
D – The Italian TV station, 102.5 Hit Channel, has started regular transmissions here following a long test period. The channel can be found on 11183MHz horizontal, SR 4340, FEC 1/2, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2. There are several digital carriers on this satellite, 10971MHz vertical, SR 25000, FEC 3/4, 11618MHz, SR 28932, FEC 3/4 and 11659MHz vertical, SR 28932, FEC 3/4 are all carrying unmodulated carriers. The remaining active transponders here are; 11174MHz horizontal, SR 3254, FEC 2/3 – Olisat TV; 11179MHz horizontal, SR 3254, FEC 2/3 – TeleGenova Sat; 11188MHz horizontal, SR 1628, FEC 2/3 – Radio Rinascente, Radio Cooky, Radio Baby, Radio McDonald’s, Radio Day Classic; 11590MHz horizontal, SR 2500, FEC 2/3 – Euro Mediterraneo; 11595MHz horizontal, SR 1665, FEC 3/4 – Count Down TV; 11598MHz horizontal, SR 2359, FEC 2/3 – Magic TV; 11601MHz horizontal, SR 2000, FEC 5/6 – Napoli Channel; 11603MHz horizontal, SR 2168, FEC 3/4 – Napoli International; 11605MHz horizontal, SR 2196, FEC 2/3 – Sardegna Uno Sat; 11612MHz horizontal, SR 2289, FEC 2/3 – Sicilia International and finally 11614MHz horizontal, SR 2605, FEC 5/6 – occasional feed traffic for Exatel.

45 degreesE:
Europe*Star 1
D – The Europe*Star testcard, which had been available in Pal on 11632MHz vertical has switched to MPEG-2 with the parameters SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1120. 11513MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4 is being used for occasional APTN feeds.

42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1
D – On 11023MHz vertical, SR 6509, FEC 5/6 there is a new receiver software download data channel on PID 8191. The EPG entry for Mesaj TV on 11069MHz vertical, SR 2498, FEC 3/4 has changed to “Mesaj TV Int. Dijital”. Occasional feed traffic for CNN Turk is carried on 11580MHz vertical, SR 2999, FEC 3/4, ID: “kofisa” in clear MPEG-2. In what is almost an exact copy of the Turkish multiplex at 11638MHz horizontal on Eutelsat-W3 at 7 degrees East, a new digital platform has opened here on 12612MHz vertical, SR 20000, FEC 7/8. It contains .TV – The Technology Channel, Italian Network News, Marco Polo, Pro Sieben and 26 MCE audio channels. All of these are encoded except for Pro Sieben. There are two new interactive services, Seri Ilanlar and Yeni Yazilim, in the StarDigital multiplex at 11469MHz vertical.
A – Turkey’s Isik TV has launched in clear Pal via a Eurasiasat-1 transponder at 12519MHz horizontal with audio on the 6.60MHz sub-carrier. The channel is in the clear for the most part but some programmes are encoded in Videocrypt.

36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & SESAT
D – The Russian channel Teleshkola 2 has left the NTV bouquet on 12245MHz RHCP, SR 27500, FEC 3/4.

28.5 degreesE:
Eutelsat II-F4
D – DeeJay Parade Radio from Germany has started test transmissions on 12719MHz vertical, APID 4211 in readiness for a full service which should launch very soon.

28.2 degreesE:
Astra 2A, 2B & 2D
D – Zee Cinema is currently free-to-air on 11973 MHz vertical, VPID 2307, APID 2308. The Chinese channel, PCNE, appears to be on air for 24 hours a day on some days on 11758 MHz horizontal. Although encoded for most of the time there is a regular clear slot from 18:00-03:00 daily. A new test signal has started on 12070 MHz horizontal, VPID 2311, APID 2312 under the EPG ID “SKTTest”. The stream is displaying a Sky Digital caption. Some PID changes – Liberty TV on 12402 MHz vertical has changed to V2336, A2337 and up at 12480 MHz vertical Artsworld is now V2313, A2314. At 12110 MHz horizontal the PIDs for TV Shop America are now V2320, A2321, UCB Europe – A2322, CrossRhythm – A2323, UCB Insp – A2324 and LBH The Scene – A2325. For three days from February 13 Sky Sports 3, Sky MovieMax 3, Sky Premier 3 and the Sky Digital Info Channel were all temporarily free-to-air on 11914 MHz horizontal. Wellbeing is the name of a new health and lifestyle channel slated for a March 13 launch within the Sky Digital line-up. The channel will be free-to-air and will broadcast for 12 hours a day, from 09:00-21:00. The Automotive Channel at Channel 903 in the Sky EPG has extended it’s availability to 7 days a week and an earlier sign on time of 07:00. This channel, which is aimed exclusively at the car trade, costs a hefty GBP19 per month to subscribers. Some more channels with extended broadcast times – Granada Plus will now close down two hours later at 02:00, Granada Men & Motors will now close at 04:00 and with the holiday soon to be upon us, Sky Travel will now broadcast for 12 hours a day, 12:00-00:00. A new channel for the young, Smash Hits TV from the EMAP publishing house, is due to launch in August. The channel will join the Sky Digital line-up. EMAP have also announced that two more of their new channels, Kerrang and Magic, will launch in May and September respectively.

24.2 degreesE:
Astra 1D
D – Having recently left the 28.2 degrees slot Astra-1D is now parked here. Surprisingly there is some activity from the craft already. Three Castle Video promo streams can be found on 10847MHz vertical, SR 23566, FEC 7/8, VPIDs 100/200/300, APIDs 101/201/301 in clear MPEG-2.
A – An SES test card is currently broadcast on 10744MHz in clear Pal.

21.5E:
Eutelsat II-F3
D – A live feed from the BAFTA awards ceremony for Sky One was relayed on 11695MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2 on February 25 at 19:00. During the evening of February 25 several streams carried scenes of the mass burning of pigs and cattle following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Northumberland. Solo Sat Comms used 12507MHz horizontal and SIS had two streams running, on 11049MHz horizontal and 11089MHz horizontal. The parameters for all three feeds were, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256.

19.2 degreesE:
Astra 1A-C & E-H
D – Fashion TV has a new outlet at 12266MHz horizontal, VPID 169, APID 116 in clear MPEG-2. There are three new audio streams on 12012MHz vertical. EuroPop Rock, Smooth Jazz and Planet Sound are using Mediaguard encryption here. In the Canal Satellite Digital multiplex at 11934MHz vertical a Fox News promo has launched via PIDs V168, A112 in Mediaguard encoded MPEG-2. This US based all news channel arrives here via a new dedicated feed on PAS-3R at 43 degrees West. German digital platform, Premiere World are to drop their hardcore erotic channel, Blue Channel, in favour of a new softcore channel which is to be produced by a German erotica superstore chain called Beate Uhse. The new channel will launch on March 1 and will air nightly from 19:00-05:00. It will be free to Premiere subscribers although a PIN code must be entered to gain access to the channel. A Beate Uhse testcard has been present for several days on 11758MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. RTBF, the Belgian French language network, has been forced to delay its launch on satellite. RTBF were to have used Astra capacity here to relay a mix of the two TV networks, La 1 and La 2.

16 degreesE:
Eutelsat W2
D – On February 14 at 22:30 live second hop soccer from the Velez Sarsfield-V-River plate game from Argentina was carried on 11142MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, ID: 422P@ML 18MHz. In clear MPEG-2.
A – The NATO supported RTK 1 TV channel from Kosovo has moved to 11431MHz vertical from 11280MHz. The channel, which airs from 17:00-21:00 every evening, is available in clear Pal.

13 degreesE:
Hot Birds 1/2/3/4/5
D – RAI’s new channel, RAIsat Fiction, is testing on 11996MHz, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 165, APID 100 within the D+ bouquet. The channel is due to launch in early March. MonteCarloSat has a new VPID on 12539MHz horizontal – V5127. A Racing Channel testcard has appeared on 11623MHz vertical, VPID 228, APID 248 in clear MPEG-2. There is a new Premiere World multiplex on 11262MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 containing Classica – V1030, A1034, Seasons – V1040, A1044 and Filmpalast – V1050, A1054. These are all encoded in Betacrypt. The presence of this bouquet here is thought to provide backhaul for German cable providers as the primary service on Kopernikus-3 at 23.5 degrees East is giving some cause for concern due to the diminished technical capabilities of this satellite. The two Israeli radio channels, Arutz Sheva Foreign Channel and Arutz Sheva Hebrew Channel have vacated 12220MHz horizontal. There are two new radio services available on 12597MHz vertical. They are Radio Voyager – APID 2130 and WRN 1-2 Africa & Middle East – APID 2173. Both channels are in free-to-air MPEG-2. Hallmark Central Europe and Hallmark UK have launched on 12460MHz vertical via PIDs V1160/1660, A1660/1620 in clear MPEG-2. On the Greek digital platform at 12188MHz vertical ET1, NET and ET3, who all shared a stream on VPID 513, APID 651, have been replaced by Tele Asty and the Euro Shopping Channel. RAI Tre is new on 12558MHz horizontal, VPID 6916, APID 6917 in clear MPEG-2. Down at 11096MHz horizontal TeleGenova Sat is also a newcomer via PIDs V33, A34 in free-to-air MPEG-2. A testcard from Antenna Hungaria has appeared on 12149MHz vertical, VPID 36, APID 37 in clear MPEG-2. Russia’s NTV International has left 12149MHz vertical. A new Arabic language channel, UBN, has launched on 12091MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 4610, APID 4611 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The Moroccan channel 2M is apparently to broadcast all of it’s output unencoded from February 28. 2M, which occupies a stream on 12476 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 has, up to now, encoded some programmes.

10 degreesE
Eutelsat W1
D – During the latest US and British air raids on Iraqi military installations last week CNN used 11046MHz vertical, SR 3123, FEC 5/6, ID: “IHA SNG1 MUHAMMED” for live feed traffic out of Baghdad in clear MPEG-2/NTSC. The Benfica-V-Boavista soccer match was fed over two streams here during the evening of February 25. 11003MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 carried the clean feed under the ID “MEDIA LUSO E73 CLEAN FEED” whilst at 10995MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, V308, A256, ID: “MEDIA LUSO E73” also relayed the action from the game.

7 degreesE:
Eutelsat W3
D – There is another new Turkish interactive service on 11511MHz horizontal, SR 30000, FEC 3/4 entitled TV Üyelik. On 11595MHz horizontal, SR 29996, FEC 3/4 there are two streams carrying this caption, “Telecine ICR London. +44 (0)207 636 2693, +44 (0)207 208 2231, +44 (0)207 208 2232.”. 26 Music Choice Europe audio channels have joined the DigiTurk line-up on 11638MHz horizontal, SR 30000, FEC 3/4. These are encoded in Cryptoworks.

5 degreesE:
Sirius 2/3
D – On February 19 at 19:05 a testcard from the Swedish Space Corporation was noted on 12644MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 1/2, VPID 308, APID 256, ID: “SWE Dish” in free-to-air MPEG-2. ORT Lithuania, ORT Estonia and TV3 Latvia have all left 12643MHz vertical. Ukraine’s ICTV on 12634MHz vertical has a new Symbol Rate, 3222.

0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707
D – Some new Norwegian radio channels have joined the line-up on 12398MHz horizontal, SR 26894, FEC 3/4. They are NRK P1, P2 and P3, NRK Alltid Klassik, Sami Radio, Storting and Mpetre. At present all of these are free-to-air. The two Chinese channels, CCTV 4 and CCTV 9 are still free-to-air on 11174MHz horizontal, SR 22500, FEC 3/4 despite some recent encryption tests. On the same frequency Bollywood 4U Music is currently free-to-air on PIDs V520, A684. Bulgaria’s Nova TV has commenced regular programming on 12169MHz horizontal, VPID 512, APID 640 in clear MPEG-2.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102
D – The Syrian Satellite Channel has joined the multiplex at 11823MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 on PIDs V1113, A1114 in free-to-air MPEG-2 and Al-Manar TV has been replaced by Arab News Network on the same frequency, V1004, A1204. Hallmark Entertainment Middle East on 11861MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 is airing some movies in the clear. Tele Liban, the Lebanese channel, has changed PIDs to V300, A301 on 12054MHz vertical. There are three new Egyptian radio stations in the bouquet on 11766MHz horizontal, Al-Kebar Radio – A1406, Al-Mosheeky Radio – A1407 and Al-Aghani Radio – A1507. They all broadcast in free-to-air MPEG-2.

8 degreesW:
TELECOM-2A/D
D – Vietnam’s VTV4 Television continues to broadcast in clear MPEG-2 on 11556MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 4281, APID 4282. An exact copy of the multiplex on 12527MHz vertical has started on 11477MHz horizontal, SR 5698, FEC 2/3 containing Homebase FM – A900 and Tiles FM – A4097 & 4099.

15 degreesW:
Telstar 12
D – Showtime Turkey has vacated 11060MHz horizontal in MPEG-2 and has been replaced by a test card.

21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS-803 & NSS-K
D – Live golf from Malaysia for Sky Sports and the Golf Channel was fed over 11685MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 on February 15 at 07:30 in clear MPEG-2. On February 16 at 22:10 live coverage of the US Ladies Tour Golf from sunny Hawaii was relayed on the BT Washington stream at 11550MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC. At 18:30 on February 25 live tennis from the IGA Superthrift Classic in Oklahoma City was carried on 11674MHz vertical, SR 13333, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG- 2/NTSC. At the same time on the same day GlobeCast NE Channel 1 at 11609MHz vertical, SR 5698, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1120 was relaying in real time Sky One with a showing of “The Simpsons” in clear MPEG-2/NTSC.

27.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 605
D – On February 23 at 11:05 live cricket from the Sri Lanka V England test match was fed over 11665MHz horizontal, SR 30494, FEC 3/4 for Sky Sports 2 in clear MPEG-2.

30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C
D – At 11730MHz vertical, SR 28121, FEC 5/6 two streams are relaying a T.I.A.R. Retevision testcard under the Ids: “Programa 1” and “Tadiran Scopus”. Also in this multiplex is the local TV channel Canal 47 Sevilla on PIDs V33, A34. Some of the output from Retelsat on 11931MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 4464, APID 4465 is being broadcast unencoded at times. Radio Galega, Radio Euskadi, Euskadi Irratia and Radio 9 have all left the Via Digital package on 12591MHz vertical. On 11811MHz horizontal in the Portuguese TV Cabo multiplex RTP1, RTP2, SIC, GNT Portugal, TV Saude and Telecine 1 are all encoded once again after a short period in the clear. This means that there are now just two channels here, which remain free-to-air in the bouquet, Parlamento Programacao and the newly arrived National Geographic Channel Latin America which has just launched on VPID 4225, APID 4226. Spain’s two main domestic TV channels, TVE La Primera and TVE La 2 are now encoded on 11731MHz vertical, SR 28120, FEC 5/6 after approximately three weeks in the clear. Spanish League handball with Caja Espanlha-V-Barcelona was fed over 11569MHz vertical, SR 10846, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 on February 16 at 16:15.

40.5 degreesW:
NSS-806
D – A new music channel has joined the Argentinian package on 3635MHz RHCP, SR 13797, FEC 5/6. It is Tele Musica on PIDs V3101, A3102, which is stream sharing with the children’s channel Cablin. The Arabic channel UBN has started on 3846MHz RHCP, SR 18796, FEC 3/4, VPID 3460, APID 3420 in clear MPEG-2. UBN’s output here is in parallel with their other outlet on Hotbird at 13 degrees East.

43 degreesW:
PAS-3R & PAS-6
D – The US news channel, Fox News, is being fed in real time over 12575MHz horizontal, SR 19850, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2. This relay is very likely to be the feeder for the French Canal Satellite Digital bouquet on Astra at 19.2 degrees East

45 degreesW:
PAS-1 & PAS-1R
D – PAS-1R has reached here after being parked temporarily at 62 degrees West for in orbit transponder tests. The US sports network, ESPN, is using 11670MHz, SR 26465, FEC 7/8 in MPEG-2/PowerVu.