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

Key:
D – Digital
A – Analogue

80 degreesE:
Express-6A
D – REN TV from Russia has launched a new digital package on 4175MHz RHCP, SR 20250, FEC 3/4 via Express 6A capacity. The multiplex contains four REN TV time-shifted versions as follows; Moscow time (V201, A401), Moscow time +2 hours (V202, A402), +4 hours (V203, A403) and +7 hours (V204, A404). All of the streams are in clear MPEG-2.

76.5 degreesE:
Apstar-2R
D – TV Malagasy from the island of Madagascar has ceased dual illumination from here at 3780MHz vertical and via LMI-1 capacity at 75 degrees East. The channel continues to be available via LMI-1. This dual illumination was most likely to have been an error as the uplink frequencies for downlinking at 3780MHz here and via 3975MHz vertical from LMI-1 are the same for both satellites.

62 degreesE:
Intelsat-602
A – A feed for ANI, Indian news service, was spotted on May 18 at 17:20 on 4188MHz RHCP in clear Pal.

60 degreesE:
Intelsat-604
A – On May 18 at 17:35 a feed for the German news channel, n-tv, was broadcast from the Philippines. The feed on 4166MHz RHCP in Pal covered the region’s current hostage crisis. Live coverage of a debate in the Iranian parliament was fed over 4188MHz RHCP at on May 27 at 09:50 in clear Pal.

42 degreesE:
Turksat-1C
D – A Kanal 6 test pattern has appeared within the Star Digital platform at 11469MHz vertical with PIDs of V4132 and A4133.

40 degreesE:
Gorizont-31
D – The domestic version of Radio Televizija Srbije, RTS1, from Serbia has been replaced by RTS Sat at 11530MHz RHCP, SR 4165, FEC 1/2, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2.

36 degreesE:
Gals-1/2, Most-1, Eutelsat-II-F3 & Sesat
D – Eutelsat-W4 finally lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 23:10 on May 24 after a series of delays. The B4U Middle East feed that recently appeared on 11168MHz horizontal has now left. IT@Vision has launched via an SCPC carrier at 12620MHz horizontal, SR 2960, FEC 3/4. VPIS 210, APID 208 in clear MPEG-2 (see also Sirius at 5 degrees East). More and more inter-UK feeds for the regional ITV channels are appearing here. On May 24 at 17:00 11055MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4 was in use by Central (South) TV for a live feed from the home of the ‘Landlady of the Year’ award winner in the Herefordshire countryside for inclusion in its evening local news programme. The feed stayed up for some time as rehearsals were carried out prior to the actual live piece to camera. Immediately after the feed the stream cut to colour bars overlaid with ‘SISLink UKI 419’. Sky News was at Hampton Court on May 26 as a group of professional ghost hunters started work to try to find the alleged ghost of Henry VIII’s fifth wife Catherine Howard, which is said to haunt part of the palace. At 12:40 a live feed from one of the staterooms was fed over 11047MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. The EPG entry was ‘RTV UKI-511 SKY NEWS’.
A – There have been some sightings of activity from Sesat, which is still parked at 39 degrees East, over the past few days with unmodulated carriers appearing on 10987MHz horizontal, 11166MHz vertical and 12711MHz vertical.

28.5 degreesE:
Kopernikus-DFS2
D – The Czech music channel Galaxie which was part of the Czech Link digital platform at 11477MHz horizontal, VPID 164, APID 96, has been taken over by a new station named TV3. The new channel, which is already available terrestrially in Prague, eastern Bohemia and part of northern Bohemia, provides general entertainment programmes as well as news and documentaries.

28.2 degreesE:
Astra-1D & 2A
D – The Medical Channel is testing on 12324MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2305, APID 2306 in clear MPEG-2 at Ch.902 in the Sky Digital EPG. The channel is expected to launch officially on June 1. It will provide programmes on a wide range of health issues. Playjam is the name of an interactive gaming channel which hopes to launch within the Sky Digital line-up later this year. The new Punjabi channel, Lashkara TV, has started regular programming at 12032MHz horizontal, VPID 2310, APID 2312. At 12324 MHz vertical there are two additional channels. Sky Sports 1 in Pubs is on PIDs V2311, A2312 and Sky Premier 4 has started on PIDs V2313, A2314. Sky Moviemax 4 has launched at 12363MHz vertical, VPID 2311, APID 2312 along with the Sky Retail Info Channel (V2314, A2315) and Playboy TV PPV/The Adult Channel (V2314, A2315). There was an unexpected bonus for movie fans last week when Sky Box Office channels 16-20 on 11934MHz vertical were broadcast unencoded for several days. The encryption problem has now been fixed and all of the channels are back in Videoguard. Boomerang, a sister channel to Cartoon Network, has launched at Ch.603 in the Sky EPG. The channel, which is currently in-the-clear, will show classic cartoons drawn from the Cartoon Network archives. Three new channels are to launch in the fairly near future, all of them spin-offs from the Disney Channel. As well as a time-shifted version of Disney Channel itself there will also be versions featuring cartoons and a further pre-school channel.

26 degreesE:
Arabsat-2A & 3A
D – There have been a couple of changes here. Arab News Network has moved from 12034MHz vertical to 11747MHz vertical, VPID 2860, APID 2820 and Morico TV Shopping has left 11747MHz vertical and started on 12034MHz vertical, VPID 4960, APID 4920. Both channels are free-to-air. Al-Mustakillah TV has also moved from 11747MHz to 12034MHz vertical on PIDs V4860, A4820. Al-Manar TV from the Lebanon has launched on 11747MHz vertical, VPID 2760, APID 2720. The channel is currently part time with daily broadcasts from 1800-2100. Euro 2000 has commenced regular programming at 12605MHz horizontal via PIDs V523, A760 (see also Nilesat at 7 degrees West).
A – The Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel from Qatar has launched in clear Pal at 11823MHz vertical with audio via the 6.60/7.56MHz subcarriers. Qatar Radio is available via the 7.20/7.74MHz subcarriers. Lebanon’s LBC Sat is new on 12015MHz vertical in clear Pal and Arab News Network has opened at 11977MHz vertical.

21 degreesE:
Afristar
D – All India Radio is to relay its Arabic, Hindi and General Overseas Service to the Middle East and the Maghreb countries via Afristar capacity. Their signal will be delivered to Johannesburg via a leased line for uplinking to Afristar via Sentech’s earth station outside the city. Previously the only way to receive AIR’s signal in this region was via shortwave.

19.2 degreesE:
Astra 1A-C & E-H
D – Two new channels have launched at 12515MHz horizontal. They are Canal+16:9 (V166, A104) and Cine Cinemas Nederland (V167, A108). Both channels are encoded in Mediaguard. TV5 Europe has opened another new outlet, on 12610MHz vertical, VPID 45, APID 46 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

16 degreesE:
Eutelsat-W2
D – Georgia’s TV Ajara, as seen on Hot Bird, has launched here at 12675MHz vertical, SR 4340, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, in free-to-air MPEG-2. Presumably this signal is used to supply the channel’s outlet on Hotbird at 12245MHz horizontal. On the OBN Sarajevo stream at 11023MHz horizontal, SR 3123, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 some programmes from Bosnia-based TV Alternativna are being relayed at times. The complete Inter Milan against Lazio soccer match was fed over 11012MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2 on May 18 from 18:30. A live feed for an unidentified German channel was fed over 11042MHz horizontal, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘9MHz, PAL, 1 Audio’ in clear MPEG-2 on May 24 at 17:20. At the same time another German feed featuring rehearsals for a piece to camera was occupying 11052MHz vertical, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, EPG: ‘HOL25’. May 24 was the date of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Valencia being played at the Stade de France in Paris. At 17:30 on that day 11124MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, EPG: ‘Service 1’ was fired up with a live feed from outside the stadium for the Spanish local TV channel, TeleMadrid. In fact there were two feeds for TeleMadrid; 11124MHz horizontal was carrying the OB output from outside the stadium whilst 11004MHz horizontal was relaying the clean studio feed from TeleMadrid, presumably for cueing purposes. A feed from inside the stadium for the US sports channel ESPN was using 11000MHz vertical. Interestingly, prior to the match this stream carried live interviews with various footballing celebrities but as soon as kick-off time arrived the stream cut to a fixed shot of the two ESPN commentators only. On May 25 at 11:10 a live report on some music awards to be held in London was fed over 11132MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘5.632 Msym/s 420’, in free-to-air MPEG-2 for ITN. After the feed the stream cut to colour bars overlaid with “SIS 31 UKI 485 ITN”. Live coverage of the Scottish Cup Final between Aberdeen and Rangers was fed over 11012MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘Auto 7.5MHz’ in clear MPEG-2 for Sky Sports on May 27 from 14:00.

13 degreesE:
Eutelsat-Hot Bird 1-5
D – MKTV Sat from Macedonia has started on 11623MHz vertical via PIDs V222, A242 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The channel has now left 12380MHz vertical from where it had been relayed previously. Up at 12597MHz vertical, VPID 167, APID 108 the acclaimed BET International has launched a free-to-air service. It will probably encrypt very soon though. Bristol based Sat 7, the Christian channel for Arabic speakers, has appeared on 11642MHz horizontal, VPID 1660, APID 1620 sharing with Bloomberg TV. The channel is airing here from 17:30-19:30. The Turkish all-news channel NTV International has been replaced by the domestic version of the channel, NTV, at 12111MHz vertical, VPID 210, APID 211 in free- to-air MPEG-2. The test card from AIT, the Nigerian channel, which has been occupying a stream at 12111MHz vertical since the channel left some months ago is being switched on and off regularly. Discovery Civilisation has launched at 10719MHz vertical, VPID 159, APID 84 encoded in Mediaguard. RetelSat has officially launched at 12092MHz horizontal, VPID 4464, APID 4465 in clear MPEG-2 after a period of testing. On 11766MHz vertical there are three RAI Way testcards. RAI Way 1 is on PIDs V515, A653, RAI Way 2 (V516, A654) and RAI Way 3 (V164,A96). Recorded coverage of the recent Eutelsat-W4 launch is being fed repeatedly over 12111MHz, VPID 200, APID 201 during the day from 06:30 (see also Eutelsat-W3 at 7 degrees East).
A – Beleaguered B2-92, a Serbian independent radio station, which is available in Belgrade in the FM band, has launched an intermittent satellite service in the audio baseband of BBC World at 11114MHz vertical via the 7.74MHz subcarrier. The Serbian authorities have repeatedly tried to silence B2-92, or at least attempted to make the station tow the Government line. Recently the police raided B2-92 and employees were prevented from entering the building. B2-92, which was formerly known as B-92, is also available via the Internet. The proposed schedule for the channel is 07:50-10:00, 14:00-15:00, 16:00-17:00 and 18:30-20:30 daily. 123 Sat, a new music channel, has launched on 11585MHz vertical, transponder sharing with 69XTV. 123 Sat is on the air from 06:00-20:00 daily.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat-II-F4
D – Antena 1, based in Bucharest, Romania, is now free-to-air for all of its output except for some foreign programmes for which the broadcaster does not hold the copyright. Antena 1 uses 11024MHz vertical in MPEG-2. Turkey’s NTV has replaced NTV International on 10959MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256. Two streams carried live uninterrupted coverage of the a tennis championship being held in Dusseldorf last week. 10977MHz vertical, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, V308, A256, EPG: ‘Centre Court II’ carried video of one court whilst 10995MHz vertical, SR 6109, FEC 3/4, V308, A256, EPG: ‘STEFAN OLSSON’ relayed action from another.

7 degreesE:
Eutelsat-W3
D – Recorded video footage of the Eutelsat-W4 launch is being fed over 11517MHz horizontal, VPID 2305, APID 2306 continuously throughout the day (see also Hot Bird at 13 degrees East).

5 degreesE:
Sirius-2/3
D – The Money Channel has joined the Christian Dream Family Network on 12349MHz horizontal. The financial channel is stream sharing with Euronews on PIDs V301, A302. All of the channels here are encoded in Cryptoworks. In the Merlin Communications multiplex at 12111MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 under the EPG entry ‘MNO’ there is a new radio channel called Global Sound Kitchen via APID 83. It broadcasts in free-to-air MPEG-2. Global Sound Kitchen was briefly replaced by the even more bizarrely named ‘Flat Earth Radio’ for a few days but this has now left. Occasional feed traffic from Kiev, Ukraine can be found on 12634MHz vertical, SR 3719, FEC 7/8, VPID 3601, APID 3604, EPG: ‘CENTRAL’ in clear MPEG- 2. All of the feed traffic here appears to be for Vulychne TV. In parallel with its Eutelsat-II-F3 signal, IT@Vision has launched on 12285MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 210, APID 208 in clear MPEG-2. Russia’s ORT1 is being relayed on 12683MHz horizontal, SR 3099, FEC 7/8, VPID 70, APID 71 in clear MPEG-2.

3 degreesE:
Télécom-2C
D – A curious sighting was witnessed May 24 at 19:30 on 12525MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4. The output was from a camera laying on the floor behind some grandstand seats in the Stade de France, Paris whilst the Real Madrid/Valencia match being played in the Champions League final was fed over the stream. The accompanying audio carried Danish commentary of the match.

0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor I-III & Intelsat-707
D – Prime TV, the Pakistani channel which airs programming drawn from Pakistan’s two terrestrial channels PTV 1 and PTV 2, is dropping in and out of encryption on 11014MHz horizontal, SR 26000, FEC 3/4, VPID 515, APID 652. Presumably encoding tests are being carried out prior to the channel going full time encoded.

5 degreesW:
Télécom-2B/D
A – Canal+ France is to move here from Télécom-2A on July 1. The channel will launch on 12648MHz vertical in Secam. TV5, which currently occupies the transponder, will be moved to 12586MHz horizontal on the same date.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat-101
D – The PIDs for Ajman TV on 11998MHz vertical, SR 2892, FEC 3/4 have been changed. They are now V100, A101. Ajman TV, which emanates from one of the lesser-known United Arab Emirates, is available here in clear MPEG-2. Euro 2000 has officially launched at 12073MHz horizontal, VPID 3132, APID 3133 in clear MPEG-2 (see also Arabsat-2A at 26 degrees East).

12 degreesW:
Eutelsat-II-F2
D – There is still no regular pattern to the relays on 11185MHz vertical, SR 9164, FEC 1/2, VPID 32, APID 33. TV Land from Canada seems to occupy the stream for most of the time but occasionally it is replaced by CHCH-TV, a local station from Ontario. However, since the recent launch of the latest shuttle mission, STS-101, Nasa TV is being fed here in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC for much of the time under the EPG banner ‘GTS SAT’. Nasa TV has not been available on a regular basis in Europe since the demise of the TDRS craft at 41 degrees West several years ago which used to carry the channel via C-Band. The Buddhism Channel from Taiwan is new on 12599MHz vertical, SR 1807, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194 APID 4195 in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC with programming in the Chinese, Amoy (Taiwanese) and Hakka languages.

21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS-803 & NSS-K
D – A relay of the US version of the QVC home shopping channel was fed over one of the Globecast channels at 11590MHz vertical, SR 20150, FEC 3/4 on May 17 at 21:00 in clear MPEG-2/NTSC. Live horse racing from Cologne was fed over 11460MHz horizontal, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 for German betting shops on May 24 at 19:00.

27.5 degreesW:
Intelsat-605
D – The Zee TV feed which has been occupying 11665MHz horizontal, SR 30494, FEC 3/4, VPID 1560, APID 1520 in clear MPEG-2 for some considerable time is actually the South African version of the channel. The commercials are geared for the South African market and all times are given in CAT (Central African Time). Zee Africa is a member of the Multichoice Africa digital platform which uses PAS-4 at 68.5 degrees East, 3743MHz vertical, SR 20600, FEC 3/4 for its satellite DTH service.

31.5 degreesW:
Intelsat-801
D – A recording of the entire ONdigital coverage of the Manchester United versus Bayern Munich soccer match in the Champions League championship, played some time ago, was fed over 10998MHz vertical on May 24 from 18:45. The SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘LTP DSNG 1’ in clear MPEG-2. A photo call by the England soccer coach, Kevin Keegan, from Wembley was fed over 10956MHz vertical, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘TES 14 LONDON SNG’, in free-to-air MPEG-2 at 1145 on May 25. A soccer game between Peterborough and Darlington was fed over 10999MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘BT TES 42’ in clear MPEG-2 for Sky Sports on May 26 at 18:45.

37.5 degreesW:
Telstar-11 & Columbia-515
D – A feed for the German channel RTL was fed over 11590MHz vertical, SR 8750, FEC 7/8, VPID 512, APID 640 in clear MPEG-2 on May 26 at 12:25 under the EPG entry ‘NEWSFEED KOELN’.

All times in UTC unless otherwise stated.