Key:
D – Digital
A – Analogue

93.5 degreesE:
Insat 2C
D – A mass exodus of channels has occurred here as most of the activity transfers to the new Insat 3C at 74 degrees East. As far as MPEG DVB is concerned Doordarshan 9 – Karnataka has left 3819 MHz horizontal; DD10 – Maharashtra left 3870 MHz horizontal; DD11 – Gujarat vacated 4140 MHz horizontal and DD4 – Kerala left 4180 MHz horizontal.
A – Analogue channels have deserted Insat 2C as well. DD9 – Karnataka left 3802 MHz horizontal; DD10 – Maharashtra left 3889 MHz horizontal; DD11 – Gujarat left 4121 MHz horizontal and finally DD4 – Kerala left 4161 MHz horizontal.

78.5 degreesE:
Thaicom 2&3
D – In the Unitel package at 3480 MHz horizontal, SR 26776, FEC 2/3 National TV of Armenia (NTA) continues to broadcast in clear MPEG-2 via PIDs V520, A648. At 3585 MHz vertical, SR 26667, FEC 3/4 Tara Punjabi and Tara Gujarati appear to have left this bouquet. Radio Pakistan has joined PTV1 at 3614 MHz vertical, SR 3333, FEC 3/4, APID 256. The station is using Thaicom’s Regional beam which delivers a signal strength of 37 dBW to north east India and Bangladesh and 31-34 dBW to Pakistan, Afghanistan, parts of Iran, southern China and Malaysia. There is a new multiplex here for Mayanmar Radio and TV (MRTV) at 3671 MHz horizontal, SR 13330, FEC 3/4 containing three streams entitled ‘MRTV Occasional’ – V49, A52, ‘MRTV-3’ – V33, A37 and ‘MRTV’ – V3601, A3605 in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC.

75 degreesE:
LMI 1
A – TV Malagasy from Madagascar was missing for several days last week from 3975 MHz vertical. However the channel had returned by March 6.

74 degreesE:
Insat 3C
D – There are two digital signals present here so far. They are Doordarshan 9 Karnataka (Kannada language) on 3730 MHz vertical, SR 5000, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 and DD11 Gujarat (Gujarati language) on 3851 MHz vertical, SR 5000, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256. Both services are available in free-to-air MPEG-2.
A – More Indian channels have migrated from Insat 2C at 93.5 degrees East to this new craft. In addition to the two channels mentioned in Transponder Monitor 26 February, Doordarshan Gyandarshan on 4165 MHz horizontal and Doodarshan North East on 4125 MHz horizontal, DD10 Maharashtra (Marathi language) has launched on 3780 MHz vertical, DD11 Gujarat (Gujurati language) is new on 3869 MHz vertical and DD4 Kerala (Malayalam language) has started on 3900 MHz vertical – all in free-to-air Pal.

68.5 degreesE:
PAS 7 & 10
D – Now that it has settled on Europe*Star 1 at 45 degrees East and is broadcasting to the sub-continent via an Indian beam there Maharishi Open University has left 3932 MHz vertical.
A – Maharishi Veda Vision has vacated 3905 MHz vertical and has relocated to Europe*Star 1 at 45 degrees East.

62 degreesE:
Intelsat 902
D – Iran’s Jaam-e-Jam TV Network 3 has re-located to 11042 MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 2/3, VPID 289, APID 290 from 11050 MHz vertical.

60 degreesE:
Intelsat 604 & 904
D – Intelsat 904 was successfully launched from Kourou aboard an Ariane 44L launcher at 06:59 on February 23. The new craft carries an impressive 22 Ku-Band and 76 C-Band transponders. When 904 becomes operational in the next month or so Intelsat 604 is to be re-deployed at 157 degrees East.

45 degreesE:
Europe*Star 1
D – Europe*Star 1, which has come to the fore during the Afghan crisis carrying the bulk of feed traffic from the region, is being used to provide a GSM cellular phone network for Afghanistan for Ericsson Response, SWE-DISH Satellite Systems AB and Telia Mobile from Sweden.

42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1
D – On March 7 at 16:10 a live feed from Izmir, Turkey was carried on 11456 MHz vertical, SR 5631, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 for the Turkish state broadcaster TRT in MPEG-2 4:2:2 under the ID:’TRTIZMIRSNG’. The Welsh language S4C2 has left 12689 MHz horizontal, SR 30000, FEC 3/4 after nearly a month. Just what was it doing here? After a short break The Medical Channel and Istanbul FM have returned to 11148 MHz vertical, SR 2155, FEC 5/6, VPID 308, APIDs 256/257 in clear MPEG-2. Occasional Big Brother Turk feed traffic has been noted on 12633 MHz, SR 2600, FEC 5/6, VPID 33, APID 34 via Eurasiasat’s Turkish beam which provides a signal strength of 50 dBW at the centre (over Turkey) decreasing to 45 dBW over southern Italy, the south Balkans, Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. At 11522 MHz vertical, SR 4665, FEC 3/4 both BRT and BRT FM have left the frequency. Ege TV and Radyo Ege have vacated 11506 MHz vertical, SR 3200, FEC 5/6. Up at 11510 MHz vertical, SR 2398, FEC 3/4 Eyilk TV and Eyilk Radyo have also departed.
A – Karadeniz FM has launched on the back of Show TV at 11048 MHz vertical via the 7.92 MHz audio sub-carrier.

36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & Sesat
D – In the Russian NTV+ bouquet TV5 Europe, Reality TV and Deutsche Welle TV were all temporarily free-to-air on March 1st but had returned to their normal encoded state by the following day. The NTV+ package here uses Eutelsat W4’s European beam which delivers a signal strength of 53 dBW centred on Moscow dropping to 47 dBW to eastern parts of Germany, south Sweden, Finland, Turkey and Bulgaria. Therefore a dish size of 0.6 metres is required in the centre of the footprint increasing to 1.0 metre on the extremities.

28.5 degreesE:
Eurobird
D – Motors TV has commenced regular programming on 11527 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2322, APID 2323, Sky Ch.429 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

28.2 degreesE:
Astra 2A, 2B & 2D
D – Some PID changes at 12090 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. The new parameters are; Sky Moviemax 4 – V2313, A2314; Sky Premier 4 – V2317, A2318; Sky Cinema 2 – V2321, A2322 and Sky Cinema – V2305, A2306. The PIDs for Chelsea TV have been changed to V2308, A2309 at 11778 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. BBC Four launched on time on March 2 at 11720 MHz horizontal, Ch.161 in the Sky Digital EPG. For the opening night only programmes were simulcast on BBC 2. The three BBC Sport interactive streams which had been carrying the action from the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City have now left 12285 MHz vertical. From the Simply Shopping stable comes Simply Home which launched on March 6. The new channel occupies 12422 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, Ch.653 in the Sky Digital EPG and features household and garden products. Channel Health has launched a new interactive service in conjunction with the National Health Service for mothers and mothers-to-be at Ch.193 in the Sky Digital EPG.

26 degreesE:
Arabsat 2A & 3A
D – Movie channel MGM has joined the Orbit line-up on 11996 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 624, APID 625 in Mediaguard encoded MPEG-2. On 12661 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 Qatar Radio has replaced Sout Al-Khaleej 100.8 FM on APID 2521. In the Orbit package at 11804 MHz horizontal, SR 24570, FEC 7/8 – a new frequency for Orbit – an Orbit promo channel, Orbit Express Shop, Animal Planet and Bloomberg TV UK have all launched in MPEG-1.5/PowerVu.
A – The Sudanese radio station Multaqah Al-Nilayen has left the 5.80 MHz audio sub-carrier on the back of Sudan TV at 3905 MHz LHCP. Some of the radio stations in the baseband of 4122 MHz RHCP, the home of the Jordan Space Channel, have been moving around. Qatar Radio can now be found at 8.10/8.20 MHz and Sout Al-Khaleej 100.8 FM is at 7.00/8.80 MHz.

24.2 degreesE:
Astra 1D
D – In the Channel D platform at 10714 MHz horizontal, SR 2169, FEC 3/4 Channel D radio and MagicStar have left APID 326.

21.5 degreesE:
Eutelsat II-F3
D – The Serbian channels Pink TV and Radio Pink on 10961 MHz vertical, SR 2892, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APIDs 256/257 are spending some time in the clear.

19.2 degreesE:
Astra 1B,C & E-H, Astra 2C
D – Shopping Avenue has joined the RTL package at 12188 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 50, APID 51 in free-to-air MPEG-2. BBC World has joined the UPC Direct line-up at 12304 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 165, APID 88 in clear MPEG-2. Still with UPC Direct, in their line-up on 11992 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 Canal+ Sport has been replaced by Canal+ Niebieski on VPID 169, APID 110 in Cryptoworks encoded MPEG. Also Super 1 has been replaced by Planete on VPID 164, APID 96, Formula 1 has launched via VPID 161, APID 82, MiniMax Polska has replaced Polonia 1 – VPID 166, APID 104 and TV4 has been replaced by TV Polonia via VPID 165, APID 98. On 12382 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 E! Entertainment, TV Polska, Wizja Pogoda, The Travel Channel and Wizja Info have been replaced by Canal+ Zolty, Ale Kino and Cyfra+ Info in MPEG-2/Cryptoworks. The large number of changes to the line-up in the Cyfra+ package both here at 19.2 degrees East and on Hotbird at 13 degrees East are a result of the recent merger of Wizja TV and Cyfra+. The whole platform has effectively been relaunched and now goes by the name of Nowa Cyfra+ (New Cyfra+). The subscriber base for Cyfra+ has reportedly been dropping at an alarming rate of late, partly blamed on the high cost of a monthly subscription which is currently running at €15-€33 ( GBP9.20- GBP20.28) per month. Sat 1 Schweiz has joined the German Premiere package at 12148 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 on PIDs V255, A256. Also a Beta Digital testcard has appeared via VPID 1279, APID 1280 on the same frequency. Incidentally Premiere is the new name for the German digital platform formerly known as Premiere World. The new sports channel from the US, ESPN Classic, has joined the French Canal Satellite Digital bouquet at 12012 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 170, APID 120 in Mediaguard encoded MPEG-2.

16 degreesE:
Eutelsat W2
D – Israel’s Channel 26 has launched on 12625 MHz vertical, SR 2220, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 4112 in clear MPEG-2 with Hebrew language programming. The FEC for the Italian sports network Snai-Sat has been changed to 7/8 on 12608 MHz horizontal.

13 degreesE:
Hotbird 1/2/3/4/5
D – The launch of Hotbird 6, the latest in Eutelsat’s Hotbird fleet, has been delayed. The new satellite was due to lift-off on May 9 but has been put back to late May/early June. There have been a number of changes in the line-up from Cyfra+ at 11283 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. Discovery Civilisation, Discovery Sci-Trek, Discovery Travel & Adventure, the Wizja promo channel and Canal+ Niebieski have all left the frequency and have been replaced by HBO Polska, Hallmark Entertainment East Europe, Cyfra+ Info and VH-1 Europe. El-Qu’ran El Karim, an Egyptian radio station, has joined the Arabsat bouquet at 12654 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 via APID 1722 in clear MPEG-2. Canale Degli Innamorati, the Italian texting channel, has vacated 11881 MHz vertical in the Stream package and has been replaced by a Stream Info channel. In the Polish TVN package at 11178 MHz horizontal, SR 21100, FEC 3/4 a TVN Warszawa caption is present via PIDs V515, A670. On 10719 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, the home of the Polish digital platform Cyfra+, Seasons Italia and Viva Polska have left the frequency to be replaced by TV Puls and Club. Also on this frequency RTL7 has been superseded by TVN Siedem. Dubai Channel 33 is testing on 11747 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 via PIDs V7970, A7971 in the Dubai package. In the Television par Satellite bouquet on 10873 MHz vertical ESPN Classic is a newcomer in Viaccess encoded MPEG-2 on PIDs V420, A430. Two streams relaying Big Brother Hellas have launched in the Greek Nova multiplex at 10930 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 via PIDs V512/515, A650/680 in Irdeto encoded MPEG-2. In the TPS package at 10795 MHz vertical the PIDs for the French domestic radio channels have been changed. The new parameters are; Beur FM – A3331, France Musique – A3531, Hector – A3532, FIP – A3533, France Inter – A3534, France Info – A3535, France Culture – A3536, France Bleu – A3537 and Le Mouv – A3538. The same changes apply at 10872 MHz vertical with new PIDs; Europe 1 – A3131, Europe 2 – A3132, RFM – A3133, BFM – A3134, RTL – A3135, NRJ – A3136, Radio Classique – A3137, Cherie FM – A3138, Fun Radio – A3139, RTL 2 – A3140 and RCF – A3141. Also, at 10910 MHz the situation is as follows – Rire et Chansons – A3232, RFM – A3233, Mosqueteiros – A3234, RMC – A3236, RFI – A3237, Skyrock – A3239, Nostalgia – A3240, Radio Coutoisie – 3241, La Voix du Pays – A3242, Grand Classique – A3631, Symphonies – A3632, Baroque – A3633, Opera – A3634, Contemporary – A3635, Relaxation – 3636, Blues – A3637, Jazz – A3638, Big Band – A3639, Modern Jazz – 3640 and Les Tubes Francais – A3641. The Tamil language Deepam TV is free-to-air once again on 10722 MHz horizontal, SR 29900, FEC 3/4, VPID 1006, APID 1206. This channel switched in and out of Cryptoworks frequently. It seems that the free weekends for Zee TV and Zee Cinema in the Belgacom package on 12476 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPIDs 910/915, APIDs 911/916 have now become a regular occurrence. Both channels have been free-to-air for the past two weekends and return to Irdeto encryption on the Monday morning.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat W1
D – Turkish channels STV Hazar and Burcz FM have returned to 11598 MHz vertical, SR 2199, FEC 5/6, VPID 308, APIDs 256/257. Also, Mesaj TV International has made a comeback at 11102 MHz horizontal, SR 2498, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256 after a short break. Galaxie TV from the Czech Republic has launched a free-to-air service via a SCPC carrier at 12701 MHz vertical, SR 2961, FEC 3/4, VPID 258, APID 259, ID:’TADIRAN SCOPUS’.
A – AssyriaSat has launched at 11163 MHz horizontal in clear Pal with audio via the 6.60/7.20 MHz sub-carriers. At present the channel is only on the air on Saturdays from 15:00-16:00.

7 degreesE:
Eutelsat W3
D – Fox News has left the DigiTurk package on 11658 MHz vertical, SR 30000, FEC 3/4. An ‘EWI Torino’ testcard has appeared on 11515 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 7681, APID 7682.

0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor 1, 2 & 3 & Intelsat 707
D – Two new channels have joined the Canal Digital package on 11229 MHz horizontal, SR 24500, FEC 7/8. They are The Travel Channel – V512, A640 and MUTV – V513, A644. Both services are encoded in Conax. Channel 26 from Israel has left 10995 MHz vertical, SR 10000, FEC 3/4. This channel has moved to Eutelsat W2 at 16 degrees East. Three Big Brother Norge streams have been activated on 12226 MHz vertical, SR 28000, FEC 7/8, VPIDs 515/516/517, APIDs 648/650/660 in the Canal Digital platform. All three streams are encoded in Conax. A new multiplex for Finland has opened on 12054 MHz horizontal, SR 28000, FEC 7/8 using Conax encoding. It contains Nelonen – V513, A513; TV Finland – V512, A512; MTV3 – V515, A515; Urheilukanava – V514, A514; Nelonen+ – V517, A517; Sub TV – V516, A656; Radio Finland – A676; Radio Suomi – A680 and Radio Extrem – A684. This line-up is identical to the one on 12399 MHz horizontal. A Danish all-news radio station entitled Nyhedsradioen 24-7 can be heard on 11662 MHz horizontal, SR 26000, FEC 3/4, APID 664 in free-to-air MPEG- 2.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102
D – There have been a number of PID changes to the occupants of 11823 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The new PIDs are; Kuwait Space Channel – V1010, A1011; Oman TV – V1015, A1016; Radio Oman – A1017; Iraq Space Channel – V1018, A1019; Sudan TV – V1117, A1118 and Arabic Classics 107.3 FM – A1120. Radio station The Voice of Palestine has been missing from 11823 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 3094 and 12194 MHz vertical, SR 2892, FEC 3/4, APID 257 for several days. The station has its base in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank and the stations absence may be as a consequence of recent Israeli air strikes in that region.

11 degreesW:
Express 3A
D – In addition to the new Mediaset feed streams on 11583 MHz vertical, SR 12854, FEC 3/4 11670 MHz vertical and 11680 MHz vertical, SR 6400, FEC 3/4 have also seen some feed activity for the Italian network in the past few days.

15 degreesW:
Telstar 12
D – Club Central Europe has joined the UPC Direct package on 11060 MHz horizontal, SR 18386, FEC 3/4, VPID 2601, APID 2619 in Cryptoworks encoded MPEG-2.

18 degreesW:
Intelsat 901
A – A rare analogue feed for RAIsport was spotted here on March 9 at 16:00 in clear Pal. It was carried on 11135 MHz vertical and featured recorded video footage of Ciclismo 27, a major road cycling event.

30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C
D – Retelsat was replaced by CFI TV on 11617 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 777, APID 787 recently but in the past few days Retelsat has returned to its former slot.

31.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 801
D – Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS) VPID 33, APID 34 (right channel) and Radio Sénégal Internationale (A34 left channel) have returned to 3715 MHz RHCP, SR 4882, FEC 2/3, following an absence of around two weeks, probably due to an uplink fault.

34.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 601
D – The launch of the replacement for Intelsat 601 has been postponed. Intelsat 903, which carries a payload of 12 Ku-Band and 44 C-Band transponders is now slated for a March 30 lift-off from Baikonur.

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