Transponder Monitor

D = Digital
A = Analog

83 degreesE:
Insat 2E & 3B

D Jeevan TV has officially launched in clear MPEG-2 on 3645 MHz vertical, VPID 513, APID 660. This channel is promoted by the Catholic Church of Kerala in the south west of India. Jeevan broadcasts 20 hours a day with a mix of news and educational programming in the Malayalam language

80 degreesE:
Express 6A

D The popular Russian TV channel Kultura has been replaced by Yamal-Inform TV on 11541 MHz vertical, SR 5069, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1120 in clear MPEG-2. This channel emanates from the Yamal peninsula in central northern Siberia

68.5 degreesE:
PAS 7 & 10

D The temporary multiplex containing six Commonwealth Games streams has now left 12681 MHz vertical, SR 27230, FEC 3/4 now that the games have finished. These were all free-to- air and named ‘MCG 1’, ‘MCG 2’, ‘MCG 3’, ‘MCG 4′, MCG 5’ and ‘MCG 6’. CMM is a new Indian music channel based in Mumbai which has just launched on 3777 MHz horizontal, SR 2940, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in clear MPEG-2. In fact this channel comes from the same stable as the recently launched Aastha TV channel which can be found on 3773 MHz horizontal, SR 2940, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256. Aastha claims to be easily available to the large population of Hindi speakers in the UK but via C-band on this low horizon satellite with an elevation of just 4.7 degrees from southeast England is surely out of reach for the vast majority of potential UK viewers. The channel’s only hope of getting any reasonable ratings in the UK is to either be included in the Sky Digital line-up or via cable distribution. Big Brother South Africa has commenced programming on 3835 MHz vertical, SR 20600, FEC 3/4, VPID 521, APID 649 within the MultiChoice Africa multiplex.

A MTV India has ceased analogue broadcasts on 4034 MHz horizontal but can be found in MPEG-2 in the Nickelodeon package on 4154 MHz horizontal, SR 20500, FEC 3/4.

62 degreesE:
Intelsat 902

A Iran’s IRIB TV4 and Radio Payam have moved to 11137 MHz vertical from 10964 MHz vertical and IRIB TV3 and Radio Javan have left 11096 MHz vertical for 11137 MHz vertical. All of these are in clear Pal. These services use a spot beam centred on the Gulf area at 50 dBW decreasing to 45 dBW over Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Iran’s long-standing satellite equipment ban looks set to go. The Iranian Government’s Majlis Cultural Committee have been discussing ways of relaxing the ban to allow the use of satellite relays to distribute Iranian domestic TV channels around the country but at the same time limiting the reception of TV channels from the West.

45 degreesE:
Europe*Star 1

D A new horse racing/betting channel has launched on 11495 MHz vertical, SR 3254, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256. It is called Telly Track which comes from South Africa’s largest betting organisation. The channel airs free-to-air live and recorded action from South Africa’s major horse racing meetings. Telly Track is using Europe*Star’s European and South African beams.

42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1

D The Eurasiasat promo channel, which up to now had only been available in Pal, has launched in MPEG-2 on 12047 MHz vertical, SR 3470, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256. Kanal A has left 11600 MHz horizontal for 11522 MHz horizontal, SR 3150, FEC 5/6, VPID 33. APID 34 via the Westerly beam where it remains free-to-air. Samanyolu TV World is being replaced by Samanyolu TV intermittently on 11154 MHz vertical, SR 4557, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34 in clear MPEG-2.

39 degreesE:
Hellas Sat 1

D The Hellas Sat testcard on 12653 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 has ceased but a new one has appeared on 12658 MHz vertical, SR 4000, FEC 1/2, VPID 514, APID 670, ID:’Hellas – SOWS 39E’.

36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & Sesat

D Big Brother South Africa has opened on 12437 MHz horizontal, SR 26040, FEC 2/3 in Irdeto encoded MPEG-2 via PIDs V144, A145 in the MultiChoice Africa package. On 7 August at 16:35 a feed of recorded video from a car rally in the Caucuses was fed over 11043 MHz horizontal, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 4112, ID:’GCR/2/611 PAL’ in clear MPEG-2.

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

D The Irish sports channel Setanta Sports has become somewhat intermittent and is sometimes off the air on 11623 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3.Seven new radio stations have been added to the Slovakian Markiza package on 12642 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. They are Fun Radio, Okey and Twist. The APIDs are 884,885 and 886 respectively. The other audio channels present here are Radio Slovensko – A880, Radio Devin – A881, Rock FM Radio – A882 and Radio Regina Bratislava – A883. Zee Music is free-to-air for the rest of August on 11973 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2314, APID 2315, Ch.809 in a bid to secure more subscriptions. The PIDs for God Revival in the God multiplex on 11681 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 have been changed to V2321, A2323. Up at 12129 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 there have been some more PID changes. The Welsh language channel S4C Digidol is now on V2304, A2310; B4U Movies – V2313, A2314 and Zee TV – V2315, A2317. In the UKTV package at 11817 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 there has been a major change in the PIDs for all of the channels. The current parameters are; UK Style – V2304, A2306; UK Horizons – V2311, A2313; UK Gold – V2315, A2317; UK Gold – V2327, A2329; UK Drama – V2319, A2321; PLAY UK – V2331, A2333; UK Gold 2 – V2323, A2325; UK Horizons+1 – V2327, A2329 and UK Style+ – V2304, A2306. Sky Travel Extra was officially launched on 12 August and sits at Ch.146 in the Sky Digital EPG. This new channel airs from 09:00-00:00 daily. Digital Classics TV on 11681 MHz vertical, which recently switched from a pay service to free-to-air has abruptly disappeared from the Sky EPG. The channel’s future looks uncertain. MTV Dance at 11895 MHz vertical is now on the air 24 hours a day. Before 12 August the channel was airing from 20:00-07:00 only. i-Race is the name of a new virtual reality horse racing channel which is currently testing on 11953 MHz horizontal in clear MPEG-2. The channel will feature an interactive betting service. Big Entertainment Network (BEN) has launched on 11661 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3, VPID 2330, APID 2331, Ch.238. BEN airs a mix of European general entertainment programming. Txt Me TV on 12344 MHz horizontal has been moved in the Sky EPG to Ch. 686 alongside the home shopping channels. BBC Radio’s Gaelic radio service, Radio Nan Gaidheal, has commenced test transmissions on 11798 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 via APID 2349. Radio 1Xtra is set to launch on 16 August. The channel, which will offer a mix of R’n’B, Hip Hop, Garage. Soul and Dance music is currently testing on 11798 MHz horizontal via APID 2347. It has not be assigned an EPG channel number yet but can be accessed in the ‘Other Channels’ facility where it uses the identifier ‘6466’. It looks like the popular Hindi language TV channel Asianet have failed to secure a carriage deal on Astra at this slot. The channel has reportedly signed a deal with Eutelsat though and is expected to use Hotbird 3 capacity from later this month. Another new shopping channel, Stop+Shop, has launched on 11546 MHz horizontal and appears at Ch.660. Also on 11546 MHz horizontal the new bingo channel Avago TV has extended broadcasting times to 14:00-23:00 seven days a week. Zee Alpha TV Punjabi is now encoded on 11973 MHz vertical, Ch.818. Subscriptions for the channel amount to GBP3.00 (€4.71) per month for existing Zee customers or GBP5.99 (€9.40) per month as a standalone channel.

23.5 degreesE:
Astra 3A

D A new MediaVision package has opened on 12565 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 in parallel with the package on 12605 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. It contains Show TV – V1011, A1012; TGRT – V1021, A1022; RAI Uno – V1031, A1032; RAI Due – V1041, A1042 and RAI Tre – V1051, A1052. All of these are encoded in Betacrypt.

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

D The UPC Direct cable package which contained TV Puls, HBO Czech, MTV Polska and MTV Europe has left 11876 MHz horizontal.

A SWR ContentRadio from Germany has launched on 11186 MHz vertical via the 8.28 MHz audio sub-carrier in ADR mode.

16 degreesE:
Eutelsat W2

D The Serbian channel KohaVision Sat appears to have left 11054 MHz horizontal, SR 3570, FEC 1/2. However, RTV21Sat – also from former Yugoslavia – continues to be available in clear MPEG-2 on 11049 MHz, SR 3570, FEC 1/2, VPID 308, APID 256. The Israeli mini-package which contained Channel 26, Radio 10, Kol Hahesed and Kol Hasimha has now left 12626 MHz vertical, SR 2221, FEC 1/2. Ajara Radio from the former Soviet republic of Georgia has joined Ajara TV on 12675 MHz vertical, SR 4338, FEC 3/4 via APID 35 in clear MPEG-2.

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

D The PIDs for the free-to-air Mosaic channel in the RAI package at 11766 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3 have changed to V164, A96. Hollywood Classics Network (HCN) has joined the Slovenian package at 12303 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 205, APID 206 in clear MPEG-2. This was formerly the Telsell stream which is still indicated in the EPG info. Two new streams have been activated in the NTV Russia multiplex at 11938 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. They are ‘ES710 Test’ and ‘ES500 Test’ on PIDs V308/34, A256/33. Both streams are showing testcards at present. BBC Prime has been free-to-air on 11131 MHz, SR 5631, FEC 3/4, VPID 256, APID 257 for well over a week. The channel is usually encoded in Viaccess 1 here. The Urdu language ARY Digital is encoded in Irdeto 2 once again in the Belgacom multiplex on 12476 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 650, APID 651 following a short period in the clear. The music channel Krisma has left the Telespazio package at 12110 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 200, APID 201. This stream now carries the Jordan Satellite Channel from 12:00-17:00 and VTV4 Vietnam from 17:00-12:00 daily. Two data streams, TeleLearning and Gilat, have left the Deutsche Telekom line-up at 11096 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. Khalifa Radio has joined Khalifa TV in the GlobeCast package on 11623 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 via APID 258. Le Journal de Chez Vous is new in the French Television par Satellite line-up at 10796 MHz vertical via APID 3242. Napoli International has returned to 12303 MHz vertical, VPID 240, APID 241 after a short break. At 11746 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 UAE Radio Dubai has been replaced by Dubai Arabic FM Radio on APID 4098. There is a new ‘Senato Italiano’ testcard on 11766 MHz vertical, VPID 163, APID 92 within the RAI package. Some small changes in the ART package at 12015 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 – ART Sport is a newcomer on PIDs V519, A720 and ART Global Middle East has been replaced by ART Europe on VPID 512, APID 650. There is an new Al-Alam News Channel testcard in evidence on 12437 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 165, APID 90 in clear MPEG-2. Presumably this new channel is about to launch a DTH service here in the near future.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat W1

D Mihr TV and Mihr Radyo have launched on 12701 MHz vertical, SR 2169, FEC 1/2 via VPID 33, APIDs 34/35 in clear MPEG-2.

5.2 degreesE:
Sirius 2/3 & Astra 1A

D RTL 9 has launched on 11370 MHz vertical, SR 3260, FEC 5/6, VPID 162, APID 88 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

4 degreesE:
Eutelsat II-F2

This craft, which was previously co-located with Eutelsat II-F4 at 12 degrees West, has been parked here.

3 degreesE:
Telecom 2A & Stellat 5

Unmodulated carriers from Stellat 5 have been noted on 11598 MHz horizontal, 11685 MHz horizontal, 12522 MHz vertical and 12585 MHz horizontal as this new craft continues in- orbit transponder soak tests following its move from 5 degrees West.

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

D The Bulgarian movie channel New Film Cinema has left 12168 MHz horizontal, SR 28000, FEC 7/8, VPID 512, APID 640. A live feed from the European Athletics Championship in Munich was relayed on 11500 MHz horizontal, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, ID:’DSNG-2 Train B’ in clear MPEG-2 at 16:10 on 7 August.

5 degreesW:
Telecom 2C & Stellat 5

D Stellat 5 has now left this slot and has re-located to 3 degrees East.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102

D The Misr Tourist Channel from Egypt has now left the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) bouquet at 11842 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 1012, APID 1013 and has been replaced by an ERTU testcard. Libya’s Jamahiriya Satellite Channel has left 11785 MHz vertical and has re-located to 11900 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 1013, APID 1014 in clear MPEG-2. Deutsche Welle TV has been replaced by Deutsche Welle TV Middle East on 11900 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 3001, APID 3004. The channel airs here from 19:00-22:00 nightly.

8 degreesW:
Telecom 2D & Atlantic Bird 2

D Atlantic Bird MSG1 is scheduled to launch from Kourou on August 27 and will be slotted in at this position alongside Atlantic Bird 2. Persian TV 1 was replaced by Jaam-e-Jam Network International in the Farsi language multiplex at 11075 MHz vertical, SR 28195, FEC 1/2, VPID 3360, APID 3320 under the EPG ID ‘Jiji TV’ recently but Persian TV1 has now returned here. Coming Soon TV appeared briefly on 12740 MHz horizontal, SR 3255, FEC 3/4, VPID 3601, APID 3606 last week but has now left this frequency.

21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS K, NSS 803 & NSS 7

D The BFBS package has been switched from NSS 803 to NSS 7 capacity. It can now be found on 4145 MHz RHCP, SR 4500, FEC 2/3 via NSS 7’s Global beam. The bouquet contains seven audio streams – Middle East, Atlantic, World2, Belize, BATUS, Falklands and Cyprus. These are all free-to-air but BFBS TV is encoded in PowerVu. Radiodiffusion-Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) and Radiodiffusion-Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS 1) have launched on 11685 MHz horizontal, SR 6510, FEC 3/4, VPIDs 4194/4226. APIDs 4197/4229 in free-to- air MPEG-2 using NSS 7’s European/Middle East beam. RTNC obviously arrives here via an analogue link as the video and audio quality is very poor. Both channels offer a fascinating insight into the culture of these African countries. Programmes from RTNC are broadcast in French as well as the local languages, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kingwana, Kikongo and Tshiluba whereas RTS 1 broadcasts in French and Wolof. A live feed for CNN showed the return to the US of the body of murdered Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl from Pakistan on 11563 MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, ID:’SR1′ at 04:05 on 9 August.

24.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 603 & 905

Intelsat 603 has left this orbital slot and is drifting slowly eastwards.

30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A/B/C

D Canal Andalucia Turismo is a new addition to the Via Digital line-up on 11891 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The channel is available via VPID 4192, APID 4193 in free-to- air MPEG-2. The GOD Channel has opened on 11614 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 774, APID 784 in free-to-air MPEG-2. This channel is available on many satellites beaming to Europe and Asia now. On the same frequency the PIDs for Canal 47 Sevilla have been changed to V4202, A4201.

31.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 801

D Following the re-acquisition of the Nationwide soccer league broadcasting rights by Sky Sports this satellite sprang back into life on 10 August, the first day of the new season. During ITV Digital’s short life they had held the rights and the amount of satellite feeds from domestic matches decreased sharply. On the 10th the following frequencies carried either pre-match interviews or the match live; 10990 MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, ID:’SOLO’ – Burnley-v-Brighton: 11008 MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, ID:’BT TES 10′ – Leicester-v-Watford: 11016 MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, ID:’DOWNLINK TX’ – Coventry-v-Sheffield United. All were in free-to-air MPEG-2.

37.5 degreesW:
Telstar 11 & Columbia 515

D The BFBS package containing BFBS 1 TV and the audio streams Bosnia, Macedonia, Euro 2, UK, Euro 3, Gibraltar and Nepal has vacated 11561 MHz. These channels plus more can still be found on Eutelsat W3 at 7 degrees East, 11323 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 1/2.

40.5 degreesW:
NSS 806

D Four new radio stations have launched on 3895 MHz RHCP in MPEG-2/Power/Vu. They are Monitor Hipico 590, Radio Popular 950, Radio Sensacion and Radio Tiempo.

58 degreesW:
PAS 9

D India’s Doordarshan TV, which had been the sole free-to-air full time channel at this orbital slot, is now encoded in PowerVu within the British Telecom package at 11477 MHz horizontal, SR 26464, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1120. CubaVision Internacional launched on 11557 MHz horizontal, SR 6620, FEC 2/3, VPID 1160, APID 1120 on 29 July but had unfortunately vacated this slot by the following day.