90 degreesE:
Yamal 102

D Evrasija TV [Eurasia TV] has been replaced by Oblastnoe TV from Ekaterinburg on 3600 MHz LHCP, SR 4285, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256. Several more Russian radio stations have joined the NetService multiplex at 3564 MHz RHCP, SR 2000, FEC 3/4. They are; Radio Retro – A4097; Radio Dinamit FM – A4100; Radio Novaya Zhizn – A4110; Russkoe Radio 2 – A4120; Radio Monte Carlo 102.1 [Russia] – A4130; Radio Courants – A4170; Hit FM [Moscow] – A4180 and AvtoRadio – A4200.

78.5 degreesE:
Thaicom 2&3

D Sanskar TV is carrying out test transmissions on 3545 MHz vertical, SR 26665, FEC 3/4, VPID 273, APID 274 in clear MPEG-2. This Mumbai-based channel offers viewers the opportunity to experience the spiritual delights of India. Following a period of testing Indiavision has commenced regular programming in free-to-air MPEG-2 on 3685 MHz horizontal, SR 6830, FEC 3/4, VPID 1160, APID 1120. Korean Central TV and Voice of Seoul have re-located to 3425 MHz horizontal, SR 3665, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, from 3665 MHz horizontal.

72 degreesE:
PAS 4

D The Italian channel RTB International has opened on 12693 MHz vertical, SR 2170, FEC 3/4, VPID 3105, APID 3106 in clear MPEG-2.

68.5 degreesE:
PAS 7 & 10

D RTS 1 and Radio Senegal International have left 4098 MHz vertical, SR 3255, FEC 7/8 and have been replaced by test transmissions from Afrisat on VPID 2306, APID 2307. The Adventist TV Network has launched on 3496 MHz vertical, SR 6620, FEC 2/3, VPID 1160, APID 1120. This channel comes from the 7th Day Adventists movement and uses space segment on NSS 7 at 22 degrees West, NSS 806 at 40.5 degrees West, AMC 4 – 101 degrees West and PAS 2 – 169 degrees East. All India Radio is now available vie two streams on 4034 MHz vertical, SR 20500, FEC 2/3, APIDs 651/671 in clear MPEG-2.

64 degreesE:
Intelsat 906

D On 3940 MHz LHCP, SR 3333, FEC 2/3 there are currently free-to-air test transmissions in evidence from Alpha TV Punjabi on VPID 4194, APID 4195.

45 degreesE:
Europe*Star 1

D A Polish channel, Hippika TV, has launched on 11618 MHz vertical, SR 1858, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The channel uses Europe*Star’s European beam.

42 degreesE:
Turksat 1C & Eurasiasat 1

D Hot TV has joined the StarDigital line-up on 12652 MHz horizontal, SR 22500, FEC 5/6 via VPID 5168, APID 5169 in clear MPEG-2. In the StarDigital package at 11727 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 7/8 Best FM is a new arrival via APID 5392. Turkish channel TGRT has launched on 11881 MHz vertical, SR 3400, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2. Dream, Galaxy TV and Bravo TV has vacated 11595 MHz vertical. Galaxy TV has re-located to 11038 MHz horizontal, SR 2170, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 and Bravo TV and Dream have moved to 11581 MHz vertical, SR 4818, FEC 5/6, VPIDs 33/39, APIDs 34/40. Occasional feed traffic for CNN Turk has been observed on 11587 MHz vertical for 11591 MHz vertical, SR 2400, FEC 5/6, VPID 33, APID 34. RTB International has left 12610 MHz vertical and has moved over to PAS 4 at 72 degrees East.

40 degreesE:
Express A1R

D Kultura Telekanal and Telekanal Rossiya have been replaced by testcards on 11575 MHz vertical, SR 26463, FEC 3/4, V533/534, A5724/5734

39 degreesE:
Hellas Sat 1

D Hellas Sat 2 is due to lift off on 12 May aboard an Atlas rocket and will co-locate with Hellas Sat 1 here. The new craft carries 30 Ku-Band transponders.

36 degreesE:
Eutelsat W4 & Sesat

D AvtoRadio joined the NetService package on 12675 MHz vertical, SR 2000, FEC 3/4 via APID 4200 briefly last week but has now left. Hallmark Channel ScandiLux has launched on in the MultiChoice Africa package at 12437 MHz, SR 26040, FEC 2/3, VPID 1809, APID 1810 in Irdeto 2-encoded MPEG-2.

33 degreesE:
Intelsat 605

Intelsat 605 has now reached this slot from 27.5 degrees West and will be parked here. It will be in an ideal position to provide coverage for Europe, Africa and Asia. Next year I605 will probably be moved further eastwards to the 178 degrees East geostationary slot.

30.5 degreesE:
Arabsat 2B

D Bahrain TV, the General Programme and Bahrain FM have all left 12605 MHz horizontal. They have re-located to Arabsat 2D at 25.8 degrees East. Radio Dal, the Makkah [Mecca], Saudi Arabia-based radio station, has vacated 12620 MHz vertical and 12731 MHz vertical. The station can still be found via Nilesat capacity at 7 degrees West, 11843 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 620 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The Jordan Satellite Channel and Radio Amman have left 12525 MHz horizontal and moved to Arabsat 2D. Also on the move to Arabsat 2D are Bahrain TV, Bahrain General Arabic Programme and Bahrain FM, which have all left 12505 MHz horizontal.

28.2 degreesE:
Astra 2A, 2B & 2D & Eurobird 1

D Rapture TV, which closed abruptly last October, appears to be about to make a comeback. Rapture has new owners who state that the channel will return on 7 May on Sky Digital Ch.232. Currently test transmissions for the channel can be observed on 11488 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. E4 are the launch a time-shifted version of the channel in July. E4+1 will join the Sky Digital line-up. Friendly TV , the new interactive channel, has commenced some test broadcasts on 11623 MHz horizontal ahead of its planned 12 May launch date. LBC Radio 97.3 FM, London’s all-news channel, has confirmed that they will join Sky Digital in the next few weeks. The Simply Television group went into administrative receivership last week. Some of the channels have continued to operate as normal but Simply Shopping+, Simply Asian and Simply Nostalgia have been subject to lengthy absences or off the air completely. In fact, on 1 May all three were removed from the EPG although Simply Asian continues to broadcast on 12420 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 2/3. The company operates seven ‘Simply’ channels, Shopping, Home, Holidays, Ideas, Shopping+, Asian and Nostalgia. P-Rock TV has ceased transmissions and has been removed from the Sky EPG. The channel claims that they will re-launch with a new format in the third quarter of this year. Sky have announced that when the Movies channels switch to widescreen 16:9 on 3 June Sky One and Sky One Mix will follow suite. From the same date Sky Movies Premier 1, 2 & 3 will broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1.

26 degreesE:
Arabsat 2A, 2C & 3A

D An Etisalat bouquet has launched on 11862 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The package contains Emirates Channel – V35, A33; Abu Dhabi TV – V38, A36; three Abu Dhabi TV testcards – V41/44/47, A39/42/45; EMI Special Channel [encoded in Viaccess 1] – V66, A64; Abu Dhabi TV Europe [encoded in RAS] – V50, A51; Abu Dhabi Sports [encoded in RAS] – V54, A55; two Abu Dhabi feed streams – V58/62, A59/63 and Emarat FM – A67. Etisalat operates an extensive cable network in the seven states making up the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Al-Fujayrah, Sharjah, Ra’s al-Khaymah and Umm al-Qaywayn through its subsidiary E-Vision. In the Orbit Network multiplex at 11919 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 TV Max II, TV Max Test 1 and TV Max Test 2 are new on VPIDs 1024/1040/1056, APIDs 1025/1041/1057. TV Max is Orbit’s pay-per-view movie channel. Radio Sawa 2 has launched on 11938 MHz vertical via APID 2222. Radio Sawa 1 and 2 are funded and provided by the US government and broadcast 24 hours a day in Arabic for the Middle East and North Africa. Bahrain TV, Bahrain General Arabic Programme and Bahrain FM have launched on 11552 MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 1128, APIDs 1148/1158.

A Libya’s al-Jamahiryah TV has left 12700 MHz vertical where it had been available in free-to-air PAL. The channel can still be found on Arabsat 2D at 25.8 degrees East, 11074 MHz vertical in PAL.

25.8 degreesE:
Arabsat 2D

D Bahrain TV, Bahrain General Programme and Bahrain FM are all available on 11552 MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 1128, APIDs 1148/1158. Qatar TV and Qatar Radio have launched on 11620 MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 1021, APIDs 1041/1051 in clear MPEG-2. In the Arabsat package at 11662 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 Syria’s Radio Sout al-Sha’ab [Voice of the People] can be heard via APID 50 in clear MPEG-2. Jordan Satellite Channel and Radio Amman have moved here from Arabsat 2B at 30.5 degrees East and are occupying 11568 MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4. Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel has opened on 11615 MHz horizontal, SR 3000, FEC 3/4, VPID 1022, APID 1042 in clear MPEG-2. It is accompanied by Sout al-Khaleej 100.8 FM on APID 1052. BBC World Service Arabic has launched on 11623 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 2122 in the Arabsat package. Radio Sawa 2 is new on 11662 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 2222. Sky News has entered a stream-share with Kuwait TV2 on 11002 MHz horizontal, SR 3500, FEC 3/4, VPID 300, APID 200.

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

D TV de Catalunya has joined the Canal Satelite Digital package on 10876 MHz vertical, SR 22000, FEC 5/6, VPID 172, [no audio] in clear MPEG-2. In the CanalSatellite France multiplex on 12012 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 166, APID 104, music channel MCM Africa has been replaced by Trace by MCM.

13 degreesE:
Hotbird 1/2/3/4/6

D Nice People, the new Big-Brother-like reality programme from the French terrestrial network TF1, has started regular programming on it’s own dedicate stream within the TPS package at 10873 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 220, APID 230 in Viaccess 1 encoded MPEG. The programme is also aired nightly on TF1 throughout France. Pink Plus, Pink Extra and Radio Pink, all from Serbia, have joined the GlobeCast NE multiplex at 10949 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPIDs 5201/5301, APIDs 5211/5311/5411. Also, Global Marketing TV is a newcomer here via VPID 6201, APID 6211. This is a new idea in marketing where the customer can purchase slots for the airing of commercials, low budget movies, music videos or just about anything else. The channel is based in Mineola, New York. The Egyptian channel Nile News has left the BT package on 11137 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. A promo for the French channel TchaTche.tv has launched within the GlobeCast package at 11623 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 230, APID 250. A TV Colombia testcard has appeared in the Telespazio multiplex at 11178 MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 639, APID 640 in clear MPEG-2 replacing TV8. On the same frequency Made in Italy is testing via two streams via VPIDs 229/245, APIDs 230/246 in clear MPEG-2. Pleasure TV is a new adult channel, which is testing in the Slovenian package at 12303 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 225, APID 226. Paris-based Zalea TV has opened on 11137 MHz, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 522, APID 642 in the BT multiplex. The channel airs on Sundays only from 12:00- 15:00. In the Telespazio package at 12111 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 Iran TV Network has launched on clear MPEG-2. This is one of the growing band of Farsi-language channels emanating from the USA. Iran TV Network is based in Reseda, California. Eureka! is new in the Television par Satellite package at 10796 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 220, APID 320. It is a new adventure and knowledge channel for 7-14 year olds. TV Nacional de Chile has joined the Telespazio line-up at 11178 MHz horizontal in clear MPEG-2 via PIDs V220, A221. Radio Sumer, which is a US-run PSYOPS station, is being fed over Hotbird on the GlobeCast multiplex at 12597 MHz, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 2173 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The station, which has taken over from Radio Tikrit in Iraq on 1584 kHz Medium Wave, airs from 19:00-21:00 daily. Radio Sumer is so named because this is the name of the land and early civilisation of the southern region of Iraq between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Presumably the purpose of this feed is to supply the Medium Wave transmitter.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat W1

D The Mexican channel, XEW-Canal 2, has left 11621 MHz vertical, SR 1435, FEC 7/8. The Turkish channels Olay TV and Olay FM on 11023 MHz horizontal have changed parameters to SR 2950, FEC 7/8, VPID 33, APID 34. On 24 April at 18:10 an unusual feed was set up on 10973 MHz horizontal, SR 4166, FEC 5/6. It was a live interview with the crew of a B52 bomber, callsign ‘Ironman 1, over the eastern Atlantic enroute from Fairford in Gloucestershire back to its base in the US. A group of journalists assembled in the Pentagon in Washington DC were visible in the feed and audio from the B52 (which was reaching the US via a regular shortwave US military frequency) was audible over the feed.

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

D The Finnish TV channels YLE TV1 and YLE TV2 have joined the Telenor package at 12054 MHz horizontal, SR 28000, FEC 7/8 via VPIDs 517/518, APIDs 660/664 in Conax-encoded MPEG- 2. The Slovakian channel Joj is switching in and out of Conax encryption in the Telenor Slovakia package at 11540 MHz vertical, SR 26000, FEC 3/4, VPID 516, APID 656.

5 degreesW:
Telecom 2C & Atlantic Bird 3

D There is a new Serbian package on 12615 MHz horizontal, SR 8787, FEC 7/8 containing Pink Plus – V512, A640; Pink Extra – V513, A641; Pink Bosnia – V514, A642, Pink Montenegro – V515, A643 and Radio Pink – A661. All are encoded in Irdeto 2.

7 degreesW:
Nilesat 101 & 102

D Sharjah TV from the UAE is using 11785 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 2292, APID 2293 in clear MPEG-2. Sharjah FM can also be heard here via APID 2294. Radio Dal from Saudi Arabia, which is operated by AlMajd TV, has left 11900 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, APID 3005. The Syrian radio station El-Bernameg al-Aam has opened on 11823 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 via APID 1024. Thane International, the home shopping channel, has launched on 11823 MHz vertical, VPID 1020, APID 1023.

7 degreesW:
Hispasat 1A

D The first activity from Hispasat 1A following its move from the 30 degrees West slot came from a Eutelsat promo on 12456 MHz LHCP, SR 13020, FEC 3/4, VPID 289, APID 290 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

8 degreesW:
Telecom 2D & Atlantic Bird 2

D This seems to have become the latest home for the early evening regional news reports for German broadcasters. On 28 April several active streams were observed carrying news feeds. Those noted were; 11521 MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256, ID:’Teleport Koeln’; 11530 MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256, ID:’RTL HSS’; 11538 MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 7/8, V308, A256, ID:’Studio Muenchen’ and 11548 MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 7/8, V512, A640, ID:’RTL Frankfurt’. Also, some BBC regional feed traffic is using capacity here. On 28th at 15:25 11655 MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, V4194, A4195, ID:’UKI 826 BBC Norwich’ was active with a feed in MPEG 4.2.2 and at the same time 11665 MHz vertical, SR 6138, FEC 7/8, V308, A256, ID:’UKI 498 SPORT SDI’ was relaying a feed in 4.2.2.

15 degreesW:
Telstar 12

D A caption has appeared on 11148 MHz horizontal, SR 18380, FEC 3/4, VPID 2001, APID 2010, ID:’PMC’ which states ‘Persian Music Channel. Launch May 9th 2003, 18:30 CET, 21:00 Tehran time’ in clear MPEG-2. A new channel entitled LiveonEarth has launched on 12645 MHz horizontal, SR 3255, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195. The channel airs live and recorded video shots from well known locations around the world. It uses new camera technology employed by Earth Television Network AG. LiveonEarth is based in Munich. The channel uses the EBU’s BISS [Basic Interoperable Scrambling System] encryption system.

22 degreesW:
NSS 7

D MCM Africa has been replaced by Trace by MCM in the Le Sat package on 3650 MHz RHCP, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 163, APID 92.

30 degreesW:
Hispasat 1B/C/D

D Brazilian religious channel IURD has launched on 11593 MHz vertical, SR 3310, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2.

37.5 degreesW:
Telstar 11

D The Russian international channel, RTR Planeta, has launched on 12180 MHz horizontal, SR 3255, FEC 7/8, VPID 113, APID 123 in clear MPEG-2 via Telstar 11’s North American beam.

43 degreesW:
PAS 3R & PAS 6

D XEW-Canal 2 from Mexico has left 12613 MHz vertical, SR 1435, FEC 7/8. This feed for the channel was used to provide the signal to Eutelsat W1 at 10 degrees East.

55.5 degreesW:
Intelsat 805

D TV channel Red A.D. Venir Internacional from Santa Cruz, Bolivia has launched on 3675 MHz vertical, SR 2660, FEC 3/4, VPID 768, APID 769 in clear MPEG-2. The channel uses NTSC 525 lines.

85 degreesW:
AMC 9

The launch of AMC 9 from Baikonur has been delayed because of technical problems. The satellite was due to have lifted off on 28 April. It will carry 24×36 MHz C-Band transponders providing 37 dBW to all of the United States and Canada and 29-35 dBW to Latin America. The Ku-Band payload consists of 24×36 MHz transponders.