Jako

These channels were moved from the astra2d to the astra1n satellite without even a glitch....

For the banks this is a liquidity problem, not for sovereign debt. As no eurozone bank will need go bankrupt for 3 years there is no need for ecb overnight deposits. It seems markets finally got the message as ecb deposits have fallen from roughly 300B€ to 100B€. This money can now flow into the real economy instead of back to the ecb. This is not BoE style money printing. The BoE is simply monetising UK debt, thus ignoring the Maastricht treaty and is actually a soft-default. This looks like an easy short term solution and keeps intrest rates low (not government policy) , but creates humongous long-term problems. And UK politicians accuse Europe of "kicking the can down the road"..

Markets have yet to realise what happened last week: Not a single eurozone bank will be in trouble for at least 3 years because the ECB will provide unlimited funds for 3 years against low collateral. The UK is unable to stop financial regulation of the City by the EU because the UK has no veto in this matter unless they leave the EU.

5*, 5 USA etc are now Free To Air available on freesat and other FTA receivers on the Astra1N transponder:10964.00MHz, pol.H SR:22000 FEC:5/6 [:)]

The need for a  "will the pound crash in 2012" topic might come soon... Anyone read the tulletprebon project armageddon  (click) report?

CH4HD stopped transmitting on the old Astra2d frequency today and is only available on the new Astra1N frequency:  Scan the frequency if you lost picture: (non-sky/freeview boxes only) 11127 V 22000 2/3 8psk SID 21200 VPID 2305 APID 2306 Dolby Digital 5.1 APID 2307 Stereo

[quote user="breizh"]Bank intervention is off balance sheet. It is a potential obligation, costed in your figures at a total 100% loss, even Greek debt is worth 29% of face value. [/quote] You are wrong. Bank intervention is off balance sheet in the UK only. And they are not potential obligations, but the amount of money borrowed by UK government to prop-up the banks. Interest needs to be paid over the full amount. You can argue that a % will return by selling the part of the banks that the UK now owns. It is not the ECB (irrelevant for the ECB) but Eurostat that allows the UK to keep a certain % off balance sheet. But Eurostat  reported UK debt already at 80% at the end of 2010. (click), not 68%. It will be at least 90% at the end of 2011, but it might be higher when Eurostats estimate of the % of the bail-outs that will never return to the taxpayer increases due to bad bank results.

Still way too much. Especially when you consider UK's financial situation is much worse than Italy's. Italy                                           UK Debt 120%                                140% (both including financial sector intervention) Deficit 2.7%                               10% Household savings: +500%       -110% The entire Italian debt could be wiped-out with just one 20% rich-tax.

Reception reports from all over Europe are excellent. If this really is the Astra1N spotbeam nobody needs to worry. In the UK reception is incredible,  one might even try to use a dishless lnb...[:D]

Only the mentioned Channel4 HD test transmission is currently on Astra1N, all other channels are still on 2D.

There is a channel4 HD test transmission on Astra 1N : 11123 V 22000 DVBS2 8PSK 2/3 Strooooong signal!

Yes, they will definitely use the Astra2d for several more years, just not on one of the prime locations (19, 28). Ageing satellites are usually used to provide backup service or feeds.

[quote user="Martin963"] 15 year life span for 2D.  (see SES's website)   [/quote] Indeed, that is what is on the website now. However, it was originally designed for 12 years, maybe the website is currently not accurate. The original info is still visible on the Astra2d wikipage and is pointing to the original source: http://www.ses-astra.com/business/en/news-events/press-archive/1999/26-07-99/  Unfortunately, this 1999 document does not seem to exist anymore.

Kingofsat, lyngsat etc.  already emptied the Astra2D satellite. They report all transponders moved to the 1N. I think they are mistaken though.  [8-)]

The Astra2D is almost end-of-life: launched in 2000, 12 year lifespan. They are just replacing the satellite. Imagine a painter going up there and paint "1N" over "2D":  no effect on the ground. This is routine, all transponders will simply move to the 1N and then the 2D will retire. As this is  1N 's temporary job, the same will happen again when 1N moves on to 19.2 east. But 1N has more transponders so it will do more than just take over 2D's tasks.  

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]Jako, when a channel changes transponder the new data addresses are incorporated into a revised version of the EPG (for Sky), so Channel 4 (for example) still appears on Sky 104. However the transponder (and indeed entire satellite) that that listing refers to may be entirely different from one day to the next, although to the Sky customer there is now visible change. [/quote] No. There will be absolutely no change whatsoever. That is only the case when a transmission is moved to a different frequency. When the transponder frequency and all other parameters stay the same, but SES-Astra decides to move the transmission to another transponder or even to a different satellite altogether -nothing changes for the customer. Astra can do this in a blip, without anyone noticing-not even Sky. This it is also done in case of a malfunction. That is why spare capacity is built-in. Normally, Astra can even cope with the loss of an entire satellite by spreading the lost capacity over the remaining satellites. Most people will notice nothing next Tuesday whatever receiver they use. Some might just have a better signal and others worse. That is why no information is given by channel4: it is completely irrelevant for all customers. Only the ones living on the edges of the current Astra2D footprint  are anxious to see what happens and they are the only people that might notice a difference.

[quote user="Anton Redman"]  Sky and freesat boxes should be fine but anybody using other receivers will need to enter new paramaters.[/quote] There are no new parameters. A change of transponder and/or satellite is completely invisible for the customer. Example: the French eutelsat  moved 400 channels to its new satellite Atlantic bird 7  in just a couple of hours on 24 october.

As you read it you will find the question is less relevant... The Astra1N has multiple beam capacity, including 2 pan-European beams. However, the freeview channels are transmitted FTA (Free To Air) meaning that everybody inside the footprint is able to watch these channels, not only people living in the UK. But the transmission rights are paid for the UK only, so the footprint has to be as close to the UK borders as is technically feasible. (or as wide as 'Hollywood' will accept) That is why a special UK narrow beam ( aka spotbeam) is used for most  FTA channels. As the Sky channels are encrypted they can also use the pan-European beams. Customers inside the UK see no difference, but for Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece etc the pan-European beams are strong where the UK beam is absent. Channel4 migration is confirmed for 1/11/11[:)]

I agree, but we need actual reception reports to confirm this theory.

No, the ordinary consumer in or close to the UK will notice nothing. However, the UK beam is supposed to be even more tight to the UK than the Astra2D version. The published footprint does not even reach beyond the north-western half of France. (click) That is why 'everybody' is anxious so see real reception reports.

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 20111024 -- SES S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) today announced that its new ASTRA 1N satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees East. ASTRA 1N was built by Astrium on the Eurostar E3000 platform and is equipped with 52 transponders in the Ku frequency band. The satellite was successfully launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 August 2011. It had a launch mass of 5,325 kg and is the fourth Eurostar satellite in the 49 satellite-strong SES fleet. ASTRA 1N greatly enhances the flexibility of the SES satellite fleet at the orbital slot 28.2 degrees East over Europe. ASTRA 1N is notably being used by Channel 4 and ITV. The new satellite will also allow SES to offer its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect via 28.2 degrees East and thus complement its service offer from the 23.5 degrees East position. ASTRA2Connect is Europe’s largest satellite broadband network with more than 80,000 end users. ------------ Channel 4 and ITV will migrate to this new satellite "soon" .

Sorry to respond a bit late. I am Dutch, living in France though. For now it is not possible to obtain a Dutch subscription card without Dutch address and Dutch bank account. However, the decision of the European court regarding Sky sports being viewed in a British pub via a Greek satellite receiver has many implications. It is now illegal for any EU provider to forbid the use of subscription cards in other EU countries. The Dutch provider Canaldigitaal is currently reviewing this court ruling, but they already have a web page in English: http://www.canaldigitaal.nl/english/ For now, you still need a Dutch address though. But they have announced more information will be available asap. Obviously this would also imply that you could subscribe to SKY UK soon legally while living in France...[:)]  

As the BoE still seem to be under the impression that the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe had a successful monetary policy they restarted their 'money printing' experiment. The long term target for EUR/GBP has now shifted from 2 to 2,50. (2 pounds 50 for one euro)

The funny part is that the US is the biggest contributor to the IMF. When the IMF does not clear the next payment, Greece will default. That triggers claims by all parties that have insured themselves against a Greek default. (French, German banks etc). The largest holder is AIG that was bankrupted by the fall of Lehman Brothers but was rescued by the US treasury and the FED  with $180 billion. AIG will again be unable to pay out this insurance claim. So the US treasury is on the hook for many billions of Euro's one way or the other. Via AIG when Greece defaults and via the IMF when Greece does not default. The difference is that Greece/Europe will have to pay back the IMF, but not AIG.[:)] Now why would Timothy Geitner be in Poland right now?

Well, it is in this Wiktionary and the definition is explained here: ringfence . New regulations that are designed by the ECB to protect the Eurozone from problems in the City don't go down well in the UK. (click).