Jako

We all (well most of us) thought that BBC and ITV channels would move to the Astra2F spotbeam last year. That did not happen and so far almost nothing has changed for viewers with SD receivers. That might give the false sense of security that nothing will change at all. We now know Astra2F was kept almost empty because of the Eutelsat issue. Astra2F will light up tomorrow. Unknown as yet whether the spotbeam or the pan-Europe beam will be used or both. Astra2E is now 'en route' and as soon as it is operational BBC etc. will move to the tight spotbeam and many will need a bigger dish to watch UK TV by Xmas, unless they are so kind to postpone the operation until January.

Some channels seem to move directly to the 2F UK spotbeam like BT Sport 1 and 2 SD , TCM, Sky living. Anyone missing these channels...?

There was an Astra 2E launch HD channel at 11626 and the HD feed from ilslaunch was FTA at 10 east. Don't know why they changed parameters, the same happened with the Astra 2F launch. It is now up to the guys in Toulouse to gain control over the vehicle, deploy the solar panels, move it from transfer orbit into geostationary orbit and then to the test location at 42.5 east. As you say: there is still a lot that can go wrong... Meanwhile, SES are currently moving the 'eutelsat' channels to Astra1N, out of the disputed frequency range.  Then the Astra2F transponders will be switched 'on' in the disputed frequency band and, when they prove to be functional , the Astra1N transponders are switched 'off' again a week later. That means the channels will be on three different frequencies in one week period. Sky and Freesat boxes should follow automatically.

This time a smooth and successful launch for Astra2E that many will regret. Ilslaunch press release

Finally the official confirmation by SES in this press release: http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2013/16078905 Watch it live in HD on Astra1 at 19.2 E Sunday evening at 23:41 hrs.CET [Www][B]

Astra 2E launch now set for september 29 21:38 GMT according to spaceflightnow.com. No official confirmation on the Ilslaunch website. It seems the Astra2E launch is caught in the middle of a political row between Russia and Kazakhstan: trend

We are getting a bit off-topic, but for HD picture and HD sound there are two basics: 1-never use a scart cable, instead use HDMI and S/Pdif only. 2-never use the TV speakers, they are useless as flat sceens are too thin to provide proper sound. Instead use a separate amplifier that can decode Dolby Digital AC3 audio streams with at least 3 speakers (2.1)  and use the HD sound channel (DD AC3) that will provide between 2 and 6 high quality audio channels instead of the mpeg sound channel.

Yes, thanks for the interesting update. The inverto is also supposed to have one of the lowest noise levels and that should result in better quality. But reported noise levels are more a commercial feature than reality nowadays.  10 dB is ok for SD channels, but low for HD channels running on a dvbs2 8psk transponder. If you have an HD receiver, can you check the signal on this transponder: 11024 Mhz, H, 23000, fec 2/3,DVBS2, 8PSK with BBC red button HD, BBC one Scotland HD and BBC one Wales HD. 10 dB on that transponder would mean hardly any rain reserve.

Well, actually you can. This method is used by radio astronomers to 'listen' for aliens etc. [blink] The BIG problem however is the fact that it takes time to process the signal and time is of the essence. When you want to use two or more sources to deliver the same signal to one tuner they need to arrive at the exact same moment. That is impossible, cable is never the same length, different electronics  never run at exactly the same speed etc. The result is no signal at all, unless you spend a fortune on delay lines and fine-tuning, like astronomers do.

Just learned that SES  already  owns the contracts with Sky etc, but is currently subcontracting to Eutelsat. That means the switchover to an Astra satellite is relative simple and Eutelsat will miss out on around 30-40 million Euro per year. The question now is what satellite will be used as 2E is still not available and what footprint, especially for those watching outside the UK.

What it means that SES will use the Eutelsat frequency band is still unknown. SES say they have won the legal right to do so (click) , but Eutelsat disagrees. Worst case: If there is no agreement and SES will simply start to use those frequencies results in a total loss of reception of all channels currently transmitted on Eutelsat28: click But even if they reach an agreement, sky and other providers need time to adjust the uplink to a new satellite, contracts need to be signed  and time is running out. Interesting times...

Meanwhile,  interesting times are coming as SES Astra stated they will start to use the frequency band currently used by Eutelsat as soon as October 4 [blink].

Launch delayed yet again by several weeks due to technical problems. click

Change your Orange ADSL subscription to a free dial-in 'subscription' instead of cancelling it should solve this problem.

Another 2 days delay. Astra 2E launch date now set for September 17. (might be September 16 UK time though[:)])

Did you measure directly at the LNB ? Small explanation:  The total amount of energy in the quadrant (as explained) coming from the LNB first enters into an amplifier that tries to output roughly the optimal power level  for the tuner, then the desired frequency gets isolated, cleaned up and digitally processed. If the total signal strength is too strong, the first amp could be unable to comply and strange things can happen. The problem at your location is that you are well within the Astra1N spotbeam and the pan-europe beam, but outside the 2F spotbeam. So the total amount of energy coming from the Astra2 position is huge and yet a few Astra2F transponders are very weak at your location. That is not the situation any 'normal' (Sky-) receiver is designed for. The first amp will attempt to reduce the signal to an acceptable level, possibly 'killing' the weak transponders in the process. As stated, this effect should diminish as soon as the Astra1N is switched 'off'.

Depending on the exact cause of the problem you might even need less signal instead of more.[:)] The Astra1N satellite is very powerful and in combination with a high amplification lnb and/or a big dish the total signal of the quadrant ( hi/low+hor/vert) the LNB  sends to the receiver can simply be too strong for the receiver's tuner causing  some transponders to fail, especially the weaker ones. This will improve as soon as Astra1N is switched 'off', but you could try an adjustable attenuator or satslope filter.

Astra 2E  launch date now set for September 15 2013. source: http://www.ilslaunch.com/mission-control

Reception outside the official footprint is not stable. You might have good reception one day and no reception at all on another day/time of day/time of year. That is why so many reception reports get changed. For a good reception report you need to check the signal on a daily basis during an prolonged period.  Many '80 cm=ok for me' reports have already been revised to 'not ok'

Some sensors were placed upside down, so instead of up it went ... down.[:D] At least it is a quick and simple explanation as to what happened, but apparently procedures and tests did not discover this before launch and they should have.

Delaying the inevitable until winter is a bad idea. Replacing a dish on a bright and sunny day in September is much better than suddenly loosing UK channels by Christmas.[:)]

A bit off-topic, but the Dutch satellite provider 'CanalDigitaal' have published information on their website stating that it will soon be possible to register a subscription on a non-Dutch address and pay with a foreign bank account, credit card or paypal. If it is legal for them it will be legal for Sky to do the same. So there is hope for a more simple solution.[:)]

No, the price of the 'free' calls will rise to the roaming costs.

Not only does Fransat not enjoy these problems, there are more reasons to move to Fransat: -better picture quality, both sd and hd channels are transmittted in better quality, selectable DVB subtitels and HbbTV on public channels. -more HD channels: HD1, equipe 21, 6ter, 23,RMC are either in SD or even completely absent on TNTSAT -existence of a Fransat CI+ module to be inserted directly in you TV equipped with dvbs2 tuner and CI+ slot or any satellite receiver with CI+ slot -same price -extra French free to air channels that are not available on Astra.

No, probably not. As the sports channels are encrypted the expectation is that they will remain on a pan-European beam and not the UK spotbeam. Although Sky would have a problem explaining why they need the pan-European beam.[:)]