Interspace’s in-depth study of European satellite activity, compiled by Mike Fallon

Key: D – Digital A – Analogue

145 degreesE:
Gorizont-21 & 33
D – The last of the Gorizont series of satellites, Gorizont-45, was successfully launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on June 6 at 02:59 (UTC). However, there seems to be the usual confusion about the actual name of the satellite as, according to the Russian Aerospace Agency this is Flight 45, but according to some Russian and European sources this flight is designated Gorizont-33. Indeed, this is the 33rd Gorizont flight, but then Gorizonts have never been entitled in correct order. Gorizont-33 seems to be becoming the accepted name. The new satellite will take over at this geostationary slot from Gorizont-21 and will provide TV, radio and telecommunications services to Russia, east of the Urals.

80 degreesE:
Express-6A
D – Traffic has been transferred from Express-6 to the new 6A craft Services here include TV6 – 3875MHz and TVC – 4125MHz. The Vladimir monitoring station located to the north east of Moscow controls the Express satellites. At Ku-Band, Russian channel Muz TV has moved here from the Gorizont at 53 degrees East and can be found on 11525MHz RHCP, SR 6499, FEC 3/4 in clear MPEG-2.

75 degrees E:
LMI-1
A – Strangely, some of the output from TV Malagasy is in Pal instead of the usual Secam on 3976MHz LHCP.

64 degreesE:
I.C.-804
D – The Africa TV package has grown from two to four channels on 3670MHz horizontal, SR 11716, FEC 3/4. In addition to Africa TV 1(movies and general entertainment) and 2 (sport) there is also Africa TV 3 on VPID 310, APID 262 (currently a testcard) and TV4, VPID 311, APID 8191 (also a testcard but without any audio). The video is inverted on all four channels.

62 degreesE:
I.C.-602
D – On June 7 at 16:35 a news bulletin in French for the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation was fed over 4166MHz RHCP in clear Secam.

60 degreesE:
Intelsat-604
D – There is a new Armenian multiplex on 11482MHz vertical, SR 2678, FEC 3/4, containing Armenia TV (V1023, A1024) and occasional feeds (V511, A512). The service uses an East Spotbeam centred on the Middle East, Iran and the Caucasus.

48 degreesE:
Eutelsat-II-F1
D – Napoli International has started via an SCPC carrier on 11097MHz horizontal, SR 2168, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID 4195 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

42 degreesE:
Turksat-1C
D – The Turkish version of Fashion TV has moved to 11080MHz horizontal, VPID 4132, APID 4133 in free-to-air MPEG-2 from 11469MHz vertical.

36 degreesE:
Gals-1/2, Most-1, Eutelsat-W4 & Sesat
D – Eutelsat-W4 is currently parked at 32 degrees East and will commence in-orbit transponder soak tests at any time. Then Eutelsat’s newest craft will be manoeuvred into position at 36 degrees East and will enter full service in early July. Eutelsat-II-F3, which was parked here prior to W4’s arrival, is being slowly drifted westwards and is thought to be enroute to the 21.5 degrees east slot. A live feed of the Monaco F1 Grand Prix was relayed over 10996MHz horizontal, SR 6855, FEC 7/8, V100, A101 in clear MPEG-2 on June 4. On June 8 Sesat took over duties from Eutelsat-II-F3. Most services have had to change frequency and the details are shown in the table below. There is occasional Intrax feed traffic on 11653 kHz vertical, SR 5206, FEC 5/6 and occasional Italian language feeds on 10981MHz horizontal, SR 13327, FEC 7/8, EPG: ‘GCI/F. HBRTV’ in MPEG-2 4:2:2. Other occasional feed traffic can be found at 10987MHz, 10995MHz, 11005MHz, 11013 kHz and 11021MHz all vertical. Assyria TV has started test transmissions on 10976MHz vertical, SR 6110, FEC 3/4, VPID 160, APID 80 in clear MPEG-2. This relay is used to supply Assyria TV’s outlet on Eutelsat-W2 at 16 degrees East. The numerous SIS feed streams remain on the same frequencies as before. On June 11 at 21:00, 11079MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 was active with colour bars overlaid with ‘ITN Links. SISLink 37. UKI 506. 07801 641354. 07771 935890’ in free-to-air MPEG-2.

Transponder allocation Sesat, 36 degreesE:
Frequency	Pol	SR	FEC	Channel
10.966	V,	2.892,	3/4:	Pink Plus
10.993	V,	5.632,	3/4:	BBC-Feed
11.013	H,	5.632,	3/4:	Kurdsat
11.041	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.048	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.056	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.064	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.072	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.080	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.088	H,	5.632,	3/4:	SIS-Feed
11.097	H,	5.632,	3/4:	ITN-Feed
11.653	V,	5.208,	5/6:	Intrax-Feed
12.506	V,	2.892,	3/4:	Nuvolari
12.529	V,	2.099,	3/4:	Test (Polen)
12.561	V,	3.254,	2/3:	Georgian TV
12.603	H,	2.960,	3/4:	It@Vision
12.682	H,	2.498,	2/3:	Studio Europa
12.686	H,	3.254,	2/3:	Armenia TV
12.692	H,	2.498,	2/3:	Il Tirreno Sat
12.694	H,	2.498,	2/3:	DigItaly
12.698	H,	2.498,	2/3:	Telemarket
12.702	H,	3.254,	2/3:	CFN
12.706	H,	2.169,	3/4:	TBNE
Industry sources

28.2 degreesE:
Astra-1D & 2A
D – Costcutter FM has launched here at 12324MHz vertical, APID 649. This channel is also available via Astra at 19.2 degrees East, 10877MHz vertical, on the 7.38MHz audio subcarrier. The launch date for Discovery Health has been brought forward to July 1 to combat the recent commencement of test transmissions of another channel in the same genre, Channel Health on 12109MHz horizontal. A new business channel aimed primarily at smaller business ventures is to launch on Sky Digital in the Autumn. The channel entitled biz4bizTV.com, is owned by the Unique Group a new media company headed by TV presenter Noel Edmonds. SceneOne TV, a new general entertainment channel slated for a July 5 launch, is testing on 11954MHz horizontal. Another new music channel, Kiss TV, is carrying out tests on 12266MHz horizontal prior to their June 24 launch.

16 degreesE:
I.C.-W2
D – The University of Plymouth’s experimental satellite transmissions and educational programmes have moved from 11190MHz vertical to 11135MHz vertical, SR 3125, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The Bosnian channel Alternativna Televizija continues to use 11023MHz horizontal, SR 3123, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2 when OBN is off the air. On June 11 at 17:05 an interview with the Italian football team manager was fed over 10984MHz horizontal, SR 6398, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, EPG: “Service 1” following his teams initial game in the Euro 2000 championship. The France-vs-Denmark game in the championship was fed on 11005MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2 with Italian commentary during the same afternoon. The EPG data read ’80’. Also on the 11th, 10976MHz horizontal, SR 6398, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID was active at 20:40 with this caption over colour bars ‘BT TES 32. ANVERSA 0335-304743’ in clear MPEG-2. The EPG entry read ‘Service 1’. At the same time live shots of a street celebration in Holland were being fed over 11141MHz horizontal, SR 6111, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, EPG: ‘TIERNAN 1’ and up at 12516MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, V33, A34, the Dutch uplink. ‘HOL 54’ was busy feeding coverage of Dutch celebrations following their national team’s win over the Czech Republic in the Euro 2000 competition. A live interview with the Romanian soccer team manager on their forthcoming match with Germany the following night was fed over 12532MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 33, APID 34, EPG: ‘NEWS’ for the Bucharest based channel Pro TV.
A – Assyria TV is testing on 11163MHz horizontal in clear Pal on Saturdays from 14:00-17:00. This signal is sourced from Assyria TV’s digital feed on Eutelsat Sesat at 36 degrees East.

13 degreesE:
Eutelsat Hot Bird 1-5
D – A Vision Europe testcard has appeared on 12092MHz horizontal, VPID 4416, APID 4417 in Viaccess encoded MPEG-2. TLI, the French local television network, has left 12476MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4 and has been replaced by a testcard. Equidia International, the French horse racing service, is temporarily free-to-air at 12380MHz vertical. Deepam TV, a new Tamil language channel, has launched on 10722MHz horizontal, SR 29895, FEC 3/4, VPID 1006, APID 1206 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

10 degreesE:
Eutelsat I-II-F4
D – Live motorcycle racing was fed over 11086MHz horizontal, SR 10846, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 on June 10 from 14:00 in free-to-air MPEG-2. The EPG info read ‘CCS ETTD-6’. At 17:15 on June 11 an encoded feed occupied 10976MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 with the EPG identifier ‘ITA79 EURO 2000’. A live feed from outside the Philips Football Stadium in Eindhoven, Holland prior to England’s game against Portugal in the Euro 2000 competition was carried on 11142MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2 by APTN for a British channel. The EPG entry read “APTN PATH 3 ZEIST”.
A – The Turkish part time channel, Hakk TV, has moved from Telecom at 5 degrees West to 11163MHz horizontal at this orbital slot in clear Pal. Hakk airs from 19:00-21:00 every Sunday.

7 degreesE:
Eutelsat-W3
D – At 22:10 on June 11 a live piece to camera from outside a Dutch soccer stadium was fed over 11052MHz horizontal SR 6856, FEC 7/8, VPID 33, APID 34 in clear MPEG-2. The transmission was for the Dutch public broadcaster NOS. Following the feed the stream cut to colour bars overlaid with ‘EK 2000. NOS STUDIO SPORT. SPACE LYNX HOL 070. IFB Line +31 655.113.249’. The EPG data read ‘Service 1’.

5 degreesE:
Sirius-2/3
D – Brazil’s TV Globo Internacional has vacated 12380MHz horizontal. Merlin Communications, which has a multiplex here at 12111MHz vertical, has signed a contact with Adventist World Radio – a Christian radio network owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – which up to now has used shortwave transmitters in Costa Rica, South Africa, Germany, Madagascar, Guam and several other countries. The new agreement will allow Merlin to provide Internet connectivity from the broadcaster to Telehouse in London and onwards to Merlin’s Fareham, Hampshire facility. From here the material is organised into a play list and sent to the Chilworth Earth Station via 2 64Kbit/s mono streams for uplinking onto Sirius. AWR’s output can therefore be downlinked by up to 40 AWR local radio stations in Europe for re-broadcasting. Eleven hours a day are dedicated to programme feeds to AWR’s leased facility in Rimavaska Sobota in Slovakia for rebroadcast on shortwave transmitters there aimed at the Middle East and Africa. Two encoded feeds are occupying 12606MHz vertical, SR 6108, FEC 7/8. They are identified in the EPG as “First” – VPID 308, APID 256 and “Second” – VPID 564, APID 512. 12615MHz vertical, SR 7028, FEC 3/4, V308, A256, EPG: ‘9MHz, Pal, 2 Audio’, was used to feed the France-vs-Denmark soccer game on June 11 in clear MPEG-2 for Danish channels. The video was accompanied by natural sound. At 17:30 on the June 11 12680MHz vertical, SR 6665, FEC 1/2, VPID 308, APID 256 was relaying this caption ‘Svenska Spel. The EPG entry was ‘Teracom KAKNAS’.

3 degreesE:
Telecom-2C
D – The Brazil-vs-Peru soccer match was fed in its entirety on 12678MHz vertical, SR 13596, FEC 3/4, VPID 1822, APID 1832 in clear MPEG-2 on June 4 from 21:00. On June 11 at 17:35 an encoded feed was relayed on 12530MHz horizontal, SR 5697, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘ISL EURO 2K PATH 1’. Also on the June 11, live output from a fixed camera aimed at the French commentary team during the Euro 2000 match between France and Denmark was fed over 12546MHz horizontal, SR 6238, FEC 7/8, VPID 308, APID 256 in free-to-air MPEG-2. At 21:40 on the same evening an unusual feed was sighted on 12696MHz horizontal, SR 6283, FEC 7/8, VPID 4097, APID 4100 in free-to-air MPEG-2. It consisted of a live, real time relay of BBC1. The EPG info read ‘BBC Resources Ltd’. Also at 21:40 a live heavyweight boxing match was being fed over 12704MHz horizontal, SR 5631, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘UKI 184. PATH 1’ accompanied by English commentary.

0.8 degrees/1 degreesW:
Thor I-III & Intelsat-707
D – The only free-to-air digital relay of BBC Prime available in Europe at 11540MHz vertical, SR 26000, FEC 3/4, VPID 514, APID 648 is now unfortunately encoded in Conax. Pakistan’s Prime TV which is aimed at Pakistanis living and working in Europe has also switched to constant encryption in Conax on 11014MHz horizontal, SR 26000, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 652. The annual subscription for the channel is 160.
A – BBC Prime has left 11678MHz horizontal from where the channel has been broadcasting in D2 Mac /Eurocrypt for some considerable time. A Telenor testcard has replaced the channel.

5 degreesW:
Telecom-2B
D – The Globecast bouquet has vacated 12585MHz horizontal. During the afternoon of May 28 live coverage of the World 7’s rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand’s All Blacks was fed over 12585MHz horizontal, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, VPID 122, APID 132 in clear MPEG-2.
A – TV5 for France, Belgium and Switzerland has launched on 12585MHz horizontal with audio via the 5.80MHz subcarrier in clear Pal in parallel with the service already occupying 12648MHz vertical.

8 degreesW:
Telecom-2A/D
D – Telecom-2D has been repositioned to this orbital slot from 5 degrees West. Since the move and Telecom-2D’s launch into service here on June 8 this has become something of a “feeds hotspot”. There is a constant feed of ITV on 12593MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256, EPG: ‘ITV. EURO 2K. RETURN’. This is the return feed for the duration of the Euro 2000 soccer championship being held in Belgium and the Netherlands. The ITV feed is relaying the London region service with Carlton and LWT programming in clear MPEG- 2. Intermittently ITV can also be found on two other streams at 12572MHz vertical and 12585MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4 with parallel programming. On June 4 several streams carrying action from the Monaco F1 Grand Prix used Telecom capacity. On 12584MHz horizontal, SR 20145, FEC 3/4, there were four streams for an unknown broadcaster and 12548MHz vertical, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 carried the ITV Sport coverage. Other feed streams can be found at 12512MHz , 12530MHz, 12690MHz, 12718MHz, 12727MHz, 12736MHz and 12745MHz vertical.

12 degreesW:
Eutelsat-II-F2
D – Canada’s TV Land has been replaced once again by PBS X on 11185MHz vertical, SR 9164, FEC 1/2, VPID 32, APID 33 in clear MPEG-2/NTSC.

15 degreesW:
Telstar-12
D – A new channel, Innergy, has joined the UPC package for cable headends on 11124MHz horizontal, VPID 301, APID 311 in free-to-air MPEG-2.

18 degreesW:
INTELSAT-705
A – At 14:00 on June 10 live coverage of an Italian rugby match between Arix and RDS was fed over 11134MHz vertical in clear Pal.

21.3 degrees/21.5 degreesW:
NSS-803 & NSS-K
D – Asda FM, the through the aisles radio service for the UK supermarket chain, is now encoded on 11646MHz horizontal. Live coverage of a baseball game between Boston and Atlanta was fed over the BT Washington stream at 11547MHz horizontal, SR 5632, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 650 in clear MPEG-2 at 17:45. At the same time a live soccer match between Mexico and United States was being fed over another BT Washington stream at 11556MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 512, APID 650 for ABC Sports in free-to-air MPEG-2/NTSC. One of the Globecast streams at 11590MHz vertical, SR 20145, FEC 3/4, VPID 1260, APID 1220 relayed live action from the Rochester International Ladies Golf Championship in New York state at 17:45 on June 11 in clear MPEG-2. At 21:15 on the June 11 live coverage of the Vasco Da Gama versus Flamengo soccer match from Brazil was fed over 11503MHz horizontal, SR 5630, FEC 3/4, VPID 308, APID 256 in clear MPEG-2. At the same time 11556MHz horizontal was active again, this time with colour bars overlaid with ‘WFYI INDY 1A’ in free-to-air MPEG-2. Also during the evening of the 11th, Globecast Channel 3 at 11590MHz vertical was relaying live coverage of the Buick Classic Golf Championship from the Westchester Country Club near New York City for ABC Sports.

45 degreesW:
PAS-1
D – The CBS multiplex at 11642MHz horizontal, SR 26470, FEC 3/4, continues to provide occasional eastbound feeds from the United States in addition to the regulars. The Eternal Word Television Network, a Roman Catholic channel based in Birmingham, Alabama, can be found on PIDs V1360, A1320 in free-to-air MPEG2. The other streams contain CBS news feeds on PIDs V1160, A1120 – when not in traffic a caption is displayed with ‘CBS Newspath. NF-2 NEW YORK’. On VPID 1460, APID 1420 occasional feeds from RTL’s New York bureau can sometimes be seen and via PIDs V1260, A1220 a ‘Waterfront NY NCC’ caption is in place when this stream is not running traffic for Dow Jones. However, on June 11 at 18:00 this stream was relaying colour bars overlaid with ‘ATLANTIC SATELLITE’ in clear MPEG-2/NTSC.

58 degreesW:\
PAS-5
D – A blast from the past has returned to satellite after a long absence. Cubavision Internacional, which was available several years ago via Gorizont at 11 degrees West, can be found on 3840MHz vertical, SR 27690, FEC 7/8, VPID 1760, APID 1720 in clear MPEG-2. The channel airs here part time in the evenings from 18:00-02:00.

All times in UTC unless otherwise stated.
SR = Symbol Rate
FEC = Forward Error Correction
VPID = Video Programme Identifier
APID = Audio Programme Identifier

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