Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

SATELLITE WATCH Compiled by GARRY CRATT* Intelsat satellite shuffling under way Some shuffling of the Intelsat satellites has . taken place in recent months, with Intelsat 801 now in orbit and Intelsat 802 slated for a June launch. At the same time, some of the earlier satellites are to be moved to new locations. Intelsat 801 was successfully launch­ ed by Ariane V.94 on March 1st, 1997. Despite earlier intentions of moving the satel­lite to 174°E and shuffling the present Pacific Ocean Region birds (including replacing I511), the spacecraft will now be positioned at either 62°E or 64°E, in the Indian Ocean Region. From either position, the satellite footprint will cover part of Australia and Indonesia, using a SE zone beam. Intelsat 802 will now be launched in June and will be posi­tioned at 174°E, replacing Intelsat 701 which will be moved to 180°E. Intelsat 511 at 180°E will be deployed to 157°E, whilst Intelsat 503, presently located at 157°E, will be de-orbited. Measat 2, 148°E longitude: March 5th saw the first identifiable tests from MEASAT 2 at 148°E, with colour bars being displayed at IF 1065MHz and audio at 6.8MHz. No doubt, the users of this satellite will be re­vealed after this testing phase is complete. By now, Asiasat 2 should be broadcasting another free-to-air MPEG signal. Myan­mar’s MYAWADDY TV, which was operating each morning on Asiasat 1, was due to commence digital transmissions during March, for both their morning and evening broadcasts. Optus B3, 156°E longitude: Meanwhile, to make room for OptusVision Pay TV on the Optus B3 satellite, the ABC Northern Territory, Imparja and the ABC South Australia services will change frequency over the next few months. Viewers will be notified by mail or can obtain details from satellite equipment dealers. Palapa C2: March 9th saw the Indonesian broadcaster SCTV testing BMAC format signals on the Palapa C2 satellite. RCTI, previously available at IF 1350MHz, has been moved to 3745MHz (IF 1405MHz). TV Brunei has commenced operations on Palapa C2 for 18 hours each day. The transponder is being shared with SITV (Singa­ pore International TV), who utilise the transponder for one hour each day. Gorizont 29, 161°E longitude: Those monitoring the orbital position of the old Rimsat G1 (Gorizont 29) satellite are no doubt puzzled as to why the space­craft is now located at 161°E. The satellite was origi­nally located at 130°E and is believed to have been sold to a new regional operator. The details are unknown. Net on Air-Asiasat 2: Despite two attempts to demonstrate the net on air system via the Asiasat 2 satellite in January and February, the com­mencement of the service is scheduled for this month. Effects of data stream testing on March 8th and 9th caused problems with Pace, Panasat and Grundig MPEG receivers. Deutsche Welle services were disrupted for two days. The other EEB servic­es were unaffected. It is now obvious that the system is not completely debugged. Intelsat 702, 177°E longitude: Space TV Systems Taiwan say they will soon release their 6-channel DBS service to Chinese residents in Australia. The foot­print we have been given shows 45.5dbw at beam centre, a very strong signal indeed. This equates to using a 90cm/1.2m dish. According to a company spokesperson, the service was to begin testing early March. The service will be MPEG-2 using non-IRDETO conditional access. The new Japanese broadcaster “Jet TV” is testing a 5-chan­nel digital service in PowerVu. The IF is 1188MHz. Present­ly, the service is free-to-air, although it is not known how long this will remain the case. The service is believed to be uplinked from SC Singapore. * Garry Cratt is Managing Director of AvComm Pty Ltd, suppliers of satellite TV reception systems. Phone (02) 9949 7417. http://www.avcomm.com.au May 1997  53