Astra 2E: General Discussion (Post-Testing)

[M60]

I'd like to give this a go too, I too can use a 2 or 10 second timer on my camera which will overcome vibration. The problem for me will be finding somewhere dark enough, being on the outskirts of a city will be useless here. I think a trip to the Lake District might be on the cards!

Meanwhile folks, forget n2y0, waveguide can keep us posted on movements (assuming it's not cloudy) at his location!

 

[Waveguide]

Two big cities 50 km away is not that good, if the air is crystal clear it's OK.
If not there is a haze on images after 60 secondes exposure or more.

@timo_w2s
Some important parts are:

A lens with large aperture.
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/LENSES.HTM
has good information. A cheap(ish) 50mm/f1.8 lens is enough.

Mechanical stability, a stable tripod or something homemade. Once you've aimed the
camera it will not have to be adjustable. I have three holes in the ground for tripod legs.
Takes half a minute to get the tripod in position, the tripod head remains locked in the
same position when I move it indoors.

Some way to minimize to sensor noise. If it is too high "stacking" of images in (free)
sofware can improve things. Stacking of images where most parts move (the stars)
to get the few that don't move (satellites) could be a challenge. I have not tried this myself.

 

[solly]

astra 2e on n2yo not move yet
we can waiting to 28 November new switch tp

 

[dvdfilm]

It's the first time a new Astra sat gets on hold after testing

 

[sonnetpete]

Probably a silly question but are there financial losses by keeping Astra 2E in it's extended testing postion?....and if so who takes the losses?

 

[Schroeder]

Well unless SES have said not to move the bird, then Astrium will be bearing the costs. It will depend on the details in the contract like "delivery date", and given the delays for the launch outside of both Astrium and SES, but I would expect Astrium to be footing the bill or paying compensation if the delivery is delayed. My guess SES will not have made a (final?) payment until delivery of the satelliet to 28.2E.

 

[sonnetpete]

I agree but if Astrium have finished testing and SES says, 'hang on, we don't want it yet' surely SES would have to pay compensation...or I guess they could ask Astrium to send it the long way round....

 

[Lazarus]

I agree but if Astrium have finished testing and SES says, 'hang on, we don't want it yet' surely SES would have to pay compensation...or I guess they could ask Astrium to send it the long way round....

Well, the delayed launch notwithstanding, the latest hiatus appears in part at least to be due to the degradation of 2A necessitating it being depopulated in two days time. So my guess is that responsibility for parking 2E while they sort 2A out is SES's alone.

But what losses would Astrium accrue as the result of this? Additional Staffing and re-planning probably aren't enormously expensive as compared to the overall numbers in this game.

Other players, eg BSkY and Freesat, are still able to use existing capacity and there is no loss of service.

 

[sonnetpete]

Ok, that's helped clarify the situation in my mind....and I guess the costs involved for Astrium aren't great when you consider the whole budget.

 

[FRINGE]

I also have a probably silly question. Being a complete novice in the subject matter of testing and not being able to interpret, let alone understand, all of the data that you good people have collated and published for 2e, do we really know for sure that the test phase conducted by Astrium has been a total success? Could something have been detected, during tests, that we are simply not aware of? So two (maybe silly) questions really

 

[timo_w2s]

Do we have any evidence that Astra 2A is actually about to kick the bucket? It wasn't too many pages back when people where speculating Astra 2E is faulty (and 2F!).

 

[Lazarus]

I also have a probably silly question. Being a complete novice in the subject matter of testing and not being able to interpret, let alone understand, all of the data that you good people have collated and published for 2e, do we really know for sure that the test phase conducted by Astrium has been a total success? Could something have been detected, during tests, that we are simply not aware of? So two (maybe silly) questions really

SES' Twitter feed claims 2E is functioning normally, according to those who follow such things.

 

[Lazarus]

Do we have any evidence that Astra 2A is actually about to kick the bucket? It wasn't too many pages back when people where speculating Astra 2E is faulty.

Yes, but it's in bits and pieces (the background, not the Bird) and I cannot give you a single trustworthy source. But bearing in mind the 2A to 2F transfers are imminent, it'll be proven by events anyway [Fingers Crossed Mode!]

 

[FRINGE]

SES' Twitter feed claims 2E is functioning normally, according to those who follow such things.

Thank you for that. So clearly it's just a case of 'they are in no particular rush' .

 

[timo_w2s]

Thank you for that. So clearly it's just a case of 'they are in no particular rush' .

Or procrastinating. Probably cleaning out the bits of dust between their keyboards or something, if they are anything like me with a big project looming... ;)

 

[solly]

2e look better pe beam signal from 2f
not have problem solar panel

 

[Waveguide]

If others also can get pictures of the "satellite belt" our chances to detect
unannounced movements increase. Some basic ways to get going if you do
this for the first time...

An aid to aiming your cameras is any software or webpage for antenna alignment.
My favorite is the old SMWlink3 calculator, look for smwlink3.zip. The angles are
then transferred to the camera or tripod head using something like:
http://www.clasohlson.com/medias/sys_master/8872671412254.jpg
(A video tripod head is easier to use and to adjust, pan and tilt are separate.)

100 to 200 mm lenses must be pointing in the right direction or not too far from it.
Looking for the few pixels that are satellites is hard if you have to check a 20 Mpix
image at 100% magnification without a clue where to start. 50 mm lenses cover
a wider angle so I guess you just point it to the south or SSE. Stars and satellites
will still be about the same size in pixels using a 50 mm lens. (I think at least,
some webpages on astrophotography give detailed explanations)

Looking for the "oddball" satellites like Astra 2D and Intelsat 702 makes it easier
to identify the others on the satellite belt. The star trails are a very good way to
measure angles in the pictures. An exposure time of 60 seconds gives star trails that
are exactly 0,25 degrees long no matter what lens or zoom ratio you use.

 

[sonnetpete]

......so it's no good me checking with a pair of binoculars then LOL....

 

[Waveguide]

I think it's possible if you point one eye at the satellite and the other just next to it.
If the first eye counts - one photon, two photons.... and the other eye - no photon, no photon...
then you got it. Remember to count for at least 60 seconds without blinking!

 

[solly]

12428h
have data signal it from 2f or 1n ?