Astra 2F at 28.2E: General Discussion

[wallycharlo]

Hello all,
I live in the South of France and have been observing a strange phenomenon on one of the Astra 2F transponders. Every thirty minutes, just before the hour and the half hour, the signal of 11126V drops by about 1 dB for a 5 minute period. I have taken spectra and IQ plots both inside and outside of a low period. The RF level remains the same, the SNR drops. Similar drops at 30 minute intervals were observed in Germany.
Have any of you observed the same artifacts, or have an explanation for this?

Yes, I have noticed exactly the same as of late while watching Channel 4HD, and it has also baffled me! It was actually my strongest transponder on 2F Uk beam, but started acting up like this about a week or two ago. Very odd.

 

[Ratchet]

Interesting, just monitored 11126V using BLScan.exe and observed the power dip as described by BCW. Looks like it's not fringe related as I'm pretty much at the centre of the footprint. Here is what I observed :-

12:23 - 12:28
1=11126,V,22000,56,1 ;-26 dBm, 16.1 dB; 12:23 - 11/12/2013

12:28 - 12:51
1=11126,V,22000,56,1 ;-26 dBm, 17.7 dB; 12:45 - 11/12/2013

12:51 - 12:58
1=11126,V,22000,56,1 ;-26 dBm, 16.2 dB; 12:51 - 11/12/2013

12:58
1=11126,V,22000,56,1 ;-26 dBm, 17.8 dB; 12:58 - 11/12/2013

Results are from my 54cm dish and looks like a 1.6dB drop every half hour. Has no effect on my viewing obviously but could make all the difference for those in the fringes.

 

[wallycharlo]

Anyone have any theories as to what may be going on here? I've not come accross anything like this before ...

 

[timo_w2s]

Just seen this on my setup too. 11127V usually 92% quality on TM6900, but between 13:53-14:00 it dropped to 90%. Now back to 92%. 60cm dish in South Bucks.

Edit: And again at 14:23-14:30 it dropped to 90%

 

[BCW]

Yesterday morning around 11 am two transponders were activated on 2F, 11068V and 11096V. Both 8 PSK with symbol rate 23000 and FEC 2/3. I can find no signal with my standard tuners. Does anyone have equipment to see what's being transmitted?
Anyone have a clue what these will be used for?

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

Must be on UK spot. They do not scan in here in Gran Canaria.

Sent from my GT-I9205 using Tapatalk

 

[Llew]

Data channels. Some data, mostly stuffing (8191). e.g 11097V

 

[M60]

Must be on UK spot. They do not scan in here in Gran Canaria.

Sent from my GT-I9205 using Tapatalk

They are on the UK spot, same level as other 2F UK spot TP's here.

These two newly illuminated Transponders will be used for broadcast and not data use.

 

[Pietclock]

both TPs carry the typical BSkyB structural data.... this will be for new HDTV channels. My bet is BBC regional versions.
Both are also already NIT listed.

 

[vladan10]

both TPs carry the typical BSkyB structural data.... this will be for new HDTV channels. My bet is BBC regional versions.
Both are also already NIT listed.

how mach you bet ?
have a look on 11070 !!
itv

 

[Pietclock]

yeah it was a 50/50 chance ;)

2 ITV HD versions are there right now. 9.8Mbits, like all ITV HD versions.

 

[william-1]

28.2 east Astra 2F

ITV-1 HD is testing on 11068 V 23000 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK MPEG-4

id=20800 V-pid = 2306 A-pid =2305
id=20810 V-pid = 2313 No audio

 

[Analoguesat]

And ITV1 HD is also testing on 11097V tagged as 21000

vpid 2305
apid 2307

 

[william-1]

Found 11o97 V 23000 2/3 in my data base now working must have only just started as no video yesterday.

 

[Fredrik M]

Hello, I am new to this forum and also to watching satellite tv in the digital era. In fact, I just recently bought a TV-set after not having had a TV for several years. We bought a house that was in disrepair a few years ago and we did not have time to watch TV.

However, the previous house owners did leave a 50 cm dish that I have now re-installed and connected to my new TV. I have carefully adjusted it I do get most of the transponders of the UK spot beam on Astra 1N. In good weather conditions I can also watch the European beam channels on Astra 2F. Since I live in western Sweden (near Gothenburg), I do not think that any further adjustment of the dish could improve the reception of these satellites and I am therefore considering to purchase a larger dish. Like many of you, I have been waiting for the Astra 2E to come into use before buying any new equipment. However, most of the channels that I want to watch are already transmitting from Astra 2F and I think that maybe a dish sufficient for those channels will be good enough. Then we will see if I am also lucky enough to also get the UK spot beam on 2E...

Before I go out to buy a dish I would like to ask if any of you know the answers to the following questions:
1) Are the current channels from ITV, BBC, and Channel 4 going to stay on Astra 2F when 2E comes into use?
2) The only channel really missing on 2F is the BBC Two. Is it likely that it will appear on 2F? As a part of launching local HD versions for Scotland etc.?

Thanks for any advice on this matter.

Fredrik

 

[timo_w2s]

Welcome. It's difficult to answer those questions and anyone who does will be mostly guessing. The channels that are on 2F now will stay there except if the channel owners decide to switch channels around as happens from time to time. Then a few channels might switch from 2F to 2E. (Just recently ITV have started testing some HD channels on 2F that are currently on 1N, for example, with the assumption they will move soon once the tests are complete.)

Also, bare in mind 2G may come online later in the year and in theory this could take over some of either 2E or 2F's transponders.

 

[Fredrik M]

Thank you Timo. It seems like it is difficult to predict the necessary dish size that I will need to get receive the main UK channels in the future. From the specs of the Astra 2F, it seems largely underutilized. More channels could be transmitted. However, judging from the blog post http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogaboutthebbc/posts/Changes-to-BBC-Satellite-transponders-in-2013 by the director of distribution on BBC, the transponder on 2F is seen as a long term solution rather than temporary.

From other enthusiasts, it seems like a Triax 110 or Gibertini 100 should be enough for 2F. But I guess it is good to have some margin for bad weather and potentially weaker signals from 2E. I think that we are fairly lucky with the 2F in my area. Some 150 km west of us (towards the UK), in Jutland in Denmark, signals seem significantly weaker. Maybe I should buy a Gibertini 125 which probably is the largest dish that I would dare to install on my house considering my neighbors potential complaints...

 

[timo_w2s]

I think the situation will become clearer over the next couple of months so if you can hold on a bit longer you may have a better idea on what to expect. Barring any major satellite outages and upsets, I think it's reasonably safe to assume 2F will be around for quite a while at 28E, along with 2E eventually.

 

[Fredrik M]

Finally, the transfer of Astra 2E to 28.2 E seems to have begun. I guess it will start transmitting from the transponders with the UK spot beams at its final position within a few weeks. I will follow your recommendation and wait with my planned purchase of new equipment. There is still one location in my garden where I could install an even larger dish (1.5 m) if it would be necessary...

 

[ralphmagno]

Hello from Naples Italy. I have heard that all the BBC channels and Itv,free view will take a big dish to receive it here in the naples area. A friend says it will drop by over 3 db and will take close to a 4 meter dish to receive it.
Sorry i haven't been back here to post much i have retired from the business here in naples Italy.
Ralph