C band channels on 10East ?

[Vipersan]

Hi friends ...
I was going to scan in the fta channels on the startimes mux @10 East ..
but find I can't pick up anything at this location any longer ..
Earlier this year I could manage 2 out of the 3 mux from startimes plus the AFNEX feeds ..
Curiously all have since vanished ..
I had done some rewiring to my system so figured that might have been the reason ..
..so in an attempt to remove that particular possibility I hooked a receiver directly to the lnb ..but fail to lock anything ...its ike this bird has just vanished ..at least as far as C band is concerned ..
I know there has been some serious reworking of the SRs and fecs of these muxs ..but afnex feeds have also gone ..
Can anyone tell me if the power has somehow been reduced or the footprint altered ..
If not then something has gone dramatically wrong with the gain of my dish ...and/or lnb.
rgds
VS

 

[Channel Hopper]

Last verification on Lyngsat was 11/04, and the power down on the UK is 48dB

_http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/10e-w2a_popd.html

You might have a (very) large spider in the feed.

 

[Vipersan]

Hmm ...
It would have to be a taratula CH ..
Had a quick look down the feed ..
No signs of life..
Odd that nothing else has been affected ..
Still getting good reception from Pentagon channel @1W ..which is sort of my 'yardstick' for reception.
Looks like it simply has gone blind at this one spot in the arc ..
I'll try swapping out the lnb tomorrow ..but since Im still pulling 20East and 30East ok ...I'm a little confused to say the least.
I've always had to be very precise with 10E ..but never lost it completely since the alcoa was retrofitted for C .
I just hope the dish hasn't warped out of shape since it was refitted after the dishaster.
most odd..
rgds
VS

 

[nelson_b]

hi - vipersan
just had a look at 10 east - i used to lock 2 startimes t.p,s as i recall
cant lock them now though -- but the s.p. box is seeing something on 2 of the the startimes frequencies -- and anything over 40 quality usualy locks -- ????
but both signal indicators stay red - and the quality indicator jumps between 2% ---and -- 52% every 2 or 3 seconds ?? - most odd --

regards n_b.

 

[adonis1]

I have also the same problem , the receiver refuse to lock the signal .

 

[Vipersan]

Thanks guys ..
I appreciate the info ..
at least I know it isn't just my setup gone faulty now..
rgds
VS


btw ..if we have any members who are within the intended viewing footprint ..
Could they confirm that these txpdrs are viewable.

 

[Huevos]

I can see the MUXs clear as anything on the spectrum but I can't lock a thing. Lyngsat and Kingofsat don't agree on the FEC, but also with the shift to 8PSK you are going to need a lot more signal than before to be able to lock them.

No Pentagon channel here, but you lot are using bigger dishes and are in a better illuminated part of the footprint than me.

 

[Vipersan]

Thanks Huevos ...
makes sense that it is more difficult now ...but have locked 8psk channels with less signal from other sats ..
certainly a curiosity..
rgds
VS

 

[Channel Hopper]

There is a small chance that the transmission is an encoded DVB-T2 signal, adapted for uplink over satellite for the various headends in Africa

The terrestrial Startimes broadcast is supposed to have launched recently.

_http://naijatechguide.blogspot.com/2010/07/nta-star-tv-startimes-decoders-packages.html

 

[Vipersan]

Interesting CH..
So what you're suggesting is that although the downlink is via satellite ..
It is using a non standard DVBT signal rather than a DVBS2 signal ....intended to be picked up by ground stations in C band ...and re-broadcast by terrestrial masts to conventional TV aerials ..
??

Certainly it would explain a lot ...but does limit their effective broadcast/reception potential in such a large country.
If they chose to make the same signals available via satellite as by terrestrial ..they would have to then market a dedicated satellite stb ..along with the terrestrial one ..
A bit like our freeview / freesat system ...but with a specific box depending on the customers access choice.
rgds
VS

 

[Channel Hopper]

Or maybe not

From the Sat-Television pages (badly translated from German) 26/03/11

Eutelsat W2A, 10 Grad Ost:

Zwei Transponder im StarTimes TV pay-TV Paket wechselten die Transponder. Nämlich von 3,927 und 3,937 GHz, rz, wechselten sie auf 3,916 und 3,932 GHz, rz, mit 14,500 und 5/6, bzw. 12,750 und 5/6.

Alle Kanäle senden in MPEG-4/HD DVB S-2 8PSK und codieren in Conax. Es betrifft Trace Tropical, MTV Base Africa, Voxafrica Africa, France 24 English, France 24 Francais, NTA Education, Africa 24, NTA Entertainment, NTA News 24, NTA Sports 24, Discovery World, Encyclo, C Music TV, French Lover TV, France 2, BET UK, Animaux, Phoenix CNE, Cine Polar, NT1, Escales, Cine FX, AB Moteurs, E! EMEA, The MGM Channel Africa, Nickelodeon Africa, MSNBC und Setanta Africa.

 

[Vipersan]

...What we could do with is a report from an African based group member to confirm or deny that the package is still receiveable/lockable.. using a conventional satellite set top box ..
rgds
VS

 

[Huevos]

It is using a non standard DVBT signal rather than a DVBS2 signal

I don't think so. A DVB-T mux has an 8 MHz wide, flat-top spectrum peak, and that is not how this looks. If I get a minute I will post a picture of the spectrum.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Certainly it would explain a lot ...but does limit their effective broadcast/reception potential in such a large country.
If they chose to make the same signals available via satellite as by terrestrial ..they would have to then market a dedicated satellite stb ..along with the terrestrial one ..
A bit like our freeview / freesat system ...but with a specific box depending on the customers access choice.
rgds
VS

Since the mobile phone network was deployed across Nigeria etc a few years ago, GSM technology became more or less redundant. It will be the same with terrestrial broadcasts. Dont forget that whilstthe country could be served by a single satellite, the seasonable climate changes make Ka/Ku band unreliable, leaving a C band receive system (and its cost) to individual subscribers. Far better to deploy a system of transmitters and supply a set top box, advising the customer to pay for their own aerial.

 

[Huevos]

VS, I have attached a spectrum grab. The peak the marker is on is 3916. The peak just above it (and a bit smaller) is 3932, and the one just above again is 3952, all right-hand circular. I don't know what the bigger peaks are but they appear to be coming from that satellite as they raise and fall with the other three. If those peaks were FEC 2/3 they might resolve but there is no way a peak that small will lock an FEC 5/6 transponder (especially not 8PSK modulation).

 

[Vipersan]

Thanks for the spectrum image Huevos ..
It may well be the switch to 8PSK ..
As previously reported I could lock 2 of the transponders on my 1.8 when they where broadcast in DVBS2 QPSK fec 5/6
...My guess they have also reduced the signal levels a bit ..unless it is purely the switch 8PSK
rgds
VS

 

[Channel Hopper]

There is also a chance it is a QAM type link, which would be used to cut the broadcast costs considerably. There have been succesful tests up to 64QAM in the past few years

_http://www.comtechefdata.com/articles_papers/CDM-700%2064-QAM%20Evaluation.pdf

 

[nelson_b]

VS, I have attached a spectrum grab. The peak the marker is on is 3916. The peak just above it (and a bit smaller) is 3932, and the one just above again is 3952, all right-hand circular. I don't know what the bigger peaks are but they appear to be coming from that satellite as they raise and fall with the other three. If those peaks were FEC 2/3 they might resolve but there is no way a peak that small will lock an FEC 5/6 transponder (especially not 8PSK modulation).

hi - just been looking at 10 east -- managed to lock 3916 "just" --
but not the other 2 -- it needs a massive 60% Quality before it locks for me - on this box --

regards --

 

[Vipersan]

Excellent news Nelson ..
Looks like the change to 8psk is indeed the reason then ...and not possible at low sig levels with these changes ..
No chance for me here ..as its always been a bit border line ..
Even before the changes you where getting one more tp than me ..
Do I take it you got the lock using the new plate ??
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

On another note ..
That Vantage certainly is impressive when it comes to locking very weak signals ...
Next time you visit ..pop it in the car with you ..
I'd love to see if and by how much it outperforms the F15 on the weak tps..
I might be tempted to add one to the arsenal.
rgds
VS