Low Symbol Rate Irish Radio on Intelsat 901 27.5°W

[Adam792]

The spectrum doesn't quite match up to what is on Flysat, earlier (with the RTL-SDR stick and some nice software available for Windows here - Windows Realtime DVB-S Demodulator for Es'Hail-2 & Amateur TV Available - originally found by @SimonE ) I managed to lock -

11690.33V SR 166 DVB-S2 QPSK 8/9

With two PIDs carrying AAC audio -

101 - Ireland's Classic Hits
201 - Christmas FM

I can see some of the frequencies with the even lower SR of 89, but didn't manage to get those to lock.

 

[satesco]

I enjoyed the low temperature during this period and could lock and record muxes with a low symbol rate, including 166 at 116980 V.
Because I am well outside the footprint, the signal fluctuates, and because of this, the recording is not of good quality. I apologize for this.
The important thing is that you can listen live to these Irish radios for those in the Intelsat 901 coverage area.

11690 V,166,8/9

11597 V,500,8/9

11591 V,250,8/9

 

[cirio70]

Yesss!!
Very hard to lock... almost 20 seconds but....


As @satesco said the signal is very unstable but i managed to listen to a few seconds of the radios!

 

[SimonE]

A suggestion from the DATV world when looking for low symbol rate signals is to use an LNB with a phase lock loop design oscillator. The LO frequency is much more stable. Examples of PLL LNBs are:- Octagon OSLO, Goobay 67269 or Golden Media 201.

 

[Adam792]

Another curious one that's not listed on Flysat -

11676.95 V SR 245

Probably DVB-S2 QPSK but I can't quite lock it.

 

[satesco]

Another curious one that's not listed on Flysat -

11676.95 V SR 245

Probably DVB-S2 QPSK but I can't quite lock it.

Indeed, there are many radio frequencies between 11670-11695 V, all in DVB-s2, using a low symbol rate.
Those with an SDR dongle and a sound signal can find them and listen to these streams.
Here's what I found with IQmonitor, and if it doesn't lock them all, at least two or three of them are within reach.

 

[Joolz]

Indeed, there are many radio frequencies between 11670-11695 V, all in DVB-s2, using a low symbol rate.
Those with an SDR dongle and a sound signal can find them and listen to these streams.
Here's what I found with IQmonitor, and if it doesn't lock them all, at least two or three of them are within reach.

11591V 250Ks 8/9 1m Dish Northern UK with PLL LNB Hi Band LO selected Airspy SDR - Plenty more to try further up the band. Just need to find the best way to play the streams.

 

[Adam792]

11591V 250Ks 8/9 1m Dish Northern UK with PLL LNB Hi Band LO selected Airspy SDR - Plenty more to try further up the band. Just need to find the best way to play the streams.

View attachment 146507View attachment 146508View attachment 146509

I didn’t realise the Airspy worked with it, will have to give mine a go

The streams are a bit of a pain to play as they seem to just send the audio PIDs without any of the table data that players use to make sense of what’s being transmitted (service names, codecs, what PID maps to what etc).

If you have or can use FFMPEG it’s fairly easy to split the recorded file out into separate playable TS files. For that 11591V 250 one with two audio streams on PID 101 and 201 it’s -

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts

Will tell you what it’s found and how it’s mapped it (as Stream #0:0 and Stream #0:1)

Then you can do

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts -map 0:0 -c:a copy stream0.ts

and -

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts -map 0:1 -c:a copy stream1.ts

To get two playable MPEG-TS files with the radio stations audible.

I’ve just realised from mine earlier in this thread that I got them the wrong way round, PID 101 was Christmas FM and PID 201 Classic Hits. It mapped 0xC9 (201) to stream 0:0, and I accidentally mistook them for PID order.

That 11591V 250 one will just lock on my Octagon SF8008 mini, but you have to manually create the channels in a similar way in lamedb.

 

[satesco]

I wonder if you can lock and listen with the SRD app to the frequencies with a symbol rate below 100 ks, like the one at 11 682 V, 73, or 87?
In your area, the signal must be stronger, and the chances of locking them increase.
I say give them a try.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All, 2023!

 

[Joolz]

I didn’t realise the Airspy worked with it, will have to give mine a go

The streams are a bit of a pain to play as they seem to just send the audio PIDs without any of the table data that players use to make sense of what’s being transmitted (service names, codecs, what PID maps to what etc).

If you have or can use FFMPEG it’s fairly easy to split the recorded file out into separate playable TS files. For that 11591V 250 one with two audio streams on PID 101 and 201 it’s -

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts

Will tell you what it’s found and how it’s mapped it (as Stream #0:0 and Stream #0:1)

Then you can do

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts -map 0:0 -c:a copy stream0.ts

and -

ffmpeg -i recorded_file.ts -map 0:1 -c:a copy stream1.ts

To get two playable MPEG-TS files with the radio stations audible.

I’ve just realised from mine earlier in this thread that I got them the wrong way round, PID 101 was Christmas FM and PID 201 Classic Hits. It mapped 0xC9 (201) to stream 0:0, and I accidentally mistook them for PID order.

That 11591V 250 one will just lock on my Octagon SF8008 mini, but you have to manually create the channels in a similar way in lamedb.

Adam,

Thanks for the info, I will give it a go over the holidays. It also works with the Adlam Pluto.

I wonder if you can lock and listen with the SRD app to the frequencies with a symbol rate below 100, like the one at 11 682 V, 73, or 87?
In your area, the signal must be stronger, and the chances of locking them increase.
I say give them a try.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All, 2023!

I am looking into the lower symbol rates but as you can see the 11691.75 (1089mhz IF) one is surrounded by others so the filtering needs to be correct.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.

​

 

[cirio70]

Hi have a simple NOOElec SDRSmart (RTL2838) and i used a splitter to connect the LNB to SDR.
I tuned a frequency on my tbs to power the LNB and i connected one of the two out of the splitter to my SDR.
I checked with SDR# but nothing.... did i miss something?
Any help?

Thanks

 

[Joolz]

Hi have a simple NOOElec SDRSmart (RTL2838) and i used a splitter to connect the LNB to SDR.
I tuned a frequency on my tbs to power the LNB and i connected one of the two out of the splitter to my SDR.
I checked with SDR# but nothing.... did i miss something?
Any help?

Thanks

That is basically how I have mine setup with power pass through on one side and DC block to the SDR.
Best to check and setup the SDR system with a normal radio signal to prove it all works before hand.- Note any frequency offset on the SDR from a known radio signal (or calibrate)
Also as most LNBs can be a MHZ high or low and the accuracy of the SDR frequency can be off it can be hard to be certain you are on the currect frequency.
Make sure you know which LO is selected on the LNB
Once you locate a signal and note the frequency offsets it is easier to find signals in the future.
As the signal level is high from the LNB you must be careful not to have to much gain on the SDR.

Hope this helps

 

[Joolz]

I wonder if you can lock and listen with the SRD app to the frequencies with a symbol rate below 100 ks, like the one at 11 682 V, 73, or 87?
In your area, the signal must be stronger, and the chances of locking them increase.
I say give them a try.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All, 2023!

11691.75Mhz V 83 K symbols locked 8/9 PLL LNB Hi LO on.

 

[FC GD]

11691.75Mhz V 83 K symbols locked 8/9 PLL LNB Hi LO on.

View attachment 146548

Congrats

 

[satesco]

Congratulations, @Jools, on your achievement. I just managed to get a window with this symbol rate. If you can, try making a stream recording.
I think at 14.34 dB; you should have no problems with such a recording.

 

[Adam792]

Just managed to lock 11686.05V SR 83 DVB-S2 QPSK 8/9 on the newest version of the DVB demod software (v.2.1.1). There's a valid AAC stream on it (PID101), but unfortunately the audio content seems to just be silence.

 

[FC GD]

The spectrum doesn't quite match up to what is on Flysat, earlier (with the RTL-SDR stick and some nice software available for Windows here - Windows Realtime DVB-S Demodulator for Es'Hail-2 & Amateur TV Available - originally found by @SimonE ) I managed to lock -

11690.33V SR 166 DVB-S2 QPSK 8/9

With two PIDs carrying AAC audio -

101 - Ireland's Classic Hits
201 - Christmas FM

I can see some of the frequencies with the even lower SR of 89, but didn't manage to get those to lock.

im aware of it, and i know that some of them doesnt match precise. And reason for that in my case is/was: Though i used Bullseye 10 kHz tied to NooElec-sdr to get stable reception,PPM value, TBS's DVB cards, a couple of different LNBs and other hardware that ive used to able to get better lock/reception had an effect on the final result/numbers.

Just managed to lock 11686.05V SR 83 DVB-S2 QPSK 8/9 on the newest version of the DVB demod software (v.2.1.1). There's a valid AAC stream on it (PID101), but unfortunately the audio content seems to just be silence.

I can confirm that, there hasnt been audio on that freq for months.

 

[cirio70]

Reading around i found out that Fracarro UX-TW LTE is a PLL lnb made by Octagon and is cheap (around 10/15 euros)
More info HERE (is a pdf document in italian but anyone intrestred can easily translate it online)
So, i decided to "throw avway" some money and i bought the LNB.

It seems a good investment since i managed to lock at first shot the freq: 11591 V 250 8/9 (QPSK-S2)
It carries PID 101 and 201 and it should be regionalised version of "iRadio"



More to come....

 

[cirio70]

For those who want to try on Enigma 2:

/
feedad46:0000:0000
    s 11590000:250000:1:6:-275:2:0:1:0:2:1


0001:feedad46:0000:0000:2:0
iRadio
p:,c:120065,f:1
0002:feedad46:0000:0000:2:0
iRadio 2
p:,c:1200c9,f:1

Please note the c:12 parameter (AAC Audio) or you will hear nothing

 

[cirio70]

Another one from 27,5W:



11691.6 V 83 8/9 It's the first time i can lock a frequency with SR under 100 !!!
Pid 101 : Spirit Radio (AAC).

Let's see if i can lock it on my Octagon now...

EDIT:
Yes, it locks!

/
feedadab:0000:0000
    s 11691000:80000:1:6:-275:1:0:1:0:2:0

0001:feedadab:0000:0000:2:0
Spirit Radio
p:,c:120065,f:1

Happy New Year to all of you from Italy!!!