Hotbird 4 --> Nilesat 103 --> Atlantic Bird 4

Analoguesat

EUTELSAT OPENS NEW VIDEO NEIGHBOURHOOD AT 7 DEGREES WEST
WITH ENTRY INTO SERVICE OF ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4
Paris, 3 July 2006
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that its ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4 satellite has gone into full commercial service at the 7 degrees West location. Operating since 1998 as HOT BIRD™ 4 from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, the newlybranded ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4 was freed to initiate its new mission at 7 degrees West with the transfer on 22 April 2006 of broadcast clients onto HOT BIRD™ 7A.

Designed for consumer broadcasting, the satellite’s high-power footprint has been optimised in particular to serve the Middle East and North Africa, enabling Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception of digital services with domestic antennas from 7 degrees West. ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4’s commercial entry into service triggers the contract for capacity announced in September 2005 with Nilesat, the Egyptian satellite operator. Nilesat’s capacity on ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4 equips it to boost development in dynamic broadcasting markets in
the Middle East and North Africa in complement to the more than 300 television channels it already delivers through its Nilesat 101 and 102 satellites, which are also positioned at 7 degrees West. The first 18 channels have already begun broadcasting from ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4.

Capacity leased on the satellite by Noorsat, the Bahrain-based provider of capacity and video services, is also shortly expected to be activated for television broadcasting. Commenting on ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4’s entry into service, Eutelsat CEO, Giuliano Berretta said, “Eutelsat’s opening of a new video neighbourhood for North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf states at 7 degrees West underscores our objective to consolidate our longstanding
presence in these regions. In the same way we embarked over ten years ago on building the HOT BIRD™ and EUROBIRD™ 1 neighbourhoods, we are now equipped to offer a new premium satellite resource that can support the continued expansion of our clients in dynamic digital broadcasting markets.”

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Orthoclipse

Just wondering as to how they change the footprints of a satellite. Do they tilt the satellite or can they reconfigure the transponders from earth?

solly

all satellite is widebeam atantic bird 4 is switch atenna from super to wide

Orthoclipse

Thanks! I see now it is just the old widebeam moved south.

HB4 datasheet h**p://www.satplaza.com/orbit/hb4_datasheet.pdf
AB4 footprin h**p://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/7wab4_popd.html

Do they deactivate the superbeam transponders or can all transponders be switched from superbeam to widebeam as the datasheet seems to suggest?

solly

all was superbeam on old hb 4 is switch to widebeam

all beam to mideast now

Orthoclipse

One more question

How do they move the footprint south to mideast? Do they tilt the transponders or the entire satellite?

BarMoo

Was thinking the same, LOL.

They move the bird West but their new target is the Middle East? Seems odd if you think about it.

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EgyptDUDE

no , not odd , all done from control room just swithching reflector's
saw some tp in Hotbird for example 3 month's ago (freq. 12015 of ART ) switch from wide to super beam , then back to wide beam ( all than in only 1 month) and it have a history of doing that before (some years ago) , so switching the beam of satellite is actually a piece of cake (so to speak) lol
btw : AB4 signals really suxs , even here in M.E