Astra 1N @ 28E - about to go on air / on air!!

[Pietclock]

my guess is (as if anyone is interested in that ;) ) that this could well be the Africa beam with the steerable. There were always rumours they wanted to do QRG re-use. (for what else does this thing need 53 active TPs).
But I am quite sure, those three beams they published is not everything this bird is up to.

 

[Satellite74]

Yes, I have 11053H and 11127V now, but they are way down in strength here in the UK.

I have a complete blank on those two here at the moment (0.0 d. Either they have switched the signal off again, or they are still testing with a weaker signal.

Or we are now really getting a taste of things to come...

 

[Frantic]

...but, they know there are so many fans here? ...maybe they would move all uk channels on european beam... ;)

 

[Pietclock]

View attachment 44722

here it looks like this, 2D on the left, Eurobird on the right, and those two weak 1N carriers.

 

[whn]

kind of good to know that I'm not the only one here in Germany who's currently in limbo about this.

And what's really annoying is that SES Astra continue to be enigmatic in their press statements... ok so I gather there is a good chance the HD channels will be out of reach for us here in continental Europe because because SES have actually said that Channel 4's and ITV's HD transponders will be switched over to 1N. But they haven't been as clear about the SD channels... I could live with the HD channels going dark, better to have SD than no picture at all...

Yes, I'm with you. HD is nice to have especially for the BBC documentaries but for the rest SD will do nicely.

What I also haven't been able to figure out, just plausibility-wise, is why the two pan-European footprints, as published by SES, appear to be very meticulously shaped to follow European borders within which reception is desired, and yet, when you look at the prospective 1N UK footprint, it's still as oval and undifferentiated as the one on Astra 2D... if they have the technology onboard 1N to produce such "crooked" beams as the pan-European ones, why would they not also use it on the UK spotbeam...

Perhaps they start with something they are familiar with and do the finetuning step-by step later. I wonder if they are going to install a spotbeam for Benidorm.

But I guess, being that SES are still very secretive about any and all details, all we can do at this point is flash our "nobody knows" cards, as they do on QI with Stephen Fry...

Good idea for a merchandising product, don't you think?

 

[Satellite74]

...but, they know there are so many fans here? ...maybe they would move all uk channels on european beam... ;)

They will know that anyway, whether we talk about it on here or not. Maybe the people at SES are reading this particular forum thread, but I doubt it will increase their awareness of our fringe viewing. It has been common knowledge in the TV, content, and satellite industries for years. And simply put, as a UK TV or SES executive, all you need to do is go on a weekend holiday in northern France and see hordes of Brits with their caravans, their dishes pointed right at Astra 2D.

I could imagine they are currently running their own reception tests in Luxembourg to make sure the UK spot beam doesn't spill over to mainland Europe... )(-red on the other hand, taking off my tinfoil hat again, Llew' weak signal readings from East Anglia, which if I am not mistaken is still within the 45cm recommended dish size region, could well be interpreted to mean that the satellite still hasn't been fired up all the way and that these are really still just test cycles that are being run.

 

[dvdfilm]

What's the sr and FEC of those frequencies?

 

[Llew]

What's the sr and FEC of those frequencies?

They're just blank carriers. Or they were when I checked.

 

[Llew]

They will know that anyway, whether we talk about it on here or not. Maybe the people at SES are reading this particular forum thread, but I doubt it will increase their awareness of our fringe viewing. It has been common knowledge in the TV, content, and satellite industries for years. And simply put, as a UK TV or SES executive, all you need to do is go on a weekend holiday in northern France and see hordes of Brits with their caravans, their dishes pointed right at Astra 2D.

I could imagine they are currently running their own reception tests in Luxembourg to make sure the UK spot beam doesn't spill over to mainland Europe... )(-red on the other hand, taking off my tinfoil hat again, Llew' weak signal readings from East Anglia, which if I am not mistaken is still within the 45cm recommended dish size region, could well be interpreted to mean that the satellite still hasn't been fired up all the way and that these are really still just test cycles that are being run.

A comparison shows how weak those signals are here in the UK where I am.

 

[Pietclock]

They keep testing almost every feature of that bird, just not the UK spot beam. I can hear them laughing.

 

[hexah]

Yes, SES are going through their usual battery of tests.

 

[Satellite74]

Yes, SES are going through their usual battery of tests.

yes, but do they have to go about it with such secrecy, as if they are carrying out a secret government mission? I mean, today's press statement alone has raised more questions than it is capable of answering.

In the mean time, no new signal readings on my receiver here... maybe SES have gone home for the day

 

[hexah]

They have always been like that!

They normally only state that testing has been completed successfully, they never comment during the testing period.

 

[SZGY]

my guess is (as if anyone is interested in that ;) ) that this could well be the Africa beam with the steerable. There were always rumours they wanted to do QRG re-use. (for what else does this thing need 53 active TPs).
But I am quite sure, those three beams they published is not everything this bird is up to.

Please don't forget that 1N is destined to serve @19.2E in the future. I'm sure most of the TPs will remain unused while the satellite is performing its temporary mission @28.2E.

 

[Analoguesat]

:-looky

According to SES

-http://en.ses.com/4233325/news/2011/8301772

1N is ready to go


Luxembourg, 24 October 2011 - SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) today announced that its new ASTRA 1N satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees East.

ASTRA 1N was built by Astrium on the Eurostar E3000 platform and is equipped with 52 transponders in the Ku frequency band. The satellite was successfully launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 August 2011. It had a launch mass of 5,325 kg and is the fourth Eurostar satellite in the 49 satellite-strong SES fleet.

ASTRA 1N greatly enhances the flexibility of the SES satellite fleet at the orbital slot 28.2 degrees East over Europe. ASTRA 1N is notably being used by Channel 4 and ITV. The new satellite will also allow SES to offer its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect via 28.2 degrees East and thus complement its service offer from the 23.5 degrees East position. ASTRA2Connect is Europe's largest satellite broadband network with more than 80,000 end users.

The first channels must only be hours away now





:-thumb1

 

[L0nk]

Please don't forget that 1N is destined to serve @19.2E in the future. I'm sure most of the TPs will remain unused while the satellite is performing its temporary mission @28.2E.

Well, to make it short: I doubt Astra 1N can just take over the frequencies Eurobird 1 is offering - it could take over much of 2A, 2B and 2D, however we'll see how many channels actually switch over.

 

[Satellite74]

According to SES

-http://en.ses.com/4233325/news/2011/8301772

1N is ready to go

yes, but that press release is from this morning... almost old news...

The first channels must only be hours away now





:-thumb1

I just hope that we here in continental Europe will have as much reason to celebrate as you. Spare a thought for us here, while we are on the edge of our seats hoping we will still get UK TV in the future... ;-)

 

[Analoguesat]

yes, but that press release is from this morning... almost old news...

Transponder swaps from one bird to another will happen overnight so tonight is the first opportunity for things like the C5 frequency to be moved over

 

[yan75]

I just hope that we here in continental Europe will have as much reason to celebrate as you. Spare a thought for us here, while we are on the edge of our seats hoping we will still get UK TV in the future... ;-)

Its been fascinating the last few months following this and the other threads much like sat74 sitting in Larnaca with a 4.2m dish and waiting eagerly for news.

To be honest half of the stuff discussed here technically is way above my head, but nontheless it has been compelling reading:-) Thank you to everyone for keeping us informed. Are we any nearer to understanding what this will mean for Cyprus dish users?

Im also using a slingbox so one way or another I will still get Uk TV but hope my expensive dish installation is not going to be worth peanuts in a few months!!!!

 

[Analoguesat]

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yan75 - we have no idea how things will work out for the Cypriot & other Mediterranean expats, but remember whatever happens everything starts changing again next year when we have the fun and games of following 2F into service