Astra 2F General Chat

[joddle]

Yes but will this mean another sat swap from 2f? there would seemingly be no need to but will they do it for some other reason?

 

[timo_w2s]

Maybe spread the load across a couple of satellites?

 

[joddle]

Spreading load seems sensible - will also add to the speculation as to what channels we will or will not get on the fringes :-shifty
Untill then I think I will continue to wear my fingers out twiddleing whilst waiting for something to happen - not much else I can do!!

 

[Huevos]

1KR spotbeam ( now apparently not in use) could not be received in Berlin at one point on a 120cm dish...........

Must have been out of alignment.

 

[A nonymous]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, what if they could put all the Sky stuff on the UK spot beam from all three satellites

I would think that would slightly mess up the day of people outside of the UK :-crying

 

[Dark-Sider]

The spotbeam has just one purpose: to keep FTA broadcast rights cheap (UK/ROI vs. EU rights).
If they put sky on the spot-beam they will lose a significant amount of _paid_ subscriptions. They will drive those customers right into the arms of ppl selling illegal internet-streams.

 

[Satellite74]

btw, Astra 1KR serves mostly Eastern Europe and is at 19°E... in the case of the Poland spot beam, it meant that it was hovering right over Poland, because Poland itself lies also roughly at 19°E, give or take... which means you can have a much steeper signal drop-off at the edges of your footprint.

Great Britain is at around 0°W-1°W, while the signal will, as before, come from 28°E... so it comes from quite an angle. If beam shaping technology hasn't taken yet another leap forward since 1KR, and 2F has the same or similar hardware on board, then it is going to be impossible to get a spot beam that is as tight around the edges as 1KR's Poland beam.

2F's UK spot beam will be tighter than 1N; but the signal drop-off along its edges will never be as bad as 1KR's Poland beam.

 

[joddle]

Of course there is the business issue for Sky - but of course Sky will deny it - because if they did acknowledge all the ex pat subscriptions they would then be forced by their own rules to turn off all those cards - then no renewals! Vicious circle for them eh? I guess they will just keep quiet about it all - what they don't brag about they can't be held responsible for.....

 

[timo_w2s]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, what if they could put all the Sky stuff on the UK spot beam from all three satellites

I would think that would slightly mess up the day of people outside of the UK :-crying

It's crossed my mind too. Not sure if I ever posted it but I was thinking recently about what the BBC said in a blog post about shutting down their wide beam interactive feeds and renting a new UK spot on 1N being cheaper. What if SES are offering UK spots at a cheaper rate now since they are not so limited in capacity (and perhaps knowing they could sell more frequencies in other parts of Europe at a later date) would it entice more broadcasters to swap their wide beams? Disney already use a UK spot, along with Nickelodeon and some of the new HD channels... Just a thought, not saying this will happen.

 

[timo_w2s]

Also if Eutelsat are forced to give up a number of transponders would some of the cheaper channels also switch to a UK spot to save money if they where forced to use Astra?

 

[Dark-Sider]

Hi,

I don't think that SES charges less for transponders on the spot beam. What I have heard/read those new stas can put any frequency on any beam. Using a frequency on the spot beam blocks it for the PE-beam and vice verca since the beams are overlapping (at least over UK/ROI).

The expensive thing about the sats is building them, getting them into space and operating them there. If they broadcast to the UK or the whole EU is just a matter of choice which dish is used. The energy comes from the sun and the fuel that thrusters use for orbital correction maneuvers stays the same no matter what beam is used.

If you look more closely the spot beam actually should be more expensive, since it provides added value to the broadcasting companies (saving huge amount in licensing-fees). The spot beam also makes the sat more expensive to build and the heavier weight costs more money to shoot it up to space. Since sats are often repurposed in space, building a sat with only a spot is a bad choice. So the spot beam is the addon not the PE beam - which makes the spot not cheaper but maybe more expensive.

bye
Darky

 

[welshman234]

Must have been out of alignment.

Reports also at the time were that it couldnt be received in Vienna on a 240cm and in Hannover on a 180cm ...................it was a swine....

 

[welshman234]

Of course there is the business issue for Sky - but of course Sky will deny it - because if they did acknowledge all the ex pat subscriptions they would then be forced by their own rules to turn off all those cards - then no renewals! Vicious circle for them eh? I guess they will just keep quiet about it all - what they don't brag about they can't be held responsible for.....

I was in Lanzarote 2 yrs ago and asked an Irish bar owner if he had any trouble with Sky and his sub etc. He told me that he had a Sky rep coming into his bar once and all they were interested in is where the box came from and it wasnt from a stolen batch ........ he also told me that the sub wasnt cancelled even though they took a note of the serial number on the box....Sky staff go on holiday too and see the reams of bars offering Sky sports. You would have thought that if Sky was interested in improper use they would send an audit squad down to Spain etc and take cards away........Imagine Ruperts face at this suggestion .... an audit that could lose us 400000 subs??? Forget it!!! Widebeam Sky will stay....Also Sky does have a good system for ensuring boxes stay in the Uk (which they dont really use properly) and thats the phoneline connection..... if Sky are serious about misuse they could enforce the phoneline connection for all users at all times... like multi room. Problem solved never mind about a spotbeam....

 

[TENERIFEFORUMTV]

SKY makes a lot of money - their are a muti national company living in the real world and operate dont ask dont tell
BBC cost a lot of money... they are an insular looking (dis) organiation and operate dont ask dont tell dont know
MORE sky channels will be available to us on 2F
DISNEY is FREE on normal tv in spain on their freeview (in english as well)

 

[tothbros]

as much as ppl in the uk are waiting for ch5hd and itv2-3-4hd, e4hd to come to freesat, im hoping they remain encrypted, because then theres no reason to move them to the spot beam.
the apprearance of sky hd channel on 10921H (uk spot) i thought was a worrying sign (tcm hd, e! hd, alibi hd). disney and nickelodeon still have their hd versions on wide beam, so thats not really a problem

 

[timo_w2s]

I'm pretty sure the likes of Sky Sports and other popular Sky owned channels will stay on the wide beams but I just wonder if this will be the case for other smaller channels as I mentioned before. For example, why are Alibi HD, E! HD and TCM HD on a UK spot? I hope I'm wrong but it was just something I've started to think about recently now that the satellites are becoming a lot more flexible in their configurations.

 

[TENERIFEFORUMTV]

SKY controlled channels will more then likely move to 2E etc when there is more room . i think that SKY are only on UK band due to the fact they dont want to give up the space unless they get offered something better . i dont think its down to a big plan ,.,,,,

 

[PaulR]

...as much as ppl in the uk are waiting for ch5hd and itv2-3-4hd, e4hd to come to freesat, im hoping they remain encrypted,

C5HD is much more likely to de-encrypt than the others as this is a hangover from the previous owners of C5. As soon as it was physically and contractually possible the new owners (Richard Desmond's organisatiuon) moved 5USA and 5* onto a spot beam and made then FTA. C5HD still has a little time to run on its contract with $ly.

ITV's business model for ITVs 2/3/4 HD relies upon income from $ly so are unlikely to go FTA any time soon. E4HD is similar but if forced to I would say is slightly more liable to go FTA. Of course, it's all down to money so if $ly were to make an offer that C5 couldn't refuse then I'm sure C5HD would remain encrypted.

 

[tothbros]

...so if $ly were to make an offer that C5 couldn't refuse then I'm sure C5HD would remain encrypted.

especially as ch5hd is pretty much the only reason for anyone to go for the "freesat from sky" platform

 

[tothbros]

anyhow, the new birdie should start tweeting up there...any day now, right?