Good news for Freesat? Astra 2E satellite launched
Good news from SES , Luxemboug today (September 30, 2013)
The ASTRA 2E satellite blasts into space on board an ILS Proton Breeze M booster last night at 3:38am Baikonur time (23:38 CET and 17:38 EDT on September 29).
After a 9-hour, 12-minute mission, the Breeze M upper stage of the Proton rocket successfully released the ASTRA 2E satellite directly into geostationary transfer orbit, from where ASTRA 2E will be deployed at the 28.2/28.5 degrees orbital arc.
54th SES satellite to be deployed into 28.2/28.5 degrees East orbital arc
The satellite was built for SES by Astrium of France. Based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform, the spacecraft carries 60 Ku-band transponders, including 12 incremental transponders for delivery of services outside Europe, as well as 4 Ka-band transponders.
It will enable the delivery of next generation broadcast and broadband services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. ASTRA 2E, which had a launch mass of 6 tonnes, will feature a wingspan of 40m once its solar arrays are deployed in orbit, generating 13 kW of spacecraft power at the end of its 15-year design lifetime.
Romain Bausch, CEO of SES says "We would like to thank Astrium and ILS for the successful ASTRA 2E mission. The 54th satellite in SESâ global fleet provides significant capacity expansion at a strategic orbital neighborhood over Europe. In combination with ASTRA 2F which was launched in September 2012, and the upcoming ASTRA 2G due for launch next year, ASTRA 2E is an important part of our fleet renewal programme at the 28.2/28.5 degrees orbital arc. The state-of-the-art new satellites provide more focused and higher power to our broadcast customers, while the Ka-band on board supports the delivery of next-generation satellite broadband services"-
11:45 AM
Accrington
m.mokhtary, you CANNOT receive ANY of the Astra 2 satellites over the middle east. Astra 2E/2F/2G are designed purely for viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland ONLY;all UK national broadcasters use the UK only spotbeam which covers the whole of the United Kingdom with only a very limited overspill to North Western Europe, several free-to-air commercial broadcasters on those satellites where programme rights issues are not a concern (and some exclusively UK only subscription services in the BSkyB digital bouquets as well) use the pan-european widebeams which cover not only the United Kingdom but also a good part of mainland Europe as well. It is extremely unlikely that you will EVER receive Astra 2E/2F/2G over the middle east;the satellite footprints are so tight several european countries to the south and east of Europe have lost a lot of UK television channels from the UK spotbeams, but have managed to receive at least some from the pan-european beams-the main limit of the pan-european footpirnts is NW Greece which isn't ideal.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
4:43 AM
I am driving my caravan to France and Switzerland Will I be able to receive freesat in those countries?
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12:00 AM
Accrington
Peter, you CAN receive Freesat in Switzerland and France but the signal strengths DO vary to receive the Astra 2 UK Spotbeam channels-for touring purposes with a caravan you'll need a 90cm dish antennae at the very least and a 100cm dish antennae at the very most-this is because the UK Spotbeam has a very tight footprint that only really spreads through France and ends further north of the mediterranean than the old Astra 2D did, also bear in mind, that signal strengths on the Astra 2 UK Spotbeam channels can vary widely across Europe from as short as a few miles between towns villages provinces and cities to as far away as several thousands of miles across the continent. As a result several locations in Southern and Eastern Europe have lost their access to UK TV channels on the Astra 2 UK Spotbeams-such is the tightness of the beam and the restricted spread.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
5:08 PM
Having trouble as to what satialite to use for my new freesat box, I live in Buckhaven Fife.
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6:53 PM
Davy:If the box referred to is genuinely a Freesat device and "not" a free to air satellite box such as sold by Aldi or Lidls etc, then you do not have to enter any info relating to the name of a satellite
or transponders on, as the box is pre-programmed with the necessary info already in it.
What model of box are you using? and is the dish its connected into ex Sky, or have you just had the dish installed?, also, if the box offers options of either Satellite or Freesat, make sure that Freesat has been chosen and "not" satellite.
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4:58 PM
Astra 2G finally arrived at 28E on Monday.
Eutelsat 28A (Eurobird) will soon be relieved of it's duties by Astra E, F and G.
Some transponder moves have already occurred as indicated in the NITs of the two DVB networks at 28.2E.
Freesat-Diffs 17-06-2015 11 26 to 18-06-2015 15 14:
Changed:
11222.17 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2311 --> 11223.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2311
11261.17 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2301 --> 11263.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2301
11662.00 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411 --> 11508.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411
11680.77 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412 --> 11973.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412
Found:
11225.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2106
11265.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2108
Lost:
11223.67 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2312
11259.67 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2302
ASTRA-Diffs 17-06-2015 11 26 to 18-06-2015 15 14:
Changed:
11222.17 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2311 --> 11223.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2311
11261.17 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2301 --> 11263.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2301
Found:
11225.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2106
11265.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2108
Lost:
11223.67 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2312
11259.67 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2302
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6:25 PM
ASTRA-Diffs 22-06-2015 16 22 to 23-06-2015 13 32
Changed:
11584.62 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2407 --> 11464.25 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2407
11603.85 V 29500 3/4 DVB-S2 0.20 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2408 --> 11479.00 V 23000 8/9 DVB-S2 0.20 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2408
11662.00 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411 --> 11508.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411
11680.77 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412 --> 11973.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412
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5:59 PM
Freesat-Diffs 24-06-2015 18 14 to 25-06-2015 14 59
Changed:
11508.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411 --> 11670.75 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411
11973.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412 --> 11685.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412
Found:
11836.50 H 27500 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2007
Lost:
12304.50 H 27500 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2031
ASTRA-Diffs 24-06-2015 18 14 to 25-06-2015 14 59
Found:
11836.50 H 27500 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2007
Lost:
12304.50 H 27500 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2031
Combining previous Freesat changes gives net changes:
11662.00 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411 --> 11670.75 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411
11680.77 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412 --> 11685.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412
So they are more or less back where they came from.
27500 x 2/3 = 22000 x 5/6 so the same capacity, but 5/6 needs a higher S/N
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8:29 PM
Freesat-Diffs 25-06-2015 14 59 to 29-06-2015 17 35
Changed:
11389.00 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2113 --> 11386.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2113
11390.33 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2316 --> 11386.50 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2316
11426.33 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2306 --> 11426.50 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2306
There is no change to the FreesatHome transponder in the Freesat NIT
The FreesatHome transponder is unique:
-the basis of the Freesat Network
-not included in the ASTRA Network
-has (or had) an Orbital Position of 28.5 degrees East
Blind-scan shows the frequency is now 11426.50 MHz
This is what I had expected to see:
11427.83 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.5E :TSID = 2315 --> 11426.50 H 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2315
Where are the ASTRA-Diffs?
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8:10 PM
ASTRA-Diffs 29-06-2015 17 35 to 30-06-2015 17 18
Changed:
11464.25 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2407 --> 11582.25 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2407
11479.00 V 23000 8/9 DVB-S2 0.20 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2408 --> 11597.00 V 23000 8/9 DVB-S2 0.20 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2408
11508.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411 --> 11670.75 H 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2411
11973.00 V 27500 2/3 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412 --> 11685.50 V 22000 5/6 DVB-S QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2412
Found:
12382.50 H 29500 3/4 DVB-S2 0.35 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2002
Lost:
12382.50 H 29500 3/4 DVB-S2 0.35 QPSK 028.2E :TSID = 2035
ASTRA NIT still not updated to match yesterdays Freesat changes:
11386.50,H,27500 ;tsid = 2113, Freesat
11389.00,H,27500 ;tsid = 2113, ASTRA
11386.50,V,27500 ;tsid = 2316, Freesat
11390.33,V,27500 ;tsid = 2316, ASTRA
11426.50,V,27500 ;tsid = 2306, Freesat
11426.33,V,27500 ;tsid = 2306, ASTRA
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