Astra 19.2 degrees east

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Robert Evans died in July 2013 and as such the page hasn't been updated since, I will get around to it when I have the time.

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20/07/13 at 11.00 - In December of 2013 German state broadcaster "ARD" launches High Definition (HD) versions of some of the remaining channels under it's control that have not as yet launched in HD, from this date you will find on the Astra satellite at 19.2 degrees east "Eins Festival HD", "Eins Plus HD", and "tagesshau24 HD" on 11.053 H and "hr fernsehen HD", "RBB Berlin", "RBB Brandenburg", "MDR Sachsen", "MDR Sachsen Anhalt", and "MDR Thƒ¼ringen" on 10.891 H, both of these frequencies will have the tuning parameters of SR 22.000, FEC 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK, a further thing to note is that‚ there are still the "SR Fernsehen" and "Radio Bremen TV", and "BR Alpha" channels remaining without a known to us HD plan, there is no news on if or when HD versions of these channels will be appearing,‚ these new HD channels will be a welcome addition to the existing multitude of currently available free to air "ARD" and "ZDF" HD channels, it is such a shame that unlike the German state HD channels which have gone for the free to air option that the German private channels have gone for the encrypted option. One thing further to add and based on this latest information is - Can we assume/presume that the "Astra 1N" satellite will have been moved to the 19.2 degrees east satellite position by December of 2013 and that these latest HD channels will be broadcast from the Astra 1N satellite? It is possible that this will be the case! Please don't forget to put a "link" back to "Rob's Satellite TV" if you are using the information contained in this article or any other article on this website somewhere else, be that on a forum or on another websiteUPDATE‚ 25/06/13 at 09.00 - SES-Astra Satellite Happenings 2 -‚ So, if as is my expectation that the Astra 1N satellite which is currently at the 28.2 degrees east satellite position but is scheduled to move to the 19.2 degrees east satellite position after it has been cleared of it's frequencies and channels following Astra 2E's arrival and in service at 28.2 degrees east what is to come next for Astra 1N? You can see in my post below the timeline for Astra 2E, if all goes according to the current scheduled plan for Astra 2E then the transfer of all traffic from Astra 1N to Astra 2E should have been completed by the 14th of September, 2013 but as I have alluded to in my post below it could have been completed by as early as the 7th of September, 2013 because there is a little urgency needed too so when Astra 2E arrives at 28.2 degrees east there will be no time wasted in the transfer from Astra 1N to Astra 2E and there will be no time wasted too in moving Astra 1N from the 28.2 degrees east satellite position to the 19.2 degrees east satellite position, so if we apply this logic then we could be seeing Astra 1N on the move to 19.2 degrees east by or during the second week of September, 2013 and it could well have arrived at 19.2 degrees east by or during the third week of September, 2013, Astra 1N's mission at 19.2 degrees east is twofold, firstly Astra 1N will take all of the frequencies and channels that are on the Astra 2C satellite because Astra 2C is scheduled to be relocated at 28.2 degrees east as a back up satellite, Astra 2C currently broadcasts many subscription channels fro "Sky Germany" and "Canal+ Spain" but what is of more interest to myself and I am sure many of you are the free to air channels that Astra 2C broadcasts which include the 11.836 H "Das Erste" and some other German regional channels, the 11.954 H, "ZDF" and some other ZDF channels, 12.051 V the Swiss and Austrian versions of the "ProSiebenSat.1" channels, 12.109 H "RBB" and some other German regional channels, and 12.148 H which has variety of channels, all of the above will be moved from Astra 2C to Astra 1N, that is a total of 15 transponders/frequencies but Astra 1N is a big satellite with lots more room to take more transponders/frequencies from other satellite at 19.2 degrees east too so what else will be moved to Astra 1N, well, as long ago as the 21st of December of 2012 would you believe I posted on this website that Astra 1L as well as Astra 2C would have their transponders/frequencies moved to Astra 1N, Astra 1L currently broadcasts 28 transponders/frequencies which would fit very nicely on Astra 1N alongside the Astra 2C transponders/frequencies that will also be moved to Astra 1N, channels on Astra 1L include the 11303 H HD "Servus TV" and "ORF" channels, 11.347 V HD "ZDF" channels, 11.597 V "BBC World", "CNBC" and "Bloomberg" channels, 12.188 H "RTL" Germany channels, 12226 H "RTL" Austria and Swiss channels, 12.544 H the German versions of the "ProSiebenSat.1" channels,‚ 12.603 H "Sky News International" and other German "WDR" regional channels in HD and SD, and the SD "ORF" encrypted channels on 12.663 H and 12.692 H, there are also many subscription channels in various languages on Astra 1L, so Astra 2C currently has 15 active transponders/frequencies, Astra 1L‚ currently has 28 active transponders/frequencies, that would make a total of 43 transponders/frequencies which will be moved to Astra 1N when it arrives at 19.2 degrees east, of course "SES-Astra" could take some transponders/frequencies from the other satellites at 19.2 degrees east and put them on Astra 1N, as well as Astra 1L these other 19.2 degrees east satellites are Astra 1M and Astra 1KR, in my opinion Astra 1N will not take transponders/frequencies from Astra 1M, that is a certainty as much as certainties are certain regarding satellite happenings so it leaves Astra 1L and Astra 1KR, it is possible that Astra 1N will take some of the Astra 1L and Astra 1KR transponders/frequencies on a shared move to Astra 1N but I am predicting that Astra 1L as well as Astra 2C will be the satellites whose transponders/frequencies/channels that will be moved to Astar 1N and this is partly based on my observations of "SES-Astra" in that they do not like transponders/frequencies/channels spread out over various satellites with those various satellites also having spare capacity and generally not being full, "SES-Astra" seem to like to have their spare capacity basically concentrated on individual back up satellites which can basically be switched off and remain in stand by mode thus saving power in the long term which is better for "SES-Astra" in the long term too and not forgetting the fact that Astra 1H is no longer at 19.2 degrees east so that particular satellite cannot be utilised as a back up satellite for 19.2 degrees east, so in conclusion and if it does indeed all happen the way I am predicting it will happen then Astra 1N moves to 19.2 degrees east and takes over the transponders of Astra 2C and Astra 1L which will leave Astra 2C to be moved to 28.2 degrees east and Astra 1L as a back up satellite at 19.2 degrees east, what about Astra 1N's coverage I hear you ask, will my reception be affected once all these channels move to Astra 1N you are shouting in my ear, Astra 1N has two Pan European beams as well as a UK beam, I am expecting that the future Astra 1N reception at 19.2 degrees east will be the same as the current Astra 1M reception at 19.2 degrees east so if you can receive Astra 1M then you will receive Astra 1N, once again‚ please do remember where you read it first and don't forget that all important "link" if you use the information contained here somewhere else, everyone knows it all comes from "Rob's Satellite TV", this is one of the most widely read satellite websites in Europe for God's sakes! LOL! Copyright "Rob's Satellite TV"UPDATE‚ 03/05/13 at 22.30 - Astra 2B -‚ What is to be of Astra 2B at 19E? Could the mystery finally be "sol-ved" as "Inspector Clouseau" would say?! Oh Shit, I hear you say, "Rob"‚ is off one one of his tangents again!‚ Don't worry, I will try to keep it short! Once upon a time ... (LOL!), Until recently the Astra 2B satellite was at the 28.2 degrees east satellite position but following Astra 2F's arrival at this position "SES-Astra" moved Astra 2B to the 19.2 degrees east satellite position, it is in actual fact currently at 19.4 degrees east but I will come to that later, but why oh why was Astra 2B at the "19" degrees east position, well the answer as always lies in the fact that SES-Astra have and had a bigger plan and I believe that the reason that Astra 2B was moved to 19.2 degrees east is because SES-Astra want to‚ provide Ku-band coverage of Southern Africa from "19" degrees east, Astra 2B would allow SES-Astra to expand service to Southern Africa from the 19.2 degrees satellite position, before Astra 2B was moved from 28.2 to 19.2 another satellite was moved to 19.2, this was the AMC-2 satellite which was previously at 4.98 degrees east, SES-Astra filed a request to move AMC-2 to 19.2 degrees east so that it could provide Ku-band coverage of Southern Africa, AMC-2 was last year indeed moved to 19.2 but it has recently been moved from 19.2 degrees east and it is on it's way to it's new home of 80.85 west, so one would logically assume that what was once AMC -2's remit would‚ in the grand scheme of things‚ now be Astra 2B's remit which would mean that the reason that Astra 2B was moved to the 19.2 degrees east satellite position is to provide coverage and allow SES-Astra to expand service to Southern Africa by opening up yet another SES-Astra satellite position for Southern Africa, regarding the exact satellite positionings of both the AMC-" and Astra 2B satellites at "19" degrees east, SES-Astra does have many satellites positioned at 19.2 degrees east and for presumably safety and operational reasons these two satellites were not exactly placed at 19.2, AMC-2's exact position was 19.0, Astra 2B's exact position is 19.4, is it just a coincidence that both satellites were placed 0.2 degrees away from the main 19.2 degrees east satellites, or is it something more sinister, the fact that Astra 2B does have some previous history regarding broadcasting to Africa while it was at the 28.2 degrees east satellite position, albeit these broadcasts were to Western Africa‚ and Ghana specifically but the important thing to remember is that the beam is steerable, the fact that Astra 2B has 16 African beam transponders at it's disposal makes my reasoning all the more plausible as to why Astra 2B was moved to 19.4 degrees east, and that reason is that Astra 2B's new mission is to serve Southern Africa,‚ the mystery is finally "sol-ved", simples! There, it is always worth reading it to the end! You know it and "Rob" makes sense! For reference purposes below is the Astra 2B West Africa Beam from when 2B was at 28.2 degrees east‚ 

 

UPDATE 09/02/13 at 21.30 - Astra 2B -‚ The‚ Astra 2B satellite is now in the process of being moved from it's old "home" of the‚ 28.2 degrees east satellite position to it's new "home" of the 19.2 degrees east satellite position, Rob did tell you that this was going to be happening, stick with Rob's, First with all SES-Astra's

 

 

Some order/clarification on this great big "SES-Astra‚ Betzdorf Space Shuffle" that is happening/is going to be happening, let's start with the already happened some of Astra 1N frequencies/channels and‚ also the Astra 2B West African Beam frequencies/channels having‚ been transferred to Astra 2F, what is expected next to happen is that the Astra 2B European Beam frequencies/channels should be transferred to Astra 2F in January 2013 this will leave Astra 2B‚ clear of all traffic, Astra 2B is‚ scheduled to be relocated at some point (I will come to that later) but I am expecting that 2B will be temporarily used as a back up satellite at 28.2 degrees east in case of one of the other satellite's suffering a failure before it moves elsewhere, SES-Astra is currently in need of back up at 28.2 degrees east too, the new Astra 2E satellite will be launched sometime between March 2013 and June 2013 launch, the precise date is now to be confirmed following‚ a delay on future launches from‚ the proposed launch site after‚ a problem occurred with another satellite launch which needs to be fully investigated but following on from Astra 2E's successful launch there will be a transfer of the remaining Astra 1N frequencies/channels to the Astra 2E satellite, this is confirmed as scheduled to happen in the Summer of 2013, I am not expecting any of Astra 2A's frequencies/channels to have been transferred to another satellite by this point (it will become apparent why not later).

Now it is going to get a little confusing so please keep up! LOL!‚ In the Summer of 2013 and following Astra 1N transfer to Astra 2E then there should be the following SES-Astra satellite's at the following positions - 28.2 degrees east will have the active satellite's 2E, 2F, 2A and the back up satellite's 1N, 2B, and 2D - 19.2 degrees east will have the active satellite's 2C, 1L, 1M, and 1KR and the back up satellite's 1H, and AMC-2.

So moving on, but before I (and SES-Astra) move on there is something very important to be considering, SES-Astra's acquisition of most of Eutelsat's 28.5 degrees east frequencies, this frequency acquisition is currently being challenged by Eutelsat but‚ this frequency dispute will have been sorted out by Summer 2013 and if it remains so that SES-Astra have successfully acquired those Eutelsat frequencies then‚ by the Summer of 2013 SES-Astra would indeed have the infrastructue/satellites ready and in place for this Eutelsat frequency takeover, the plan is for these‚ Eutelsat's frequencies to be transferred to Astra's 2E and Astra 2F from October the 4th, 2013 but‚ this all means that Astra's 2E and 2F will be fully in service with little or no spare frequency capacity and because of this I do foresee that at this time (Q2/Q3 2013) that Astra 2A's frequencies/channels will not have been transferred to another satellite and that Astra 2B will also still be at 28.2 degrees east used as a back up satellite at least until after the next 19.2 degrees changes/moves have happened which I will now outline.

It has long been known that 19.2 degrees east is shy of active and back up satellite's and I foresee that Astra 2B will eventually end up at 19.2 degrees east as a back up satellite but that should not happen before the following things happen,Rob's "World Exclusive News" last year that Astra 1N was only temporary at 28.2 degrees east before it moves to 19.2 degrees east‚ mean that once Astra 2E is successfully launched and operational then SES-Astra will waste no time whatsoever in transferring Astra 1N frequencies/channels to Astra 2E and then quickly moving Astra 1N from 28.2 to 19.2 degrees satellite position,‚ Rob's "World Exclusive News"‚ yesterday that Astra 2C and Astra 1L frequencies/channels will be transferred to Astra 1N in the third quarter of 2013 is testament to this happening quickly, and what then of Astra's 2C and 1L, Astra 2C should go to 28.2 degrees east which was it's originally planned destination because by now 28.2 degrees east is also shy of active and stand by satellites, Astra 1L will remain at 19.2 degrees east as a back up satellite, for extra new traffic, and for existing Ka-Band traffic. Only once Astra 2C is moved fropm 19.2 to 28.2 degrees east will Astra 2A be removed of it's frequencies/channels and then moved to another satellite position, this most probably happening in late 2013/early 2014.

The informations contained in the above article are part confirmed fact informations and part unconfirmed speculations, as is the way with everything satellite related, the confirmed fact informations are correct at the time of publishing and Rob cannot be held responsible for changes to‚ the confirmed fact informations that happen thereafter.

It's Chriiiiistmaaaaaas, let the alcohol drinking begin and let the‚ "SES-Astra‚ Betzdorf Space Shuffle" commence! LOL!

 

UPDATE 21/12/12 at 20.15 - Astra Satellites - Rob's Satellite TV, "World Exclusive", remember where you read it first

Astra 1N, Astra 2C, and Astra 1L "World Exclusive News" - After the Astra 1N satellite has been moved from 28.2 degrees east to it's new satellite position of 19.2 degrees east there will be two satellites which are currently located at 19.2 degrees east which will be cleared of their frequencies/channels, both the Astra 2C and Astra 1L satellites' frequencies/channels will be transferred to the Astra 1N satellite in the third quarter of 2013

Astra 2E News - I have in previous posts been saying that there was the probability/possibility that the scheduled launch for the Astra 2E satellite would be delayed and this is now so, Astra 2E was supposedly to have been launched in March 2013, the new scheduled launch date for Astra 2E could now be June 2013