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SATELLITE WATCH Compiled by GARRY CRATT* Apstar 2R Apstar 2R was successfully launched aboard a Long March 3B rocket from the Xiachang launch site in China on October 17. The satellite has 28 C band . 16 K band transponders, which and can operate at 60W and 110W respectively. The satellite was expected to be in commercial service by the end of November. Officials from APT advise that over 50% of the satellite capacity has already been leased. The satellite will occupy 76.5°E longitude. Asiasat 3 The launch date for Asiasat 3 has now been scheduled for December 12. This satellite will be launched to occupy 105.5°E, initially to be co-located with Asiasat 1 which will then be moved to 122°E longitude. We expect Asiasat 3 to be operational by mid-January, if the launch goes to schedule. Asiasat 3 will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan using a Proton launcher. Asiasat has a contingency plan should the launch fail and has purchased a “small” 6 transponder satellite, which could be moved to 122°E to occupy the allocated slot, ensuring it is not stolen by another (non-ITU) operator. Palapa C1 As reported by various news agencies, engineers at the Satellindo uplink Satellite Communications Catalog Next month’s issue of SILICON CHIP will feature a compre­hensive 32-page catalog of satellite communications equipment from AvComm Pty Ltd. facility in Jakarta have realigned the antenna on this satellite to provide better performance in Australia and New Zealand. Initial test signals appeared on September 30, carrying CNBC programming, disappearing after a week or so. Palapa C1 is located at 150.5°E longitude and will be worth monitoring in future months. Panamsat 2 Chinese broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) has begun uplinking from Beijing directly to Pas-2, bypassing the double hop previously used via Asiasat 1 and the Pas 2 uplink facility in Hong Kong. This means that CCTV can now uplink to both Pas 2 and Pas 4 from Beijing, considerably lowering operating costs. The network has advised they will be expanding to six channels. Pas2 viewers can presently see CCTV3, 4, 5 and 9, all broadcast in PowerVu without conditional access. loaded at rates up to 225Kb/s. Optus B3 The Optus Aurora platform commenced testing in Octob­er. This platform will carry ABC and SBS (amongst others) digital services, once the current HACBSS BMAC service is terminated. There is expected to be a gradual rollout over the next 12 months. * Garry Cratt is Managing Director of AvComm Pty Ltd, suppliers of satellite TV reception systems. Phone (02) 9949 7417. http://www.avcomm.com.au Asiasat 2 New Guinea broadcaster EMTV, which moved to Asiasat 2 late September on 3760MHz horizontal, will move again as early as mid November. EMTV intend to switch to non-conditional access MPEG2, with SR 4333, FEC, on 4006/1144MHz vertical polarisation. Most free to air digital receivers will operate using these parame­ters. Elsewhere on this satellite, Zaknet, a Kuwait based group uplinking out of the Subic Bay teleport in the Philippines, has commenced their one way internet service. Similar to Net On Air (which has yet to commence service), the system uses a standard modem connection for Internet requests and a special satellite receiver PC card connected to a satellite dish forms the return path. The combination allows data to be downDecember 1997  53