SATELLITE
WATCH
Compiled by GARRY CRATT*
In-orbit tests for new Japanese satellite
The
Japanese satellite JCSAT 4 was launched
.
successfully on 16th February, 1997. It was
originally planned to operate from 124°E but
is now located at 141°E for in-orbit testing.
JCSAT 4 will be shifted to 150°E
to replace JCSAT 1, reported several
months ago to have a serious fuel
leak. The satellite has 12 C-band and
28 K-band transponders, capable of
covering Australia and New Zealand.
service can be seen at 1370MHz
IF, using an SR of 27500Mbps
and an FEC of 3/4. Initial testing indicates a 3.7m dish is the
minimum requirement along
the east coast of Australia.
Optus satellites:
Thaicom:
Recent political action in Papua
New Guinea saw commercial networks
scramble for available space on Optus
satellites. The A3 satellite, located at
152°E, was utilised by Network 7 on
March 24 for SNG out of Port Moresby. This was one of the few occasions
that signals have been seen from A3
in recent times.
Optus B1 T11U (1152MHz IF) has
seen a recent increase in activity, primarily due to the occupation of T5U
by SKY New Zealand, causing some
SNG links to be moved to this new
allocation. April 8th saw initial testing by Sky Network New Zealand on
T5U (1250MHz IF). Signals are weak
enough to require a 3m dish for noisefree pictures along the east coast. The
Videocrypt service commenced testing
officially on April 15 and requires a
SmartCard.
Palapa C2:
A new digital service for Malaysia,
located on the Palapa C2 satellite, commenced operations over Easter. Called
“MEGA” TV, the 7-channel MPEG
Myawaddy TV (Burma) is broadcasting
through Asiasat on IF 1384MHz.
Thaicom 3 was successfully
launched on April 17th aboard Ariane
V95. The launch was originally scheduled for April 11th but coupling problems between the Ariane body and the
Thaicom satellite caused engineers
some concern for several days before
it was given a clean bill of health.
The satellite will be located at
78.5°E, while Thaicom 1 will be
moved to 120°E.
Intelsat 801:
In the April issue’s Satellite Watch,
we reported the successful launch of
Intelsat 801, destined for the Indian
Ocean region. On March 18th, ground
controllers working on the satel
lite
testing program inadvertently caused
the satellite to enter into an uncontrolled spin and point away from
Earth. The satel
lite has now been
brought under control, apparently
without damage, and is expected to
enter service this month.
Asiasat 2:
Myawaddy Television has begun
digital transmissions on this satellite.
With an IF of 1384MHz, the MPEG
parameters for this signal are SR 5080
and FEC 7/8.
The service is expected to remain
on a permanent basis.
Panamsat 2:
April 8th saw initial testing of a new
analog signal on Pas-2. Apparently
broadcast in the Lebanese language,
the service ran for several days at
1405MHz IF (horizontal polarisation)
before disappearing. The service was
delivered into Australia in MPEG
format (along with a special version
of Rai TV Italy) and is carried on the
Optusvision cable network.
April 10th saw the brief appearance
Pas-2 of Bloomberg Information TV on
12.590GHz, vertical polarisation. The
SC
service is broadcast in PAL.
* Garry Cratt is Managing Director of AvComm Pty Ltd, suppliers of satellite TV
reception systems. Phone (02) 9949 7417.
http://www.avcomm.com.au
June 1997 53
