Archive news 2003.
This is the news that was on the front page of the site in 2003. I've moved it here as it was taking up rather a lot of space.
28th December 2003: Amos 2 was successfully launched by a Soyuz rocket late last night. It will be slotting at 4°W co-located with Amos 1. The launch was televised on Eutelsat W3. Pictures of the launch can be found here.
10th November 2003: In yet another disaster for the European satellite scene, the brand new Eutelsat E-Bird has suffered some sort of in-orbit breakdown before it even goes into service. Recently slotted at 33E, and designed to bring high speed broadband internet coverage to the whole of Europe, it now seems unlikely it will operate at full capacity. Latest news release here.
26th October 2003:
Apologies for the lack of updates recently - I was away for a few days,
then the computer suffered a major failure when I got back. :-(
Ive only got all the software and data reloaded in the last couple of days. I've now made
a start on updating all the charts again.
12th September 2003: Ive been noticing error messages when loading some pages on the site. These are being caused by Geocities - the errors occur when the adverts which are supposed to appear on each page dont trigger correctly.
9th September 2003: A HDTV (High Definition TV) channel has started testing today on 19E. Most receivers will give a smeary mess at best (and a lot wont even display that much) , but if you want a go then try 12168V 27500 3/4. The channel is named "MPEG2 HD"
18th August 2003: Not many updates recently - the weather has been far too nice to be sitting in front of a computer! Now things are getting back to normal, I'll be updating all the tables in the next few days, and adding more content to various sections.
30th July 2003: All the BBC channels and regions are live fta on Sky Digiboxes (except Channel Islands - the new equipment required hasnt been installed yet). Check out EPG channels 101,102, 115, 116, 941 - 962. Full FTA EPG details here.
As the channels are now fta, ANY digital receiver is capable of getting the BBC signals. Frequency details available here if you want to tune them in. BBC is transmitting off Astra 2D, which has a fairly tightly focussed footprint. It can easily be received across much of north western Europe, but full details of dish sizes need across the rest of Europe can be found on the Astra 2D website. (Check the "Reports" section).
Ive added a couple of new section to the site - Off Air captions carried by tv channels when they are off overnight. Some of them are very colourful. Also, Ive taken various screen grabs from the Icelandic tests carried on Astra 2D during October 2002.
21st July 2003: Im back home after a nice break in Turkey, and I see there are many changes across the satellites, Sky EPG's etc. I'll be making a start on updating all the tables in the next couple of days. The satellite scene in Turkey is well established - many properties have two or more BIG dishes (1m + diameter ) fitted.
Whilst waiting for my flight out, I noticed a SNG (Satellite News Gathering) truck parked outside the airport. Being a curious type person, I wandered over to have a peek, and it was fascinating. I had a word with the folk inside and was slightly surprised to notice they were using one of the monitors to watch "Neighbours" whilst things were quiet.... (Off air pickup of BBC1 from Pontop Pike). Apparently they normally uplink onto Eutel 2F3 at 21.5E, but have occasionally used Astra 2D! Thanks to the BBC Newcastle guys for patiently answering my questions.
19th May 2003:
The Icelandic programming finally seems to have disappeared
:-(
Several channel changes on the 13E satellites.
Latest news on the BBC going fta on Astra 2D is that its been
put back until mid July at the earliest.
7th May 2003:
There is currently a rare chance to watch Icelandic signals! Currently test promos are
running on Astra 1H 19E, and Astra 2D at 28E. This is to do with the Icelandic elections
on the 9th - 11th May. Frequencies are:
Astra 1H 19E - 12226H sr 27500 fec 3/4
Astra 2D 28E - 10729V sr 22000 fec 5/6
Look for signals titled RUV and NLC.
1st May 2003: Lots of changes at 28E. The Simply TV network has gone into administration leading to the immediate closedown of Simply Asia / Nostalgia / Shop+. Other changes in their line up are likely in the next few weeks. Additionally, P-Rock have got into financial difficulties, and have closed. They hope to be back in the Autumn, once refinancing has been arranged. I'll be updating the relevant tables in the next couple of days.
17th April 2003: Ive been off on holiday for a couple of weeks, and I see there have been a lot of changes to the satellite transponder loadings. I'll be making a start on updating everything over the Easter weekend.
31st March 2003: Iraq is managing to stay on air, although transmissions are a bit erratic at times, and the technical standards are a bit variable to say the least. This web site is developing into a useful resource of which African / Middle East channels are showing what.
22nd March 2003: All hell breaking loose in the Middle East, and the satellites are buzzing with feeds from all over the region. Check out the DXMonitoring site for details of the latest feeds spotted. The Iraq Satellite Channel has been on and off regularly for the last few days, but check out Hotbird 13E 12654 H 27500 3/4 if you want to see their coverage. The other Middle Eastern stations have also made very interesting viewing over the last couple of days.
12th March 2003: Today the BBC announced that they will drop the Videoguard conditional encryption on all their tv and radio channels at 28E and go fully fta at the end of May. They will shift over to Astra 2D with its tighter footprint. More as this story develops.
6th March 2003: Caroline is back, and Ive been developing the additional content on the site. At the moment Im concentrating on information for getting the most out of Sky Digiboxes - with the free "BBC" cards (also known as free to view cards). All this info will be linked off the dedicated "Sky Digiboxes" hyperlink on the main menu.
17th February 2003:
Caroline currently off air on Sky. Should be back in the next week or
so on a new frequency.
Apologies for the lack of updates in the last few weeks - Ive been busy at work recently.
However, Ive finally made a start on some of the tables :-)
Intelast 702 has arrived at 33E presumably for future internet downlinks. Its the 3rd sat
here - Eurobird 2 and Intelsat 602 are already here.
13th January: Got Sky? Want to listen to the most famous pirate radio station?? As of 1400 this afternoon Radio Caroline is now available to all Sky Digiboxes :-). Find out how to get it here.
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