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SAT Observations 97.07.25
WELCOME TO SAT-MIDEAST !
A news release from Cairo, Egypt, located at 30.3 North - 31.15 East,
sponsored by TELE-SATELLIT INTERNATIONAL, SATCO-DX and TBS Internet.
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WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE:
- Satellite and Transponder Observations in C- and Ku-Band,
- Commented from the Middle Eastern perspective.
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Send relevant infos, interesting news, and creative comments to :
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THE HEADLINES IN THIS 97.07.25 REPORT:
(in the summertime, when the weather is hot...)
- Arabsat 3A - BSS1 ?
- ISkyB on Hold ?
- CFI gone fishin'!
- Cairo Telecomp'97
- Bits & Pieces
TELESAT CANADA TO CONSULT ON ARABSAT DBS
-----------------------------------------
Ottawa - July 23, 1997 - Telesat Canada today announced that it has been
awarded a multi-million dollar contract to provide engineering
consulting services to the Arab Satellite Communications Organization,
ARABSAT.
Under the terms of the contract, Telesat will monitor the construction
of ARABSAT's third generation satellite, the ARABSAT 3A. This direct
broadcast satellite is to be manufactured by Aerospatiale Espace &
Defence in Cannes, and by subcontractor Alcatel in Toulouse, France.
Telesat will staff field offices at both locations for the 21-month
duration of the construction program.
"We are very happy to be working with ARABSAT again, and are pleased
with their trust in our technical expertise," said Larry Boisvert,
president and CEO of Telesat. "Telesat is recognized as a knowledgeable
and progressive satellite communications company, and has a worldwide
reputation as a competent and independent consultant."
The Arab Satellite Communications Organization was established in 1976
by the member states of the Arab League, with the mandate to serve the
information, culture and education sectors of the Arab States through
satellite telecommunications. It continues to operate one satellite of
the first generation, and has successfully deployed its powerful second
generation system operating both in the C and Ku bands.
Telesat is Canada's satellite communications company, providing
telecommunications and broadcast distribution services in North America.
The company is also a leading consultant, operator and partner with
private companies and government agencies around the world. For more
than a quarter century, Telesat's name has been synonymous with
high-quality satellite communications. This year, Telesat celebrates the
25th anniversary of the launch of the historic Anik A1 satellite, the
world's first commercial domestic satellite in geostationary orbit.
(Anonymous)
SME Comment: The Arabsat hompage refers to this satellite as: "Arabsat
BSS1". It is intended to co-locate the Arabsat 3A with the Arabsat 2A at
26 East in early 1999.
THAICOM 3, 78.5 East, http://www.satcodx.com/thai78.html
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The IBERIA promotion video "Paseos de Espana" appeared in PAL, at
various times on 3.545 GHz, V and 3.625 GHz, V, with audio subcarriers
on 6.20 and 7.02 MHz, using the Spanish language.
Later tests could be observed on 3.600 GHz, V and tests on the splitted
transponder (3.625 GHz middle frequency) at 3.615 GHz, V, and 3.640 GHz,
V.
The reception of the two latter frequencies were quite weak due to half
transponder mode.
(Y.KKB via SATCO-DX)
SME Comments: Personally I have not seen any of the latest tests, even
when checking the frequencies regularely. They must be targetted much
more Eastwards.
INSAT 2D, 74 East, http://www.satcodx.com/in2d.html
--------
More testing on following frequencies 3.745 GHz, V, 3.865 GHz, V, 4.105
GHz, V.
(Y.KKB via SATCO-DX)
SME Comment: No tests could ever be observed by me in Cairo.
PANSAMSAT 4, 68.5 East, http://www.satcodx.com/pas4.html
-----------
ART 6 has been broadcasting lately some live concerts, both on this
satellite as well as on (now the official 1stNET home) Arabsat 2A, 26
East. As the Arabian subtitle "As you like" already prevails, ART 6 will
be the Channel of Occasions.
(Mamdouh Taher)
ISkyB ?
-------
Rupert Murdoch is taking the Indian government to court over its ban of
DTH reception. News Television filed its case in India's Supreme Court,
according to company lawyer Kapil Sibal. Mr.Murdoch's News Television
India Ltd. had been expecting the government to license direct-to-home
satellite broadcasts, but instead, the ban was announced last week.
Sibal said the ban violates the right to information guaranteed by the
Indian Constitution.
As reported, all individual satellite reception above 4,800 MHz has been
banned. The regulation makes it unlawful to receive direct-to-home
services such as that planned by Mr Murdoch. While the government gave
no reason for the ban, officials have said privately they are concerned
broadcasters could directly transmit programming considered
"anti-India."
© Copyright 1997 by Sat-ND
http://www.lynet.de/~pck/
http://www.sat-net.com/pck/
INTELSAT 703, 57 East, http://www.satcodx.com/i703.html
------------
The CNBC-Asia feed on 3.857 GHz, Lc, with SR 5998 and FEC 2/3, can be
found with a manual search, and without PID's, even when there is no
station identification contained in the data stream.
Reception, with TV sound on one channel and the programm directors calls
on the other, brings however the operating software of my Nokia 9200 S
to a near stand-still: reaction on button pushes take up to 30 seconds,
no front indications, it looks almost like a crash in slow-motion. But
at the same time video and audio are doing nicely !
Anybody with similar experiences and/or possible explanations please
write in to SME or the SATCO DX webmaster.
(SME)
TURKSAT 1C, 42 East, http://www.satcodx.com/turk1c.html
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ATV 2 has been renamed in Prima TV and returned after a break of
fourteen days on 10.986 GHz, V, in clear MPEG-2, Symbol Rate: 3333, FEC:
3/4, VPID: 0200, APID 028A.
(T.Boeven via SATCO-DX)
Nickelodeon and Genc TV can now be found in clear MPEG-2 on 11.024 GHz,
V, with a Symbol Rate: 5.500, FEC: 5/6. I don't know the PID;s yet. Both
channels are transmitting on the Westbeam
ShowTV has moved it's transmission frequency downwards by 5MHz.
(Ghassan Tabet)
ARABSAT 2B, 30.5 East, http://www.satcodx.com/arab2b.html
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Future TV shows daily feeds of the Arab Games from Beirut, Lebanon at
3.990 GHz, Rc, with an audio subcarrier on 6.65 MHz. The blue Future TV
logo in the lower-left is contained in the feed signal.
(SME)
ARABSAT 2A, 26 East, http://www.satcodx.com/arab2a.html
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Due to a human switching error, CFI was showing some X-rated pictures on
July 19th, and the transmission has consequently been interrupted by
Arabsat officials.
Find here some reports, comments and interpretations of the facts:
On 19/7/97, around 16:35 CAT, I saw by chance on the CFI frequency 3.946
GHz, Lc, 2 to 3 minutes of a hardcore movie with Canal+ Logo on right
top corner and there was a second logo on the right bottom
corner(unknown for me).
I do not know how long it was running before 15:35.
The broadcast was then interrupted till 15:58. CFI appeared with
athletics report but not for long.
Since 17:02 CAT till now ( 17:25 CAT ) no transmission.
(Mamdouh Taher)
CFI ceased at 15:05 CAT, and Canal + took over at 15:06 CAT with an
X-rated Blue Movie. Without any additional info and in the clear, they
carried on with this movie and an "X" in the bottom of the screen. This
news went on as fire in the city of Karachi, due to 5000 homes receiving
the channel via Cable TV. They stopped at 16:45 CAT, and since then, no
signals have been found on this transponder!
(Y.KKB via SATCO-DX)
According to the "Al-Wafd" daily news paper, CFI contract with Arabsat
was canceled due to their porno movies transmitted on their transponder,
which violates the rules of Arabsat and their agreements.
The newspaper says that although CFI has received several warnings from
Arabsat before for transmitting nudity material, they have always
apologized and promised that these censorship / technical errors would
never happen again!
The agreement is canceled for the time being, but is not sure to be for
good.
(...)
Arabsat has stopped CFI - Canal France International from transmitting
on their satellites! The reason is the pornographic movie that was shown
on 19/07/97, violating Islamic views of decency. According to Arabsat,
the contract with CFI is now cancelled!
(The TVRO Source via SATCO-DX)
Arabsat said on Sunday it had stopped its transmissions of Canal France
Internationale (CFI,) saying the channel had aired a "pornographic" film
and violated Islamic decency standards despite frequent warnings.
Arabsat, which operates satellite communications for Arab countries
including television, telephone and data transmission, is jointly owned
by 21 Arab states. The satellite organisation is based in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.
The movie broadcast by Canal France Internationale on Saturday afternoon
"went over the limits, and we will seek to cancel our contract with
them", ArabSat said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press
Agency.
An Arabsat spokesman told Reuters that "as of today [Sunday] we consider
the contract between Arabsat and Canal France International (CFI)
finished. [...]
They transmitted a pornographic film, and it was not the first time."
The French channel reportedly said it had intended to broadcast the
movie on another satellite.
CFI is a selection of programmes from France's public broadcasters which
is broadcast all over the world.
Was it a hard-core movie or just an X-rated film that was shown by the
state-financed French channel CFI? It doesn't matter -- the channel got
kicked off from Arabsat as reported yesterday.
It was a mistake anyway, CFI said today in a statement and apologised
for the technical error. "We deeply regret this unacceptable incident
and we share in the high feelings prompted in Saudi Arabia and more
widely in the Arab world", Foreign Ministry spokesman Jacques
Rummelhardt told a daily press briefing.
CFI said the mistake took place at France Telecom's uplink where French
television programs are distributed to satellites across the world --
among them Arabsat, which broadcasts throughout Arab countries. Instead
of sending a scheduled feature for children, France Telecom aired a
pornographic film from a private French station destined for clients in
the Pacific.
Officials said French diplomats in Saudi Arabia had tried to smooth over
what could be a disaster for France's efforts to reach audiences in the
Arab world, where most Western programs are American-made.
© Copyright 1997 by Sat-ND
http://www.lynet.de/~pck/
http://www.sat-net.com/pck/
HOT BIRD 1, 13 East, http://www.satcodx.com/hb1.html
----------
The complete Viacom package on 11,242 V was in the clear this morning
and thereafter VH-1 Germany and MTV 3 - Italy seem to have changed PIDs:
VH-1 - Germany: VPID: 00A0 APID: 0050
MTV3 - Italy: VPID: 00A1 APID: 0054
(Y.Pechurkin via SATCO-DX)
The Italian Telepiu DStv package on transponder 4, 11.283 GHz, V, had
gone missing for two days but re-appeared Friday afternoon, although
with 8 empty channels: X01 through X08. The Telepiu promo appeared later
on X02 and X03. Earlier in the week the channel naming C01 and C02 had
been reversed to X01 and X02.
(SME)
EUTELSAT II-f2, 10 East, http://www.satcodx.com/e2f2.html
--------------
MED TV is back on transponder 10.972 GHz V, after being absent for more
than a week. The transmissions could be observed in the clear, without
being jammed by any concurring signals, with audio subcarriers on 6.60
and 7.02 MHz.
(SME)
EUTELSAT II-f4-M, 7 East, http://www.satcodx.com/e2f4.html
----------------
The EBU SCPC channels are in MPEG-2 (DVB-compatible). Clear
transmissions were seen with the d-box yesterday. All five EBU channels
use VPID: 0021 and APID: 0022.
11.009 GHz V: EBU Channel K
11.018 GHz V: EBU Channel L
11.041 GHz V: EBU Channel P
11.048 GHz V: EBU Channel M
11.058 GHz V: EBU Channel N
(Ghassan Tabet)(D.Shimoni via SATCO-DX)
EXPRESS 2, 14 West, http://www.satcodx.com/e2.html
---------
The transmission of Iranian IRIB External Service has ceased earlier
this week on 3.975 GHz, Rc. There is however still a pulsing signal on
this transponder of an unknown nature. Any comments ?
(SME)
CAIRO-TELECOMP'97, a press release in full lenght
-----------------
Middle East - Closer through Communication !
CAIRO TELECOMP'97 - EVEN BIGGER
The second International IT, Telecom, Satellite and Broadcasting
Technology Trade Fair of the Arab/North African World will take place
from Dec.4-7, 1997 at the Cairo International Conference Center.
The motto of Cairo Telecomp'97 "Middle East - Closer through
Communication" reflects the aim of this trade fair. Manufacterers,
dealers and consultants from three highly specialized industries will
find here their forum for establishing contacts and conducting business.
The official supporting authorities will be H.E. The Prime Minister, the
Ministry of Transport and Communication and ARENTO.
Cairo Telecomp'97 has a good basis for top information through the media
partnership with the most important IT, telecom, satellite and
broadcasting technology magazines in the Middle East. "CommsMEA" and
"Middle East Mobile" are the official media partners for Cairo
Telecomp'97 in the communication field whereas "PC Magazine" and "ACN"
("Arabian Computer News") are the official media partners for the
information technology branch.
In 1996 more than 150 companies presented products and services for the
telecommunication and IT and broadcasting industries on the first trade
fair. The exhibitors came from 20 countries.
Cairo Telecomp'96 was accompagnied by many positive comments of the
exhibitors. "The show has come at a good time for us. It gives us the
chance to introduce our name and logo in the market, to meet the public
and to show off our products", said Mohamed Al-Dhalaan, Lucent Regional
Director Public Affairs and Public Relations, Middle East and Africa. A
speaker from Lucent Technologies, which participated with an impressive
stand, summarized: "On Cairo Telecomp'96 we have fully met our target".
For the telecommunication sector mobile communication accounted for the
largest portion of the exhibits. The participation of all
telecommunication market leaders such as Alcatel, AT&T, Ericsson,
Etisalat, France Telecom, Gulfsat, Hagenuk, Motorola, Newbridge, Nokia,
Philips, Satphone, Siemens and the Siemens-ARENTO joint venture EGTI
made the trade fair informative and well-worth the attention of expert
visitors.
Hot topics in the field of information technology were multimedia,
networking and the Internet. The IT sector also was represented by all
global players, such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, ICL, Microsoft, Silicon
Graphics, Sun, and many other well-known Egypt and international
companies.
The exhibitors were very satisfied with the number of visitors, which
was recorded as 16.000 expert visitors within the four days. Many of
them were attracted by the accompagnying seminar program, which included
78 presentations, discussions and seminars.
"For the first time effort, Cairo Telecomp'96 was outstanding", With
these words a representative of Satphone summarized the very succesful
outcome of the trade fair. Cairo Telecomp did indeed make it's mark.
Already many exhibitors have confirmed to exhibit again at Cairo
Telecomp in December 1997. The preparations are in full swing. This
year's Cairo Telecomp'97 is expected to be even bigger and more
attractive especially in the fields of information technology and
broadcasting technology.
The German organizer fairtrade manages trade shows in the fields of
electro/IT/telecom, agrofood, textile/leather and construction/interior
design. The company has its headquarters in Heidelberg and maintains 17
representatives throughout the world.
Further information may be obtained from: fairtrade Messe und
Ausstellungs GmBH, Bergstrasse 114, D-69121 Heidelberg. Tel:
+49-6221-4565-0, FAX: +49-6221-4565-25. e-mail:
fairtrade.messe@t-online.de
Cairo office: 16, Almaza Steet, ET-Heliopolis, Cairo. Tel: +20-2-414
8845, FAX: +20-2-417 1371.
SAT-MidEast Intern, http://www.sat-net.com/sat-mideast/
------------------
Due to a change of internal procedures the publication day of the (now)
weekly Sat-MidEast Observations will be on a Sunday Evening from August.
Best regards,
Henk C. Room / Sat-MidEast / Cairo - Egypt
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