New Member: an uplinker

[NewsTruck]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I've been lurking on here for a few months. I'm amazed with some of the setups you guys have amassed. Iceberg, you're a crazy man. I've never seen so many LNBs in one place in my life.

I drive and run a breaking news and sometimes sports uplink truck for one of the big networks (the one that uses satellite space more than anyone else since we used to own the satellites themselves). If I can ever be of any help, let me know. I'll post some photos of my truck if you like. If you are a real FTAer, you can see my work almost every day on AMC-9 or AMC-1.

I'm also the owner of an original Nokia D-Box with Dr. Overflow's original DVB-2000, which is actually the primary receiver in my truck. (I have 2 Tandberg professional ones, but they take forever to tune.) I also have a Coolsat 5000 plat here in my lab at home.

My truck has 2 Tandberg encoders, so that I can uplink 2 live shots simultaneously, often for 2 different stations, usually San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Glad to be here.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Very cool, I always love looking at the trucks when there is news stories in the area.

It was cool when Joe Leiberman had his election Victory party here in my office building, there was media from all over here.

 

[linuxman]

Now that's a picture you don't see every day!!

Very nice!

Welcome to Satellite Guys!

Fred

 

[digiblur]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I've been lurking on here for a few months. I'm amazed with some of the setups you guys have amassed. Iceberg, you're a crazy man. I've never seen so many LNBs in one place in my life.

to SatelliteGuys.us!

Very cool. We'd all love to see photos and hear the other side of the "link". I don't scan AMC-1 too often but I know always hit AMC-9 as I'm making my way through the belt.

 

[TNGTony]

As Tim Allen would say: "Arr, arr, arr, arr"

Cool stuff. I am into video production too, unfortunately a satellite uplink for a few hours would take our entire annual budget!

See ya
Tony

 

[Inno]

Sweet. Always wondered what goes on "behind the scenes" of a live remote sat. broadcast.

Welcome! Good to have you here.

 

[digiblur]

I wonder how many folks are going to be scanning AMC9 and AMC1 this evening?

 

[GeorgeLV]

Did you get to go to the OJ circus in Las Vegas? I'd never seen as many satellite uplink vans in one place before.

 

[Wescopc]

Welcome, I know what sats I'll be scanning
Bob

 

[Mr Tony]

welcome to satelliteguys

Iceberg, you're a crazy man. I've never seen so many LNBs in one place in my life.

hey I just like to have fun and see all the crazy news feeds

 

[Tron]

Welcome NewsTruck, nice to have you here! We have a number of broadcast professionals who hang out here on the FTA forum, and its always fun and beneficial to pick the brain of someone who does this for a living I'm in video production and post-production myself, but, sadly no sat truck Maybe someday... (Now, what is the Powerball paying this week? )

 

[NewsTruck]

Do you guys watch many breaking news feeds?

Well I'll let you in on a bit of how the AMC-1/AMC-9 thing works. Lyngsat has most of the info on frequencies. The entire horizontal side of AMC-1 belongs to us. I won't go into what each specific transponder is for, but many of you already know. Breaking news stories will nearly always be on AMC-1 23 a/b/c/d/e/f. They are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if A and B are in use and a big news story happens, it'll show up on C. It's all controlled by a computer in Florida that turns on and off the individual permanent uplinks (we have about 100 around the country), or else coordinates with the truck operators (if it's coming from a truck). If all of 23 is in use and something happens, it'll usually show up on one of the 19s, usually c/d/e/f

17 a/b/c/d/e/f have a one specific use (I won't go into it, you may figure it out). 19 a/b/c/d/e/f also do (another use), and 21 only has c, e, and f available (data transmissions take up the rest), and they belong to another division. Leaving 23 a/b/c/d/e/f for breaking news stories and random feeds.

AMC-9 (the horizontal side) 3a/b/c/d/e/f and 5a/b/c/d/e/f are used DAYTIME ONLY from 10AM-1130PM Eastern and is leased for that time block only. All are truck-originated feeds since there are no permanent uplinks on AMC-9.

All transmissions are in the clear, 4.232 5/6. 19a is up full time if you need a reference.

Network trucks work on AMC-6 17 a/b/c, with a multiplexed return feed on the upper half of the transponder.
It uses a slightly lower symbol rate with not quite as much FEC.

Power levels are kept VERY conservative since it's designed for big dish reception. We only run about 1/4 of the transponder's actual power capacity to save the batteries on the satellite, and to minimize interference.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

How are the IFB's fed? Are they fed to the reporter via cell phone or from another satellite feed?

 

[Mr Tony]

Do you guys watch many breaking news feeds?

does the tin man have a sheet metal c---?
When big news hits that's one of the big scanning nights. Hurricanes, famous person dies, elections. What was weird is when the 35W bridge here in Minneapolis collapsed and alot of feeds were the local stations I normally watch

Well I'll let you in on a bit of how the AMC-1/AMC-9 thing works. Lyngsat has most of the info on frequencies. The entire horizontal side of AMC-1 belongs to us. I won't go into what each specific transponder is for, but many of you already know. Breaking news stories will nearly always be on AMC-1 23 a/b/c/d/e/f. They are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if A and B are in use and a big news story happens, it'll show up on C. It's all controlled by a computer in Florida that turns on and off the individual permanent uplinks (we have about 100 around the country), or else coordinates with the truck operators (if it's coming from a truck). If all of 23 is in use and something happens, it'll usually show up on one of the 19s, usually c/d/e/f

17 a/b/c/d/e/f have a one specific use (I won't go into it, you may figure it out). 19 a/b/c/d/e/f also do (another use), and 21 only has c, e, and f available (data transmissions take up the rest), and they belong to another division. Leaving 23 a/b/c/d/e/f for breaking news stories and random feeds.

that is pretty sweet Now if we could do something with that crazy skew on AMC1 we'd be happier . That is one of the LNB's on my T90 dish to compensate for the oddball skew.

AMC-9 (the horizontal side) 3a/b/c/d/e/f and 5a/b/c/d/e/f are used DAYTIME ONLY from 10AM-1130PM Eastern and is leased for that time block only. All are truck-originated feeds since there are no permanent uplinks on AMC-9.

I wondered that. It seems like mainly they are on during the supper hour and then after that I don't see many on AMC9

Power levels are kept VERY conservative since it's designed for big dish reception. We only run about 1/4 of the transponder's actual power capacity to save the batteries on the satellite, and to minimize interference.

you mean we're not mainly part of their intended audience

THANK YOU for posting this information. Lots of good info there

 

[qwert1515]

Thanks NewsTruck for the interesting information, I do watch some of the news feeds

Would you happen to know the reason why AMC1 has a weird skew?

Thanks.

 

[NewsTruck]

How are the IFB's fed? Are they fed to the reporter via cell phone or from another satellite feed?

Plain old cellphone, based in the truck with a max-power base cellphone unit feeding a wireless transmitter in the truck.

 

[NewsTruck]

Thanks NewsTruck for the interesting information, I do watch some of the news feeds

Would you happen to know the reason why AMC1 has a weird skew?

Thanks.

It was a launch/positioning anomaly. When it achieved permanent orbit, it was tilted by -- whatever it is -- 20 or so degrees.

There are now hundreds of uplinks that are permanently skewed "off" to compensate for it, so it'll NEVER change. So I have to manually rotate and manually cross-pole each time I go up.

 

[qwert1515]

It was a launch/positioning anomaly. When it achieved permanent orbit, it was tilted by -- whatever it is -- 20 or so degrees.

There are now hundreds of uplinks that are permanently skewed "off" to compensate for it, so it'll NEVER change. So I have to manually rotate and manually cross-pole each time I go up.

Thanks NewsTruck,

I have always been wondering the reason and I could never find an answer.

Due to the weird skew I have a 36" dish dedicated to it

 

[NewsTruck]

you mean we're not mainly part of their intended audience

Not really, or else, it would be encrypted. Our Los Angeles station is now putting raw feeds on one of its ATSC sub channels, and all of us are streaming live raw video on the internet.

Seriously, the power is kept low just to save power and to keep down interference, especially to the customers on the other polarity. With signals constantly going up and down from hundreds of dishes and trucks around the country, the chance for disruption is high.

Do you have much trouble receiving it because of the signal strength? I actually do myself on my home dish, which is just a small Channel Master oval. If you want to see full power from the same satellite, look at Safeway on the vertical side. It slams.

 

[Mr Tony]

NewsTruck...it was sarcasm
We're just happy to see live raw news feeds. much better than the local news

Do you have much trouble receiving it because of the signal strength? I actually do myself on my home dish, which is just a Channel Master elliptical. If you want to see full power from the same satellite, look at Safeway on the vertical side. It slams.

Most of us have issues due to the oddball skew and not having a fixed dish rather motorized. I know on my fixed dish (the T90 which is 42"x40" and has 15 LNB"s on it ) Safeway is pretty strong. Pentagon is booming. Most of the news feeds greatly fluxuate. on my Pansat 1500 30 is threshold and some are 15-20 and some at 60. Once in a while I seen a feed at 70+ Most are around 40-45 which is stable enough