directv 16

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Not so much a rumor. This was mentioned last year when Phil G was with ATT that T16 and T17 were on order in an interview. If I remember right one is going to 119 to replace D7S as that has had some issues in the past and the other is going to 101 to support the MPEG 2 shutdown that is upcoming. We should eventually see everything go to MPEG4 HD on the 101 opening up more room for National HD.

Also, all of DirecTV's satellites are called T - whatever. IE T14, T15, T16, ect. I guess when you buy out a company you get to rename the satellites! :D :)
 
Not so much a rumor. This was mentioned last year when Phil G was with ATT that T16 and T17 were on order in an interview. If I remember right one is going to 119 to replace D7S as that has had some issues in the past and the other is going to 101 to support the MPEG 2 shutdown that is upcoming. We should eventually see everything go to MPEG4 HD on the 101 opening up more room for National HD.

Also, all of DirecTV's satellites are called T - whatever. IE T14, T15, T16, ect. I guess when you buy out a company you get to rename the satellites! :D :)
Hey, got any link to that interview from Phil Goswitz?

And is he no longer with AT&T/DIRECTV? Didn't know that ...

I've been checking the FCC site regularly for any postings of an LOA ("Launch and Operate Authority") filing for "T16" (wasn't aware there was a "T17" on order). But still nothing after all this time, which is very strange since the submission of an official LOA usually precedes the actual construction of a satellite.
 
Hey, got any link to that interview from Phil Goswitz?

And is he no longer with AT&T/DIRECTV? Didn't know that ...

I've been checking the FCC site regularly for any postings of an LOA ("Launch and Operate Authority") filing for "T16" (wasn't aware there was a "T17" on order). But still nothing after all this time, which is very strange since the submission of an official LOA usually precedes the actual construction of a satellite.

Yes, he retired. I really like Phil. He's an awesome guy. According to this, Space Assigned Numbers Authority (SANA) T16 scheduled for August. I'm trying to find the article but can't seem to find it either. It was on one of those TV news websites that cover the industry. Maybe ATT put a halt on T17 or it ended up never going on order.
 
Yes, he retired. I really like Phil. He's an awesome guy. According to this, Space Assigned Numbers Authority (SANA) T16 scheduled for August. I'm trying to find the article but can't seem to find it either. It was on one of those TV news websites that cover the industry. Maybe ATT put a halt on T17 or it ended up never going on order.
Wow ... launch scheduled for later this year, which means the bird is either completed or nearly so, and nothing at all filed with the FCC on it so far ...

As I say, ... very strange ...

How can AT&T even be sure the Feds will even approve it, and not object to something about its design?
 
Wow ... launch scheduled for later this year, which means the bird is either completed or nearly so, and nothing at all filed with the FCC on it so far ...

As I say, ... very strange ...

How can AT&T even be sure the Feds will even approve it, and not object to something about its design?

Or the FCC is lagging on release of information. We are under a new administration.
 
Wow ... launch scheduled for later this year, which means the bird is either completed or nearly so, and nothing at all filed with the FCC on it so far ...

As I say, ... very strange ...

How can AT&T even be sure the Feds will even approve it, and not object to something about its design?
I doubt they would go ahead and build it if it wasn't already ok'd ...
 
Over at Stewarts blog he says this is supposed to be the largest and highest capacity satellite Directv has built to date. If this is the case I would suspect it would go to the 101. I wonder what the payload would be? Ku with a possible ka / rb payload? Can the current LNB’s do that? I would think this would match what’s currently in orbit.
 
I don’t think a new satellite can make a difference unless they tighten the spot beams. Or Go higher power to reduce rain fade
The likely speculation is that DIRECTV is going to phase out all Ku band spotbeams on 101° and 119° and use all 32 DBS tp. licenses at 101° and 11 at 119° for CONUS wide beams on new satellites. Possibly with spotbeams to mirror all CONUS tps. to Hawaii and PR like T15's DBS Ku band payload is capable of.

All local market channels will eventually use only Ka band spotbeams from 99° and 103°W.
 
... I wonder what the payload would be? Ku with a possible ka / rb payload? Can the current LNB’s do that? I would think this would match what’s currently in orbit.

The current LNBs can only receive the DBS Ku band from 101°, 110°, and 119°W. And the Ka and RB from 99° and 103°W
 
The current LNBs can only receive the DBS Ku band from 101°, 110°, and 119°W. And the Ka and RB from 99° and 103°W

Yea your right. If they do indeed go to an all 32 conus configuration between both slots 101 and 119 that would give them plenty of space. As far as I know anything that is on those spots are SD. Why not just drop them and all SD spots all together and go strictly MP4 HD/SD off the 103/99. If they retired all of the SD spots they could repurpose those later for ATSC 3.0 Local content with a modulation change for increased bandwidth. Sound plausible?
 
I wouldn't put any stock in that August 2018 launch date. I'll bet that was just a placeholder since they didn't have a real launch date listed. Given how far in advance launches have to be scheduled, they would have had to reserve a slot sometime last year. I posted about Directv-16 last summer on dbstalk, and recently added to the thread a Linkedin entry I'd found from a mechanical engineer who does BOMs and assembly drawings for telecom satellite payloads for Airbus. He listed he was employed there from late 2016 to fall 2017 and T16 was one of the satellites he worked on. If it was only in the BOM and drawing stage last year, there's no way it could be ready to launch this August.

I haven't seen anything about T17, though if Stuart Sweet is correct Directv is simply going to abandon 119 after 2019. Other than keeping Dish from getting those 11 transponders I don't see what the point would be in keeping it so it sounds reasonable to me. Replacing D8 & D9S at 101 with a new satellite gets them a few things - but not higher power. One, they can use all 32 transponders for CONUS instead of just 27. Two, while D8 has fuel life until 2034 because of the way it was launched, D9S might have a lot less. Three, they can add dedicated beams for Puerto Rico (so they can get guide data since 110 is going away) and Hawaii (so they can use a Slimline there instead of the big dish)

The question I have is will T16 go to 101, or will T16 go to 103, and D15 (I guess they call it T15 now?) moves to 101? They might want a stick a bunch of spot beams on T16, intending it to go to 103, so that it can act as a backup for the spot beams of either D11 or D12 if necessary.
 
Yea your right. If they do indeed go to an all 32 conus configuration between both slots 101 and 119 that would give them plenty of space. As far as I know anything that is on those spots are SD. Why not just drop them and all SD spots all together and go strictly MP4 HD/SD off the 103/99. If they retired all of the SD spots they could repurpose those later for ATSC 3.0 Local content with a modulation change for increased bandwidth. Sound plausible?

They only have SD spots to a limited number of markets, so keeping them around and re-purposing them for anything is not an option unless they decide they are only going to cover a fraction of markets. Besides, they don't need to do anything special for ATSC 3.0, at least as far as delivering HD channels. If 4K locals come (personally I have my doubts, I think ATSC 3.0 will end up being used for more HD subchannels and premium content that stations can charge for) you will never see them on Directv.
 
I have a KU only In-motion Satellite Dome on my boat, I had it installed 2 years ago. I have an extra D-12 which I keep at my boat in the summer. I guess the question is what will KU service look like for my KU only Dish on my boat. My Boat system switches between 101 (Core SD Service) and 119 for my Local Market channels (Rochester NY). If KU service from 101,119 ends up as only partial Core service and no Local Service I might have to consider Dish Network at my Boat. I know it is early in this process, any light anybody can provide would be helpful.

KA in Motion equipment for my Boat is just cost prohibitive for me.

John
 
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I have a KU only In-motion Satellite Dome on my boat, I had it installed 2 years ago. I have an extra D-12 which I keep at my boat in the summer. I guess the question is what will KU service look like for my KU only Dish on my boat. My Boat system switches between 101 (Core SD Service) and 119 for my Local Market channels (Rochester NY). If KU service from 101,119 ends up as only partial Core service and no Local Service I might have to consider Dish Network at my Boat. I know it is early in this process, any light anybody can provide would be helpful.

KA in Motion equipment for my Boat is just cost prohibitive for me.

John

isnt the d12 mpeg2 only? if so, in it will be a doorstop when they go all mpeg4, so time to start looking for an upgrade
 
I realize I will have to replace D12 with a H24 (can't use a H25 as it is SWM only), I'd guess DirecTV will likely replace it for me, if not no problem. I'm just wondering what the available service will look like using only a KU antenna.
 
Can you replace the lnb with a legacy ka/ku type? You would need to use a bbc with the H24.
 
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