AFN ending satellite distribution

[FTA4PA]

A Major Satellite TV Service is Shutting Down & Going Streaming Only | Cord Cutters News

The U.S. military communities, the American Forces Network has announced the complete shutdown of its traditional satellite television service, marking the end of an era that spanned nearly three decades of direct-to-home broadcasts. This move transitions the service entirely to a streaming-only...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[cyberham]

I've never viewed AFN since they were always encrypted. But they served as good beacons when searching for a satellite. AFN allowed me to find 34.5W when living in the east. And also 169E and 113E when in Asia. Always bad to see a satellite presence disappear. And it's happening more nowadays.

 

[FTA4PA]

I've never viewed AFN since they were always encrypted. But they served as good beacons when searching for a satellite. AFN allowed me to find 34.5W when living in the east. And also 169E and 113E when in Asia. Always bad to see a satellite presence disappear. And it's happening more nowadays.

Actually, they weren't always encrypted. I remember a brief period several years ago when they did go in the clear. Not sure if that was intentional, likely not, but they were watchable with an FTA receiver.

 

[lost_mesa]

The first satellite signal I received on my homebrew system was a football game on AFN. This was on Satcom F2 at 119w in 1980. (Hope I remember the details correctly)

 

[WhiteBeard]

A Major Satellite TV Service is Shutting Down & Going Streaming Only | Cord Cutters News

The U.S. military communities, the American Forces Network has announced the complete shutdown of its traditional satellite television service, marking the end of an era that spanned nearly three decades of direct-to-home broadcasts. This move transitions the service entirely to a streaming-only...

cordcuttersnews.com

Not a great loss since it was usually encrypted.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!

 

[FTA4PA]

But confirms again the sad trend for our hobby of distribution moving away from satellite.

 

[Brct203]

Actually, they weren't always encrypted. I remember a brief period several years ago when they did go in the clear. Not sure if that was intentional, likely not, but they were watchable with an FTA receiver.

Right I remember in 2017 AFP Prime Atlantic on 34.5W was ITC. Later it encrypted when they switched to HD, but then AFN Sports was ITC for a while if I remember correctly

surprisingly, the old SD feed was easy to receive on a small (90 or 120cm) dish despite being on Global beam (weaker than Hemi or spot), thanks to the very low FEC

 

[Martyn]

Not quite correct.

AFN is ending distribution of the 8 channel direct to home service. A four channel service on C-band will continue, according to this article:

https://myafn.dodlive.mil/DTH-Sunset/

 

[mr3p]

Does AFN currently have any feeds that reach continental US? I can't recall seeing it for a long time.

 

[primestar31]

Does AFN currently have any feeds that reach continental US? I can't recall seeing it for a long time.

They ended sat distribution TODAY. IP only now.

PLEASE LOG IN TO GET RID OF THESE ADS!

 

[Brct203]

They ended sat distribution TODAY. IP only now.

i'm still scanning in the AFN mux on 34.5W. not sure if there's still programming of course since it's all encrypted

 

[cyberham]

i'm still scanning in the AFN mux on 34.5W. not sure if there's still programming of course since it's all encrypted

Using my Edision receiver with TNAP7 and the bitrate extension package plugin loaded, I can see each channel's bitrate on-screen even if the channel is encrypted. Can you use this to determine if there is active programming on your encrypted channels?

 

[Brct203]

Using my Edision receiver with TNAP7 and the bitrate extension package plugin loaded, I can see each channel's bitrate on-screen even if the channel is encrypted. Can you use this to determine if there is active programming on your encrypted channels?

yes they do show bitrates in the 1000-2500 range, which sounds realistic for SD channels