i understand that one shoul't ask a question if you're afraid of the answer but here goes. i have the statement from shaw direct on march 8, 2021 that two tansponders are having problems because of tube amplifiers. i dont know what that means. i haven't heard anyone say they have launched a new satellite. from reading postings from here and elsewhere after this news was that F@ has 5 to 7 years while one poster on here said it would completely go off this summer. i watch the channels in the lower 500s and i've only lost a$e. i have been on shaw since 2003 and am dependent it for cbcnews and ctvnews plus hockey. i would be devastated . i live in northeast louisiana. thank yall
Anik F-2
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The failing transponders affected mostly French language channels and most of them were transferred to other transponders on Anik G1 at 107.3 West. This has not yet affected remaining transponders on Anik F2 satellite, so it continues to transmit with a number of remaining years of expected life. There is a great selection of Canadian cable channels on F2, as well as local CDN stations mostly from the Toronto and Vancouver markets, plus US networks from Detroit and Seattle. Signals are still available well past Mexico and southward. What happens after Anik F2 ends remains to be seen, and everything may eventually be transmitted via the Internet by that time. Time will tell, so enjoy it while you can.
I can confirm Mike's report. There are East and West CBC signals that remain, though CBC's all-news channel is not available. Also still available are BBC News (as well as CNN/Fox), TCM and US indies from Boston, NY, LA, Chicago). None of the French channels that remain are particularly interesting, though Super Ecran is still receivable. Most of the radio signals are still available as well as the automated audio music channels. I've diligently checked every channel so that I can trim my displayed guide to only show the receiveable channels. Having started watching CBC on C-band in the 1980s, I appreciate still having access to it.
i have both cbcNews network and ctv news channel, i keep my tv on cbc news network 255 for most of the day.
You're right, it is available. My mistake.
I'm not currently subscribed to it, I'm overdue for the hassle of contacting Shaw to make changes in my programming package.
I've used chat the last few times to change channels, its been very easy to do.
Bad News
“But it now appears that we can only maintain station-kept service until the end of this year, at which point the satellite will be put in inclined orbit.”
SpaceNews: Aging Telesat satellite running out of fuel as projected LEO costs soar.
spacenews.com
“But it now appears that we can only maintain station-kept service until the end of this year, at which point the satellite will be put in inclined orbit.”
SpaceNews: Aging Telesat satellite running out of fuel as projected LEO costs soar.
Aging Telesat satellite running out of fuel as projected LEO costs soar
Canada’s Telesat is bracing for a revenue hit in 2023 after being forced to retire its Anik F2 satellite from full service three years earlier than planned.
spacenews.com
Yes, terrible news!Bad News
“But it now appears that we can only maintain station-kept service until the end of this year, at which point the satellite will be put in inclined orbit.”
SpaceNews: Aging Telesat satellite running out of fuel as projected LEO costs soar.
Aging Telesat satellite running out of fuel as projected LEO costs soar
Canada’s Telesat is bracing for a revenue hit in 2023 after being forced to retire its Anik F2 satellite from full service three years earlier than planned.
Hi Gents,
Shaw Direct (SD) has begun migrating all it's Customers off Anik F2 due to it's failure to maintain the optimal orbit due to it running out of fuel prematurely based on it's schedule from earlier this year. When F2 is placed in inclined orbit, small dishes are not expected to be able to receive the signals.
SD is going to have to accelerate their migration of all channels from F2 to their G1 bird in advance of their existing schedule for 2023. Speculation is this will occur in the next 4 months. To accomplish this SD is moving to the HEVC (AKA H.265) Codec which takes up less bandwidth than the current MPEG-4 (AKA H.264) SD uses today. That will allow them to squeeze all of their programming onto G1.
I expect Shaw Direct will soon be contacting you to plan / advise replacement of the 6xx series set top boxes as they cannot transcode the HEVC (AKA H.265) codec that will be used on G1, as they are only capable of MPEG-4 (AKA H.264) HD. The first affected Customers have already been contacted and are being offered the 8xx series which can work with HEVC.
FYI => The rumor is all SD (Standard Definition) channels will disappear and only HD (High Definition) will be available. Music channels may also be affected.
I hope this is helpful.
Shaw Direct (SD) has begun migrating all it's Customers off Anik F2 due to it's failure to maintain the optimal orbit due to it running out of fuel prematurely based on it's schedule from earlier this year. When F2 is placed in inclined orbit, small dishes are not expected to be able to receive the signals.
SD is going to have to accelerate their migration of all channels from F2 to their G1 bird in advance of their existing schedule for 2023. Speculation is this will occur in the next 4 months. To accomplish this SD is moving to the HEVC (AKA H.265) Codec which takes up less bandwidth than the current MPEG-4 (AKA H.264) SD uses today. That will allow them to squeeze all of their programming onto G1.
I expect Shaw Direct will soon be contacting you to plan / advise replacement of the 6xx series set top boxes as they cannot transcode the HEVC (AKA H.265) codec that will be used on G1, as they are only capable of MPEG-4 (AKA H.264) HD. The first affected Customers have already been contacted and are being offered the 8xx series which can work with HEVC.
FYI => The rumor is all SD (Standard Definition) channels will disappear and only HD (High Definition) will be available. Music channels may also be affected.
I hope this is helpful.
Given that only the 800 series of receivers supports HEVC (without special decoders/transcoders) and that the plan was to transition in 2025, I doubt that HEVC deployment can be made that quickly. AVC seems likely the only answer for a while.
HEVC is the next generation compression standard that offers a number of enhancements over AVC. HEVC compression is 50% more efficient than AVC, which translates into maintaining the same video quality at half the bitrate or double the video quality at the same bitrate. The only way Shaw Direct (SD) can be successful in migrating all of their HD programing onto a single bird (G1), is to go to HEVC.
I guess they could compromise the video quality in the short term with AVC, but I'm hoping they don't, as I only watch in HD. They'd lose Customers in droves if it was only Standard Definition.
Tommyboy unfortunately for those in the southern states, unless you have an elaborate huge dish setup, it's the end of receiving SD once everything is migrated to G1. Check out this coverage map. Remember SD only used the Extended Ku Band in North America.
Anik G1 Footprint
I hope this is helpful.
I guess they could compromise the video quality in the short term with AVC, but I'm hoping they don't, as I only watch in HD. They'd lose Customers in droves if it was only Standard Definition.
Tommyboy unfortunately for those in the southern states, unless you have an elaborate huge dish setup, it's the end of receiving SD once everything is migrated to G1. Check out this coverage map. Remember SD only used the Extended Ku Band in North America.
Anik G1 Footprint
I hope this is helpful.
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