ANIK F2 - Thy End Is Near

[harshness]

Signal is about 60 on 231 right now......is this about right with the change or do i need to readjust my dish ?????

Since the beam is a moving target (and one that might well move off of your location), you may want to avoid making any changes unless you have a problem. It isn't clear what the magnitude (how far off normal) or period (the time it takes to go from one extreme the other) of the wobble is.

 

[bayguy]

Signal is about 60 on 231 right now......is this about right with the change or do i need to readjust my dish ?????

That is very low I don't know what part of Calif. you are in, we are in the middle and we have 88 on ch 231 with a 75cm dish. What were you getting before Tuesday? We were getting 70s/80s now were getting 80s/90s. Even if your in SoCal I think you should be getting better than 60.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Since the beam is a moving target (and one that might well move off of your location), you may want to avoid making any changes unless you have a problem. It isn't clear what the magnitude (how far off normal) or period (the time it takes to go from one extreme the other) of the wobble is.

Good point, but I don't think it is wobbling (or inclined) as much as it will, and foxfox numbers are quite low (as bayguy has pointed out for that area).

Anyhow, you can find out when it is in the "Centre of Box" by using the app at Telesat's website when re-adjusting your dish:

Telesat Tools

app.telesat.com

 

[Keith Brannen]

That is very low I don't know what part of Calif. you are in, we are in the middle and we have 88 on ch 231 with a 75cm dish. What were you getting before Tuesday? We were getting 70s/80s now were getting 80s/90s. Even if your in SoCal I think you should be getting better than 60.

Yes, that is what I thought, even if using a 60e dish it shouldn't be quite that low. Unless foxfox's receiver isn't showing accurate numbers, though Shaw Direct's meters have always been very good and don't vary that much.

foxfox, what are you signal quality numbers now on the following channels:

214, 317, and 453. And if subscribed to those channels, are they coming in well without pixelation?

 

[foxfox]

214/ 70.....317 no sub/........453/63.......Palm Springs

 

[foxfox]

UPDATE............readjusted the dish........232/ 92...93.....Never been this good,,,,,80's before
Thanks to all .......Much appreciated

 

[Keith Brannen]

214/ 70.....317 no sub/........453/63.......Palm Springs

Even if no sub for 317, what was the signal? Try one of the following until you get one you are subscribed to so you can check the picture: 158, 182, 226, or 244. Good to see 453 is higher than what you reported last night as 25-26!

And what size dish do you have?

EDIT: Posted this before seeing your update, no need to check the channels!
Excellent news on the re-adjustment and signal boost.
Glad all is well, and happy to have been able to help out.

 

[foxfox]

Just checked size.......must be a 75 as its 36 across....

 

[Keith Brannen]

Just checked size.......must be a 75 as its 36 across....

Yes, that is the size of the 75e dish. It also says the dish size on the LNB.

 

[bayguy]

Foxfox that's good you got the dish working better! Just to repeat what Keith said you don't need to be subscribed to a channel to see how strong it is in the Settings. It just has to be on F2 since we can't get G1 in Calif. So don't worry about that if you ever need to check an unsubbed channel sometime again.

 

[-Jim-]

Glad to see our Snowbird friends are still able to see their Canadian TV. (Although watching Canucks Games anywhere is really painful these days!)

Early on in this drama (last September) there was real panic for those subscribers who only had 6xx series receivers, as it appeared Shaw Direct (SD) was going to punt everything to G1 by year end. SD was calling up those who would be impacted first by the change to the HVEC Codec, which 6xx series receivers cannot decode, and offering them a free rental (yes SD retain ownership of the boxes) for their first receiver, and will rent folks the rest if they have multiple units. A lot of folks got upset and see this as a money grab, and are threatening to bail on SD. General consensus is the 8xx units are a bit inferior to the 6xx especially for connections other than HDMI. So some folks are gong to cancel SD as the 8xx units won't fit there present setup as well.

The current info I read is F2 should remain operational for SD to at least mid 2023. I know the move to G1 will be impactful for Snowbirds below about Oregon but years ago US regulators pushed the Canadian government to stop these illegal transmissions onto their territory. Bell was able to comply much quicker than SD. The use of G1 will bring SD into compliance. Shifting everything to a single bird -G1 - will also mean less cabling require for multiple boxes; which is a positive. Currently you need 4 cables from the LNB to a multiswitch, but after the shift you will only need 2.

I do wonder how many Customers SD will lose who are Snowbirds and rely on SD for 2-6 months a year. But at least they should be okay until summer of 2023.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.

 

[Buckeye J]

With the demise of a Shaw satellite signal below the northern US in the near future I've been searching for an alternative. Today I signed up for a 48 hour free trial of internet tv that is streamed on an android device such as an Amazon firestick. I've included a link to the site. Costs around $15 US / month. When I installed the app on my stick, registered myself, received an activation code within minutes, and was in. This service caters to Canadian and US customers but there's lots of other country's channels too. Have to say I was very impressed. All my current Shaw channels are there plus 1000s more. All CBC,Global,CTV,City,Sportsnet,specialty channels, US major networks etc. plus all major sports, ESPN,NFL,NHL. I think that's going to be my choice going forward.

Typhoon Labs TV - Best IPTV Streaming Service

Typhoon Labs TV brings you the one stop solution for your TV entertainment and money management. Get the best quality streaming experience with cost efficient pricing and mind blowing contents.

typhoonlabs.tv

 

[bayguy]

With the demise of a Shaw satellite signal below the northern US in the near future I've been searching for an alternative. Today I signed up for a 48 hour free trial of internet tv that is streamed on an android device such as an Amazon firestick. I've included a link to the site. Costs around $15 US / month. When I installed the app on my stick, registered myself, received an activation code within minutes, and was in. This service caters to Canadian and US customers but there's lots of other country's channels too. Have to say I was very impressed. All my current Shaw channels are there plus 1000s more. All CBC,Global,CTV,City,Sportsnet,specialty channels, US major networks etc. plus all major sports, ESPN,NFL,NHL. I think that's going to be my choice going forward.

Typhoon Labs TV - Best IPTV Streaming Service

Typhoon Labs TV brings you the one stop solution for your TV entertainment and money management. Get the best quality streaming experience with cost efficient pricing and mind blowing contents.

typhoonlabs.tv

Hmmm that looks kinda too good to be true for that price do you think its legit? I wonder if they have permission from all those channels to stream them or if they might go away suddenly even if you've paid.

 

[Buckeye J]

Hmmm that looks kinda too good to be true for that price do you think its legit? I wonder if they have permission from all those channels to stream them or if they might go away suddenly even if you've paid.

Yeah there's some questions about that for sure. There's a lot of these types of providers and the advice is to just pay on a monthly basis. I have a payment card I use for online purchases only and if I needed to shut it down no big deal. My mom and I are in Phoenix right now and we're watching her favorite news Global Edmonton right now. I just finished watching the 49ers vs Dolphins NFL game. I use a vpn and based on the free trial it's a very good alternative. My Shaw signal was getting weak and half the channels were missing. The others had a lot of scrambling which is frustrating.

 

[FTA4PA]

With the demise of a Shaw satellite signal below the northern US in the near future I've been searching for an alternative. Today I signed up for a 48 hour free trial of internet tv that is streamed on an android device such as an Amazon firestick. I've included a link to the site. Costs around $15 US / month. When I installed the app on my stick, registered myself, received an activation code within minutes, and was in. This service caters to Canadian and US customers but there's lots of other country's channels too. Have to say I was very impressed. All my current Shaw channels are there plus 1000s more. All CBC,Global,CTV,City,Sportsnet,specialty channels, US major networks etc. plus all major sports, ESPN,NFL,NHL. I think that's going to be my choice going forward.

Typhoon Labs TV - Best IPTV Streaming Service

Typhoon Labs TV brings you the one stop solution for your TV entertainment and money management. Get the best quality streaming experience with cost efficient pricing and mind blowing contents.

typhoonlabs.tv

I have no experience with this so not saying anything other than be careful. In case you haven't seen it yet here is a video recently posted regarding this very thing.

Illegal IPTV Streaming Services - How To Know the Difference

Time for another AWESOME video from Tyler the Antenna Man! View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLgYRW2CtO4 Direct YouTube Link - Illegal IPTV Streaming Services - How To Know the Difference AntennaMan's Website AntennaMan on Facebook

www.satelliteguys.us

 

[nelson61]

No way would I mess with those PIRATE straming services. The content providers go after them and not only whack them, they also take action to get the billing records of those buying the service to whack them also.

You definity do not want to be one of "the examples" the wrath of the gods descends upon.

 

[joshuals]

FYI, the link cited in Post #112 above triggered a blockage by my AntiMalware product. I did not proceed.

 

[harshness]

FYI, the link cited in Post #112 above triggered a blockage by my AntiMalware product. I did not proceed.

Chances are pretty good that your antimalware product summarily (and lazily) dismisses .tv domains. The site is listed as "clean" by virustotal and sucuri.

Apparently the service is Android only.

 

[ckinninger]

Do I have this right?

1. Shaw and Telesat moved 46 channels from F2 to G1 allowing F2 more bandwidth for the remaining F2 channels. They also changed modulation on F2 to increase signal strength and for more error tolerance. These changes allow the operator to lessen the rate of satellite position adjustments which in turn conserves the satellite's dwindling propellant.

2. If the above is basically true, then they have bought more time, until "Spring", for the propellant to last. Once that fuel is gone then the satellite will lose its "fixed" position, go into inclined orbit, and become useless for direct to home television.

I don't see any reason for the signal to decrease between now and the end of the propellant, even for users in Mexico or northern Canada. I might be missing something.

 

[-Jim-]

Do I have this right?

1. Shaw and Telesat moved 46 channels from F2 to G1 allowing F2 more bandwidth for the remaining F2 channels. They also changed modulation on F2 to increase signal strength and for more error tolerance. These changes allow the operator to lessen the rate of satellite position adjustments which in turn conserves the satellite's dwindling propellant.

2. If the above is basically true, then they have bought more time, until "Spring", for the propellant to last. Once that fuel is gone then the satellite will lose its "fixed" position, go into inclined orbit, and become useless for direct to home television.

I don't see any reason for the signal to decrease between now and the end of the propellant, even for users in Mexico or northern Canada. I might be missing something.

Yes, you have it mostly correct. Moving the channels allowed for the Satellite to save power. The modulation change supposedly allow the bird to drift more before a need of correction, as the signal strength from each transponder using DVB-S QPSK is approximately 10% higher than with the old scheme.

Shaw Broadcast said October 13th:

"Shaw Broadcast Services (SBS) continues to work with Telesat and technology partner CommScope to
review various options to maintain services affected by Anik F2's technical issues. The plan below
relocates several Anik F2 signals to Anik G1, which will allow us – if final testing is successful - to change
the modulation scheme of the services remaining on Anik F2. Telesat's modelling indicates that changing
the modulation scheme to DVB-S QPSK, 2/3 FEC on Anik F2 would, barring any degradation of Anik F2
beyond that currently anticipated by Telesat, increase the period of survivability of satellite receive
equipment depending upon where in Canada a receive site is located and the antenna size being used for
satellite reception."

I'd expect strong signals until end of spring 2023 is certainly in the realm of probabilities.

I hope this is helpful.