EchoStar 25 @110W March 9/10 - 2026.

[RJT79]

This is really interesting. Thanks for posting the Chicago locals - I still can't add them to my account for some reason.

But what I find even more interesting is that you are reporting that some of the Chicago locals are on 110, TP 12. However, right now some of the national sports channels for the out of market sports channels are on 110, TP 12 as well. MLB Network Alternate, for example, is currently on 110, TP 12. And to my knowledge, the same transponder cannot be both a national ConUS transponder as well as a local spotbeam. I wonder if having both satellites active at the same time is causing some coding issue or something like that - for my receiver, it is as if it is checking one satellite, times out, then checks the second satellite for the signal strength.

No Problem! Glad I went and could help out but however I chickened out from the game tonight and I am back home. Didn't like the weather report I was seeing. Everyone in the hotel was talking about the severe storms. 75+ mph winds, golf ball size hail, and tornadoes done it in for me. You stay safe! I guess it isn't going to be very good and its suppose to hit between 3 and 6 PM. I gave away my tickets as I don't need damage to the vehicle plus with the weather like that not going and driving in Chicago that often it probably wouldn't be good driving when it is storming. I do think I made the wise choice.

I however am thinking about going somewhere over the weekend because this hot and humid air that were having will bring in relief after the cold front Thursday night and good weather is expected through the weekend. I don't know where I will head I am thinking State Park wise somewhere camping in a tent and brining my AC battery supply backup that works 36 hours on a single charge and can be charged in the vehicle and bringing the Wally, the antenna, and my Cloner Alliance ViewPro to use as a screen. Just to see what I can all get and to get away awhile. Where ever I go It will be out of market so I could get you their locals and Satellites and Spotbeams if you would like.

Just hoping we avoid the severe weather at my location tomorrow. It doesn't look good on that part but once it goes through excellent and more pleasant weather ahead.

And on what you said. Yes that could be an issue getting the locals activated that you are having problems with. 2 Transponders causing trouble one national and one spotbeam. Your receiver may not know how to handle it. Seems as if they likely will move those other sports channels to another satellite and/or spotbeam. More than likely the issue with my MLB Extra Innings as well. All these changes coming at once and they are trying to figure where to put everything and probably don't know where to put it all. I am sure it has the tech advanced people at DISH working overtime. Just wish they would hurry up and get it done.

Do you have an estimated date of completion by any chance?

RJ T.
From Illinois

 

[zippyfrog]

EchoStar 25 at 110W

Ninety-three (93) spot beams
51 active transmitters
212 DMAs can be served simultaneously
Possible launch - 1st quarter 2026

Google Earth photo illustrates EIRP 50dBW coverage for each spot (50 probably covers reception with a standard diameter dish.)>
Half of the spot beams with transponder links are included in the Schedule S pdf and the other half will have similar transponder linkages.

For those that like these things, This link has the downloads for the 93 Google Earth beams.

Echostar 25 110W - Google Drive

drive.google.com

nelson61 - is there a way to see which of the Spotbeams are availabe to Chicago? When I scan using my receiver, here in Chicago I am getting signal strength of greater than 40 on 9 different Spotbeams on 110, and 4 of the spotbeams are over 64. That is a lot more than what I remember seeing in the past.

 

[nelson61]

I would have to open each of the 90+ kml file using Google earth to see which ones cover the general area and then dig through the filing to identify the associated transmitter.

The number you are seeing seems reasonable.

 

[zippyfrog]

I would have to open each of the 90+ kml file using Google earth to see which ones cover the general area and then dig through the filing to identify the associated transmitter.

The number you are seeing seems reasonable.

Got it - I saw your post had the screenshot from Google Earth with all the spotbeams on a single picture. I didn't know if there was a file where all of them were already loaded, and then I could open Google Earth and click on each one to hide/show where everything was preloaded.

 

[nelson61]

the link has all the kml files.

The info on which transponder is strapped to each spot is in the filing documents .
you can get that info here (one time registration required to access the FCC system

ICFS home - ICFS Portal

fccprod.servicenowservices.com

 

[zippyfrog]

This is fascinating - why would a spotbeam be setup like this? I am looking at Chicago - this is such a strange setup...

 

[nelson61]

Any given beam may cover multiple markets in the general area and any market may use multiple beams.
Add that on to each transponder reuse being able to use any beam that is not overlapping another beam on the same transponder.
Somebody did a lot of thinking when they laid out the desired beam patterns.

 

[zippyfrog]

Any given beam may cover multiple markets in the general area and any market may use multiple beams.
Add that on to each transponder reuse being able to use any beam that is not overlapping another beam on the same transponder.
Somebody did a lot of thinking when they laid out the desired beam patterns.

Agreed! I loaded all the files from one of your original posts into Google Earth and turned them off/on one at a time. There are some very unqiue ones, and from my perspective, it looks like they will be able to easily fit all the local channels on this single satellite, if that ends up being the end result.

 

[nelson61]

The filing said they could cover all markets

 

[nelson61]

If you want to have fun. And learn something at the same time , register to get access to fcc (do not register for acct number since you are only looking, not creating an application.)

Then search for the appropriate application. Echostar 25.

Then look for Schedule S.
It will have all the tech details.
The narratives put lots of it into layman language but you need the Schedule S tables to see the spots used or reused by each transponder.

The satellites are in the icfs section of the FCC site.

 

[T3SG]

So, when it is all done, EchoStar 15 will provide Conus coverage from 119W and EchoStar 25 will provide spot beam coverage from 110W.

This still the plan?

 

[nelson61]

Maybe, maybe not.
Any number of "events, failures, etc." can result in a "new" plan