The uplink report reports conus. Talk about dead/dying satellites... Echostar 4 only has 16 transponders left.
SatelliteGuys.US DishNetwork Uplink Activity Discussion - Week Ending 02/16/2008
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Since there are no spotbeams on Echo4 it gets labeled as CONUS, but as most people know, Echostar4's CONUS beam doesn't point correctly to CONUS.
I only see 4 TP's active from my location, and TP 1 is not one of them.
The signal strength and quality is actually right on par with 110/119 from my location.
Actually I thought it was only 6 available TPs but DirecTV has license for only 3 TPs at 110 W but still has a satellite there providing programming. E-4 may not point correctly to get even a large portion of the U.S. and if E-3 is moved there, it still might not but as I have pointed out in other posts, the 77 W slot could be used for some HD locals and by using a modified D1000 dish, subscribers could get both 61.5 W and 77 W.
There got to be another activity coming up tonight or tomorrow night. They whacked 6 league pass channels including NBA TV. I suppose they can get away with just the ones they didn't cut for the short term but longer term they're going to run into conflicts. Unless they plan on dropping some games from league pass. Wouldn't put it past them.
I see they put NBA tv and several on 61.5 MPEG4 sd not available. I too wonder if there will be another round tonight to add to another sat? Probably not. Probably what Scott has been talking about in the pub.
Scott. How can I tell if I can get 77. Point my dish?? How should my meter read??Yes I see 77 as a location on my 622.
It is in my 622 but does not show any transponders except 1
I ca not see satellite 77, as I am not aiming for it, however in the Point Dish Screen 77 degrees is one of the satellites you can select.
This just validates more of what I have been talking about in the pub.
This just validates more of what I have been talking about in the pub.
I'm not sure if you saw my findings a few posts up, but TP 1 is not active (at least with my dish size/equipment).
yeah, I saw it. The question was not about tp 1, but about the satellite in general and there were some replies indicating the affirmative.
I thought E4 had 16 working TPs, but the solar arrays did not deploy so it did not have power to run more than about 4 TPs. But, when they moved it from 157 over to 77 another array deployed along the way (like it became unstuck). So, maybe E4 has more power now?
You are correct that the stuck solar array deployed in September of 2004 and this may have significantly improved the health of the satellite including the ability to fully charge the satellite's batteries and have full attitude control capabilities requiring the use of less propellant extending the life of E-4. I am just speculating but based on the information from the following website which reported that in 2002 - 2003 timeframe Dish was reporting that the E-4 satellite had only 2 to 3 years of useful life:
Sat ND | Failures
There were other problems besides power levels that caused most of the amplifiers that power the TPs to fail specifically 38 of the 44 based on the information from the following website:
Echostar 3, 4, 7
I think we would have seen Dish testing more TPs at 77 W if more were useable. Based on information from the Echostar Knowledge Base, the useable TPs are 7, 13, 15, 22 and now from today's report TP 1. Based on some past FCC filings from E-4's days at 157 W, another useable TP would be TP 11 which would be a total of 6. Thinking about it Dish originally had license for TPs 1, 3 and 5 at 157 W and had requested and received approval from the FCC to use/change the licenses of 3 and 5 to 7 and 11 because E-4 couldn't provide signal from TPs 3 and 5.
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Is anyone seeing anything on a BSLA or signal meter on 77w TP1, I can see the other 4 TP's but not #1.
Last notes I have on Echostar4:
EchoStar IV. EchoStar IV was launched during May 1998 and currently operates at the 77 degree orbital location, which is licensed by the government of Mexico to a venture in which we hold a minority interest. The satellite was originally designed to operate a maximum of 32 transponders at approximately 120 watts per channel, switchable to 16 transponders operating at over 230 watts per channel. As a result of past TWTA failures, only six transponders are currently available for use and the satellite has been fully depreciated on our books. There can be no assurance that further material degradation, or total loss of use, of EchoStar IV will not occur in the immediate future.
Last notes I have on Echostar4:
EchoStar IV. EchoStar IV was launched during May 1998 and currently operates at the 77 degree orbital location, which is licensed by the government of Mexico to a venture in which we hold a minority interest. The satellite was originally designed to operate a maximum of 32 transponders at approximately 120 watts per channel, switchable to 16 transponders operating at over 230 watts per channel. As a result of past TWTA failures, only six transponders are currently available for use and the satellite has been fully depreciated on our books. There can be no assurance that further material degradation, or total loss of use, of EchoStar IV will not occur in the immediate future.
Are they putting up a couple of tests up there (77) to see what kind of power they are dealing with?
