SES-3 launch tonight, 7:16 PM EDT

[Jim S.]

replacing AMC-1 at 103W

 

[GenBap]

What does that mean for us? Sorry but I am new to this and unsure what this transition will mean to my TV watching. I watch 103W often.

 

[crackt]

i wonder if they will park it off skew. probly since there would be alot of dishes to tweak otherwise.

crackt out,.

 

[Tron]

Now, hopefully, we'll know more about the skew issue...

I think its deliberate, since the C-Band TPs are normally skewed.

 

[skysurfer]

Now, hopefully, we'll know more about the skew issue...

I think its deliberate, since the C-Band TPs are normally skewed.

I don't know specificially about SES-3, but apparently what I found out about another one of or domestic sats, the reflectors can be slightly changed so that you can shift the footprint slightly and I assume the satellite electronics can be manipulated in order to change the skew to some degree so you might be able to cover a wide range of orbital location choices with the combination of skew change and reflector tilt. the big Q is if SES-3 will have normal Ku-band skew (so we don't have to dedicate a dish to the offset skew like AMC-1 Ku) and we'll see how big of customer NBC really is if SES-3 keeps the odd Ku skew setting so NBC affiliates will not have to change their dish setups to a normal skew.

 

[crackt]

im wondering if the skew isnt dictated by the uplink. ive only ever had problems with the nbc stuff. everything else on that sat comes in fine with normal skew.

 

[Pixl]

replacing AMC-1 at 103W

Will there be any coverage of the launch up on one of the birds?

 

[Wescopc]

Live webcast here:
iMirus Online Digital Reader
Bob

 

[John Popper]

looks like SES-3 will have the same footprint as AMC1 (I might even see an improved C Band reception, but still no go on the Ku side)

SES WORLD SKIES - Footprints

 

[ParaclipseCKu]

Launch coverage coordinates:

In North America the live video of the launch is available on AMC-3 at 87 degrees West, downlink frequency 3780.0 MHz, vertical polarization. This may be analog. More info when the signal is up.

​

 

[ParaclipseCKu]

Analog signal is up for tonight's SES-3 launch.

 

[eurosport]

W3-4 on 4DTV

 

[John Popper]

Analog signal is up for tonight's SES-3 launch.

Seems I missed it, was it on AMC3? what TP?

 

[Jim S.]

im wondering if the skew isnt dictated by the uplink. ive only ever had problems with the nbc stuff. everything else on that sat comes in fine with normal skew.

The NBC HD channels are DVB-S2, so they're more sensitive to mis-alignment. I can assure you that the entire Ku side of the satellite is skewed wrong, because all of the strong non-S2 transponders will scan in as both horizontal and vertical if I have the skew set normally. (You can set the skew just a few degrees off, rather than the 26 that it actually is, if you want to get rid of the duplicates and still not lose too much signal strength on other satellites, but you still run the risk of losing weak transponders on other satellites, like 99 (whatever its problem is) or the PBS feeds (soon to be defunct) on 63.

 

[crackt]

ive never scanned dupes. crazy.

crackt out,.

 

[Basic]

SES 3 will replace AMC 1 mid 2012

 

[Mr Tony]

im wondering if the skew isnt dictated by the uplink. ive only ever had problems with the nbc stuff. everything else on that sat comes in fine with normal skew.

the NBC stuff is running at low power...throw in the oddball skew and thats why

 

[Mr Tony]

from an old post (from an uplinker) it was an anomoly
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/108401-new-member-uplinker.html#post1047803

It was a launch/positioning anomaly. When it achieved permanent orbit, it was tilted by -- whatever it is -- 20 or so degrees.

There are now hundreds of uplinks that are permanently skewed "off" to compensate for it, so it'll NEVER change. So I have to manually rotate and manually cross-pole each time I go up.

Now this was 4 years ago so maybe they'll switch it to "normal" skew. Maybe not. This only really affects the NBC feeds as noted that 4 year old thread NBC feeds run at 1/4 power (post 12 in same thread)

Power levels are kept VERY conservative since it's designed for big dish reception. We only run about 1/4 of the transponder's actual power capacity to save the batteries on the satellite, and to minimize interference.

 

[Jim S.]

SES 3 will replace AMC 1 mid 2012

Huh? What are they going to be doing with it for a whole year?

 

[skysurfer]

Huh? What are they going to be doing with it for a whole year?

Probably in-orbit spare. I haven't seen any FCC authorizations for this sat other than for in-orbit testing, so it doesn't appear SES has any plans for this sat anytime soon unless those filings are submitted in the next 2-3 weeks or so to put SES-3 into action somewhere for the next year or so.