ANIK F2 - Thy End Is Near

[bayguy]

I'm actually on the southern edge of the G1 footprint and seem to be getting some of the relocated channels. If I were to peak my dish (which hasn't been done in some time) for G1 I might be ok signal-wise. G1 is even less of an issue for subs closer to the Canadian border. However, getting the 800-series box seems to be impossible and like someone else said, returning it would also likely be impossible.

Did I read that you can't buy a 800 rcvr from a satellite store any more you have to get them from Shaw? If thats true that's a bummer since like you said they won't ship one to the US. Can you buy one secondhand on eBay? Or get it shipped to Canada and then have a friend send it to you? If you can get G1 it would be too bad if you can't get a new rcvr to use it.

 

[ElectronPusher]

Did I read that you can't buy a 800 rcvr from a satellite store any more you have to get them from Shaw? If thats true that's a bummer since like you said they won't ship one to the US. Can you buy one secondhand on eBay? Or get it shipped to Canada and then have a friend send it to you? If you can get G1 it would be too bad if you can't get a new rcvr to use it.

No more retail sales, they are now leased and not privately owned. I don't know for a fact, but I suspect that Shaw will refuse to activate a box on your account unless it is one that they issue to you directly, and any that are not returned from closed accounts will be blacklisted.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Shaw Direct no longer sells the receivers (thanks to the Rogers cable mentality) and any left at any retail stores can be bought until they run out of receivers. Have not heard anything about them refusing to activate any 800 series boxes that are bought used, of course, those can't have been originally rentals, and have to have been removed from the original account (which can be checked by calling Shaw Direct).

 

[bajasat]

These past 3 months I replaced all of my 600 series receivers and bought them either on Ebay or Amazon,no problem to activate them ,except for the lack of updates on one of them, which was solved by a zip file sent by a close friend of mine.

 

[ElectronPusher]

Well, I suspect all the things I mentioned will come eventually. Shaw seems to want more control of their user base and system, not unlike the way DirecTV does things in the US.

 

[bajasat]

Yes ,but I bet they will lose a lot of subscribers in the process

 

[navychop]

Yes ,but I bet they will lose a lot of subscribers in the process

… of complying with the law.

 

[harshness]

I do but there are also Canucks so you can't know where some body is unless they say.

Snowbirds and expatriates are Canucks too.

It is just one of those givens on a domain that ends in .us I suppose. I don't assert that it is righteous, it just seems to be understood.

 

[Keith Brannen]

I am a Canadian, and not a Snowbird, and have Shaw Direct. There are quite a few of us, albeit some of us have other reasons as well for being on this forum, such as my FTA hobby (more of an obsession, though).

 

[nelson61]

Friend at coffee this morning was feeling low. Said he lost his Bloomberg channel yesterday (part of the nov 16-30 transition plan).

 

[harshness]

Friend at coffee this morning was feeling low. Said he lost his Bloomberg channel yesterday (part of the nov 16-30 transition plan).

You have to respect them for being forthcoming about their plan as well as executing it as quickly as they have.

 

[cyberham]

During the summer, I "rented" my receiver from Shaw for $0. It's the best way since there's no cost and no responsibility on the user. Of course, I'm a Canadian resident.

 

[nelson61]

Dec 1 was their projected date for loss of service at Dawson City, YT.
Offset is about 0.88 degrees which is the typical drift for 1 year of no north/south control adjustments

 

[nelson61]

Offset has reached +/- 0.90 degrees N/S and has developed an orbit that lingers longer at the northern latitudes.

 

[harshness]

Offset has reached +/- 0.90 degrees N/S and has developed an orbit that lingers longer at the northern latitudes.

How do they maintain an orbit that isn't elliptical and in doing so, are they risking their ability to move to a graveyard orbit?

 

[nelson61]

I suspect it is varying gravitational forces .

 

[harshness]

I suspect it is varying gravitational forces .

The force of gravity doesn't vary much unless either the speed of the satellite or the radius of its orbit changes abruptly. I would expect to see other satellites varying similarly if there were another gravitational force (other than the center of gravity of the Earth) involved.

Force of gravity = satellite mass * velocity^2 * orbital radius

Other satellites in elliptical orbits (and previously Anik F2) were quite elliptical. I reason that they must be using thrusters to create this "irregularity".

 

[nelson61]

Earth gravity forces are not evenly distributed There are what one might call mountains and valleys in the gravity field.

Station keeping keeps the satellite at it's assigned location.

Reading up on geostationary orbits, the inclined orbits are using their remaining fuel for only east/west stationkeeping.

BUT -------

 

[harshness]

Earth gravity forces are not evenly distributed There are what one might call mountains and valleys in the gravity field.

Again, if there were irregularities in the gravity field, the orbits of all of the Clarke Belt satellites would be similarly perturbed. The force of gravity at the Clarke Belt is 0.03G and the Earth is relatively small at that distance (17.18 degrees across).

The orbital eccentricity of LEO satellites is less than .25 and they're orbiting much, much closer (550 miles for the Starlink constellation) where the gravity of the Earth is around 0.847G.

There is clearly something other than Earth's gravity in play with Anik F2's non-elliptical orbit.

 

[Keith Brannen]

The charts that nelson61 is showing are the movement over time, so look worse than they really are. Here is (I think, anyways) a better display of the inclined orbit of F2 (zoom in so you can see its path).

Real time satellite tracking for: ANIK F2

Track satellite(s) ANIK F2 and see where are they located now. Check when there will be the next pass over your location

www.n2yo.com

As far as gravitational irregularities, from:

Geostationary orbit - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"A second effect to be taken into account is the longitudinal drift, caused by the asymmetry of the Earth – the equator is slightly elliptical (equatorial eccentricity).[23]: 156  There are two stable equilibrium points (at 75.3°E and 108°W) and two corresponding unstable points (at 165.3°E and 14.7°W). Any geostationary object placed between the equilibrium points would (without any action) be slowly accelerated towards the stable equilibrium position, causing a periodic longitude variation.[64] The correction of this effect requires station-keeping maneuvers with a maximal delta-v of about 2 m/s per year, depending on the desired longitude.[65]"