Ciel 2 Tracking

[Shortfork]

Hey Wayne, I'm with ya man. I'm in Puget, altho don't have signal problems on 129.

Do you have a 24" dish, like you're supposed to? Or just a regular 20" Dish500 for 129? You also might have a bad connector somewhere along the line. You want to use RG6 and eliminate all connectors if possible, except at the ends.

I've got, I think, a 30" maybe ... it's bigger than the companion (for 110 119), the Dish 500...

My neighbor down the street has same problem, from what the install tech told me, those of us right down at sea level, at our position "extreme west" (I'm about 1/4 mile from the actual Pacific Ocean on th Long Beach Penensula,... we just can't get enough signal to ride out the wobbles..

Unless the install tech was a complete doodoo, which I don't think he is/was, I have to believe him... I've tried peaking the signal by minute movement of the dish, got it ever so slightly better but it still drops... once in a while, it actually will let me watch a complete program... not often enough to justify the expense tho!

Wayne Sagar

 

[rocatman]

SES Americom Requests Extension for Ciel-2 Telemetry/Tracking

SES Americom which is doing the Telemetry/Tracking for Ciel (as part owner) has requested an extension from the FCC for another 30 days. This doesn't mean there is going to be a major delay in Ciel-2 being operational but it is taking longer than they original planned. here is the FCC website address:

http://licensing.fcc.gov/ibfsweb/ib.page.FetchAppPDF?attachment_key=687989

 

[Quantum]

I've got, I think, a 30" maybe ... it's bigger than the companion (for 110 119), the Dish 500...

My neighbor down the street has same problem, from what the install tech told me, those of us right down at sea level, at our position "extreme west" (I'm about 1/4 mile from the actual Pacific Ocean on th Long Beach Penensula,... we just can't get enough signal to ride out the wobbles..

Good, you have the 24". Now; in adjusting it did you tug at it up/down -and- left/right? Don't have to loosen the bolts, you can just bend it if it's close. Just 1/4" in the LNB u/d l/r can make a difference.

And no, I'm about 20' above sea level on Puget, with no problems. We're about as west as you can get, CONUS. What receiver and what signal level do you have? If it's a 211, then anything over 30 should be fine. If it's varying more than 5 in clear weather then there must be some obstruction.

 

[Smith P.]

SES Americom which is doing the Telemetry/Tracking for Ciel (as part owner) has requested an extension from the FCC for another 30 days. This doesn't mean there is going to be a major delay in Ciel-2 being operational but it is taking longer than they original planned. here is the FCC website address:

http://licensing.fcc.gov/ibfsweb/ib.page.FetchAppPDF?attachment_key=687989

I don't see any date in the document - when the 30 days period started ?

 

[digiblur]

Interesting how much it fallls off over on the west when you guys are actuallly closer to 129 than I am. Around 91 degrees is my true south. Guess that is what they get for a failing bird in a slot it was not designed for.

I swung a Dish300 around to 129 as I got tired of swinging my motorized 90cm over there to look at things coming up. I was getting around 50 or so on the scale if I remember correctly. I would assume it will be in the 70s and 80s like 110 and 119 when it comes online around the end of the month.

 

[jacmyoung]

Oh, let's not waste any fuel. That baby might be in orbit for a long, long, LONG time.

Really? I thought the world is going to end around 2012?

 

[levibluewa]

Hey Wayne...

I'm with you...the 129 sucks, if not totally, then at least 2x an hour when it falls out of the sky and signal drops from 45 to zero for 1-3 minutes. Anyone in this area that claims there is nothing wrong with that bird isn't watching HD, or is watching HD from the 110...PERIOD!

 

[flyingsquirrel]

I don't see any date in the document - when the 30 days period started ?

If memory serves, They had temporary authority through Jan 31. Now they have through March 3.

For those of us expecting to have new signals from the HD channels LS on 129 (which are awful), this is a significant delay.

A friend of mine says that it could go on longer. That extended authority can only be granted 30 days at a time.

If things were fine, the satellite would be moving by now.

 

[E*Dude]

If I'm understanding these pages correctly, that Special temporary authority was issued on December 9th, 2008, so it appears we're still on schedule.


SES-STA-20081203-01531

E E050288

Date Effective: 12/09/2008
Class of Station:
Grant of Authority
Special Temporary Authority
SES Americom, Inc.
Special temporary authority is GRANTED with conditions for a period of 30 days.​

Points of Communication:

Forgive me if these links were already posted, but they give some pretty cool insight as to what equipment was used at what location to test Ceil-2...

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db1210/DOC-287261A1.TXT

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db1210/DOC-287261A1.PDF

GO CEIL-2!!!
​

 

[photoman76]

There is more Ciel 2 testing going on late tonight at 138° West.

 

[kstuart]

If things were fine, the satellite would be moving by now.

Your posts are a great example of how urban myths get started.

No one has reported any problems.

When things go slowly, it is not because there is something wrong with the thing being tested, but rather something wrong with the people doing the testing. (such as the flu, death in the family, or something as innocuous as Christmas vacation)

When something being tested is not working, it wraps up really fast, and the claim form goes in to the insurance company for $100 million, rather than an extension form going in to the FCC.

 

[Fitzie]

If I'm understanding these pages correctly, that Special temporary authority was issued on December 9th, 2008, so it appears we're still on schedule.


SES-STA-20081203-01531

E E050288

Date Effective: 12/09/2008

Class of Station:
Grant of Authority
Special Temporary Authority
SES Americom, Inc.
Special temporary authority is GRANTED with conditions for a period of 30 days.​

Points of Communication:​

Forgive me if these links were already posted, but they give some pretty cool insight as to what equipment was used at what location to test Ceil-2...​

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db1210/DOC-287261A1.TXT​

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db1210/DOC-287261A1.PDF​

GO CEIL-2!!!​

Thanks for the links. Thirty days beginning on Dec. 9, 2008 would have ended about Jan. 7, 2009 so the new period would apparently end about Feb. 6, 2009. Well within reasonable parameters...

Also thanks photoman76 for the update.

 

[Shortfork]

Good, you have the 24". Now; in adjusting it did you tug at it up/down -and- left/right? Don't have to loosen the bolts, you can just bend it if it's close. Just 1/4" in the LNB u/d l/r can make a difference.

And no, I'm about 20' above sea level on Puget, with no problems. We're about as west as you can get, CONUS. What receiver and what signal level do you have? If it's a 211, then anything over 30 should be fine. If it's varying more than 5 in clear weather then there must be some obstruction.

Yea, I piddled and bent, managed a few points above the installers "optimize" but no matter, it still drops to zero and will stay that way for a minute to three minutes and then come back... I can't see the satellite beam but installer insists no barrier... Neighbor up the street for sure, open access, exact same problem.

What part of the sound are you on? Bellingham, for instance, is about as far east as is Vancouver, WA... My lady friend gets great signal there.. a difference of only about 80 - 100 miles inland.

Wayne Sagar

 

[Shortfork]

I'm with you...the 129 sucks, if not totally, then at least 2x an hour when it falls out of the sky and signal drops from 45 to zero for 1-3 minutes. Anyone in this area that claims there is nothing wrong with that bird isn't watching HD, or is watching HD from the 110...PERIOD!

I'm actually sort of surprised that you drop in Bellingham, you're about the same east/west as Vancouver (WA) and as I posted above, good signal stability there.. You are, however, quite a bit further north, which probably makes a difference.

There was a footprint map around a while ago, not sure how accurate... I remember it was a bit "fingered" up our way.

Wayne Sagar

 

[HDRoberts]

If memory serves, They had temporary authority through Jan 31. Now they have through March 3.

For those of us expecting to have new signals from the HD channels LS on 129 (which are awful), this is a significant delay.

A friend of mine says that it could go on longer. That extended authority can only be granted 30 days at a time.

If things were fine, the satellite would be moving by now.

As is pointed out above, it appears the old STA began Dec. 9th (makes sense as the Ciel-2 was launched Dec 10th, ad they would immediately be doing TT&C), meaning it expired Jan 8th. They now appear to have authority through Feb 11th. And they may not need it, it is just something that they need to request in 30 day increments.

What is the qualifications of your friend? Does he work for Echostar, Dish, or SES?

Also, how do you know what the schedule for testing is? As I said above, the only thing Charlie ever said is end of the month (this month).

If things with a sat go bad, someone would have to make a regulatory filing. There hasn't been one, so everything is going fine, at least as far as we can dicern.

 

[digiblur]

I know it's been a while but how long did Echostar 10 take to from launch to in service? I know there are differences of where it goes into service and if I remember correctly it was launched from SeaLaunch which doesn't take as long to get into the proper orbit, but it should give you a decent timeline of how long they tested beams. I don't even remember if they tested this one at 138 also.

 

[apollog]

Everyone has to remember that Charlie is not the only testing this Sat.. Bell is also testing this sat. and maybe the 2 sides can't agree on something causing a delay in completing testing.

 

[RandallA]

"and maybe the 2 sides can't agree on something causing a delay in completing testing."

Nothing new with Dish Network.

 

[navychop]

Wayne, the grass is not always greener elsewhere. Your signals problem might be soon fixed, and you happy, within a month or so. And more and more carriage disputes are arising, as local stations decide to milk satcos and cablecos.

 

[navychop]

Really? I thought the world is going to end around 2012?

At 11:11 GMT December 21st, 2012, to be precise. Gotta admire those Mayan calendar makers.

But that's ok, because the entire world will be reconstituted an instant later, exactly as it was an instant before, as the "Long Count" restarts. So only the truly enlightened and initiated will know it even happened.