Dish modify there new bird at 86.5 and Includes Puerto Rico
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Look what I found today: Includes Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Mexico.
Looking at that new contour map, I wonder what they are planning with that satellite. North of Nebraska looks like a larger dish would be needed.
Got to be close. Permit was issued late Nov 86. Critical Design Review was just completed and, if I recall correct they have 6 years from the getgo to launch so that leaves them less than 4 years left and construction takes about 2 years.
Very interesting details in the modification. Basically, they resolved the potential conflict with Canada by modifying the beam so it stays out out Canada. They are also going to flip the right and left circular frequencies to reduce interference This all is quite different than previous Conus satellites. And, they have been able to shape it so that it effectively covers Conus and Mexico with almost a knife edge cut enclosing the two countries with a tight recepton area for Puerto Rico. High power beams, either 150w or 300w if doubled.
So now, we see two slots, 77W and 86.5W that can provide coverage for both countries thru the bilateral agreement. Makes one wonder about the big orders Loral received this year from yet undisclosed customers. It's going to add a huge amount of Conus capacity to the system.
So now, we see two slots, 77W and 86.5W that can provide coverage for both countries thru the bilateral agreement. Makes one wonder about the big orders Loral received this year from yet undisclosed customers. It's going to add a huge amount of Conus capacity to the system.
The question is what are they going to do with this satellite location. With 25 degrees of separation they could put it on EA, but given the contours, one wonders how they will do national programming for the northern US. Probably would have been better to design a spot beam satellite for the location then they could do even more locals on EA.
Went back and looked at the footprints after looking at your earlier post. It will take something like a 4 or 6 foot diameter antenna in the northern border states. They may use it for some locals futher south, but I'd speculate it has to do with expansion in Mexico. Can't think of anything else that makes sense.
It also gives an idea of what will happen with the Spectrum Five slot next to 110. Remember how Spectrum got an emergency order limiting increase in E11 power levels to avoid interference but had done no coordination with Echostar. If the solution to the Canadian interference is "clear" (from the echostar filing), and is used as a model to resolve the Spectrum interference conflict, it sure looks like Spectrum will not be able to cover Conus with anything over about a 37 dBw EIRP without affecting Echostar/Dish. No way people want antennas that big on their property. This Tweener idea is complicated.
Perhaps they are thinking a Spanish language service serving both Mexico and the Southern US (South of roughly Nebraska).
86.5W Delivery date
The construction contract for 86.5W has a delivery date to Echostar on or before Nov 29, 2010.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/ibfsweb/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=607647
The construction contract for 86.5W has a delivery date to Echostar on or before Nov 29, 2010.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/ibfsweb/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=607647
Perhaps there is a deal in the works where Dish gets most if not all of 77 W primarily for spotbeam use in the U.S. in exchange for Mexican use of most if not all of 86.5 W. Based on a late 2010 completion date, both the 86.5 W satellite and the QuetzSat 1 could be launched within 6 months of each other. Besides for the interference problems with the Canadian DBS slots at 82 W and 91 W, the 77 W slot providing spotbeams fits with Dish's Eastern Arc plan. Dish already has a dish to get 61.5 W, 72.7 W and 77 W but adding 86.5 W requires a bigger more expensive dish. Dish also needs more spotbeam capacity for HD locals and the combined CONUS capacity at 61.5 W and 72.7 W should be adequate for a full MPEG-4 system once most if not all internationals are moved off 61.5 W and Dish deploys another satellite to 61.5 W to be able to use the 4 TPs they cannot use there currently.
This makes good sense. Those moves would optimize the eastern arc while improving the look angle of the western Mexican states. That conflict for 86.5W along the Canadian border is a killer.
Any updates on this? Is the thinking still that 86.5w, which according to the filings will have CONUS transponders only, will be for Mexico service and CONUS (except far north) Hispanic programming, thereby freeing more 77w for U.S. spots? If Mexico ends up with full use of the 86.5, then might Echostar get full use of all 32 (instead of 24) 77w transponders?
Also - if 4.5 degree Ku separation is such a big deal, then how does Echostar at 77w not interfere with Echostar CONUS beams at 72.7w?
Also - if 4.5 degree Ku separation is such a big deal, then how does Echostar at 77w not interfere with Echostar CONUS beams at 72.7w?
I don't know about the regs, but technically this problem is addressed with a bigger dish. The bigger the dish, the greater it's resolving power.
And, they are negotiating with themselves. They can adjust transponder power levels and active transponders if needed.
The issue is that Dish designed the system (i.e. larger shaped dish) to accommodate this. The 104/114 slots would cause problems with the 10s of millions of dishes already installed by both DIRECTV and Dish, The 86.5 slot would cause problems for the Canadian dishes. If they originally decided to do a 4.5 degree of separation they would have used larger dishes from the beginning.
When the DBS system originally was thought of they were thinking small single slot dish's (18" or smaller).
