Intelsat 29e launched, will replace Intelsat 1R at 50° W

[lost_mesa]

Intelsat 29e was successfully launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket yesterday. It will be replacing Intelsat 1R at 50° W, probably in a few months.

Here is a link to the footprint map:

http://www.intelsat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/5533-IS-29e.pdf

On C band, Intelsat 1R covers both North and South America. It looks like Intelsat 29e only covers South America, so North America will no longer have a C Band signal from 50° W.

On Ku there are about 40 spot beams covering North and South America, plus a few for Europe. Also "A transatlantic Ku- wide beam overlay provides efficient broadcast capabilities for in-flight entertainment"

On Ka Band there is a single global beam with a peak of about 40 dBW. That's 20 dB less than a typical Ka Band spot beam. Apparently there is only one, perhaps two, 450 MHz wide Ka Band transponders. Perhaps more a case of "Putting the frequency to use" to gain a legal right to Ka band at 50 w, than providing a robust Ka Band service.

I'm thinking this new satellite may not be of much interest to FTA enthusiasts.

 

[armadillo_115]

I just found this listing after 2 hours of searching for 50W C band with no luck. Are the C band signals already turned off on Intelsat 1R?

If not,does anyone know a strong transponder to try for?

BTW...while trying for 50W I managed to scan in a few circular transponders on 47.5W NSS 806. All Portuguese,so no use for me.Can't go much further East without flopping or tree blockage.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lost_mesa]

Yes, I'm pretty sure no one in North America has seen anything on C Band for a while.

On Ku the Claro channels where still there as of a week ago, 4 muxes between 11.0 to 11.2 GHz. Only one channel ITC. Also some data channels in the 11.7 to 12.2 range, if I remember right. Not home right now to check.

 

[armadillo_115]

Thanks lost_mesa! Just my luck...I finally can reach that far and the bird is gone.lol

Oh well...seems like there wasn't much there anyway.

 

[armadillo_115]

Also added 45W and 43W to my C band set-up.I may try for a few circular signals on 40W...or quit while I'm ahead.lol

 

[lost_mesa]

Go for 40.5w! There are about 100 channels ITC there, if you have a circular feed.

 

[armadillo_115]

Scanned 40.5W C band using a linear lnb. (CK1S) Only 2 lockable transponders found.Highest SQ was only 61%. Blindscan found 37 otherf transponders that were too weak to lock and added them to the transponder list..At 40.5W,part of my LOS is blocked by a tree line.Surprised it got anything there really.

Maybe when I get the second dish up I will check into what lnb I need to add those circular singles.That dish will have more eastern LOS and the actuator will be mounted on the eastern side.

For now I am going to remove 40.5W from the Sat list and set the Eastern limit at 47.5W. Dish is struggling to pull back up from that far east and it got off calibration during the night.I have to re-calibrate every Sat 2 or 3 clicks West now before I go do some yard work.