New Member: an uplinker

[turbosat]

Thanks newstruck that was very educational. Explains why a lot of us news-scoopers also
tweak and turn our little dishes so much, trying to get the last bit of signal strength on some
satellites. I am curious just how much 'battery' is saved on a satellite though, by lowering the power levels, I thought they recharged from solar panels, but maybe it all adds up over the life of
the bird.

 

[qwert1515]

Our Los Angeles station is now putting raw feeds on one of its ATSC sub channels.

I live in Los Angeles and have watched that channel (News Raw) a few times, I like how they continue some news events from the main channel over to that when the main channel decides to show something else.

I don't have a problem receiving that satellite, but as Iceberg stated above most don't have a dedicated dish pointed at it, I do

 

[digiblur]

does the tin man have a sheet metal c---?
When big news hits that's one of the big scanning nights. Hurricanes, famous person dies, elections. What was weird is when the 35W bridge here in Minneapolis collapsed and alot of feeds were the local stations I normally watch

I'm trying to remember the night...I think it was some sort of election deal, but just about every bird slammed pack full of your typical 4232 SR feeds even Echostar had their 105w and 121w spare space leased out. What a fun night for scanning!

By far the best times I've had for scanning is when Rita and Katrina hit our state. I found more news and more up to the minute coverage from blindscanning. It was great! We had family staying in our house during Rita and I found a few feeds where the cameras stayed rolling for several hours even during their news spots. Put it in PIP on the big screen while we watched movies so we could see the storm rolling in.

 

[NewsTruck]

I'm trying to remember the night...I think it was some sort of election deal, but just about every bird slammed pack full of your typical 4232 SR feeds even Echostar had their 105w and 121w spare space leased out. What a fun night for scanning!

Do any of you have spectrum monitors? (if you can find one on Ebay....) it's quite impressive on an election night. Since AMC-9 horizontal is usually empty, it gets full with every odd numbered transponder put into service.

The hardest workers are at the control center in Florida who have to verbally give the go-ahead for each transmission to start, and make sure no one steps on each other. It winds up being like CB Radio - only moderated.

 

[qwert1515]

I know I want a spectrum analyzer, most do, some of the lucky members here have them.

 

[NewsTruck]

I know I want a spectrum analyzer, most do, some of the lucky members here have them.

Well here's mine on a typical night. Upper left is the picture going up, Upper right is the picture coming back, lower left is the spectrum monitor on AMC-1 21 and 23; 21 has A/B/C/D/E lit up, 23 has B/C/D/E/F lit up. As you can see, 21E is a lot stronger than 21 C and D. But we're doing a good job on keeping all the signals on 23 pretty even. 23D and 23E were coming from me.

 

[dfergie]

Pretty cool stuff...

 

[photoman76]

Here is a scan of AMC 1 Ku Horizontal from my Broadlogic Spectrum Analyzer.

Unfortunately, the news feeds are quite weak here in California. Some I can receive ok, some breakup quite a bit, and some I can't lock at all. When is AMC 1 scheduled to be replaced?

 

[KE4EST]

Very cool Stuff...Welcome to SatelliteGuys!!!!!!

 

[Tron]

Newstruck, nice shot of the Sony PVM-8045q monitors! I use the older version (PVM-8044q) up on the roof when I'm tweaking a dish. The Tektronix scopes... I can't tell for sure, but the one on the right looks like a 1730 waveform monitor. I've been trying to get a good deal on a 1720 vectorscope to go with my 1730D, but they all seem to develop a power supply problem.

What model spectrum monitor is the one pictured? Also looks like a 17 series...

 

[iafirebuff]

WELCOME!

What a job to have! I am drooling!

 

[techno935]

What is it exactly they do in Florida with this "control switch" what exactly do they control? Do they just monitor the birds and see where the open slots are?

Another question:

When you're about to put a news truck live, if you just turn it on without booking first, does it still come on, or does someone in florida have to "activate" something? Just curious.

 

[NewsTruck]

Unfortunately, the news feeds are quite weak here in California. Some I can receive ok, some breakup quite a bit, and some I can't lock at all. When is AMC 1 scheduled to be replaced?

AMC-1 is fine -- and not old at all. We only run the news feeds at about 25% power, because they are all received on big dishes. It saves the batteries and cuts down on interference. I have occasionally seen one of the transponders (accidentally) run at full power, and it's quite spectacular (and powerful!)...

 

[NewsTruck]

What model spectrum monitor is the one pictured? Also looks like a 17 series...

Correct; it's a 1765A.

 

[NewsTruck]

What is it exactly they do in Florida with this "control switch" what exactly do they control? Do they just monitor the birds and see where the open slots are?

Another question:

When you're about to put a news truck live, if you just turn it on without booking first, does it still come on, or does someone in florida have to "activate" something? Just curious.

Great Questions. There are two scenarios:

We operate more than 100 fixed uplinks (at TV stations) around the country. They are all interconnected to a central control computer in Florida which, at a scheduled time, selects which uplink goes up and on what transponder and channel. Bookings are made up to 5 minutes prior to going up, and can also be put up and taken down manually.

Trucks are also allowed to access the same channels. Bookings are mandatory, otherwise it would be chaos. But the bookings can also be made as little as 5 minutes in advance. Typically, they're made about 15 minutes prior.

Breaking news stories and big stories can be booked for several hours non-stop.

No, no one turns anything "on" on the satellite; Every satellite is always just mirroring whatever it sees coming up, unless an entire transponder is shut down for whatever reason.

But the control center in Florida is constantly monitoring the signals for quality control.

 

[photoman76]

AMC-1 is fine -- and not old at all. We only run the news feeds at about 25% power, because they are all received on big dishes. It saves the batteries and cuts down on interference. I have occasionally seen one of the transponders (accidentally) run at full power, and it's quite spectacular (and powerful!)...

Are the newfeeds on AMC 9 at reduced power also? I don't have any problems receiving those feeds.

 

[NewsTruck]

Here is a scan of AMC 1 Ku Horizontal from my Broadlogic Spectrum Analyzer.

Interesting. Obviously whatever was on 17B was running way too high. Looking at that, it would have been very hard to receive 17A. I'm sure it was just like that for a short while.

-John

 

[NewsTruck]

Are the newfeeds on AMC 9 at reduced power also? I don't have any problems receiving those feeds.

They're not "reduced", we just don't cranked 'em up to full volume. AMC9 is actually slightly LOWER in gain than AMC1, and requires almost twice the power for the same signal level. (About 20 watts vs. 7-9 watts for AMC-1.)

They actually should come in about the same.

-John

 

[turbosat]

signal strengths

Maybe its the odd skew on AMC1. I noticed the stronger signals on AMC9ku also, some of them push past 99 on the meter, almost think you were pointed at a DBS sat. I like em like that too ,hehe.

 

[photoman76]

Interesting. Obviously whatever was on 17B was running way too high. Looking at that, it would have been very hard to receive 17A. I'm sure it was just like that for a short while.

-John

I think the signals on Transponders 7 and 9 are 4:2:2 QPSK NBC network feeds and Transponders 3 and 15 are 8PSK NBC network HD feeds.

But what kind of signals are on Transponders 1, 5, and 11?

What is Transponder 13 used for?