RTE Announce FTA Saorsat service

The Cush

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I take it we don't need to worry about the UK FTA channels moving from Astra 2 in the near future.

No, all the UK (and Irish) dishes point there.

Mike 1972

mickko wrote: »

If RTE left Sky, practically everyone receiving it from Sky would change to Saorsat or DTT. The vast majority of people in this country would choose RTE over any other channels. .

Even if there was anything to this rather dubious statement its not a case of either/or

Tony

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I take it we don't need to worry about the UK FTA channels moving from Astra 2 in the near future.

Why would they move?

Tony

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Even if there was anything to this rather dubious statement its not a case of either/or

Agreed, I'm not sure what Micko bases his assertion on ?

STB

Tony wrote: »

Why would they move?

Its down the road Tony with the new sats going up.

2D has been full for a long time with q's forming, especially the HDs.

Tony

Why is it down the road ? Yes 2d is full but I've heard or read nothing to suggest that broadcasters are trying to get out of long term contracts just because some new satellites are launched.

If you are suggesting that freesat is considering a move which will require everyone to re align their dishes then we really are into fantasy land speculation.

STB wrote: »

Its down the road Tony with the new sats going up.

2D has been full for a long time with q's forming, especially the HDs.

The Cush

Three new Astra satellites are to be placed at 28.2°E between 2012-14. These satellites I believe will allow greater frequency reuse with dedicated spots for the UK/Ireland, Europe and Africa etc.

At the moment the C Band frequencies (10.950-11.200 GHz) are unused at 28.2°E and I have read somewhere that Astra 1N may be placed there temporarily when launched next year.

ISAA

I Think you meant Ku Band instead of C band 4Ghz.

Regards,

Gerry

STB

What I mean Tony is with Spot beams/pan european capabalility some content may be restricted in the future with tighter beams.

When I said its down the road, I meant just that. SES Astra's announcemnt at the end of last year "about a bunch of new Satellites" is a good read.

Obviously its not today or tommorow or in within the generation of a good Satelitte Receiver!

I am not trying to worry anyone. But you can see where its going. CH4HD have had serious problems trying to get a tight beam for ages.

The Cush

ISAA wrote: »

I Think you meant Ku Band instead of C band 4Ghz.

Regards,

Gerry

No and sorry for not being clear.

Astra group their frequencies within the Ku Band into sub-bands based on their original satellite allocations at 19.2°E.

Ku Low Band (64 Transponders)
A Band 11.20-11.45 GHz (Astra 1A)
B Band 11.45-11.70 GHz (Astra 1B)
C Band 10.95-11.20 GHz (Astra 1C)
D Band 10.70-10.95 GHz (Astra 1D)

Ku High Band (56 Transponders)
E Band 11.70-12.10 GHz (Astra 1E)
F Band 12.10-12.50 GHz (Astra 1F)
G Band 12.50-12.75 GHz (Astra 1G)

At 28.2°E Astra and Eutelsat have since reaching agreement in 1999 shared the frequencies
- Astra (10.70 to 11.20 GHz & 11.70 to 12.50 GHz & 12.50 to 12.75 GHz for operations outside of Europe)
- Eutelsat (11.20 to 11.70 GHz and 12.50 to 12.75 GHz)

To clarify my previous statement -
At the moment the (Astra) C (sub-)Band frequencies (10.950-11.200 GHz) are unused at 28.2°E and I have read somewhere that Astra 1N may be placed there temporarily when launched next year.
http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html

Tony

STB wrote: »

What I mean Tony is with Spot beams/pan european capabalility some content may be restricted in the future with tighter beams.

Yes quite possibly but still at 28.2 would you agree?

liamo22

your the most confusin people with all your tech chat !! would someone explain to me in pigeon english what this DTT saorsat thing is?

Kotek Besar

liamo22 wrote: »

pigeon english

Coo coo, coo, coo coo. Coo, coo. Coo coo coo, coo.

Coo.

Tony

As far as I am aware nobody here speaks/writes the English dialect you refer to.

Correctly spelt is pidgin which we generally do not use here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin

This is a discussion forum if you have specific questions about saorsat then please fire away after you have read the thread. You might also include the plain English word "please"

Sorry to hear you are confused.

liamo22 wrote: »

your the most confusin people with all your tech chat !! would someone explain to me in pigeon english what this DTT saorsat thing is?

Mr McBoatface

liamo22 wrote: »

your the most confusin people with all your tech chat !! would someone explain to me in pigeon english what this DTT saorsat thing is?

RTE are changing the traditional way they broadcast RTE1, RTE2, TV3 & TG4 which is received through an aerial or rabbits ears antenna. The previous way of broadcasting was called analogue, it is expensive to run and can give poor quality TV signals.

The new service being introduced is called Saorview. The signal will be in a digital format (DTT) and it is less expensive to run and it will give better quality. In general if you get a poor quality TV3 signal using analogue you'll get a perfect digital signal and the image quality is as good and SKY or UPC. Along with the new service there will be some new channels and some HD programs which can be received through the aerial. 98% of the country can receive Saorview(DTT). For the remaining 2% there is a new satellite service being introduced called Saorsat it will have the same content as Saorview.

If you have SKY or UPC to receive RTE you will not be affected at all and things will stay as they are for you. The new channels and HD content will not be on UPC or Sky.

There are lots of TV on the market which are advertised as "Freeview" capable(The Uk DTT service) , In general these TV will not work with Saorview. However "Freeview HD" TV and Set top boxes will work, Pixmania the online retailer sell cheap set top boxes with the french DTT logo called "TNT HD" these set top boxes will also work.

If you currently receive analogue channels only you will need a set top box or TV to receive Saorview. It will have to be MPEG4 compatible like the ones above. If you are in any doubt do not buy anything until the officially certified equipment is made available, it will carry a Saorview logo on it, this is the safest option.

Saorsat specification are not officially known yet so that is why there is all the technical talk on this thread.

I understand some of your confusion but the forum deals with many technical minded people, if you have any further questions there is lots of information in laymans terms in the Terrestrial forum or you could just start your own thread. RTE should be the ones giving out the above information and it shouldn't be down to people on forums spreading the word as such.

watty

http://www.techtir.ie/watty/soartv

liamo22

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I understand some of your confusion but the forum deals with many technical minded people, if you have any further questions there is lots of information in laymans terms in the Terrestrial forum or you could just start your own thread. RTE should be the ones giving out the above information and it shouldn't be down to people on forums spreading the word as such.

Thank You sooo much i still have 1 or 2 questions but i wont bother you with them you answered almost everything i needed to know and i 100% completely agree with you about RTE should be providing this information :mad:

Thanks a million jobyrne30 !! from one kildare man to another :D

ynotdu

Tony wrote: »

As far as I am aware nobody here speaks/writes the English dialect you refer to.

Correctly spelt is pidgin which we generally do not use here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin

This is a discussion forum if you have specific questions about saorsat then please fire away after you have read the thread. You might also include the plain English word "please"

Sorry to hear you are confused.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67170570&postcount=122

The rudeness that has entered the the broadcasting forums have ruined them,including You at times Watty Who as a Mod was always a gent.

Did ICDG post the above for "the Craic" I wonder?

If You's want it to be a discussion forum for only those who already know all the answers why not make it private?

scruffy66

STB wrote: »

What I mean Tony is with Spot beams/pan european capabalility some content may be restricted in the future with tighter beams.

When I said its down the road, I meant just that. SES Astra's announcemnt at the end of last year "about a bunch of new Satellites" is a good read.

Obviously its not today or tommorow or in within the generation of a good Satelitte Receiver!

I am not trying to worry anyone. But you can see where its going. CH4HD have had serious problems trying to get a tight beam for ages.

Im not sure i understand whats been said about new sats and spot beams.

I thought that any spot beam used on what ever satellite for freesat would automatically take in the republic of ireland aswell.

Are you saying that in the future that they could use spot beams that could exclude us and if so how many spot beams would they need to use , can you elaborate on this further , thanks

scruffy66

slegs wrote: »

RTE CFO speaking at Seanad committee announces that RTE will launch a Saorsat service with spot beam on Ireland of FTA PSB channels from Q2 2011. Presume Astra 28.2 but he didnt say.

It seems to me that this thread should be about general talk about the new saorsat service and answering the more general questions people might have as to how the service might work.

The other more technical stuff should be talked about on a separate thread,
thats just my opinion.

STB

scruffy66 wrote: »

Im not sure i understand whats been said about new sats and spot beams.

I thought that any spot beam used on what ever satellite for freesat would automatically take in the republic of ireland aswell.

Are you saying that in the future that they could use spot beams that could exclude us and if so how many spot beams would they need to use , can you elaborate on this further , thanks

Well I really dont know the answer. No one will know how tight those beams are until they come on. The new 2E 2F & 2G are the same with multiple spotbeam capablities. They will be implemented between now and 2014.

2D is jammed. Thats the tightest beam used by UK broadcasters. Buying in US TV rights comes with very rigid stipulations. Freesat cant use the FTV card as most boxes dont have them. Ultimately at the moment you have a situation that Sky have transponder space on 2D that is encrypted that could be used for Ch4HD. Of course you hold what you have. It may just be a coincidence that CH4HD is only available by subscribing to Sky!

Hopefully the new tighter beams will only serve to narrow the output to the UK and Ireland. Europewide seems to be the problem with big money TV rights in Germany Spain etc.

Tony

scruffy66 wrote: »

The other more technical stuff should be talked about on a separate thread,
thats just my opinion.

Yes but the technical stuff is absolutely crucial to the success and availability of the service so I dont really see why it should not be discussed.

The Cush

scruffy66 wrote: »

It seems to me that this thread should be about general talk about the new saorsat service and answering the more general questions people might have as to how the service might work.

The other more technical stuff should be talked about on a separate thread,
thats just my opinion.

I assumed this was the technical thread. Before any general questions can be answered we have to inform ourselves on the technical side of Ka Band satellite systems.

For the technical, semi-tech and non-tech person on here very few will have any knowledge or experience of Ka Band equipment.

Watty and others who posted here have provided a wealth of infomation on Ka Band which can inform our answers to general questions.

But considering we have so little official information on Saorsat and the probable Ka satellite that will carry Saorsat hasn't launched yet (planned launch date late Nov), until it reaches it's geostationary slot general questions and answers on the Saorsat service are in the realms of speculation. Time enough to start a general thread on the service once the satellite safely reaches orbit.

Tony

Well said Cush. From talking to some guys who have good knowledge of RTE it seems that RTE NL are not happy at all that the first they heard of this was at the announcement in Leinster house. I think this may explain why there is a shortage of information as to the technical broadcast details.

ynotdu

The Cush wrote: »

Watty and others who posted here have provided a wealth of infomation on Ka Band which can inform our answers to general questions.

Aw c'mon The cush nobody is questioning Your,Tonys,STB or I think We all agree Wattys extra brilliance grasp and mastery of The subjects.
in fact i was one of the first to ask Watty to please come back when he took a pricipled deciscion to step down as Mod.Your posts are in the main superb and stunningly intelligent.

I lurk these threads muh more than post on them,but You's know what threads i am talking about that have descended into petty in-fighting,abrupt put downs of people who asked what seemed to experts 'Silly questions'

There were a few simple questions i wanted to ask in the last few months but went elsewhere for the answers as people can't be sure if they are going to get a smack in the gob if the mood takes You's!

copacetic

Tony wrote: »

Well said Cush. From talking to some guys who have good knowledge of RTE it seems that RTE NL are not happy at all that the first they heard of this was at the announcement in Leinster house. I think this may explain why there is a shortage of information as to the technical broadcast details.

I don't believe this at all Tony. Does anyone really believe that the head of RTENL announced an extremely technical and quite radical change to distribution without anyone else in NL knowing about it?

Obviously these things are kept pretty quiet to avoid leaks etc before decisions are made but the key technical people would of course have been closely involved.

scruffy66

[QUOTE=scruffy66;67044645
Id have to say some of the more technical posts as to how this saorsat system possibly might work have been very informative, so thanks to watty and some of the other lads for their posts, Im sure its going to be interesting to see how the analogue switch off unfolds.[/QUOTE]

I dont know wether you noticed or not Tony, but you deleted part of my post and misrepresented what i was saying, as you can see from my post from earlier in the thread , i have no problem with the technical part of the posts and that was not the point i was making.

The satellite for saorsat is going to launch till early next year , so to stop the thread getting so disjointed , i was suggesting that there should be 2 threads.

One with the real technical stuff and the other allowing less knowledgeable
people have some input into this new way that RTE will be available,

Might help to calm all that bickering yiz have been doing

Tony

copacetic wrote: »

I don't believe this at all Tony.

Of course thats your choice but I have no reason to disbelieve the guys who told me this. Try ringing RTE NL and ask them what satellite they plan to use.

copacetic

Tony wrote: »

Of course thats your choice but I have no reason to disbelieve the guys who told me this. Try ringing RTE NL and ask them what satellite they plan to use.

why would the people answering the phones know that info? (or reveal it if they did when they can't stand over it until after the sat is in orbit? )

Does it really scan to you that know one knew about it? Who did all the work and planning then?

Tony

scruffy66 wrote: »

I dont know wether you noticed or not Tony, but you deleted part of my post and misrepresented what i was saying, as you can see from my post from earlier in the thread , i have no problem with the technical part of the posts and that was not the point i was making.

I'm sorry if you feel I misrepresented your view. My intention was simply to reply to that particular point you made. Your original post is still there for all to read so I'm not quite sure why you have a problem with this as I quoted directly. I'd be happy to edit the post if you wish.

scruffy66 wrote: »

The satellite for saorsat is going to launch till early next year , so to stop the thread getting so disjointed , i was suggesting that there should be 2 threads.

I'm sorry but that was not clear from your post, perhaps I misunderstood but you seemed to be inferring that the technical aspect should not be part of this thread

scruffy66 wrote: »

One with the real technical stuff and the other allowing less knowledgeable
people have some input into this new way that RTE will be available,

I'm sure theres no problem with you starting another thread that specifically for non technical discussion of saorsat, fire away.

scruffy66 wrote: »

Might help to calm all that bickering yiz have been doing

Now comments like that are just plain unhelpful , I was not under the impression that any bickering was going on and frankly its a real contradiction to be saying you want to "calm the thread down" and then make a statement like that.