ASIA PACIFIC F.T.A SAT TV GUIDE
Your source for Asia Pacific regional Satellite News and Free to Air Satellite TV Info since 1998
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Page UPDATED 31/12/2013 8.10 P.M NZ
A big thank you to all that have contributed to Apsattv.com during the year and Jon Clarke , JSAT TV of Thailand for Hosting the site.
Apsattv.com Official Predictions for Year 2014
Please Note The following contains, rumours, gossip, half-truths, misleads, daydreams, exaggeration, wild guesses and good old B.S it also contains some real info, it's up to you the reader to work out the fact from the fiction.
Satellite launches scheduled for 2014 in Asia Pacific region
Thaicom 6 Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral 78.5°E 8 Ku tps and 18 C tps
ChinaSat 9A Long March 3B Xichang 92.2°E 22 Ku tps
G-Sat 14 GSLV Sriharikota 74.0°E 6 Ku tps and 6 C tps
ABS 2 Ariane 5 - VA217 Kourou 75.0°E 78 tps
Optus 10 164E°E ?
DirecTV 14 Ariane 5 Kourou 99.2°E
Measat 3b Ariane 5 Kourou 91.5°E 48 Ku tps will be co-located with Measat 3/3a
Express AT2 Proton Baikonur 140.0°E 16 Ku tps
Luch 5V Proton Baikonur 167.0°E S tps
Express AM4R Proton Baikonur 80.0°E 2 Ka tps and 28 Ku tps and 30 C tps and 3 L tps
AsiaSat 8 Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral 105.5°E 24 Ku tps
AsiaSat 6/Thaicom 7 Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral 120.0°E 28 C tps
Yamal 401 Proton Baikonur 90.0°E 36 Ku tps and 17 C tps
ChinaSat M Long March Xichang 125.0°E 27 Ku tps
G-Sat 11 GSLV Sriharikota 74.0°E 12 Ku tps and 36 C tps will replace Insat 3C
G-Sat 6 GSLV Sriharikota 83.0°E 5 C tps and 5 S tps
Measat 3b 91.5E
January 2014
New Years Eve celebration feeds from around New Zealand via IS19 for New Year Eve programme.
New Years Eve celebration feeds from Sydney and Melbourne via IS19
New Years day feed via Optus D2 of start of Sydney to Hobart yacht race
New Years Eve celebrations from Times Square via IS8 C Band.
Feed from London via IS19 C band of New Years being rung in from Hyde Park London.
Thaicom 6 launch (JAN 3rd)
Newsat announced in late December Jabiru 1 to be located at 91.5E
Sommet Sports starts on Freeview Satellite and SKY TV
Face TV airs Royal trophy Cup “GOLF” Yes the feed seen a week or so ago was for them.
You may have missed the launch that they got in at the end of December Express AM5 to 140 E In addition to broadcast and broadband services, Express-AM5 will provide mobile communications to Russian government authorities, RSCC said. The satellite will operate at 140 degrees east in geostationary orbit and is expected to enter service in May following testing, RSCC said
Arianespace on December 19th launched the massive Gaia space telescope, and the next launch is being prepared for January 23rd 2014. That flight (the 217th) will orbit two telecommunications satellites: including ABS-2 for Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) to 75E
Figures released stating that not everyone changed to Digital TV on December 1st several thousand remain unaccounted for.
Rupert Murdoch under attack after his Australian papers published articles with headlines "kiwi layabouts are flooding in" "immigration back door" claims made of unlawful racial vilification , breeching the racial discrimination act. There is a threat of legal action if Murdoch doesn't apologize
Ovation Channel on Optus D1 suddenly appears on free view HD platform.
Individuals come home from holiday to find the Korean channels broadcasting from Auckland’s Sky tower missing. Have they gone or moved frequency? and does anyone actually care?
Sky Pacific runs Fta for several days due to a CA failure.
Another batch of Religious channels advertises their impending launch on Optus D2. It has been a slow year for new Religious channels
Afghanistan TV Launches on Optus D2 FTA. Xero Blue and Xero Red encrypts. $29.95 a month for the 2 channels.
Individuals with large Ku dishes report that the Signal strength on Vast has increased on the Optus C1 services.
Several service providers , Show off new IPTV equipment working on ADSL2 networks .
February 2014
Summer atmospheric conditions sees CCTV analog Chinese TV on the low VHF band being received across Australia and New Zealand
Arirang tv leaves KU IS19, now available on 12726 H sr 28066 only
VOA announces that its going to change from 4.3 to 16.9 format on Asiasat 3S @105.5 east
CCTV Announce that all CCTV channels will migrate to DVBS2 and HD broadcast format.
Statistics NZ still maintain that 100,000 homes are not connected to Freeview HD or Satellite service of any kind.. A quick survey shows that most of these people have moved on to flatrate Internet accounts and access their content elsewhere.
Asiasat 4 kicks into life on KU Australia /NZ beam with a 6 channel English service. The Power is a little low to New Zealand but the Fec 2/3 helps.
Many feeds spring up on IS19 and Optus D2 for the rugby 9’s held in NZ
Major arguments between NZ ISP’s and customers over Data Cap usage and costs of over usage. Surely 500 GB per month is enough data? nope not really..
New Android IPTV boxes provide access to many varied English TV channels from the USA and Great Britain.
The JSAT MX2 Media Centers look especially interesting for IPTV http://jsat.tv/mediacenters.html Hey that looks suspiciously like an advert ! (Thanks JON for hosting apsattv on your server for another year)
Lifestyle TV Asia launched in Asia on Asia Sat3s @105.5 east
The return of V8 Supercars, UH oh BISS encrypted Many lament the loss of Aurora back in December as channel 7 was a great V8 Super car back up.
What the heck is a CSA rainbow table? And why are people rushing out to buy 2 Terabyte hard drives. Vrooom vroooom..
March 2014
Cricket s over LBird1 flys off D1
India's "DD Free dish" service on NSS6 @95E, (March) channel expansion is completed. Service has expanded from 59 channel to 120 witth slot on the platform in high demand during auctioning.
A new Freeview NZ terrestrial multiplex is launched.. but of little use to those that are stuck with the satellite version.
ABS 2 seen testing at 75 E,”over the horizon “for New Zealand but good signals into most part of Asia and Australia.
NHK expands its services to Central and Western Africa with a more customized feed
UHD Ultra HD tests via Optus D3 showcasing a full 3840x160 pixel ultra HD picture in HEVC.
Virgin Galactic announces that Space Ship 2 will begin carrying passengers to the edge of space during 2014.
Russia auctions off several satellites complete with orbital slots due to modernization of its satellite fleet.
Space X has a busy year ahead of them with several missions to the ISS and commercial satellite launches.
US PAY TV Operators in Court action over Aero and Filmon services.
April 2014
1st of the month and Rupert Murdoch says "sorry" to New Zealanders that live in Australia about comments made his papers in December of last year.
Trinity broadcasting advises that its Optus D2 service will be broadcast in HD.
Prime TV and Maori TV in New Zealand go HD on UHF using new capacity recently made available.
12407 V on Optus C1 changes to National beam for programme distribution.
Several would be IPTV companies hold seminars on how the introduction of IPTV will affect NZ broadcasters.
A new 9m ku satellite earth station sprouts up in Albany Auckland and another in Petone Wellington.
China gets caught spying on Thailand via a "backdoor" in the Beidou satellite system.
Optus B3 is moved across from 164 E past Australia at 1 degree east a day. Optus B3 has been sold as a orbital place holder for a 3rd world country
Importer imports 2000 Flat plate antennas for Optus reception having being told that a standard unit will receive two satellites at once.
Optus 10 launch seen live on the ABC feed Optus D2. Some report seeing it on IS19 but this is not confirmed.
Interference at 100.5 E blocks Asia Sat 5 broadcasts, the interference is coming from an old Gorizont suddenly starting broadcasting at 103.E Miss aligned dishes are compromised.
May 2014
Optus 10 seen testing, footprint is not quite as expected. Power is also lower than expected.
New Indonesian channels on Palapa D, capacity is becoming scarce there on C Band.
V8' Supercars feeds seen testing NDS encryption. So all the would be crackers of Biss are still no further forward. Crack NDS if u can?
Globecast Australia launch an IPTV portal providing access to all FTA services that they carry on Optus D2.
Measat 3b is launched to 91.5E; it has a Large Ku beam over Australia which includes PNG and some Pacific Islands. Preliminery KU beams and predicted EIRP 59 (Malaysia Beam) 55 (Indonesia Beam) 55 (South Asia Beam) 52 (Australia Beam).
Over 100,000 FTA systems in Iran destroyed by authorities .
News Corp in trouble again, first it was Hacking scandals and now its about hogging orbital slots over Europe
Sky News Australia opens up news gathering facilities in Auckland Wellington and Christchurch.
Several new ethnic channels join the STS line up on Optus D2.
New debate on the Lack of HD TV1, TV2 TV3 on the Freeview satellite service.
Sky NZ still testing on Optus D3
New European Cband services start on Asiasat 5, includes German , French , Polish and Dutch channels, RAI HD international is one channel
June 2014
SKY NZ and Foxtel combine to produce an All Blacks vs. Australia Rugby match in full ultra HD. The Feed is seen on Optus D3, hey they didn't encrypt it. No need, both owners of HEVC DVBS3 receivers are thrilled at the image quality.
Asian DTH provider becomes the first pay TV service to move to DVBS3 hvec Set top boxes fitting 40 channels in one 36 MHz t.p
Fortis in Korea announce their 1st HEVC product
Yin He also announce development of HEVC receivers.
Several Taiwanese companies announce encoding hardware for the new compression format.
Measat adds 4 new HD channels on their Measat 3 platform. One of them is a new channel dedicated to Video Gaming and computing
The Football World cup Kicks off from Brazil with several long term feeds on IS19 and IS18. As usual the broadcast right police are busy across Asia shutting down illegal streams and satellite broadcasts going into regions that exclusive rights.
Sommet sports add several motor racing fixtures to their lineup.Which is good as they were getting complaints about the "too much football"
Several regional broadcasters’ trial IPTV to smart TV’s as a method of distribution.
Notice of proposed auction of 700MHz frequencies made, expressions of interest sought.
Petition going around for Networks to terminate the multiple channels on Freeview and up the data rate to something more like a broadcast quality picture.
Private Court Case started against FreeView with the claims that FreeView is not Broadcast quality. Several Industry experts give evidence claiming that 3 Mbits does not provide broadcast quality using Mpeg 2.
New rules introduced governing the use of portable UHF links that could clash with the Frequencies being auctions to the Telco’s
July 2014
Kacific Satellite to Provide Broadband to Pacific Nations, signs contract for orbital location with Intersputnick. Hey who out there remembers TONGASAT?
HBB tests For Freeview Australia. What is it? Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) is both an industry standard (ETSI TS 102 796[1]) and promotional initiative for hybrid digital TV to harmonise the broadcast, IPTV, and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs (Smart TVs) and set-top boxes (well... that's what wikipedia says)
A hijacking drama is broadcast live via Skype from a passenger’s laptop, Thanks to Panasonic Avionics satellite system.
Eutelsat 70B @ 70.5E KU active into Australia with single hop feeds ex 10E
More Indian networks make the move to HD. There are now over 700 channels licensed to offer programming to India. But channels from Pakistan are still on the BANNED list
ZEE TV changes all its Asiasat 3 services to DVBS2. Upsetting cable operators across India Some of them are still in the process of moving over from Analogue
Great interest is shown in a Typhoon proof rubber satellite dish using metalite 1000 silver reflective coating, invented in the Philippines
New 3rd parties STB for VAST service, quad tuner with dual card slots and will also take an NDS Foxtel card. Also supports Sat IP for viewing on devices on your own local home network.
Astro Malaysia in trouble again for a price increase. Forced to drop prices by the government.
All the Feeds coming out of Brazil for the month long Football world cup terminated.
August 2014
Sky NZ unable to show several cricket series involving India due the rights being purchased by Visionasia.
BBC First launches on Foxtel. BBC First is a new BBC Worldwide brand that will be rolled out globally, with the first channel launch confirmed for Australia.
New Pacific Islands service starts testing on IS19 using DVBS2 the station ID would suggest its being uplinked from Nauru. Who remembers the old Nauru sports channel that was on Cband YEARS ago?
India clones the Philippines rubber dish, Chinese manufacturers unable to clone it due to lack of suitable rubber.
Al Jazerra sports channel launches to Australia and New Zealand.(shh nobody tell them its being viewed already via IPTV and VPN subscription)
Some Vast channels show pixilation, the fault is traced back to the uplink and a failing TWT.(or is that a flailing twit?)
Asiasat 5 reception suddenly drops down in Signal for a few days only individuals with big dishes are not affected.
September 2014
The first of the Telco’s who won spectrum when the UHF band was auctioned reveals their plans for their service.
New encryption software u/grade to BISS 2 CA announced by several providers.
Some Trans Tasman feeds change from BISS to RAS
Panasonic Avionics in a major deal for satellite services with Chinese airlines. One requirement of the deal is that all data sent into and out of the service will get logged and stored on an array of removable hard drives. Hmm?
Due to complaints by several satellite service providers Facebook launches a major crack down on biss keys and code pages.
It's been many years but once again signals from Russia are seen at 140 E in New Zealand the last Russian signals seen on C band were from Rimsat @130 E in analogue! over a decade ago
UHD Video loop seen testing on Asiasat, hey remember a few years back the Asiasat "goldfish" they are back! but their bowl could do with a clean.
Widespread disruption to UHF Digital Television across Australia and New Zealand due to a faulty amateur "microsatellite". University students in Malaysia responsible for the disruptions. There are concerns that this faulty satellite broadcasting into the lower UHF tv channel band could disrupt broadcasts in the region for years
Ku band @ 180E active with additional French TV broadcasts over Australia and New Zealand.
One new digital TV license holder in Thailand has their license canceled forcing an extra auction that brings in a massive amount of baht
Foxtel Go becomes available on more devices.
Newsat announce Jabiru 2 is to be located at 148E in partnership with Measat
October 2014
China announces are ready and willing to help out by shooting down the faulty Malaysian satellite that is causing so much problems on the lower UHF tv band. Hmm
Winnie Pang of Asiasat puts out a Press Release announcing that Goldfish, Xiaohuang and Xiaohei have been upgraded to a new tank. Included is a schedule of feed times along with a link to their own Facebook page.
Bad news about the rubber dishes , tests in Northern Australia show that they distort and are prone to melt in Australian conditions. Also Cockatoos can tear one to shreds within a day.
Several companies outline their plans for expanded IPTV services using the national fibre network. Fibre take up rate in New Zealand and Australia still very low
A new Company offering Satellite internet launches claiming to offer cheaper rates using their equipment.(Hey I hope its not using a rubber dish...)
New low cost tracking dish for mobile homes launched at the National Caravan show. A week later at the National Boating Expo a marine version is also shown working on smaller boats while the boat is pitching around on the harbour.
Low cost satellite phones feature in both the caravan and boat shows. (it seems you just can't get away from it all at ALL these days)
New Channel launched to the Pacific from Australia “Ocean TV” is seen testing on IS18 Pacific Ku beam. Advertising promises to provide English speaking general entertainment channel FTA.
New Russian Satellites roar into life over Asia.
New Indian channel service called VisionIndiaAsiaPLus (yes another one? or has something merged?) launches on IS19 Ku Aust/NZ coverage
New Generation WI Max claims more Asiasat channels both in Australia and New Zealand.
The Kiwi Channel launches on Freeview Satellite, locally compiled it is very similar to Heartland. Everyone likes nostalgia Right.? wrong it gets slammed by the public as filler. The proper place for this old CR_P would be online Available on Demand.
New European services start on ABS-2 Intended for the CATV market in Asia.
Several Globecast channels make their switch to HD. This has been talked about for some time. Does 720P at 1.5mbits qualify as HD? Some Christian viewers to Optus D2 think the change to HD requiring a new receiver is very un Christian like.
Mini boom for cheap HD receivers for channels on 12519 Optus D2
Several more ethnic channels appear on the Horizontals with the STS service expanding and adding another transponder
NT man in boating accident, spends 8 hours clinging to a rubber satellite dish before being rescued.
Russian service identical to that on Asiasat 4 suddenly appears on Optus D2. A lot of hopping around is the market even there for these service anymore? when anyone can buy an IPTV device with hundreds of Russian channels.
Statistics out of Russia show that 1,400 TV channels are broadcast via Russian satellites back to Russia.
Fewer satellites were launched in 2012 than 2011; the 2013 stats are not out yet.
November 2014
The Indian Goverment looking into costs of moving to Hevc for the DD Freedish platform. They want to be offering 400+ channels by mid 2015
Short on money due to court actions, Rupert Murdoch announces that there will be a 2nd Simpsons movie.
What a surprise! KU band TV seen on Eutelsat 172A @172E the first report of video seen there seen since 2006. Hey it looks like a horse racing feed from Globecast. Why are they not using Optus 10 @164? well the feed is also going out over Cband to Asia
Lyngsat for some reason refuses to list Asiasats UHD Goldfish channel
African Countries embark upon Digital Terrestrial TV rollout.
RSCC announces Yamal 401 and Yamal 300K will serve up to 1 billion users. They are the "Mc Donalds" of the satellite world.
Rumors that NDS encryption has been hacked are circulating the Industry. All users of NDS launch counter measures in an attempt to stop the hacking. All users of NDS encryption are summoned to the company’s headquarters in Israel.
BBC Worldwide announce that their BBC First channel will launch in Asia Early in 2015
December 2014
Health concerns for Rupert Murdoch as stress from legal actions take heavy toll. Is taken to hospital for tests, may have had a small heart attack..(oh come on this is the annual prediction after all this one is a regular one)
Auckland man in boating accident, seems he tripped on a loose coax cable banged his head on side of boat and got knocked out stone cold. The amusing part is the boat was still parked in his driveway and he was simply washing it. Dangerous things boats! careful where you step Tony D and don't forget your lifejacket.
December 1st one year on from the analog switch off, time marches on
December 6th one year on from the demise of Aurora and SBS and Channel Seven and a remote Western Australia community of 20 people is found to be still actively using an analogue TV system. Using 20 FTA satellite receivers with carefully tuned rf modulators fed into a regular outdoor UHF antenna to illegally rebroadcast the signals. Who needs VAST? they were quoted $25000 to put a single channel on air to their little community..ouch!
Well, The year (2013) has had its up’s and downs highs and lows but here we are once again at the end of the year looking into the crystal dish and making some more rediculous predictions. Have we made any progress? is the hobby dead or dieing or just evolving into a new shape? is KA band the solution and if so what exactly was the question? perhaps we should make an effort this year to get off Facebook. stop twittering tweeting and youtubing. step away from the 55 inch LED Smart TV UNPLUG the F connector, pull out that Network cable put that tablet and iphone away and GO FISHING or CAMPING!
See you all NEXT YEAR Readers ( Next update Friday..)
