Sky TV Testing on a different satellite

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JaBZ

404 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2261481 20-Jun-2019 13:26

STB upgrade will be no good unless they seriously upgrade to at least full HD at a decent bitrate.

I had a few seasons of GOT on AppleTV (US account) after getting through them I had to resort to Sky's OnDemand with a noticeable downgrade in quality (SD). My wife total non techie will usually watch anything, but even she commented on Sky's atrocious picture quality after experiencing a few seasons on AppleTV..

My opinions and ideas expressed in posts are solely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer in any way..

tdgeek

29746 posts

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#2261482 20-Jun-2019 13:39

JaBZ:

STB upgrade will be no good unless they seriously upgrade to at least full HD at a decent bitrate.

I had a few seasons of GOT on AppleTV (US account) after getting through them I had to resort to Sky's OnDemand with a noticeable downgrade in quality (SD). My wife total non techie will usually watch anything, but even she commented on Sky's atrocious picture quality after experiencing a few seasons on AppleTV..

I noticed that also, having only watched GoT recently, start to finish. Is this an Sky OD thing or was it the same on the linear channel it was on?

wellygary

8323 posts

Uber Geek

#2261490 20-Jun-2019 14:03

Here is Sky's December Announcement

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-website-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/SKT/328838/292967.pdf

"SKY Renews Satellite Agreement with Optus for immediate release, 21 December 2018

SKY Television has secured satellite capacity for a further 10 years with an agreement signed with Optus Networks Pty Ltd today"

...

"Under the deal, Optus will provide SKY with satellite capacity to 2031. The current contract expires in 2021.

The cost of SKY’s investment under the contract is in excess of $200 million, evidence of SKY’s commitment to ensuring it can service all New Zealanders.

The contract is conditional on Optus procuring fleet enhancements which include the successful launch of a new satellite at 160oE to replace the existing D1 satellite. "

So Sky have signed up for more Optus BUT its conditional on a new bird at 160E..... the question is have Optus decided on not replacing D1@160E, but such a call would have a significant impact on Freeview too....

One possible explanation is that Sky are testing new digital Formats/STBs etc and they don't have enough Capacity on D1 to do it , so they have rented some time on another Satellite to test things out , and they will then roll out the new specs for everyone when the replacement for D1 goes up,

tdgeek

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#2261492 20-Jun-2019 14:06

Id assume that they would put the new one in the geo orbit, to avoid dish issues?

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2261536 20-Jun-2019 15:51

Optus D1 was launched in 2006 with a 15 year life, meaning it's reliability after 2021 is not guaranteed.

Optus 10 was launched in 2014 and has been vaunted as the replacement for D1, and was designed to be moved from 156E to 160E, but it looks like it is busy with Australian subscription TV at it's present location, so it looks like if it is going to replace D1, either AU or NZ is going to have to realign their dishes.

If Sky is going to be forced to realign every dish in the country, then it would be an equal amount of pain to move from Optus to someone else who is going to offer a better deal.

rugrat

3107 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2261604 20-Jun-2019 18:53

If they're going to realign Dish's, hopefully there's nothing like a tree, or big building in new direction blocking....

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
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#2261706 20-Jun-2019 22:35

rugrat:
If they're going to realign Dish's, hopefully there's nothing like a tree, or big building in new direction blocking....

In that case at least we might now have an alternative in the much-vaunted puck.

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Brunzy

2016 posts

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#2261714 21-Jun-2019 00:00

tripper1000:
Optus D1 was launched in 2006 with a 15 year life, meaning it's reliability after 2021 is not guaranteed.

Optus 10 was launched in 2014 and has been vaunted as the replacement for D1, and was designed to be moved from 156E to 160E, but it looks like it is busy with Australian subscription TV at it's present location, so it looks like if it is going to replace D1, either AU or NZ is going to have to realign their dishes.

If Sky is going to be forced to realign every dish in the country, then it would be an equal amount of pain to move from Optus to someone else who is going to offer a better deal.

Sky dishes with a dual LNB already have the capability to look at 156E via 22khz switching , so no need for any wholesale realignment

Apsattv

2389 posts

Uber Geek

#2261825 21-Jun-2019 10:24

It has a lot of potential in terms of footprint and beams. For example if SKY suddenly decided to offer tv to the pacific islands. That footprint could be added to the NZ coverage easily. Or Sky could get into satellite delivered internet & TV for rural viewers..

There is little chance of Horizon 3E being moved anywhere as the look angle for uplinking from the U.S would become a problem. Intelsat has used 169E as one of their main orbital slots for many years.

The test signal do appear to be stronger than D1 at this point which could help with rainfade issues that a few suffer from.

Ill try and test a dish on 160E with an lnbf off the side at 169E that should be useable as well.

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2261876 21-Jun-2019 12:13

rugrat: If they're going to realign Dish's, hopefully there's nothing like a tree, or big building in new direction blocking....

Realignment from D1 @ 160deg to to H-3E @ 169 is only an ~14 degree change clock-wise and 2 deg higher in the sky (for a home in Lower Hutt according to the Lingsat alignment calculator) so that wouldn't be a problem in most of cases.

Brunzy: Sky dishes with a dual LNB already have the capability to look at 156E via 22khz switching , so no need for any wholesale realignment

Yes, but assuming Sky wants to continue having a backup satellite then switching LNB throats would be a short term fix, as a tech is still going to have to visit at some point to change the LNB (and possibly also alignment) to set the dish up with the new back-up satellite.

hypnotoad

26 posts

Geek

#2262693 22-Jun-2019 19:15

tdgeek:
JaBZ:

STB upgrade will be no good unless they seriously upgrade to at least full HD at a decent bitrate.

I had a few seasons of GOT on AppleTV (US account) after getting through them I had to resort to Sky's OnDemand with a noticeable downgrade in quality (SD). My wife total non techie will usually watch anything, but even she commented on Sky's atrocious picture quality after experiencing a few seasons on AppleTV..

I noticed that also, having only watched GoT recently, start to finish. Is this an Sky OD thing or was it the same on the linear channel it was on?

Sky OD is all like that as its a free service(no extra charge to existing subscription).

Neon has GOT in HD quality on par with the live SoHo channel.

Apsattv

2389 posts

Uber Geek

#2264014 25-Jun-2019 13:01

Details for those wanting to view the SKY TESTS

1.2M Dish

12317 H Sr 30000 Fec 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK S/N 20.5 dB
12281 H Sr 30000 Fec 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK S/N 19.7 dB

12281 V Sr 30000 Fec 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK S/N 12.4 dB
12354 V Sr 30000 Fec 2/3 DVB-S2 8PSK S/N 12.1 dB
12526 V Sr 1150 (not sky)

and I wonder why satellite tests didnt need mentioning in SKY sharemarket announcement??

SKY Accelerates Focus On Streaming Services
25/6/2019, 8:59 am GENERAL

Sky CEO Martin Stewart has today reaffirmed the company’s accelerated focus on streaming services.

“From my first day at Sky I have talked about how streaming services are our future. Over the last few months we have taken a close look at Sky’s technology roadmap and as a result we have sharpened our future focus.

Our core goal is to deliver our superb content in ways that meet the needs of all New Zealanders. We want everyone to be able to access our content in the way that suits them best. That means:

1. Delivering extremely well to the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who have Sky boxes in their homes with our world–leading service reliability and convenience
and

2. Providing highly appealing and competitive services to those customers who want to access our content online. Having best-in-class streaming experiences is a critical part of our growth plan for Sky.

With that in mind, we have taken a thorough look at the development and deployment of the next generation ‘Puck’ device that we have been working on, and which has not yet been launched.

Drawing on our understanding of the ways New Zealanders are watching content in 2019 and what they want from us, we have decided that we can best serve our customers by enhancing our streaming services, and we will not proceed with the Puck device. Customers who prefer to consume our sports and entertainment on a set-top box are already well served with My Sky, which offers reliability and great functionality, and they all get complimentary access to our SkyGO app.

In the coming weeks we will have exciting announcements that prove our commitment to delivering Sky in ways that work for all New Zealanders.

In August we are launching our new sports App, with a superb content line-up, new pricing and great features. We also have a number of enhancements planned on Neon and Sky Go that will increase choice, quality and ways of enjoying those services.

We will continue to encourage Sky customers to connect their Sky box to their home internet in order to access our vast array of on demand ready-to-watch content. We’re also improving the viewing experience with an increased number of HD channels, and there are superb enhancements coming on the Sky Sport front.

We have an exceptional suite of content. Our refocused technology roadmap means we will deliver it to customers wherever they want it, when they want it, and through the platform that best meets their personal needs.”

Ends.

For further information, please contact:
Sophie Moloney
Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary
Sky Network Television Limited
(09) 579 9999

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