Satellites available in New Zealand

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basicallythis

78 posts

Master Geek

Topic # 29544 11-Jan-2009 04:36

I just bought me a 90cm Ku band satellite dish and while waiting for a satellite finder from TradeMe, I'm putting together a list of Ku (and C while I'm at it) beams that should be available from Wellington.

Ku Bands
Asiasat 4 - Ku Beam - 205cm dish.
Optus C1 -
Optus D1 -
Optus D2 -
Intelsat 8 - Ku New Zealand Beam - 50cm dish.
Intelsat 2 - Ku Australia Beam - 90cm dish.
GE23 - Ku South Pacific Beam - 90cm dish.
NSS5 - Ku New Zealand Beam - 60cm dish.

C Bands
Asiasat 3S - C Beam - 390cm dish.
Palapa C2 - C Beam Asean Plus - 200cm dish.
Chinasat 6B - C Beam - 225cm dish.
Asiasat 4 - C Beam - 225cm dish.
Vinasat 1 - C Beam - 350cm dish.
Apstar 6 - C Beam - 250cm dish.
Telstar 18 - C Beam - 275cm dish.
Measat 2 - C Beam - 710cm dish.
Intelsat 8 - C Beam - 390cm dish.
Intelsat 2 - C Ocenia Beam - 435cm dish.
Intelsat 2 - C Global Beam - 490cm dish.
GE23 - C Global Beam - 180cm dish.
Intelsat 701 - C Spot B Beam - 200cm dish.
Intelsat 701 - C West Beam - 250cm dish.
NSS5 - C South West Beam - 200cm dish.
NSS5 - C Global Beam - 310cm dish.
NSS5 - C West Beam - 180cm dish.

Information from Lyngsat, and various satellite owner websites. These aren't personally verified by me, so it's all care no responsibility.

Feel free to add to the list. Once I get the satellite finder then I'll list actual satellites I can receive from Newtown, and channels available.

allstarnz

1677 posts

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Reply # 189187 13-Jan-2009 12:58

with a 90cm dish, you won't be able to get c-band, only Ku

I can receive D1, D2 and C1 ok. For each of these birds, you can only get some of the beams

D1 - NANZ and NZB transponders only
D2 - NANZ beams only
C1 - 12407v only (only has encrypted Aurora channels on it, plus a tuning channel)

Don't know about what other Ku stuff you can get, as I don't have a motor.

basicallythis

78 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 189191 13-Jan-2009 13:15

You're quite right. Quite a few channels are availalbe on the C band, but I really don't think my apartment will enjoy a 3M dish. There are a few satellites that have FTA feeds every now and then depending on the beam. There's also Ariang and MAC TV on Intelsat 8 12491 V 4400 and 12502 V 3074 which should be able to be received.

I don't have a motor either, I've got a sky dish always pointing at D1, the new 90cm dish is just my hobby dish for moving around and mainly looking at D2.

allstarnz

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Reply # 189239 13-Jan-2009 15:18

D2 is often used for uplinks, also AS4 and D1, but not as frequently. A blind scanning STB such as a Strong will do this nicely.

with a 90cm, you should be able to run 3 LNB's off it for D1, C1 and D2 (and D3 when it comes online, co-located with C1). Just need some cable, a DiSEqC switch and a triple LNB bracket

Brunzy

717 posts

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Reply # 189343 13-Jan-2009 20:46

allstarnz: D2 is often used for uplinks, also AS4 and D1, but not as frequently. A blind scanning STB such as a Strong will do this nicely.

with a 90cm, you should be able to run 3 LNB's off it for D1, C1 and D2 (and D3 when it comes online, co-located with C1). Just need some cable, a DiSEqC switch and a triple LNB bracket

I would avoid these,you cant skew the individual LNB's,there are other types that can

knoydart

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Reply # 189346 13-Jan-2009 21:08

allstarnz: D2 is often used for uplinks, also AS4 and D1, but not as frequently

Er Prob more like D1 than D2 at the moment for uplinks here in NZ

allstarnz

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Reply # 189397 13-Jan-2009 23:54

Brunzy:
allstarnz: D2 is often used for uplinks, also AS4 and D1, but not as frequently. A blind scanning STB such as a Strong will do this nicely.

with a 90cm, you should be able to run 3 LNB's off it for D1, C1 and D2 (and D3 when it comes online, co-located with C1). Just need some cable, a DiSEqC switch and a triple LNB bracket

I would avoid these,you cant skew the individual LNB's,there are other types that can

depends, works fine for D1, D2 and C1, as they all have the same skew. I wouldn't like to try and mix in Asiasat 4 or something similar for the reasons you describe above.

Both D1 and D2 transponders are around 14db SNR and near 0 BER, C1 a little lower at around 11db.

knoydart:
allstarnz: D2 is often used for uplinks, also AS4 and D1, but not as frequently

Er Prob more like D1 than D2 at the moment for uplinks here in NZ

i have found most uplinks originate out of Australia anyway, which use D2 v-pol. Now and then (eg election night) there will be h-pol D1 uplinks from NZ.

hbk

94 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 189512 14-Jan-2009 13:24

From what I have seen unless you are into watching foreign language or content channels (Russia Today, DW, CCTV etc) and occasional feeds, C1 is the other satellite worth tuning.

You can get Seven and SBS (and a couple others) from Australia on C1 with a 90cm dish (when I was in the middle of the NI anyway) with a dual holder. Costs about $200ish for a Irdeto CAM and a legit Aurora smartcard to watch the channels (need to know someone in Au to activate the card for you and then post it over).

Seven is a good channel, has a bit of sport and a lot of American dramas (Prison Break, Heros etc), SBS is more like a TV1/Prime mix, good docos, Myth Busters, Top Gear. Might not be worth it for a lot of people but I don't subscribe to Sky so I've probably had my monies worth.