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Station Report Station Report PTS Channels in Taiwan Something’s Happening in the Skies Over Taiwan Kevin Chen, Engineer Manager

Country Report Report Country Taiwansatellite.tv, Taipei Installations for iﬁutt-e Satellites Difﬁcult-to-Get 06-07/2007 i nux

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AB IPBox 250SPVR Allen Yen, COO The Best in its Class MTI LNB Manufacturer Company Report -based Gary Wu, President Of Ideas We Never Run Out MOTECK Manufacturer Antenna Motor Company Report Manager Allen Shen,General Focused on Satellite Dishes AZURE SHINE Dish Manufacturer Company Report

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CONTENT

AB IP BOX 250S PVR Digital Linux-based PVR satellite receiver ...... 16 Dear

JIUZHOU BSB11 Universal Ku-Band Readers Monoblock Single LNB ...... 18

TECHNISAT DIGIPLUS STR 1 Digital CI Satellite Receiver with two integrated card readers ...... 22

Satellite parts, that is, receivers, LNBs, desired satellites. Or, why not simply an dishes, etc., seem to have prices that go add-on to the antenna? But let’s come in only one direction: down. This makes back down to Earth. This would probably the consumer happy since it has become never see the light of day since an antenna KATHREIN less expensive year after year since the only needs to be aligned once and these MOBISET 4 CAP 900 beginning of the satellite age to purchase tools would still be too expensive despite New system for mobile homes ...... 26 a satellite system. Unfortunately, the them being as cheap as they are. The manufacturers and dealers don’t share system introduced in this issue deals with Media: that enthusiasm: they must regularly plan a mobile reception system that truly does Satellite and HDTV News ...... 10 for less and less proﬁt. But there are also need to be properly aligned more than other aspects of this lowering-price trend: once. But why not a signal analyzer with other technologies are also becoming less built-in GPS? Feature: expensive. This results in new variations How MPEG really works ...... 12 where two technologies are combined. You can bet that TELE-satellite will be discussing the subject of combined Company report: In this edition we are presenting just technologies more often in the future. Taiwansatellite.tv,Taipei ...... 44 such a fusion: a motorized antenna with a You might have noticed that the word built-in GPS receiver allowing the motor to “broadband” now appears in the subtitle of Company report: align itself. Two technologies that thanks TELE-satellite magazine. Satellite reception MTI - News from Innovation Road .....48 to continuously decreasing manufacturing is not so isolated anymore. Everything costs can now be combined. A few years is coming together and leaning towards Company report: ago you would have thought of this idea computer technology. This includes not only Azure Shine - Dishes in Focus ...... 50 as merely a vision that would have been channel reception but also the operation too expensive. That isn’t true today of the receiver. The age-old rule that a anymore. receiver needs to be in the living room and Company report: must be controlled by a remote control is no MOTECK’s Motor Professionals ...... 54 Satellite reception and GPS actually longer valid. The combination possibilities belong together since satellite reception of various technologies are expanding; Station report: is above all a question of position. Which new variations are becoming possible. Satellitenprogramme für Taiwan - satellite you can receive depends on your das Kontrollzentrum von PTS ...... 56 location on the Earth. What good is the best With broadbanded greetings, receiving equipment if you can’t receive Company report: anything where you are? GPS delivers AlexanderWiese SmartWi - A Danish Family-Owned your position with extreme accuracy. If Business ...... 58 this is coordinated with a satellite list, such as SatcoDX, you will not only know what channels you can receive but the satellite P.S.: My favorite radio station of the Company report: system can automatically set itself up to month: “Das Modul” (that’s what the Sadoun - Into the Satellite Future these channels. display says) on ASTRA (19.2° E) 12.266H at High Speed ...... 60 with non-stop music interrupted only by This idea can be taken yet a step further: station identiﬁcation pauses, naming this Letter to The Editor: why not an LNB with built-in GPS? A small station as “Bavarian Open Radio”. This is TELE-satellite Experts Reply ...... 62 display on the LNB could tell the user to one of those stations whose name doesn’t what elevation and azimuth the antenna match what is sent in the data stream, but Company report: must be turned to in order to receive the who cares, the music is good! Satellite Trade Show ...... 64

ADVERTISERS ABCOM ...... 59 IBC 2007 ...... 47 TELE-satellite CITY ...... 63 ARION ...... 7 INFOSAT ...... 21 SMARTWI ...... 51 AZURE SHINE ...... 43 INVACOM ...... 27 SPAUN ...... 57 COMMUNIC ASIA 2007 ...... 39 JIUZHOU ...... 68 DOEBIS ...... 8,9 JONSA ...... 46 STAB ...... 25 DVB SHOP ...... 4 KATHREIN ...... 63 TAITRONICS ...... 42 EEBC 2007 ...... 53 MAX-COMMUNICATION ...... 67 TECHNISAT ...... 15 EMP ...... 14 MOTECK ...... 51 TECHNOMATE ...... 19 EYCOS ...... 5 MTI ...... 43 FORTECSTAR ...... 37 RESYS ...... 61 TERRA ...... 11 HORIZON ...... 23 SADOUN ...... 31 TOPFIELD ...... 2

6 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

MEDIA Satellite & Broadband News

that bought Intelsat for about US$ 5 billion in ernment customers across Canada. The Hughes early 2005. Lister said that valuations of satellite broadband satellite system is based on the IPoS (IP companies have risen to about nine times their over Satellite) industry standard, including DVB-S2 Edited by cash flows from about six times, and that gross with ACM (Adaptive Coding Modulation). Galaxy margins are about 70 percent. "There are really will also provide new service plans that can be Branislav Pekic five or six big players today," Lister said, speaking customized to improve the performance of satellite at the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity VPN connections and other business applications. Summit. "I think there will be more consolidation." EUROPE & AFRICA Lister declined to name possible candidates for USA takeovers but said that major satellite companies, DIRECTV TO LAUNCH 100 HDTV FINLAND which provide service to media, government CHANNELS BY END-2007 YLE FACED WITH MONEY and telecoms companies, need to make acquisi- DirecTV Group chief financial officer Michael Palko- PROBLEMS FOR HDTV tions to fill in geographic areas that may not be vic said in March the direct-broadcast satellite giant Mikael Jungner, the chief executive of the covered by their networks. He expected compa- is moving ahead in its plans to launch 100 HDTV Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) told the nies to add quasi-governmental regional service channels by the end of the year, but he conceded Finnish News Agency (STT) in March that it providers, such as in Mexico, to their holdings. that some of those channels will be multiple feeds did not intend to rush to introduce high-defini- from sports packages like NFL Sunday Ticket. tion television (HDTV) broadcasts. According CANADA Palkovic said DirecTV already has about 70 HD to Jungner YLE would make a decision on the NEW EXPRESSVU HD RECEIVERS IN JULY channels under contract and that number is grow- matter at the earliest in 2010 as with current DTH satellite TV operator Bell ExpressVu will ing. He added that 70 or 80 of the HD channels levels of funding, YLE simply cannot afford it. be replacing its current line-up of high defini- would be considered year-round channels. When tion receivers with new MPEG4 models in July. DirecTV’s capacity expansion is completed next HOLY SEE Consumers will be able to choose from three year, it will offer more than 1,500 local HDTV chan- VATICAN INITIATES HDTV BROADCASTS new high definition receivers – the ExpressVu nels and more than 150 national HDTV channels. The Vatican Television Center (CTV) entered 6141, 9241 and 9242. After July 2007, consum- Currently there about 10 national HD channels, the world of high-definition broadcast on April ers will only be able to purchase the new models, with rival EchoStar Communications offering those 15. The first high-definition program was the as the current will be discounted and cleared packages, as well as about 10 Voom channels, Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI on out. ExpressVu does not make its own receiv- the HD offering from Rainbow Media Holdings. April 15, in anticipation of his 80th birthday ers but purchases them from Echostar. the following day. CTV airs about 200 events  ASIA & AUSTRALIA each year, and cooperates with other television STAR CHOICE LAUNCHES TWO networks in coverage of major papal events. NEW HD CHANNELS ASIA & PACIFIC Star Choice will be adding five new high definition HDTV TAKING OFF, CLAIMS REPORT SPAIN (HD) channels and two standard definition (SD) Although significant barriers remain for widespread TELEFONICA AND CANAL AD IN HDTV DEAL channels to its line-up by the end of May. In March, HDTV content delivery in the Asia/Pacific, it is Telefonica Servicios Audiovisuales will acquire the operator added two HDTV stations - WGN taking off with consumers, according to a report by and co-produce content for Canal AD, the first HD and HDNet. The first includes HD program- market research company In-Stat. Total consumer HDTV channel to be produced out of Spain. ming from the popular CW network including revenue from HDTV content broadcasted in the Soft-launched in December, Canal AD has inked Smallville, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, One region is forecast to jump from US$3.2 billion in a carriage deal on satellite system Hispasat 1C, Tree Hill, and much more. HDNet is a Canadian 2006 to US$8.06 billon by 2012. HDTV content is whose footprint covers Spain, Portugal and the version of the popular U.S. station. In May, Star being marketed as a premium in Asia/Pacific, with rest of Europe. It can be viewed free of charge by Choice plans to launch three new French HD the hope of increasing monthly revenues for cable viewers who own an HD-ready TV set and buy channels: Canal Vie HD, Series + HD, and Z tele and satellite operators, as well as providing ter- a 60cm satellite dish and DVB-HD MPEG4/AVC HD. Canal Vie HD features women's programming restrial TV broadcasters with a new weapon in the decoder. Telefonica also plans to incorporate Canal while Series+ HD and Z tele HD provide various fight against pay-TV services. The report claims that AD onto its Spanish Imagenio Internet TV service types of entertainment programming. Once the over 9.9 million TV households in five Asia/Pacific within the next six months and to adapt the channel three French HD stations are available, the DTH countries (Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, for its direct-to-home pay TV services in Brazil, broadcaster will be offering its 870,000 customers and Singapore) received and watched HDTV pro- Chile and Colombia. Rival Digital Plus is studying 25 HD Channels – 20 English and five French. gramming by the end of 2006. In-Stat expects that the possibility of launching its own HD channel.  number to climb rapidly over the next three years. TELESAT LAUNCHES ANIK F3 SATELLITE Japan is currently leading the HDTV content devel- UNITED KINGDOM Telesat successfully launched the latest generation opment, with over 8.5 million households receiving PRESSURE MOUNTS ON OFCOM OVER HD of its communication satellites, the Anik F3 in April and watching HD service as of the end of 2006. A group of broadcasters, retailers and manufac- 10, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan turers is leading a campaign to ensure universal atop a Russian Proton Breeze M rocket owned by AUSTRALIA availability of high-definition TV in the UK. Members International Launch Services. The satellite built SONY PARTNERS TEN’S HD of the HDforAll campaign - which includes the BBC, by EADS Astrium is to add to telecommunications AFL BROADCASTS ITV, Channel 4, Sony, Samsung and the Dixons service in North America and to supplement the Sony Australia has joined forces with Network Ten retail group - want Ofcom to reserve up to one third functions of the Anik F2 satellite. The new satellite and the Australian Football League in becom- of the spectrum for digital terrestrial TV viewers. is expected to provide service for direct-to-home ing a major sponsor of TEN’s High Definition Executives from ITV, the BBC and Channel 4 met television in the United States, broadband internet (HD) AFL telecasts as well as the AFL’s official DTI Minister Margaret Hodge in an eleventh-hour services, and telecommunications for Bell Canada consumer electronics partner. Major broadcast plea for guaranteed spectrum to supply free HDTV and other BCE Inc.-related companies. The Anik partnership of TEN’s HD AFL telecasts, including The broadcasters warned that Ofcom's proposals F3 will also broadcast television signals to northern Saturday night home and away season games, to auction off a huge slice of the airwaves ahead Canada and remote areas of the country. The Anik TEN’s finals and the 2007 Grand Final, which will of analogue switch-off would leave them unable to F3 offers service on the C, Ka and Ku frequency be exclusively live on TEN. Digital Broadcast- offer HD, with its superior pictures and sound, to bands. It has 32 Ku-band transponders, 24 C-band ing Australia estimates that 36% (or 720,000) of Freeview viewers. They fear that wealthy mobile transponders, and several in the Ka-band, and the 2 million Australian homes with free to view phone companies would outbid them, leaving is expected to be in service for about 15 years. digital television had HD receivers as of December Sky and cable as the only available routes for  2006. Sony’s own research, in conjunction with those customers wanting HD. Ofcom argues that HUGHES SUPPLIES BROADBAND GfK, claims consumer spending on HD hardware it cannot specify what spectrum is used for. SATELLITE SYSTEM TO GALAXY represented 53% of the market in the fourth quarter Hughes Network Systems has supplied a broad- of 2006, up 130% on the same period a year ago. NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA band satellite system to Galaxy Broadband Com-  munications, which operates its Network Operations ARIANE TO LAUNCH OPTUS D3 SATELLITE PERMIRA SEES SATELLITE GROWTH Center from a teleport in Ontario. The fully redun- Optus has chosen Arianespace to orbit its D3 The satellite industry is poised for both stronger dant satellite system enables Galaxy Broadband satellite. Optus D3 will be orbited by an Ariane growth and more consolidation, according to Tom to extend its broadband satellite service offerings launcher or a Soyuz launcher in 2009 from Europe's Lister, a partner at Permira, a major investor in beyond consumer internet access, to a wide range Spaceport in French Guiana. Optus D3 will be the technology, media and telecoms arenas. The of value-added commercial applications, including the fifth satellite launched by Arianespace for the private equity firm was part of an investor group VoIP, reaching enterprise, small business and gov- Australian operator. Optus D1 was launched by

10 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com Arianespace in October 2006, following Optus MALAYSIA and Defence C1 in 2003 and Aussat A3 in 1987. WIRELESS FREQUENCIES INTERFERING Optus D2 is scheduled for launch by Arianespace WITH MEASAT 2 SATELLITE later this year. Optus' parent company Sing- The Malaysian Government may have to withdraw Tel also chose Arianespace to launch its ST-1 the licences of wireless broadband service provid- satellite in 1998. Orbital Sciences Corporation ers that are using the 3.5GHz frequency, as they will construct the Optus D3 spacecraft using the Star-2 platform. The satellite will be positioned at have been found to interfere with transmissions 156 degrees East, providing direct TV broad- between the Measat-2 communications satellite cast, Internet, telephony and data transmission and its earth station. Energy, Water and Com- services for Australia and New Zealand. munications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik blamed the Malaysian Communications CHINA – HONG KONG and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which VOOM HD LAUNCHES IN HONG KONG had given out the 3.5GHz spectrum licences. Rainbow Media has reached a deal to launch its Lim said he was considering pulling back the VOOM HD channel in Hong Kong on PCCW’s licences, adding that he had no numbers yet on Now Broadband TV platform, allowing subscrib- how many licences were handed out. Accord- ers to view the content, subtitled in Chinese, ing to the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communica- both in standard definition, from April, and in tions Council, satellite operations in Australia, HD shortly thereafter. The agreement marks the Bolivia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Pakistan and Indonesia first launch of VOOM HD in Asia. The channel have been affected by similar interference. offers viewers exclusive content that includes adventure travel, fashion, luxury lifestyle, art, SINGAPORE live concerts, action sports and video gaming. HALF OF HOMES TO HAVE The global VOOM HD channel has launched HDTV IN FIVE YEARS on Scandinavia's Canal Digital, Sweden's Com The Media Development Authority (MDA) claims Hem, Estonia's Elion and Latvia's IZZI, and that half of all homes in Singapore have HDTV is expected to launch in Singapore later this in five years, it will be considered a high take-up year. It also airs as a branded block in Korea. rate. But MDA hopes to achieve that target in a INDIA shorter time than that. It is organising competitions DD PLANS HDTV PILOT around Singapore to promote HDTV but it realises Public broadcaster Doordarshan has approved a that the technology will take time to enter homes. proposal for a pilot project in high definition televi- Singaporeans got a glimpse of a new revolution sion (HDTV). The facility for field production in in broadcasting when MediaCorp aired the final HDTV was envisaged to be set up in Delhi in 2007- three matches of the World Cup last year in high 2008, according to a Doordarshan spokesperson. definition formula. Some months later, StarHub  launched two HD channels. SingTel will be the next PRASAR BHARATI IN PILOT PROJECT service provider to join the bandwagon using the Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati will invest close Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). MediaCorp, which has to Rs 30 crore in running pilot projects on mobile concluded a successful trial of terrestrial transmis- TV, high-definition TV and car TV. It plans to sion of HD services, is looking into the feasibility launch mobile TV in Delhi by May and later expand of offering commercial HD services. In February it to other metros. “We will also invest Rs 15 crore this year, nearly two-thirds or 67 percent of all TV in a pilot project for high definition television”,” sets sold were HD-ready, compared from just 29 B S Lalli, chief executive officer, Prasar Bharati, percent in February last year. Singapore is the first said. High-definition television is a priority area for country in Southeast Asia to offer HD services. Doordarshan before the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010. The Indian Government has made TAIWAN its intentions clear that the telecast of the Common- HIGH DEFINITION TV DEVELOPMENT wealth Games will be on a high-definition format.  PROJECT LAUNCHED INSAT 4B FULLY OPERATIONAL A two-year television digitization project was launched in March, aimed at transforming Taiwan's The Indian Space Research Organisation's television transmission systems into high-definition latest communication satellite, the Insat 4B, became fully operational in mid-April, a month TV by 2010. Officials said high-definition transmis- after it launched from French Guiana. The Insat sion tests via satellite are expected to begin before 4B, located at 93.5 degrees East, carries the 2008. This will allow viewers to be able to watch following payloads: 12 Ku- band 36 MHz and 27 live transmissions of the 2008 Beijing Olympic MHz bandwidth Transponders; 2 C-band 36 MHz Games. They said they hope more diverse educa- bandwidth transponders. Kalanithi Maran's Sun tional TV programs will be produced in Taiwan. Group has booked seven Ku-band transponders on Insat-4B for its soon-to-launch DTH service AFRICA Sun Direct, while Prasar Bharati's free-to-air (FTA) package DD Direct Plus has booked five. Sun will NIGERIA be using MPEG-4 technology that will allow it to GILAT TO LAUNCH KU BAND SATELLITE compress more TV channels per transponder. The Executive Vice President, Sales and Market- ISRAEL ing, of Israel’s Gilat Satcom, Avihu Bergman, HDTV TO ARRIVE IN 2008 has disclosed that the telecoms firm based in Israel will launch its KU-Band service in Nigeria. The HOT cable and YES satellite services will start transmitting digital (HD) broadcasts late Bergman pointed out that Gilat Satcom will be this year or in the beginning of 2008, accord- coming into the KU Band service segment with ing to officials at NDS. According to Abe Peled, the latest technology on the Shiron platform with NDS's Israeli chairman and CEO, the potential the DVBS 2 standard ACM in order to cope with market for HD TV is huge, as there are 1.73 likely changes in the environment like rain, storms billion households around the globe with TVs, etc. He added that Gilat Satcom, will operate more. Among the company's new technolo- with the KU-Band Intelsat 904 satellites whose gies, some of them already available abroad, beam is currently focused on Nigeria so that it are HD television for subscribers over cel- will greatly help in minimising rain fade and other lular phones and portable video players. problems associated with the Ku-band width. FEATURE Data Reduction in MPEG How MPEG really works An expert view on the deeper secrets of digital compression Clive J. Grove

MPEG is all about data reduction. The original signal is converted to a data stream, then this is the reference area. The offset is cal- reduced. The resultant, when recovered, will always be at best a near representation of the culated between the current macroblock and original. The system is therefore lossy. This is acceptable in this context, because the human the reference prediction area. This then is the eye is a tolerant organ, typically only capable of detecting one error per 120,000 samples. motion vector. The ear on the other hand is capable of detecting one error per 1.5 million samples. Sound is Subtract the reference area from the cur- therefore treated differently in MPEG. rent macroblock. Encode the difference macroblock with an encoder. This means All the “PEG’s” employ the same basic ing components are close to zero. These are that little data will be left in the difference reduction system. The differences between deemed insignificant and filtered away as macroblock. This means more efficient com- them occur in the detail. system noise. The 64 macro blocks are 64 pression. Further tools are the inter-frame DVB S or S2 is all about giving the signal 8x8 blocks of pixels these blocks increase in processes. Typically the encoder will be set to ruggedness. The signal has been generated frequency content horizontally and vertically. work on a group of 12 frames. These are the in an electrically clean environment. In the They contain all statistical shapes that can I Frame (Intra frame). These are compressed transmission path it is now about to enter a exist. to stand alone. They are not predicted from very noisy domain. Every type of noise and The system selects a block having the the other frames. They therefore contain the distortion can be expected. The signal has closest match of co-efficients to the macro most data. therefore to be prepared for this. Inevitably block of video and applies DCT. To recover the there will be some small sacrifices to be paid information multiply each identified block by The P Frame (Predicted Frame) are pre- for this process in the expansion of the origi- its DCT weight and the result is the original dicted by referring to an earlier frame. The nal data. image. We now quantize the each DCT value B frame (between Frames) are predicted by by an integer. This results in a loss of preci- referring to both of the neighbouring frames. It is also worth noting that the DVB-S and sion and typically only leaves a few non zero It is evident that by using P and B frames it the DVB-T process their signals very differ- co-efficients. greatly improves the efficiency of the picture ently at this point. The “magic bullet” is DCT: compression because these frames only con- Discrete Cosine Transform. This is because of We now scan the quantized coefficients in tain the differences between the frames. In DCT’s ability to represent the most visually a zig zag order. This has the effect of group- general terms there is little change between significant information in an image using only ing all the non-zero coefficients together. Run any pair of television frames, therefore the a few coefficients. Unlike the Discrete Fourier level encoding is applied. This will produce a only data that needs be transmitted is the dif- Transform, which essentially does the same sequence of number pairs. The first value is ference information between the prediction computation, however creating many more number of preceding zeros. The second value and the actual frame of video. higher order components. Therefore it cre- is the level or non zero number. This string ates a less efficient overall compression. is now easily applied to an Entropy encoder. Now the various documents published by This will assign a short code to frequently DVB, ETSI, ITU etc do not instruct manufac- The DCT is only one component in a bag occurring groups and will apply a long code to turers how to build encoders or decoders. of many very powerful compression tools. A infrequently occurring groups. The result is a Rather they provide guidelines to and algo- block structure is applied, 64 macro blocks further compressed image. Further tools are rithms for the MPEG system. As a result, in are created, the resultant has DCT applied used for motion estimation. the marketplace the only common param- separately to each block. This process con- Data can be significantly reduced further eters are what goes in and what comes out of verts the macro blocks from the frequency if the previous frame is extracted from the any given box. Vast differences may be expe- time domain to the spacial frequency coef- present frame. The residual image, that con- rienced in user facilities and the performance ficients. This vastly reduces the data. tains little data is the difference between experienced. What is left tends to lower frequency com- the previous frame and the present frame. ponents. The DCT values obtained are loaded. This is typically achieved processing 16 x MPEG 2 only provides for three input defini- RGB values are transformed into a grey 16 luminance samples at a time. These are tion levels. scale. Blue and Red are used for colour and compared with the neighbouring areas in the Low Level 360x288 (A VHS Level). are resolved at half bandwidth. All remain- previous frame. The closest match is found, Main Level 720x576 (Broadcasting).

12 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

High Level 1920x1152 (Used for HD and structure, angle and shape. Another example tion drop. This I recently proved over several specialist applications). is the ocean. When waves in a scene predomi- matches. nate and they are at certain distances, MPEG We are now ready to move forwards into Further there are three luminance/chromi- takes over and produces an ocean with waves AVC (H264) with S2. However, this has also nance sampling structures defined. 4:4:4, that are exactly the same as their neighbours. had the effect of turning back the clock. As 4:2:2, and 4:2:0. Lastly flames in a fire are capable of throwing previously stated “its all in the detail”. With In the real world, the most widely used artifacts under certain conditions. All these AVC a mobile macroblock structure is imple- format is 720x576 at 4:2:0, known as MP@ML. examples are rare but can occur when very mented. The encoder has to decide on the Only recently has 4:2:2 been used to any real low data rates are in use. fly what blocks of video are meaningful and extent. Then it is usually reserved for pres- what size they will be. Up to 32 frames are tige events. One further tool for compression used on to be simultaneously stored. Then the system Operationally most encoders will default low data rate channels is Statistical Multiplex- has to create a modified DCT analysis on that to auto resolution rate when switched to ing (Also used in the creation of a Bouquet). block. Storing the resultant in the “Bin”, a MP@ML. In this mode the encoder will adjust Normally an MPEG signal is generated then is new interactive store. On subsequent frames its input clock speed to match the detail within muxed to match the modulator. When Statis- that information has to be recovered, motion the incoming video. It thereby maximizes its tical Multiplexing is used, a first pass is made. modified redisplayed. At some point it must parameters and a good compression results. The signal will have all the tables and other be canned and a new macroblock captured. Register overruns are avoided and the unit information present. Sometimes bit stuffing At present this is causing a number of man- avoids the blockiness that would result from will have been applied to balance the budget. ufacturers a great deal of consternation. It too low an input clock rate. Stat Muxing is set up to remove all designated has caused a number to advertise single slice information and bit stuffing leaving only the framing and a limit of about 6 MHz on the HD I have tested encoders albeit with a low desired tables. This allows for increased bit output. bit rate option at 0.5Mb/s. On typical video rates to be used within a fixed envelope. no blockiness or other artifacts were expe- The new AVC holds the promise of sub rienced. There are however certain known A modern high quality encoder will support 1MHz SD and 2MHz HD. Alas I think it will take “MPEG Artifacts”. On certain video condi- football, a generally accepted high activity a few years before this ideal is met. In the tions where excessive edginess is found: say sport, with its output modulator set to 3MHz meantime there seems to be no restrain upon long grass on a medium close up. There the with an FEC of 3/4 running in 4:2:2. At these the use of MPEG 2 with S2. This should result system will take over and produce a false settings there will be no blockiness, no edgi- in sub 1MHz channels - If only the set top box picture where all grass has exactly the same ness (mosquitoes) or any perceptible resolu- manufacturers keep up.

14 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com ��

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ent transponders. Channel names with non-Latin character sets (f.e. Cyrillic) are displayed correctly, AB IP Box 250S PVR so does the EPG information too. However, EPG screen itself still awaits some improvements to be Linux-based treasure box done. It is fast, all the information is loaded and displayed appropriately, but switching between If you ever traveled to Slovakia you probably wide. Mainly among DXers, fans of satellite recep- days and channels can be con- know that the small town of Topolčany is mainly tion, who enjoy experimenting, but also among the famous for its beautiful medieval castle and won- regular users as well. AB-COM didn’t just follow this derful beer. But now new times are coming, and the trend, but also put a lot of effort into each released company AB-COM, with headquarters in Topolčany, model. No wonder that the previous AB IP Boxes is becoming even more well known, and not just received such positive response. We were lucky to 06-07/2007 inside Slovakia. And this has a reason. Linux-based get a chance to test the latest one, AB IP Box 250S satellite receivers keep gaining popularity world- PVR. AB IP BOX 250S PVR Best Linux-based Satellite Receiver, ensuring the rich variety of available The first praise goes to the firmware, plugins and service software designers – we opened the package, delivered to our office, to find simply, but at the same time, stylishly designed receiver. AB IP Box 250S PVR is available in two color variants – black and silver. Front panel contains a horseshoe- shaped Standby button, seven control buttons (Menu, Exit, OK, Left, Right, Up and Down), which allow to control the majority of 250S PVR can also control your TV window to the screen with all the receiver’s functions, and a numer- fusing at first. It also might take set, list of the supported models needed parameters, including the ical display, which shows the time until you figure it out, how to (a very BIG list!) can be found on satellite name, LOF, which can be number of the currently selected navigate through the main menu. the last pages of the receiver’s absolutely flexibly selected, and channel, current time in Standby It consists of three main items user manual. the DiSEqC settings. AB IP Box mode, as well as the service infor- – “User’s option”, “System Setup” 250S PVR supports all DiSEqC mation when needed. and “About”. Three icons in the versions from 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 to left part of the screen – with two Installation USALS, so it can easily become Last, but not least, there is an faces, a sprocket and a question Even the regular user, who is the heart of your multi-satellite mark represent respectively each universal smartcard reader slot, not planning to endlessly experi- reception system. of them. You can switch between which, with pre-installed firmware, ment with his receiver, will find these three items with Left and allows to get access to channels the installation quite simple. Logically, the next step is the Right buttons on the remote encrypted in Xcrypt or Firecrypt. After the first power-up and the channel search. Scanning 78 control or receiver’s front panel, welcome screen, AB IP Box 250S pre-programmed transpond- while the sub-items are navigated Rear panel greets us with the PVR will ask if you would like to ers on ASTRA 1 position at 19.2 with Up and Down buttons. first surprise. It starts quite usual format the installed hard disk. If deg. East took 6 minutes 10 sec- – LNB input with a corresponding you choose not to do it now, it can onds. SCPC reception was tested Channels can be arranged loop-through output, two Scart be formatted later from the main on EUTELSAT SESAT at 36 deg. into an unlimited number of connectors, three RCAs output- menu. East, and AB IP Box 250S PVR favorite lists, with default ones ting the Video and Stereo sound, didn’t disappoint us here. Chan- called “Sport”, “Drama”, “News”, Digital Audio output and a RS- Clear and understandable nel search can be performed in “Movie” and “Music”. Adding chan- 232 port. And an Ethernet port, wizard will guide you through the Automatic or Manual mode, with nels to them only requires couple which will play a very important installation process. First the box possibility to select a network of clicks. Switching between the role in the interaction with AB wants to know which languages search, to leave out encrypted or “Favorite” mode and “Full Chan- IP Box 250S PVR. Design of the you would prefer for the on- FTA channels, or to keep all. You nel List” mode happens by press- remote control is very simple, but screen menu, audio and subtitles. do not need to worry too much ing the “FAV” button on the at the same time, quite logic. The Second screen allows configur- about filling channel memory: remote control. Main list can be only unusual thing is that the EPG ing the local time, as well as the AB IP Box 250S PVR top limit is sorted alphabetically, by provider, button is located right next to the video settings. 10,000 channels! encryption mode or satellite. “0” key, below all other numbers. Moving channels around or delet- All other buttons are where you Third one is for the LNB selec- Channel switching speed is ing the unwanted ones is also a expect them to be, so you will get tion. First increase the number of pretty fast – less then a second matter of seconds. used to it quite quickly. installed LNBs in the menu, then for the channels within the same highlight the appearing string. transponder, and a bit more (but The remote control of AB IP Box Clicking OK will bring a sub- still within 1.5 seconds) for differ- PVR Of course, presence of these three letters in the model name is already promising the possibility to record and play. The test unit we’ve got was equipped with 80 GB HDD, which is enough for recording approximately 40 hours of video. It’s possible either to record the programming manu-

16 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com ally, by pressing the button with into the receiver’s memory and TECHNIC Manufacturer AB-COM, Topoľčany, Slovakia red circle on the remote control, installed. Fax +421 38 5322027 or by selecting your favorite TV DATA E-mail [email protected] shows from the EPG. Pressing However, we went a different Model AB IP Box 250S PVR the same red circled button in way, by testing both the Ether- Function Digital Linux-based the EPG mode will mark the pro- net and RS-232 connection. RS- PVR satellite receiver gram for recording. Recordings of 232 firmware upgrade with Flash Processor IBM PowerPC 405 video and audio material, as well Tools software can take up to half Channel Memory 10000 as “timer reservations” are han- an hour or more, but it will be Symbol Rate Up to 45 Ms/s dled in a special menu, called “File done for sure, since some earlier SCPC Compatible Yes List Management”, which can be versions of the official firmware USALS Yes accessed by pressing the button might not support the Ethernet DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 with an envelope. It is also here, upgrade. The latter is done from Scart connectors 2 where you can choose the video or the PC Editor program, there AB Audio/Video outputs 3xRCA audio recordings to be played. But! IP Box 250S PVR model is called There is much more, what you can “CubeCaFe”. But it’s not only for UHF Modulator No do with them. Remember the nice the firmware upgrade. Channel S-Video No Ethernet socket on the receiver’s lists can be conveniently edited, Component output No real panel? Maybe we can get the and later re-uploaded to the 0/12V connection No recordings to the PC somehow? Or receiver. Import of the SatcoDX Digital audio output Yes maybe it’s good for anything else? *.sdx files is completely sup- LAN Yes ported in the PC Editor. EPG Yes C/Ku-band compatible Yes The power Once the Ethernet connection Power supply AC220V, 50Hz / AC110V, 60Hz is established, you can find the of Linux information about it in the “About” AB IP Box 250S PVR would be – “Network Info” menu. Make a regular PVR-receiver, if not its note of the IP address assigned to architecture. Being built on IBM the box. Because if you open your PowerPC405 processor with Linux favorite web browser and type it operation system, firmware of in, you will see a lot of interesting this receiver is an open-source things. First you will be prompted project. Receiver’s architecture for a user ID and a password (use turned out to be compatible with “relook” for both), and after you alternative firmwares released enter them, you’ll land in “Geckow Firmware upgrade via RS-232 Default welcome screen for other Linux-based receivers, Webinterface”, the “web-server” after some slight modifications of your AB IP Box 250S PVR. Here they can also be used with AB IP you can check the EPG, address Box 250S PVR. Those which were the receiver with a virtual remote already converted and are tested control, schedule programs for to be working with it, can be found recording and save recorded pro- on the official AB-COM support grams on your computer. AB IP website. We found its address on Box 250S PVR also has an “FTP- a white sticker attached to the server”, you can connect to it by receiver’s packaging – http:// using any FTP client, entering the Main Menu Channel List of SESAT 36 East www.abcom.sk and http://www. IP of your box, using “root” as download.abcom.sk. the user name and “relook” as the password. You can find the But before we start experi- recordings in /var/media/video menting, it makes sense to visit directory. However, if you down- the nearest electronics store and load them via the FTP, you’ll have buy two cables – the cross-over to convert them to .mpg first, by Ethernet cable and a null-modem using the simple “MakePS” utility, cable. Then from the website which is also available at the offi- mentioned above we download cial AB-COM support website. Receiver’s web interface two programs – “PC Editor” and Recording Management “Flash Tools”. You can also down- Since this is an open-source load several “image” files, the system, there are not just a lot of Expert conclusion ones that you’d like to try. Make various firmwares available, but + sure that the electricity ain’t going also lots of plug-ins. For example, AB IP Box 250S PVR is just the thing for those who to disappear in the next minutes, you can install games, MP-3 player love to experiment. Linux-based open source project ensures the rich variety of available firmware, plugins and let the experimenting begin! or other utilities. All of them, and and service software. Its Ethernet port expands the a lot more, can be found on the possibilities even further, since the receiver can be If you’re afraid of damaging website mentioned above. But almost completely controlled via the Internet from Nickolas your receiver by uploading the that’s not all. AB IP Box 250S the next room or from any place thousand kilometers Ovsyadovskiy new firmware from the PC, AB IP PVR hides a lot more treasures TELE-satellite away. Of course, all the usual functions are where Test Center Box 250S PVR gives you another inside, which we’ll let you dis- they are expected to be, so the regular users won’t be Hungary option. It can be connected cover by yourself. Because if we’ll disappointed either. directly to the Internet via PPPoE tell you everything, it wouldn’t be or Dialup. Several web and FTP so much fun to experiment, would - sites with official or alternative it ? And satellite reception is no EPG and the Main Menu of the official firmware could be a bit more user-friendly, but this is a minor software problem, which doesn’t firmware are already pre-pro- longer just watching TV channels affect the big picture and, hopefully, will be solved soon. Anyhow, it grammed. The chosen version or listening to radios, it’s much, takes only a few minutes to upload an alternative one. will be downloaded directly much more now.

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07/2007 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 17 TEST REPORT Jiuzhou Monoblock LNB

Jiuzhou BSB11

06-07/2007

JIUZHOU BSB11 The best Monoblock Single LNB tested for ASTRA and HOTBIRD in Europe

Jiuzhou Monoblock LNB with 6° spacing, main area of use would be for ASTRA and HOTBIRD in Europe. Any other two satellites would suit as well, Monoblock provided they are 6° apart and receivable with strong enough signals. Single LNB 2 satellites from one dish In previous issue of TELE-satellite, my fellow editor, Heinz Koppitz published an article about the problems you may encounter when using a monoblock LNB. Because his article was meant for the newbies rather than for the more advanced readers (it appeared in the Beginner Sec- tion), no wonder that it did not contain measurement results. So, when I Figure 2. Performance got the monoblock LNB from Jiuzhou, I immediately thought that except comparison for 2 pos- for the product evaluation, this test report can be an excellent appendix sible setups of the to what Heinz has written. monoblock.

Figure 3. One of the monoblock LNB’s in Figure 1. BSB11 noise performance in comparison wit reference LNB’s. different setups.

18 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

BSB11 looks very solid when you keep it center. The results are shown in figure 2. As in hand. Of course, it is heavier than a single you can see it is not so easy to say which LNB, its weight is more comparable to twin is better. Evidently, LNB situated off-center or quad LNB’s. Its F connector has no addi- provides worse signal in comparison with the tional protection against weather conditions. central position. Based only on those meas- At the bottom side of the body, you can see urements (4 transponders) I would vote for small holes through which the condensed the setup: ASTRA in the center and HOTBIRD water vapor can leak out. Classical but effi- off-center. cient solution to prevent degradation of LNB performance due to moisture. As you can see in figure 2, placing the LNB off-center makes signal quality drop. But how On the top side, you can find engraved much? To give you some orientation we com- markings: ASTRA and HOTBIRD on the two pared the performance of the off-center LNB feeds. Nice enhancement for the beginners. with the same LNB mounted on a 65 cm dish. If your antenna is presently aligned to Astra The results are presented in figure 3. (19.2° East), you mount the ASTRA feed of the monoblock in the antenna holder. If your The leftmost result (yellow bar) is the LNB antenna is aligned to Hot Bird (13° East), you placed and perfectly adjusted in the center of mount it the other way round: HOTBIRD feed an 85 cm offset dish (the performance of the is in the holder and ASTRA feed is hanging second half of a monoblock totally ignored). off-center. Is this LNB really calculated for The next bar (green) is the result when the ASTRA-HOTBIRD 6.2° distance? We would LNB is still in the center but the alignment The holes at bottom of Monoblock keep it dry rather say that it could be used for any 2 sat- was done to reach maximum signal for the inside, allowing for condensed water to leak out ellites that are about 6° apart. ASTRA and off-center companion - HOTBIRD LNB. The HOTBIRD are probably the very first choice following (beige) bar is the result when the central is still receiving signal but do not try for most satellite enthusiasts in Europe LNB is in the off-center position and the dish to align the system again; just leave it as it because they transmit large number of chan- is aligned to get the best signal from that is nels (including a lot of FTA ones). LNB. The last (blue) bar shows the result for the same LNB mounted centrally on the 65 If you will follow this way and your dish is Jiuzhou BSB11 is a universal Ku-Band cm dish. 85 cm, you may expect that the central LNB monoblock single LNB. As in every universal will work as if it is mounted on 75 cm dish, and LNB, its LOF’s are 9.75 and 10.6 GHz. Jiuzhou Our setup procedure was like that: the off-center LNB will work as if it is mounted claim typical noise figure of their device to be - align the central LNB for the best signal on 65 cm dish. Please keep in mind that we 0.6 dB which is not the most impressive value - switch to the off-center LNB and change did the alignment with the help of a dedicated today but before drawing a final conclusion the alignment to get the best signal from satellite meter. If you do not have one, you wait for the actual results. Monoblock LNB’s that LNB (except for turning the dish, tilt the may need quite a lot of patience before you are designed to work with offset dishes of monoblock as reach the optimum setup. diameter around 80 cm. Some users say that well) they used them successfully with the diame- TECHNIC - check if the Once we had determined what we can ters between 75 and 90 cm. We tested it with DATA expect from the off- a 85 cm dish; its reflector dimensions are: Manufacturer Shenzhen Xiangcheng Electronic Science &Technology center LNB, we had Co. Ltd, China, a unit of Jiuzhou 780x832 mm, and the external dimensions: to check it. This time, Internet www.skytrack.cn 852x903 mm. Dish of such dimensions would the HOTBIRD LNB E-mail [email protected] most likely be the choice of a professional was off-center and Telephone +86 (755) 27495436 EXT: 1033 installer when dealing with a monoblock LNB. we connected to it the Fax +86 (755) 27496486 receiver that normally Model BSB11 Before taking measurements of a 2 satel- worked with the 65 Function Universal Ku-Band Monoblock Single LNB lite setup, we decided to compare the noise cm fixed dish aimed at Noise Figure 0.6 dB (typ.) performance of every half of the BSB11 with HOTBIRD (13° East). LOF 9.750 and 10.600 GHz the reference devices. Figure 1 presents the The receiver had DiSEqC Switching Satellite A = HOT BIRD, Satellite B = ASTRA results of the monoblock LNB’s in compari- absolutely no prob- Frequency Stability +/- 1 MHz max. / T=const. son with 0.2 dB and 0.6 dB single LNB’s. The lem in receiving all +/- 3 MHz / T= –30…+70°C antenna was aligned to HOTBIRD (13° East). the channels it nor- Gain 50 dB (min.) The higher C/N value, the better signal qual- mally received from Gain Variation (P-P) 5 dB (typ.) ity and the greater margin for bad weather HOTBIRD with a 65 cm Cross Polarization Isolation 25 dB (typ.), 20dB (min.) conditions. dish. Of course, receiv- Phase Noise at 1 kHz Offset -60 dBc/Hz ing ASTRA posed no Phase Noise at 10 kHz Offset -80 dBc/Hz While the results for the low frequency part problem either since Phase Noise at 100 kHz Offset -100 dBc/Hz of Ku-Band were as expected: the 0.2 dB LNB its LNB was in the cen- DC Current Consumption 220 mA (max.) had visibly better signal quality, it was not so tral position. Operating Temperature -30…+70°C obvious for the high frequency end. In fact, ASTRA LNB of the BSB11 performed slightly better than the 0.2 dB single LNB! Expert conclusion + That’s why we asked our readers not to Despite being specified as having noise figure of 0.6 dB, BSB11 performance draw conclusions too fast. We can not judge only in the lower part of Ku-Band was inferior to a single 0.2 dB LNB. It per- the total LNB performance based only on the formed equally well as the 0.2 dB device at the higher end of Ku-Band. We were stated noise figure, the more so as it is only able to achieve very satisfactory results when receiving HOTBIRD and ASTRA a typical value. satellites for which the device is mainly dedicated. Except for the noise figure, Peter Miller all other specs are very much alike the other good LNB’s on the market today. TELE-satellite Test Center The next test was about determining if Poland one of the possible setups is visibly better: - HOTBIRD LNB off-center or ASTRA LNB off- The manufacturer may consider adding a protective sleeve for the F-connector.

20 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

TEST REPORT S a te l l ite R ece i v er Te c hniSa t D i giPlu s STR 1 Elegant CI Rec eiver wit h LCD Display

T h e re a re a l re a d y p l e n ty o f b u l ky CI receivers packed and impressed us not only from its exter - v a ri e ty o f LN B s, fro m yo u r b a s i c w i t h s e gm e n t ed d i s p lay s ava ila b l e. S o yo u ca n ju st na l a p p e a r a n c e b u t a l s o fro m i ts in t e rna l wo rk in g s. s i n g l e LN B, t h ro u g h a Q u a tt ro i m a g i n e ho w exci t ed we we re to act u a l l y be ho l d i n g Th e l a rg e a n d e xt re m e l y e a sy t o re a d d i s p l ay i n LNB up to and including Tech - a n e l e g a n t re c e i ve r w i t h re a d a b l e d i s p l ay o n o ur t h e m i d d l e o f t h e fro n t p a n e l sta n d s o u t a s s o o n a s ni S a t’s own o n e - cab l e s o lu t i o n hands! yo u o p e n t h e b ox. To t h e l e ft b e hin d a fl a pa retwo (D i s i c o n s e ri es) . A d di t i o nall y, we ll-hi d d e n in t e g r a t ed ca rd re a d e rs f o r C o n a x a n d t h e re a re a l s o c o rres p o n d in g Th e n e w Te ch n i S a t D i g i P l u s STR 1 wa s n i c e l y C ry p t owo rks . l o ca l o s ci l l a t o r fre - quency (LOF) values for the C-band and also for circular LNBs available. And 06-07/2007 if you absolutely m u st u s e yo u r S - TECHNISAT DIGIPLUS STR 1 band antenna with The Ideal Receiver for Every this new TechniSat Living Room and Every Age Group re c e i ve r, yo u ca n s e t up the necessary To our great surprise, we i n yo u r h a n d a n d a l l b u tt o n s a re a n d S p a ni s h. A s e c o n d ve rs i o n L O F s m a n u a l l y. A p a i r o f s i g n a l f o u n d t h a t o n e o f t h es e s l o ts wa s w i t h i n e a sy re a ch o f yo u r t h u m b. o f t hi s re c e i ve r w i t h t h e ch o i c es a n d q u a li ty d i s p l ay s c o n sta n t l y already fitted with a TechniSat E n g l i s h, Tu rk i s h, Cze ch, H u n g a r - ke e p a n eye o u t o n t h e i n c o m i n g Smart Card for a 30-day free trial O n t h e re a r p a n e l, yo u w i l l fi n d i a n a n d B u l g a ri a n i s a l s o av a i l - sa t e lli t e s i gna l l e tt in g yo u e a s il y o f t h e r a d i o p a ck a g e o n Ast r a a t two S ca rt c o n n e ct o rs, t h re e RCA able. a dj u st a l l t h e s e tt i n g s a s n e ed ed 19.2° e a st . If yo u h a p p e n t o l i ke ja cks f o r v i d e o an d st e re o au di o, f o r o p t imum re c e p t io n. li st e nin g t o t h a t r a d i o p a ck a g e, a d i g i ta l a u d i o o u t p u t (o p t i ca l Th e n e xt st e p i nvo l ves s e l e ct - just fill out the order card that a n d c o a x ia l) , a sa t e l l i t e IF i n p u t i n g yo u r l o ca t i o n. A l a rg e s e l e c - Be f o re t h e i n sta l l a t i o n p ro - ca m e w i t h t h e re c e i ve r p a ck a g e a s we ll a s a s e rv i c e c o n n e ct i o n. t i o n i s av a i l a b l e t h a t i n cl u d es c ed u re c o m es t o a n e n d, t h e t o ke e p t h e S m a rt Ca rd a ct i ve U n f o rt u n a t e l y, yo u wo n’t fi n d G e rm a ny, Sw i tze rl a n d, G re a t re c e i ve r ta kes a q u i ck l o o k t o a ft e r t h e 3 0- d ay t ri a l. a m a i n p owe r s w i t ch, a l o o p ed - B ri ta i n, S p a i n, H o l l a n d, Tu rke y, s e e i f a ny n e w s o ftw a re i s av a i l - t h ro u g h IF o u t p u t , a n S -Vi d e o D e n m a rk , N o rway, Ru s s i a, Lu x - a b l e v ia sa t e lli t e. O n l y a ft e r S i x b u tt o n s a re l o ca t ed t o t h e o u t p u t an d a m o dulat o r o u t p u t . embourg, Austria, The Czech t h i s st e p i s c o m p l e t ed ca n yo u ri g h t o f t h e d i s p l ay f o r c o n t ro l o f Re p u b l i c , Fr a n c e, Ita l y, Be l g i u m, g e t i n t o t h e ch a n n e l m e n u. Th e t h e re c e i ve r s h o ul d t h e re m o t e Th e i n cl u d ed u s e r m a n u a l i s P o l a n d, Swed e n, Fi n l a n d a n d u s e r mu st ch o o s e b e twe e n t h e c o n t ro l n o t b e av a il a b l e. N ev - i n ty p i ca l Te ch n i S a t q u a l i ty: i t G re e c e. If yo u n ow a s k yo u rs e l f I SIP RO sy st e m me n t i o n ed ea rl i e r e rt h e l es s, i t wo u l d b e a g o o d i s q u i t e d e ta i l ed w i t h n u m e ro u s w h a t t h e u s e wo u l d b e i n t h e a n d a n a u t o m a t i c ch a n n e l s ca n idea to keep fresh batteries in illu st r at i o n s an d s h o ul d t h e re - re c e i ve r k n owin g l o ca t i o n, t h e f o r a l l o r fre e -t o -a i r (FTA) o n l y t h e re m o t e s i n c e m o st o f t h e fore be an excellent tool even for a n s we r i s s i m p l y I SIP RO. Th e channels. W e began our tests by re c e i ve r’s f e a t u res ca n o n l y b e beginners. I SIP RO sy st e m wa s d eve l o p ed a ct i v a t i n g t h e I SIP RO sy st e m; a c c es s ed t hro u gh t h e re m o t e. by Te ch n i S a t t o p rov i d e u p -t o - t h e d ownl o a d o f an up -t o - da t e da t e a n d c o un t ry- s p e ci fi ccha n - ch a n n e l l i st sta rt ed i m m ed i a t e l y As lo n g as we ’re on th e su b j e ct Everyday Use nel lists to the user. As soon as a n d wa s c o m p l e t ed i n j u st a b o u t o f re m o t e c o n t ro l s : Te ch ni S a t i s A ft e r t urnin g o n t h e re c e i ve r a n ew chann e l i s a d d ed o r an o l d o n e m i n u t e . Th e D i g i P l u s STR 1 t ry i n g t o f o l l ow a ve ry st r a i g h t for the first time, you are taken o n e re m oved, t h e re c e i ve r re c - n e ed ed a l i tt l e m o re t i m e, ro u g h l y l i n e by i n cl u d i n g t h e sa m e d i re ct l y t o t h e In sta l l a t i o n As s i s - o gnizes t hi s au t o ma t i ca ll y a n d e i g h t m i n u t es, t o d ow n l o a d S FI re m o t e i n a l l o f t h e i r u n i ts . If yo u ta n t t h a t g u i d es t h ro u g h a l l o f l o a d s t h e u p d a t ed ch a n n e l l i st d a ta. Th i s sy st e m i s s i m i l a r t o a l re a d y h ave a Te ch n i S a t b ox t o t h e n e c es sary s e t up p ar am e - v i a sa t e l l i t e . Th e d ay s o f t i m e - t h e f a m i l i a r E PG b u t o n t h e o n e ca l l yo u r ow n, yo u s h o u l d h ave n o t e rs st e p -by- st e p. C h o o s in g t h e c o n s umin g cha n n e l s ca n s a n d h a n d i t c o m es w i t h a n u m b e r o f t ro u b l e a t a l l g e tt i n g c o m f o rta b l e d es i red O S D l a n g u a g e i s t h e fi rst ch a n n e l s o rt i n g a re ove r. s o rt an d s e arch fun ct i o n s an d o n w i t h t h e re m o t e t h a t c o m es w i t h step . Y ou can choose between t h e o t h e r i t i s a s in g l e d ow n l o a d t h e D i g i P l u s STR 1. It s i ts n i c e l y G e rm a n, Fre n ch, Ita l i a n, E n g l i s h The next step is based on your f o r a l l o f t h e m aj o r b ro a d ca st e rs e x i st in g a n t e n n a sy st e m. N a t u - w i t h i n f o rm a t i o n u p t o a we e k i n r all y t h e re c e i ve r i s c o mp at ib l e advance. w i t h a l l sta n d a rd D i S E q C p ro t o - c o l s a s we l l a s w i t h t h e Te ch n i - A ft e r s u c c es sfull y e x i t in g S a t d eve l o p ed M ul tye n n e sy st e m t h e In sta l l a t i o n As s i sta n t , t h e p rev i o u s l y i n t ro d u c ed by TE LE - re c e i ve r s w i t ch es ove r t o t h e sa t e l l i t e . Th e M u l tye n n e sy st e m fi rstre c e i v a b l ech a n n e l.Th eIn f o p rov i d es f o r mul t ip l e sa t e lli t e b a r t ha t imm edia t e l y a p p e a rs re c e p t i o n a t t h e sa m e t im e. A d i s p l ay s t h e c urre n t ch a n n e l D i S E q C m o t o r ca n a l s o b e o p e r - n u m b e r a n d n a m e a s we l l a s t h e a t ed. Th e p re p ro g r a m m ed sa t e l - t i t l e o f t h e curre n t p ro g r a m. Thi s l i t e l i st i n cl u d es a l l o f t h e m o re in f o rma t i o n i s a l s o v i s ib l e o n t h e p o p ul a r DTH sa t e lli t es in E uro p e. re c e i ve r’s L CD d i s p l ay a n d ca n 13 a d d i t i o n a l sa t e l l i t es ca n b e easily be read from a distance. m a n u a ll y a d d ed i f n e ed b e. Th e re c e i ve r s w i t ch es b e twe e n The DigiPlus STR1 supports a ch a n n e l s in j u st un d e r a s e c o n d

22 TELE-sat ellit e & Broa dband — 06-07/2007 — www .TELE-sat ellit e.com Winners of The Queen’s Award For International Trade 2007, Horizon Global Electronics is a UK Company established in 2001 specialising in the design and manufacture of hand held test equipment for the digital satellite and TV sector. Our strength lies in being able to  nd innovative solutions to leading technology issues . ��

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�� and there are no noticeable video tings; in addition to a typical or audio distortions after switch- PIN lock-out of the entire menu Expert Opinion ing channels. system, individual TV and radio + Since we entered Austria as channels can also be hidden from The TechniSat DigiPlus STR1 is an ideal receiver our test location, all German lan- the nosy kids. for every living room and every age group. It is very guage channels including those easy to use and, thanks to the Installation Assistant from Austria were loaded. Even As practical as the ISIPRO and the ISIPRO system, many of the setup difficulties the large German PayTV provid- system is, it could never cover that might otherwise pop up with a standard receiver ers were made available in the every desired channel. This is Thomas Haring are done away with. It also comes with quite a few set- TELE-satellite channel list. If we had chosen reason enough for us to take a Test Center ting variations for the more ambitious user or the pro- Austria Switzerland as our location, all of closer look at the manual chan- fessional. SCPC reception is very good and thanks the corresponding German-lan- nel scan. to the SFI system the user has access to a fully-featured electronic guage channels would have been The Channel Scan menu program guide that other receivers cannot offer. placed at the head of the list. offers four different modes: an Overall, this is a well thought out automatic scan on all available - and extremely practical feature. satellites, a scan of individual It would have been nice to see a main power switch, a satellite It should also be noted that the satellites or transponders as well looped-through IF output and modulator on the rear panel. so-called option channels of vari- as a manual scan with PID entry ous PayTV providers were also for DXers. In all four modes, the supported and displayed without scan can be set for all or FTA- Manufacturer TechniSat Digital GmbH, any problems. only channels. A look at the pre- TECHNIC 54550 Daun, Germany DATA programmed transponder data Tel +49-6592-712-600 To change channels, simply reveals that they are for the most Fax +49-6592-4910 press the OK button to display the part up-to-date. For our channel E-Mail http://www.technisat.com/en/kontakt.php channel list. The current TV chan- scan test, the DigiPlus STR1 man- Model DigiPlus STR1 nel continues to be visible in a aged to scan 80 transponders in Function Digital CI Satellite Receiver with smaller window in the upper right a little over eight minutes. All two integrated card readers corner of the screen. The chan- things considered, not bad at all. Channel Memory 5000 nel list can also be sorted by pro- Satellites 33 vider and each channel can have The picture was not so rosy Symbolrates 1-45 Ms/sec. its EPG info displayed assum- with the reception of very weak SCPC Compatible yes, starting at 1.142 Ms/sec. (test result) ing that this data is available. A signals. Only those signals push of the SFI button opens the starting with a C/N of roughly USALS no editorially arranged EPG system 5dB could be processed by the DiSEqC 1.0 / 1.2 that can handle a large number receiver and displayed distor- Scart Connectors 2 of channels. Various modes such tion-free. We were thus unable to Audio/Video Outputs 3 x RCA as an overview (what happens to use our 1.2-meter antenna on the UHF Modulator no be playing on each channel) plus relatively weak horizontal signals Programmable 0/12 Volt no a total and detailed overview of from NILESAT at 7° west. Even Digital Audio Output yes, optical and coaxial all the channels can be accessed our test center in Berlin reported EPG yes in just seconds. little to no success on ASTRA2D C/Ku-band Compatible yes at 28.2° east with a 1.2-meter Pushing the red function button dish. Power Supply 180-250 VAC, 50 Hz provides access to the Timer settings from which you can choose These less than positive results between a video recorder timer with its tuner sensitivity were and a channel switching timer. more than made up for with this The channel switching timer lets box’s SCPC capabilities. Our test you switch to another channel transponder with a symbolrate automatically at a specified time of 1.142 Ms/sec. was processed while the video recorder timer effortlessly and displayed with- operates in a locked mode so that out any distortion. no one can accidentally change channels or turn the receiver Radio fans will be very happy Antenna Configuration Main Menu off while a program is being the first time they switch from TV recorded. to radio mode. Even in this mode If you’ve never been too happy the STR1 displays easy-to-read with the quality of the Scart’s channel names, not to mention CVBS signal, you can go into the EPG data should it be available. Settings menu and change the Now you no longer need to turn output to RGB or S-Video plus the TV on in radio mode since activate automatic 16:9 switch- even the TV and radio channel ing. TechniSat also did not forget list is visible in reduced size on to include child protection set- the receiver’s display. SCPC Reception Channel Scan

Downloading the ISIPRO Channel List

24 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

SYSTEM TEST Fully Automatic Mobile Reception System MobiSet 4 CAP 900 Kathrein’s New GPS Antenna Package for RV’s Heinz Koppitz

We knew it would happen: positioners can precisely point an antenna to a satellite while a GPS unit can provide geographical data. Users of mobile receivers such as RV owners have been waiting for quite some time for manufacturers to combine these two systems. It would end the time-consuming and sometimes aggravating task of aligning to your favorite satellite every time you move to a new location. The inauguration of the digital satellite age made this job even more difﬁcult.

The day we’ve all been wait- active and checks its position ing for has finally come. Kathrein every ten minutes, storing the has developed a new package for new data. campers. Kathrein has always catered to this target group with The antenna can only be reac- such products as 12-Volt boxes tivated when the vehicles ignition and the exceptional BAS 60 flat has been turned off. The receiver antenna that date back to the then takes the most recent analog age. Their new CAP family position and current GPS data, of products was developed by recalculates the new elevation Kathrein specifically with digital and skew angles and drives the technology in mind. Antenna, antenna precisely to the correct The MobiSet 4 CAP 900 in its operational position… tuner and receiver are now bun- the only one capable of providing dled into a single package that the necessary Kathrein-specific makes it possible to automatically CAP commands for the antenna. search for satellites. The second receiver can be what- ever you want; it could even be The new MobiSet 4 CAP 900 an HDTV box or MPEG-4 receiver. has been completely redesigned. This system won’t become obso- The flat antenna was replaced by lete anytime soon. a 90 cm offset dish mounted on the antenna motor. The antenna The package includes an is controlled by the receiver and assortment of cables, mount- will automatically retract into its ing hardware and even a special stowed position when the vehi- polyurethane sealant. The only cle’s motor is started. Protection additional items you really need is included to guarantee that the …and here in its stowed position when not in use, such as while driving. are a TV and radio. The antenna antenna stays in this stowed posi- satellite. The correct azimuth can be parked in any position. The is designed for use on 12-Volt DC tion while the vehicle is in motion. is found by rotating the antenna correlation between the GPS data systems although the receiver But even while the antenna itself on its vertical axis. Thanks to its and the last known location makes can even be plugged into a wall if it idle, the GPS system remains ability to turn a full 360°, the RV realignment of the antenna so fast needed using the included power that in most cases the satellite can supply. If you also want to run the be found within 30 seconds. In antenna itself from a wall socket, this way a selected channel can be you would need a power supply very quickly accessed – assuming that can deliver 12V/15A. of course that there is a clear view to the satellite. The motorized antenna is mounted on the roof of the The MobiSet 4 CAP 900 pack- vehicle with relative ease using age includes a motorized antenna, five screws. The included seal- a retractable dish plus a twin LNB ant helps to guarantee a secure all integrated into one unit. It bond to the roof. Our tests were weighs in at 19 Kg and is mounted successful in every aspect. The on the roof of the vehicle. This motorized antenna operated increases the overall height of the quickly and reliably. After turning vehicle by 23cm with the antenna on the receiver (with the vehicles in its stowed position. Three ignition turned off), the antenna cables from the antenna are moved to the correct position in routed through a 38mm hole in just a few seconds. Even the dif- the vehicle’s roof to the inside of ficult-to-receive BBC transpond- the vehicle where a maximum of ers on Astra at 28.5° east could two receivers (and two TV’s) can be viewed without any problems. The skew for the Turksat bird was An all-in-one package. The MobiSet 4 CAP 900 comes with everything you be connected. The first receiver also properly set. see here. must be the UFS 740sw since it is

26 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

SatcoDX NEW Satellite Channels 06/2007

�� SatcoDX Satellite Chart New Satellite Channels Since Last Issue of TELE-satellite Magazine Compiled by the Worldwide SatcoDX Monitoring Stations, exclusively for TELE-satellite Magazine

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�� SatcoDX NEW Satellite Channels 06/2007

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TELE-satellite Receiver Guide )

Satellite 0/12 Output Positioner MechanicalPolarizer Hard Disk ChannelMemory SymbolrateDVB-S DVB-S2 SCPC Compatible DiSEqC USALS Compatible NTSC/PAL ModulatorOutput Looped-Through IF SatcoDXCompatible Power Supply HDMI Digital AudioOutput Audio/VideoOutput (Built-in Output S-VHS Output Serial Interface CI Slots EmbeddedCA TSI Magazine Scart Volt DVB TV Ms/sec Volt RCA S-VHS 0/12 GB Issue Receivers Radio Hertz V AB IP Box 250S PVR

10000 Up to 45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes PAL D/K, no yes no AC220V/ no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no yes yes, no yes, #199 Ms/s 1.2, 1.3 B/G, I AC110V (S/PDIF) RS-232 Xcrypt or 2007 50Hz/60Hz Firecrypt ARION AF-8000HDCI

4000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes PAL D/K, no yes no 90-250V yes yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, no #198 10-30 1.2, 1.3 B/G, I 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2007 45W max ARION 9400 PV2R

8000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes PAL D/K, yes, yes no 90-240V no yes yes yes, 2 yes yes no no yes yes, yes, no #192 1.2, 1.3 B/G, I UHF 50/60Hz RS-232 2 2006

ARION AF-9300PVR

8000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 100- no yes yes yes, 2 yes yes no no yes yes, yes no #188 1.2 PAL UHF 240V (optical) RS-232 2005 50/60Hz BEETEL SD98

5000 2-40 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 80-300V no yes yes no no yes no no no no no no #193 1.2 PAL (S/PDIF) 2006

BEL 5518

2000 2-40 yes 1.0, 1.1, no PAL yes yes no 90-270V no no yes no no no no no no no no no #191 1.2 2006

BOTECH CA 9000 FTA/CI

4900 2-45 yes 1.2 yes yes yes, yes no 90-260 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, no #189 UHF VAC RS-232 2 2005 50/60Hz DGSTATION Relook 400S

10000 2-40 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes PAL D/K, yes yes yes 90-240V no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no yes yes, yes, yes #191 1.2, 1.3 B/G, I 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2006

EYCOS S55.12 PVRH

8000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 100-240 yes yes yes yes, 2 yes yes no no yes yes, yes, yes, #197 1.2, 1.3 PAL UHF VAC (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 Conax 2007 50/60Hz EYCOS S30.12 CI

8000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 100-240 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, no #192 1.2, 1.3 PAL VAC RS-232 2 2006

EYCOS S50.12 PVR

8000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 90-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no yes yes, yes no #191 1.2, 1.3 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2006

EYCOS S10.02F

4000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, no no #189 1.2 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2005

FORTEC STAR MERCURY II

6000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 100-120 no yes yes no yes no no no no yes, no no #195 1.2, 1.3 PAL VHF VAC (S/PDIF) RS-232 2006 60Hz FORTEC STAR FSIR-5400 NA

4800 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 yes NTSC/ yes yes no 90-240V no yes yes no yes no no no no yes, no yes, #190 PAL 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 Irdeto 2005

GLOBAL TEQ 6000PVR

10000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 yes NTSC/ yes yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes no #190 PAL 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2005

GENERAL SATELLITE FTA-7001S

5000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 no PAL/ yes yes no 190- no yes no yes, 1 yes no no no no yes, no no #189 SECAM 250V RS-232 2005 50/60Hz GOLDEN INTERSTAR 9000 CI PVR Premium

9000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 100-250 no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes, yes, 2 #190 1.2 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2 2005

GOLDEN INTERSTAR DVB-T/S 8300 CI Premium

6000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 100-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no yes no no no yes, yes, yes, 2 #189 1.2 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2 2005

HUMAX PR-HD1000

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, yes #193 1.3 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2 2006

KATHREIN UFS 821

4000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ no yes yes 100-240 no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes, no #191 1.3 PAL VAC (optical) RS-232 2 2006 )

Receiver Guide 0/12 Satellite Output Positioner MechanicalPolarizer Hard Disk ChannelMemory SymbolrateDVB-S DVB-S2 SCPC Compatible DiSEqC USALS Compatible NTSC/PAL ModulatorOutput Looped-Through IF SatcoDXCompatible Power Supply HDMI Digital AudioOutput Audio/VideoOutput (Built-in Output S-VHS Output Serial Interface CI Slots EmbeddedCA TSI Magazine DVB Scart Volt TV Ms/sec Volt RCA S-VHS 0/12 GB Issue Receivers Radio Hertz V

MATRIX Planet

3200 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 no NTSC/ yes yes no 90-240 no no yes no no no no no no yes, no no #196 PAL RF VAC RS-232 2007

MATRIX Java

1000 2-45 yes 1.0 no NTSC/ yes yes no 80-270 no no yes no yes no no no no yes, no no #194 PAL RF VAC RS-232 2006

NEOTION 601 DVR

5000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 no NTSC/ no yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no yes, yes, no yes #188 PAL 50/60Hz external RS-232 2005

PANSAT 6000HXC

10000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 90-250V no yes yes no yes yes no no yes yes, yes, no #193 1.3 PAL UHF 50/60Hz (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 2006

PANSAT 3500S

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 90-250V no yes yes no yes yes no yes no yes, no yes, #190 PAL UHF 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 Conax 2005

PIXX Event

10000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 yes yes no no yes yes, yes, no #190 PAL UHF 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2005

QUALI-TV QS 1080IRCI for HDTV and MPEG 4:2:2

unknown 2-40 yes 1.0, 1.2 no NTSC/ no yes no 100- no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, yes, #187 PAL 240V RS-232 2 Irdeto 2005 50/60Hz STAR SAT SR-X1400D

6500 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 100-250 no no yes yes, 2 no yes no no no yes, no no #193 1.3 PAL VAC RS-232 2006 50/60Hz STAR SAT SR-X2500CUCI

4000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ yes yes yes 90-250 no no yes yes, 2 no yes no no no yes, yes, yes, #191 1.3 PAL VAC RS-232 2 uni- 2006 50/60Hz versal STAR SAT SR-X3500CUCI Ultra

6000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 no NTSC/ yes yes yes 90-250 no no yes yes, 2 yes yes no no no yes, yes, yes, #189 PAL VAC RS-232 2 uni- 2005 50/60Hz versal TECHNISAT DigiPlus STR1

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2 no NTSC/ no no no 180-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no no no no #199 PAL VAC (optical & 2007 50Hz coax) TECHNISAT Digit 4S

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ no no no 180-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no no no no #194 1.3 PAL VAC (optical & 2006 50Hz coax) TECHNISAT Digit MF4-S CC

5000 1-45 yes 1.2 no NTSC/ no no no 230VAC no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no no yes Conax, #193 PAL 50Hz (optical & Crypto- 2006 coax) works TOPFIELD TF6000PVRE

5000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250 no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes, no #198 1.2, 1.3 PAL VAC (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 2007 50/60Hz TOPFIELD TF7700HSCI

5000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250 yes yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, no #197 1.2, 1.3 PAL VAC (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 2007 50/60Hz TOPFIELD TF7700HSCI

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250 no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no yes yes, yes, no #196 1.2, 1.3 PAL VAC (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 2007 50/60Hz TOPFIELD TF6000PVR

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ no yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes, no #192 1.2, 1.3 PAL 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2006

TOPFIELD TF5000CIP

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 yes no yes no no yes, yes, no #190 1.2, 1.3 PAL 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2005

TOPFIELD TF5000PVR Masterpiece

5000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.1, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 yes no no no yes yes, yes, no #188 1.2, 1.3 PAL UHF 50/60Hz (optical) RS-232 2 2005

VANTAGE VT-X121SCI

4000 1-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ yes, yes no 90-250V no yes yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, yes, yes, #193 1.3 PAL UHF 50/60Hz (S/PDIF) RS-232 2 Conax 2006

VANTAGE VT-X111SCX

4000 2-45 yes 1.0, 1.2, yes NTSC/ yes, yes yes 90-250V no no yes yes, 2 no no no no no yes, no yes, #191 1.3 PAL UHF 50/60Hz RS-232 Conax 2006

COUNTRY REPORT Best Installer in Taiwan

Taiwansatellite.tv, Taipei Alexander Wiese

You won’t see too many satellite dishes in Taiwan. The country is for the most part completely laid out with cable. Every region has its own cable monopoly and therefore there is no competition. An average of 110 channels are offered by these cable operators with very little extra regional differences. Any channel that would be of interest to a local is available. Thus there is no real urge to install a satellite receiving system. And let’s not forget that housing regulations and city ordinances come into play also, not to mention the overall limited space that would be available. Is there any satellite reception in Taiwan?

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COMPANY REPORT LNB Manufacturer MTI

News From Innovation Road

The Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan carries the name “park” appropriately: hidden behind the trees are the ofﬁces and production facilities for MTI.

The Taiwanese LNB manufacturer MTI could not have asked for a better street name. MTI the picture. Sophie Su, MTI’s Senior Product was founded in 1983, and moved to Innovation Road in the Hsinchu Science Park in 1990. This Manager, is very proud of an original satellite technology park, which is said to be similar to California’s Silicon Valley, is occupied exclusively telephone on display in the company’s show- by high-tech companies. Hsinchu is strategically located in southwest of Taipei, roughly 1.5 room that Peter Arnett used to report on the train-hours from the capital and less than an hour from Taoyuan International Airport. ﬁrst Gulf War for CNN. The photograph of him and the satellite telephone was at that time More than 700 employees work at the logy in 2001. Much of their ﬁnal processing distributed around the world. Sophie remem- company’s headquarters in Hsinchu. 800 more takes place there. LNBs have been their main- bers: “After this photo was made public, MTI’s employees are located in WuXi on the Chinese stay product since the beginning; since then, stock price rose sharply.” mainland where MTI founded Jupiter Techno- product groups such as VSAT have come into Eugene Wu, head of MTI’s LNB Business

Chih-Ling Chang is their European Sales Manager and Raised in Florida, Tindy Liu speaks perfect “American” Jeff Lin, Sales Assistant Manager provides support to European Sales Director John Scott and is responsible for MTI’s marketing. She‘s a fan of responsible for the Asian market, in London and technical guru “Doctor” Dave Iredale. Japanese Comic „Doraemon“ is seen here standing on the roof of the MTI building.

48 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com customers trust us.” Not only that, there are 50 engineers that are constantly working on improvements. Eugene let us in on something new: “MTI is also teaming with major VSAT system providers and operators by providing Ka-Band transcei- ver, Ku-Band block up converter and TRIA for satellite broadband services in North America and Southeast Asia. MTI has manufactured over 280,000 Ka-band transceivers in the past two years and is very proud of having over 90% market shares.” But let’s get back to the Ku- band. Jeff Lin, Sales Assistant Manager responsible for the Allen Yen has been MTI’s COO since 2005 Asian market, spoke to us about sales: “Single LNBs are not nearly Group explains today’s situation: “Nearly 40% as popular anymore. Sales of Twin of our sales come from MTI’s LNB division.” and Quad LNBs have steadily risen One would expect larger sales from the com- 5-10% each year since 2005.” mercial VSAT division, though. Eugene tries to India has recently become a new put things into perspective: “We sell incredibly market for MTI. In just the last quarter large numbers of LNBs.” This helps to realize of 2006, MTI shipped more than 100,000 larger proﬁt margins despite lowering LNB LNBs to India. And Sophie Su, Senior Product prices. Manager, is convinced that this number will Aside from that, LNBs are part of MTI’s qua- increase as soon as India’s large TV carriers One of MTI‘s latest innovations is this Octo LNB lity products. Eugene provided us with a glim- can get their operating licenses. pse of the company’s strategy: “Our largest Will you ﬁnd MTI at satellite market is the USA where we are the primary trade shows? Tindy Liu, Market supplier to Echostar. We’re looking to become Planning Specialist, informed part of other top satellite TV operators’ busi- us that MTI will be at ANGA. ness as well.” “Whether or not we will be at 40% of the LNBs produced are for USA and IBC, CABSAT and SBCA has not the remaining 60% are distributed between yet been decided.” However, the Europe and Middle East. MTI is doing quite well Sales Team employees have been in Europe with the large providers. Through visiting all of the important trade local distribution partners, which includes E- shows. tronix, located in Luxembourg, MTI supplies, for example, Canal Plus in France, Sky Italia in MTI presents itself as a com- Italy, and BSkyB in England. pany that certainly lives up to How does MTI explain their outstanding the name of the street: Innovati- market position? “Quality and reliability,” ons for more than 24 years have comments Eugene, “It also helps that MTI has placed MTI at the head of the been around since the very beginning. Our class.

Eugene Wu, LNB Group Business Head, with one of the new Octo LNBs in Pan Yuonan is one of the developmental engineers. Here he is testing a the MTI showroom. newly designed triple monoblock LNB for its cross-modulation resistance in an echo-free chamber. The inside of the test chamber can be seen through the open door in top picture.

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07/2007 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 49 COMPANY REPORT Satellite Dish Manufacturer Azure Shine

Dishes in Focus Alexander Wiese

Entrance to Azure Shine’s production facility. All of the various sized antennas produced by Azure Shine can be seen to the left.

Allen Shen started his satellite dish manufacturing company Azure Shine back in 1988 with 15 employees. He already had experience in the manufacture of satellite antennas: he had previously worked for a dish maker that primarily made wire mesh antennas. But Allen Shen saw the interest in smaller dishes beginning to grow and began his company by producing offset antennas that were 45, 55, 60 and 75cm in size and all exported to Germany and the UK at a rate of 10,000 per month. This number has increased steadily over the years and has now reached a half million per month. Azure Shine is clearly a market leader among satellite dish manufacturers. The company’s headquarters is located in the Bade district of the city of Taoyuan west of Taipei/Taiwan. Taipei’s international airport is also located in Taoyuan making Azure Shine’s location strategically convenient.

Allen Shen is Azure Shine’s General Manager. The small pin on his lapel identiﬁes him as a Rotary member.

Allen Shen explains: “Up until 1991, we distributors.” Today Azure Shine employs manufactured our antennas out of fiberglass, 150 people of which eight belong to the Sales after that we switched over to metal.” The team. You will also bump into Azure Shine at main reason for this was increasing price pres- trade shows. Marketing Executive Lilyen Yu sure; metal is cheaper than fiberglass. “Recy- explains their show plans: “We have our own cling also plays a role”, comments Allen Shen, stands at CSTB in Moscow, ANGA in Cologne Executive Engineer Bernett Lin shows the geo- “metal is much more ecologically friendly and CABSAT in Dubai.” They are also looking graphical distribution on the board: 35% of Azure compared to fiberglass.” at coming to the USA but at this point it has Shine’s antennas go to North and South America, Who are Azure Shine’s customers? “60% of not been decided which trade show they will 33% are exported to Asia, 14% go to Europe, 10% our production is geared towards OEM prod- take part in. to Africa and 8% to Australia. ucts while the remaining 40% is sold partly The Research and Development Team is as OEM and partly under our own name to rather large: 20 employees are constantly

50 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

The pressing machine: the precut sheet metal (on the palette in the foreground) is placed ﬂat in the pressing machine and comes back out as an offset antenna. working on product improvements. So many And we were not disappointed: “It will have R&D employees? Executive Engineer Bernett an integrated GPS receiver!” The antenna will Lin describes what all these R&D employees “know” where it is on the Earth and will be do: “We are expanding our product palette to able to automatically point itself to the correct include VSAT antennas; an application with satellites. “This mobile antenna won’t be avail- extremely high requirements.” It all starts able until 2008”, he tells us, slightly taking the with a much more precise handling of the wind out of our sails. antenna surface and goes so far as producing Azure Shine has committed itself to the Ku- the exact matching feed and OMT for the VSAT band even though the larger dishes could be dish. VSAT deals with the active transmission used for the C-band. But what about the Ka- of signals and testing includes showing, for band? Sure enough, “in September 2007 we example, that a transmitted signal actually will offer Ka-band antennas with OMT and feed reaches a satellite and doesn’t get scattered in 60, 75, 80 and 90cm sizes”, explains Ber- into space because of an imprecisely installed nett Lin. Azure Shine appears to have covered component on the antenna. every possible application; they are a com- Allen Shen adds, “Our VSAT products will pany that has focused all of their energy on reach the market by the end of April 2007. We satellite antennas! will have uplink antennas in 75, 90, 120, 150 Allen Shen also allows himself some time at and 180cm sizes available.” He then let us in work for a rather lucrative hobby while making on a little surprise: “We’ve just developed a a cup of tea: Azure Shine also manufacturers totally new 3-meter antenna and production water dispensers that keep water cold as well on this dish has just started.” as hot. Having clean drinking water available Allen Shen gave us an impish smile and then at various temperatures is something that is revealed another secret: “We are also devel- appreciated by many companies as well as oping a mobile antenna that will have the name their employees. “Fly Away Dish Antenna” and be 45cm in diam- Allen Shen then takes a sip of his tea made An R&D employee takes measurements on an eter.” We noticed that Allen Shen still had that with hot water from his Azure Shine produced OMT sample. VSAT antennas are manufactured grin on his face so we expected even more. device. Only in Taiwan! complete with OMT and feed.

The R&D Team at work The Sales Team at work

52 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com

COMPANY REPORT Antenna Motor Manufacturer MOTECK

MOTECK’s Motor Professionals

Since being founded in 2000, Moteck has been specializing in any application that would involve small motors. This would include the raising and lowering of beds, adjustable- height desks and motorized chairs. Other examples include motors for automatic doors and also windows that are out of reach and are opened and closed with motors.

But by far the largest portion of their sales (30%) can be attributed to actuator and H-H motors for satellite reception. Gary Wu, Presi- dent of the company, estimates that MOTECK delivers roughly 35% of the world’s supply of satellite antenna motors. This qualiﬁes MOTECK for the title Market Leader.

MOTECK came about from a predecessor company that was founded in 1985. When MOTECK became their own company, they started with 5 employees. “Today MOTECK has 40 employees at their headquarters in Taipei”, explains Gary Wu, “40 more employees are at our fabrication plant in Taoyuan in Gary Wu is MOTECK’s President

Sales Director Rita Yu with their most important wholesale partners listed on the board, that offer MOTECK products to their end-users.

In the vast “Far Eastern Plaza” office complex in eastern Taipei you will find MOTECK’s headquarters on the first floor in building C, number 79.

54 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com south-western Taipei with another 200 at our 1,000,000 motors.” Since then sales have all the countries we ship to and not only in fabrication plant (founded in 2002) in Suzhou gone down; in 2006 it was 10% less. those countries where the plagiarist manu- in the Chinese province of Jiansu.” facturers are located.” In this way MOTECK is President Gary Wu blames this on the many able to secure their rights in those countries in Mass production takes place in the Chinese plagiarized products that have surfaced in which they actually sell their products. factory while their R&D (Research and Devel- the marketplace. He is fighting back with two opment) Team as well as production of their different strategies: MOTECK’s R&D team is And what countries are these? Director high-quality product lines has remained in constantly at work improving their products, Gerald Ku counts them out: “We ship 30% of Taiwan. something the plagiarist manufacturers don’t our motors to the Middle East, another 30% invest any time in. go the North Africa, 20% go to Europe, 15% “Our best year was 2005”, comments Direc- to Southeast Asia and 5% to North America. tor Gerald Ku, “back then we sold roughly Also, “we have been applying for patents in 90% of these sales are made up of actuator motors, with H-H motors making up the remaining 10%.” MOTECK is also quite active in all of the important trade shows: “You will find us at ANGA and at CABSAT”, explains Gary Wu, “Plus you will also find us twice a year at the show in Guangzhou, China.”

By now, curiosity has gotten the better of us: what new products are forthcoming from MOTECK? President Gary Wu enlightens us: “By the end of the year we will have H- H motors that are optimized for smaller sized antennas.” The current H-H model, optimized for use on 1.2-meter dishes, will be expanded to include H-H motors for 90cm and 75 cm antennas. “We are also looking into a motor variant for 1.5-meter dishes and are exploring The R&D team focusing on the devel- The Sales Team is made up of 12 employees that handle the the idea of developing a motor for 1.8-meter opment of new products. ordering and worldwide shipping of MOTECK products. antennas.”

Director Gerald Ku explains the reason- ing behind the motors for smaller antennas: “These motors were conceived for the Euro- pean and North American markets”, the larger models are intended more for the Middle Eastern and North African markets. Through specializing in all the different application locations, President Gary Wu expects an optimized price/performance ratio. “We always have to be better than our plagiarists”, states Gary Wu; a feeling shared by all the other market leaders.

But they will never run out of ideas. The new HDTV satellites might require an entirely new set of solutions; mobile satellite recep- Samples are taken off of the production line and tested in tion is also part of the picture for MOTECK. All combined hot/cold environmental chambers. Here the oven is of these new requirements are nothing more heated to 70°C. Tests are conducted from -40° to +90°C. than an incentive for MOTECK to develop more new solutions.

Director Gerald Ku at work. He watches Here the mechanical function of a production A technician checks a production sample over the R&D and Product Teams. sample is checked out. against its technical speciﬁcations.

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07/2007 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 55 STATION REPORT PTS Taipei, Taiwan

Satellite Channels for Taiwan - PTS’s Control Center

“85% of the country is cabled”, explains Ching Swen, the Executive Vice President of the “Public Television Service Foundation”, founded in 1998. That really doesn’t leave much room at all for direct satellite reception. Nevertheless, there is a single programming package for the Aborigines in Taiwan. As democratization came about, these Aborigines earned more rights as well as their own TV channels. Since most of these Aborigines live in the mountainous regions in the center of the country, satellite transmissions were mostly meant for them. Of the seven channels available in the package, three of them are produced by PTS.

Ching Swen invited us to visit the control room located in an adjacent building. Su Miao, Engineering Manager of the control room, described to us the setup: “Here we are able to watch over six channels; at the moment we are producing ﬁve channels. The extra spot serves as a reserve.” Three of the channels are transmitted via satellite, namely the channels PTS, DIMO and HAKKA. The signal is routed via ﬁber optic cable to Taiwan’s state-run telecommunications company CHT (Chung-Hwa Telecom) and from there is uplinked to ST-1 at 88° east via an uplink station in the Yang Min Mountains in northern Taiwan. PTS also uplinks its own PTS channel directly to ST- 1 such that PTS appears there twice, in the encrypted package for the Aborigines as well as in FTA.

There’s also an additional channel, MAC- TV, that is not produced by PTS. MAC-TV is a channel for all Taiwanese that are living abroad and is produced in Chinese (i.e. Man- darin, the mainstream language in Taiwan and ▲ Entrance to the PTS building. The organization “Taiwan Broadcasting System” can also be found mainland China), Cantonese, the two Aborigi- here marketing the channels from PTS. nal languages Hakka and Taiwanese as well as English. MAC-TV’s signal is transmitted to North America via ﬁber optic cable where it is then retransmitted. The MAC-TV signal is also uplinked from CHT via the uplink station in Linko south of Taipei to INTELSAT 8 (166°E) for the New Zealand region, TELSTAR 10 (76.5°E) for China, SUPERBIRD C (144°E) for Japan and Korea as well as to JSAT 3 in C-Band (128°E) for Asia.

▲ Ai-Chen Su is one of the technicians in the Master Control room that keeps an eye on the production of the TV channels. The monitors in the background are showing the signals for Channel 1 and Channel 2, with the additional monitors for Channels 3 to 6 located to the right. The employees are wearing jackets because the air conditioning system needs to keep the electronic equipment at a constant low temperature. Every employee leaves their shoes at the Master Control room entrance and puts on slippers instead.

56 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com Are there any plans for HDTV? Kevin Chen, Deputy Chief of Master Control Section Engineering Department, reveals that plans are under- way to upgrade to HDTV. He expects these upgrades to be installed by 2008 after which PTS will also offer HDTV programming. There’s something going on in the satellite skies above Taiwan.

▲Taiwanese satellite enthusiasts list all the channels on their homepage in Chinese characters: the picture of the programming package on ST-1 at 88° east for Taiwanese Aborigines shows encrypted channels with a blue background and FTA channels with yellow.

▲On the other end of the roof we found more antennas: the antenna to the far left is looking at AGILA, the two in the background are pointed to TEL- STAR 10 and ASIASAT 3, the small 60cm dish in the front is also pointed at TELSATR 10 while the larger antenna to the right is aligned with ST-1.

▲Kevin Chen is the Engineering Manager and explains the functions of each antenna on the roof of the PTS building. The large Andrew antenna in the background is 5.6 meters in diameter and is the uplink to the ST-1 satellite at 88° east for their PTS channel. The two antennas to the left are 5 meters and 3 meters in size and are both aligned to ASIASAT. Why two antennas for the same satellite? Kevin Chen explains: “When the BBC broadcast the 2000 Millenium‘s live celebrations 24 hours to every region of the world, PTS took part. A second antenna was erected as a reserve to prevent anything from going wrong.” COMPANY REPORT Wireless Card Reader Producer SmartWi

A Danish Family-Owned Business

If you cross the border from Germany into Denmark by the city of Flensburg you will bump his marketing plan; a plan that we could only into Kurt Olesen’s single family home after only the second traffic light on the left side of the agree with! two-lane highway. You won’t find a company sign either. As it turns out, that isn’t even necessary since SmartWi uses modern communications technology to market their products. “We use The SmartWi’s are packed for delivery in a mostly Skype”, explains Kurt Olesen, founder and owner of SmartWi, “and naturally also e-mail small building adjacent to the family’s home: and text messaging.” His son Jens is responsible for packing and distribution while his wife Mona handles the Kurt has been in this business since 1999. in almost every country in Europe and also incoming telephone calls as well as takes care Back then he sold standard satellite equipment in many other Asian and African countries. of the books. Kurt has demonstrated that even such as dishes, LNBs and receivers. He also “Every dealer pays the same price, regardless a small family business can have great success became involved with selling Smart Cards that of how many are ordered.” In this way Kurt is and above all a worldwide customer base! he acquired from Singapore, but then in 2004, able to treat every dealer the same way and with his electrical engineering background and every dealer has the opportunity to realize with help from an engineering friend, Kurt similar profits. came upon the idea of a wireless Smart Card reader, or SmartWi. Simply insert a Smart Card Much of the SmartWi market is in Sweden: in the SmartWi to have its contents transferred “20% of our deliveries go there while an addi- wirelessly to three additional cards. tional 10% each goes to Greece, France and Poland”, comments Kurt, and then continues, His partners in Singapore helped him find “Two thirds of our SmartWi orders are sent to a production company in Taiwan. Now it looks Europe with the remaining third going to Asia like production will be outsourced in Malay- and Africa.” With the exception of TELE-satel- sia. “Up to the end of 2006 we were able to lite Magazine, Mr. Olesen does not advertise sell roughly 30,000 SmartWi’s”, explains Kurt, anywhere else: “All of the important players “and for 2007 we expect to sell about 5000 in the satellite industry read TELE-satellite, SmartWi’s a month.” His customers are prima- plus a stand at a satellite trade show would rily dealers for which he has found a partner be too expensive”, reveals Kurt as he explains

The Olesen Family home; SmartWi’s headquarters. The truck to the right is delivering a new version 8 SmartWi shipment to be stored in the building behind the house.

58 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com Mona Olesen carries the Skype telephone set and handles all the incoming orders together with taking care of the books.

Jens Olesen packs and ships the SmartWi’s and also randomly tests for functionality. Repairs are no longer part of the business plan: Kurt Olesen, SmartWi’s owner, standing on the roof of his storage building instead, defective units are exchanged and then returned to the manu- next to the professional mast of his satellite dish. facturer.

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07/2007 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 59 COMPANY REPORT Satellite Dealer Sadoun

Into the Satellite Future at High Speed

The US satellite equipment dealer Sadoun, a family owned small business, is moving for- ward at high speed. Steady growth in product lines and manpower is quite normal for owner Jamal Sadoun. He was 18 years old when he came to Ohio in 1989 and attended the Uni- versity of Toledo where he studied Mechani- cal Engineering. After graduating, he worked for General Motors and General Electric and learned quite a bit. In his spare time he became interested in satellite reception and began selling spare parts. In 2001 he took the leap and started Sadoun.com.

“Sadoun began as a one-man-operation” reﬂects Jamal, “today we have 12 employees.” And they are multilingual so that they are

At the moment, Sadoun calls this ofﬁce/warehouse building his headquarters

Mr. Steve is the technical guru who helps out customers with problems over the phone. easily able to communicate with immigrants in their native languages including Arabic, German, Thai, Chinese and Persian up to and including, of course, Americanese.

The largest portion of their sales, roughly 70%, involves end-users. The remaining 30% goes to resellers. 80% of their orders are made online via their website (www.sadoun. com). “We only get 20% of our orders over the telephone”, explains Jamal, “We also provide Jamal Sadoun in his showroom holding the new SatHawk 4000 signal analyzer to be highlighted in extensive customer support through our online an upcoming issue of TELE-satellite.

Ofﬁce Manager Judy Tabash always comes to Barbara Digel-Barrett takes care of accounting Natalie Watkins is responsible for customer ser- work in good spirits. and ﬁnances. vice.

60 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com discussion forums.” Jamal himself occasionally Sadoun will soon have available, you may be aging to grow with a mixture of caution and contributes articles to these forums. When asking where he will put it all. Construction business savvy. All in all Sadoun Satellite has asked what his percentage of individual prod- is beginning on a new ofﬁce/warehousebuild- everything the novice or professional Satellite uct sales are, he stopped to think a moment ing that will give him 31,000 Sq-Ft of space enthusiast needs at a single resource location. and then noted that “Receivers account for instead of the 10,000 Sq-Ft he has now. He With a huge inventory, personable sales and 40% of our sales, followed by antennas at 20% plans on leasing this new construction. support staff, and an easy to navigate web- with the remaining 40% attributed to LNBs, site, Sadoun Satellite is a benchmark in the motors, signal analyzers and smaller acces- Not bad planning! Jamal Sadoun is man- United States of satellite service. sories.”

Sadoun stocks HH motors from STAB (+/- 60° turning radius), Moteck (+/- 75° turning radius) and Sat Control (+/- 50°). In the second quarter of 2007 Sadoun will offer a Powertek motor with the Sadoun name. He has had already private-label single and dual LNBs (KUL1 and KUL2) available since the beginning of 2006 with single and dual universal LNBs (ULN1 and ULN2) added to his product line towards the end of 2006. Sadoun also stocks the DSL2; a dual LNB for use with DSS satellites. Then there’s the DSLR2 with reversed polarization. This circularly polarized LNB needs to be used whenever a Toroidal dish is installed because of this antenna’s subre- ﬂector.

He also has a wide selection of multi- switches. The current selection of 2/4 and 3/4 switches will be expanded with 4/4, 5/4 and 5/8 variations in the fall of 2007. The current 4/1 watertight DiSEqC switch will also be enhanced with indoor versions of the 2/1 and 4/1 in the fall of 2007.

With rapidly expanding product lines that Warehouse Manager L.T. prepares shipments before delivery via FedEx, UPS or DHL.

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07/2007 — TELE-satellite & Broadband 61 LETTER TO THE EDITOR TELE-satellite Experts Reply

Alexandru Porosanu Thomas Haring SatcoDX Software TELE-satellite Development Test Center Austria

answers your questions answers your questions

DBV-S2 in SatcoDX The next killer-feature for satellite receivers As I have observed that SatcoDX does not say anything about modulation standard (DVB- I am relatively new to FTA satellite as an S/S2) of the transponder. I am currently writing a alternative to terrestrial broadcasting. However; I wrapper application on a driver and most tuner driv- am a professional in the IT world and am annoyed ers, current one as well, that I have worked on need by a critical gap in all satellite receivers: The lack that information. They configure driver settings dif- of an IP based interface. I have tried to pitch using ferently according to DVB-S and S2 selection. It is satellite for our training systems at work, but no one good to know broadcasting system type; however, (myself included) wants to mess with a remote or Then there‘s Topfield, who also offers in its new 6000 MPG4 stream can be broadcasted via DVB-S or client software to program and control the receivers. series two receivers with either WLAN or regular DVB-S2. Therefore, it is important to know which Also, most of our equipment is in closets in differ- LAN connector (TF6000PVR and TF6000PVRE), modulation standard is used as well. ent buildings, and the time/effort to make changes but these boxes do not offer all the features you Alihan Dikici, Software Engineer, Cabot is unacceptable. Client software is unacceptable requested, for example you can’t fully control them Communications Ltd, Turkey since we maintain strict baselines on our computer via a web interface or you can’t perform a software for support and security reasons. update via LAN. Lastly, a work-around is using a I‘d like the challenge the consumer and commercial Slingbox - watch out for next TELE-satellite, which receiver folks to deliver the following: will carry a test report about Slingbox. * Enable a receiver to be fully controlled through a native web interface using a common CAT-5 net- Heinz Koppitz work connection. TELE-satellite * Build that interface with a user name and login Test Center Germany password to prevent unauthorized access. * Provide a hardware reset in the event the user answers your questions name and password are lost. * Enable uploading and downloading of firmware and satellites via the interface. Worldwide Channels? * Enable static and dynamic IP addressing with a machine name. I‘ve just recently started messing around with * Support multiple languages for major markets. the frequency, polarity, symbol and FEC on my Sky * Do it for less than $50 marginal cost over current plus box. I have become obsessed with finding all manufacturing costs. (That‘s about the cost of a the channels I can. Sadly I have found them all :( network printer interface.) With each channel I found it made me feel like more For all the glitter in the ads, I see a real lagging in of a man! lol - I was wondering what sort of figure recognizing that modern homes are networked and would I be looking at for descent satellite dish and remotes are a hassle. Also, the adoption of this receiver? I would be looking to get as many chan- hardware by commercial users is limited since it nels as possible from around the world! Also just out is based on a labor intensive „personal“ interface of interest is it possable to get a satellite that could (the remote) instead of an enterprise solution taking receive all channels in the world and how many mil- advantage of a network architecture. lions would it cost? Well, there you have it. That‘s what I‘m waiting for Dave Kelly, Dublin, Ireland before I can push for a satellite solution for our training division. Unfortunately it’s not possible to receive all Alan Yelvington, SEMPARPAC, satellite channels worldwide because each satellite Emergency & Disaster Planning has its own footprint which covers certain regions Information, Arlington, VA, USA of the earth. In Europe, and particularly in Ireland, it is currently View to the Log File of SatcoDX Scanning Software: it first Much of what you‘re looking for is already only possible to receive a maximum of 16 satellites attempts to load a DVB-S2 card, here TechnoTrend, and available. A hint: look out for receivers based on with an average 60 to 80 cm dish. Even for these when it fails it moves on to a DVB-S card, here SkyStar. A Linux. Being a open source software, there‘s a lot 16 satellites to be received you’d need a moving simple but effective way to detect DVB-S2 transponder. of firmware available, including some which cover antenna and a receiver which is DiSEqC 1.2 compa- partly your requirements. Check test report about tible. A SKY receiver cannot be used for this. We are currently adding the information of the new AB-COM box elsewhere in this issue. Pro- For more information turn to the SatcoDX CD-ROM whether a transponder is modulated using DVB-S vided you can assign a fixed IP, you can control that “World of Satellites” or go to the Internet at www. or DVB-S2 in the SatcoDX lists, however only for a box via the web by a virtual remote control. SatcoDX.com. few satellites. The reason for this limited approach is the fact that not all SatcoDX scanning stations are equipped with DVB-S2 compatible cards at this time. The detection of whether DVB-S or DVB-S2 is available uses a simple but highly effective method of first trying to receive the transponder in DVB-S2 and – if this fails – switching to DVB-S. Most manufacturers of receivers actually use the same procedure and thus do not require this information to be available beforehand. Topfield‘s TF6000PVRE has a Ethernet connector and can be controlled via a web interface from remote

62 TELE-satellite International& Broadband — — www.TELE-satellite.com 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com Tel.: +36 . 30 . 9336 277 Fax: +36 . 1 . 788 1043 [email protected]

to receive their programming. You can‘t use any Ron Roessel other receiver. TELE-satellite DirecTV is a different animal altogether. Their Test Center North America signal is not compatible with standard MPEG-2

answers your questions receivers so you couldn‘t use a standard receiver with DirecTV anyway. DishNetwork and Bell ExpressVu both use standard MPEG-2 DVB trans- European Receiver in USA? missions. This means that you can lock onto their satellite TV signals with a standard receiver and even scan for channels but unfortunately, that‘s I picked up a copy of your magazine at about all you can do. Every channel is scram- Barnes & Noble and was intrigued with all of the bled so you won‘t be able to see anything except products that don‘t appear to be for sale in the US. maybe for a few promo channels. Why is that? If I were to buy one from Europe what There are about 60 satellites up in the skies above could I receive in the US? I currently subscribe to North America not counting the PayTV satellites. Direct TV, would those channels be available via Each of these satellites carries some FTA chan- one of these boxes? nels. Some carry more than others. If you are David Snow, interested in foreign language programming, then Woodinville, WA, USA Galaxy 25 is for you. Galaxy 10R offers quite a bit of English language stuff. You are quite right. There are many more Most of the receivers available outside of North models of satellite receivers available elsewhere America will work here. You just have to make than here in North America. The overwhelming sure that you can plug them into the wall and also reason for this is that there simply is not as big make sure that they can provide a compatible TV a market here as there is everywhere else in the signal for your TV. This means that it should be world. Hard to believe isn‘t it? But you can thank able to handle the 110 volts/60 Hz available at DishNetwork, DirecTV, Bell ExpressVu (Canada) our electrical outlets and it also means that the and Star Choice (also Canada) for this. There are receiver should be able to give you an NTSC TV also a few other satellite providers that can be signal. Most power supplies in receivers today are thanked too, but these are the big ones. universal power supplies meaning you can usu- The very simple explanation is this: when you sub- ally plug them in anywhere in the world. The only scribe to any of these satellite TV providers, you thing you might have to do is adapt the plug to one MUST use their receivers or a receiver authorized that ﬁts in our electrical outlets.

Which plug comes with your satellite receiver? The two on the left are for Europe and this means 220 V, the third from left is for UK, Middle East and some Asian countries and mostly 240 V and the one at the right is for America and 110 V. Most receivers nowadays accept 110-240 V, so all you need to do is to replace with the right plug, which ﬁts into your wall socket. COMPANY REPORT Satellite Trade Show

For the 18th time CommunicAsia is holding its trade show from June 19 to 22 in the Singapore Expo center. The Expo is easy to get to: it is in eastern Singapore and only one stop away from Changi International Airport via the MRT express train.

CommunicAsia ﬁrst appeared in 1979 was a 10% increase over the shows and back then only took place every from 2005. Victor Wong, Communi- two years. The ﬁrst CommunicAsia con- cAsia’s Project Director, explains this sisted of 400 exhibitors. year’s show: “This year the total space required will be 72,000 Sq meters and By 1999 CommunicAsia became a we expect it to be more successful than once-a-year trade show that occurred last year.” at the same time as BroadcastAsia as well as EnterpriseIT. Together the Victor Wong adds, “In 2006, 84% three of these shows last year were of the exhibitors came from outside of made up of a combined 2338 exhibi- Singapore. The exhibiting companies tors and attracted 67,137 visitors. This came from 66 different countries from Victor Wong CommunicAsia’s Project Director

every region in the world.” Victor Wong was quite pleased that companies from China, USA and Korea came to Com- municAsia. He provided us with some details about the exhibitors: “This year there will be 31 Group or Country Pavil- ions from countries such as Australia, China, France, Germany, Sweden and Singapore.”

The visitors come primarily from the Southeast Asian region; in addition to those from Singapore, most of the visitors come from countries such as Indo- nesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India.

Victor Wong tells us more: “Visitors can discuss business with the professionals and decision makers from the industry; on top of that are leaders from regulatory authorities, satellite and service providers.”

For more information, you can visit the show’s homepage at www.communicasia.com

CommunicAsia has established itself as the leading trade show in the region dealing with every aspect of Informa- tion Technology.

About the size of a typical credit card, this rechargeable card lets you easily ride the Metro MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) in Singa- The Goldbell Towers are appropriately named: they have a golden shine to them. The ofﬁces for pore. The trade show is located directly at the Singapore Exhibition Services company are located here on the 11th ﬂoor. the “Expo” stop on the East-West line.

64 TELE-satellite & Broadband — 06-07/2007 — www.TELE-satellite.com MAGAZINE SHOPS Where to get TELE-satellite Magazine

TELE-satellite's Global Distribution

TELE-satellite Magazine is available at newsstands and bookstores in many different countries. TELE-satellite is shipped by land, sea, or air to distributors all over the world and is available at many locations that offer special- ized publications. TELE-satellite Magazine is printed in English. Translations into additional languages can be found on the included CD-ROM. In some countries TELE-satellite Magazine does not come with the CD-ROM. In those countries, subscription services are available that would include the CD-ROM for subscribers of TELE-satellite Magazine. The CD-ROM also contains the “World of Sat- ellites” satellite chart program from SatcoDX. This powerful tool lets the user search and sort satellite channels from around the world. The user can also use this program to identify all the satellites that should be receivable from where they are with the satellite equipment TELE-satellite Magazine and the they currently have plus they can go online 24 SatcoDX CD-ROM contain every- hours-a-day and download chart updates. thing you need to know when it “World of Satellites” is only available on the comes to global satellite reception CD-ROM that is included with TELE-satellite technology. TELE-satellite Magazine Magazine. is available at many newsstands and most major bookstores around the world. TELE-satellite If your country is not listed in TELE- satellite’s Distributor List, you can go online and read TELE-satellite Distributor's List Magazine on the Internet in any of 17 currently available languages: Europe Switzerland: Valora AG www.TELE-satellite.com Turkey: Dogan Burda Dergi Hrvatski Nederlands Austria: Pressegroßvertrieb Salzburg UK: Emblem Group Belgium: AMP Bulgaria: Tel-Sat Croatia: Distriest doo Estonia: AS Lehepunkt Middle East Italiano Polski ﻓﺎﺭﺳﻲ Deutsch ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ Finland: Rautakirja Oy Lehtipiste Bahrain: Al-Hilal Publishing France: Levant Distributors Sarl Israel: Steimatzky Germany: IPS Pressevertrieb Kuwait: Kuwaiti Group for Publishing Greece: Hellenic Distribution Agency Lebanon: Levant Group Greece: Evropi SA Oman: Dar Al-Atta’a Est. Ireland: Eason & Son Qatar: Dar Al Sharq Printing Macedonia: Distriest doo Saudi Arabia: Saudi Distribution Indonesia English Français Magyar Русский Luxembourg: Messageries Paul Krauss UAE: Emirates Printing & Publishing Netherlands: Betapress BV Serbia: Distriest doo Spain: SGEL Africa Slovenia: Distriest doo Egypt: Al Ahram Sweden: Svenska Interpress AB Kenya: Nation Media Български Español Ελληνικά 中文 Türkçe Morrocco: Sochepress Namibia: MCS Caxton Nigeria: Newsstand Agencies South Africa: MCS Caxton Tunesia: Sotupress America Canada: Disticor USA: Prestige Asia Australia: Europress Distributors China: Aluo-Sat Indonesia: Indoprom Laos: Infosat Intertrade TELE-satellite Magazine can be found, for Nepal: Bazaar Alexander Wiese (left), publisher of TELE-satel- example, at this Dubai Library Distributors Pakistan: Paradise Books & Distributors Taiwan: Taiwan English Press lite, and Louis Lu (right), President of Taiwan outlet located on Naif Road in downtown Dubai Thailand: Infosat Intertrade English Press, after formally agreeing to distrib- in Deira, close to the Electronics Souq on Al- Vietnam: XunhaSaba ute TELE-satellite Magazine in Taiwan. Maktoum Road

�� Exhibition Preview 18 - 20 May 2007: Beurs Vlaanderen Digitaal 7 - 11 September 2007: IBC Digital television via satellite exhibition The World of Content Creation Management Delivery Cultureel centrum t‘Spoor, Eilandsstraat 6, 8530 Harelbeke, RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre, Amsterdam, Belgium Netherlands www.beursvlaanderen-digitaal.be www.ibc.org

22 -24 May 2007: ANGA Cable Trade Fair for Cable, Satellite & Multimedia 27 -29 September 2007: EEBC 2007 Koeln Messe, Cologne, Germany The Leading Electronic Media & Communications Event in www.angacable.de Eastern Europe Exhibition Centre “KyivExpoPlaza”, Kiev, Ukraine www.eebc.net.ua

19 - 22 June 2007: CommunicAsia International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition & Conference Singapore Expo, 1 Expo Drive Singapore 486150 www.communicasia.com 4 - 6 October 2007: SatExpo 2007 Space and Advanced Telecommunications Vicenza Fair Grounds, Vicenza, Italy www.satexpo.it

TELE-satellite International Magazine is published worldwide in 17 languages:

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