From: skingsle@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stuart A Kingsley)
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Subject: SATELLITES LIGHTING UP
Date: 21 Jan 91 02:12:46 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University

As others have noted, this past week during Desert Storm, the international
satellites have really been active, probably more so than any time in
history.

Presently, Panamsat has several active Ku-band transponders, including an
ABC back-up, and occasional feeds from the Middle East.  I have see Kate
Aidy uplinking from the mobile BBC unit in Saudi Arabia - a rather round-
about way to get the signals back to London!

I have also discovered that SCOLA gets its 3.00 am (EST) feed of BBC's
Breakfast Time, via Panamsat.  One think about SCOLA is that the video
qulity is not as good as it should be.  Their signals are often rather
band-limited.  Still, since I don't pay for the service I shouldn't
complain!

Perhaps the most interesting new signals to appear this past week on 
Intelsat VA F11 at 27.5 W is the CNN feed from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,
on Tr. 6, and the NBC Tel Aviv feed on Tr. 7.  Both these feeds are
essentially 24 hours per day, though sometimes (fortunately) for the
Israelis, it can be very boring.  Transponder 18 carries CNN from
London on an occasional basis, with signals from Saudi Arabia.

By keeping watch on Tr. 6,7 and 18, one can be one of the first to know
whether any scud missiles are falling in thoses areas.  The CNN
Jerusalem transponder 6 is the strongest transponder I have seen on this
Intelsat.  It gives noise free pictures in the full 27 MHz bandwidth with
a circularly-polarized C-band feed.

You should note that I have previously suggested reducing the I.F. bandwidth
to 14 MHz on weak signals to improve the picture quality.  Let me expand on
what I said.  If the signals are only slightly noisy, then reducing the
bandwidth that much will actually make the picture worse in highly
saturated areas.  However, if the signal is very weak, a 50% reduction in
bandwidth can make all the difference between a watchable picture and one
that isn't.  There is an optimum bandwidth for any low CNR which will
maximize picture quality.  You just have to experiment.

PAL/625 pictures tend to suffer greater degradation with bandwith reduction
due to the higher frequency (4.43 MHz) used for the color subcarrier.  Even
so, a bandwidth reduction will turn a noise Intelsat VA F13 signal into one
that is very watchable.

At a later date I think I will upload more material and advice on C/Ku-Band
Intelsat watching, perferably from an ASCII file so that I can avoid all
these typos.  I had hoped to have done this by now, but frankly, I watched
too much TV last week into the wee hours of the morning.