We have been available most weeks to do a live Friday night show, but Ralf Black has had the experience of having way too many news events happening at his doorstep.  It seemed to start about the time of remembrances of the 4th anniversary of the Katrina disaster, when many news organizations saw a story in trying to analyze the anniversary, and what has happened in the last four years.  Politics seem to drive much of his other business, and New Orleans has somehow been a magnet for people to be available for interviews.  The networks call and book time in his New Orleans studio, often on short notice, and Ralf then becomes unavailable to do a show.  Blair Alper was able to do a fill-in last evening, and we hope things get back to whatever "normal" is next week.  I may have occasional periods during our extended moving process where I may also be unavailable some evenings.  Whatever happens, we will continue...if you want to revisit an old show, there are archives that can be linked to from the Access America website.

Satellite news this summer has been all over the map, including the final shutoff of former Equity broadcasting stations on both C-band Galaxy 3C (95 West) and Ku-band satellite Galaxy 18 (123 West).  The company went through bankruptcy proceedings early in 2009, and the result was that their many television station properties had to be sold to pay off large debts.  Most of the new station owners had no reason to continue uplinking a satellite feed from Little Rock, so signals were removed one by one until there were no more...providing a rude awakening to hobbyists and others that had gotten used to getting their network "fix" via a Ku-band dish at 123 West.  Those wanting Univision programming can still get it on C-band, with a new multiplex now available in MPEG-2 free to air on the 118.7 C-band satellite ANIK F-3, which splits Spanish channels with some feeds from AMG affiliated stations (10 total in this group).  Want more Spanish programming?  Take your Ku-band dish and point it to 125 West, where Montana PBS and the national PBS channels reside.  Do a blind scan and find an East and a West coast service for the newly expanded ESTRELLA TV network, just making its national debut for the Spanish community.

Other PBS news includes a new simulcast in MPEG-2 of the channels from Nebraska that have been transmitting on 89 West-C band in the Digicipher 2 format.  You will need AC-3 audio capability, and one channel is in HD (get a Pansat 9200 receiver), but this opens up a number of educational channels for free-to-air viewers.  Signal is a bit on the weak side due to the simultaneous transmission of both groups of channels, so we would recommend a 10-foot dish with digitally rated LNB and well-tuned feed assembly.

Speaking of Pansat, we are now taking orders for their new commercial receiver, which adds a 19-inch rack mount assembly to the existing Pansat 9200HD receiver, two cooling fans, and a front panel switch to disable the infrared remote control when desired.  The latter is very useful in multiple receiver systems where they are stacked vertically, allowing one to reprogram individual receivers by temporarily turning on the remote control ability without disturbing the settings on other receivers.  First units have been tested and delivered with excellent feedback...it comes with the option with or without the DVB-S2 board.  Combine blind scanning, better tuner sensitivity, the ability to tune MPEG-2 -and- MPEG-4 signals, along with the DVB-S2 option, and place the receiver in a rack mount design with added features, and this has the potential to turn the commercial receiver market upside down.  There are many commercial installations using very overpriced professional receivers that do not have half of the features and abilities found in the Pansat 9200.  The price...which may at first appear steep to the hobbyist, is exactly the opposite when compared to commercial products costing several thousand dollars.  There will be a waiting line for these receivers, so if you are the least bit interested, please contact us about ordering as soon as possible. 

The number of channels using the MPEG-4 DVB-S2 format continues to grow, especially on the Latin American front.  We hope to shortly offer at least a limited DVB-S2 channel listing, and are doing continuous research to find available channels.  One of the problems is that many channels are only there for a temporary time, and some---such as the Costa Rican group that just converted from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 DVB-S2 last month, scramble after converting.   If you would like a look at the quality possibilities, go to the C-band side of 121 West and compare the standard definition as well as the high definition versions of AZTECA television.  Quite amazing, especially on live programs.  Then there is also the 70 plus channel group (and growing) from Henry Luken's RETRO (RTV) network and other channels being transmitted on the C-band side of 87 West in DVB-S2.  Not great picture quality, but also not really a problem given the vintage of some of the programs shown.  These are custom feeds for individual TV stations.  RTV will soon have at least three other companions, with a sports and outdoor oriented network called TUFF TV already on the air, along with a second Retro channel and a children's channel in the wings.  If these are successful, you may see many more in the future.  Unless your local broadcast stations are transmitting these stations, the best recipe to receive them starts with at least a 10 foot antenna (12 would be better), and the Pansat 9200HD receiver with DVB-S2 module.  C-band is by no means going away, and this appears to be the start of something great.  Equity Broadcasting was a great idea, but poorly developed financially.  Retro and its brethren could go a long way towards providing no-subscription classic television alternatives to cable and companies such as DirecTV and DISH Network.

Our last column promised further information on the Traxis DBS-4000 receiver as well as its use with the new 0.1 dB Easy Find Universal LNBF.  When you follow the directions, it delivers as promised.  The Traxis DBS-4000 has special circuitry that pairs with this LNBF, to allow a system of LED lights to "find" the desired satellite.  Installers should always have a backup method of tuning besides using the red and green lights, such as paying attention to the quality level readings on the receiver itself...in addition to a separate tuning meter.  There may be some minor controversy about whether or not this LNBF is truly a 0.1 dB device, but when it is compared to ANYTHING else on the market, nothing comes close in performance.  On a 3-foot offset antenna I have consistently found improvements averaging at least 10 point gains in quality on most domestic Ku-band channels.  We now offer an optional service with the Traxis DBS-4000, the commercial DBS-3800, as well as the original DBS-3500 receiver, in preloaded satellite and channel memories.  Please call or Email for more information on this service, which will save you many hours of manual programming.  The Pansat 4500 will soon have the same option, as soon as some software is further fine tuned, in a few days.

  
Until next month,

MIKE