Klick - TELE-satellite International Magazine

HISTORY
TELE-satellite Archives
10
Edited by
Alexander Wiese
Attisat FL 500
For many years, Greece was one of the
countries in which satellite reception with smaller dishes
was not really possible. Even with larger dishes the local
geographical situation was of the greatest influence on
the reception in many cases.
In practice, many Greeks just had to do trial and error
for many years. The Greeks have always participated
in our discussions about satellite reception, being prepared
to try any construction to find a solution.
So it was just a matter of time before a company would
come along and offer some real innovative products on
this field. Attisat Satellite Systems is one of these very
young companies, now introducing their first product.
The number of direct reception satellites throughout the world
has grown over the last decade.
In almost every region there is
at least one satellite to be found
which has been built for direct
reception. In the Mediterranean
area these are the Astra, Arabsat,
Nilesat, Hotbird and Türksat.
Years
Ago
176 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 02-03/2010 — www.TELE-satellite.com
Attisat investigated the situation and
developed a flat dish of 53cm x 53cm.
A flat dish not only looks better, but in
some cases it also performs better compared
to normal parabolic antennas.
In fact, a flat dish consists of
many smaller dishes that are all
catching the signal and supply
it to one LNB. The efficiency of
these dishes is around 85%.
The aperture angle is around 25%
smaller compared to parabolic antennas.
Also the side lobes are about
10dB lower, preventing the interference
of nearby positioned satellites.
Polarisation separation was
measured lower than -30dB, which
is absolutely better than average.
Star Sat SR-X40CI
Although analogue reception is still
going strong, more channels are also
becoming available on digital platforms
every day. Where, for example, one
year ago you needed a very large
dish to catch some exotic channels
(Thai-TV in Europe for instance,)
a digital platform now brings these
channels to your home with only a
very small dish and a digital receiver.
For every European it has now
become possible to get the latest
news directly from Chile or Argentina.
Italians or Arabs living in the U.S.
can now keep up with the news from
home, thanks to digital technology.
This requires a world-wide applicable
receiver, offering not only Ku-band
reception but C-band as well. And for
those wanting to combine both C-band
TELE INTERNATIONAL
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and Ku-Band into one LNB a dual polariser with servo motor
comes in. This meant some extra requirements for the receiver,
which has to be able to control the dual polariser as well.
First of all, FTA reception is important, but the possibility
to choose a pay-TV package later on must be
there. Therefore, a Common Interface is necessary.
This can be used in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia. In
the U.S., other access systems are in use.All these requirements
mentioned above are met by the new receiver from Star
Sat from Dubai. Since they are still searching for a European
distributor we had to get our test version directly from Dubai.
The number of channels is really large: 2,900 in total
(2,000 for TV / 900 for Radio.) And it supports up to 50
satellites. On the front, a green display indicates the
channel ID, the programme mode and when in standby
mode, it shows the time. Also located on the front is the
standby button, and hidden behind a lid there are more
buttons, enabling complete operation of the box.
Two CA-slots for encoding, Irdeto, Viaccess, Cryproworks,
Conax and Nagravision are present. At the back,
terminals make it possible to connect a servo polariser.
The SR-X40CI would be the ideal receiver for motorised
installations if a positioner was built-in as well.
However it isn’t, you will need a separate one.
Three scart connectors (European version) are present to
connect a television set, VCR and external decoder (like for
the RAI.) Additionally, the box features output in phono for
both video and audio. The 0/12-Volt control signal can be
used to operate external switches. A serial interface is present
(RS-232, 9 pin) enabling a transfer rate of up to 38,400 baud.
New firmware can be downloaded from the Internet or will
be available on diskette. Even channel settings (including
satellite settings) can be updated using the serial interface.
A built-in modulator integrates a present terrestrial signal
to the receiver’s RF output. It is software adjustable
and can be set to any channel on the UHF band (for the
European version in PAL D/K, B/G, I and SECAM L.)
Another nice feature is the presence of a mains switch.
Nera World Communicator
With the bus to a crisis region? Well, the Greyhound
won’t take you there, but an ISDN bus from a Norwegian
manufacturer of satellite telephones just might.
The Nera “WorldPhone” gave reporters, businesspeople and
the military a means for voice communications from most
places on earth, but there was still a need for transmitting
higher bit rates with a small portable unit. So the idea
for the new WorldCommunicator was born, and Nera is
now introducing the result of this idea: it looks like a small
flap-open laptop PC which provides an ISDN hook-up
in all corners of the earth. This is possible thanks to the
new strong spot beams of the latest generation of Inmarsat
satellites. Four operative and eight back-up satellites
delivering these strong beams are currently in orbit.