Satellite Update

By Doug Lung
published

PanAmSat Licensee Corp. requested special temporary authority (STA) for 180 days to operate Intelsat 11 at 43.2 degrees west longitude (WL) for telemetry, tracking and command operation using Ku-band command and telemetry frequencies. PanAmSat H-2 Licensee Corp. requested STA for 60 days, commencing on Dec. 26, 2007, to conduct in-orbit testing of Horizons 2 at 67.5 degrees WL in the conventional Ku-bands before relocating the satellite to its permanent location at 74.05 degrees WL. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. asked for STA for 180 days to operate 15 new satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) terrestrial repeaters at power levels at or below 2 kilowatts EIRP (average) in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, St. Louis, Tampa and Orlando. Sirius said that the additional repeaters were needed to provide high-quality commercial SDARS programming nationwide. Information on these applications is from FCC Report SAT-00478.

The FCC granted STA to Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. to operate an indoor terrestrial repeater with an EIRP of up to 200 watts (average) and up to five indoor repeaters with EIRP of up to 0.0001 watts at various trade shows between Nov. 2007 and Feb. 2008. Also, the FCC International Bureau determined that Orbimage License Corp met the first three of four milestones associated with its authorization. The milestones are contract execution, critical design review, and construction commencement. From FCC Report SAT-00479.

Comments and news items are welcome. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.