Satellite Update
The FCC has accepted an application from XM Radio Inc. requesting authority to reposition three of its licensed satellites - XM-1, XM-2 and XM-3 at the nominal orbital location of 85 degrees West Longitude (WL). The satellites would be located side by side within an over-all station-keeping box of 0.2 degrees. XM-1 would be an in-orbit spare at 85.150 degrees WL. XM-2 would operate as an in-orbit spare at 85.217 degrees WL and XM-3 would operate at 85.083 degrees WL. To maintain this tight spacing, each satellite would have an East-West station keeping tolerance of ±0.033 degrees. XM Radio requested authority to maintain continuous operation of the communications payload on XM-3 during the move and to activate the communications payload of XM-1 and XM-2 in the event of an XM-3 or XM-4 service outage.
Sirius Satellite Radio requested special temporary authority (STA) for a period of 180 days to operate terrestrial repeaters at EIRP levels at or below 200 W and signal boosters with an EIRP of 0.0001 W at trade shows starting Nov. 7, 2007 through Feb. 18, 2008. The repeaters would operate within its licensed frequency band of 2320 to 2332.5 MHz.
This is information is from FCC Report SAT-00473.
In Report SAT-00472 the FCC International Bureau announced it granted XM Radio STA to operate one terrestrial repeater with a power level of 1462 W EIRP in Miami, FL for a period of 180 days. XM Radio also received STA to operate one terrestrial repeater with a power level of 1068W EIRP in Las Vegas, NV for a period of 180 days. Sirius Satellite Radio received STA to operate an indoor terrestrial repeater with an EIRP of 200 watts (average) and up to five indoor repeaters with EIRP up to 0.0001 W at the International Boat Builders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in Miami Beach, FL from Oct. 10-12, 2007. That STA become effective Oct. 3, 2007. DG Consents Sub, Inc received an STA for its Earth Exploration Satellite Service license S2129. Details were not listed in the FCC Report, but a check of IBFS found this description in DG’s application: “DG Consents Sub, Inc. (DigitalGlobe) seeks authority to launch and operate the W -60 spacecraft it is licensed to add to its EESS constellation, but which it proposed in July 2007 (in an application that remains pending) to modify slightly. The modified satellite will be launched on Sept. 18, 2007, so action on this request is sought on an urgent,” DigitalGlobe, is the company that provides the satellite images for Google Earth and some press releases announcing the launch of the satellite referred to it as the “Google Earth” satellite.
Comments and story leads are always welcome. Email me at lung@transmitter.com.
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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.