REMINDER: EUMETCast Europe service – transponder migration

EUMETSAT operates EUMETCast Europe in Ku-band via EUTELSAT 10A (E10A).

The E10A satellite reaches its end of life in 2023 and will be replaced by E10B.

The second transponder used for EUMETCast Europe High Volume Service, C10, cannot be used at the same downlink frequency on E10B, so migration to a different transponder, C3, is required. This migration will take place on E10A in November 2022 and the replacement of E10A by E10B will then be transparent to users. The migration will include a parallel downlink period where the old and new transponders will be used from 24 November to 31 December.

Figure 1 illustrates the evolution of transponders on the prime satellite, indicating, for each transponder, the polarisation and the downlink frequency.

(*) C4 is the first transponder on E10A used by the Basic Service (BAS) and High Volume Service (HVS-1)
(**) C10 is the second transponder on E10A used by the High Volume Service (HVS-2)
(***) WK4 is the new third transponder; it will be available only on E10B starting from July 2023.

User preparation for the migration

Users currently receiving the EUMETCast Europe High Volume Service from the second transponder E10A-C10 are invited to prepare their receiving equipment to migrate to E10A-C3 before December — the parallel downlink period where the old and new transponders are used will be from 24 November to 31 December. The service will stop on E10A-C10 on 31 December.

As seen in the figure above, C3 has a different downlink polarization (vertical) compared to C10 (horizontal), and, therefore, the LNB being used must support dual polarity. LNB supporting this are called Twin, Quad or Quattro LNB. The Satellite Reception Setup page lists several recommended solutions supporting all the transponders on the prime and backup satellites used in future by EUMETCast — these may include additional cabling, DVB splitter or multi-switch.

No further preparations are required. At the time of the migration, only the DVB receiver parameters will need to be changed to receive from C3.

For any questions or support, please contact our User Service Helpdesk.