This thread already has inconsistencies in my eyes. Let me shed some light on it.
TWC has delayed the April updates. I believe that they will never even roll out as they've changed their game plan.
Now lets establish some stuff about how the satellites work. AMC-11 is what the "analog" feed is currently transmitted on. AMC-10 is what the "digital" feed is transmitted on. Confused yet? I hope not, as this is about to get more salty
What makes the "analog" feed and "digital" feed digital? Simple. It's the encoding method. The feed on AMC-11 is encoded using a VideoCipher II, or VC2 for short. Back in the 80s, this was a very popular method to encrypt satellite signals. All of the STARs up until the IntelliStar transmitted on AMC-11, or the "analog" feed. It's old technology, and is very limited. Oh, and it takes up more bandwidth.
Now, the "digital" feed is sent on AMC-10. It is digitally encrypted with Motorola's DigiCipher 2. It takes less bandwidth, and is much more secure over the old VC2 from the 1980s. But, what does this mean for the STARs?
The feed is beamed into space by The Weather Channel, already encrypted. TWCs clients will then aim their satellite dish (no, not a small one like you'd see with DirecTV or Dish) spot on with the satellite in space, whether it be AMC-10 or 11. This is good.
The only thing in theory to keep legacy units running is for affiliates to re-aim their dishes to AMC-10, and they need to switch their decoders to DigiCipher 2s and authorize it with TWC. As far as I know, AMC-11 is almost nearing it's "expiration", if you get my drift. I don't know the exact date. Someone else here who knows that can chime in with that.
So the legacy units can definitely be saved, and can run for many many more years to come. It just means that affiliates will need to update their equipment and re-aim their dishes. The question, however, is if TWC will change their encoding methods and beam it to AMC-10. It seriously just boils down to the encoding.
And now for a few disclaimers: I am not an operator. I am also not involved in getting signals down from the satellites, mainly because my property is setup to where it's just not worth doing, and I don't have authorized decoders (which are nearly impossible to find/get without paying for). This is just my take on the situation based off of previous knowledge and my common sense. So I may be wrong in some of this, but I am fairly confident that what I stated here is true and factual. It really is just a matter of encoding/decoding and the decommissioning of AMC-11 (whenever that is). So don't shoot me for messing one thing up. Just trying to help and tell everyone what I know from past knowledge of this and common sense.
Now, I am officially done with my novel.
