TWC Today Forums
Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => Everything Else TWC => Topic started by: TWCmatthew on February 18, 2013, 12:56:09 PM
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According to weatheraffiliate.com, The Weather Channel will be transitioning their analog feed to digital this year.
February 5, 2013
The Weather Channel is migrating from analog to digital in 2013!
We are currently testing our analog signal and if you take the analog feed and are experiencing an interruption in service, you must confirm that your headend is active.
Please contact Star Support immediately at 1-800-554-xxxx or email {email address}@weather.com
Thank you - The Weather Channel
I wonder how much this will affect the STAR's, if at all? Also, I wonder if there will be any disruptions during the conversion?
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I have Charter Limited Basic with TWC on analog channel 19. I wonder if that is going to be affected by the network's digital transition :unsure:
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I have Charter Limited Basic with TWC on analog channel 19. I wonder if that is going to be affected by the network's digital transition :unsure:
Not at all -- if you have a headend with an IntelliStar, then you're seeing the digital SD feed of TWC :yes:
Also I should note that this has nothing to do with the viewers getting analog or digital cable.. all this means is that the AMC-11 feed of TWC (which is their analog SD uplink and is used for legacy STARs) will be going away.. the digital feed is used on IntelliStars and is received via the AMC-10 satellite. Hopefully this clears anything up.
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I have Charter Limited Basic with TWC on analog channel 19. I wonder if that is going to be affected by the network's digital transition :unsure:
Not at all -- if you have a headend with an IntelliStar, then you're seeing the digital SD feed of TWC :yes:
Also I should note that this has nothing to do with the viewers getting analog or digital cable.. all this means is that the AMC-11 feed of TWC (which is their analog SD uplink and is used for legacy STARs) will be going away.. the digital feed is used on IntelliStars and is received via the AMC-10 satellite. Hopefully this clears anything up.
Gotcha :thumbsup:
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So basically 4000's and XL feeds will shut down?
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So basically 4000's and XL feeds will shut down?
If they don't create a way to get them onto the digital uplink, then yes.. same with the Junior as well
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So basically 4000's and XL feeds will shut down?
If they don't create a way to get them onto the digital uplink, then yes.. same with the Junior as well
Wow so all of the remaining rare stars will go and every cable company will either be forced to carry the SD Satellite Feed or the IntelliStar then :o
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Do you know the exact date in which the AMC-11 analog signal will go dark?
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Do you know the exact date in which the AMC-11 analog signal will go dark?
That hasn't been announced yet.
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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 :thumbsup:
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. :bleh:
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Any information update as to when the analog feed on AMC 11 will go dark?