OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN FAR NORTH NEW ZEALAND
By Mark Long in Thailand
Held in Far North New Zealand, the 1998 South Pacific “Satellite Retreat” proved to be a major advance in educating SPACE Pacific conference attendees.
(Photo right: conference attendees measure signal levels while the conference organizers cut down a tree that is partially obstructing the view.)
Far North New Zealand is not an area normally known for hosting major conferences, cable, satellite or otherwise. Normally held each year in Auckland, the 1998 SPRSCS (South Pacific Region Cable & Satellite Systems) conference for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific moved off the beaten track and into previously undiscovered territory in the Far North region of the country.
As it turned out, the move was a stroke of good luck for the conference organizers. A major power outage struck Auckland’s downtown district during conference week, forcing many of the city’s local businesses to close up shop. Others kept their doors open by using candle lighting and pocket calculators in lieu of neon lights and computerized cash registers. Portable gasoline generators also provided temporary relief for larger hotels and business establishments. In Far North New Zealand, however, the power stayed on and so did the conference.
DELIVERING HANDS-ON ACCESS
The dramatic shift in venue was not due to the clairvoyant talents of the SPRSCS-98 organizers, at least as far as I know. The basic idea for this year’s conference was to establish an informal “satellite retreat” that would provide attendees with direct, hands-on access to one of the most innovative satellite “headends” and cable TV systems now operating in the Asia/Pacific.It also didn’t hurt to pick a resort area known locally for its spectacular beaches, which rival the best that Hawaii has to offer. The result was a refreshing departure from most other regional training conferences, which confine attendees to the golden ghettos of Hong Kong and Singapore and for reasons of logistics restrict presenters to the use of overhead presentations and slide shows to convey complex technical information to attendees.
WHAT’S FAR OUT ABOUT
FAR NORTH CABLE TV
Far North Cable TV Ltd. is a 500 MHz bandwidth/forward direction, 30 MHz bandwidth/reverse direction cable TV plant delivering more than fifty high-quality TV channels through cascades of up to 30 cable TV line amplifiers. At the headend, there are ten satellite dishes (up to 4.6m in size), each dedicated to receiving signals from one of the available satellites from 100.5 to 180 degrees east longitude. This complex antenna farm feeds 70 full-time satellite receivers, of which 26 are digital. The system is the brainchild of Bob Cooper, the well-known American cable and satellite TV pioneer who first demonstrated and promoted the potential of satellite TV beginning in 1978.What’s so unusual about Far North Cable is the eclectic mix of digital and analog satellite TV signals that the cable plant receives. The system efficiently deals with a wide variety of signal transmission formats, including TV channels fed over the INTELSAT satellite system in a half transponder format; clear PAL, SECAM and NTSC; PAL and NTSC versions of B-MAC; and encrypted analog signals using the Videocrypt and VideoCipher scrambling systems. Also on line: programming channels that are tape delayed by computer operated scheduling equipment that automatically compensates for time shifts and viewing habits. All of these program resources are processed and blended smoothly into a single cable-quality PAL format for cable distribution to approximately two hundred homes scattered throughout several adjacent beach communities. The system serves as an effective demonstration how small cable TV enterprises can cost-effectively serve markets that the big cable companies would not even begin to consider.
SPRSCS-98’s close-up and personal approach provided an insider’s view of the cable headend in action. Spectrum analyzers, cable signal meters and other advanced test equipment were available so that students could make their own signal measurements to verify equipment performance as well as conduct other tests to directly confirm critical concepts that otherwise may have remained abstract ideas. In one session, the organizers cut down a tree that was partially blocking a dish from receiving the Palapa C2 satellite. Students manned a signal meter so that they could directly measure the change in signal level caused by the removal of the obstruction.
A CASE OF THE JITTERS
Attendees also got a glimpse of some of the deficiencies that digital satellite TV has to offer. Far North Cable feeds of CNN International to the main conference hotel exhibited image “jitter”. The video appeared to have roughly the same quality that would be provided by a medium-bit-rate video-conferencing link. Was it a fault of the cable TV headend?Not so, explained Bob Cooper. Far North Cable may receive CNN’s international service in an analogue formal, but the trans-Pacific link from America that originates that feed is digital. When one irate Kiwi viewer called up Far North Cable to complain about the CNN signal problems, Bob explained by saying “CNN comes from America and everyone knows that they’re all jerks over there.” Although the explanation made perfect sense to the TV viewer, I hope that CNN has since come up with a technical solution so that the images of Americans abroad can be improved.
A MAJOR ADVANCE IN EDUCATION
Bernard Schwartz, CEO of Loral Corporation, recently remarked on CNN that the challenge for the satellite industry as it enters the 21st Century wasn’t technical in nature, but rather one of education. There currently is a dramatic shortage of trained personnel who fully understand how the new digital satellite technologies work and how they can be most effectively applied to fulfill the needs of the world community.SPACE Pacific is the only satellite TV trade association of which I am aware that offers regular technical training and certifications courses for satellite TV professionals. The SPACE Pacific digital satellite TV installer and technician courses are normally taken by correspondence, so that students can proceed at their own pace. More than forty students in the Asia/Pacific region are currently enrolled in the SPACE Pacific correspondence course program worldwide.
The cable side of SPRSCS-98 was sandwiched in between a couple of two-day sessions that offered compressed versions of both SPACE Pacific certification programs. The end result surprised nearly everyone: 80 percent of the digital installer students completed all course requirements before heading back home.
In addition to those attendees who traveled from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to participate in SPRSCS-98, others came all the way from Europe and mainland Asia to take part in the training sessions. It wasn’t that easy to get to the conference site, however. The journey required either a five-hour road trip from Auckland, or a joy ride on a small commuter airline. Although the rigors of the voyage may have been daunting for some, the overall response was very positive. “Simply the best investment I could have possibly made,” one attendee told me. “I initially came just because I was curious,” said another. “Now I want to make satellite TV my profession.” The hands-down verdict was that this year’s “Satellite Retreat” was a major advance in education for all attendees.
The SPACE Pacific installer and technician certification program recently was expanded to include training materials that make each course relevant for satellite professionals worldwide. To enroll in either the digital satellite TV installer or satellite TV technician courses, or for further information on course content, contact SPACE Pacific Ltd., P.O. Box 30, Mangonui, Far North, New Zealand Fax: 64-9-406-1083. You may also download a complete information kit for each course by visiting the SPACE Pacific member Internet sites at http://www.telsat.com, http://www.baysat.co.nz, or http://www.gil.com.au/comm/kristal on the worldwide web.
