Satellites and Channels

There are a wide variety of satellite TV and radio channels available to anyone with the right equipment. From Australian free to air channels to hundreds of channels from overseas.

Australian TV via Satellite

Digital transmission of the Remote Area service on the Optus Aurora platform began in 1999 across Australia, and is being transmitted on the Optus C1 satellite. Reception is available to anyone and can now be received all over Australia with a 90cm dish, with a digital LNB fitted, and one of the eM Tech eM-150IR, Topfield PVR units, Nokia 9500S or similar Irdeto capable digital satellite receiver.

Includes

ABC and SBS Television and various radio channels are available from most states.

Commercial channels may be included, depending on the geographical location of the viewer and/or the absence of adequate terrestrial reception:

Check Lyngsat's Optus Aurora package page for a current listing of whats available.

International TV via Satellite

There are many foreign language channels available free to air on a number of satellites visible to us in Australia. There are many channels from asian countries, including Thailand, China, Taiwan, Japan, and India. From Europe there are channels from Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, England, and Portugal. Many of these channels require a 2.3m diameter mesh dish, while some require only a small 90cm dish as used for pay services.

A system for free international channels includes a digital satellite receiver, dish and cabling, and optionally can be motorised for watching channels from a number of satellites.

Up to date lists of channels can be seen at http://www.lyngsat.com/asia.html. These lists may appear confusing at first, but they are the most frequently updated lists of channels on each satellite. Take note of the colour codes at the bottom of the page, as most encrypted channels are unavailable to us in Australia. Also note the "beam" column on the right, to receive the channel you must be in an area covered by the beam.

The satellites of interest to us in Australia are:

Intelsat 2
Intelsat 8
Optus C1
Optus D1
AsiaSat 4
Palapa C2
AsiaSat 3s
AsiaSat 2
NSS6
Thaicom 5