Receiving Meteosat, GOES, Himawari, Metop, AVHRR and ATOVS data from the EUMETCast DVB-S2 Service

The new and the old - DVB satellite dish for EUMETCast
and QFH antenna for polar orbiting APT

How do I get the new data?

You can now receive data from EUMETSAT via a TV broadcasting satellite - EUTELSAT-10A - as an alternative way to either direct reception from Meteosat or using the Internet to download the data.  This service is called EUMETCast, and it is provided by a tq®-TelliICast server.  Just like direct reception, the data is only broadcast once so if you miss a transmission, that's tough, you miss the data!  Many EUMETSAT services - Meteosat-9-11 (MSG-1/2/3/4), Foreign Satellite Data, AVHRR and ATOVS - are available through DVB-S2 (Digital Video Broadcasting, standard 2).  DVB-S2 is the way that Meteosat-8..11 data is being made available in Europe following an amplifier failure, and a whole lot more data has been added since the start, and EUMETCast now provides the main dissemination for Metop-B and Metop-C data and much more.  Subsets of this data are also broadcast via C-band satellites providing coverage to Africa and some of South America.

• Meteosat-11 (MSG-4) data is being broadcast over the DVB route since one of the MSG-1 power amplifiers failed.  Meteosat-8, -9, -10 and -11 (formerly MSG-1, 2, 3 & 4) comprise the second-generation geostationary weather satellite for Europe, providing twelve spectral channels instead of the previous three, more resolution, and twice the scan frequency.  You can see some sample results here.
• FSD - foreign satellite data - includes 3-hourly images from geostationary satellites around the world, such as the GOES-West and GOES-East stationed over the Americas, Meteosat-8 providing the Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC), and Himawari-8 covering Asia and Australia.
• EUMETCast is the main dissemination in Europe for data from the polar orbiting Metop-B & C satellites.  Uniquely, these satellites provide high-resolution continuous round-the-world coverage, bringing you data at 1km resolution from many parts of the world never previously routinely imaged at such high resolution.
• EARS-AVHRR provides a unique service of the high-resolution 5-channel HRPT image data from the AVHRR scanner on NOAA-19 and Metop-A & B satellites, in near-real-time.  By combining the data from several ground stations (seven stations currently;  in Canada, Greece, the Canary Islands, Northern France, Moscow, Greenland and Svalbard, north of the Arctic Circle), an extended Europe-wide coverage is obtained, providing data which no single ground station could receive.  This data is of superb quality and has a 1km ground resolution capable of producing spectacular images with ten times the resolution of APT.  Previously, you needed a large tracking antenna and an expensive and complex 1.7GHz receiver to get this data.  An example of the coverage can be seen here. 
• EARS-ATOVS provides a retransmission of the thermal and microwave sounder data not available to APT weather satellite users.  This comprises 20 channels of thermal imaging data, and 20 channels of microwave data for each pixel in the image, allow detailed investigation of the properties of the atmosphere as the channels are carefully chosen to coincide (or not) with absorption in the atmosphere due to the presence of carbon dioxide and ozone.  The penalty you pay for getting such high spectral resolution is that the spatial resolution is reduced - the pixel size is much bigger than the HRPT or APT data that we are used to seeing.  Together these are called ATOVS data.  You can see some sample results here.
• DWDSAT basic service (GDS - Global Data Set -free) not only provides much meteorological data in both text and graphical formats, since November 2006 high-resolution polar orbiting data from a variety of NOAA satellites calibrated and geographically rectified to cover the European region.

If you have questions about Meteosat-8, 9, 10 or 11, please consult the EUMETSAT Web site.  For a brief overview of EUMETCast please see the Information Note on EUMETCast.  Further information about trouble-shooting EUMETCast is available in the EUMETCast Troubleshooting Guide.  There is also an informal self-help group for MSG where many users may be found.  EUMETCast also includes the optional DWDSAT data stream. 

Paperwork

• To subscribe to data via EUMETCast as a new user, you first need to create an account with EUMETSAT, via the  Earth Observation Portal. Once you have your account created, and in doing so you have acknowledged applicable licensing terms and conditions, you can follow the links in the portal to EUMETCast Europe, EUMETCast Africa or EUMETCast Terrestrial. Follow the registration steps to request the EUMETCast Client Software Package and to subscribe to the data streams you would like to receive.
• A technical document - TD15 (PDF format) outlining how to set up their receiving station is available on the EUMETSAT Web site.
• Once EUMETSAT have received your application, they will process it.  For amateurs, the data access is basically free, although there may be a small service charge.  For the UK now sadly outside the EU, who knows!  The process could take 2 - 3 weeks during holiday periods, but is often quicker.
• Once EUMETSAT have accepted your application, assuming you want DVB data, they will invoice you for the cost of the TelliCast DVB software and EKU (USB eToken) required to turn the DVB-S2 data stream into Meteosat data.  This may cost €100.
• You can now pay EUMETSAT by credit-card - if required, and Brexit permitting!  Telephone the credit card details to them.  Do not send your credit card details by e-mail or FAX.  Telephone: +49 6151 807366 / 377 and explain the call is for TelliCast software or EKU payment.
• When you have paid EUMETSAT, they will send the TelliCast DVB software and a personalised eToken.
• EUMETSAT will send you a username and password to access the service by e-mail (they may also send this with the software). 
• Here is my diary of events - it's very dated now, but people keep asking how long it will all take!

If you have any questions about this procedure, please do not e-mail me, but ask on the MSG-1 self-help Group where there are lots of people who have been through the procedure and will have more up-to-date knowledge than me.  I have always found the staff at EUMETSAT will do their very best to help.

Hardware

A complete DVB-S2 system will comprise a satellite receiving dish to be mounted outside, an LNB (Low Noise Block, pre-amp, LO & mixer) which converts the 11 GHz signal down to the 1.5 GHz region and amplifies it to overcome cable loss, good satellite cable terminated with F-connectors to connect the LNB to your receiver, which can be either an IP Receiver with a network output, a box with a USB output, or a PCIe card which fits into one of the PCIe slots inside your PC.  For Ku-band reception in Europe I recommend the Ayecka SR1 IP and Novra S300E IP receivers.  For EUMETCast EUMETSAT recommend that you have a separate PC dedicated to data capture and file sharing.  However, many people find that adequate performance can be obtained with a single PC, with today's powerful quad-core PCs, and with 8 or more GB memory.  16 or 32 GB is what I would buy in 2021.  For data capture, I have recently used an old AMD dual-core  machine as my Receiver PC.  Widows-7 or later is recommended, although my own DVB-S tests were with a USB 2.0 hi-speed box rather than a SkyStar PCI card, and are described here.  Be sure to use fast hard disks in the receiver PC, with as big a disk buffer as possible (32 or 64 MB), and a fast SATA connection to help minimise the chance of missing segments.  The length of the cable from LNB to PC is not critical, and 15-20 m is typical.  You can purchase these from various suppliers, and you may be able to get a good package deal buying all the items together.  You can join the GEO-Subscribers group and get the highly-regarded, free GEO Quarterly magazine.

More information about configuring your PC.

You can find an introduction Data Transmission using MPEG-2 and DVB systems on the Web.  The Basic Service uses 8PSK 3/5 modulation with a 33.0 MSymbol/sec rate, resulting in a 50 Mbit/sec bit rate stream which contains all the EUMETCast data and other services.  More recently two faster streams HVS-1 and HVS-2 (High Volume Service, 16APSK 2/3) with a 77 Mbps IP data rate have become available from these transponders.  Within Europe, this is broadcast from the 11262.5 and 11387.5 MHz transponders on the EUTELSAT 10A satellite, and C-band services are also available over Africa.  More information is on the EUMETSAT reception station setup Web page. 

Where do I point my dish?

For the Ku-band Europe service, visit http://www.satlex.de/en/azel_calc.html, select your country and city, select orbital position 10.0E : EUTELSAT 10A, and press Calculate.  You may also find the Satellite Dish Alignment Tools page helpful.
 

Software

• The T-Systems TelliCast software is required.  It turns the DVB receiver into a channel through which files are received from EUMETSAT, and dumped on your PC. Management of those files is your responsibility.  Ensure that your supplier of TelliCast software offers adequate support, as there can sometimes be tricky problems with this software.
• To manage and decode Meteosat-8..10 (MSG-1/2/3/4) data, you can use the MSG Data Manager from this site.
• To make false-colour images, remap to standard map projections, or animate the images you can use GeoSatSignal from this site.
• To make real-time monochrome or attractive paletted false-colour animations from Meteosat or Foreign Satellite Data, you can use the MSG Animator.
• Software to decode the Sea-Ice and Sea-Surface Temperature data is available.
• Software to visualise the ATOVS data is available.
• To decode the ATOVS or RSS data, you can use any of the available software.  Although most of the professional software is for UNIX, low cost ATOVS Reader software for Windows is available from SatSignal Software.
• To decode data in the GRIB Edition 1 or GRIB Edition 2 format, you can use my GRIB Viewer software.
• To visualise the HDF5 format LSA data from the Land Surface Analysis SAF, you can use my HDF Viewer.

Performance monitoring is possible if you have SNMP installed.  You can see what systems across Europe are doing here, which is updated from time to time.
For more information on the Meteosat-8..11 (MSG-1/2/3/4) data flow can be found here.

Getting the system to work

Installation

• Please follow the PDF installation guides provided by EUMETSAT
  • Ayecka SR1
  • TBS 5925
  • TBS 6903/6908
• I recommend that you only install the software provided on the EUMETSAT download or CD, and follow the detailed installation instructions they provide.
• The dish comes with assembly instructions.  Check that you have all the parts before scattering them all over the floor!  The first step is to assemble the LNB clamp. Note that a small-diameter adapter is supplied that appeared not to be needed with my LNB (or is this a device to restrict LNB movement?).  The various plastic items are supplied as one moulding, and broken off as required. The screw holding the LNB clamp together was missing from my kit.
• Next, pass the cable through the LNB mounting arm, and fit the LNB and rear cable clamp to the mounting arm.  At this point, the mounting arm may be set in position using the plastic clamps provided. I was slightly surprised by the force required.  If your cable has two connectors already attached you will not be able to feed it through the mounting arm, and will need to secure the cable with tape later.
• Next, assemble the clamps which mount the dish to the mast.  I was missing one nut and bolt for this, but the two remaining seemed adequate. Time will tell!
• Finally, assemble the mast clamp to the dish.  Note that it is shaped to allow the dish to be vertically rotated after installation.
• Note that because the feed to the dish, the LNB, is offset from the axis of the dish, the back of the dish will be almost vertical, not tilted back at an angle looking up towards the satellite.
• The orientation of the LNB affects the polarisation of the antenna.  It should be mounted with the lead dropping vertically away from the assembly.  You will later adjust the exact angle for best signal quality (best rejection of the cross-polarised signal).

Alignment

• Undoubtedly for me, alignment was the most critical part of the whole process.  Whilst I was able get satisfactory alignment myself, with the dish mounted on a patio stand, when the dish was mounted on the house I let the professionals use their own satellite meter.
• Remember that the frequencies here are about seven times higher than those for Meteosat or GOES WEFAX/LRIT, so the pointing accuracy has to be about seven times better, as the antenna size is similar.
• If you have accurate directions (use a satellite tracking program such as WXtrack to tell you where the satellite is, and find the time of day when the sun is at the same azimuth), then you can align using the PC and its DVB card.
• If you have to rely on a compass, instead of using the sun, do remember to allow for the magnetic deviation at your location.
• You will need someone at the PC (or a remote control link) to keep an eye on the signal strength, while you move the dish.  Yes, it can be an hilarious process!  You should move the dish by a fraction of a degree at a time, and you will need to have the elevation approximately correct as well. Have patience!  With the Ayecka receiver, you can use their SR1 Controller program.
• Very carefully adjust the dish for maximum signal. Start the SR1 Controller program.  This provides a display updated in real-time showing measures of the signal strength.  Aim to maximise the Es/No value.
• Final tweaks may be made by rotating the LNB very slightly away from true vertical while watching the status display (and not a signal strength meter!).  You may also move the LNB towards or away from the dish for absolutely best signal.  This is critical as the signal from the DVB-S2 satellite is weaker than from e.g. Sky TV.
• If you have not already installed the TelliCast software, do so now, and set it up according to the instructions supplied by EUMETSAT.  It is recommended that you wait until you get the EUMETSAT CD before doing any installation work.  Installing the TelliCast software includes specifying a user name and password, and the folder to receive the output data.  Make sure you have plenty of space on the disk you choose!  If the software is installed in C:\Tools\EUMETCast\, then the received files will be in C:\Tools\EUMETCast\received, and the log file will be C:\Tools\EUMETCast\recv.log.  As the files have a rapid turnover, avoid installing the software on an SSD (solid-state disk) as there have a limited number of write cycles.
• If you are intending to receive other data such as DWDSAT or Metop, you may wish to make alterations to the common \received\ directory to split the data for subsequent processing.  There is more information here, here and here.  Note that the channel names are due to change during 2022.
• Start the tcast-client.exe program (this may happen automatically), and a new icon should appear on your taskbar, with a white rectangle and a purple "T" if everything is working correctly.  If not, check the log file, and the Web browser control panel reached by right-clicking the TelliCast taskbar icon and selecting HTML Shell.  The Active Channels page should show the announcement channel as always active, and the data channel as occasionally active as data files are received.   See: Checking you are receiving data screenshot below.
• If you do not receive data, first check that you have the correct PIDs selected (see: Checking the PIDs and Statistics screenshot below).  The active PIDs should include 100 (decimal) (0x0064 hex) (the announcement channel) and 0x01F4 (the EARS and RSS data channels).  These PIDs should be preset from the receiver installation.
• You may want to check the excellent Web page of Hugh Marnoch describing the alignment process and software settings - seems to be no longer available..
• Be wary of software which reports signal strength or quality in percent - it's meaningless.  Look for a value of Es/No expressed in dB (decibels).
   

Presentations

Zipped PowerPoint presentation entitled The Challenges of MSG-1 presented at the Symposium, Leicester, 2003 May 02.

Problems and FAQs - some of historical interest only!

Further information about trouble-shooting EUMETCast is available in the EUMETCast Troubleshooting Guide.

Q 01: My data stopped early in October 2004
A: Please note that the transponder frequency was changed to 10853MHz on September 30, 2004.

Q 02: GOES-9 (GMS) data stopped after September 14, 2005.
A: The data was replaced  by data from MTSAT-1R.  You may need updated software - check you have at least V1.5.4 of the MSG Data Manager.

Q 03: Meteosat-5 and Meteosat-7 data stopped after October 25, 2005.
A: You may need updated software - check you have at least V1.5.4 of the MSG Data Manager.

Q 04: Why is some of the channel 12 (HRV) data missing?
A: There is not enough downlink bandwidth to allow the full-width HRV scan to be sent from the satellite to the ground station, so a half-width scan is transmitted.  This scan is split into a northern part fixed over Europe, and a southern part which tracks the sun.  This is shown in the animation from EUMETSAT.

Q 05: My system sometimes locks in CYFRA+ rather than the T-Systems channel.
A: Assuming you have the most recent drivers from the EUMETSAT CD (V4.3.0), try changing the transponder frequency from 10853MHz to a value 5MHz higher. (from: EUMETSAT via Christof Ueberschaar).

Q 06: I have now a green Satellite, but a yellow "T", how do I get it to turn pink?
A: Peter Benney writes:  In Setup4PC select the data service "EUMETCast :: Eurobird 9 E" and check the assigned IP address of the card (Run: ipconfig)
    IP Address :192.168.238.238.  see: page 14 in Technical Description EUMETSAT TD 15.
A: Arne van Belle comments: Please check in Setup4PC button "status" that the correct transponder is set (Network should read: T-Systems) and verify that Signal Quality is well above 55%.

Q 07: I just upgraded or re-installed the SkyStar drivers, and I lost Data Channel 1 and Data Channel 3.  I am now only getting HRIT data.
A: Did you check the correct PIDs on Data service "EUMETCast :: Eurobird 9 E"?  Be careful that you did not set PIDs for any other data service!  Right-click on the green Setup4PC icon in the system tray to check.  (Confusingly, on the Transponder Status display, the "Network" information will be shown as "T-Systems".)

Q 08: I get ATOVS data but not Meteosat 8/9 data.
A: Did you remember to add the 0x012C MSG-1 PID?  It seems that you may need both the EARS PID and the MSG-1 PID at present for MSG-1 reception to work....

Q 09: Why don't I get LRIT data?
A: You need to add PID 0x012D (decimal 301) to get the data.

Q 10: But I already checked, and the PIDs are correct.  What now?
A: Please select EUMETSAT rather than T-Systems from the green Setup4PC system tray icon (by right-clicking).

Q 11: It seems as if my eToken is not recognised - I can't get services I am licensed for?
Q 11: I keep getting messages like this in my log file:

    ERR:2004-12-01 08:46:19.625:Cannot join channel "EUMETSAT Data Channel 3": Missing key 39492.
    ERR:2004-12-01 08:46:21.406:Cannot join channel "EUMETSAT Data Channel 1": Missing key 39493.

A: You did install the RTE351 software and the eToken, and it's glowing red, correct?  Check that you can see properties for the eToken when running Start, Programs, eToken, eToken properties.
A: Your username password is wrong:
    - you used the username and password for FTP access, not the user_name and user_key.
    - If you manually edited recv.ini after install make sure to use "user_key=" and not  "user_key_crypt="
A: The eToken driver service is not started.  In Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services;  check that the Smart Card service startup is set to Automatic, and that the service itself is Started.

Q 12: I keep getting messages like this in my log file:

    VRB:2003-04-01 14:56:57.359:Channel "TSL Announcement Channel": Lost message 1100498
    VRB:2003-04-01 14:56:57.359:Channel "TSL Announcement Channel": Lost message 1100499

A: I sometimes get small groups of this message - possibly when I overload the PC where I have the card with too many other tasks.  You may be able to reduce the sensitivity of the TelliCast software to PC loading by using a RAMdisk (PDF document).

Q 13: What are the files named AMSU... and HIRS...?
A: These are files of ATOVS data from EUMETSAT Data channel 1.  The MSG Data Manager can process these files if you enable the Manage box on the Channel selection, Other page. 

Q 14: What differences does LRIT have?
A: Fewer sensor channels, transmitted less frequently, and with lossy compression.  However, images from satellites other than Meteosat-9 are included.

Q 15: When will the data loss due solar-outage happen for my station?
A: Please see the page on Solar Outages written by Arne van Belle

Q 16: Why are there multiple solar outages?
A: There may be an outage at your station when the sun goes behind Eurobird-9 as seen from your location.  There may also be an outage when the sun goes behind Meteosat-8 as seen from EUMETSAT's receiving station.  Similar outages can affect all geostationary weather satellites.

Q 17: Should I keep the T-systems HTML Shell running?
A: Some people have reported a memory leak in this shell, and others have noticed a higher CPU load, so it is probably better to reserve use of this shell for trouble-shooting rather than to leave it running.

Q 18: The TelliCast software is slow to restart, after it's been running for a while.
A: This may be the log file renaming process if you have the maximum number of log files in the \Tellique folder.  (Thanks: Arne van Belle).

Q 19: I get unexpected error messages, for example: "File system full".
A: Try stopping tqrev or  tc-recv, deleting any *.fsy files in C:\Tellique\Receiving\temp\, and re-starting.

Q 20: In Task Manager I see two tc-recv.exe processes (one with about 3.5MB and one with 10MB of memory) and one Server4PC process.
A: These are the processes associated with the TelliCast software and DVB card, and are normal.

Q 21: I am running Windows 2000 and my PC gradually runs out of memory.  The process scardsvr.exe seems to be leaking memory.
A: Set the "Smart Card" service to Startup = Manual or Disabled.  You should not see this if you have the eToken hardware and software installed.

Q 22: I am running a Timestep ProSat interface and can't access the 192.168.238.238 IP address of the USB SkyStar adapter.
A: Remove the Timestep interface (from Don Bache).

Q 23: Why can I not access the T-systems monitor from the TelliCast software?
A: Perhaps you have firewall software installed.  You may need to add the TelliCast software to the list of allowed programs.

Q 24: Can I test the system with TV data reception?  Can I use both at the same time?
A: For testing purposes only, if you want to use the system for TV reception under Windows XP, with Media Player 9, you may need a registry patch.  Paul Marsh notes: The key to add is HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ShimExclusionList.  Under here, do a New, Key and type TV4PC.EXE.  Restart the server4pc and tv4pc applications and it works!  Please note that you may not be able to receive data and TV pictures at the same time.  With the Dexatek/DVBworld USB boxes simultaneous TV and data is possible, but the TV content may not all be suitable for family viewing.

Q 25: Why do I get missing segments?
A: Please see the summary of Missing Segment issues.

Q 26: What size of RAMdisk should I use?
A: Whilst 25MB should be enough for normal Meteosat-8/9 only reception, during late May 2006 EUMETSAT sent out software updates over EUMETCast which needed a somewhat bigger RAMdisk.  If you have plenty of memory, or want Metop AVHRR reception, I would suggest a RAMdisk size of 80MB, but otherwise try a value nearer to 35MB.  Remember that if you alter the RAMdisk size, you should alter the file_database_size parameter in the TelliCast recv.ini file.  I suggest you set the RAMdisk to 80MB, and the file_database_size=83000000 (80 x 1024 x 1024 = 83886080, so you are allowing a small margin by specifying 83,000,000).  A reboot will likely be required to alter the RAMdisk size, and a restart of the TelliCast software would be required to read the new file_database_size value.  If the free AR Soft RAMdisk does not give you enough size, try the free Dataram/Cenatek RAMdisk.

Q 27: How do I edit recv.ini and recv-channels.ini
A: For Windows XP.  Using Windows Explorer, locate the file recv.ini.  Double-click on the file.  You get a dialog box saying that Windows cannot open the file.  Click the "Select the program from a list" radio button, and click OK.  After a pause, a list of programs appears.  Scroll down to Notepad, and click on Notepad to select it.  Check the "Always use the selected program...." checkbox.  Click on OK.  From now on, any file with the .INI extension will open in Notepad.

Q 28: I have just installed on a brand new PC, and TelliCast gives the error "Connect failed" as I move the mouse over the red TelliCast icon .
A: Check the IP addresses by using the IPCONFIG command at the command prompt.  If the IP address differs from the IP address in the recv.ini file, change the two so that they match.  See here for more information.  (From Arne van Belle and Fred van den Bosch)

Q 29: Since early August 2006, I have been getting lots of missing segments on the Foreign Satellite Data (FSD).
A: Check that you have upgraded your TelliCast client software to V2.4.4 B.  If you do not have this update, please contact EUMETSAT.

Q 30: Since 23 September 2006, I have only been getting Met-5, Met-7 and GOES/MTSAT data.
A: MSG-1 developed a fault on that date, and MSG-2 data has temporarily replaced the MSG-1 data.  You may need to upgrade your reception software.  More information.

Q 31: Since 2007 April 12 my MSG-1 data stopped.
A: Meteosat-9 (MSG-2) data replaced Meteosat-8 (MSG-1) data and you may need to adjust your reception software.  More information.

Q32: What size of dish do I need?
A: EUMETSAT recommend quite a big dish (85cm) and the bigger the dish you have, the greater protection against signal drop-outs or loss due to rain etc.  In practice, you can manage with 67cm or larger dish over much of Europe, but if you are near to the extremities of the EUTELSAT 10º East footprint, or you wish to take the High Volume Service(s) a bigger dish will be required.  Ask on the MSG-1 self-help group about your own location.

Q32: Where do I point my dish?
A: For the Ku-band Europe service, visit http://www.satlex.de/en/azel_calc.html, select your country and city, select orbital position 9.0E : Eurobird 9/9A, and press Calculate.

You may also want to check out Bepi's step-by-step Guide to configuring a EUMETCast receiver system.

Java issue - January 2014

In January 2014 Java was updated to make it more secure, by making Java programs which were not "digitally signed" not run.  This stopped the TelliCast throughput graph from the HTML shell from working.  To resolve this, the PC (or PCs) need to be added to an exception list.  Follow these outline steps:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
2. Search for "java" if the Java icon isn't already showing.
3. Open the Java settings by double-clicking.
4. Select the Security tab.  You should see an Exception Site List, which will initially be empty.
5. Click the Edit Site List button.
6. Click Add.
7. Enter your PC in the format: http://127.0.0.1:8100
8. Click Add.
9. Click Continue to accept the warning message.
10. Repeat steps 6 to 10 if you have more than one EUMETCast PC to monitor, using the PC names rather than 127.0.0.1.
11. Click OK to close the Edit Site List box.
12. Click OK to close the Java control panel.

You will find that you still need to click Run when accessing the TelliCast throughput screen in your Web browser.  There are more details with screen-shots here.

Statistics

You can see the data flow statistics for my DVB-S2 PCs on the Web.  They are updated from time to time.  Note how the quantity of data varies throughout the day, and how each orbit of Metop contributes the most variation in data flow.  These statistics are created by running the MRTG software, and enabling the SNMP service on the Receiver PC.  How to collect this data.

Click for more graphs

Screenshots

Checking the signal level

Here is a screenshot from the Ayecka SR1 Controller software.

Checking the PIDs and statistics

Please see the manual for your receiver.
 

Channel Names - Basic Service

EUMETSAT publish a complete table of Channels and Packet Identifiers (PIDs) here.  
For convenience there are snapshots of a subset of more useful channels below.

These are the data channels available in Europe through the Ku-band EUTELSAT 10A satellite.  Please see the EUMETSAT site for details about other satellites (e.g. C-band coverage of Africa etc.) as this information is always changing!  The table below is sorted by channel name.

You need to ensure that at least the announcement channel PID, and the PID or PIDs for the data you want to receive are present in the Setup4PC program.  Selecting the EUMETCast :: Eurobird 9E service by right-clicking the green Setup4PC icon is an easy way to do this.  Certain data may require your eToken to be enabled by EUMETSAT before reception is possible.  

* - two numbers in the Data Rate column usually means nominal rate / observed rate.
** - some references give channels EPS-13 - EPS-17 as NOAA, rather than Metop data.  This is for NOAA GAC data (lower resolution) from various NOAA satellites.  A subset of NOAA polar orbiter passes is tracked by the EPS ground stations, processed in the EPS system and disseminated by EUMETCast.
*** - not in latest EUMETSAT list (Nov 2006).
¤ - during decontamination of the full-scan satellite, data may be taken instead from the rapid-scan satellite.  During the monthly tests on the rapid-scan satellite (Met-9), data may be replaced by that from the backup Met-8.  See, for example, Access to Data, December 2007.  Meteosat-9 is now in production mode with the rapid scanning service.
¤¤ - LRIT Meteosat image data removed from EUMETCast in January 2011.
¤¤¤ - moved from data channel 4 in August 2016.
§§ - until May 2007.  From July 2008, MPEF data for the rapid scanning service is carried, but not the LRIT image data.
§§§ - DCP moved from Data Channel 3 to Data Channel 9 on 2008 Mar 25.
§§§§ - Jason data planned to move from Data Channel 8 on 2008 May 06.

Status: P = production, T = tests, C = commissioning, ? = unknown
Channels with blank PIDs have been retired

Channel Names- High Volume Service

The more up-to-date EUMETSAT version of the table can be found on this page.

Here is a guide to which of my software manages, decodes or displays which data.  This is only a guide as some of the data channels carry a whole variety of information, and some of the tools below can decode other data - e.g. the GRIB Viewer will decode quite a lot of DWDSAT GRIB data.

PID list - what the different PIDs are used for

 
PID list: New DVB-S2 service from 10A
 

Decimal	Hexadecimal	Data Channels
100	0x0064	Announcement channel, Info-Channel-1, WWW-Channel
300	0x012C	EUMETSAT Data Channel 2 - HRIT
301	0x012D	EUMETSAT Data Channel 3 - LRIT, FSD, MPEF, SAF-Africa, Jason, CMA, DCP, MODIS fire
500	0x01F4	EUMETSAT Data Channels 1, 4, 5, 6, SAF-Europe, BMD-RA-VI, EPS data, MFREURG, DWDSAT, FSD supplement
509	0x01FD	Americas-CH1, Multi-service EUMETCast Americas, SAF-Americas
511	0x01FF	MFRAFRG, MFRSYSG
600	0x0258	High Volume Service announcement & lower-rate data
601	0x0259	High Volume Service data - higher-rate data
610	0x0262	HVS-2 test service
611	0x0263	HVS-2 test service

 
PID list: Old DVB-S service from 9A
 

Decimal	Hexadecimal	Data Channels
100	0x0064	Announcement channel, Info-Channel-1, WWW-Channel
300	0x012C	EUMETSAT Data Channel 2 - HRIT
301	0x012D	EUMETSAT Data Channel 3 - LRIT, FSD, MPEF, SAF-Africa, Jason, CMA, DCP, MODIS fire
302	0x012E	DWDSAT data
500	0x01F4	EUMETSAT Data Channels 1, 4, 5, 6, SAF-Europe, BMD-RA-VI, FSD supplement
509	0x01FD	Americas-CH1, Multi-service EUMETCast Americas, SAF-Americas
510	0x01FE	EPS data
511	0x01FF	MFRAFRG, MFRSYSG
512	0x0200	MFREURG

Checking you are receiving data

To get this screen, right-click the purple TelliCast icon in the taskbar, and select the HTML Shell menu.  From your browser, select the Active Channels option.  Most of the time, just Data Channel 2 (HRIT) will be active.  Data Channel 3 (with LRIT data) will often be active as well.  As the refresh of the screen can take some CPU cycles on the receiver PC, don't leave this display running any more than you need to.

 

Copyright © David Taylor, Edinburgh

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Last modified: 2022 Jan 27 at 06:16