The World Space Team is back!!

[reubensm]

last weekend, just for the heck of trying, took out my world space radio and wired it up. got the following results:

Afristar (surprised its sill up there), 10 blank channels without content, on the East Africa Beam

AsiaStar, 4 channels up, out of which only 1 channel called Yazmi News was playing old Maestro classical music recordings from the year 2001 (understood this from the old world space adverts that were playing in between tracks). The telecast is in mono and interestingly, reception is spot on as back in the day when Worldspace was live. Was able to pick up the South Asia and FarEast Asia beams, clearly. The remaining 3 channels had no content.

 

[reubensm]

I went to the Yazmi website (Yazmi is a company founded by Noah Samara, the worldspace founder, who currently owns the satellites and broadcast equipment) and this is what I found, they're trying out some new concepts:

Yazmi: What We Do

 

[dani11]

i need a used world space radio in good condition

 

[reubensm]

i need a used world space radio in good condition

out of curiosity, what do you plan to do with it?

 

[dani11]

Hai i'm frm ktym,
jest for fun i want to test "L band" frequency 1500-1590mhz.i need old WSR with antenna.

 

[reubensm]

Hai i'm frm ktym,
jest for fun i want to test "L band" frequency 1500-1590mhz.i need old WSR with antenna.

I have tried similar experiments while trying to receive signals from Aircraft in the L-band. Have had not success whatsoever. The worldspace radios have decoders that ensure that only worldspace signals can be received. Currently there is one test channel running on Asiastar (playing old BBC tapes and some Maestro classical music). On the Afristar satellite, there are 10 channels open, but with no content.

Recently I saw this article which suggests that Yazmi (floated by former worldspace founder, Noah Samara, who owns the satellites) is launching a new service based on the old worldspace platform. Here are the details:

Samara resurfaces with Worldspace satellites | Advanced Television

 

[dani11]

Aircraft freq 118-137MHz AM and 1090MHz ADS-B. (L Band 1452-1492Mhz)

 

[Shivam]

pm me your address. I have a Hitachi model with digital out and also a remote control.

 

[dani11]

@ shivam, Antenna?

 

[reubensm]

Aircraft freq 118-137MHz AM and 1090MHz ADS-B. (L Band 1452-1492Mhz)

How would you unlock the WS receiver to get these? Or are you planning to use it for receiving some other broadcasts?

 

[dani11]

Ya i will try other frequencyes with my Software Defined Radio(SDR) + WSR Antenna
WSR antenna specially designed for "L Band" 1400-1500mhz

 

[rockarolla70]

This is out of curiosity ... I was a subscriber for World Space & I loved their channels ... above all their taste & knowledge in the set-list they aired. I still have the receiver & the antenna intact ... with a bit of hope that they will return one day.

However with the link provided above by "reubensm" it states that "Coming soon" ... are they already live or not yet ??

Secondly I have Popcorn Hour on which I've access to many internet stations ... if worldspace is live then can I connect to them thru Popcorn Hour.

 

[Shivam]

@ shivam, Antenna?

It has its own antenna. I can supply a yagi too if you need one.

 

[reubensm]

This is out of curiosity ... I was a subscriber for World Space & I loved their channels ... above all their taste & knowledge in the set-list they aired. I still have the receiver & the antenna intact ... with a bit of hope that they will return one day.

However with the link provided above by "reubensm" it states that "Coming soon" ... are they already live or not yet ??

Secondly I have Popcorn Hour on which I've access to many internet stations ... if worldspace is live then can I connect to them thru Popcorn Hour.

A different avataar of worldspace, namely Timbre Media has come back, using the world space brand. However they don't use the satellite radio medium any more. Its through mobile and over the internet. I too have my radio kept with the hope that somebody may transmit something over these satellites which are still in orbit. But no luck so far.

 

[dani11]

It has its own antenna. I can supply a yagi too if you need one.

ok what is the price of WSR?

 

[dani11]

@Reubensm,
I just got a BPL DIVA WS reciever..but i can't pick up satellite signal (Asiastar/AfriStar) Can you please update.

 

[reubensm]

@Reubensm,
I just got a BPL DIVA WS reciever..but i can't pick up satellite signal (Asiastar/AfriStar) Can you please update.

Have you oriented the antenna correctly? Also my radio was one of the very first, bought during the time of worldspace's launch in India. It came with a generic password for Free to Air. Later on, when it became a paid service, I added new passwords but did not delete the old ones. This may also be the reason why I continue to receive the satellites.

This picture will give you an idea of worldspace's asiastar and afristar coverage areas. Here in Trivandrum, we can track both.

 

[thampi]

good news hooray!

 

[John]

Have you oriented the antenna correctly? Also my radio was one of the very first, bought during the time of worldspace's launch in India. It came with a generic password for Free to Air. Later on, when it became a paid service, I added new passwords but did not delete the old ones. This may also be the reason why I continue to receive the satellites.

This picture will give you an idea of worldspace's asiastar and afristar coverage areas. Here in Trivandrum, we can track both.

Thanks for the image. What exactly are you picking up on the satellites? Any signals? Music?

 

[reubensm]

Thanks for the image. What exactly are you picking up on the satellites? Any signals? Music?

On Asiastar, there are 3 channels working. 2 Data channels and 1 music channel which plays test content (from BBC and old Maestro channel) in a loop. On Afristar, there are 10 channels working, with no content being broadcast.