On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 08:49:01 -0000, you wrote:

Lawrence,

My history with MSG-1 doesn't go back far enough! At the time when
MSG-1 was being planned, were there even any satellites providing
any digital transmissions for domestic users? It was all analog
until quite recently wasn't it? So no cheap Technisat cards! We
should all thank that power amplifier that failed!

Cheers,
David

Essentially, the NOAA polar orbiters provide digital (h.r.p.t.)
telemetry even if (as must be the case) the original optical image is
sampled digitally for coding and transmission. I would think of PDUS as
being all but digital - I think that it is a matter of different
definitions. MSG-1 is simply an 'all-digital' satellite as compared to
Meteosat-7 and earlier sats being a mixture.

I set up a PDUS system and operated it until we moved to Southampton. I
am only now beginning to dismantle the 1.8m dish because I cannot now
see it being used.

regards

Lawrence