The main PSB channels from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are available on Intelsat 907 at 27.5° West.
This service is a backup for Freeview and carries PSB channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
It is often referred to by its network name BBC-SATBACK.
It is a backup of Freeview multiplexes PSB 1 and PSB 3, it is not intended for direct-to-home (DTH) reception.
All the channels including radio are encrypted using the BISS encryption system. Many cheaper satellite receivers cannot find the channels as they are transmitted as data services, the video and audio PIDs need to be added manually on some receivers.
Icecrypt receivers work very well and the S1600CHD and S1600CHD SE are quite cheap and available from many stores including Maplins.
These will also automatically add the correct Pids for the various channels.
The Symbol Rate used 44100, is rather high and unusual, though even the cheapest DVB-S2 satellite receivers these days, can handle the unusual Symbol rate used by the service.
There have been reports of problems with the HD channels, video can be viewed, though no audio is available.
STV HD and UTV HD are not currently viewable.
To obtain audio on HD channels, AAC sound codec must be Switched on or a plugin installed.
If you are using a Sat PC S2 DVB card, only update plugin AAC sound codex, that said, many HD receivers work without any audio problems.
Screen resolution is reported to be either 544 x 576 or 720 x 576 for standard definition channels in MPEG-2 and 1920 x 1088 for high definition channels in MPEG-4.
The service uses Spot 2 on the Intelsat 907, this covers most of northern Europe, the Iberian peninsula, and some areas of North Africa (Morocco). Reception may also be possible in the Canary Islands. It is operated by Aquiva.
BBC-SATBACK can be found on:
Intelsat 907 at 27.5° West
Transponder 74
11.495 Vertical
SR: 44100
FEC: 9/10
DVB-S2/MPEG2/MPEG4
Modulation: QPSK
Encryption: BISS
Sptbeam: Spot 2 (Europe)
Network Name: BBC-SATBACK
Satellite receivers that can be used for BBC-SATBACK:
Galaxy Innovations
IceCrypt S1600CHD
IceCrypt S1600CHD SE
Technomate HD 5402 HD CI
Note that these satellite receivers may need to be “upgraded or patched” with custom firmware/software before they can be used for BBC-SATBACK service.
BISS Encryption
BISS is a rather weak and old encryption system, this is not really a problem for the PSBs. However weak the system is, they are not breaking any copyright issues and there is no overspill. BISS keys do change from time to time, though not too often.
BISS (Basic Interoperable Scrambling System) is a simple scrambling system to be used in DSNG, Satellite Contribution and Primary Distribution applications.
Using the DVB-CSA (Common Scrambling Algorithm), BISS is an encryption standard that was agreed upon in January 2000 by a group of professional codec vendors and the European Broadcasting Union.
The system enables operators to transmit and receive scrambled signals to and from different encoders and IRDs. BISS requires no expensive and complicated CA system as a password is directly entered into the encoder and the IRD.
BISS uses a fixed Session Word (SW, 12 digit hex) and DVB-CSA for encryption. The Session Word is used to derive a Control Word (CW 64 bit) for DVB-CSA.
Programmes like ProgDVB and MultiDec have DVB-CSA builtin. Others use a CSA or SoftCSA plugin DLL.
The BISS key consists of 16 digits (8 x 2 digits). Some programmes or receivers may require a 12 digit key.
To obtain a 12 digit key, remove the 4th and 8th groups of digits, these are checksums. Then press Set.
The channel should now be open. Repeat the process for all channels if necessary.
The current BISS key used by BBC-SATBACK is:
D581F94F24112D62 (16 digit)
D581F924112D (12 digit)
Legal and copyright issues
This information is provided for educational purposes only, neither the author nor www.astra2sat.com condone any illegal use or misuse of the information provided.
Is it legal or illegal to view these channels? Well, the answer has to be yes, viewing encrypted copyright content without permission is illegal.
It is not possible to purchase a legal subscription for the service. Any company or individual offering the service is doing so without permission from the broadcasters and is breaking the law.
There are companies or individuals selling receivers overseas who fail to inform customers that hacking into encrypted channels is illegal.
Although the BBC BISS keys are available on the internet, some unscrupulous satellite installers charge their clients for them.
It is also common for some installers to change the receivers PIN number, allowing only them access to the receivers menu.
Intelsat 907 – TV & Radio Channels
The BBC-SATBACK service on Intelsat 907 satellite is used as a backup service for the UK’s Freeview system, should the Freeview mast relay service lose its feed from their parent transmitters.
In a deal signed in April 2007, Arqiva uses BBC-SATBACK to feed the signal to 90 main transmitter sites around the United Kingdom.
Screen resolution is reported to be either 544 x 576 or 720 x 576 for standard definition channels in MPEG-2 and 1920 x 1088 for high definition channels in MPEG-4.
All the channels seem to be ‘flagged’ as data, this is confirmed using DVB Dream software.
Please note that UTV HD, STV HD and BBC Alba are data channels, and are not currently available.
There is no EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) available on any of the channels,
| Transponder 74 11.495 Vertical (DVB-S2) | |||||
| SR: 44100 | |||||
| Modulation: QPSK | |||||
|
TV Channels (SD)
|
Encryption
|
SID
|
VPID
|
APID
|
|
|
BBC One London
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4164
|
101
|
102 E
|
|
|
BBC Two England
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4287
|
201
|
202 E
|
|
| CBBC |
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4608
|
301
|
302 E
|
|
| CBeebies |
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4672
|
401
|
402 E
|
|
|
BBC Four
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4544
|
401
|
402 E
|
|
|
BBC News
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4352
|
501
|
502 E
|
|
|
BBC Parliament
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4736
|
601
|
602 E
|
|
|
BBC Red Button 1
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
7168
|
901
|
951 E
|
|
|
BBC One Wales
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
3101
|
3101
|
3102
|
|
|
BBC One Scotland
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
4220
|
4101
|
4102 E
|
|
|
BBC One Northern Ireland
|
BISS (MPEG-2)
|
5101
|
5101
|
5102 E
|
|
|
Film4 +1
|
BISS (H.264) | 20352 | 7501 | 7502 E | |
|
TV Channels (HD)
|
Encryption | SID | VPID | APID | |
|
BBC Two HD
|
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17472
|
6101
|
6102 E AAC
|
|
|
ITV HD (London)
|
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17608
|
6201
|
6202 E AAC
|
|
|
Chaannel 4 HD (London)
|
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17664
|
6301
|
6302 E AAC
|
|
| Channel 5 HD | BISS (MPEG-4 HD) | 17728 |
6401
|
6402 E AAC
|
|
| BBC One HD (England) |
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17540
|
6601
|
6602 E AAC
|
|
| CBBC HD |
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17920
|
7001
|
7002 E AAC
|
|
| STV HD (not viewable) |
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
17856
|
6501
|
6502 E AAC
|
|
| UTV HD (not viewable) |
BISS (MPEG-4 HD)
|
20096
|
6801
|
6802 E AAC
|
|
| Radio | Encryption | SID | VPID | APID | |
| BBC Radio 1 |
BISS
|
18496
|
N/A
|
1002 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 2 |
BISS
|
18560
|
N/A
|
1102 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 3 |
BISS
|
18624
|
N/A
|
1202 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 4 FM |
BISS
|
18688
|
N/A
|
1302 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 5 Live |
BISS
|
17920
|
N/A
|
1402 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra |
BISS
|
17984
|
N/A
|
1502 E
|
|
| BBC 6 Music |
BISS
|
18048
|
N/A
|
1602 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 4 Extra |
BISS
|
18112
|
N/A
|
1702 E
|
|
| BBC Radio 1Xtra |
BISS
|
18176
|
N/A
|
1802 E
|
|
| BBC Asian Network |
BISS
|
18240
|
N/A
|
1902 Various
|
|
| BBC World Service Europe |
BISS
|
18304
|
N/A
|
2002 E
|
|
| Data Streams | Encryption | SID | VPID | APID | |
| SIPSI In-band configurations | Data | 3 | N/A | N/A | |
| Fat CSI | Data | 50 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Alba | Data | 4860 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Scotland | Data | 6204 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Nan Gael | Data | 6248 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Ulster | Data | 6333 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Foyle | Data | 6397 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Wales | Data | 6462 | N/A | N/A | |
| BBC Radio Cymru | Data | 6526 | N/A | N/A | |
| 301 | Data | 4416 | N/A | N/A | |
| 302 | Data | 7232 | N/A | N/A | |
