Would you like to see a piece of Halley’s Comet? Now’s your chance! Each spring as Earth passes through the debris trail from Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley), the cosmic bits burn up in our atmosphere and result in the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. In 2011 the peak will occur on the night of May 5 and into the morning of May 6. A dark new moon on May 3 will help darken the night skies for a good viewing experience, with meteor rates of about 40-60 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. Ideal viewing conditions are a dark, clear sky away from city lights, especially just before dawn.
On May 5, you can join NASA experts for a live Web chat to observe this year’s Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Make plans to stay “up all night” with NASA experts from 11 p.m. EDT (May 5) until 5 a.m. EDT (May 6). For this overnight Web chat, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will attempt to establish a Ustream view of the skies over Huntsville, Ala. So get ready to help NASA watch the skies!
Joining the chat is easy. Simply return to this page a few minutes before the chat begins. The chat module will appear at the bottom of this page. After you log in, wait for the chat module to be activated, then ask your questions!
Posted
May 4th, 2011 in Astronomy, Cool Stuff
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First thought upon hearing the news of Usama bin Laden’s demise was “that’s an interesting name for a Pakistani city.” No, Abbottabad wasn’t named after Bud Abbott, originally from Asbury Park, NJ. “Hey, Abbott! I’m a bad boy,” is the signature one-liner from another Jersey guy, Lou Costello of Paterson. The city was actually named after Major John Abbott, an Indian Army Officer.
So U.S. intelligence found no telephone or Internet connection for this “fortress” in Pakistan, which they thought was remarkable in a neighborhood such as this. Judging from the widely published architectural rendering, I’d conclude they had a satellite antenna capable of two-way communications. Not impossible to intercept, but that depends on encryption and which spacecraft is being used.
Wouldn’t it be funny if they were using the SES satellites at 57° East? Both NSS-12 and NSS-703 provide plenty of two-way satcom services, and the look angle is favorable. However, the rendering shows the antenna pointed toward the southwestern horizon, suggesting perhaps one of the Arabsat birds. We’ll follow up on that.
Amazing how close it was to Pakistan’s “West Point.”
Final launch of space shuttle Endeavor is called off due to heater failure as six-man crew is walking toward the pad – NASA hopes to try again Monday. [msnbc – 04/29/2011]
Azerbaijan is to sign a loan with French bank BNP Paribas in May to finance its first national telecommunications satellite Azerspace. [ABC.AZ – 04/29/2011]
World’s largest product tanker owner, Maersk, fields KVH CommBox for network management on 120 vessels.
[GlobeNewswire -04/29/2011]
Two more communications providers, SI Wireless and Cellular South, join companies signing bilateral roaming agreements with LightSquared to expand planned nationwide 4G-LTE network. [SatNews – 04/29/2011]
Pactel International is awarded multiyear contract to manage SamoaTel’s International Telephony business. [SatNews – 04/29/2011]
Tracking Central Pty Ltd to acquire exclusive licensing rights in Australia and New Zealand for GTX Corp’s GPS Smart Shoe product designed for seniors suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. [SatNews – 04/29/2011]
Global Space and Satellite Forum accepting registrants for the Use of Space Science and Technology for Disaster Management and Emergency Response workshop May 11 in Abu Dhabi. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
First meeting of Hosted Payload Alliance brings together representatives of industry and government to share creative solutions to challenging budgets for satellite systems. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
Eutelsat satellites booked for total of 13,000 MHz hours, equivalent to 15 transponders over 24 hours, for coverage of the royal wedding in London. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
COM DEV International is awarded Authorization to Proceed contract to provide equipment for a new commercial satellite. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
Texas-based Proactive Communications Inc. is awarded one of first fixed satellite services contracts from Texas Department of Information Resources, to provide rapid support in disasters and serve other needs. [Satellite Spotlight- 04/28/2011]
Department of Veterans Affairs gets 13 systems from F4W Inc. which provide internet and VoIP connectivity for emergency situations, and include satellite broadband for when cellular is not available. [PR Newswire – 04/28/2011]
EMS Technologies initiates new satellite communications study for The Commonwealth of Australia. [Business Wire – 04/28/2011]
The second in series of 12 GPS IIF satellites arrives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
STM and ViaSat successfully demonstrate waveform interoperability between the STM SatLink 2000 modem and the ViaSat DoD-standard Joint Internet Protocol Modem. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
Skyware Global announces opening of new office in Washington DC area. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
Russia and Sweden agree to improve cooperation in the space industry, including launching Swedish satellites using Russian carrier rockets. [SatNews – 04/28/2011]
KVH’s new TracPhone V3, at just 14.5″ (37cm) the world’s smallest Ku-band maritime VSAT terminal, receives FCC license.
[GlobeNewswire – 04/27/2011]
Rumors have owners of Telesat fighting over the price for which the Canadian satellite communications company might be sold. [Ottawa Citizen – 04/27/2011]
Team including scientists at Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and the Air Force Research Laboratory work to improve capabilities for detecting and monitoring threats to U.S. space operations (space junk). [PhysOrg – 04/27/2011]
Chinese space officials confirm plans to build a 60-ton space station by 2020 and build a space freighter for hauling supplies to the station. [SatNews – 04/27/2011]
DirecTV takes measure of its subscribers’ preferences with regard to possible launch of Netflix-like video streaming service, following the acquisition of Blockbuster by Dish Network. [The Hollywood Reporter – 04/27/2011]
Malaysia’s no. 1 rated HD channel, ONE HD, joins MEASAT’s video neighborhood. [SatNews – 04/27/2011]
Topcon Precision Agriculture announces that its HiPer series of satellite receivers has been expanded to include a specialty receiver for the worldwide agriculture market. [Precision Pays – 04/27/2011]
Spanish operator Digital+ launches 3D demo channel on SES ASTRA’s ASTRA. [SatNews – 04/27/2011]
Track24 launches first global tracking and messaging systems for individuals and small businesses using Iridium satellite network and Track24’s mapping software. [SatNews – 04/27/2011]
NASA’s nanosatellite NanoSail-D is slowly descending after successfully orbiting the Earth’s upper atmosphere for 95 days after deploying its 100-square-foot sail on January 20th. [SatNews – 04/27/2011]
SES announces new investment in new Luxembourg satellite control facilities and business center. [Satellite Spotlight – 04/26/2011]Russian Space Forces re-establish contact with military satellite, Geo-IK-2, which went missing in February. [SatNews – 04/26/2011]Intelsat’s new African satellite, New Dawn, is safely in orbit following Good Friday launch from French Guiana. [Engineering News – 04/26/2011] ATK is awarded contract to provide upgraded more powerful second stage motor for Orbital Science Corporation’s Taurus II commercial launch vehicle. [SatNews – 04/26/2011]ORBCOMM announces its two-way satellite data communications services are now authorized in Equador. [Benzinga – 04/26/2011]Kazakhstan ready to consider Russia’s proposal of converting Baikonur Space Center into a joint-stock company, with Russia as major shareholder, according to RIA Novosti. [SatNews – 04/26/2011]MTN Satellite Communications and ERZIA announce completion of Santander Teleport in Spain. [PR Newswire – 04/26/2011]Satcom Direct becomes distribution partner for Inmarsat’s global phone services, offering them directly to government, military, and corporate aviation customers and resellers. [PR Web – 04/26/2011]SES WORLD SKIES announces three new capacity deals with Global Crossing to meet growing connectivity demand across Latin America. [Business Wire – 04/26/2011]Inmarsat and SkyWave develop new low data rate tracking, monitoring and message service promising up to 37x data capability of current global M2M services, for Q3 2011 launch. [NSR – 04/26/2011]NARSS puts EgyptSat-2 launch on indefinite hiatus. [Satellite Today – 04/25/2011]Arianespace launches two satellites – Yahsat 1A and Intelsat’s New Dawn, from French Guiana. [redOrbit – 04/24/2011]Thuraya to sponsor the Istanbul University Solar Race Team in the World Solar Challenge across the continent of Australia, also providing Thuraya IP and Thuraya XT as their full communication solutions. [SatNews – 04/24/2011]
SpaceX wins $75M NASA contract to complete Dragon spacecraft and modify it for human transport with launch escape system. [Military Aerospace – 04/20/2011
Thaicom 5 suffers technical glitch blacking out video service for about three hours. [The Nation – 04/22/2011]
Egypt announces indefinite postponement of the launch of research satellite EgyptSat 2 scheduled for 2013. [SatNews – 04/22/2011]
Can Dish network leverage Blockbuster’s vast library of movies and licensing rights to stream them over the Web to unseat Netflix? [Washington Post – 04/22/2011]
Hispasat Group and Pittsburgh International Telecommunications launch “New Winds” DTH platform on Amazonas-2 satellite. [EIN Presswire – 04/22/2011]
ITC Global, international satcom provider to mining, energy, and maritime industries, to acquire satellite operations of Broadpoint LLC. [PR Newswire – 04/21/2011]
Thales Alenia Space signs 54.5 million euros contract with the European Space Agency to supply new version of EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System). [SatNews – 04/21/2011]
Avanti Communications welcomes Polish service provider Polnetkom to its HYLAS 1 system. [SatNews – 04/21/2011]
SIS LIVE launches Tr-uPod multi-band, fully-automated tripod antenna system in 0.75, 1.0,1.2, and 1.5m sizes, capable of operating in X-, Ku-, Ka-, and DBS-bands, with 1.5m also available in C-band. [SatNews – 04/21/2011]
SI Wireless and LightSquared enter bilateral roaming agreement which will provide SI Wireless with nationwide 4G-LTE footprint as well as satellite coverage in rural areas. [PR Newswire – 04/21/2011]
Indian rocket successfully reaches space with three satellites including Resourcesat-2. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
Eutelsat announces contract between its subsidiary Skylogic and Avonline to sell broadband services using KA SAT in the UK. [sourcewire – 04/20/2011]
SES ASTRA signs agreement with Romanian Internet provider E-Sourcing Khow-How & Serv. Inc. for marketing of its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect in Romania. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
U.S.A.F. Wideband Global SATCOM system’s dual-band and crossbanding capabilities critical in ongoing earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
IsatPhone Pro now available from Stratos Global with data service and Stratos’ recently released AmosConnect 8.2 communications application. [PR Newswire – 04/20/2011]
German teleport & satellite service provider CETel acquires SeaMobile Europe. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
RapidEye satellite imaging products to be distributed throughout Africa by Geoconsult International. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
LightSquared signs bilateral roaming agreement with Cellular South, whose rural subscribers with no terrestrial coverage will get satellite coverage. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
World Teleport Association publishes “How to Deliver High Quality of Service 24x7x365” report exploring best practices of teleport operators. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
RUAG Space of Sweden gets order from Thales Alenia Space for 81 Payload Interface Units for the Iridium NEXT satellites. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
Globalstar completes equity investment in TrafficCast International. [SatNews – 04/20/2011]
Avanti Communications wins $7.6M refund from Space Exploration Technologies Corporation in New York court. [Sharecast – 04/18/2011]
Thales Alenia Space awards Lockheed Martin payload application software development contract for Iridium NEXT satellites. [PR Newswire – 04/18/2011]
African communications company Vodacom awards Hughes Network Systems contract to provide HN and HX broadband satellite solutions to expand its network. [PR Newswire – 04/18/2011]
Terrestar seeks court approval to hold auction for all its assets. [Reuters – 04/18/2011]
KVH receives order worth more than $3.7M from an international customer for the TLS tactical navigation system. [Satellite Spotlight – 04/18/2011]
May 24 NSR webinar interview with Eutelsat to evaluate the global HTS sector and discuss KA-SAT and its role in the European telecom market. [gotomeeting – May 24 webinar registration]
AEHF-1 crosses half-way mark to geosynchronous orbit in orbit-raising procedure planned following its failure to reach orbit during launch in August 2010. [SatNews – 04/17/2011]
Holy Wild Kingdom, Batman!! A wandering leopard could have risked the launch of PSLV C-16 the other day…
A prowling leopard in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shar at Sriharikota in SPSR Nellore district created a flutter among scientists in the space port on Thursday. According to information, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel guarding the Shar noticed the leopard late on Wednesday night near the second launching pad from where PSLV C-16 is slated for launch in the third or fourth week of April.
Wildlife officials of Sullurpeta swung into action after the CISF alerted them and beat drums and burst crackers to drive away the animal into the forest till the early hours of Thursday. The district forest officer, wildlife management, Mr Ch. Pardhananda Prasad, said that they became aware of the presence of a leopard in the Shar forest during January. Referring to the pugmarks they had spotted then, he said that the animal was about five years old. Speaking to this newspaper on Thursday, Mr Prasad struck down apprehensions about its movements, causing any obstruction to the proposed launching. “Shar is situated in the midst of 18,200 hectares of forest area which is a totally restricted zone. The leopard does not have to search for its prey since there is a sizeable population of deer and wild boars in the forest, among other animals.”
He ruled out rumours of trapping the animal, pointing to wildlife rules. He said that such a situation will arise only when animals turn into man-eaters. Mr Prasad said that they were ensuring that the animal was driven away from habitations in Shar with the help of their staff.
In the launch business, you’ve got to make sure you have every angle covered. Including leopards.
Nice job on the successful launch, by the way. Maybe we should introduce Florida Panthers to all the wild boars around The Cape.
Global satellite machine-to-Machine (M2M) service revenues to reach $1.7B by 2017 according to new Gobal Industry Analysts report. [San Francisco Chronicle – 04/15/2011]
U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency wants to lease a single commercial satellite for 15 years for $440M, meeting 78% of U.S. Central Command’s requirements in Afghanistan and Iraq while dramatically cutting costs. [Next Gov – 04/15/2011]
Cheetah “Morale Satellite” system provides free phone calls home and fast Internet connectivity for soldiers in Afghanistan. [DIVIDS – 04/15/2011]
Comtech receives $1.2M satellite ground station equipment order from a large integrator for a military requirement in a Latin American country. [Your Industry News – 04/15/2011]
Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb) in an open letter ask fellow senators to call on FCC to stop LightSquared from deploying its nationwide LTE network until it proves service does not interfere with GPS services. [Fierce Wireless – 04/15/2011]
Space Data Association announces full operational capability of its Space Data Center, established by commercial satellite operators to improve the safety and efficiency of space operations. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carries National Reconnaissance Office’s L-34 secret satellite payload aloft from Vandenberg. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
New way to cool military satellite payloads to be tested by Northrop Grumman Corporation with an experiment on the International Space Station. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
Newtec extends invitation to all to join their 2011 Business Seminar “How to Keep Satellite Services Profitable” in Miami May 11 and 12, with first day capped by leisurely cruise and dinner. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
ITT successfully concludes Critical Design Review for imaging payload for the Worldview-3 Earth observation satellite being built for DigitalGlobe. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
Iridium excecutive states that the biggest opportunity ever for placing hosted payloads aboard telecommunications satellite system (the 66-satellite next generation Iridium system) may be lost because of slow-moving government bureaucracies. [Space News – 04/14/2011]
Gilat’s SkyEdge II Broadband Satellite Network selected by Telecom Namibia to provide hundreds of locations throughout Namibia with VOIP and Internet services. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
New satellite to be launched from Kodiak Alaska, TACSAT-4, will carry UHF payload in highly elliptical orbit that will allow soldiers to communicate from deep canyons rather than out in the open, saving lives, though only available 6-7 hours a day. [National Defense – 04/14/2011]
Advantech Wireless signs contract with Hoje Telecom of Brazil to provide VSAT upgrade hub, RF equipment, and more than 1,000 remote terminals. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
Globalstar Europe Satellite Services, in conjunction with Globalstar Avrasya of Turkey, provisioned to cover all of European sub-continent as well as northern Africa, Middle East, and most of Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic ocean maritime region. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
U.S. Air Force awards Integral Systems $6.99M contract for Rapid Attack Identification, Detection, and Reporting System to provide near real-time detection, characterization, geolocation, and electromagnetic Interference reporting for critical satellite communication systems. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
Dynetics and Pratt & Whitney join Rocket City Space Pioneers team competing for Google $30M Lunar X Prize to be awarded to first team to build and launch to the moon a privately funded spacecraft capable of completing a series of exploration and transmission tasks. [SatNews – 04/14/2011]
MDA signs contract worth more than $40M to provide technology support for satellite communications and information service for a confidential customer. [Windsor Star – 04/14/2011]
92,708 total registered attendees for 2011 NAB show in Las Vegas, with 25,691 international attendees and 1,314 news media, beating 2010 final attendance of 88,044. [SatNews – 04/13/2011]
German aerospace contractor approved for taking lead role in designing European data relay satellite to promptly relay images of Earth from orbiting spacecraft back to ground stations. [Spaceflight Now – 04/13/2011]
Top Azerbaijani official says country will launch communications satellite in 2012. [RFE/RL – 04/13/2012]
Russia plans to test a next-generation spacecraft, build a new cosmodrome and even consider a manned mission to Mars after 2035. [R&D Magazine – 04/13/2011]
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology announces launch of eighth satellite of the Beidou-2 global navigation system aboard a Long March 3A rocket on April 10, 2011. [Examiner – 04/13/2011]
RRSAT grows global broadcast network to over 590 channels featuring SD, HD, and 3D formats and increased number of playout centers in Israel and U.S. [PR Newswire – 04/13/2011]
Arqiva will launch dedicated DVB-S2 MPEG-4 shared platform at Los Angeles teleport, affording broadcasters and mobile providers access to 100% of U.S. cable headends via SES WORLD SKIES’ AMC-10 satellite. [TMCnet – 04/13/2011]
Raytheon leads team bidding on U.S. Air Force Launch and Test Range System (LTRS) Integrated Support Contract (LISC). [Defense – Aerospace – 04/13/2011]
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approves merger of XM Canada and Sirius Canada. [Satellite Today – 04/13/2011]
SES ASTRA Platform Services opens new playout centre near Munich, significantly expanding capabilities to provide broadcasters and production houses around the world with state-of-the-art playout and platform services. [SatNews – 04/12/2011]
SES WORLD SKIES announces AMC-3 C-band capacity deal with Weigel Broadcasting to deliver new digital ME TV channel to broadcast stations and viewers across U.S. [Business Wire – 04/12/2011]
TeleCommunications Systems selected as participant in FCSA contract allowing government agencies to procure services from commercial satellite services providers. [Market Wire – 04/12/2011]
NSR press release – Revenues for Broadband Satellite Satellite Services to Exceed S$9 Billion by 2020. [NSR – 04/12/2011]
Maiden voyage of Ocean Star Pacific, first ship of the first national cruise line based in Mexico, to offer MTM satellite communications VSAT, crew calling, and Internet services. [PR Newswire – 04/11/2011]
Qatar plans early 2013 launch of its high-powered communications satellite Es’Hail, being built under joint investment with Eutelsat. [Gulf Times – 04/11/2011]
TerreStar GENUS satellite-enabled cellular smartphone provides expanded voice and data roaming coverage for mobile users. [SatNews – 04/10/2011]
Iran’s claims about satellite service raise difficult question for ITU – “Can regulators refuse to accept word of sovereign nation about its own assets even if they are convinced it is lying?” [Spacenews – 04/08/2011]
NSR Report “Broadband Satellite Markets” – VSAT networking and broadband access continue gains; a turning point for IP trunking. [NSR – May 2011]
NSR Report “Global Satellite Manufacturing and Launch Markets” – 109 payloads were carried by 74 launch missions worldwide over the past 12 months, down from 2009 by 6.5%. [NSR – May 2011]
Raytheon seeks new applications for System designed to communicate with deeply submerged swiftly moving submarines using satellites and underwater communications systems tied to buoys, since Navy has yet to come to decision on deployment. [National Defense Magazine – May 2011]
NSR upcoming – HTS and KA-SAT: “Changing the European Telecom Landscape” – An Interview with Eutelsat. [gotomeeting – May 24, 2011]
“By coupling our core Broadband Bonding technology with Network Calculus modeling we are able to effectively use statistics to smash the barrier of unpredictable behavior associated with cellular service to guarantee a certain level of quality necessary for transmitting HD video with extremely low latency,” said Mushroom Networks’ founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Rene Cruz, in a statement.
Dude, I’ll have some of what he had.
That’s what B&C reported on Mushroom Networks and their Teleporter product, introduced at NAB 2011 in Las Vegas. Their other products, with name like PortaBella and Porcini, do have a unique branding scheme. Apparently, somebody in their creative department sold them on it and I find it refreshing. This is what you need to get noticed (Engadget liked it enough to write about it, so that’s a plus).
Figures: they’re based in Southern California.
Posted
April 15th, 2011 in Cool Stuff
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The report said that as per norms fixed by the director of technical education, five programmes of one hour’s duration each were to be telecast a week. This was to educate students through the Satcom network at all government engineering colleges and polytechnics, infrastructural facilities such as LCD projectors and Satcom network were created by Bisag in 2001.
The report said scrutiny of records revealed that while 155 lectures were delivered through Satcom for government engineering college students, no lectures were delivered for polytechnic students during 2005-10. The shortfall in programmes ranged between 82 and 98 per cent during 2005-10 in degree colleges and 100 per cent in polytechnics. Thus, the infrastructure created remained underutilized and deprived diploma students from the intended benefits of distance learning, the CAG report stated.
“This is the first time we’ve used IP satellite as part of the official show coverage,” according to Michelle Kelly, NAB’s Senior Vice President of Convention Marketing. “In the past, broadcast outlets had to set up their own uplinks. On Call’s IP satellite is cutting-edge technology that will expand the coverage of the show to a much wider audience and we couldn’t be happier.”
“We are thrilled to be asked to play such an important role in this year’s NAB,” responded On Call’s CEO Jim Gilbert. “Our QuickSPOT™ Dual IP/DVB Satellite News Gathering System is the perfect platform for the show. It’s kind of like a Swiss army knife for broadcasters. It not only provides high quality standard or high definition video, but can also webcast, transfer files, and provide IFB, voice, internet access and e-mail all on one easy to use platform. It offers the convenience and functionality of IP with a twist of DVB thrown in to allow the signal to be sent to lots of broadcasters simultaneously.”
On Call will introduce its newest satellite news gathering system at the show, dubbed The QuickSPOT™ Solution. “We’ve enhanced the Classic QuickSPOT™ IP SNG System by giving the studio direct control over the encoders, audio and video switches and HD cameras, using an intuitive web based graphical user interface,” said Gilbert. “That not only makes its operation even easier, it makes single person live reporting from the field achievable, reducing crew and cost for networks and affiliates.”
On Call Communications will exhibit at NAB 2011 April 11-14 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibit booth features an insert studio and a live uplink. Attendees are welcome to visit the booth #OE910 to watch the IP/DVB system in action as it transmits from the show. Visitors may also try out the new intuitive IP studio control and view demonstrations of On Call’s studio controlled HD cameras. Upon request, On Call will also make the live uplink available to broadcasters either from the booth or from nearly any location on the floor.
Downlink everyday:
Satellite: Intelsat Horizons 2 Ku-band @ 74° West, Transponder 20K
Modulation: DVBS QPSK
FEC: 3/4
Downlink: 14495 Mhz (1445Mhz L-band) Vertical
Symbol Rate: 3.37384 Msps
System Bit Rate: 4.663 Mbps
Video Format: NTSC
Encoding: MPEG-4 HD
Aspect Ratio: 16 x 9
Audio Configuration: Stereo
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