From: xberri@quark2.aero.org (Jason E. Berri) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Subject: SCDX 2137 Date: 28 Jul 91 20:23:00 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2137--Aug. 2, 1991 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2137 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This edition is being uploaded more than a week early as I am about to leave on vacation. Hopefully, when I return, I can tell you all more about the upcoming Radio Sweden satellite service. Many apologies to Kauto Huopio, who's downloads from the world's data networks have become a mainstay of this program. I managed to misspell his name last time. Sorry. Remember, all times are UTC. SWEDEN--Response to edition 5 of our booklet "Communications in Space: The DXers Guide to the Galaxy" has been so good, that we've sold out. If you can sell out of something you give away for free. Anyway, rather than just print up more copies of that edition, we've updated it. So much has happened in the 2 and a half months since edition 5 appeared, the new edition, which we're calling 5.1, is 8 pages longer. It's still for free, so if you'd like your own copy of our guide to tuning into space, be sure to write to Radio Sweden, S-105 10 Stockholm, Sweden, and ask for a copy of "Communications in Space: The DXers Guide to the Galaxy". I also plan to upload an Electronic Edition to all the places I upload these SCDX bulletins. Hopefully the CompuServe/MCI Mail link can handle a 75 k file. We'll see..... EUROPEAN SATELLITE TV: ASTRA--Astra claims that more than 4 million households in Europe now tune into the Astra satellite directly from their homes or satellite dish systems serving several homes. Of these, more than 1.4 million are in Britain, and 1.3 million in Germany. The Nordic countries account for nearly 600,000 Astra dishes. (Astra) FRANCE--The relay of France's private channel TF1 on the Telecom 1C satellite (5 degrees West) on 12.689 GHz, has switched from PAL to SECAM. (Karl Grabe, Ireland) It had been the only PAL service on that satellite. SECAM is used in France and the Soviet Union, PAL in the rest of Europe. SPAIN--The first Spanish communications satellite is due to be launched in August next year, and us to be joined by a second satellite in 1993. The main users of Hispasat will be Spanish National Television and Spain's telecommunications company Telefonica. (Reuters) YUGOSLAVIA--The Yugoslavian TV broadcast on Eutelsat 1-F4 at 7 degrees East, on 11.171 GHz, is carrying an English translation of news reports. This is on the audio subcarrier at 7.56 MHz. This was heard on July 23rd and 24th from around 18:30 hrs for about an hour and a half. (Karl Grabe, Ireland) EC COPYRIGHTS--The European Community Commission has released plans to help television broadcasters reach viewers across the community without getting involved in controversies over copyright. The Community Executive proposes common EC rules to guarantee artists such as singers or film producers control over the use of their works by television and radio stations, while making it easier for broadcasters to get authorization for their use. Commission experts say most satellite channels in Europe are losing money because copyright law is not geared to broadcasters whose audiences span several countries. With the support of a majority of EC states, the proposals would take effect in 1995, making it as easy to broadcast across the EC as to broadcast nationally. (Reuters) EUROPEAN SATELLITE RADIO: Sunrise Radio is a commercial local radio station in London, broadcasting on medium wave 1413 kHz. It broadcasts programs for the South Asian community. Sunrise Radio is now being carried over the Astra 1B satellite, on the Movie Channel transponder (11.479 GHz), using the audio subcarrier on 7.38 MHz. (Thomas Bergstam, Sweden) NORTH AMERICAN SATELLITE TELEVISION: There's a new satellite channel called Court-TV, featuring live and taped broadcasts from actual courtroom cases. It can be seen on the Satcom 1R satellite at 131 degrees West, transponder 12, 24 hours a day. (Gary Bourgois, via USENET News and Kauto Huopio) NORTH AMERICAN SATELLITE RADIO: Let's Talk Radio is a new program about radio and television on the Spacenet 3 satellite (87 degrees West), transponder 21, using the 6.2 MHz subcarrier (daily at 6:00 PM-1:00 AM Eastern Time). There will be programs about amateur radio, shortwave listening, and computers. Howard Walker, publisher of a magazine for the satellite-TV hacker underground will appear on Saturdays. Other regulars include Havanna Moon, the well-known clandestine broadcast expert. Ironically, users of the VC II descrambler will have to bypass them to hear the program. (Gary Bourgois via USENET News) ASIAN SATELLITE TELEVISION: HUTCHVISION--Asia No. 1, the first commercial satellite designed for Asian countries, was launched in April, 1990 by a Chinese Long March rocket. The satellite was originally called Westar 6, and was launched by the American space shuttle in 1984. It failed to lift into geostationary orbit, and was retrieved by a special shuttle mission in 1985, when it was sold to the AsiaSat consortium. Now located at 105.5 degrees East, it carries 24 C-Band transponders, of which 15 have been leased by Hong Kong, Burma, Pakistan, and Mongolia. Star-TV, operated by Hong Kong's HutchVision, is broadcasting 24 hours a day on Asia No. 1. By the end of 1991, the system is to be operating three channels. HutchVision has announced it is buying Mandarin language programming from Asian Television, ATV. The primary audience will be in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. HutchVision has also signed agreements for its planned sports and music video channels. The music channel will be an Asian version of MTV, due to begin broadcasting in September, 1991. Two more channels are to be added next year. HutchVision says more than 40 countries from Egypt to Japan will be able to receive the broadcasts. Plans are going ahead for an Asia No. 2, which may be launched in 1994. CNN INTERNATIONAL--The Cable News Network is facing problems with its feed to the Far East. The Intelsat used by CNN in Asia is entering the final stage of its lifetime, and signals are growing weaker. Analysts say that hotel guests, who account for about one-third of the network's viewers in Asia, could notice a decline in the quality of signals in the coming months. The launch of a replacement Intelsat failed last year. CNN is faced with the alternative of waiting until a new series of Intelsat satellites become available in 1994, or switching to another satellite. The two possibilities are Asia No. 1 or the Indonesian government's Palapa. CNN says its talked with both organizations. HutchVision, which holds exclusive broadcasting rights on Asia No. 1, says it would be willing to let CNN use the satellite, in exchange for rights to integrate CNN programming into its planned satellite TV news channel. But HutchVision's reliance on advertising would also mean a change in CNN's subscription-based strategy as a primary revenue source. The drawback to using Palapa, is that it only broadcasts to the southern portions of the Asian-Pacific region. Most of CNN's Asian audience is in Japan. AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITES: The amateur radio satellite UO-22 was launched on July 16th, 1991, by an Ariane rocket from French Guiana. It carries a packet radio bulletin board, which besides use by radio amateurs, will be used to transmit free medical information to universities in East Africa. The service, known as HealthNet, is operated by an organization called Satel-Life. The information will be uplinked from a ground station in Newfoundland. Ground stations have been shipped to universities in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The researchers who build the satellite at the University of Surrey are also developing portable ground stations that will fit into a briefcase, so that field workers can take them to isolated villages. Health-Net ransmissions will be using packet radio at 9600 baud, with downlinks on 428.01 and 429.985 MHz. Amateur radio operations will also be at 9600 baud, with a downlink on 435.120 MHz. OU-22 also carries a charge-coupled device camera, which will provide pictures of the Earth only slightly larger than the satellite's coverage area footprint. (Reuters, "Practical Wireless", and Satel-Life) AMATEUR RADIO ON MIR: The amateur radio station on the Soviet space station MIR, U5MIR, usually heard in FM around 145.550 MHz, has been heard in SSB in the 21 MHz band. (UA3CR) SHORTWAVE: COMOROS--Radio Comoros has reactivated its shortwave transmitter, which had not been heard since 1987. It can now been heard on 7260 kHz, opening at 09:00 hrs, and switching at 15:00 hrs to 3330 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) KUWAIT--According to the chief of the technical division of Radio Kuwait, the station will resume broadcasts on shortwave within 8 months. It will take two years before programming reaches its former schedule. (Radio Japan via BBC Monitoring) USA--Radio Miami International is the brainchild of Jeff White, founder of early projects Radio Earth in Illinois and Radio Discovery in the Dominican Republic. Those stations broadcast in English to the United States. Radio Miami International broadcasts to Latin American in Spanish. The Federal Communications Commission is still considering a licence application for a 50 KW SW. In the meantime, Radio Miami is arranging broadcast time for a number of Cuban-American groups on three stations: WHRI in Indiana, WWCR in in Tennessee, and WRNO in New Orleans. WRNO is also relaying several hours a day of commercial programming in Spanish on behalf of a Colombian group. We have an interview with Jeff White about Radio Miami International in this week's English edition of Sweden Calling DXers. UNOFFICIAL RADIO--The Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan has been heard at 04:00-05:00 hrs on a new frequency of 6151 kHz, instead of 5950, which has been reoccupied by Yememi Radio. The 16:00-17:00 hrs transmission has been heard on 5831 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) TELEVISION: BULGARIA--Bulgarian TV has started a regular Teletext (Text-TV) service on its first program, called "TELEVEST". It currently contains 180 pages, but it is to be expanded to 800 pages later. (Kauto Huopio) USSR--The pro-Soviet Lietuvos Televizija (LTV) continues to broadcast from occupied studios in Vilnius, Lithuania. The transmitters are relaying the satellite video channel MTV on an irregular basis. The pro-Soviet station Intervideo Nadezda is broadcX.WKk)K!MQ=9%95)Fapital Tallinn. The transmitter is located on a Soviet military base near Tallinn. The Communist Party in Latvia is also planning to open a station for pro-Soviet programs. In the Ukraine, the former CT-2 network has been changed to become the second program of Ukrainian TV. (Bernd Trutenau, via Kauto Huopio) Beginning in October, Leningrad Television is to start regular relays of the French channel La Sept. (BBC Monitoring) PUBLICATIONS: "Test Cards of Eastern Europe" is a 50 minute video with familiar TV test cards from the former East Germany, along with the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, as well as other countries from Central Europe, and rare test cards from Mongolia, Algria, and Libya. Altogether around 50 test cards. There are also some opening trailers from some local stations in Poland. The tape, presumeably PAL VHS, is available for GBP 14, from: HS Publications, 7 Epping Close, Derby, DE3 4HR, England. (Kauto Huopio, Finland) COMPUTER CORNER: Correcting our recent report, the Nemesis computer bulletin board in Gothenburg is not operated by the Swedish DX Federation. The SDXF are active on the board. The Electronic Edition of the Sweden Calling DXers bulletins can be found on Nemesis. The correct telephone number is +46-31-51 96 47. However, the system has been experiencing problems with Swedish Telecom and has been offline. (Goeran Ericsson) The ShortWave Board is a new BBS for short wave listeners in the Netherlands. The telephone number is +31-4920-25889. (Maarten Ouwehand, sysop) We're also happy to note that the Shortwave Echo has returned to Swedish BBS's. I'll be logging in on a regular basis as soon as I get back from my vacation (in three weeks). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews since 1948. The program is now broadcast on the first and third Tuesday of each month. RS broadcasts to North America: 15:30 hrs on 17875 and 21500 kHz 02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz 03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Latin America: 23:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Europe, Africa, and the Middle East: 17:00 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9615 kHz 18:30 hrs on 6065 and (Middle East) 15270 kHz 19:30 hrs on 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz 20:30 hrs on 6065 kHz 22:00 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz And to Asia and the Pacific: 11:30 hrs on 11960, 17740, and 21570 kHz 13:00 hrs on 11960, 17740, and 21570 kHz 01:00 hrs on 9765 kHz Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283, from Internet, MCI Mail or CompuServe (to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516), through the FidoNet system to 2:201/697 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS SM0ETV. Reports can also be sent to: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are copyright. We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden Calling DXers, and our programs in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening! =========================================================================== Distributed as a public service by The Pinelands RBBS * 609-859-1910 * HST DS V.32 V.42 * 64 MB * FidoNet 1:266/32 * RBBS-Net 8:950/2 * Shortwave Listening * Ham & Packet Radio * Home of PC Software by W2XQ * Japan Radio Company NRD-535 and NRD-525 & Kenwood R-5000 Receiver Control Programs * English Language SW Broadcast Schedules (1988 WRTH Industry Award Winner) * Software Catalog upon request or download catalog from Pinelands RBBS * SYSOP Tom Sundstrom * W2XQ * MCI Mail 244-6376 * GEnie T.SUNDSTROM * InterNet 2446376@mcimail.com * Telex 6552446376MCI UW * Fax 609-859-3226 * TRS Consultants * PO Box 2275, Vincentown, NJ 08088-2275 * 609-859-2447 =========================================================================== -- Jason Berri (SPEEDX USSR Editor) INTERNET: berri@aerospace.aero.org or berri@arecibo.aero.org [SPEEDX is a SWL club, send email to the above address for more information]