From: George Wood <70247.3516@CompuServe.COM> AA COMMUNICATIONS IN SPACE))EDITION 5.5 THE LAST DXers GUIDE TO THE GALAXY George Wood January, 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction)Satellites...........................................1 Part I: Satellite Broadcasting)TVRO North America..........................................2 Latin America Europe and Astra......................................12 Africa................................................26 Middle Eastern Satellite Broadcasting Asia and the Pacific..................................29 Global Satellite Channels.............................33 Part II: Weather and other "Utility" Satellites Weather Satellites....................................36 Amateur Radio in Space................................38 Part III: Monitoring the Space Shuttle, MIR, and the Military The Shuttle and MIR...................................40 Military Communications in Space......................43 Part IV: Horizons.................................................44 For More Information..............................................45 Copyright 1994 Radio Sweden. Reproduction of this publication is permitted to non-commercial media provided credit is given to Radio Sweden and "Communications in Space". FFFFGGFFGG GGRadio Sweden is not responsible for anything that might happen because of possible mistakes, inaccuracies, or out)of)date information.\v\ GGINTRODUCTION)SATELLITES In the beginning, the Great Prophet Marconi cast his bread uponthe waves. Long, medium, even short wave))the ether was filled, and athome listeners tuned the bands, and heard far away signals fromBonaire, Motala, and Oakland. Then, on October 4, 1957, the world changed. The Soviet Unionlaunched the Sputnik satellite, and listeners around the world tuned into its signals just above 20 MHz. The Space Age had begun. What we find is this...the skies are filled with satellites thatcan be monitored, some with simple equipment, some with more complexand expensive gear. Weather pictures, satellite TV, astronauts andcosmonauts, computer bulletin boards in the sky, are all there waiting. We used to call satellite DXing the shortwave listening of thefuture. Well, the future is now. The signals are there, and more arecoming. This guide is intended to help you tune in to signals fromspace. Equipment varies from USD 2000 for C)Band TVRO dishes andreceivers to less than USD 200 for a scanner and discone antenna formonitoring weather satellites. Communications satellites were first proposed by science fictionwriter Arthur C. Clarke in 1945. Clarke pointed out that if a satellitewas positioned high enough above the equator (36,000 kilometers or23,000 miles), its orbit could be matched to the rotation of the Earth.The satellite would appear to remain fixed in one particular spot inthe sky. Such a position would be ideal for relaying telephone, radioand television communications. Three such satellites locatedequidistant from each other could cover the entire Earth. It took technology a while to catch up with Clarke's idea. In 1957the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first artificialsatellite. In 1962 the United States launched Telstar, the firstcommunications satellite. Today there are more than 100 commercial TVand telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit, and many moreare scheduled for launch before the end of the century. In addition, there are communications satellites in non*geostationary orbits (such as the former Soviet Molniya), weather andother Earth resources satellites, amateur radio satellites, andAmerican and CIS space vehicles. All are accessible, if you have theright equipment. The Third World AA In many ways, Third World countries have more to gain from satellite communications than do the developed nations. Arthur C. Clarke is today a citizen of Sri Lanka, and a dedicated advocate ofsatellites for Third World development. As one of Sri Lanka'srepresentatives at a UNESCO conference in 1981, Clarke said: "To many developing countries, satellites are ESSENTIAL; they will make it unnecessary to build the elaborate and expensive ground systems required in the past. Indeed, to many countries, satellites could be a matter of life and death." \v\ PART I: SATELLITE BROADCASTING)TVRO Television Receive Only (TVRO) systems allow home monitors to tunein to radio and television from geostationary satellites. There arearound 3.5 million TVRO installations in North America and more than 1million in Europe. Numbers are rapidly increasing in India, China, andother parts of Asia. Latin America and Africa are areas of expansion,where satellites are generally used for relays to television stationsand cable networks, rather than direct to home (DTH). To tune in to broadcast satellites, you need a dish antenna andreceiver. Antennas vary from 20 centimeters for the strongest DBSsatellites to 3 meters or more for weak signals in the C)band. Antennascan also be fixed in one position, for reception of just one satellite,or motorised, to permit reception of many satellites. The signals arepicked up by Low Noise Block amplifiers (LNBs) and fed by low losscables to receivers. Fixed antennas can even have extra LNBs amountedto pick up additional satellites. Different bands are used for satellite broadcasting. Some are morecommon in different parts of the world. Higher frequency bandsgenerally require smaller dish antennas. The satellite TV bands are: S)Band 1700)3000 MHz C)Band 3700)4200 MHz Ku1)Band 10.9)11.75 GHz Ku2)Band 11.75)12.5 GHz (DBS) Ku3)Band 12.5)12.75 GHz Ka)Band 18.0)20.0 GHz I. North America Most North American TVRO still uses the C)Band, although Ku)banduse is increasing. C)band dish antennas are at least nine feet (3meters) in diameter. Dishes and receiver prices start at around USD1000 for motorized systems without decoders, and USD 1500 for systemswith decoders. There are also fixed dish systems available for theGalaxy 5 satellite, which is currently the American "hot bird",offering a wide variety of free and subscription programming (seebelow). An antenna and receiver for Galaxy 5 is available for aroundUSD 800, with a decoder for an extra USD 375. Here are the North American C and Ku)Band downlink frequencies: Channel 1 = 3720/11730 MHz Channel 13 = 3960/12096 MHz Channel 2 = 3740/11743 Channel 14 = 3980/12109 Channel 3 = 3760/11791 Channel 15 = 4000/12157 Channel 4 = 3780/11804 Channel 16 = 4020/12170 Channel 5 = 3800/11852 Channel 17 = 4040 Channel 6 = 3820/11865 Channel 18 = 4060 Channel 7 = 3840/11913 Channel 19 = 4080 Channel 8 = 3860/11926 Channel 20 = 4100 Channel 9 = 3880/11974 Channel 21 = 4120 Channel 10 = 3900/11987 Channel 22 = 4140 Channel 11 = 3920/12035 Channel 23 = 4160 Channel 12 = 3940/12048 Channel 24 = 4180 The Ku)Band frequencies are based on a 16 channel system. For the32 channel format, half)spacing is used.\v\ The 27 C and Ku)Band satellites above North America stretch from69 degrees West longitude to 139 degrees West. They typically carry 24transponders (each transponder can carry one analog TV channel andseveral radio channels or many voice and data channels). The oldersatellite transponders each transmit with 5 to 8 watts of power. Thenewer generation, such as Satcom C4 and Telstar 401, are 16 to 20 wattsoutput. American programmers, led by the pay)film channel Home Box Office,began scrambling signals in 1986. On April 27, 1986 a "video hacker"calling himself Captain Midnight (the hi)tech hero of a 1960's TVseries) interrupted Home Box Office's broadcast of the film "Falcon andthe Snowman". He transmitted a message over the satellite link,overpowering HBO's uplink to the Galaxy 1 satellite. The message was aprotest against HBO's scrambling. (The choice of the film was apt, asit concerns military spy satellites.) John McDougal, who called himself Captain Midnight. was traced toa Florida uplink station where he worked part)time. He was fined USD5000. Many popular American satellite channels now scramble theirsignals, using the VC II or VC II+ systems. Modern satellite receiverscome equipped with decoders, and TVRO enthusiasts can subscribe to thecoded channels, either by monthly payment to the stations directly, orto organizations offering special packages. The company manufacturing VC II decoders, General Instruments, hasa market monopoly. Separate decoders for receivers lacking them areextremely difficult to find, and can cost between USD 600 and 800.There is a lively underground of enthusiasts hacking decoders, hardwareand software, in order to view pay channels for free. A digitalcompression system allowing up to 10 channels on a single transponder,General Instrument's, DigiCipher, is gradually being introduced. American satellites have recently introduced a new system usingonly 2 degree spacing, which may result in interference from adjacentsatellites with smaller dishes. Here are the satellites above NorthAmerica, and some of the more interesting satellite channels (C)bandand uncoded unless otherwise indicated): Satcom C5 (139 degrees): Also known as Aurora II, it has reachedits projected end)of)life, and is primarily used for non)videopurposes. Alaska Satellite TV is on transponder 24. Satcom C1 (137 degrees): Mainly the western coded feeds of networkaffiliates from Denver. The Fox Network is on transponder 19, with theJade Channel in Chinese on transponder 5 and TV Japan, the NHK feed toUnited States, is on transponder 17. NBC, which otherwise uses Ku)bandon the K)2 satellite, has its eastern feed on transponder 8, which issometimes in the clear. Satcom C4 (135 degrees): This high)powered satellite was launchedon August 31, 1992. Deutsche Welle is on transponder 5, Italy's RAI on7, shopping channels on 9 and 10, music channel The Box on 11, theTravel Channel on 13, the Cable Health Club on 14, and C)SPAN2 from theU.S. Senate on 19. Viacom uses this satellite for its eastern codedservices, including MTV, VH)1, Nickelodeon, and the new digitally*encrypted MTV Latino in Spanish.\v\ Galaxy 1 (133 degrees): This satellite includes several popularcoded services, including the Disney Channel (West), Comedy Central(West), The Cartoon Network, Cinemax (East), HBO (East), Showtime 2, and the Discovery Channel. Uncoded services include the TV FoodNetwork, the Nostalgia Channel, shopping, religious, and Spanishlanguage services Univision and Galavision. Other services have movedto Galaxy 5. Satcom C3 (131 degrees): This powerful new satellite was launchedon September 10, 1992. It carries many popular coded services,including the Family Channel, Lifetime, Arts and Entertainment,Showtime, and Nickelodeon. Uncoded services include the LearningChannel, Courtroom)TV, C)SPAN1, two shopping channels, and E!Entertainment. ASC)1 (128 degrees): 18 C)band and 6 Ku)band transponders. On C*band, the Home Dish Market Channel is on transponder 7, religiousprogramming on transponder 12, Channel America on 20, and SCOLA, whichcarries news from TV stations around the world, in on 23. (News fromSweden's TV4 is now carried Monday to Friday at 7:30 AM Eastern time,and on Saturdays at 6:00 AM Eastern.) There are occasional transponderson Ku)band channels 23 and 24. G)Star 2 (125 degrees) Ku)band only: Turner's Airport Channel ison transponder 20. Galaxy 5 (125 degrees): This new satellite is the first of a newgeneration of high)powered satellites, and is somewhat similar toEurope's Astra as a "hotbird" target for fixed systems. It includesmany popular coded services, including: the Disney Channel (transponder1), Playboy (2), CNN (5), Turner Broadcasting (6), WGN (7), Home BoxOffice (8 and 15), ESPN (9), The Family Channel (11), the DiscoveryChannel (12), CNBC (13), the new ESPN 2 (14, and initially in theclear), Cinemax (16), TNT (17), The Nashville Network (18), the USANetwork (19), CNN Headline News (22), and Arts and Entertainment (23).Uncoded services include a religious broadcaster (3), the ScienceFiction Channel (4), a music channel (10), Black Entertainment TV (20),and Mind Extension University (21). Viacom is carrying out digitalcompression tests on transponder 24. Telstar 303 (123 degrees): Carries mainly TVN pay)per)viewprogramming. Fox (East) is on transponder 18, Fox (West) on transponder23. SBS)5 (123 degrees) Ku)band only: mostly college and pro sportsfeeds. Morelos 1 (113.5 degrees) and Morelos 2 (116.8 degrees): Mexico'sMorelos 1 offers a number of local stations and sports feeds, somecoded and not available to the US market. Morales 2 is less active, butTurner Broadcasting's TNT Latin America, coded and not available forthe US market, is on transponder 12. Anik E1 (111.1 degrees): Canadian channels and feeds. The TVNorthern Canada service for Native Americans is on transponder 19, andTV5 Quebec is on transponder 17. Occasional transmissions of news andsports on Ku)band. \v\ Anik E2 (107.3 degrees): Canadian stations including weather ontransponder 1 and relays of the Canadian House of Commons ontransponder 24, with sound in English and French on separatesubcarriers. The CBC uses transponder 11 (Pacific), 15 (French), and 19(Atlantic), and other transponders for feeds. CBC Newsworld ontransponder 16 relays BBC World Service Television, but is coded in theOak system, as are several other transponders. Visnews/London usestransponder 17. There are BBC feeds on transponder 7, including thefinal 10 minutes of BBC "Breakfast News" weekdays at 3:00 AM EasternTime. Many Canadian Channels on Ku)band as well. G)Star 4 (105 degrees) Ku)band only: News and sports feeds (CNN ontransponders 21, 26, and 28), The Classroom Channel on transponders 31and 32. Galaxy 6 (103 degrees): Moved from 99 degrees, sports feeds, withthe NHK feed to Tokyo on transponder 22. G)Star 1 (103 degrees) Ku)band only: news and sports feeds. Spacenet 4 (101 degrees): PBS uses transponders 4, 6, 8, 10, and12. Newscasts from Britain's ITN can be found around 17:30 Eastern Timevia PBS on transponder 10. There's a religious broadcaster ontransponder 9. Three of the six Ku-band transponders have gone bad andare considered unusable. Galaxy 4 (99 degrees): Has replaced Galaxy 6 and Westar 4 at thisposition. CBS makes extensive use of this satellite and Galaxy 7, withoccasional transponders in the clear, especially relays of the "CBSEvening News" and sports feeds. CBS uses transponders 16, 17, 18, 19,20, 21 and 24. Religious broadcasters on transponders 6, 15, and 23,Spanish on 8, 13, and 14. On Ku)band, NASA Select uses transponder 18,and the National Weather Net is on transponder 12. There are also manynews and sports feeds. SBS)2 (97 degrees) Ku)band only: NBC News Channel is ontransponder 8, NBC feeds on transponders 3 and 9. SBS)6 (95 degrees) Ku)band only: CONUS News feeds on transponders12 and 13, Asia Net (coded) on transponder 14. BB Galaxy 3 (93.5 degrees): The Caribbean Satellite Network is ontransponder 14, ABC is occasionally in the clear on transponder 18, asis TV Asia (Hindi) on transponder 7. Other coded channels are EmpireSports Network (2) and Radio Television Portugal (5). There arereligious broadcasters on transponders 11, 12 and 21, shopping channelson 10, 13, 15, and 17. The entertainment channel Showcase America is ontransponder 22. G)Star 3 (93 degrees): Ku)band only, in inclined orbit, onlyoccasional reception is possible. Galaxy 7 (91 degrees): This new high)powered satellite carries 24transponders in the C)band (16 watts each), and 24 in the Ku)band (50watts each). CBS is a major user on C)band, sometimes in the clear,with the Western network feed on transponder 2 and the Eastern feed on19, and newsfeeds on 18. Many channels used for feeds, with the FammilyNetwork on transponder 14. On Ku)band, there are many college and prosports feeds, the Asia)American Satellite Network in Chinese (12), TheAsia Net in Korean (15), and the Fire and Emergency TV Network (17). \v\ On December 6, 1993 Emirates Dubai TV began broadcasts on Galaxy 7in Arabic and English. Spacenet 3 (87 degrees): Nebraska Educational Television is ontransponders 2 and 4. There are coded relays of local TV stations inDallas, New York, and Los Angeles and several sports channels. CNNInternational and TNT Latin America is coded, not for the U.S. market,on transponder 16. CNN newsfeeds in Spanish, not coded, are ontransponder 11. On Ku)band, there are sports feeds on transponders 6and 10. Satcom K)1 (85 degrees) Ku)band only: PrimeStar DBS pay channelsin B)MAC. Telstar 302 (85 degrees): Has taken over from Telstar 301 as amajor feed satellite. Paramount uplinks such programs as "Star Trek:The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine" on transponder 3. Severalcoded services, including HBO 2 and 3, and Cinemax 2. The ABC Easternfeed on transponder 10 is sometimes in the clear. Satcom K)2 (81 degrees) Ku)band only: NBC uses transponders 3(East), 7 (Pacific), 10 (sports), 15 (news and sports), 19 (Central),23 (newsfeeds), and 27 (newsfeeds). The North American ChineseTelevision Network is on transponder 28. SBS)4 (77 degrees) Ku)band only: NBC has acquired the entirecapacity of this satellite, the first time a broadcast network hasarranged to be the sole user of a satellite. The network will haveaccess for occasional use until February, 1994, when it will have full*time access to all transponders. Hughes has allowed the satellite tomove into an inclined orbit, which will mean NBC affiliates must havespecial tracking equipment, but the expected lifetime of the satellitehas been extended by as much as ten years, until well into the nextcentury. Galaxy 2 (74 degrees): CNN feeds can be found on transponder 9,sports feeds on many others. Satcom 2R (72 degrees): NASA Select TV, including live video fromspace shuttle missions, is on transponder 13. Programming is in fourhour blocks, repeated during the broadcast day. The Arab Network ofAmerica on transponder 1 is a Saudi)financed channel seeking to reachthe one million Arabic)speaking Americans and expatriates in the U.S.It hopes to broadcast 24 hours a day of news, entertainment andreligious programming. New England Cable News is on transponder 21, NBCsports feeds on 20, the Outdoor Channel on 3, and shopping channels on7 and 11. Spacenet 2 (69 degrees West): The United States InformationAgency's Worldnet uses transponder 3. There are Spanish feeds andprogramming on transponders 2 (GEMS TV), 4 (Canal SUR))coded), and 5(NBC Canal de Noticias). Main Street TV is on transponder 7. On Ku)bandthere are news and sports feeds on transponders 4 and 10, educationalprogramming on transponder 5. Intelsat 513 (53 degrees): is also used to relay signals fromEurope to North America. Australia uses the satellite to relay TVprograms from London to Los Angeles. They are retransmitted toAustralia from there on Intelsat 508 over the Pacific.\v\ Panamsat 1 (45 degrees): used to relay across the Atlantic, toLatin America and the Caribbean on C)band and to North America andEurope on Ku)band. RTV Beograd is on 11.760 GHz to North America, TVJapan feeds on 11.920 GHz, and Peru's Canal Sur on 4.140 GHz. Intelsat 601 (27.5 degrees), generally a European satellite, alsocarries NTSC transmissions to North America from Europe. During thelead up to the Gulf War its predecessor Intelsat VI)F4 was used forNTSC feeds from the United States, presumably programs for Americansoldiers in the Gulf, on Ku)band 11.056 and 11.090 GHz. BBC WorldService Television is being relayed uncoded to the CBC on C)bandtransponder 4, presumably 3.780 GHz. Intelsat)K (21.5 degrees): This Ku)band only satellite waslaunched in June, 1992, also to relay signals across the Atlantic. Thesatellite carries 32 high)powered television channels, which can bedirected to North America (as far as the Midwest), Europe (as far eastas Greece), and selected parts of South America. All beams will use11.45-11.7 GHz, while 11.7-11.95 GHz will also be used to the Americas. Deutsche Welle and Italy's RAI use this satellite to relay theirservices to North America. Coming Channels and Satellites Rupert Murdoch's Fox Inc. says that it will formally launch itslong planned basic cable network on March 1, 1994, and it has alreadysigned agreements with one-third of US cable networks for itsdistribution. The network, known as FX, will be a generalentertainment network. New networks from Paramount and Time Warner arealso planned. Turner Broadcasting will introduce two new channels next year, adomestic feed of CNN International, and Turner Classic Movies. TurnerClassic Movies will debut on April 14, 1994, the exact centennialanniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City. It willair hundreds of movies from the 1930's to the 1980's. Time Warner and Spiegel Inc. have announced they will launch twocable television home shopping channels next year, including aninteractive "video shopping mall". The joint venture makrs the firstattempt by either company to develop a home shopping business. Thechannels will feature clothes, accessories, and home furnishing sfromSpiegel's catalog and from its Eddie Bauer and other specialitydivisions. The interactive channel will make its debut next April on anexperimental cable network Time Warner is building in Orlanda, Florida."The interactive channel will, in effect, be a video shopping mall,"say the two companies. "Cable customers will be able to enter anycatalog 'store' at any time, view a variety of merchandise in fullmotion video and make purchases on demand." A more conventional home shopping channel with a working title of"The Catalog Channel" will start in the first quarter of next year onTime Warner's cable systems, the second largest in the US, with 7.1million subscribers in 36 states. The channel will later be offered toother cable operators. \v\ ValueVision International Inc., a TV home shopping network, hassigned up for a C-band transponder on Hughes Communications'next-generation Galaxy 1-R satellite, set to be located at 133 degreeswest longitude. The video game company Sega is planning to launch The Sega Channelin 1994. Initially, viewers in 13 American cities will be offered achance to download games for Sega's Genesis megadrive games machine,using a special decoder, before the service launches nationally in theUnited States. Sega has joined forces with Time Warner and the giantcable operator TCI to form the network. The 24)hour broadcast servicewill feature specially)engineered play games, previews, hints and tips. Users will supply their own video games machine and rent the decoderinterface which enables them to utilise the programming carried by TheSega Channel. Sega is rumored to be seeking access to a transponder onAstra, for a European service next year. The Public Broadcasting System, PBS, together with WGBH in Bostonand WNET in New York, are planning to launch a channel devotedexclusively to cultural programming. The new channel, called HorizonsTV, is expected to be running by the end of 1994. PBS is expanding enormously when it moves to the Telstar 401satellite, which was launched on December 15, 1993. The satellite is tobegin regular operation in February, 1994. PBS intends to move to 6 Ku)band transponders on the newsatellite, 3 digital and 3 analog. C)band transmissions on Spacenet 4transponder 4 would remain analog for dish owners. On Telstar 401 PBS will be using DigiCipher digital compressiontechniques to squeeze 8 to 10 channels into each transponder. PBS plansto provide a total of more than 40 Ku)band channels, creating what isbeing described as an "education neighborhood". Most of these newchannels will be used for educational programming to schools. The plansinclude two way contact, in which participating classes would interactwith the programming, sending data from computers over the telephone tothe closest PBS station, which would relay signals to the satellite. One transponder would carry the PBS national schedule A and Bprograms, along with a high definition television program. While HBOand other programmers will be using the General Instrument's DigiCipherII technology, PBS will be using the non)consumer DigiCipher Itechnology and those digital signals are not compatable with the othersystem. Other users of Telstar 401 will include ABC and Paramount, forrelays of such programs as " Star Trek" and Entertainment Tonight". A second satellite is to launched in early 1994, and a third (to beused as a spare) is scheduled for orbit in late 1994 or early 1995. The NBC Network has acquired the entire capacity of the Ku)bandSBS)4 satellite. NBC will use the satellite on an occasional)use basisuntil September, 1994, when the network will have full)time access.SBS-4 was launched in 1984 and carries ten 20-watt Ku-band transponders at 77 degrees west longitude. Hughes operates the satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, enabling it to use less fuel with north-south station keeping. SBS-4 is expected to provide service until 2004. \v\ NBC has also signed an agreement with GE Americom Communicationsfor Ku-band satellite capacity aboard its GE-1 satellite. Capacitywill be used from 1996. Like the SBS-4 transponders, NBC will use GE-1transponders for feeds and program distribution. NBC has also increased its interest in American Television Network, a partnership that produces health and medical programmes aimed at consumers and physicians. NBC plans to transform the network into a 24-hour cable channel at a later stage. Non)Video Signals Communications satellites carry much more than TV signals. Thereare also telephone channels, transmissions by international newsagencies, stock market reports, commodity news, and hundreds of radionetwork relays. There are two main kinds of audio signals. Audio subcarriers areextra signals transmitted along with the video signal. The videoinformation on a satellite transponder typically occupies the space 0*4.2 MHz. Subcarriers are added at frequencies higher than the video.Usually they will be on 6.2 or 6.8 MHz, but any frequency between 5 and8 MHz can be used. There are more than 70 audio only signals available on NorthAmerican satellites. Here are a sample: Satellite/Channel Program Frequency(ies) Spacenet 2/3 Voice of America 5.92 MHz Spacenet 2/4 SUR Radio (Spanish) 5.8 Spacenet 2/7 Spanish Christian Radio 5.94 Spacenet 2/20 AFRTS Radio 7.4 Satcom 2R/1 ANA Arab Net 6.8 Satcom 2R/7 Project Saturn Global 5.8 Satcom 2R/18 Radio Tropical (French) 7.6 Satcom 2R/23 Christian Music Network 6.2 7.6 Spacenet 3/2 Nebraska Public Radio 5.76 5.94 Spacenet 3/9 Modern Country 5.76 5.94 Spacenet 3/15 KLON)FM (Jazz/NPR) 5.58 5.76 Radio Sedeye Iran 6.17 Spacenet 3/21 Let's Talk Radio 5.8 Galaxy 3/22 KGAY Denver 7.46 (off the air, Sept, 1993) \v\ Galaxy 4/8 Hispanic Radio Broad. Net. 7.75 7.93 Galaxy 4/20 WCBS New York 7.4 Anik E2/16 CBC Radio East 5.76 5.94 CBC Radio Atlantic 6.12 6.3 Voice Print)Reading Service 7.44 Anik E2/20 CBC Radio East French 5.4 5.58 Anik E2/22 CBC Radio Pacific 5.76 5.94 CFMI)FM 6.8 CBC Radio News B.C. 7.36 Anik E1/17 Radio France International 5.41 6.12 Galaxy 5/18 WSM Nashville 7.38 7.56 Galaxy 5/22 CNN Headline News 7.56 Satcom C5/24 KSKA)FM Anchorage/NPR 7.38 7.56 "Let's Talk Radio" is a program about radio and television onSpacenet 3 transponder 21, using the 6.2 MHz subcarrier (daily at 6:00PM)1:00 AM Eastern Time). There are programs about satellites, amateurradio, shortwave listening, and computers. The satellite and cable station C)Span carries broadcasts from theAmerican Congress. C)Span also has two special audio channels. Onerebroadcasts BBC World Service 24 hours a day, the other carries avariety of international broadcasters, including Deutsche Welle, RadioJapan, "As It Happens" from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, andRadio Sweden's program "Sweden Today". "Sweden Today" is carried on Saturdays at 9:30 AM Eastern Time.Other broadcasters are the Voice of America daily at 1:00)8:00 PM,Radio Havana Cuba at 8:00 and 11:00 PM, Deutsche Welle during the weekand Radio Japan weekends at 10:00 PM, and China Radio International atmidnight. Radio Japan is carried weekdays at 6:00 AM, and programs fromthe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation are at 8:00 AM. C)Span has been on transponder 24 on the Galaxy 3 satellite at93.5 degrees West. BBC World Service uses the subcarrier at 5.4 MHz.The international broadcasters are on 5.22 MHz. KGAY, a new radio network for gays and lesbians, moved fromSpacenet 3R to Galaxy 6, transponder 17, using the audio subcarrier at7.48 MHz. However it stopped satellite relays in September, 1993, andit is uncertain if it will return. The Becker Satellite Network provides a common channel to avariety of eccentric programmers. According to "Popular Communications"magazine, it's a place where would)be pirate broadcasters can reachlisteners legally. Among the programmers are the former pirate RadioNew York International, the Satellite Information Service, the JohnnyLightning Show, the World Jazz Federation, and DBI Satellite RadioTalk. The Becker Satellite Network is on Spacenet 2, transponder 7,\v\audio 7.5 MHz. Project Saturn Global is to be the world's first all educational24 hour international satellite radio network. Regular broadcasts toNorth America were due to begin in January, using the Galaxy 5satellite, transponder 7, audio subcarrier 5.80 MHz. Programs willoriginate from Los Angeles at 16:00 hrs daily. Worldwide coverage is planned for April, 1993. The dailyprogramming is drawn from an audio library of more than 2000 programs,aimed at all ages, with subjects ranging from fairy tales to computertechnology. Programs are to be repeated every eight hours toaccommodate global time zones, and will include hourly educationalnews. The World Radio Network, which carries programs from NPR and manyinternational broadcasters over an Astra transponder to Europe, isstarting a similar multi)lingual service to North America. The servicewill be on an audio subcarrier of SCOLA on ASC)1, transponder 23.Broadcasts are to officially begin on January 1, 1994, but testtransmissions may start on December 15, 1993. Radio Sweden will beamong the international broadcasters relayed to North America. There are several digital satellite radio services in the UnitedStates: Digital Cable Radio transmits to American and Mexican subscribersand cable systems on Satcom C3, transponder 9. Launched in May, 1990,DCR was the first digital cable audio service marketed in the UnitedStates. DCR currently provides 28 CD)quality radio channels. On May 1stthis is increasing to 56. DCR says that additional music, information,news, talk and foreign language channels are set to be introduced,along side additional commercial formats (background music) forbusiness users. DCR hopes to provide 250 channels within a few years. AA DCR plans to expand into Canada and is currently seekingregulatory approval. DCR has long)term plans to launch the service inEurope, the Far East and parts of Latin America. Another service called Digital Music Express, or DMX, is availableto more than 10 million cable subscribers in the United States. Itoffers themed channels of various types of music without the need forDJs, jingles, or commercials. The DMX decoder, manufactured byScientific Atlanta, displays information on the music being played,such as the name of the artist, song and album title, composer, andchart position. International Cablecasting Technologies Inc. has signed a USD 20million contract with Spar Communications Group for the supply ofdigital audio receivers that will receive DMX's coming 120 channelservice by DBS satellite. DMX initially started with a 30 channel offering, but the companyis in the middle of an aggressive service and geographical expansionprogramme. With the new receivers, customers can tune into 120 20KhzCD-quality music channels at the touch of a button. The new offeringwill be initially restricted to the North American marketplace, and itwill enable the company to expand its business music offering, DMX forBusiness, which provides commercial-free, DJ-free music to stores,offices and factories.\v\ A 75 cm antenna will be used to receive broadcasts throughout theUSA and North America from the SBS-5 satellite. Each receiver is fullyaddressable, enabling special broadcasts to be sent to subscribers. There is also the capability to offer generic corporate programming broadcasts on under-utilised channels, switching in receivers asrequired. The second system of sending audio by satellite is SCPC (singlechannel per carrier). This involves dividing up an entire transponderinto individual non)video channels. There is both FM and single sideband (SSB) SCPC. Most of the high quality audio (and data) servicestoday use FM/SCPC. It is typically used for network relays. The American non)commercial radio network National Public Radiohas 16 audio channels on Galaxy 6, on transponders 2, 3, and 4 (whichare used for many other SCPC services as well, such as NPR's rival,American Public Radio. The BBC World Service is carried for some 8hours a day on an APR SCPC channel. There are special SCPC receivers, but SCPC can be monitored with asatellite)TV receiver and a continuous coverage scanner or VHF)UHFcommunications receiver, although the quality may be less than with adedicated SCPC receiver. Some (older) TVRO receivers have intermediateor downblock frequencies at 70 or 134 MHz. If this signal is available,a scanner or VHF)UHF receiver can be used to monitor the frequencies 18MHz to either side of these channels on appropriate transponders. On more modern TVRO set)ups, a splitter can be installed in thecable from the LNB to the satellite receiver, and the extra output canbe fed through a DC block to an FM scanner that covers the LNB's 950*1450 MHz range. Universal Electronics has developed the first consumer)priced SCPCdecoder, which can be attached easily to an ordinary satellitereceiver. Universal sells the SCPC)100 for USD 400, plus shipping. Moredetails from: Universal Radio, 6830 Americana Parkway, Reynoldsburg,Ohio, 43068, USA. SSB/SCPC includes many digital services offering news or businessinformation. Fine tuning will reveal many radioteletype (RTTY) signalswhich can be monitored with the proper RTTY interface. Many satellites carry telephone services, One single transpondercan hold 9000 telephone channels. These services can be monitored byhooking an SSB communications receiver to the 0)4.2 MHz output of aTVRO receiver, if this is available. The telephone services, onsatellites such as Satcom 5 and Galaxy 2, can usually be found bytuning the SSB receiver between 3720 and 4180 MHz. Radio Netherlands is using PanAmSat (PAS)1) to broadcast to LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, but this is a digital audio signal (64 kb/sin a 10 kHz audio channel). This Ku)band signal is downlinked inFlorida and uplinked on C)band to receiving stations in the Caribbean. IBM, NBC, and a company called NuMedia are to test a system of"news on demand" delivered via satellite. The system, which would becalled NBC Desktop News, would allow people to scan lists of headlinesusing personal computers and recall the stories that interest them. Itinvolves text, graphics, video and sound extracts in a multimedia PC\v\system. AA AA \\ North American DBS Most North American satellite television has been in the C)Band,which is really intended for professional relays and not for homeviewing. Many American TVRO enthusiasts have added extra low noiseblock amplifiers for Ku)Band, however. The NBC network, for example,has stopped using C)Band, and can be found only in the Ku)Band, on theK)2 satellite. There are also several plans for European)style direct broadcastsatellites (DBS) to North America, using the Ku)band. The firstproposals came in early 1990, when General Electric announced a jointventure with 9 major cable operators to deliver 10 channels ofprogramming using medium power in the Ku)band. The service, called PrimeStar, began in November, 1990, using theK)1 satellite stationed at 85 degrees West. It now uses 12 transponderson the satellite. Three of the channels are pay per view, the othersso)called Super Stations, and include the Family Channel, the NashvilleNetwork, and Japan's NHK. Other services include PrimeAudio (digital audio and radio) and a range of news services delivered as data to the desktop including X*Press X*Change and X*Press X*Press Executive, provided by X*Press Corp. General Instrument Corp. has signed an agreement with Primestar to upgrade the DBS service with GI's DigiCipher digital video compression technology for all channels carried on the satellite. Up to 70 channels may be included by the end of 1994. Primestar Partners is a joint venture between many US cable companies, including TCI, Time Warner, Cox and Comcast, and GE American Communications. Hughes Communications and United States Satellite Broadcasting arestarting a DBS system, called DirecTV. Two satellites would be able tocarry up to 150 channels, including regular cable channels,pay-per-view networks, and high definition television services. The first DirecTV satellite, DBS)1, was launched from FrenchGuiana on December 17, 1993. Tests will begin in January, 1994 andreceiving equipment going on sale in April. A second satellite will belaunched in June, 1994. There will be separate services from USSB andHughes' DirecTV. Together they will offer 100 subscription channels and50 more pay)per)view channels, using digital compression techniques. Both satellites will be located at 101 degrees West, and willdeliver news, sports, movies, and other programming to American homesequipped with 45 cm (18 inch) antennas. Receiving systems will cost USD700 plus installation. The cost of subscribing to 100 channels will bearound USD 50 a month. Among the broadcasters lined up for DirecTV are several channelsfrom Turner Broadcasting: CNN International, CNN, Headline News, TNT,Cartoon Network, Superstation TBS, and Turner Classic Movies. Otherbroadcasters signed up include the USA Network, the Sci)Fi Channel, theNashville Network, Country Music Television, Discovery, the LearningChannel, E! Entertainment, the Family Channel, Courtroom TelevisionNetwork, The Weather Channel, Playboy TV, The Golf Channel and TheTravel Channel. \v\ There are pay)per)view agreements with Paramount, Sony, MGM,Disney, and Columbia Tristar. Around 50 PPV films will be carried onthe 150 channel system once launched. USSB has announced that their programming lineup contains 14premium feeds (HBO 1, 2, and 3, Cinemax 1 and 2, and Showtime 1 and 2,East and West in all cases) and six or seven basic channels (MTV, VH)1,Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, E! Entertainment, All News Channel). The Federal Communications Commission has awarded direct broadcast satellite orbital slot assignments and channel frequencies to twocompanies called Direct Broadcasting Satellite Corporation andDirectsat. DSBC has been assigned 11 transponders at both the 61.5degrees and 175 degrees West orbital slots, with DSAT receiving 10transponders at 119 degrees West, one at 110 degrees West and 11 at 175 degrees West. Final launch approval is to be granted by the FCC byMarch, 1994. The FCC hopes competition from DirecTV and other DBS ventures willprovide much)needed rivalry for cable systems, nearly all of whichoperate as local monopolies. The cable companies are concerned aboutthe potential competition. There are fears of a different kind inCanada, where the intrusion of 150 channels of south)of)the)bordercultural imperialism has led to DirecTV being dubbed "The Death Star",referring to the "Star Wars" films. There will be two Canadian channelson DirecTV, however. The CBC is providing an international version ofits Newsworld service, while the privately)owned Power Broadcastingwill provide the Northstar Channel, a compilation of the best ofCanadian drama, arts, and entertainment. Other observers have asked what people will do with 150 or 500channels. Large chunks, of course, will be allocated to pay)per)viewblockbuster movies, with the same film starting every 20 or 30 minutesso viewers will never have to wait longer than that. One DBS expert haspointed to the proliferation of magazines on store racks, and suggestedthat the magazine racks of the future will be satellites offeringscores, or even hundreds, of narrow channels appealing to variousinterests. There are already cable systems in the United Statesoffering 500 video channels. The cable giant TCI has ordered two Tempo DBS satellites, to belaunched in June and October 1996. Each will feature 32 high)poweredtransponders at 107 watts, switchable to 16 transponders at 200+ watts. \Z\ II. Latin America and the Caribbean Latin American signals can be found on a number of satellites,such as Intelsats K, 601, and 513. There are extensive relays fromEurope as well on Panamsat and more planned on Hispasat. Many LatinAmerican services from North America are on Spacenet 2 (the women'schannel GEMS TV on transponder 2, Canal SUR on transponder 4, and Canalde Noticias NBC on transponder 5), and Galaxy 4 (Telemundo ontransponders 8 and 14). Mexico's Galavision is on Galaxy 1 transponder 20, and Univisionon transponder 6. Canal SUR (Sistema Unida de Retransmision) is a coded satelliteservice in Spanish and Portuguese from Latin America to North America.It includes broadcasts from stations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile,Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. There are two new services to Spanish)speaking people in theUnited States, both using the DigiCipher digital compression system. MTV started its MTV Latino service in October, 1993 from Miami.Initially MTV Latino is reaching 1.9 million homes in 10 Latin Americancountries and some parts of the United States, but hopes to eventuallyreach 3 to 5 million homes. MTV Latino is on the Satcom C3 satellite.MTV hopes its sister channels, VH)1 and Nickelodeon, will follow intoLatin America. The American pay)film channel Home Box Office has also launched aSpanish)language version of its regular schedule of movies, originalprogramming, and sports to major Hispanic markets in the United States."HBO en Espanol" will be available soon in San Francisco, Houston,Albuquerque, El Paso, and San Diego. When consumer DigiCipher receivers become available in mid to late1994, it is expected that these and other DigiCipher services will besold to home dish owners. The Caribbean Satellite Network went on the air in December, 1992,appropriately following the 500th anniversary of the arrival ofChristopher Columbus in that part of the world. Signals are uplinkedfrom Miami to the Galaxy 3 satellite, transponder 14. Programingconcentrates on music, but there will also be documentaries based onlife in the Caribbean, news, and situation comedies. European relaysare also planned. Turner Television's Cartoon Network began broadcasts in May toLatin America, transmitting to 300,000 subscribers mainly in Argentina.The channel will eventually have three audio subcarriers for English,Spanish, and Portuguese. CNN International and TNT Latin Americabroadcast coded on Spacenet 3 transponder 16. Fox has recently launched a small cable channel to South America. Brazil has its own satellite, Brasilsat, which was launched in1986 and is located at 70 degrees West. This C)band only satellitecarries a variety of Brazilian stations, all in M)PAL. Mexico's two Morales satellites are listed above. Mexico isfollowing up with two new communications satellites called Solidaridad,built by Hughes. Besides Mexico, they will have spot beams to cover the\v\southern United States, the Caribbean, and South America. The newsatellites will have three times the capacity of the two Morelossatellites. Solidaridad)1 was launched on November 19, 1993, and willbe placed at 109 degrees West. Solidaridad)2 is scheduled for launch in1994. Radiotelevision Espanola's Canal Iberoamericano Television willuse Spain's Hispasat satellite to reach Latin America. 18 hours a dayof broadcasts from Valencia are to begin by the end of this year. BBC World Service Television, Reuters, and Telemundo arenegotiating on creating a 24 hour Spanish)language news service forLatin America, Spain, and the United States. Telemundo currentlyoperates a Spanish language channel on the Spacenet 2 satellite whichby satellite and cable reaches 85 percent of the Hispanic households inthe United States. The new channel would broadcast from Miami bysatellite and cable, and would start later this year. Grupo Televisa and the the largest cable operator in the US, TCI,have agreed to form a joint venture to provide cable, pay)TV, andmulti)channel television to Mexico and other Latin American countries. AA Two major Christian shortwave broadcasters, HCJB in Ecuador, andTrans World Radio, have announced they are launching a 24 hour LatinAmerican satellite radio network. The target date was November 20, 1993and they'll be using digital technology to reach a network of affiliatestations from the US)Mexican border to the southern tip of Chile. \<\ III. Europe and Astra The Soviet Union's Ghorizont was the first TV satellite overEurope. While, the Ghorizont satellites operate mainly in the C)Band,Western European satellites use several sections of the Ku)Band fordifferent purposes. The Ku1)Band 10.9)11.75 GHz is, like the AmericanC)Band, intended for professional relays and not for home viewing. Homereception was originally intended for the Ku2 (DBS) Band 11.75)12.5GHz. The Ku3)Band 12.5)12.75 GHz, or Telecom Band, is also not intendedfor home viewing. The first Western European satellites were from Eutelsat, which ismade up of the PTTs and Telecom administrations of Western Europeancountries. The intention was that individual countries would offer homeviewing to their own residents over high)powered DBS satellitesoffering only a few channels. Astra, operated by Luxembourg's SES, haschanged all that. Because Astra's several medium)powered satellites are at the samespot in the sky, viewers with relatively small fixed antennas (60)90cm) can tune into all available channels. Here are the channels on Astra 1A, 1B, and 1C (as of Jan., 1994): Channel Transponder Frequency Language 1 RTL 2 11.214 GHz German 2 RTL Plus 11.229 German 3 TV3 Sweden (D2)MAC) 11.244 English/Swedish 4 Eurosport 11.258 English/German/Dutch 5 Vox 11.273 English/German 6 SAT 1 11.288 German 7 TV1000 (D2)MAC) 11.303 Swedish/English (pay) 8 Sky One 11.317 English (pay channel) 9 Teleclub 11.332 German (pay channel) 10 3)SAT 11.347 German 11 FilmNet+ (to Scandinavia) 11.362 English (pay channel) 12 Sky News 11.377 English 13 RTL 4 11.391 Dutch 14 Pro 7 11.406 German (partly pay) 15 MTV Europe (northern Eur.) 11.421 English 16 Sky Movies Plus 11.435 English (pay channel) 17 Premiere 11.464 German (pay channel) 18 The Movie Channel 11.479 English (pay channel) 19 ARD 11.493 German 20 Sky Sports 11.509 English (pay) 21 DSF (Sports) 11.523 German 22 MTV Europe (southern Eur.) 11.538 English 23 UK Gold 11.553 English (free)coded) 24 JSTV 11.567 Japanese 25 N3 11.582 German 26 Sky Gold/TV Asia 11.597 English/Hindi (pay) 27 TV3 Denmark (D2)MAC) 11.611 Danish 28 CNN International 11.626 English 29 n)tv (News) 11.641 German 30 Cinemania 11.656 Spanish (pay channel) 31 TV3 Norway (D2)MAC) 11.670 English/Norwegian 32 Documania 11.685 Spanish (pay channel) 33 ZDF 10.964 German 34 UK Living 10.979 English (pay channel)\v\ 35 Children's/Family Channel 10.994 English (pay) 36 Sogecable 11.009 Spanish (pay channel) 37 Cartoon Network/TNT 11.023 Eng/French/Swed/Nor. 38 QVC (Shopping) 11.038 English (pay) 39 West 3 11.053 German 40 Sogecable 11.068 Spanish (pay channel) 41 Discovery/Country Music TV 11.082 English (pay) 42 Bravo/Adult Channel 11.097 English (pay) 43 MDR 11.112 German 44 Galavision 11.127 Spanish (Mexico) 45 BFS 3 11.186 German 46 Nickelodeon 11.156 English (pay channel) 47 Sky Sports 2 11.171 coming (pay) 48 SWF 3 11.186 German 63 FilmNet Movies 10.921 English (pay channel) 64 RTL 5 10.936 Dutch (pay channel) Odd)numbered transponders carry horizontal polarization, while theeven transponders are vertically polarized. All channels are PAL unlessD2)MAC is indicated. Pay channels use a variety of scrambling systems,although the emerging standards seem to be Videocrypt for PAL channelsand Eurocrypt M for D2)MAC. The Sogecable Spanish transponders (30, 32,36, and 40) use Nagravision. Until Sky Sports 2 comes on the air, transponder 47 will be usedto provide Astra technical information. First reports said Sky Sports 2would begin operation on February 1, 1994, but now it is said thatBritish Sky Broadcasting could wait for improved technology to launchthe channel on a pay)per)view basis. China News Europe uses transponder 35 during the night for uncodedbroadcasts from the Far East, in parallel with Eutelsat II)F1. Astra uses the Ku1)Band for medium)powered signals, with 16)18channels per satellite. Astra 1A, 1B, and 1C are currently in orbit at19.2 degrees East. Astra 1A and 1B carry mono channel sound on 6.50MHz, with many stations carrying stereo as well on 7.02/7.20. MostAstra 1C outlets have stereo)only TV sound on 7.02/7.20. Astra 1Ccarries two transponders, 63 and 64, which cannot be received onordinary receivers, although LNBs are being produced that will coverthese frequencies. They are part of the channel plan for latersatellites, using 10.7 to 10.95 GHz, and intended for cable systemsrather than home viewers. British Sky Broadcasting, the company formed by the merger of SkyTelevision and British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990, is a major userof the Astra satellites. BSkyB's channels are Sky News, theentertainment channel Sky One, Sky Movies Plus, the Movie Channel, SkyMovies Gold, and Sky Sports. Sky Sports 2 is planned for transponder47. Sky News is uncoded, while the other channels are videocryptencoded. A number of other channels are included in BSkyB's Multi*Channels Package: Discovery, Bravo, UK Gold, UK Living, CMT, QVC,Children's Channel, Family Channel, and Nickelodeon. FilmNet is offering viewers in the Netherlands and Belgium thechance to subscribe to a five-channel package of Astra channels,scrambled in Videocrypt. The package, called "MultiChoice", willconsist initially of three "basic" channels and two premium channels.Discovery, The Children's Channel and Country Music Television will\v\form the basic package, with The Adult Channel and FilmNet forming thetwo premium channels. It is hoped that such channels as Nickelodeon,Nick)at)Nite, TV Asia, and RTL)5 may join the package. FilmNet will utilise its out-of-band Astra transponder (10.920GHz) for "FilmNet: The Complete Movie Channel" as part of the package. While the basic channels and The Adult Channel will continue using the conventional flavor of UK Videocrypt, FilmNet will broadcast inVideocrypt Europe, also known as Videocrypt 2. Videocrypt 2 receiversare compatible with existing Videocrypt broadcasts, although it isunderstood that Videocrypt 2 transmissions will not be decoded by existing (UK type) Videocrypt decoders, even with the correctsmartcard. By early 1994, the package is to be extended to Portugal, andeventually will be available to other European countries, including theCzech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Scandinavia. Larger Europeancountries such as Germany and France are expected to be catered for bythe soon-to-be-announced Sky/Pro7 deal. Rumors suggest that Sky couldsoon begin selling its channels, including Movies and Sports, on aEurope-wide basis. Nickelodeon is owned by MTV's parent, Viacom. The Nick)at)Niteservice is due to share the transponder, beginning next year. MTV'smusic channel for somewhat older audiences, VH)1 is expected to jointhe Multi)Channels package in 1994, probably taking over MTV'stransponder 15. At that time, both MTV and VH)1 will probably encrypt. Eurosport has ceased providing a French audio soundtrack on itsAstra and Eutelsat service. Viewers wishing to watch in French willneed to subscribe to the Canal Plus package to receive "TV Sport", theFrench version of Eurosport. Landmark Communications Inc, the US media conglomerate which ownsThe Weather Channel and The Travel Channel, has confirmed that it is tolaunch The Travel Channel in Europe in early 1994. The developmentplans include Britain, the Benelux, and Scandinavia." There are reportsThe Travel Channel may use Astra transponder 24 during the day andearly evening, before JSTV takes over the channel. Other Astra hopeful is the Afro)Caribbean Satellite Channel, whichwants to broadcast for 6 hours nightly after midnight, carrying films,sports, general entertainment and news. This channel hopes toeventually reach the emerging African cable market. There are a number of other Astra hopefuls, but the threesatellites are now completely filled. Now that NBC has bought andrevamped Super Channels, a move to Astra would be welcomed by many.There are, however, reports that some current broadcasters could bedeparting from the high)cost Astra transponders. Eurosport may leaveAstra to rely solely on Eutelsat, while the German channel Vox is indanger of closing due to low viewership. The 4 Scansat channels, theTV3 transmissions to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and TV1000, mightleave Astra in favor of the Swedish Space Corporation's new Siriussatellite (the former Marco Polo 1), to be positioned together withTele)X at 5 degrees East. Astra 1D, with a further 18 channels, is due for launch in thethird quarter of 1994. It will carry 18 more transponders in the FixedSatellite Service range. The 1D transponders and frequencies are:\v\ 49 10.714 GHz 57 10.832 50 10.729 58 10.847 51 10.744 59 10.852 52 10.758 60 10.876 53 10.773 61 10.891 54 10.788 62 10.906 55 10.803 63 10.921 (also on Astra 1C) 56 10.817 64 10.935 (also on Astra 1C) As with the other Astra satellites, odd)numbered transponders havehorizontal polarization, while even transponders have verticalpolarization. Astra 1D will also carry digital programming in the BSS band ontransponders 65 to 82 between 11.720 and 12.051 GHz. Thames Television has taken options on two transponders on Astra1D. Thames hopes to launch another two themed channels on these transponders, although it has not yet announced any details. Germany's ZDF has also announced it has booked a transponder on Astra 1D. TheChinese Channel, with programming aimed at the Chinese community inEurope, hopes to offer a subscription service over Astra 1D. Astra 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D together will provide 64 channels of DTH(direct to home) programming to viewers in Europe. Astra 1E is to be launched early in 1995 and will carry 18transponders with 85 watts each (compared to 45 watts on Astra 1A). Thesimilar Astra 1F is to be launched in 1996. Astra 1E and 1F willprovide 40 transponders for digital broadcasting services. 1E willoperate in the 11.7 to 12.1 GHz range, while 1F will cover between 12.1and 12.5 GHz. The use of digital compression techniques will allow thetransmission of eight to ten channels per transponder, and British SkyBroadcasting is reported to be planning to use several to transmit pay*per)view films, where a film would be starting every 20 minutes. Other European Ku1)Band satellites include: Intelsat 602 63 degrees East Italy/Iran Intelsat 604 60 degrees 4 Turkish transponders Statsionar 5 53 degrees EBU Moscow DFS 2 Kopernikus 28.5 degrees German broadcasters DFS 3 Kopernikus 23.5 degrees German transponders Eutelsat I)F5 21.5 degrees feeds Eutelsat II)F3 16 degrees Middle Eastern, Eastern Europe Eutelsat II)F1 13 degrees many European programs Eutelsat II)F2 10 degrees Italian, Iberian, Turkish Eutelsat II)F4 7 degrees Turkish/Greek/EBU Intelsat 512 1 degree West Norwegian channels/Israel Statsionar 11 11 degrees WTN Moscow Statsionar 4 14 degrees Reuters TV Intelsat 515 18 degrees Norwegian channels Intelsat K 21.5 degrees trans)Atlantic feeds Intelsat 601 27.5 degrees European (BBC, CMT, Wire TV) Intelsat 603 34.5 degrees EBU Sarajevo PAS 1 45 degrees mostly feeds (PAL and NTSC) \v\ Eutelsat The Eutelsat II satellites are higher)powered than theirpredecessors, and approach Astra in strength. The most interestingEutelsat is II)F1 at 13 degrees East, which includes the followingtransponders: Eurosport 10.970 GHz Sports Super Channel 10.987 Radio: BBC World Service Der Kabelkanal 11.052 D2)MAC, German Viva 11.006 German music videos TV5 Europe 11.080 French RTL 2 11.095 German Deutsche W/World N 11.161 Radio: DW, VOA TRT 11.181 Turkish MBC 11.554 Arabic, Radio: Vatican Euronews 11.575 Multi)lingual sound interStar 11.596 Turkish Emirates Dubai TV 11.638 Arabic, some English MTV Europe 11.658 FilmNet (Holland) 11.678 Digital sound VisEurope 12.521 coded newsfeeds Maxat 12.560 newsfeeds France Telecom 12.585 HD)MAC tests Germany's international radio broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, hastaken over the facilities of the Berlin)based American TV station RIAS,and is broadcasting on Eutelsat II)F1 with three two hour blocks after16:00 hrs European time on 11.161 GHz. The first 90 minutes of eachblock is in German, followed by 30 minutes in English. There are alsoSpanish programs. Managing Director Dieter Weirich announced at theInternationale Funkaustellung in Berlin on August 30, 1993 thatDeutsche Welle TV will be expanding to 24 hour a day service from 1994.However, the expansion from 16 hours at present would only be possibleif ARD and ZDF agree to work together. The American government's World Net uses this same transponder at 10:00)15:30 hrs European time daily. The transponder also carriesradio programs from both Deutsche Welle and VOA Europe. It's hard tosay what will happen to World Net if Deutsche Welle goes to 24 hours.World Net was kicked off the French TV5 transponder for exactly thesame reason. The European Broadcasting Union's all)news station, Euronews, wenton the air at 14:00 hrs on January 1, 1993 from Eutelsat II)F1 at11.575 GHz. There are no presenters, instead the news footage isaccompanied by soundtracks in five languages on various audiosubcarriers: German on 6.65 Mhz, English on 7.02, French on 7.20,Spanish on 7.38, Italian on 7.56, (and probably Arabic on 7.74) MHz. The American TV network NBC has bought Super Channel, which wasstarted as a "Best of British TV" channel (as UK Gold later became),but was forced to abandon this because of opposition from the BritishActors' Union. A controlling interest was bought by an Italian musicvideo company, and Super Channel has carried an unfocused mix of musicvideos, B movies, and news programs. NBC has cut back on the videos,and has added such programs as the "Today Show", the "NBC Nightly\v\News", "The Tonight Show", and other news programs from NBC and itsfinancial channel CNBC. Super Channel is carrying three hours of Far Eastern programmingevery night, at 2:00)5:00 AM European time. Called Europe)ChinaSatellite TV, as well as China News Europe, this brings togetherreports from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, in English, Cantonese, andMandarin. The channel hopes to move to Astra, initially keeping thesame broadcast hours and times, and sharing with a UK Astra channel -possibly The Family Channel or UK Living. The channel will will alsothen change its name to "Chinese News and Entertainment". Emirates Dubai TV is mostly in Arabic, but there are Englishnewscasts at 15:00 and 18:00 hrs British time. It uses half the formerFilmnet transponder, and there are reports the other half, 11.678 GHz,may be used to launch a European version of the Sci Fi Channel in early1994. Turning to the other Eutelsats: II)F3 (16 degrees East) carries largely programs from the MiddleEast and Eastern Europe. Egypt's ESC is on 11.178 GHz, and thatcountry's new foreign language channel, Nile TV International, has beentesting with extremely low power on 11.146 GHz. Other Middle Easternbroadcasters are RTV Marocaine on 10.970, Turkey's TGRT on 11.090 andHBB on 11.615, and TV7 Tunisie on 11.658. Telepace from Rome, whichcarries daily programming from the Vatican, is on 11.575 GHz. Albania'sTV Shqiptar uses this transponder between 17:30 and 20:30 hrs Britishtime. Eastern European broadcasters include Croatia's HTV on 10.986 GHz(shared with Eurostep), Polonia TV on 11.080, Hungary's Duna TV on11.596, and Polsat on 11.675. Eutelsat II)F2 (10 degrees East) is a largely "Latin" orMediterranean satellite. Spain's TVE is at 11.149 GHz. Italy's RAI hastwo transponders (10.972 and 11.095). The Portuguese RTP Internationalservice is at 11.658 GHz. RTP also transmits to Africa on Ghorizont 12at 40 degrees East, at 3.925 MHz. There are three private Turkishstations: A)TV on 10.986, Show TV on 11.575, and interStar on 11.617.The American AFRTS uses the B)MAC system for broadcasts on 11.175. Eutelsat II)F4 (7 degrees East) has Greece's ET1 on 11.174 GHz andPIK from Cyprus at 11.141, Turkey's Kanal 6 at 11.162 and a new serviceare on 11.578, with Serbia's RTS Sat Beograd at 11.536 GHz. There arealso EBU feeds using the sound)in)synch system on a number oftransponders. Greece's ERT has announced the establishment of a satellitechannel called ERT International. As it is to broadcast to Europe,North Africa, and the Middle East, it will probably use Eutelsat. The venerable Eutelsat I)F1 is being redeployed to improvecoverage of Russia and the CIS. Both 36 and 50 degrees East have beenmentioned as new locations. But Eutelsat II)F5 is due to be launchedsoon, and is to be located at 36 degrees East. Eutelsat II-F6 is to be co-located with Eutelsat II-F1 at 13degrees east, now dubbed the "Hot Bird" position. The satellite, due tobe launched in the second half of 1994, will be able to relay 16\v\additional high)powered television channels. Eutelsat is already takingbookings on the satellite. According to a statement issued by Eutelsat,in order to guarantee that the 13 degrees east position "can bereinforced as Europe's principal slot for television for cable anddirect)to)home reception, the new satellite will only carryentertainment services at prime)time (17:00-01:00 CET)." Eutelsat plans a third satellite for 13 degrees east, called "HotBird Plus". It would be launched in early 1996, with either 14 or 20110 watt transponders. This would mean reception in most of Europe with40 cm antennas. "Hot Bird Plus" will enable Eutelsat to meet demandsfor digital television, offering such future options as interactivetelevision, video)on)demand, pay)per)view, etc. The problem for Eutelsat is "too little too late". Next year itwill have 29 transponders at 13 degrees East. Today, Astra has 50 atits position, and by the time the first "Hot Bird" launches, Astra willalready have the equivalent of "Hot Bird Plus" in orbit, the Astra 1Dsatellite, which will be followed in 1995 by Astra 1E, and thefollowing year by Astra 1F. Eutelsat's only chance is that it may be able to serve EasternEurope better than Astra, and there might be a greater demand forsatellite capacity than Astra can meet. Also, Eutelsat's transpondershave a wider bandwidth (36 MHz) than Astra (25 MHz). This means moredigital channels can be squeezed in. Intelsat Another interesting satellite (which may be virtually vacated bythe end of the year) is Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West. This hascarried CNN, Discovery, Bravo, and the Children's Channel, all of whichhave moved to Astra. What's left are broadcasts from the BritishParliament (11.095 GHz), Country Music Television Europe (24 hours on11.509, using a weak half transponder), the shopping centerentertainment channel Wire TV (coded) and The Learning Channel(uncoded) sharing a transponder (11.505), Sweden's D2)MAC coded FilmMax(11.665), the SAVE coded British forces SSVC (11.563), and BBC WorldService Television (10.995). In January, 1993 BBC World Service Television switched to D2)MAC,encoded in Eurocrypt M. Subscriptions are available from TV Extra inMotala, Sweden, at telephone number +46)141)355)12. The system uses thesame smartcards as Filmnet, and in Scandinavia and the Benelux, Filmnetis handling subscriptions. Intelsat 603 was launched in 1990, but a mistake put it into auseless orbit. In May, 1992 the American space shuttle Endeavoursuccessfully captured the satellite and relaunched it into its properorbit (34.5 degrees West). This carries C)band feeds to Greenland andthe Canary Islands. EBU feeds from Sarajevo are on 11.475 GHz. Intelsat)K at 21.5 degrees West is intended to relay signalsacross the Atlantic. Intelsat's first Ku)band only satellite, itcarries 32 high)powered transponders, which can be directed to NorthAmerica (as far as the Midwest), Europe (as far east as Greece), andselected parts of South America. All beams use 11.45-11.7 GHz, while11.7-11.95 GHz is also used to the Americas, and 12.5-12.75 GHz toEurope. \v\ Feeds from North America to Europe can be found on 11.531, 11.558,11.593, 11.652, and 11.681 GHz, using both horizontal and verticalpolarization. The CBS "This Morning" program, for rebroadcast by SkyNews, is carried weekdays 12:50)14:00 hrs European time on 11.558vertical. When NBC took over Super Channel, relays of many shows,including the "The Today Show" and programming from CNBC could be foundon 11.616 GHz, although this has recently disappeared. PanAmSat Alpha Lyracom, now known as Panamsat, has taken on the massiveIntelsat, seeking to provide an alternative international satelliteorganization. PAS)1, launched in 1988, is located at 45 degrees West,carries the American Galavision to Europe, along with several channelsfor newsfeeds. PAS)2, to be launched in May, 1994, will be placed above thePacific. PAS)3, to be launched in late 1994, will complement PAS)1 from43.5 degrees, reaching farther into Scandinavia and the Middle East.Other parts of the world are to be covered by PAS)4 and 5 above thePAS)4 will be placed over the Indian Ocean at 72 degrees East in March,1995. M)Net and the South African Broadcasting Corporation have alreadybooked transponders. Eastern European Satellites A Soviet Ghorizont was the first television satellite over Europe.However, the Soviets concentrated on the C)band, while Europeansatellite broadcasting has used the Ku)band. But there are in fact Ku*band transponders on the Ghorizont (or Statsionar) satellites used bythe former Soviet Union. Each of the Ghorizonts over Europe, at 53degrees East, 14 degrees West and 11 degrees West, has a transponder at11.525 GHz. The Ghorizont at 53 degrees East carries EBU feeds, 14degrees carries Reuters TV (formerly Visnews), while 11 degrees hasWTN. The Russian satellite ZSSRD at 16 degrees West carries two veryinteresting Ku)band transponders, using to relay signals from the MIRspace station. Data information is carried at 11.375 GHz, which canoften be seen as flashing lines on the screen. More interesting is thetransponder at 10.835 GHz, which carries video from MIR in clear SECAM.Unfortunately this frequency is slightly below that covered by mostsatellite receivers. MIR video has also been reported from the Ghorizont at 11 degreesWest on 11.525 GHz. While the dishes used for Ku)band monitoring in Europe aregenerally too small for C)band reception, the introduction of newsensitive C)band LNBs has made it possible to receive the very strongRussian C)band signals using dishes as small as 1.5 meters. The Russiansignals on 3.675 GHz at 40.5 degrees East and 14 degrees West areperhaps one hundred times stronger than other C)band signals in Europe. Molniya satellites use a highly elliptical orbit that makes itpossible to reach high latitudes out)of)reach of geostationarysatellites (which would be too low on the horizon). These carry\v\satellite broadcast television, relaying Double II (the East Siberianversion of the second TV program) on 3.875 GHz. The first of Russia's new Ekspress satellites, which will replacethe current Ghorizonts, is to be in orbit at the end of the year. Thesatellites will better be able to maintain the correct inclination inorbit, and will carry 24 channels, as well as four back)uptransponders. Antenna Hungaria, the Hungarian telecommunications company, saysthat it plans to launch a 16-channel European satellite called"Domestic" in 1996, offering Eastern Europe's first commercialsatellite service. Telecom Band There are 8 European satellites currently using the 12.5)12.75 GHzTelecom band: DFS Kopernikus 2 28.5 degrees Germany DFS Kopernikus 3 23.5 degrees Germany Eutelsat II)F3 16 degrees European Eutelsat II)F1 13 degrees European Eutelsat II)F2 10 degrees European Telecom 1C 3 degrees France Telecom 2B 5 degrees West France Telecom 2A 8 degrees France To Astra's disappointment, French TV broadcasters have not bookedany Astra channels. Instead, France is using its own Telecom 2Asatellite, at 8 degrees West, for direct to home broadcasting. TheFrench government having surrendered its demand for D2)MAC programming,eleven channels are now using Telecom 2A. Eight are in coded SECAM, andthree in widescreen D2)MAC. The SECAM channels are coded in Nagravision: MCM on 12.543 GHz,Paris 1:ere on 12.564, Planete Cable on 12.585, Cine Cinefil on 12.626,Canal Plus on 12.648, Cine Cinemas on 12.666, Eurosport France on12.710, and Canal Jimmy on 12.732 GHz. France 2 is broadcasting in D2*MAC on 12.606 GHz. Widescreen D2)MAC with Eurocrypt is being used byCanal Plus on 12.522, Cine Cinefil on 12.564, and Cine Cinemas on12.689 GHz. Telecom 2B (5 degrees West) carries the following uncoded channelsin SECAM: M6 (12.522), France 2 (12.564), Arte (12.606), Monte CarloTMC (12.658), and TF1 (12.689). Cine Cinemas on 12.669 GHz usesEurocrypt and D2)MAC. Luxembourg's RTL Television began relays of itsFrench service in October, 1993 on 12.732 GHz. Telecom 1C has now been moved to 3 degrees East, where it is usedfor feeds in PAL, D2)MAC, and B)MAC. France's TF1 is to launch a satellite and cable news channelduring the first half of 1994. Germany's DFS Kopernikus 3 has taken over from Kopernikus 1 at23.5 degrees East. Kopernikus 1 has moved to 33.5 degrees East.Kopernikus 2 is operating from 28.5 degrees East. \v\ European DBS Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS) are intended to beam a few (2)5)high)powered signals directly to homes in a single country. Viewersrequire dish antennas less than 30 cm in diameter. A number of DBSsatellites have been orbited above Europe: Tele)X 5 degrees East Sweden Thor 0.8 degrees West Norway Olympus 18.8 degrees Western Europe (gone) TDF)1 and TDF)2 19 degrees France TV)SAT 2 19.2 degrees Germany Hispasat 1A and 1B 30 degrees Spain Marco Polo 1 31 degrees Britain (for sale) Astra's hopes to attract Spanish customers are threatened bySpain's two Hispasat direct broadcast satellites. Hispasat 1A waslaunched on September 10, 1992 and carries 5 DBS channels and 18transponders in other parts of the Ku)band. Most will be directedtowards Spain and the Canary Islands, but two will be aimed at theAmericas. TVE International is in the clear on 12.160 GHz, with feeds andsports on 12.588. Tele 5 is coded in Nagravision on 12.631 GHz. Thethree Spanish radio stations Antena Tres, Ole, and Serie Oro are alsoon Hispasat. This satellite, however, has antenna problems, displacing thefootprint towards the north, which hopefully will be rectified nowfollowing the launch of Hispasat 1B on July 22, 1993. Five newtelevision channels are to begin broadcasts. The first of these are togo on the air in December, a cultural channel called Canal Clasico andTeleporte with exclusively sports programs, to be operated RTVE in theclear. Later they will be joined by Telesat 5, Antena 3 Television Sat,and an as yet unnamed outlet from Canal Plus, all of which will beencrypted. The European Space Agency announced August 26, 1993 that it hasterminated the four-year-old mission of its troubled Olympus satellite,11 months ahead of schedule. The ESA says it sent the satellite to alower, non-operational orbit where it would not collide or interferewith other satellites. Olympus had started spinning and did not haveenough fuel to return to its proper geostationary orbit. Olympus hadcarried broadcasts from Italy, an Irish sports channel, and relays ofnews from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was also used totest advanced communications technologies, including high-definitiontelevision. Two years ago the satellite's position had to be correctedafter it went into an uncontrolled drift around the world. A DBS war has been fought between Sweden and Norway. Both theSwedish Space Corporation and Norwegian Telecom bid on Britain's MarcoPolo 2 satellite. The Norwegians won, and moved the satellite to 0.8degrees West, renaming it Thor. They are offering a package of CNN(11.785 GHz), Eurosport (11.862), Children's Channel/Discovery(11.938), FilmNet (12.015), and MTV (12.092) to Scandinavian viewers,with hopes of increasing to 15 channels by co)locating other DBSsatellites at that position. \v\ Intelsat 512 is already at this position, (with the entertainmentchannel TV Norge in clear PAL on 11.016 GHz) and is to be replaced witha stronger satellite, adding to the offerings at this position.FilmNet, in fact, sold its 85 percent ownership of Tele)X back to theSwedish Space Corporation and moved its transmissions to Thor. However, having won the satellite battle, the Norwegians lost thestandards war. They chose two of Europe's most obscure standards, D*MAC and Eurocrypt S, available to few satellite viewers. (The exceptionis FilmNet, which uses D2)MAC and Eurocrypt S.) Writing in the magazine"Elektronikvaarlden", Sweden's satellite guru, Bertil Sundberg, referredto the Thor coding as "Norwegian Harakiri". Finally, after severalmonths, on December 16, 1993 the Norwegians backed down and all Thorchannels now use D2)MAC (itself a doomed standard, if less obscure thanD)MAC). It is unclear if the Norwegians have also abandoned theiralligance to the even more obscure Eurocrypt S system. The potential audience is in Finland and northern Norway andSweden, which are outside the main Astra footprint. FilmNet isdistributing subscription cards for Thor. Norway's approach to satellite broadcasting has been eccentric. Initially, most of the country's satellite channels were on Intelsat512 at 1 degree West. Besides the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK,these are the new Norwegian terrestrial commercial station TV 2, theprivate TV Norge, and Swedish Television 1 and 2, which are uplinkedfrom Oslo for use by cable systems in Spitsbergen and on North Sea oilplatforms. In late 1992, these channels cloned themselves onto Intelsat 515at 18 degrees West. Moving away from 1 degree West was a bit strange,since it happened at exactly the same time Norway was moving Marco Polo2/Thor to that same position. Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV" magazine has pointed out that there arenow Norwegian programs on 5 satellites at 4 different positions. Theyuse a bewildering array of standards: PAL, D2)MAC in both Eurocrypt Mand Eurocrypt S, and D)MAC. This, he says, may explain why 80 percentof satellite systems in Norway are motorized. The Norwegians are the traditional target of Swedish jokes. ButNorwegian satellite broadcasting seems to have become a Norwegian jokein itself. Sweden's Tele)X carries Sweden's TV4 (12.207 GHz) and TV5 Nordic(12.475), both in clear PAL, and Norway's NRK (12.332) in D)MAC. Swedenhas fought back, and in December, 1993 NSAB, owned by the Swedish SpaceCorporation and Swedish Telecom, succeeeded in buying the second MarcoPolo satellite, apparently after Norway tried to block the sale. Thesatellite, renamed Sirius, is to be moved to Tele)X's position, where arival package to Scandinavia is to be marketed. Together the twosatellites should carry 7 channels. The first broadcasts are expectedto begin in March, 1994. The Sirius frequencies are identical to thoseon Thor. At the instruction of the Nordic prime ministers, the publicservice broadcasters of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland havepresented a proposal for a joint Nordic television channel. Thebroadcasters say the Nordic satellite channel "Nordstjaarnan", or "North\v\Star", could be on the air by the end of 1994 or early 1995 (however,the Nordic Council's Ministerial Council has vetoed allocating funds tothe project). The fifth Nordic country, Denmark, is not participatingin the project because the channel would not be available to allviewers. The Danes would prefer to strengthen the current Nordvisionco)operation. Despite this Spanish/Nordic activity, the DBS idea seems to havebeen made obsolete by improving technology. Viewers want more than 2)5channels and they want channels from other countries (which is why bothFilmnet and Norwegian Telecom are now talking about co)locating severalDBS satellites). A 60 cm Astra dish that can deliver 16, 32, or 48channels is more desireable than a 30 cm dish with access to only 3stations. With the failure of the British BSB system on Marco Polo (it wasbought out by Sky in 1990), the decision of the French government notto build a third direct broadcast satellite, to follow up the existingTDF)1 and TDF)2 satellites (after the breakdown of TDF)1), and thefailure of Olympus, the DBS idea seems to be virtually dead. FrenchMinister for Post, Communications, and Space Paul Quiles has announcedthe satellites will be replaced in due course by a new generation ofspacecraft. In the meantime, France is concentrating on its medium*powered Telecom satellites. Similarly, Germany's Kopernikus (and the German channels on Astra)have proved to be more popular than TV)SAT. Eutelsat's answer to Astra was to be Europesat, a series of high*powered satellites being called "second generation DBS" all located at19 degrees West. However, that project has been abandoned in May, 1993in favor of the "Hot Bird" position at 13 degrees East. C)Band New C)band LNBs have made possible C)band reception on smallerdishes. However, over Europe just about the only signals that can bepicked up on standard Ku)band dishes of less that 1.5 meters are fromthe Russian Ghorizonts, which are much stronger than other C)bandsignals. The American TDRS A4 at 41 degrees West has recently begunrelaying a station from Denver, Gala Americana, in PAL on 3.920 GHz. Aradio station has been heard on 5.80 MHz. HDTV and Digital Technology The European Commission has abandoned its plans for the forcedintroduction of the D2-MAC standard, as a step towards the futureintroduction of a system called HD-MAC for high definition television.Instead broadcasters are moving directly towards digital HDTV, afteryears of conflict over D2)MAC. A memorandum of understanding to work together to find a commonstandard for digital HDTV has been signed by a group of satelliteoperators, broadcasters, manufacturers and regulators. The group, knownas the European Launching Group for Digital Video Broadcasting project,comprises of 85 members including one Japanese electronics firm. NTL and Eutelsat have completed joint tests to prove the viability\v\of wideband satellite transponders for carrying both conventionalanalog FM television signals and the new digitally compressed TVsignals of the NTL System 2000. A single Eutelsat transponder was shownto be able to carry simultaneously either a single FM channel and fourdigitally compressed channels or a total of eight digital channels atbroadcast quality. The compatibility, within one transponder, of a high power analogtransmission and lower power digitally compressed signals means thatoperators can more easily migrate from analog to digital, with itsattractive cost reductions. Eutelsat says that its widebandtransponders are especially attractive since the premium for theadditional bandwidth is much less than the extra cost of a wholetransponder. Radio There are more than 100 radio channels on European satellites,using audio subcarriers, slowly approaching the number in NorthAmerica. Astra is a radio pioneer, with many interesting stations, both newchannels and established international broadcasters. There are musicstations, such as Sky Radio, Super Gold, and Quality Europe FM. SunriseRadio is a commercial medium wave station in London for the Indiancommunity there, now on satellite as well. Radio Sweden is on the Sky Movies Gold transponder at 11.597 GHz,audio subcarrier 7.74 MHz. Our satellite schedule is also transmittedover the Tele)X direct broadcast satellite, using the TV4 transponderat 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38 MHz. Radio Sweden is also part ofthe World Radio Network package of English language broadcasters onAstra. Also on the Sky Movies Gold transponder (at 7.38 MHz) is RadioAsia, which broadcasts over Spectrum Radio in London. Spectrum's fullschedule is to be broadcast over this channel in the near future. Another shortwave broadcaster on Astra is Swiss RadioInternational, on the Teleclub transponder at 11.332 GHz, audiosubcarrier 7.2 MHz. SRI is changing its programming to fit satellitebroadcasts by April, 1994. SRI is planning to expand to four satellitechannels, three relaying the national services in German, French, andItalian, complemented by SRI programs in those languages. The fourthwould be a 24 hour English channel, consisting of a repeated andupdated 2 hour program block. According to one report, some British local ILR stations are toappear on the Discovery and Bravo transponders in the near future. MTV reportedly may be planning to join up with the Americannetwork ABC in launching a pan)European radio channel. List of Radio stations broadcasting from the ASTRA satellites ------------------------------------------------------------- Station Frequency Subcarrier(s) TV station )))---------------------------------------------)))))))))))))))))) Deutsche Welle 11.229 7.38 RTL-Plus\v\ Deutsche Welle 11.229 7.56 RTL-Plus Deutschlandfunk 11.288 7.38/7.56 Sat.1 Deutschlandf.Int. 11.288 7.74 Sat.1 Deutschlandf.Int. 11.288 7.92 Sat.1 Sky Radio 11.317 7.38/7.56 Sky One Radio 538 11.317 7.74/7.92 Sky One Swiss Radio Int. 11.332 7.20 Teleclub Radio Eviva 11.332 7.74/7.92 Teleclub Virgin 1215 11.376 7.38/7.56 Sky News Super Gold 11.376 7.92 Sky News RTL Radio 1 11.391 7.38/7.56 RTL)4 RTL Radio 2 11.391 7.74/7.92 RTL-4 Star*Sat Radio 11.406 7.38/7.56 Pro-7 Radio-Ropa 11.406 7.74/7.92 Pro-7 RMF 11.420 7.74/7.92 MTV)Europe Quality Europe FM 11.435 7.38/7.56 Sky Movies ASDA storecast FM 11.435 7.74 Sky Movies MDR Sputnik 11.464 7.38/7.56 Premiere Sunrise Radio 11.479 7.38 Movie Ch. Holland-FM 11.479 7.56 Movie Ch. Sudwestfunk 3 11.493 7.38/7.56 ARD Q)CMR 11.509 7.38 Sky Sports United Christian Broad. 11.509 7.56 Sky Sports World Radio Network 11.538 7.74 MTV)Europe BBC WS 11.553 7.38 UK Gold BBC Radio 4 11.553 7.56 UK Gold BBC Radio 1 11.553 7.74 UK Gold BBC Radio 5 11.553 7.92 UK Gold NDR 2 11.582 7.38/7.56 N3 NDR 4 11.582 7.74/7.92 N3 Radio Asia 11.597 7.38 Sky Gold Radio Sweden 11.597 7.74 Sky Gold CNN Radio 11.626 7.92 CNN Cadena Principales 11.686 7.38 Cinemania Cadena Dial 11.686 7.56 Cinemania Cadena SER 11.686 7.74 Cinemania The World Radio Network relays English language programs from anumber of broadcasters. The current schedule (British local time) is: 00:00 NPR "All Things Considered" 01:30 Radio Netherlands 04:00 Radio Canada International 04:30 Vatican Radio 05:00 BBC "News Hour" and "Europe Today" 06:00 NPR "All Things Considered" 08:00 Radio Australia 09:00 Radio Korea 10:00 Radio Moscow 10:30 Radio Netherlands 11:30 Voice of Israel 12:00 Radio France International 13:00 NPR "Morning Edition" 15:00 Radio Finland 15:30 WRN info 16:00 Radio Australia 17:00 Radio Moscow 17:30 Radio Netherlands 18:30 Radio Telefis Eireann (Ireland)\v\ 19:00 NPR "Talk of the Nation" 21:00 RADIO SWEDEN 21:30 BBC "Europe Today" 22:00 NPR "All Things Considered" The schedule varies slightly on weekends. Astra apparently wants to use the 6.50 MHz audio subcarriers onthe 1C satellite for digital radio or business data transmissions. Astra is also carrying out research into satellite radio broadcasting,to small antennas, without the need for a receiving dish. This wouldapparently be introduced with the upcoming Astra 1D and 1E satellites.Presumeably this is DAB)Satellite, also called BSS)Sound, allocatedfrequencies by last year's World Administrative Radio Conference. There are also a number of interesting radio stations on EutelsatII)F1: BBC WS 10.987 7.38 Super Channel BBC External 10.987 7.56 Super Channel France Info 11.080 7.02 TV5 Europe France Inter 11.080 7.20 TV5 Europe Radio Victor 11.080 7.38 TV5 Europe Radio Free Europe 11.095 7.74/7.92/8.10 RTL)2 Deutsche Welle 11.163 7.02 Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle 11.163 7.20 Deutsche Welle VOA Europe 11.163 7.38/7.56 Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle 11.163 7.74 Deutsche Welle Radio Finland 11.163 8.10 Deutsche Welle Bonn Rundfunk 11.163 8.28 Deutsche Welle World Radio Network 11.554 7.74 MBC Super FM 11.596 8.10 Interstar Radio Contact 11.638 7.02 FilmNet Plus Radio Contact 11.638 7.20 FilmNet Plus Radio 10 Gold 11.678 7.92/8.10 FilmNet Plus Digital Radio 12.542 digital Radio Free Europe uses separate audio subcarriers for news feedsin Czech, Baltic languages, and Polish. VOA Europe is now being carrieddigitally on Eutelsat II)F4. The analog relay on II)F1 will continueuntil the end of 1994. VOA Europe is also carried on Intelsat 601 at27.5 degrees West, and Intelsat 505 at 66 degrees East. The servicewill also soon be available on Intersputnik 1 and 2. The World Radio Network relays Vatican Radio in many languages andRadio Canada International in Russian. NPR relays were here before theAstra service began. The digital radio channels are the following French stations:Europe 2, FIP, Fun Radio, Modulation France, Nostalgie, ad NRJ. The Swedish news agency TT has been heard on Swedish Radio sinceits pioneer days. TT is now making hourly newscasts available tocommunity radio stations around Sweden, over Tele)X, using the TV5Nordic transponder at 12.475 GHz, audio 7.56 MHz. Radio Sweden uses7.38 MHz on the TV4 transponder. The Copenhagen local station The Voiceis on 7.74/7.92 on the same transponder. Curiously, Radio Sweden andthe Voice have appeared on the same audio subcarriers on the TV5 Nordictransponder, for no apparent reason. Some of Sweden's new commercialradio stations may be networked as well over Tele)X.\v\ Other audio subcarriers can be found on: DFS Kopernikus 3 (German channels, DSR) Eutelsat II)F3 (Morocco, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Egypt and Tunisia) Eutelsat II)F2 (Spain, Portugal, Turkish, RL/RFE) Eutelsat II)F4 (Serbian) Intelsat 512, 515 (Norwegian channels) Telecom 2B, 2A, TDF)1/2 (French channels) TV)Sat (DSR as on Kopernikus 3) Intelsat 601 (BBC WS and British Forces Broadcasting) Hispasat (Spain) Taiwan's Voice of Free China says that within the next couple ofyears they would be coming to Europe via satellite, through the help ofDeutsche Welle. Digital Radio on Satellite Digital Satellite Radio (DSR) is a German)developed technology,providing CD quality satellite radio. Unfortunately DSR cannot bebroadcast terrestrially, which means it will be replaced when DigitalAudio Broadcasting (DAB) starts in the next couple of years. Currently16 DSR channels in German are on DFS)3 Kopernikus at 23.5 degrees Easton 12.625 GHz and on TV)Sat at 19.2 degrees West on 11.977 GHz. A number of international broadcasters have taken part in tests ofDSR on Eutelsat II)F3 (16 degrees East). Transponders 26 (11.078 GHz)and 34A (11.650 GHz) have been used, and among the 8 channels are Voiceof America, Radio France International, Deutsche Welle, and BBC WorldService. Two digital satellite radio services from the United States areexpanding into Europe. Digital Music Express, or DMX, is alreadyavailable to more than 10 million cable subscribers in the UnitedStates. Thirty themed channels of various types of music would be madeavailable to European subscribers, without the need for DJs, jingles,or commercials. The 30 types of music would include: US hottest hits, European hottest hits, contemporary jazz, classicjazz, country, big band, world beat, blues, reggae, golden oldies,heavy metal, classic rock, chamber music, and opera. Signals are being relayed from DMX's Atlanta studios to a C)bandtransponder aboard Intelsat 601, before being cross)linked to a Ku)bandtransponder. Signals would be downlinked by cable operators. DMX, has launched a new pan-European consumer marketing campaign,which will be initially run in the UK, Denmark and Norway before beingrolled out throughout Europe as distribution contracts are signed withcarriers. British Sky Broadcasting is reported to be close to signingan agreement with to relay DMX over Astra from June 1994. The DMX decoder, manufactured by Scientific Atlanta, displaysinformation on the music being played, such as the name of the artist,song and album title, composer, and chart position. Another service called Digital Cable Radio currently provides 56CD)quality radio channels to North American subscribers and cable\v\systems. DCR plans to bring 68 themed radio channels to Europe, underthe name Music Choice Europe. A number of cable operating anddistribution agreements have already been signed in the Netherlands,Britain, and Switzerland, giving it a potential subscriber base inexcess of three million homes. Digital Audio Broadcasting, or DAB, will replace FM in the nextfew years. The World Administrative Radio Conference held in Spain inJanuary, 1992 approved frequencies for satellite DAB, which would bereceivable on small portable receivers. Various countries, includingSweden and Britain, have been conducting test broadcasts of DAB, priorto its expected introduction in 1995. The BBC used the Olympussatellite for DAB tests as well. Other Non)Video Signals We have had no reports yet of European SCPC. But a number of newsagencies are using satellites to distribute their signals. BBCMonitoring is now subscribing to the Russian ITAR)TASS news agency, viaa data link on Intelsat 601. The BBC will receive information fromMoscow in English and Russian, replacing the previous intricate systemof communications cables. \2\ IV. Middle Eastern Satellite Broadcasting The Middle East is an expanding area for satellite broadcasting,centering around the Arab League's Arabsat satellites and Turkey'sbroadcasts to Turkish emigrants in Western Europe and the newlyindependent countries of Central Asia. Arabsat 1B is drifting eastward and has reached at least 43degrees East. Both Arabsat 1B and 1C have 25 C-Band transponders, aswell as one strong S-Band transponder around 2600 MHz. 1B has been usedto relay programs from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Mauritania. Onetransponder has been used for Inter-Arab news, co-ordinated via Tunis. Arabsat 1C (31 degrees East) is now the main Middle Easternsatellite, and includes: MBC 2.560 GHz PAL Canal France International 3.811 PAL CNN International 3.829 PAL Libyan feeds 3.867 PAL UAE TV1 Dubai 3.956 PAL Saudi Arabia TV1 3.977 SECAM RMT 1 Morocco 4.008 SECAM UAE TV2 Dubai 4.033 PAL Saudi Arabia TV2 4.051 SECAM Oman TV 4.063 PAL Mauritanian TV 4.081 SECAM MBC 4.107 PAL Jordanian TV 4.144 PAL Egyptian Space Channel 4.164 PAL KTS Kuwait 4.180 PAL The Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) is a London)based Arabicchannel. Although it is Saudi)backed (the chairman is the brother)in*law of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd), the channel was briefly banned inSaudi Arabia for its bare)headed female announcers. Paralleltransmissions continue to Europe on Eutelsat II-F1. The station isworking together with the Saudi)financed Arab Network of America in theUnited States. The MBC is to launch a package of three to six subscriptionchannels for the Middle East in 1994. These would include a familychannel, a general entertainment channel, and a movie channel. Thecurrent MBC Europe channel would become MBC1, a free service offeringnews and teasers for the other channels. NTL's digital compressionsystem is to be used for the package, which would be carried on anArabsat. The Kuwait Satellite Channel carries a news bulletin in English ataround 19:30 UTC. BBC World Service TV is planning on starting a 24hour Arabic service to the Middle East from Arabsat in April, 1994. The new Arabsat 1D at 20 degrees East has carried test signals ontwo transponders (3.760 and 3.840 GHz) for "ART ) Arabic Radio andTelevision". The Arab Space Communications Corporation has awarded a contractfor two new Arabsats. The first would be launched in 1996. Besides 18C)band channels, and 2 S)band channels, they would also carry 12 Ku*band transponders, making reception possible with 60 to 80 cm dishes.\v\ Eutelsat II)F3 is the main satellite for broadcasts from Arabiccountries to North Africa and Europe. Tunisia's first satellitechannel, RTT (or TV7 Tunisie), is on 11.660 GHz. The new externalservice of Tunisian Radio is carried on the subcarrier at 7.02 MHz(7.20 also reported). English is heard at 13:00 hrs, German at 14:00hrs, and French at 15:00 hrs. The international service, RTCI,broadcasts mainly in French. Morocco's RTM is on 10.970 GHz, with sound in Arabic on 6.60 MHz,Berber on 7.20, and a multi)lingual service on 7.38. The RTMInternational service in Arabic uses 7.02, with RTM Morocco on 7.56. The Egyptian Space Channel is on 11.178 GHz, with radio stationson 7.02, 7.20, and 7.38 MHz. The International Service Nile TVInternational, began low)powered test transmissions on 11.156 GHz onOctober 10, 1993. Initial broadcasts are between 17:00 and 19:00 hrsUTC, most in English. When the channel is officially launched therewill be two hours in English and one hour in French daily. Dubai launched its 24 hour "Emirates TV Dubai" satellite serviceto Europe, North and Central America on December 6, 1993. Mostprogramming is in Arabic, but there are newscasts at 15:00 and 18:00hrs British time in English. Broadcasts to Europe are on Eutelsat II)F1, while the Americas are reached through Galaxy 7. Iraq is to launch the Iraq International Television station duringthe last quarter of this year. Broadcasts are to be to Europe and NorthAfrica on Eutelsat and to the Middle East on Arabsat and anothersatellite known as "al)Jisr". Arabsat 1D at 20 degrees East is to carry four Lebanese channels:Future on 3.787 GHz, and ART with a sports channel on 3.788, anentertainment channel on 3.844, and a children's channel on 3.626 GHz. Intelsat 602 at 63 degrees East carries Iran's IRIB TV1 and TV2 onKu)band 10.990 and 11.150 GHz, and the American AFRTS on 11.470 GHz. Iran has announced it plans to broadcast six hours a day oftelevision to Europe and Asia. According to the report "a number ofsatellites will be hired." There are Turkish channels on several Eutelsats: TGRT and HBB areon II)F3. A)TV, Show)TV, and interStar are on II)F2. Kanal 6 and KanalMarket are on II)F4. The Turkish State Television's TRT Internationalbroadcasts to Europe on Eutelsat II)F1. There have been news bulletinsin English and German following the Turkish news at 21:00 hrs Europeantime. TRT began satellite broadcasting 4 channels to Central Asia onApril 1, 1992, using Ku)band transponders on Intelsat 604 at 60 degreesEast (10.974, 11.138, 11.647, and 11.683 GHz). TRT hopes to reach asmany as 57 million Turkic speakers in the 6 new Moslem states of theformer Soviet Union. Turkey's first 16 transponder Turksat is due to be launched onJanuary 20, 1994, with a second satellite 6 to 12 months later. CNN hasapplied to lease a transponder on Turksat. According to reports, Turkeyhas also reached agreement to lease transponders to Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia. Presumeably, the 5 TRT channels\v\and the current 6 or more private Turkish broadcasters will also findhomes on Turksat. Israel broadcasts from Intelsat 512 on 11.015, 11.174, and 11.590GHz. The domestic Radio Israel uses 7.20 MHz and the internationalservice Kol Israel uses 7.38 and 7.56 MHz on the 11.590 GHztransponder. Israel's Amos DBS, carrying 6 or 7 Ku-Band transponders,is due to be launched, probably from French Guyana, in 1994. AA \\ V. African Satellite Broadcasting In Africa, satellite broadcasting is expanding, particularly toSouth Africa. European satellites can be monitored in southern Africa,and there are even reports of reception of Astra (with a 4 meter dish)!An important satellite is Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West. WhileEuropean broadcasters use this satellite for Ku)band transmissions, C*band is used to Africa. Broadcasters include: BBC World Service Television 3.650 GHz PAL Deutsche Welle/WorldNet 3.743 PAL Canal Horizons (French) 3.803 PAL Canal France International 3.915 SECAM Algerian TV 4.003 PAL CNN International 4.048 PAL The BBC is encrypted using the IRDETO system, requiring a decoderfrom the South African)based M)Net company, which shares thetransponder with BBC. (This is in fact the same system used by theDutch RTL)4 on Astra, but known there as Luxcrypt.) Sky News was due to start 12 hours a day of broadcasts to SouthAfrica, beginning October 3, 1993 , using a relay from Intelsat. The South African Broadcasting Corporation's external serviceshave changed their name to Channel Africa. This includes both Radio RSAand a television service on the Intelsat 605 satellite at 24.5 degreesWest, at 4.166 GHz. This consists of African news, information, andeducational material in English and French, weekdays at 12:00)13:00 hrsfor rebroadcast by stations in other parts of Africa. The SABC intendsto move from the C)band to the Ku)band in 1994. Intelsat 505 (66 degrees East) carries WorldNet/Deutsche Welle, aswell as Zaire, South Africa's SAIS and Bop)TV, and France's CanalFrance International. Intelsat 602 (63 degrees) carries South Africa'sM)Net and SABC. The international French)speaking channel TV5 Afrique is nowbroadcasting to Africa via the former Soviet Ghorizont 12 at 40 degreesEast (on 3.730 GHz). Besides TV5, Portugal's RTP International (3.930GHz) is on this satellite. Unfortunately, Ghorizont 12 is in aninclined orbit, which means that Earth stations must be able to trackthe satellite as it drifts in a "figure eight" pattern. M)Net and the South African Broadcasting Corporation have bookedtransponders on PAS)4, set to launch in March, 1995, for southernAfrica's first direct to home broadcasting service. The planned Afro)Caribbean Satellite Channel, which is to beginoperations aimed at Europe, hopes to eventually reach the emergingcable systems of Africa. The American Black Entertainment Network alsoplans to expand into the African market. \j\ VI. Asia and the Pacific There are nearly 30 geostationary satellites in orbit above Asiaand the Pacific. Five are former Soviet satellites, another five arefrom Intelsat. The Intelsat satellites provide a variety of C-Bandservices. Intelsat 508 at 180 degrees relays in C)band Australia's NineNetwork and Network 10, as well as Japan's NHK, and the American CNN,ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and WorldNet/Deutsche Welle. There's an RFO-Francerelay to Tahiti and WTN news feeds. In the Ku)band, there aretransponders carrying Turner Broadcasting and Fuji TV. Intelsat 505 (66 degrees East) carries WorldNet/Deutsche Welle,and several Chinese channels, as well as television from Malaysia.Intelsat 602 (63 degrees) carries two channels from Thailand. Intelsat has relocated Intelsat 501 to 91.5 degrees East toprovide expanded coverage to the Asia)Pacific countries. On October 22, 1993 the first of the new 7th generation Intelsats,Intelsat 701, was launched by an Ariane rocket. The satellite will beused to provide services in the Asia-Pacific region from 174 degreesEast. The satellite is the first of nine Intelsat 7's scheduled forlaunch before the end of 1995. There are Ghorizonts at 80, 90, 96.5, and 103 degrees East. Eachhas 6 C-Band transponders, and the first three have experimentalKu-Band transponders as well (presumably on 11.525 GHz). The Soviet satellite Ekran at 99 degrees East carries atransponder on UHF 714 MHz. This is between Japanese channels 53 and 54and European channels 51 and 52, and is reported to be available allover Asia. This carries the Orbita service from Moscow. India's firststate)wide cable network, Asianet in Kerala, has booked another Ekrantransponder on 751 MHz (European UHF channel 56) to relay a program inMalayalam to systems around the state. Star)TV Asiasat)1, the first commercial satellite designed for Asiancountries, was launched in April, 1990 by a Chinese Long March rocket.Located at 105.5 degrees East, it carries 24 C-Band transponders, halfdedicated to a North Beam covering northern Asia, the rest to a SouthBeam covering southern Asia. Here are the channels on Asiasat: Mongolian TV 3.760 North beam SECAM Pakistan TV 3.780 South PAL Star TV Sport 3.800 North NTSC MTV Asia 3.840 North NTSC Star TV Sport 3.860 South PAL BBC WS TV Asia 3.880 North NTSC MTV Asia 3.900 South PAL Star Mandarin TV 3.920 North NTSC BBC WS TV Asia 3.940 South PAL Star TV Plus 3.960 North NTSC Zee TV 3.980 South PAL Yunnan TV 4.040 North PAL Star TV 4.060 South PAL\v\ CCTV)4 4.120 North NTSC Myanmar TV (Burma) 4.140 South NTSC The first pan-Asian satellite broadcaster, Star-TV, beganbroadcasts on Asiasat in August, 1991. It is owned by Hong Kong'sHutchvision, which become part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporationmedia empire in 1993. Star)TV now reaches at least 1.8 million homesfrom Asiasat 1. It includes 6 channels, 4 on both beams (N/S): 1) Star-Sports (3.80 GHz/3.86 GHz) 2) MTV Asia (3.84 GHz/3.90 GHz) 3) BBC World Service Television (3.88 GHz/3.94 GHz) 4) Star TV (entertainment) (3.96 GHz/4.02 GHz) 5) Mandarin TV (3.92 GHz) NTSC 6) Zee TV (3.98 GHz) PAL Zee TV is Star's Hindi language channel to South Asia. The HongKong authorities have also given permission for Star)TV to broadcast inCantonese. This service will begin after the system's three year trialends. News Corporation is expected to begin new Star)TV pay channels.Star is offering four subscription channels to Hong Kong's first cableTV network: Star Asian Movie Channel, Star Movie Channel, StarChildren's Channel, and the Asian News and Business Channel. Japan'sMitsui company, NBC in the United States and Pearson plc, owner of the"Financial Times", are behind the 24 hour Asian News and BusinessChannel. Presumeably these channels will also be carried on Asiasat. News Corporation has tried to terminate the BBC's 10 year contract(after only 2 years) claiming that the BBC's planned Arabic servicefrom Arabsat would overlap with Star. The BBC has blocked the attempt,but it is possible News Corporation would like to carry its own SkyNews instead. At the annual meeting of News Corporation in October, 1993 RupertMurdoch announced the splitting of Star)TV, into four divisions, oneeach for China, India, Indonesia and the Middle East. Asiasat has signed a contract for an Asiasat)2, with an option fora further satellite. Asiasat)2 will have 40 C)band transponders, and 9Ku)band transponders at 100.5 degrees East. It would be launched inMarch 1995, and would have an unprecedented footprint reaching fromTokyo to Berlin, and south to Australia. British Telecom has booked 5 transponders, Australia's NineNetwork another 10. Deutsche Welle also plans to use Asiasat)2. Palapa The main competition to the Star)TV service is on Indonesia'sPalapa B2P satellite at 113 degrees East. CNN, ESPN, Home Box Office,the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Hong Kong's TVB haveagreed to co)ordinate efforts to broadcast their programs on onesatellite, initially B2P. CNN is on 3.840 GHz, ESPN on 4.042 GHz, bothin B)MAC. \t\ The Australia Television International service to Asia began onFebruary 17, 1993 via Palapa B2P. The programs, which are hoped toreach 30 Asian)Pacific countries, include news reporting, specialinternational topics, Asian)Pacific socio)cultural aspects, reports onscientific and technical developments, and education. TVB, which has an enormous library of Chinese language films, hasnot yet begun transmissions on the satellite. Asia's first business television channel began broadcasts onNovember 1, 1993 on the same satellite. Among the owners of AsiaBusiness News are Dow Jones, the American cable giant TCI, TelevisionNew Zealand, and the Singapore Broadcasting Corpation. Canal France International is also broadcasting over Palapa B2P on3860 MHz. The network beams a variety of programs including news,features, filmes, debates, sports, and children's programs produced bythe main French channels TF1, France 2 and France 3. B2P also provides television for Thailand, Malaysia, and thePhilippines as well as Indonesia. Hughes Communications has signed an agreement to build a thirdgeneration of satellites for Indonesia, Palapa)C. The first twosatellites will be delivered in July 1995 and January 1996, with anoption for a third, which expires in 1999. Each satellite will carry 30C)band and 4 Ku)band transponders, providing coverage through)outsoutheast Asia and parts of China and Australia. Arianespace has signeda contract to launch Palapa C1 in October 1995. It will replace PalapaB2P at 113 degrees East, and will have an expected life of 14 years. China's commercial satellite launch service has signed a contractwith Hong Kong's APT Satellite to launch the 24 transponder Apstar)1satellite in June, 1994. The satellite will be made by Hughes, whichwill also make Apstar)2, due to be launched a year later. The Starrivals on Palapa B2P are to move to Apstar)1 after its launch. These services hope to move in to the lucrative Chinese market,which may be difficult following the Chinese government's recentrestrictions on satellite television. Another potential broadcaster to China is Australia's state-ownedmulticultural broadcasting network, the Special Broadcasting Service orSBS. SBS is holding talks with potential Asian and North Americanpartners to establish an international satellite television service inseveral languages with English subtitles. SBS currently broadcaststelevision and radio in 63 languages across Australia. India India began using the American ATS)6 satellite for ruraleducation, the SITE experiment, in 1975. The first Insat satellite waslaunched in 1983. The most recent, Insat 2)A, is at 74 degrees East,and three regional Indian television channels have moved to it fromArabsat. Tamil Nadu programs are on 4.115, Karnataka on 4.135, andMaharashtra on 4.175 GHz. Insat 2)B was launched in July, 1993, andplaced at 93.5 degrees East. A new package of 5 channels, in an effortto compete with Star)TV, which has made tremendous inroads in India,was inaugurated on Indian Independence Day, August 15th.\v\ A survey in January indicated that 3.3 million Indian homes werewatching Star and Zee TV. Another survey revealed that satellite TV hasreached 4 percent of India's half a million villages, where English*language soap operas are the most popular programming. A group of non)resident Indian businessmen has started antherHindi)language channel, Asian TV Network, from Ghorizont 19 (96.5degrees East), on 3.800 GHz. India's first state)wide cable network, Asianet in Kerala, hasbooked a transponder on the Russian Ekran satellite at 99 degrees Easton 751 MHz (European UHF channel 56) to relay a program in Malayalam tosystems around the state. Other transponders may be booked on the (nowdormant) Ekran satellites at 48, 64, 84, and 95 degrees East. A new 9 channel satellite television service to India is to bebegin on January 1, 1994. The nine channels carried by the jointAmerican)India network are to cover: religious and spiritualprogramming; politics; children's programming, entertainment, music andmovies; sports; medicine, health, fitness and sex education; businessand economy; and development, environment, and women's issues, science,and technology. Broadcasts are to be over two satellites, the RussianStatsionar 21 at 103 degrees East, and Asiasat. The Insat 2)C satellite, to be launched in 1995, will bringDoordarshan programs to viewers in the Middle East and Asia. It willcarry more than the eight transponders on 2)B, including Ku)bandtransponders. Japan Japan has been a pioneer in direct satellite broadcasting, as might be expected from its consumer electronics industry. The world's first direct broadcast satellite was Japan's BS-2. It's successors, BS- 3A and BS)3B, are positioned at 110 degrees East. They each carry three12 GHz transponders, and one wide-band data channel. Programs areprovided by the Japanese public service broadcaster NHK and thecommercial JSB. BS)3B also broadcasts High Definition Television using theJapanese Hi)Vision system on 11.880 GHz. On February 26, 1992 an Ariane rocket put into orbit Japan'sSuperbird B)1 at 162 degrees East. Superbird carries six new satelliteTV stations, including CNN International and MTV. This satellitecarries 19 Ku)band transponders and 10 Ka)band transponders, and can bereceived on 20)24 cm dish antennas. Three television stations have started new satellite channels,bringing the number of Japanese satellite channels to 9. The three areSVN Space Vision (entertainment and sports), Let's Try Life Design(hobby and cultural programs), and Asahi Newstar (news anddocumentaries). At present there are only 58,000 satellitesubscriptions in Japan, far short of the targeted 200,000. One reasonfor the sluggish demand is the high cost of equipment. Currently,antennas and receivers cost around 200,000 yen. New receivers, cheaperby tens of thousands of yen, will be marketed later this year. \v\ BBC World Service Television also plans to broadcast its 24 hournews and information channel to Japan, together with Japanese partnerthe Nissho Iwai Corporation. While programs will be sold to terrestrialbroadcasters in Japan, the service will also include direct to homebroadcasts, presumably via Superbird, beginnning in early 1994. Viewerswill be able to choose between English and Japanese sound. Other Japanese satellites are JCSat 1 and 2 (at 150 and 154 degrees respectively) each with 32 Ku-Band transponders. CS-3a (132degrees) carries 2 C-Band and 10 Ka-Band (17.7-19.45 GHz) transponders. Nihon Keizai Shimbum, Television Tokyo Channel 13 Limited and fivesub-affiliates say that they will start broadcasting programs by satellite from 1997 using the BS-4 satellite, which is set to be launched in 1997. The satellite operator TXN will simulcast HDTVbroadcasts alongside conventional broadcasts, and the service will besplit between pay-TV services and advertising supported. Other Asian Satellite Broadcasters China's DFH2-A1 is at 87.5 degrees East and DFH2-A2 at 110.5degrees. Each carries 4 C)band transponders. China's CCTV)3 service has begun relays from the Chinasat)5satellite at 115.5 degrees East, on 3720 MHz. The Portuguese Marconi company has signed an agreement with Chinato deliver a satellite TV service to all of China and South East Asia,called Telesat. Based in Macao, Telesat would start in late 1994, andwill offer what a Hong Kong newspaper called "European TV channels". Taiwan's DPP political party is reported to be leasing four transponders on the American NASA's TDRSS satellite at 174 degreesWest. After reaching a compromise with Asiasat, Thailand's Thaicom 1 andThaicom 2 satellites will be co)located at 78.5 degrees east. Thaicom 1was launched by Ariane in December, 1993. The second satellite is to gointo orbit by June, 1994. The satellites will cover South East Asia,eastern China, the Korean peninsula, and Japan. The two Hughes)builtsatellites will carry 12 transponders each, 10 C)band and 2 Ku)band. The Pacific Australia's 3 Aussats are located at 156, 160, and 164 degrees East. They provide television to the Australian Outback, New Zealand, and the Pacific, using B-MAC. Each satellites has 15 Ku-Band transponders in the 12.25-12.75 GHz range. They are being replaced bythe new Optus B series. Australia's Optus B1 satellite went into service on December 16,1992. This satellite carries 15 Ku)band transponders, is at 160 degreesEast. Australia is to use B1 and its follow)up B2 to carry a 6 channelsubscription TV service, due to begin operation in early 1994. Unfortunately the B2 satellite was destroyed while being launched fromChina on December 14, 1992. Moreover, the awarding of the pay)TV franchises has been called by\v\"Satnews": "The biggest farce arguably in broadcasting history...Eversince the Australian government first announced that four channelscould be broadcast by satellite aboard an Optus satellite, the wholeaffair has been dogged by errors, omissions and plain stupidity. Thistime two private companies with the same owners, and related to anunsuccessful previous bidder, have been granted the licences tobroadcast...Only a few weeks ago two companies failed to come up withmoney pledged for the licences. Ucom Pty Limited and Hi Vision Limitedpaid significantly over the odds against over 50 rivals includingseasoned veterans such as News Corp. to secure the licences." A third licence has been reserved for the state-owned broadcasting company ABC. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has jointed forces with Australia'slargest telephone company Telestra to form an alliance to exploit theAsian media market. The new venture will pursue interests andinvestments in activities such as pay television, home shopping andinteractive services. Telestra and News Corp. have already taken astake in Australian terrestrial broadcaster Seven Network Limited, andthe Australian Broadcasting Authority is examining the deal forevidence of unfair competition. There are many new Pacific satellite services being planned: Panamsat, the company behind the trans)Atlantic satellite PAS)1,is preparing to reach the Pacific. PAS)2, to be launched in May, 1994,will cover the Pacific region from China and Japan to Western Canada. Tonga has run into problems on two sides with its Rimsat project.Panamsat claims Tonga has booked too many orbital slots for such asmall country, while Tonga claims that one of the Indonesian Palapasatellites is in the orbital slot for the first Tongasat. In 1992Indonesia moved its Palapa B)1 satellite, in orbit since 1982, to 134degrees East, a position claimed by Tonga, and registered with theInternational Frequency Registration Board. Tongasat 1, a Russian Ghorizont satellite, was to be moved intothat position on July 20, 1993. When diplomatic efforts to getIndonesia to leave the slot failed, Tonga threatened to move itssatellite to one of Indonesia's existing orbital positions, switch iton, and cause tremendous havoc to Indonesia's satellite communicationsservice. In December, 1993, Indonesia announced the two countries hadsettled their dispute, although this was supposed to involve bothsharing the orbital position, a questionable option. Tongasat plans toplace Russian)launched satellites at 134 and 130 degrees. Five moreRussian satellites are to be launched for Rimsat over the next fewyears. When Tongasat 1 is in operation from its proper position, it isexpected to provide coverage from Iran and India to Hawaii. BehindTongasat are two American companies, Rimsat and Unicom, as well asAsian investors. The American company TRW has filed to launch Pacificom 1 in 1994,to operate in both the Ku and C bands from 172 degrees East. Thefootprints would reach from the American West coast into Asia andAustralasia. There would be 11 high)powered Ku band transponders for\v\DBS services, along with 8 C)band transponders. Pacific Satellite Company hopes to launch Pacstar 1 into anorbital slot at 167.5 degrees East in late 1994. This will cover the USWest Coast, Pacific islands, and East Asia. New Zealand is also planning a satellite TV service across theWestern Pacific and East Asia. Asian and Pacific Satellite Radio Japan launched the world's first nationwide digital radio system, using BS-3A. The broadcasts use pulse code modulation, or PCM, matching the quality of compact disks, and free from the usual radio hissing noises. A Japanese company currently provides 440 cable radio channels.There are plans to expand the system to 1000 channels within 5 years,with the ultimate aim of 2000 channels. The offerings include thesounds of steam trains, roosters, cows, and ringing bells. The American company Digital Music Express, DMX, planned to startin Australia during 1993. DMX services are be relayed from the UnitedStates via satellite and then transmitted to customers using amicrowave distribution system. A small roof)mounted antenna would beused to receive the signals. Twenty audio channels would initially beoffered, in addition to a special Australian channel. \<\ VII. Global Satellite Channels The war in Vietnam was called the first television war, with the pictures of violence and horror on American TV screens night after night contributing to the feelings that fed the growing peace movement. The conflict in the Gulf was the first live TV war, broadcast around the world by satellite, and underlining the arrival of the first global TV broadcaster, the Cable News Network, CNN. Arthur C. Clarke, the English visionary who first proposed communications satellites in 1945, watched what he called "the first's first satellite war" from his home in Sri Lanka. In an interview with Reuters, Clarke said communications is power, and the forces unleased by satellites in the Gulf War have the potential for making the world a safer place. The further development of a satellite communications network with the wider availability of telephone, fax, and television, Clarke says, will make us one global family, whether we like it or not. The conflict in the Gulf was also a boost for the BBC's long discussed plans for World Service Television, which became a reality on March 11th, 1991, taking over the existing BBC-TV Europe service on Intelsat VI-F4 (now Intelsat 601). In October, 1991 the 24 hour a dayservice to Asia via Asiasat began. An African service, also on Intelsat601, began in May, 1992. Beginning November, 1992 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation andBBC World Service Television began exchanging daily news video. Underthe terms of the deal, the CBC has exclusive Canadian rights tobroadcast BBC WS TV's news, business, and weather reports. These arecarried on the English and French domestic networks as well as the 24hour cable news channel CBC Newsworld (which is carried scrambled onAnik E2, transponder 16). The service is being relayed uncoded to NorthAmerica on Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West, using the C)bandtransponder 4. World Service Television is going ahead with plans to start abilingual service to Japan and a 24 hour service in Arabic to theMiddle East via Arabsat. Future plans are to expand into the UnitedStates, the Pacific and Latin America. What seems to be becoming the third global broadcaster, and theonly competition to CNN and BBC World Service, is Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorporation, which owns British Sky Broadcasting in Europe, FoxBroadcasting in North America, Star)TV in Asia, and is branching outinto Africa and South America. In a speech to Sky advertisers inLondon, Murdoch announced "Plans are well advanced to take Sky News, ora parallel service, to all continents of the world, where we will beseeking local partners, both national and regional." Murdoch's News International has contracted NTL to join a groupdeveloping a multi)channel digital TV system for direct satellitereception in the home. NTL will develop the encoding, decoding andmultiplexing technology. The eventual domestic receiver will be mass*produced under licence for the comsumer market in Europe, Asia andelsewhere. \t\ Deutsche Welle has also become a global broadcaster, working withthe United States Information Agency's World Net in sharing manytransponders. Besides broadcasts to Europe on Eutelsat II)F1, DeutscheWelle is using the Intelsat)K satellite to reach North America. Thesignal is then relayed on Spacenet 2 transponder 3, and Satcom C4transponder 5. Deutsche Welle is also relayed to Africa on Intelsat 601 at 27.5degrees West at 3.745 GHz. Africa, Asia, and the Pacific are covered bytransmissions on Intelsat 505 at 66 degrees East at 4.177 GHz. Finally,Deutsche Welle is also transmitting to the Far East and Pacific onIntelsat 508 at 180 degrees East on 3.993 GHz. Deutsche Welle's Waldemar Kraamer has told Radio Sweden: "In themiddle or end of 1994 we'll begin broadcasting on Asiasat)2, and we'llthen cover the world from Eastern Europe to East Asia. There are plansto reach Africa as well. Currently we can be seen for two hours a dayin North Africa, using transponders leased by the American WorldNet." It was announced at the Internationale Funkaustellung in Berlin onAugust 30th that Deutsche Welle TV will be expanding from 16 to 24 houra day service from 1994. Another global broadcaster in the making is the French)languageTV5, which has been broadcasting to Europe on Eutelsat I)F1 on 11.080GHz, and to North America on Anik E1 transponder 17. TV5 Afriquelaunched on September 30, 1992 via Ghorizont 12 at 40 degrees East. TV5plans to expand to Latin America using Panamsat)1. TV5 carries programs from France (TF1, France 2 and 3), Belgium(RTBF), Switzerland (SSR), and Quebec (Radio Canada). France alsotransmits its Canal France International to Africa on Intelsats 601 and505, to the Middle East on Arabsat 1C, and to East Asia on Palapa B2P. The Arab world's MBC, which owns the international news agencyUPI, broadcasts to the Middle East and North Africa on Arabsat, toEurope on Eutelsat, and is working with the Arab Network of NorthAmerica. International Radio Broadcasting By Satellite While the BBC, Radio France, and Deutsche Welle can put out 24 hour services in their native languages by satellite, services which can be relayed over cable networks, it's much harder for small broadcasters. Both Radio Sweden and Swiss Radio International now havesatellite channels. But what cable system would relay them, each with aseries of programs in varying languages? One possibility is for many international broadcasters to shareseveral satellite radio channels, one for English, one for French, one for German, etc. Cable operators in Britain, for example, couldoffer one channel with alternating English programs, say from Sweden,the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and so on. This is what is being pioneered by the World Radio Network withits WRN1 service in English on Astra, which began in September, 1993.If the effort is a success, services in other languages will follow. \v\ There are some other options farther into the future, such asDigital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) by satellite, also called BSS)Sound.This would provide high quality radio reception to portable receivers.BSS)Sound was approved by the World Administrative Radio Conferenceheld in Torremolinos, Spain during February, 1992. The conference agreed that 1.5 GHz was the most technicallysuitable frequency range, as it offers best reception for portablereceivers, without interference from the terrain or buildings. Smallwhip antennas can be used and the satellites will be cheaper to build. However, politically many countries could not agree, one of thereasons being that their existing users at 1.5 GHz in some casesinclude the military. The conference reached absolute deadlock on thissubject, and it was only in its very last stages that a compromise wasdrawn up. This provided the world with three separate allocations forBSS-Sound. One is at 1.5 GHz--with a small portion of the bandavailable immediately, another allocation at 2.6 GHz, and a separateband for the US at 2.3 GHz. The result is that digital satellite radiois now just around the corner, Provided, of course, satellites arebuilt and receivers brought on to the market. Worldspace, based in Washington, DC, plans a service calledAfrispace, which would broadcast 9 digital radio channels to Africa andthe Middle East. The planned portable receivers are expected to costaround USD 100 each. Afristar 1 would be located at 12 degrees West,and Afrispace hopes to be operating by late 1994. Radio Netherlands hasalready signed a contract with Afrispace to broadcast 24 hours a day toAfrica and the Middle East. An American company called the International Radio SatelliteCorporation, or RadioSat, has announced plans to create a worldwidedirect broadcast satellite service for international broadcasters.RadioSat plans to launch three high-powered satellites, each with more than 200 channels to be leased to international broadcasting organizations. RadioSat says the VOA, BBC World Service, Radio Moscowand 5 other broadcasters have expressed interest. RadioSat hopes tolaunch the first of its three spacecraft in 1995. \L\ PART II. WEATHER AND OTHER "UTILITY" SATELLITES If TVRO is the satellite version of shortwave broadcast DXing,then these satellites provide the equivalent of utility monitoring andscanning. The equipment required can be much less elaborate and muchless expensive than for TVRO. On the other hand, transmissions may beless comprehensible, without the necessary expensive or unobtainableequipment for decoding. I. Wefax WEFAX or Weather Facsimile, is the method used to transmitphotographs and weather satellite maps via radio and telephone lines. The satellite version is known as APT. There are many low orbit weathersatellites using this system in the 136)138 MHz band. Some of the active satellites that can be monitored are theAmerican NOAA and the former Soviet Meteors: NOAA beacons..................136.770 MHz Meteor 3)3, 3)4 and 3)5.......137.300 MHz APT NOAA 10 and 12................137.500 MHz APT NOAA 9 and 11..................BB137.620 MHz APT NOAA beacons..................137.770 MHz Meteor 2)21...................137.850 MHz APT Meteor 2)21 is a new satellite, launched on August 31, 1993.Meteors 3)4 and 3)5 are currently not transmitting. Meteor 3)6 is to belaunched soon. NOAA 13 was launched on August 9, 1993. Unfortunately,contact with the satellite was lost on August 21, 1993. The launch ofNOAA 14 has been moved up to early 1994. China has orbited severalpolar orbiting WEFAX satellites in its Fengyun)1 series. None arecurrently operational, but the frequencies used are 137.06, 137.80, and137.795 MHz. The satellite APT provides a continuous strip of image as thesatellites circle the globe in polar orbit. The NOAAs orbit at around800 kilometers, while Meteors are in a higher orbit at around 1200kilomters. This means that NOAA satellites pass overhead at the sametime every day (for example NOAA 11 passes over Britain travellingnorthbound at around 15:30 hrs UTC and southbound at around 03:00 hrs).Meteors, on the other hand, because of the higher altitude, tend toarrive earlier each day by 10 to 20 minutes. NOAAs provide both visibleand infrared images (and can be monitored during darkness), while theMeteors are more irregular in providing infrared images. The satellites are quite strong, and can be heard on simplescanners and antennas. However, since the bandwidth of the APT signalis wider than the narrowband FM bandwidth of ordinary scanners, whichis around 15 to 35 kHz. The best images are received with receivershaving an IF bandwidth of 45 kHz. Dedicated WEFAX receivers are sold bya number of companies, including Vanguard Labs and Hamtronics in the USand Timestep in the UK. For those who find a dedicated receiver tooexpensive, Software Systems Consulting in the US sells a speciallymodified scanner for around USD 150. It is possible to obtain images using an ordinary scanner orreceiver, such as the ICOM R7000, although the detail will be lessclear.\v\ Small non)directional antennas, such as ground planes, discones,or active antennas are usually all that are required to receivesatellites in low orbit. The satellites are so strong that even aquarter length whip for the amateur 145 MHz band will result in clearreception. The best antenna to receive polar orbiting satellites, however, isa crossed dipole or turnstile cut specifically for 137 MHz. It'simportant that the antenna be omindirectional, but also have a highangle of elevation, to receive signals from satellites passingoverhead. Most scanner and amateur radio antennas are designed to havea low angle of elevation, to boost reception of terrestrial signals.Crossed dipoles can be built fairly easily (there are plans in theWeather Satellite Handbook and the PC GOES/WEFAX User's ReferenceManual, for example). There are also a number of commercially availableantennas. Other onmidirectional antennas that work well with polar orbitingsatellites include the linblad, quadrifilar helix, and the verticalhelix. It's advantageous to use low)loss cable, and a preamplfier,usually mounted at the antenna end of the cable. Tuned amplifiers, suchas those used for the amateur radio 2 meter band, work much better thanbroadband amplifiers, which do have the advantage of being much lessexpensive. Do not use a broadband amplifier with a broadband scanner ordiscone antenna. To interpret the satellite signals and view the images, computersand special interfaces are necessary. These are available from the samevendors who sell receivers, as well as many others. Check out articlesand advertisements in such magazines as "Monitoring Times" and "PopularCommunications" in the US and "Shortwave Magazine" in Britain. Notethat many interfaces are solely for reception of HF Wefax fromshortwave. These will NOT work with satellite APT. We've tested the PCGOES/WEFAX demodulator for MS)DOS computers from Software SystemsConsulting. It seems to work very well. Most of the available software is for MS)DOS computers, althoughthere are interfaces and software for other machines, such as the BBCMicro and Sinclair Spectrum. In most cases the interface is connectedto an available serial port on the computer, and to the headphone orexternal speaker jack of the receiver. Some receivers have separateline output jacks, but the levels there are usually too low. It can be useful to plug a "Y" cable into the headphone jack, withone end connected to the interface and the other to a small speaker(preferably with its own volume control), so that the monitor canlisten to the channel at the same time that it is permanently connectedto the interface. (Cable, small speakers, and even cables with built)involume controls can be found at suppliers such as Radio Shack/Tandy.) Unlike geostationary satellites, the polar orbiting satellitesmove. While it can be interesting to tune in from time to time, orremember when the daily passes of the NOAA satellite occur, the easiestway to know when to look for the satellites is with a satellitetracking program. Some interface software, such as PC GOES/WEFAX, comewith tracking programs included. There are a number of programs foramateur radio satellite tracking available that work very well withWEFAX satellites. Some are public domain or shareware, and can be foundin BBS's or in data libraries in online systems such as CompuServe.\v\Others are available through AMSAT in various countries. \\ II. Geostationary Weather Satellites Geostationary satellites provide 24 hour WEFAX transmissions froma single position in the sky. No tracking or waiting for a satellite tocome in range is required, but the greater distance and higherfrequencies require more expensive equipment than that required tomonitor polar orbiting satellites. The currently operational geostationary weather satellites are: Meteosat)4 0 degrees Meteosat)5 8 degrees West Meteosat)3 75 degrees GOES)6 75 degrees GOES)7 112 degrees GOES)2 135 degrees GOES)3 176 degrees GMS)4 140 degrees East The American geostationary GOES satellites downlink on 1691 MHz,while the European Space Agency's Meteosats use 1694.5 MHz. OtherMeteosat frequencies include 1695.73 and 1695.76 MHz. Meteosat)3 wasoriginally positioned at 50 degrees West longitude, but in early 1993it was moved to 75 degrees West, to cover for the failure of a GOESsatellite. When the system is fully operational, there should be GOESsatellites at 59, 112, and 135 degrees West. Meteosat)4 is at 0 degreeslongitude. Meteosat)5 is positioned nearby, and would have replacedMeteosat)4 but suffered from imaging faults. The satellite has now beenreactivated and is scheduled to replace Meteosat)3 at 75 degrees Westin early 1994. The Japanese GMS)4 is at 140 degrees East. Meteosat)6 was launched from French Guiana on November 19, 1993.It is to replace Meteosat)4 at the end of January, 1994. China is scheduled to launch its FENGYUN)2A satellite intogeostationary orbit on February 23, 1994. This will be positioned at105 degrees East. To receive geostationary satellites, it is often easiest to buildupon a receiving station for polar orbiting satellites. A sensitiveantenna for 1690 MHz is required, usually a dish of around 1 meter orone or more stacked looped yagis. To this is connected a block downconverter and preamplifier, which converts the signal from 1690 MHzdown to 137 MHz. This is important because cable absorbs more energy at1690 MHz than at 137 MHz. The GOES and Meteosat satellites use the same APT format as foundon the polar orbiting satellites. They also supply higher quality PDUSand HRPT images, which require specialized receiving equipment, whichis also available. The GMS satellites use a wide band FM format that isincompatible with APT. They use a frequency deviation of 150 kHz, whichrequires receivers with that bandwidth. The European Space Agency plans to launch a new Meteosat in late1993 and NOAA has scheduled launches of new GOES satellites in April,1994 and in 1995. AAAAMeteosat, operated by the European Space Agency on behalf of theEuropean Meterological Office, will be undergoing in)flight testsbefore it enters service at 0 degrees longitude at the end of January1994. Tests will be conducted while the satellite drifts from itscurrent orbital position at 19 degrees west. \v\ The first on)board test images will be relayed back towards the end ofthis week. Once operational Meteosat 6 will replace Meteosat 4, which will becomea back up satellite. Meteosat 5 will then be drifted to cover theAmericas to replace Meteosat 3, presently on loan to the US WeatherService )) NOAA )) which has suffered the loss of many of its satellites (Satnews passim). Meteosat only has a lifespan of a fewmonths left. Meteosat 7 and 8 are scheduled to be launched by the end of 1995, justbefore Eumetsat takes over all the operation off Meteosat satellitesfrom ESA. III. Other "Utility" Satellites There are many other satellites using the 136)138 MHz band. Manyuse narrow band FM to transmit their telemetry. Britain's Prospesosatellite is on 137.56 MHz. Temisat transmits on 137.72 MHz. Japan'sMarine Observation Satellites MOS 1 and 1B can be heard on 136.11 MHz.India's Bhaskara 1 (137.230 MHz) and 2 (137.380 MHz) also use narrowband FM. A Transit navigational satellite can be heard on 136.65 MHz.Sweden's Freja)1 auroral research satellite uses 137.50 MHz, afrequency generally used by the NOAA satellites. Other satellites monitored in this band in the past include NASA'sATS)3 (136.37), Transit (136.65), IUE (136.86), Marecs A/B (137.17),Okean (137.4), and Intercosmos (137.45). There have been, and will be,many other satellites in this band. Other interesting satellites on nearby frequencies include theAmerican Hilat (149.988 MHz narrow band FM) and Geosat (150.015 and 400MHz CW). The American Transit and former Soviet CosNav satellites providenavigational data to ships and submarines. They transmit simultaneouslyon two frequencies: Channel 1))149.910 and 399.762 MHz Channel 2))149.940 and 399.842 MHz Channel 3))149.970 and 399.922 MHz Channel 4))150.000 and 400.200 MHz Channel 5))150.030 and 400.082 MHz The CosNavs may also use 148.91 and 388.84 MHz. Scientific and research satellites use the following bands: 400*402 MHz, 1400)1429 MHz, and 2655)2700 MHz. Sweden's Freja)1 research satellite, investigating the NorthernLights, has a beacon on 400.55 MHz. Other satellites monitored around400 MHz include DOD (401)401.5) and DCS (401.5)403). Various DODsatellites are listed using the band between 406 and 425 MHz. Marisat are geo)stationary satellites carrying transponders formaritime mobile and aeronautical communications. Maritime Mobile use1535)1543 MHz downlinks while Aero Mobile uses 1458)1542 MHz for\v\downlinks. The American Landsat operates around 2 GHz, as do the Franco*Swedish Spot photo satellites. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a new American system thatwill eventually include 24 Navstar satellites in a 55 degree inclinedorbit at 20 to 200 kilometers above the Earth. These provide accuratelongitude, latitude, and altitude information to handheld units thatmonitor 3 to 4 satellites. They use spread spectrum transmissionsaround 1575.42 MHz. Besides the commercial version, which providesaccuracy to around 100 meters, there is a more accurate military systemwhich was used by American Army Intelligence during the Gulf War. Thisuses an additional signal on around 1227.6 MHz to compensate forvarious delays between the satellites and the receiver. Although GPS satellites don't transmit a signal that can belistened to in a traditional sense, the status of the entire system canbe monitored on a shortwave receiver. WWV transmits an update thesystem every 14 minutes on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz. The similar former Soviet GLONASS (Global Navigation SatelliteSystems) system uses 1250, 1597, 1603, and 1617 MHz. There are to be 24GLONASS satellites in orbit. \6\ PART III. Amateur Radio in Space Besides governments and corporations, radio amateurs have alsolaunched many satellites. The first communications satellite was infact the Moon, which radio amateurs bounced have bounced signals offfor years. In 1960 a group of radio amateurs in the United Statesformed the Project Oscar ("Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio")Association to design and build satellites for use in the amateur radiobands. Oscar was succeeded by the Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)in 1969. There are national AMSAT societies in many countries, and theinternational headquarters is in Washington, DC. Amateur Radio Satellites: Satellite BBOrbit Beacon or Downlink Modes/Comments Oscar 10 elliptical 145.810/145.987 MHz Oscar 11 circular 145.826/435.025 RS 10/11 circular 29.357/.408 RS)10 CW 145.857/.903 " 29.407/.453 RS)11 CW 145.907/.953 " Oscar 13 elliptical 145.812/435.651 UO)14 circular 435.070 PO)16 circular 437.02625/437.0513 DO)17 circular 145.825 voice synth. WO)18 circular 437.0751/437.102 slowscan TV LO)19 circular 437.1258/437.15355 packet BBS FO)20 circular 435.795/435.910 packet BBS AO)21 145.987 FM/packet dnlink 145.800/.819/.838/.948 beacons UO)22 circular 435.120 (see below) packet BBS RS)12/13 circular 29.408/.454 RS)12 CW 145.912/.959 " 29.458/.504 RS)13 CW 145.862/.908 " KO)23 circular 435.175 packet BBS AO)24 elliptical 2446.47 2 meter failure KO)25 circular 435.175/500 packet BBS IO)26 circular 435.867/822 packet and voice AO)27 circular 436.800 packet and FM PO)28 circular 435.250/435.275 occasional The easiest way to get started in amateur satellite monitoring isto listen to the RS satellites in the 10 and 15 meter bands on anordinary shortwave receiver. Radio amateurs with a shortwave receiverand a 2 meter transmitter (even a handheld) can work the RS satellites.An ordinary longwire antenna is all that is needed for shortwave, andsimple quarter wavelength 2 meter whips will do for transmitting. Most users use more sophisticated equipment. Omnidirectionalantennas will work the satellites in low earth orbit, although mostactive users prefer directional gain antennas, such as crossed yagis,on a motorised rotor run from a satellite tracking program. \t\ Tracking programs are vital for finding amateur radio satellites. Some are public domain or shareware, and can be found in BBS's or indata libraries in online systems such as CompuServe. Others areavailable through AMSAT in various countries. We've tested one of thebest programs for the MS)DOS computers, RealTrak, which is highlyrecommended. The more sophisticated programs can interface with antennarotors. Most amateur radio satellites use some kind of digital packetradio mode. Terrestrial packet radio operators can move up to satelliteoperation fairly easily, although a variety of packet modes are used,and new modems to connect to existing TNCs will be needed in mostcases. Conventional packet radio uses a system known as AFSK (AudioFrequency Phase Shift Keyed) modulation. This was used by some earliersatellites, such as UO)11, and is used by Dove. UO)11 uses an olderASCII system, AMSAT)TTY, similar to Bell 202, but at 1200 baud. Because of the Doppler Effect (frequency shift from high speed),satellite packet generally uses a different system called PSK (PhaseShift Keyed) modulation. AO)13 and 21 use a system with 400 baud ASCII.The first "microsats" (AO)16, WO)18, LO)19, FO)20, and AO)21) use a1200 baud system where the uplink is Manchester coded AFSK (FM), whilethe downlink is BPSK (SSB). UO)22, KO)23 and 25, and PO)28 use what maybe the amateur satellite of the future, FSK (FM) at 9600 baud. Some ofthe second generation "microsats", A0)27 and IO)26, are more flexible,with up and downlinks at varying speeds up to 9600 baud. Oscar 10 and 13 have elliptical orbits, which mean that they tendto "hover" over the Northern Hemisphere, making for long periods forcontacts with little adjustment needed in tracking antennas. However,they require antennas with higher gain than those used for the circularorbit satellites. The former Soviet RS)10/11 and RS)12/13 are each two separatepackages on the same satellite. UO)14 (UoSat)3), PO)16 (PacSat), DO)17 (Dove), WO)18 (WeberSat),LO)19 (LuSat) are known as "microsats" because of their small size.They were launched together with an Ariane rocket in January, 1990. UO)14 was made by the University of Surrey in Britain. UO)15,launched with UO)14, stopped transmitting the day after launch. Ownedby Volunteers in Technical Assistance, UO)14 carries a packet radioBBS, which is used to transmit free medical information to universitiesin East Africa. The service, known as HealthNet, is operated by anorganization called Satel)Life. Health)Net transmissions use packetradio at 9600 baud, with downlinks on 428.01 and 429.985 MHz. PO)16 was built by AMSAT)North America, and LO)19 by AMSATArgentina. They contain PSK packet radio BBS's. Dove is a Brazilian*made "peace satellite". It has a voice synthesizer and also transmitsstandard packet AFSK)FM on 145.825 MHz. WO)18 was built by Weber StateUniversity in Utah. It contains an onboard camera that downlinks itspictures by packet radio. The Japanese JO)20 also carries a packet BBS,with similar up and downlink frequencies to PO)16 and UO)19. The French satellite SARA is an amateur astronomy satellite, witha beacon on 145.955 MHz. It's use of an amateur radio frequency iscontroversial, and probably illegal. \v\ South Korea's KO)23 downlinks ordinary packet radio at 9600 baudon 435.175 MHz. The satellite can also photograph the Earth and measurecosmic rays. It carries an amateur radio electronic mail system, andwill conduct experiments in voice broadcasting. It's described as anear clone of UO)14 and UO)22. KITSAT)B (KO)25), launched with thesecond set of microsats on September 5, 1993, is virtually identical,as is the amateur radio part of Portugal's PoSat (PO)26), launched atthe same time. The Kitsats are in near circular orbit 1300 kilometers from theEarth, with an inclination of 66 degrees, which make them available tousers much farther to the north and to the south than most amateurradio satellites. Arsene, launched with Astra 1C in May, 1993, orbits over theequator. It's farthest distance from the Earth is 37,000 kilometers,just about the same distance as geostationary satellites, but since itgets as close as 17,500 kilometers, it appears to slowly drift fromwest to east. The high orbit means access time of nearly 20 hours aday. ARSENE was supposed to function as a packet radio repeater in thesky, relaying AFSK packet down to Earth. However, the 2 meter equipmenthas failed, and the satellite can only be worked on voice in S modewith a downlink on 2446.54 MHz. There is also a beacon on 2446.47 MHz. The Italian amateur radio satellite IO)28 (Itamsat) downlinksvoice FM as well as ordinary AFSK packet at 1200 baud and PSK at 1200and 9600 baud. Uplinks can vary between 1200, 4800, and 9600 baud. TheAmerican commercial satellite Amrad (AO)27) will sometimes relaydigital (300)9600 baud) and FM voice amateur radio signals. There are plans for many more amateur radio satellites. UNAMSATfrom Mexico and RS)15 from Russia are awaiting launch. UNAMSAT willcarry a packet PSK BBS, with a downlink on 437.200 MHz. CEsat)1 fromChile, SUNSAT from South Africa, Finland's HUTSAT, the American Sedsat,and Guerwin)1 from Israel are under construction. Guerwin will probablybe a packet PSK BBS, with a downlink around 435.250 MHz. Radio amateurs are particularly looking forward to the Phase 3)Dsatellite, a follow)up to the aging Oscars 10 and 13. Phase 3)D willcarry a matrix of separate transmitters and receivers that can belinked together, rather than discrete transponders. The satellite willcarry equipment for 145 and 435 MHz, as well as 1.2, 2.4, 5.6, and 10GHz. Phase 3)D will cost around USD 5 million, as much as ageostationary satellite. Many radio amateurs are looking forward to theday when there will be geostationary amateur radio satellites, what iscalled Phase 4 But AMSAT has decided to go ahead with Phase 3)D,because a single geostationary satellite would only benefit one thirdof the world's amateur radio population. Three would be needed toprovide communications for radio amateurs everywhere. But we can lookforward to the day when radio amateurs will have access to 24 hourcommunications, without the bother of tracking programs and rotors tocomplicate things. Then there's Northern California's Project Oscar, which orbitedthe first amateur radio satellite, which has now proposed installingthe first repeater on the Moon. The group hopes to get "ProjectMoonray" off the ground by the turn of the century.\r\ Part IV. MONITORING THE SPACE SHUTTLE, MIR, AND THE MILITARY I. The Space Shuttle and MIR Space shuttle communications have been relayed on shortwave from anumber of amateur radio clubs at NASA bases. These are in single sideband (SSB), and the frequencies to look for are 3862, 7185, 14295,21395, and 28650 kHz from WA3NAN at the Goddard Space Flight Center inMaryland; 3840, 14280, 21350, and 28495 kHz from the Johnson SpaceCenter in Texas; and 3840 and 21280 kHz from the Jet PropulsionLaboratory in California. Here are some reported frequencies connected with the shuttlemissions: Shortwave (SSB): Western Test Range.............................. 5700 kHz 13218 Eastern Test Range.............................. 5190 NASA Tracking Ships............................. 5180 5187 Launch Support Ships............................11104 19303 NASA Kennedy Operations......................... 7675 USAF Cape Radio................................. 6837 6896 11414 BB 11548 19640 23413 Shuttle)Mission Control.........................11201 NASA Ascension Island tracking..................20186 NASA CB Radios..................................27065 VHF/UHF (AM): Military aircraft emergency frequency........... 243.0 MHz Primary shuttle communications.................. 259.7 Shuttle space suits............................. 279.0 Primary UHF downlink............................ 296.0 Air)to)ground or orbiter)to)suit................ 296.8 S)Band (Wideband FM) via TDRS satellites: NASA downlink................................... 2205.0 MHz 2217.5 2250.0 2287.5 Primary digital downlink........................ 2287.5 North American satellite TV monitors can watch live video from theshuttle missions via NASA Select on Satcom 2R transponder 13. A voiceTV schedule update can be heard by calling American telephone number 1*202)755)1788. Missions with German astronauts may be relayed on one ofthe Kopernikus satellites to Europe. Space launches may also be carriedon Intelsat 504 at 31.4 degrees West, on 11.133 GHz. \v\ Amateur Radio on the Shuttle There have been many amateur radio operations from the shuttles,known as SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment). The first was Dr.Owen Garriott, W5LFL, from "Columbia" in 1985. He was heard by tens ofthousands of listeners and made two way contact with some 350 stationsusing FM with a downlink on 145.55 MHz. With the resumption of shuttle missions after the "Challenger"crash, amateur radio operations have resumed as well, with both FMvoice and packet radio. Unfortunately most shuttle flights maintain anorbital inclination of 28 degrees, which restricts radio contacts tostations within around 30 degrees of the Equator. Occasional missionsuse a greater inclination, up to 57 degrees, which make it possible formany more people to listen to and contact the shuttle. STS)37, on "Atlantis" in April, 1991, was particularly noteworthy,as all five crew members were licensed radio amateurs. There werehundreds of contacts with amateur radio operators on Earth. While aproblem curtailed packet radio and slowscan television operation, thefirst television picture ever received on board a spacecraft wascarried out using fast scan television. The Atlantis crew was also ableto hear the Soviet cosmonauts on MIR, but were unable to complete twoway communications. The entire crew of STS)45, in March, 1992, were also radioamateurs. At least nine of the current astronauts have amateur radiolicenses, which means that virtually every launch will have an amateuronboard. The usual downlink frequency is 145.55 MHz. MIR The former Soviet MIR space station can easily be heard with itspowerful FM signals on 143.625 MHz, but this channel is now only beingused over Europe, when the station is in range of the ground station inthe Crimea. Funding cuts dictated that the communications ships offSable Island, Madeira, etc., which were relaying MIR by shortwave, areno longer operational. Voice communications have also been reported on 143.42 and 142.42MHz, as well as a beacon on 121.75 MHz. Data communications from MIRhave been heard on 166.130 (or possibly 165.875) MHz. Other frequenciesreported from the former Soviet space program are: Soyuz T)11 space vehicle telemetry.... 20008 Soyuz T)11 voice communications.......142.423 MHz Soyuz TM)3 and TM)4...................121.750 Progress 7 supply ship................166.000 When out of range of the CIS ground stations, MIR communicationsare now often relayed through the "Luch" or "Altair" transpondersystems of CIS geostationary satellites. The Soviet satellite trackingnetwork is called SDRN, the Satellite Data Relay Network. Downlinks areon 10.8, 11.3, and 13.7 GHz. The relay most used over Europe is via thesatellite at 16 degrees West listed as ZSSRT)2 (an abbreviation of theRussian words "Zemlya S Sputnik Radio Translator", meaning "Westerngeostationary satellite transponder"). There is also an eastern relayat 167 degrees East. \v\ The SECAM color signals from MIR are listed at 10.835 GHz, but areactually carried at 10.829 GHz (unfortunately just below the range ofmost satellite TVRO receivers). Monitors can look for the satellite bytuning in to the strong data signals on 11.375 GHz, which can often beseen as flashing lines on the screen. Voice signals from MIR can beheard near the TV frequency, on a 300 kHz SSB subcarrier, but only whenno TV signals are being relayed. MIR video has also been reported on the Ghorizont at 11 degreesWest, on 11.525 GHz. The Molniya satellites are also used for relaying manned spacevoice communications. Amateur Radio on MIR Several MIR cosmonauts have been radio amateurs. In 1988 amateurradio stations U1MIR, U2MIR, and U3MIR operated on 145.550 and 145.400MHz FM. Musa, U2MIR, was on the air frequently in 1990 and 1991. Britain's first astronaut, Helen Sharman, spent 8 days on MIR inMay, 1991. She operated the amateur radio station there, under the callsign GB1MIR. Contacts on 145.55 MHz continued in 1992, and are expectedto continue in 1993, in both FM as U6MIR and packet radio with thecallsign U6MIR)1. MIR reception reports can be sent, along with a self*addressed envelope and USD 1 to 5 to: RV3DR, Sergai Samburov, Space QSL Manager P.O. Box 141070, Box 73 Kaliningrad)10 City Moscow Area Russia \H\ II. Military Communications in Space Military communications are usually coded, but occasionally sometransmissions are in the clear. Most military satellites are in geo*stationary orbit. These include FLEETSATCOM satellites at 72, 75, 77,100, 105, 145, and 177 degrees West. These use frequencies in the 240to 399 MHz range, as well as around 7, 8, 19, 20, 30, and 44 GHz. FLEETSATCOM are the most popular satellites for listeners as theyhave some unencrypted FM channels. The most active are between 261 and263 and between 269 and 270 MHz. During the Gulf War, monitors reported that American militarycommunications in the Gulf could be heard from the FLEETSATCOMsatellite network between 240 and 270 MHz, with most of the voicetraffic in the 260 MHz range, and most coded. One monitor reported to"Popular Communications" American AWACS planes on 263.825 MHz and Saudiforces on 249.325 MHz. Other active frequencies reported were 261.825,262.200, 262.150, 262.425, and 263.525 MHz. According to anotherreport, traffic on Fleetsatcom 7 has been heard on 249.125, 250.350,262.300, and 263.825 MHz. Since the shooting down of an American U)2 surveillance plane overthe then Soviet Union in 1960, the United States has developed anetwork of spy satellites, some of which monitor radio communications.The most recent generation known to the public is KH)11, first launchedin 1976, and the first spy satellite to transmit images in real time. Anew type, called "Advanced KH)11" was first put into orbit by the spaceshuttle Discovery in 1989. In order to communicate with ground stations the KH)11 satellitesuse a system of satellites in polar orbits. The 14 current satellitesin this Satellite Data System (SDS) seem to use frequencies around 240MHz and in the 1700)1900 MHz range. As there have been no SDS launchessince 1988, there is a good possibility that the American Tracking andData Relay Satellites (TDRS) are taking over the task of relaying datafrom the KH)11 satellites. The next generation of American military satellites is calledMilstar. Funding for 6 Milstars has been approved. They will be themost sophisticated communications satellites ever designed, putting allmilitary communications in the same system, making possiblecommunications between the various services. "Popular Communications"says there are 10 assigned positions, but only 2 or 3 are known to bein orbit at this time. Milstars use frequencies around 2, 20, and 45GHz. The former Soviet satellite tracking network is called SDRN, theSatellite Data Relay Network. Downlinks are on 10.8, 11.3, and 13.7GHz. The Molniya satellites use a highly elliptical orbit that makes itpossible to reach high latitudes out)of)reach of geo)stationarysatellites (which would be too low on the horizon). Molniya 1 uses 800MHz and 1 GHz, while Molniya 3 satellites use 4 and 6 GHz. These carrysatellite broadcast television as well as military and manned spacevoice communications. \v\ PART V. HORIZONS Space exploration can be expected to continue. The American spacestation Freedom is scheduled for launch in the late 1990's. AMSAT andthe ARRL have submitted a formal proposal to NASA for a permanentamateur radio station on Freedom. The proposal includes downlinks inthe 145, 435, and 2401 MHz bands. Three geostationary satellites wouldbe used to relay continuous communications from Freedom. AMSAT hopes tohave its own geostationary satellites in orbit in the near future.Until then, the system would use the TDRS satellites used for shuttlecommunications. Project Oscar has called for an amateur radio repeater on theMoon. Farther into the future, it may be possible to monitorcommunications from proposed Moon bases, expeditions to Mars, or futurespace colonies in Earth orbit. Moving deeper into space, radio astronomy probes the limits of theuniverse on wavelengths other than those of light used by conventionalastronomy. To this belongs SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Life.The first SETI project was carried out by Dr. Frank Drake at theNational Radio Astronomy Observatory in Greenback, West Virginia, in1960. He listened to two relatively close stars for two weeks on oneparticular frequency. Project META, a SETI project at Harvard University, funded by thePlanetary Society and film director Steven Spielberg (the maker of"E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind") is monitoring sweepsacross the sky on 8.4 million discrete frequencies. After five years ofobservations, there are 11 interesting "events" that satisfy all butone of the critera for a genuine alien signal. As astronomer CarlSagan, President of the Planetary Society, writes in "Parade Magazine": "We've never been able to find any of them again. We look back atthat part of the sky three minutes later, there's nothing. We look thefollowing day))nothing. Examine it a year later, or six years later,and still there's nothing." NASA started its new SETI program on October 12, 1992, using aradio telescope in California's Mohave Desert, and another at theArecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. In the first year, 164 strong"candidate" signals were found for closer examination. Unfortunately,in the Fall of 1993, the U.S. Congress, looking to reduce the budgetdeficit, cut the USD 10 million dollar a year funding for the program. Carl Sagan writes about the effect finding intelligent life onother worlds could have on us: "The knowledge that such other beingsexist and that, as the evolutionary process requires, they must be verydifferent from us would have a striking implication: Whateverdifferences divide us down here on Earth are trivial compared to thedifferences between any of us and any of them. Maybe it's a long shot,but discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence might play a role inunifying our squabbling and divided planet. It would be a rite ofpassage for our species, a transforming event in the ancient quest todiscover our place in the universe." \t\ There may be a role in the SETI quest for amateurs. Speaking to"Monitoring Times", astronomer Kent Cullers of the NASA Ames ResearchCenter in California says that amateurs could try searching the 1)1.4GHz range, because "interstellar noise is relatively low there.""Monitoring Times" points out that antennas are critically important,and suggests dishes, quads, and helical antennas. A computer can beprogrammed to scan frequencies. If signals are passed through adigitizer, the computer can break the information into small slices andcan reject certain kinds of local interference. FOR MORE INFORMATION One way to keep up with the amateur radio satellites is to listento one of the AMSAT nets on shortwave. Here are some: International Net))Sundays 19:00 hrs UTC on 14282 kHz European Net)))))))Saturdays 10:00 hrs on 14280 kHz Asian)Pacific Net))Sundays 11:00 hrs on 14305 kHz AMSAT and its national societies publish newsletters and sellcomputer hardware and software for use in monitoring amateur radiosatellites. The main AMSAT address is: Box 27, Washington, DC, 20044,USA. AMSAT)UK is at 94 Herongate Road, Wanstead Park, London E12 5EQ,England. AMSAT)Sweden is at Box 1311, S)600 43 Norrkoeping, Sweden. There are a number of computer bulletin boards for spaceenthusiasts in the United States: 1)205)895)0028 NASA BBS 1)512)852)8194 AMSAT Software Exchange BBS 1)214)394)7438 Downlink BBS (AMSAT) 1)214)340)5850 N5ITU BBS 1)513)427)0674 Celestial RCP/M BBS 1)904)786)8142 Starship Enterprise BBS 1)804)743)0559 Astro BBS (amateur astronomy) There are also resourcess on the Internet of interest to spaceenthusiasts, such as: NASA News, NASA Spacelink, Shuttle and SatelliteImages, the NASA/IPAC Extra Galactic Database, and news groups such asalt.radio.amateur.packet, alt.satellite.tv.*, and others. The CompuServe HamNet Forum has a section devoted to amateur radiosatellites. The Consumer Electronics Forum has a TVRO section. Thereare a number of other space forums on CompuServe, including a NASAsection with news from the American space agency. CompuServe now haslocal access nodes around the world, especially in Western Europe andJapan. For more information contact: CompuServe, 5000 Arlington CentreBlvd,. Box 20212, Columbus, OH 43220, USA. The FIDO network contains several conferences about satellitetelevision, amateur radio satellites, and packet radio. There are several BBS's for WEFAX enthusiasts in Britain. TheDartcom BBS (0822)88249) is located at a WEFAX equipment supplier. TheRemote Imaging Group operates the RIG BBS (0945)85666) for members. \r\ Two very interesting newsletters about satellite broadcasting areavailable over data networks. Both of which were used extensively incompiling this booklet, and we'd like to thank both for makingthemselves available to us. "SatNews" is huge, so big that the fortnightly uploads have to bedivided into two or three files. There's probably more here about theelectronics and satellite industries than any one person wants, but allthe important news is included. Editor Darren Ingram does a great job,but it caters to business interests, at business prices. Fortunatelythey offer a special rate to non)commercial subscribers: GBP 50 or USD100 for one year to an Internet)compatible mailbox. If you need thiskind of information, it's well worth it. You can contact SatNews at theInternet mailbox satnews@cix.compulink.co.uk for more information. "Skyguide" is a short weekly newsletter covering satellite andcable broadcasting, concentrating on the UK. Fortunately, it's free,although distribution has been uneven recently. You can find Skyguideevery week on London's CIX conferencing system, in the Skyguideconference, the Fidonet Satellite TV echo, and the packet radionetwork. Skyguide is now available on the Internet in thealt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup. "Dial)a)Shuttle" is a telephone number available during shuttlemissions, with news updates and live relays from the astronauts. Thenumber is 1)900)909)6272. Europeans can access interesting, if uneven, rumors and news aboutsatellite broadcasting from the "In Orbit" teletext pages, on SuperChannel beginning on page 375 and on UK Gold, pages 333 and 334. Thecontent of the services vary slightly ) Super Channel's version isconsistently more critical of Astra and Sky, while the UK Gold versionappears (at the moment) to be more neutral. There's a very good source of up-to-date satellite news, most of it in German, from a fax polling number in Germany. If you have a fax machine, you just dial up the number, and automatically receive pages of news. The initial number is +49-89-418-608. Then there are two morenumbers for the different services. 99 gets you a list of satellite channels in the S-band, C-band,and Ku-band, between 66 degrees East and 10 degrees East. 49 gets asimilar list between 7 degrees East and 53 degrees West. 97 is forsatellite programming news, and 98 for satellite industry news. 94 isfor satellite data communications news, compiled by English by Darren Ingram, editor of "Satnews". The World Radio TV Handbook contains a section on World SatelliteBroadcasts, which lists current and some planned geostationarybroadcast satellites, with detailed lists of transponder usage. We madeextensive use of the WRTH in compiling the section on Asian satellites.Unfortunately, there are no satellite listings in the ordinary sectionof the handbook. If you look up Radio Sweden or Swiss RadioInternational, or the BBC in the WRTH, you'll find the shortwaveschedules, but not a word about the satellite relays. The onlyindication is a tiny little dish symbol next to the appropriatebroadcaster. These refer to the "World Satellite Broadcasts" section. \t\ Nevertheless, you still have to know what you're looking for, andit would make a lot of sense to include this information under theregular listings as well. This can get complicated, of course.....wheredo you list information on Deutsche Welle's broadcasts on satellitesover North America, under Germany, Canada, or the USA? But there oughtto be a solution. The World Satellite Annual, compiled by Mark Long, has just abouteverything you could possibly want to know about communicationssatellites. It lists all the current and many planned satellites ingeosynchronous orbit, with footprint maps and channel tables. There arechapters on satellite launch vehicles for the 1990s, the status of DBSin America, updates on Intelsat and Eutelsat, European ScramblingSystems, and the Satellite News Gathering Revolution. The book isexpensive, at USD 100 plus postage. But for the serious satellite DXer,it's well worth it. For more information contact MLE Inc., Box 159,Winter Beach, Florida, 32971, USA. Together with Jeffrey Keating, Mark Long as also written The Worldof Satellite Television, a basic guide to installing, operating, andmaintaining a backyard satellite dish antenna. Available for USD 13from Quantam Publications, Box 310, Mendocino, CA 95460, USA. Communications Satellites, by Larry Van Horn, covers U.S. andSoviet manned space missions, military, weather, navigational, andcommunications satellites. It's available for USD 13. (*) The Hidden Signals on Satellite Television, by Thomas Harringtonand Bob Cooper Jr., goes into detail about SCPC, audio subcarriers,teletext, and other non)video signals on North American satellites. Italso covers the equipment needed. Available for USD 20. (*) The three books above are the best guides for satellite radio andTV DXing. Those interested in weather satellites should look into: The New Weather Satellite Handbook by Dr. Ralph Taggart is themost comprehensive book around about monitoring weather satellites. The new 4th edition is available for USD 20 from the American RadioRelay League, Newington, CT, USA, or from Metsat Products, Box 142,Mason, MI 48854, USA. (*) AMSAT and the American Radio Relay League have published anexcellent guide to amateur radio satellites called The SatelliteExperimenter's Handbook. (*) The 2nd edition is available for USD 20,from: AMSAT, Box 27, Washington, DC 20044, USA. The later SatelliteAnthology ought to update the handbook, but it doesn't. Instead itreprints articles from "QST" magazine, some of which are very out)of*date. AMSAT also publishes "Satellite Journal" magazine and "AmateurSatellite Report". Most of these books are available from a number of sources. Manyof the ones marked (*) should be available from the following: "73Magazine", Forest Road, Hancock, NH 03449, USA; Grove Enterprises, 140Dog Branch Road, Brasstown, NC 28902, USA; Universal Electronics, 4555Groves Road, Suite 3, Columbus, Ohio 43232, USA); and EEB, 323 Mill St.NE, Vienna, VA 22180, USA. Some books of interest to Europeans may be ordered from PWPublishing, Enefco House, The Quay, Poole, Dorset BH15 1PP, Britain. \v\ The best program listing for North American TVRO monitors is"Satellite TV Week", available for USD 48 a year from Satellite TVWeek, Box 308, Fortuna, CA 95540, USA. There are a couple of British monthlies with channel listings andsatellite news, "What Satellite" (57)59 Rochester Place, London NW19JU) and "Satellite TV Europe" (5 Riverpark Estate, Berkhamsted HP41HD). "Transponder" is a British newsletter, filled with informationabout satellite broadcasting. Published 24 times a year, it's availablein the UK for GBP 37, in Europe for GBP 60, and outside Europe for GBP75, from: Transponder, Box 112, Crewe Cheshire, CW2 7DS, England. "Satellite Watch Newsletter" is the magazine of the video piratesatellite underground, people who regard any kind of coding as aviolation of American Constitutional rights. Lots of details ondescrambler hardware and software. But 12 issues are available for USD35, from: Walker Media Group, 6599 Commerce Ct. No. 103, Gainsville, VA22065, USA. Radio Netherlands publishes an interesting leaflet called "WeatherSatellite Fact Sheet", as well as "Satellites for the ShortwaveListener". Both are available for free from: Radio Netherlands, Box222, NL)1200 JG Hilversum, the Netherlands. The Fall, 1990 edition of "Whole Earth Review" has an excellentarticle by Robert Horvitz called "Tabletop Earth)Watch Stations" aboutmonitoring WEFAX, with the WER's usual good guide to sources. Availablefor USD 7 (more for postage abroad) from: Whole Earth Review, Box 38,Sausalito, CA 94966, USA. The American magazines "Monitoring Times" and "PopularCommunications" have columns with the latest on North Americansatellite TVRO. "73 Magazine" has a column on amateur radio satellites.The British sister magazines "Short Wave Magazine" and "PracticalWireless" cover satellites very well from the European perspective. Theemphasis in the former is on TVRO and WEFAX, in the latter on amateurradio satellites. If you're into cyberpunk, "Wired" magazine from San Franciscocovers everything from the Internet and Virtual Reality to satellitetelevision in Asia and special effects on "Star Trek". When he wasbeing interviewed for the magazine, Arthur C. Clarke took one look atit and thought it should have been spelled "Weird". For the story of telecommunications, from the first Atlantic cableto his own original proposal of communications satellites, and up tothe present, science and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke's Howthe World Was One is a fascinating read. CNN: The Inside Story by Hank Whitmore is the story of TurnerBroadcasting's early years, published in connection with CNN's 10thanniversary in 1990. Since it was released by CNN, it's not likely tocontain anything really negative or overly)revealing, but it is afascinating behind)the)scenes look at how the satellite TV industry gotstarted, and how CNN works. Our only complaint is that there's toolittle about CNN International and the network's expansion beyond NorthAmerica (which has largely happened after 1990). \v\ For information about amateur radio astronomy, you can contact theBritish Amateur Radio Astronomy Society, c/o Steven Newberry, 19Oakway, Kingsley Park, Birkenshaw, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD11 2PG,Britain. For more information about the Planetary Society, write to: ThePlanetary Society, 65 N. Catalina Ave., Pasadena, CA 91108, USA. Reason not)withstanding, the universe continues unabated, terriblyhuge and terribly complicated. "The DXers Guide to the Galaxy", whilerelatively short, and undoubtedly filled with much that is wildlywrong, out)of)date, or of marginal interest, is nevertheless greatlyinspired by (some might say plagiarized from) Douglas Adams and "TheHitch)Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". We hope he doesn't mind too much. For more information on this engrossing subject, consult the booksand magazines mentioned above. We did to write this. Repeatedly. Pleasenote that things change rapidly in this field, numbers to computerbulletin boards even faster. This is as accurate as we could get it onthe day it went to the printers, in November1993. There wereundoubtedly mistakes then, stuff left over from earlier editions, andmany changes since. We disclaim all responsibility for anything thathappens due to these mistakes or changes. Should you have any information you would like to pass along, inorder to rectify or update any of these unavoidable errors, you cancontact Radio Sweden's DX Editor George Wood through any of thefollowing electronic means: CompuServe Mail 70247,3516 MCI Mail to the CompuServe address Internet 70247.3516@compuserve.com Fidonet to George Wood at 2:201/697 Packet Radio to SM0IIN on the SM0ETV mailbox Telefax +468)667)6283 In case of electrical failure the mail will also work: Radio Sweden S)105 10 Stockholm Sweden From orbital.demon.co.uk!cix.compulink.co.uk!satnews Tue Apr 5 22:59:55 1994 remote from sdsmail Received: by sds.se (1.65/waf) via UUCP; Wed, 06 Apr 94 10:19:37 GMT for hermod Received: from post.demon.co.uk by mail.swip.net (8.6.8/2.01) id WAA01710; Tue, 5 Apr 1994 22:59:55 +0200 Received: from orbital.demon.co.uk by post.demon.co.uk id aa05351; 5 Apr 94 15:09 GMT-60:00 Received: from (server@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by orbital.demon.co.uk (8.6.7/8.6) with SMTP id LAA29151; Tue, 5 Apr 1994 11:11:12 GMT Received: from post.demon.co.uk (post.demon.co.uk [158.152.1.72]) by orbital.demon.co.uk (8.6.7/8.6) with SMTP id LAA28905 for ; Tue, 5 Apr 1994 11:07:23 GMT Received: from post.demon.co.uk via puntmail for satnews@orbital.demon.co.uk; Tue Apr 5 8:22:08 1994 Received: from demon.demon.co.uk by post.demon.co.uk id aa08040; 5 Apr 94 7:46 GMT-60:00 Received: from eros.britain.eu.net by demon.demon.co.uk id aa07560; 5 Apr 94 7:45 BST Received: from compulink.co.uk by eros.britain.eu.net with UUCP id ; Tue, 5 Apr 1994 07:45:44 +0100 Received: from smtpsrvr by cix.compulink.co.uk id aa11252; 5 Apr 94 6:29 GMT Received: by gonzales.compulink.co.uk. (5.65/25-eef) id AA24264; Tue, 5 Apr 94 07:28:40 +0100 Date: Tue, 5 Apr 94 07:28 BST-1 From: Darren Ingram Subject: Satnews 129-2 To: satnews@orbital.demon.co.uk Reply-To: satnews@cix.compulink.co.uk Message-Id: Sender: satnews@cix.compulink.co.uk X-Mailing-List: Satnews BT LAUNCHES GLOBAL SAT TRACK MESSAGE SERVICE BT has launched Globetrak, a new satellite tracking and messaging service designed for transport and distribution companies, which allows drivers to remain in contact with base wherever they are in the world. Allied Pickfords, an international removals company, has already signed up for the service. Seven vehicles will be equipped with the system over the next five years. Globetrak integrates BT's C-Sat Inmarsat service with the US Department of Defense's Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite location service. An in-vehicle mobile data terminal is installed which is connected through a mobile Inmarsat terminal to a BT earth station at Goonhilly. A PSTN (public telephone) to satellite gateway has been established, enabling messages to be sent through dial-up modems. The driver can return messages for onward transmission by phone, data or fax, through a full QWERTY keyboard. Sandra Hole, BT'S business development manager, said: "This system allows drivers to inform base of completed deliveries, delays or breakdowns. The base can easily send advice, change plans and provide details of backloads to drivers. Globetrak is ideal for distribution companies operating across more than one country where existing cellular or radio systems may not have sufficient international coverage." Globetrak can be rented on three, four or five year contracts, with prices from GBP55 per month for a terminal. Purchase prices start at GBP6,000 for the software and GBP3,500 for the terminal. Network usage is on a pay-as-you-use basis, with prices presently GBP0.005 pence per character at any time. BT says that a message to "CONFIRM RETURN FERRY DETAILS" would cost GBP0.16. INDIA CHOSES ARIANE FOR LAUNCH Arianes