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:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2120--Nov. 20, 1990 ::
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Shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2120
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SWEDEN--Some listeners on the West Coast of North America have suggested that
we switch our broadcasts from 17880 kHz to 17875 (because of inference from
the BBC). In order to test this alternative channel, we're using our third SW
transmitter at a free time, 16:30-17:00 hrs, and relaying one of the programs
already in service at that time--German.
The beam is 320 degrees, and the tests should continue until Thursday--
Thanksgiving Day. We're very interested in reception reports, and encourage
listeners to fax them to us. Americans should dial 011-468-667-6283.
Sweden has the highest penetration of teletext (Text-TV) in the world.
According to a study by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation's Program
Research Department, every second Swede has access to teletext.
Remember, the complete Radio Sweden schedule to Europe can be found in the
teletext service of EuroSport, on page 496.
Personnel at Swedish Radio's immigrant languages department have protested a
decision to cut-back broadcasts in Greek, to make way for increases in Polish
and Persian. Greek broadcasts on weekdays would be taken off the air, leaving
a broadcast on Sundays. Polish and Persian would each be carried "every other
day". (TT)
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The Gulf:
IRAQ--Radio Baghdad's "Voice of Peace" broadcasts to American soldiers
in the Saudi Arabian desert have changed character. Originally playing
music that AP describes as "more appropriate in elevators", "Baghdad
Betty", as she's been dubbed, has switched to American Top 40.
According to the soldiers, they tune in now to listen to the music, but
ignore the commentary. As Staff Sgt. Joseph Herald told AP: "As long as
she plays good music, who cares what she has to say? Anyone who's
supported by someone insane can't be telling too much truth." (AP)
SAUDI ARABIA/USA--We've reported before on the American military's
"Desert Shield Network", relaying the Armed Forces Radio and Television
Service to American soldiers in Saudi Arabia, on FM. Reuters reports
that the introduction of American-style radio is having an effect in
conservative Saudi Arabia.
Information is rigidly controlled in Saudi Arabia, where censors tear
offending pages from foreign newspapers and magazines before they go on sale.
Desert Shield's own programs are specially tailored to avoid offending local
susceptibilities. But programs are broadcast directly from the United States
14 hours a day. Hourly news bulletins read from Washington reflect a liberal
society far different from Saudi Arabia.
USA--Columnist William Safire has suggested in the "New York Times" that the
United States counter "Baghdad Betty" with its own propaganda broadcasts to
Iraq. The Voice of America is now broadcasting around the clock to the Gulf,
13 of those hours every day in Arabic. But Safire says the VOA is limited to
straight reporting, and is not the vehicle for the job.
The columnist wants to copy the existing Radio Free Aghanistan by using Iraqi
and Kudish exiles to make programs in local accents, to be broadcast from VOA
transmitters in Greece. (New York Times)
Meanwhile, the American space shuttle "Atlantis" has been in space on a
secret military mission. Civilian experts say they believe Atlantis launched
a satellite to spy on Iraqi forces. (Reuter)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES/EGYPT--Egypt's Voice of the Arabs program is now relayed
by satellite to the Gulf and retransmitted in the United Arab Emirates on
1575 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES--UAE Radio Dubai at 16:00-16:40 hrs in English is now
using 11795, 13675, 15320, 15400, 21605, and 21675 kHz. (Tom Sundstrom, USA)
UAE Radio in Abu Dhabi is now broadcasting in English to North America at
22:00-24:00 hrs on 6170 and 9600 kHz and 00:00-02:00 hrs on 6170 and 9505
kHz. Broadcasts beamed to "North West America" are scheduled at 22:00-23:00
hrs on 15100 kHz and 23:00-24:00 hrs on 13605 kHz. All other broadcasts from
Abu Dhabi are in Arabic. (UAE Radio)
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SATELLITE-TV--Beginning November 22nd, Yugoslav Television and Radio will be
broadcasting over France's TDF-1 satellite, using the La Sept transponder.
Five hours of Yugoslavian programs are to be carried on this channel every
week. (Radio Belgrade via BBC Monitoring)
Britain's Independent Broadcasting Authority says the recent merger between
satellite broadcasters Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting
violates BSB's licence, which the IBA seems set to withdraw. The authority is
unable to actually block the merger, since broadcasts from the new company
will be from the Astra satellite, outside British jurisdiction.
The practical result is that BSB signals will disappear from the Marco Polo
satellite sooner than planned, leaving 100,000 receiver and antenna owners
without a service. The IBA says it will invite offers from other companies
for the Marco Polo frequencies, but it is uncertain anyone would want to take
the risk. (Reuter)
Sky News is supposed to be broadcast only to the British Isles, from the
Astra satellite. But it was announced at the Vision 90 exhibition in
Stockholm recently that Sky News is officially expanding outside of Britain.
It's signed an agreement with Stockholm's largest cable company, Stjaern-TV,
and will be carried in their basic tier from the beginning of the year.
FUTURE TV TECHNOLOGY--CNN covered the summit meeting between Presidents Bush
and Gorbachev in Helsinki in early September by shipping 15 tons of equipment
to the Finnish capital. But in a few years a similar project will require
considerably less tonnage. Cameras are growing smaller and lighter. And,
according to CNN's Jerry Lilly, in the future digital telephone lines can be
used to transfer signals, eliminating the need for satellite uplinks.
(Svenska Dagbladet)
Meanwhile, at the Radio Television News Directors Association Conference,
held recently in San Jose, California, TV news technology of the next century
was under discussion. Solid state cameras, expected to be available in 1999,
will store video images on chips, rather than tape or film. That means
newscasts can be assembled directly on computer screens.
On the other hand, the fiber optic cable systems of the future will be
inter-active, and viewers will be able to create their own custom-made
newcasts, choosing what they want to see. One speaker at the conference
envisioned reporters working independently, sending their reports to a
central pool, to compete with other stories. Viewers would just choose the
stories they want to see. News Directors and networks might then be a thing
of the past. (San Francisco Chronicle)
In today's English edition of Sweden Calling DXers, we're looking at the
Cable News Network, talking to media critic Roger Wallis and CNN Regional
Vice President Patric Hale.
DIGITAL RADIO--Japan is about to launch the world's first nationwide digital
radio system. The broadcasts will use pulse code modulation, or PCM, matching
the quality of compact disks, and free from the usual radio hissing noises.
Test begin this month via satellite, and full services are scheduled to begin
in April. The first PCM station is Satellite Digital Audio Broadcasting, or
SDAB. There are to be around 18 much such stations, all of which could be on
the air late next year.
The services will be offered on a subscription basis, costing around 4 and a
half dollars a month. But the installation fee for the decoder will be nearly
200 dollars. Many listeners must also invest several hundred dollars in a
satellite antenna and receiver. Around three million households in Japan have
already installed satellite equipment to view NHK's satellite television
channels, making the extra investment to listen to SDAB much smaller.
But the other 18 radio channels to go on the air next year will be beamed
from two different satellites, requiring new antennas and receivers.
(Reuters)
Swedish Radio would like to start a digital service, which could go on the
air as early as 1996. However, for this to happen, the currently unused band
between 104 and 108 MHz would have to be reserved for digital transmissions.
("Reptilen")
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Short and Medium Wave:
COSTA RICA--Radio Impacto, which supported the Contra cause against the
government of Nicaragua, is now called Radio Cordillera, and operates
on 980 kHz medium wave only. The shortwave transmitters will probably
be purchased by some other station. (Ken MacHarg, visiting Costa Rica,
in "mv-eko")
CUBA--Radio Havana Cuba is continuing to be relayed from transmitters in the
USSR. There's an English broadcast to the Middle East and East Africa at
20:00-21:00 hrs on 11850 kHz and to Western Europe at 22:00-23:00 hrs on 7215
kHz. (Tom Sundstrom)
CZECHOSLAVAKIA--Radio Prague International is now broadcasting at 00:00-00:15
hrs in English to North America on 7345, 9540, and 11990 kHz; and at 01:00,
03:00, and 04:00 hrs on 5930, 7345, and 9540 kHz. On Mondays (UTC) the 00:00
broadcast is 30 minutes long. (Tom Sundstrom)
GUINEA--Radio France International is now being relayed in Conakry on 92.8
MHz FM. (BBC Monitoring)
JAPAN--Studies are under way concerning a possible new Persian language
service from Radio Japan to Iran and Afghanistan. The new service would use
the transmitting station under construction in Sri Lanka. Radio Japan will
start leasing transmitter from from Sri Lanka from January, 1991. (Radio
Japan)
RWANDA--Radio Rwanda has launched a daily 30 minute program in English.
Inauguration of the program follows the invasion of Rwanda last month from
rebels in exile in neighboring Uganda. Radio Rwanda already broadcasts in
French. The English broadcasts are at 14:30-15:00 hrs. (Reuter)
According to the WRTH, Radio Rwanda broadcasts on 3330 and 6055 kHz.
SPAIN--The parliament of Catalonia has approved a prposal to create an
external radio service from Catalonia. The station would broadcast on
shortwave, preferably in Catalan, but also in other languages.
The creation of the station, however, depends on an upcoming verdict from the
Constitutional Court. The Canaries, Basque, and Galician governments have all
challenged the article on the law on telecommuncations that restricts short
and long wave broadcasts to the Spanish State. (Radio Exterior de Espana, via
BBC Monitoring)
USSR--Radio Vilnius is now broadcasting in English to North America at
23:00-23:30 hrs on 6100, 7400, 9750, 15180, 17690, and 17720 kHz. (Tom
Sundstrom and Herbert Aichele, Germany)
UNOFFICIAL RADIO--A new station calling itself Radio Mojahedin of Afghanistan
has been heard on 6140 kHz, at 02:00-03:30 hrs. Announcing 6100 kHz, this
station opposes the government of Afghanistan. (BBC Monitoring)
Radio Caroline, forced off 558 kHz by London's Spectrum Radio, was to have
moved to 576 kHz, and even had a jingle packet made. But crystals for that
frequency were not available, so Caroline is using 819 kHz. Power output is
about 4 kW, but signal strength varies greatly. There is interference from
co-channel BBC Hereford and adjacent channel independent local radio stations
in Luton and Leeds. (Paul Rusling)
PUBLICATIONS--"World Perspectives" is a monthly magazine presenting summaries
of news from shortwave, trying to balance the local orientation of American
media. It is, in fact, required reading for two classes at the University of
Wisconsin! Subscription price in the US is USD 19 a year, with sample copies
available for USD 1.75. Overseas subscriptions are USD 30 or 75 IRCs, sample
copies USD 3 or 8 IRCS.
From: World Perspectives, Box 3074, Madison, WI 53704-0074, USA.
ANARC/EDXC--We're sorry to report that the Association of North American
Radio Clubs, which brought together clubs for listeners across North America,
has ceased operation. This drastic action was prompted by the apparent lack
of interest shown by member clubs, and the fact that no club had offered to
host the 1991 convention. (EDXC Newsletter)
Remember, the 1991 conference of the European DX Council will be held in
Barcelona May 17-20, 1991. For more information, write to: EDXC, Box 4, St.
Ives, Huntingdon, PE13 4FE, England.
DXing AND THE KGB--We've received a letter from Ognyan Chengelien and Rumen
Pankov in Bulgaria, who joined the Danish Shortwave Clubs International in
1974. Late that year they were arrested by the Bulgarian KGB for
contributions to programs like Sweden Calling DXers and membership in what
were called "Western espionage" DX clubs.
They were released in May, 1979, but were unable to resume their hobby until
the fall of the dictatorship in Bulgaria in November, 1989. Ognyan and Rumen
want to thank all DXers and clubs who supported them over the years.
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Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave
listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features,
and interviews since 1948. The program is now broadcast on the first and
third Tuesday of each month. RS broadcasts to North America:
15:30 hrs on 17880 and 21500 kHz
02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
To Latin America:
23:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
To Europe, Africa, and the Middle East:
18:00 hrs on 1179, 6065, 9655, and 11900 kHz
19:30 hrs on 6065 and 7265 kHz
22:00 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz
23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz
01:00 hrs on 1179 kHz
And to Asia and the Pacific:
12:30 hrs on 11715, 17740, and 21570 kHz
14:00 hrs on 9765 and 21610 kHz
01:00 hrs on 9770 kHz
The Radio Sweden schedule to Europe in Swedish, English, German, French, and
Spanish can be found on EuroSport (on cable and on the Astra and Eutelsat I-
F4 satellites) Tele-Text page 496.
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood to Swedish telex 11738,
CompuServe (via the HamNet Forum or Easyplex 70247,3516), through the FidoNet
system to 2:202/297 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS SM0ETV.
Reports can also be sent to:
Radio Sweden
S-105 10 Stockholm
Sweden
Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources
such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint
material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are
acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are
copyright.
We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden
Calling DXers, and our programs in general.
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Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!
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