From: xberri@quark2.aero.org (Jason E. Berri)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: SCDX 2146
Date: 21 Dec 91 19:45:00 GMT
Reply-To: xberri@arecibo.aero.org
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2146--Dec. 17, 1991 ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2146
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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Welcome to a very special edition of Sweden Calling DXers, number 2146. We'll
be looking back at the major events in broadcasting during the year gone by.
Where last year was dominated by events in Eastern Europe, this year saw
major changes in media in the disintegrating Soviet Union, especially during
and after the attempted coup in August. The war in Yugoslavia has also had
its effects on the airwaves.
There have also been many changes in satellite broadcasting. Here in Europe
the second Astra satellite has slowly filled up with new channels, Asia's
Star-TV is on the air, and there have been changes as well in North America.
(Breaking news note: FilmNet is in the clear for one month! See below!)
But as the year started, most of the world's attention was on the Gulf.
THE GULF:
INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTS--As we reported in last year's round-up program, the
crisis that led to the war resulted in many international broadcasters
stepping up their broadcasts to the Middle East, in world languages such as
English and French, their own languages for their citizens in the area, and
in Arabic.
COVERING THE GULF WAR--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, or CNN.
CNN brought us live coverage of Scud missile attacks on Israel and Saudi
Arabia, as well as press briefings from the war zone and the Pentagon. Peter
Arnett's reports from Baghdad illustrated the importance of portable
satellite telephone equipment.
But broadcasts from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Israel were all censored, raising
more questions.
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 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.
PREPARATIONS--The United Nations deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait
ran out at 05:00 hrs UTC Wednesday January 16. The allied air war started the
following day. The tense preparations were reflected on the radio bands.
A station called the Voice of Free Iraq appeared on January 1st, broadcasting
to Iraq on one medium wave and three shortwave frequencies contributed by the
radio services of Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Co-operation
Council states.
Kurdish expatriate Dr. Firiad Hiwaizi later told the "New York Times" he was
recruited by Saudi intelligence to record broadcasts at the Voice of Free
Iraq. He urged fellow Kurds inside Iraq to overthrow President Saddam
Hussein. The station, outside the Saudi city of Jidda, was staffed by 40
Iraqi expatriates and protected by armed Saudi guards. Other Kurdish
dissidents, NBC News, and some American government officials have said the
station was probably created by the CIA.
Egypt made its medium wave transmitter on 1107 kHz available to an exiled
Radio Kuwait.
There was a large increase in the so-called numbers broadcasts aimed at
spies, especially in the 7 MHz band. Transmissions attributed to Israel's
Mossad intelligence agency were active on 9251 kHz.
The United States launched a new satellite into orbit on January 8th,
designed to improve comunications between NATO's headquarters in Belgium and
NATO countries. According to analysists, the United States had at least five
photo reconnaisance satellites of the KH-11 series in operation over the
Gulf. These satellites transmited digital images of reconnaisance targets,
and also provided signals intelligence, that is, monitored local radio
commununications.
Many frequencies were reported for military communications, especially those
used by American warplanes on their way to the Middle East.
The Kuwaiti resistance used a hidden satellite telephone system and a fax
machine to send military intelligence to allied commanders in Saudi Arabia.
Amateur radio was also used to relay information from inside Kuwait.
WAR BEGINS--Iraq replaced its regular domestic shortwave service and the
Voice of the Masses service with what was called Mother of Battles Radio,
broadcasting almost around the clock. These transmissions used transmitters
in Kuwait.
Iraqi radio and television were immediately attacked by the American bombing.
Bomb damage to broadcasting equipment and to the electricity grid took Iraqi
stations off the air for periods of time. Monitors in the Middle East
reported the quality of Iraqi transmissions gradually deteriorated.
BBC Monitoring reported the external service Radio Baghdad was off the air
after January 19th. Mother of the Battles was last heard on February 2nd, and
after mid-February Iraqi Radio continued on only two frequencies--3980 and
684 kHz. 8350 and 756 kHz were last heard on the morning of February 12th.
Radio Kuwait in exile began broadcasting 21 hours a day from Saudi Arabia on
666 kHz. The station was initially jammed by the Iraqis, but allied bombing
destroyed the Iraqi jamming transmitters in the early days of the war.
On February 5th an anti-Iraqi station in Arabic calling itself Gulf Voice
Radio appeared on 1134 kHz.
The Voice of America moved a 25 kW medium wave transmitter from Belize to
Bahrain, where it was on the air on 1350 kHz.
The Voice of Israel Network B and the military's IDF Radio linked into a
single network when the war started on January 17th. A special channel was
also set up solely to relay warnings of incoming missiles.
Kol Israel also expanded its English service. The Arabic language service
began operating around the clock.
AFTERMATH--In early March, Radio Kuwait resumed operations from its studios
and transmitters within the country. Two medium wave channels, 540 and 1341
kHz were reactivated on March 21st, while Radio Kuwait in exile continued to
operate from Saudi Arabia.
In August, the chief of the technical division of Radio Kuwait announced the
station would resume broadcasts on shortwave within 8 months. But it will
take two years before programming reaches its former schedule.
The American Armed Forces Desert Network-Kuwait City went on the air on 107
MHz FM on March 6th. It broadcast around the clock from an air-conditioned
van to tens of thousands of American soldiers in Kuwait
and southern Iraq. Weather reports were unique--with the basic sky conditions
described as "smoky" or "partly smoky", because of the hundreds of oil wells
set afire by the Iraqis.
The Red Cross Broadcasting Service added extra broadcasts to the Gulf,
begining on March 10th.
As the Kurdish and Shi'a revolts began within Iraq, rebel stations appeared
or expanded. On March 15th a station calling itself the Voice of Rebellious
Iraq was heard on 7097 kHz. According to Iranian media this station was set
up by anti-Saddam rebels in Basra.
The transmitter of the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 1224 kHz was
heard in late March with a station calling itself the Voice of the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, followed on the same frequency by another service called
the Voice of Disavowal from the Polyatheists.
The Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan was heard broadcasting in Kurdish on March 29th
on 5684 kHz. Another station called the Voice of the People of Kurdistan was
also on the air.
Iraqi radio also slowly resumed operations. BBC Monitoring reports that the
Radio of the Iraqi Republic domestic service in Arabic from Baghdad added a
new frequency of 6540 kHz on March 13th, along with the previously observed
channels of 3980 and 4600 kHz. On March 21st programming resumed on 15600
kHz, and by April 8350, 4600, 3980, 1197, 756, and 684 kHz had returned to
the air.
In early April Iraqi Radio resumed broadcasts in the Kurdish language, on
7350 kHz, before switching to 6540, and in November to 6560 kHz.
In November the Iraqi Embassy in Brussels announced Radio Baghdad would soon
be resuming broadcasts in English to Europe and North America.
On December 8th, Tom Sundstrom noted the Iraqi News Agency back on the air on
14700 and 13524 kHz.
In May Kol Israel cut its overseas broadcasts by half, from 117 hours a week
to 57. Broadcasts in Hungarian, Romanian, and Portuguese were taken off the
air, and English and French were cut back to just one hour each per day.
Beginning June 30th, Kol Israel dropped all broadcasts between 22:00 and
13:00 hrs.
But in November, Kol Israel resumed morning and lunchtime relays of +news in
English and French from the domestic service Network A. Broadcasts to North
America between 23:00 and 04:00 hrs were restored. Initially this was a relay
of the Hebrew Reshet Bet service, but there are plans to add English
headlines to the hourly Hebrew newscasts. (Most of the above was from BBC
Monitoring and Reuters)
THE DISINTREGRATING USSR:
At the beginning of the year, the crisis in the Baltic states was
overshadowed by the Gulf War.
THE BALTIC REPUBLICS--Following the seizure of Lithuania's radio and
television facilities by Soviet troops on January 13th, amateur radio was
used to relay news from the Lithuanian parliament. The amateur radio
transmissions became a main link for news from Lithuania. The main
frequencies were 14155, 7060, and 3614 kHz.
Lativan radio amateurs also began using 14151 kHz to get news out.
Before the occupation, an unlicensed radio station was operated by the Soviet
Communist Party in Lithuania on 864 kHz, called Soviet Lithuania. A similar
station in Estonia, on 747 kHz, was called Radio Hope. This was joined by a
television station called "TV Station Nadezhda" on April 30th, broadcasting
from a military base near Tallinn. Another pro-Moscow radio station, Radio
Community, also started broadcasting from a military base near Riga, Latvia,
on 918 kHz.
Radio Riga International introduced broadcasts first in English, then in
German. As the crisis worsened, the transmitter on 5935 kHz was on the air 24
hours.
A private commercial station called Radio Centras also appeared in Lithuania,
on 1107 and 1134 kHz medium wave, along with 4 FM frequencies.
RUSSIA--On February 8th, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a decree
creating a new company to control national radio and television, the All-
Union State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company. Leonid Kravchenko was
appointed director of the new company. Television news reverted from wide-
ranging political reporting to little more than readings of government
announcements. The most daring shows were taken off the air.
The new head of Soviet broadcasting also moved Russia's Radio, operated by
the Russian Federation, from the popular All-Union First Program to the All-
Union Second Program. That cut the station's coverage to only 40% of the
Russian population.
Kravchenko also criticised the external service Radio Moscow for drawing too
negative a picture of life in the Soviet Union.
In July 16 Radio Rodina and Radio Peace and Progress were taken off the air.
Radio Moscow's World Service in Russian began operating 20 hours a day.
THE PLOT SICKENS--In April, Lithuanian braodcast employees began a hunger
strike to protest the occupation of the radio and television
center by Soviet troops. As the August coup attempt approached, the pro-
Soviet Lietuvos Televizija was broadcasting from the occupied studios in
Vilnius, Lithuania, also relaying the satellite video channel MTV on an
irregular basis, and without permission from MTV.
THE AUGUST COUP--During the coup, media was tightly controlled and the
Russian Federation's Russia's Radio was off the air. The Russian parliament
was relayed on amateur radio, on 14165 kHz. The relays used the call sign
R3A, and were also reported on frequencies around 7040 and 13640 kHz.
The independent station Echo of Moscow was also closed on the first day of
the coup. The station first went on the air on August 22nd 1990, founded by
the Moscow City Council, the Journalism school at Moscow University, along
with an independent radio association and a local magazine. They began with a
10 kW medium wave transmittter on 1206 kHz.
They were also reported using a new 100 kW shortwave transmitter located just
south of Moscow, using 9535 kHz.
During the coup Radio Moscow relayed news from the hardliners.
COUP AFTERMARCH--Estonian Radio was the only station in the Baltic area not
closed or taken over by forces supporting the hardliners. But following the
failure of the coup, Latvia and Lithuania broadcasting returned to normal,
and Soviet troops withdrew from the Vilnius braodcasting center which they
occupied in January.
As a result of the coup, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev fired the head of
state broadcasting Leonid Kravchenko.
Beginning August 27th, Russia's Radio became a 24 hour service, replacing the
All-Union Radio-2. In October, Russia's Radio added 8 more shortwave
frequencies: 7105, 7175, 9525, 9550, 11935, 12045, 15255, and 15365 kHz.
Deutsche Welle signed an agreement to use the former Soviet jamming
transmitters for relays of programs to Asia.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbechev took
part in a live broadcast on the ABC Television Network in the United States
September 6th, following the failure of the attempted coup. For an hour and a
half the two leaders took questions from ordinary Americans. The program was
broadcast live in 10 countries, including the Soviet Union, and was
rebroadcast in many others.
In November Radio Moscow announced that it has not printed up new broadcast
schedules because the service may be abolished in the near future!
ESTONIA--In October, Radio Estonia added a second English broadcast on
Thursdays as well as Mondays, at 21:30 hrs on 1035 and 5925 kHz. The
broadcasts are also carried locally on two FM channels: 69.32 MHz in the
Eastern European FM band, and on 101.6 MHz in the Western FM band.
That last frequency is also used for the special Radio Tallinn service for
tourists during the summer. The rest of the time it relays Estonian Radio's
Channel 2 domestic service.
LITHUANIA--Beginning in October, Radio Centras in Lithuania, began regular
programs in English on the last Saturday every month on 9710 kHz. They added
German on November 30th. Their schedule is now English at 07:00, German at
07:40, and Esperanto at 07:50 hrs on the last Saturday of every month, on
9710 kHz.
Radio Vilnius also expanded its English schedule in October.
RUSSIA--A new independent Russian music station called Radio Ala went on the
air in October, using shortwave transmitters in St. Petersburg, and
Kaliningrad.
UKRAINE--A new station appeared in the Ukraine in October, called Radio
Independence. It broadcasts in Ukrainian between 16:00 and 18:00 hrs on 5980
and 11825 kHz.
YUGOSLAVIA:
Besides regular news reports, the outside world has been able to follow the
civil war in Yugoslavia on both shortwave and satellite:
THE FEDERAL SIDE--Yugoslavian Television has been relayed on Eutelsat 1-F4 at
7 degrees East, on 11.178 GHz. Original audio uses the subcarrier on 6.65
MHz, with English translations on 7.56 MHz, and a relay of Radio Belgrade on
7.02 MHz.
CROATIA--In September Croatian Radio announced shortwave relays on 7240 and
9830 kHz. By November, Studio Zagreb's first program could be heard around
the clock. The 1200 kW medium wave transmitter on 1134 kHz was damaged by the
Yugoslavian Army.
Since October, Croatian television has been carried on the Eutelsat 1-F5
satellite, first using the transponder at 11.508 GHz. Radio Zagreb used the
audio subcarrier at 7.02 MHz. There have been short news bulletins in
English. In November the satellite relays switched to the transponder at
11.74 GHz, with the radio sound using the subcarrier on 7.2 MHz.
Croatian Radio in Zagreb has been relayed over the American station WHRI from
00:00 to 01:00 hrs on 9495 and 7315 kHz. This includes reports in English,
and is followed on 7315 kHz several days a week by another bilingual service
called Radio Free Croatia, which appears to be produced in Chicago.
As noted below, both Belgrade and Zagreb are scheduled to move to the new
Eutelsat 2-F3 satellite that was launched on December 7th.
SATELLITE-TV/EUROPE:
ASTRA--Europe's biggest broadcast event this year happened on March 2nd, the
launch of an Ariane rocket from French Guyana at 23:36 hrs UTC, carrying with
it the Astra 1B satellite. When the satellite went into official operation on
April 15th, it added 16 television channels, or transponders to the Astra
system. Because Astra 1B is in the same orbital position as the 1A satellite,
owners of Astra dishes could watch the new channels with the same equipment.
By August Astra claimed that more than 4 million households in Europe could
tune into the Astra satellites directly from their homes or from satellite
dish systems serving several homes. Of these, more than 1.4 million were in
Britain, and 1.3 million in Germany. The Nordic countries accounted for
nearly 600,000 Astra dishes. By year's end Astra predicted 6 million
households.
But there were also problems. Signals from the Astra 1B satellite became weak
in June and again in early September. Astra knows what happened, and how to
correct the situation if it happens again. Unfortunately, Astra doesn't know
why it happened, unless it was because of unusually high solar activity.
Astra is bound to have more problems after the launch December 7th of the
Eutelsat 2-F3 satellite. It's going to be placed in orbit at 16 degrees East.
That's just 3 degrees away from Astra, and the two satellites will be
transmitting on some of the same frequencies. That means people with smaller
dish antennas may be encountering interference. Eutelsat registered the
frequencies first, so there's not much Astra can do.
Eutelsat is due to be operating in time to relay signals from the winter
Olympics in France in February. The channels on the Eutelsat 1-F4 and F5
satellites are due to move to the new satellite, including stations from
Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and Yugoslavia.
BSB--Last year's biggest event in European satellite broadcasting was the
merger between Sky and BSB to form British Sky Broadcasting. When the new
Astra 1B satellite came into operation in April, B Sky B had 5 channels: two
pay-film channels (Sky Movies Plus and the Movie Channel), a light
entertainment channel (Sky One), Sky News, and Sky Sports. All are relayed on
both Astra and the Marco Polo DBS satellite.
In October BSB started a sixth service called the Comedy Channel, using the
Astra transponder on 11.597 GHz. The service is scambled but is free to
subscribers to Sky Movies Plus or the Movie Channel.
Following the merger of Sky Television and BSB, the new company had two
sports channels. Sky Sports took over from the former BSB's Sports Channel.
Sky sold its 50 percent share in the other service, Eurosport, which it ran
together with the European Broadcasting Union. This followed a European
Commission ruling that the venture violated European Community fair
competition regulations.
Sky pulled the plug on Eurosport on May 6th. Thanks to new investment from
France's TDF, Eurosport returned to the airwaves in June, first only on the
Eutelsat II-F1 satellite, on 10.97 GHz. A few days later, Eurosport
reappeared on Astra, but not on its old transponder on Astra 1A. Instead, it
was on Astra 1B on 11.538 GHz. In October EuroSport returned to its former
home on Astra 1A. It's also on DFS 1 Kopernikus, on 11.55 GHz.
On October 16th the British government announced the franchises for the
commercial channel 3 stations around the country, which were basically being
auctioned off to the highest bidder. The auction has had its effects on
satellite TV. Thames Television, which lost its London franchise, has
announced it may sell programs to the BBC and satellite television companies.
And Thames is also considering broadcasting over an Astra satellite when its
franchise ends in 1993.
TV-AM, which lost the national weekday morning franchise, is combining its
advertising sales staff with British Sky Broadcasting, and more co-operation
is planned. In the new year, TV-AM is to take its news from Sky News.
JSTV--Japan Satellite Television began 11 hour a day operation on the Astra
1B satellite on June 3rd, using the transponder at 11.567 GHz. This followed
a two hour a day schedule on Astra 1A, at 11.273 GHz. There are English
subtitles during the newscast at 18:00 hrs, and English sound on a subcarrier
on 7.20 MHz, during the newscast at 20:30 to 21:00 hrs. In late August, the
Children's Channel joined JSTV on the transponder on 11.567 GHz.
BBC WORLD SERVICE--April 15th was also the official launch of BBC World
Service Television. This took over the already existing BBC TV Europe, using
the Intelsat at 27.5 degrees West. During the year BBC World Service TV also
expanded to Asia (see below).
MBC--Another new satellite broadcaster during 1991 was the Middle East
Broadcasting Centre (MBC) on Eutelsat 2-F1 at 13 degrees East, on 11.554 GHz.
This London-based channel broadcasts for nine hours daily for Arabs in
Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. MBC also uses the Arabsat
satellite for broadcasts to the Middle East and North Africa.
OLYMPUS--There was a crisis with the Olympus DBS satellite which in early
1991 drifted out of control, around 5 degrees a day. It finally began
accepting commands from the Mission Recovery Team on June 19th. By early July
it had gone as far as 140 degrees East and was being controlled from Perth,
Australia. Apparently it was allowed to drift completely around the Earth,
and by August it was returned to its proper position at 18.8 degrees West.
The satellite carried BBC World Service Television, the Italian RAI, and the
programs from the educational service Eurostep. So far, only RAI has
returned.
SWEDISH SATELLITE TV:
TV4--This year was one of the most important for Swedish broadcasting. The
licence for the new third terrestrial channel, the country's first commercial
television channel, was granted in October. On the final day for
applications, July 1, there were 31 applicants, but only two had a chance,
the country's two largest satellite broadcasters, TV3 and TV4.
The awarding of the franchise for Sweden's new commercial TV channel was
delayed because of the outcome of the Swedish elections, where the right wing
opposition won. Finally, TV3 withdrew its application, buying a 30 percent
share of TV4, which received the concession.
The agreement allowed TV3 to continue to broadcast over the Astra satellites
from London, with its separate Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian TV3 services as
well as the pay film channel TV1000. The deal also gave TV3 the right to sell
commercials on TV4. State authorities have expressed concern that this gives
TV3 a monopoly position.
The new Swedish Channel 3 network will take several years to finish. The
first transmitters went on the air on December 2nd, reaching 50 percent of
the country's population. The station won't be officially beginning
terrestrial broadcasts until March. What that means is that they won't have
to start paying the government for their licence until then.
TV4 will continue to broadcast over the Tele-X satellite for at least one
year. By then, 85 percent of the population will have terrestrial access to
the channel.
TV3 owner Jan Stenbeck has already demonstrated his power over TV4. On
Wednesday the new TV4 board fired the channel's Managing Director, Deputy
Managing Director, and Program Director. The latter two were founders of the
channel.
TV1000--The TV3 empire expanded earlier in the year, in June, when the pay
film channel TV1000 successfully bought a 75 percent share of one of it's
competitors, SF-Succe, after failing to buy the other competitor, FilmNet.
NORDIC CHANNEL--Meanwhile, there are also major changes taking place at
Sweden's third satellite broadcaster, Nordic Channel. Nordic was bought by
new owners, an American-European consortium headquartered in Luxembourg, who
changed the format, so that it is beginning to resemble a Nordic version of
Lifestyle. Relays of One World Channel and ITN News were dropped.
In November, the station in theory changed its name to TV5 Nordic, and to cut
costs switched to the Swedish direct broadcast satellite Tele-X, so it won't
have to pay for European rights. TV5 Nordic can now been seen on the Tele-X
transponder on 12.475 GHz. The new name has apparently yet to be used on the
air.
FILMNET--Sweden's other pay film channel, FilmNet, escaped from being bought
by the TV3 empire early in the year, only to to purchased in late October by
a Swiss company, controlled by a South African concern. In May FilmNet
divided up its services between two satellites. The same films are being
broadcast to Scandinavia over Astra 1A and to the Benelux over Eutelsat 2-F2.
In November FilmNet also began tests of the D2-MAC system, on the former
Nordic Channel transponder on Eutelsat 2-F1. FilmNet has begun regular
transmissions in D2-MAC on Astra 1B channel 23, at 11.553 GHz. Transmissions
in PAL continue in parallel on Astra 1A on 11.362 GHz. Beginning December 15
at 06:00 hrs, FilmNet is operating in the clear for one month, as a Christmas
present to satellite-TV viewers. (Jan Johansson, Sweden)
SATELLITE-TV/ASIA:
STAR-TV--Asia No. 1, the first commercial satellite designed for Asian
countries, was launched in April, 1990 by a Chinese Long March rocket. The
satellite was originally called Westar 6, and was launched by the American
space shuttle in 1984. It failed to lift into geostationary orbit, and was
retrieved by a special shuttle mission in 1985, when it was sold to the
AsiaSat consortium. Now located at 105.5 degrees East, it carries 24 C-Band
transponders, of which 15 have been leased by Hong Kong, Burma, Pakistan, and
Mongolia.
The first pan-Asian satellite broadcaster, Star-TV, went on the air in August
on Asia No. 1, or Asiasat. Owned by Hong Kong's Hutchvision, by year's end
the service carried 4 channels:
1) Star-TV (entertainment and movies)
2) Star Sports
3) Music Channel (from MTV)
4) BBC World Service Television
The 5th channel will be in Mandarin. Star-TV has announced it is buying
Manadarin Language programming from Asian Television, ATV, and has signed an
agreement with Singapore Broadcasting Corporation to buy a minimum of 100
hours of Mandarin drama programming annually for two years.
BBC World Service Television began broadcasting two hours a day of
programming on October 14th, and expanded to 24 hours by mid-November. A BBC
spokesman says Africa is the next target for World Service TV and the BBC
hopes to broadcast to every continent by 1993.
The appearance of AsiaSat has led to a proliferation of rooftop dish antennas
in India. After decades of access only to the heavily censored state
television Doordarshan, satellite dishes are transforming the way Indians see
the world. AsiaSat and video cassette recorders have also spawned a new
industry in semi-legal cable television operators.
JAPAN--Japanese satellite television suffered some set-backs during 1991. On
April 18th the American rocket carrying the BS-3H satellite was lost. There
were fears this would mean the loss of one of the country's three direct
satellite television channels. But the gap was be filled by juggling channels
on the two existing satellites, 2-B and 3-A.
On August 25th Japan successfully launched the BS-3B satellite, which can be
used for high defination television. The satellite started operation on
October 25th. Eight hours a day of experimental broadcasts of NHK's high
definition TV system, known as Hi-Vision, began on November 25th (the date,
11/25, referring to the number of lines in HDTV signals, 1125, nearly twice
that of conventional TV systems). HDTV sets currently cost more than USD
30,000 in Japan, and analysts say the forecast for their year's sales is
around 30,000 sets, mostly to businesses and hotels.
HDTV--The British magazine "New Scientist" has pointed out that the Hi-
Vision system is old technology, and totally analog. The broadcasts compress
the HDTV signal from 30 to 8 MHz, requiring a very expensive decoder, and
resulting in smeared motion. Three Japanese companies are selling TV sets
that convert the Hi-Vision signals to ordinary NTSC, costing only a quarter
of what the Hi-Vision sets cost.
If consumers choose the cheaper version then Hi-Vision may be an HDTV
deadend. The rival European HD-MAC system is partly analog, although several
European countries and consumer groups are resisting European Commission
efforts to force it on broadcasters. The United States is committed to
developing a completely digital HDTV system.
GLOBAL NEWS NETWORK--Japan's NHK has also abandoned plans to organize an
alternative to CNN called the Global News Network. The idea was for GNN to
divide daily broadcsts into three equal segments, from Europe, Asia, and the
Americas. But the chairman of NHK says the project will cost far too much.
SATELLITE-TV/NORTH AMERICA:
ANIK--An Ariane rocket carried Canada's new Anik E2 satellite into orbit
April 4th, but there were problems with the world's most powerful domestic
communications satellite. Telesat Canada was at first unable to deploy the
antennas, but finally rescued the satellite, by spinning it to deploy the
jammed antennas. Stations using the Anik D1 satellite at 104.5 degrees West
moved to E2 in November.
Because the Satcom 4 satellite was suffering telemetry problems Telesat
Canada sold GE Anik D2 to replace Satcom. D2 is to be renamed Satcom 4R. GE
says it will use the former Canadian satellite until new satellites are
launched in late 1992.
The aging Westar 4 satellite was replaced by Galaxy 6, which took over at the
same location on November 2nd.
Spacenet 4 was launched on April 12th, and located at 101.5 degrees West. On
October 15th the satellite suffered a 14 hour hardware failure.
On July 1st, NASA Select TV, operated by the American space agency on the
Satcom 2R satellite, transponder 13, expanded operations. Programming is now
in four hour blocks, repeated during the broadcast day.
On September 10th, the ABC television network in the United States began
scrambling its signals on the Telstar 301 and 302 satellites, much to the
annoyance of American satellite receiver owners.
However, according to reports, the ABC East feed is often carried in the
clear on the Galaxy 6 satellite (now at 99 degrees West), transponder 18.
SATELLITE RADIO:
Many European satellite radio stations have appeared (and disappeared) during
1991. Several famous medium wave stations of the past have become news on
satellite:
CAROLINE--Radio Caroline, Europe's sole remaining offshore pirate station,
disappeared from the airwaves at the beginning of the year, thanks to storms
in the North Sea. In March the station was reborn on the Lifestyle
transponder of the Astra 1A satellit, where it could be heard for two to four
hours a day on the subcarriers on 7.38 and 7.56 MHz, followed by the former
Irish pirate broadcaster Radio Nova. This however, was only a test.
In November, Radio Caroline returned, using the channel of Radio Northsea
International, another station bearing the name of a former offshore pirate,
on the Intelsat satellite at 1 degree West, for daily programs at 22:00 to
23:00 hrs. This was on the TV4 transponder, using the subcarrier on 7.74 MHz.
RADIO NORD--Sweden's first ever commercial radio station, the 60's offshore
pirate Radio Nord, returned to the airwaves in October, via satellite. Radio
Nord is on the air Saturdays between 09:00 and 11:00 hrs UTC via the Radio
Northsea International channel on Intelsat.
Radio Northsea, along with Radio Caroline and Radio Nord, will be switching
to the TV Norge transponder at the end of the year, on 11.019 GHz.
RADIO LUXEMBOURG--The venerable medium wave broadcaster Radio Luxembourg took
to satellite broadcasting over Astra this year, using the RTL 4 transponder
at 11.391 GHz. In July the German service of Radio Luxembourg appeared on the
Tele-5 transponder (11.523 GHz) on the subcarriers at 7.38 and 7.54 MHz. In
November Radio Luxembourg announced plans to close its medium wave
transmitter on 1440 kHz to concentrate solely on satellite broadcasting.
LET'S TALK RADIO--Let's Talk Radio is a new program on the Spacenet 3
satellite (87 degrees West), transponder 21, using the 6.2 MHz subcarrier
(daily at 6:00 PM-1:00 AM Eastern Time). The line-up includes:
Mondays--Tracker Bob of "Satellite TV Week"
Tuesdays--Bill Brown of "73" magazine
Wednesdays--Ken Reitz of "Monitoring Times"
Thursdays--Mark Long, author of the "World Satellite Almanac"
Fridays--Glenn Hauser's World of Radio, Havana Moon, the well-known
clandestine broadcast expert
Saturdays--Glenn Hauser, Havana Moon, Howard Walker, publisher of a
magazine for the satellite-TV underground.
Sundays--Glenn Hauser (9:30 AM Eastern Time), Havana Moon (11:00 Eastern
Time), Shortwave radio.
VOA--The Voice of America has switched from using the SCPC format, which is
difficult to receive without expensive equipment. VOA signals are now found
on the Spacenet 2 satellite, transponder 21, with audio subcarriers on 7.355,
7.425, 7.515, and 7.605 MHz.
AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE:
SPACE SHUTTLE--The 6 day flight of the American space shuttle Atlantis in
early April included extensive amateur radio activities, as all 5 crew
members were licensed radio amateurs. The mission marked the 10th anniversary
of shuttle flights and the 30th anniversary of the first human in space,
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
The shuttle crew tried to set a space first by contacting the Soviet space
station MIR using amateur radio. They got close enough to MIR to see it
glowing in the sky, and heard the Soviets speaking to them, but were unable
to complete two way contact.
However, there were many contacts with radio amateurs on the ground,
including special sessions with school children, to answer their questions
about space. The astronauts were also successful in transmitting slow scan
television pictures to viewers on Earth. The shuttle was able to transmit
some packet radio beacons, but due to a technical fault, no packet radio
contacts were possible.
MIR--Britain's first astronaut, Helen Sharman, returned to Earth on May 27th
after an 8 day visit to the Soviet space station MIR. She operated the
amateur radio station there, under the call sign GB1MIR.
OSCAR--The amateur radio satellite UO-22 was launched on July 16th, 1991, by
an Ariane rocket from French Guiana. It carries a packet radio bulletin
board, which besides use by radio amateurs, is used to transmit free medical
information to universities in East Africa. The service, known as HealthNet,
is operated by an organization called Satel-Life.
The information will be uplinked from a ground station in Newfoundland.
Ground stations have been shipped to universities in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and
Zambia. The researchers who build the satellite at the University of Surrey
are also developing portable ground stations that will fit into a briefcase,
so that field workers can take them to isolated villages.
Health-Net transmissions use packet radio at 9600 baud, with downlinks on
428.01 and 429.985 MHz. Amateur radio operations are also at 9600 baud, with
a downlink on 435.120 MHz. OU-22 also carries a charge-coupled device
camera, which will provide pictures of the Earth only slightly larger than
the satellite's coverage area footprint.
SHORTWAVE:
CANADA--Following the Canadian government's decision to cut Radio Canada
International's budget by one third, to 11 million US dollars for each of the
next 5 years, on April 1st RCI cut its staff nearly in half, and dropped half
its language services: including Polish, German, Japanese, Czech, Slovak,
Hungarian, and Portuguese. Remaining are Arabic, Chinese, Spanish (to Latin
America), Ukrainian, and Russian. All times and frequencies previously
allocated to those languages were replaced by CBC domestic programs.
The national languages English and French were also replaced by CBC domestic
programs.
Ian McFarland, host of the popular "SWL Digest" program moved to Radio Japan
just before the April 1st cutbacks.
FRANCE--Things were better in 1991 for Radio France International. Besides
expanding its presence on cable and satellite, RFI is doubling its
transmitter power. In France itself, the number of 500 kW transmitters will
be increased to 24 with the replacement of twelve 100 kW units and the
installation of an additional four. A fifth 500 kW transmitter is be built in
French Guyana. Radio France International intends to install a relay station
with three 500 kW transmitters in Djibuti, and is continuing with a similar
project in Thailand.
ETHIOPIA--With the fall of the previous government of Ethiopia, the various
rebel groups took over the country's radio transmitters. BBC Monitoring says
the Voice of Ethiopia external service disappeared from the airwaves during
the afternoon on May 27th, while the domestic service vanished shortly
afterwards. The following day the Voice of Ethiopia regional medium wave
transmitters, in Asmara on 945 kHz and in Harer on 855, were heard calling
for co-operation with the rebels.
The Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, which supports the Eritrean Peoples
Liberation Front, extended its schedule on 7490 and 14338 kHz, as did the
Voice of the Tigray Revolution on 7315 and 7820 kHz.
By November the EPRDF radio stations broadcasting from Ethiopia had regular
schedules in Amharic and Oromo on 6940 and 8000 kHz, and tghe Eritrean
language Tigrigna 6770, 7450, and 7820 kHz. At 13:45-14:45 hrs there is a
broadcast on Saturdays in Amharic on 6940 and 8000 kHz, while on Sundays in
Tigrigna on 6770, 7450, and 7820 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)
UNITED KINGDOM--A part of radio history is about to come to an end. The BBC
shortwave transmitter station at Daventry is to close at the end of this
year. The transmissions currently broadcast from Daventry will will
transfered to Woofferton, which now has spare capacity, as the Voice of
America has cut back on its transmissions with the end of the Cold War.
Daventry was acquired by the BBC in 1925, and the first shortwave overseas
broadcasts were transmitted from there in 1932.
On November 30th, Sweden's oldest radio station, the long wave transmitter in
Motala, went off the air. Motala was the first national radio transmitter in
Sweden when it when on the air in 1927, with 30 kW. That transmitter was
replaced with a 150 kW unit in 1935. The current 300 kW transmitter on 189
kHz went on the air 30 years ago.
According to Swedish Telecom, the cost per listener for the long wave outlet
had become too great. The last night, November 30th, was a special program
about long wave and the Motala transmitter, including the old Stockholm-
Motala ID.
And that brings us to the end of Sweden Calling DXers 2146. Many thanks to
all our contributors during the year, and a big thanks to Kauto Huopio for
his many contributions via Internet.
Special greetings also to HCJB in Ecuador, which celebrates its 60th birthday
on Christmas Day!
We'd like to wish all our listeners a very happy holiday season, and we hope
you can join us again in the new year!
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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 on Tuesdays since 1948.
Radio Sweden broadcasts to Europe in English at 19:30-20:30 hrs on medium
wave 1179 kHz, as well as shortwave 6065, 9655, and 15270 kHz.
The rest of the Radio Sweden English schedule is (half hour programs):
To Europe:
21:30 hrs 1179 and 6065 kHz
23:30 hrs 1179 kHz
To Asia/Pacific:
13:30 hrs 17740 and 21570 kHz
01:00 hrs 9765 kHz
To North America:
15:30 hrs 17870 and 21500 kHz
01:00 hrs 9695 and 11705 kHz
02:00 hrs 9695 and 11705 kHz
To Latin America:
23:30 hrs 9695 and 11705 kHz
15:30 hrs on 17875 and 21500 kHz
02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood by fax to +468-667-6283,
from Internet, MCI Mail or CompuServe (to the CompuServe mailbox 70247,3516),
through the FidoNet system to 2:201/697 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS
SM0ETV.
Reports can also be sent to:
Radio Sweden
S-105 10 Stockholm
Sweden
Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to
satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources
such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint
material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are
acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are
copyright.
We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden
Calling DXers, and our programs in general.
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Thanks to this year's contributors. Good Listening!
--
Jason Berri [berri@aero.org or berri@arecibo.aero.org]
[SPEEDX USSR Editor - send email for more info on the SPEEDX SWL club]
[An index of SCDX back issues is also available]