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:: MediaScan ::
:: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS ::
:: from Radio Sweden ::
:: Number 2162--Sept. 15, 1992 ::
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Satellite, shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden.
This week's bulletin was written by George Wood.
Packet Radio BID SCDX2162
All times UTC unless otherwise noted.
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Please note: I'm scheduled to commit fatherhood for the second time on
October 9th. As these things sometimes happen early, there is a possiblity
that the next edition of this bulletin may be delayed. If not, the one after
certainly will be. The radio program will be less affected, as I've recorded
a couple of back-up programs. Look for a special feature on Native American
broadcasting on October 13th (the day after the 500th anniversary of the
Native Americans' discovery of Christopher Columbus on their shores).
(On October 12th itself, our hour long European Service will include a
program about Leif Ericsson and the Viking voyages to the Americas.)
SWEDEN:
RADIO SWEDEN ENGLISH SCHEDULE--We'll start with some Radio Sweden news, our
new English schedule, which begins on September 27th:
Middle East and East Africa:
16:00 hrs 15270 kHz
Europe:
21:30-22:30 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9655 kHz
23:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz
Asia and the Pacific:
13:30 hrs on 15240 and 21625 kHz
21:30-22:30 on 11955 kHz
01:00 hrs on 9695 and 11820 kHz
North America:
16:00 hrs on 17870 and 21500 kHz
02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz
The transmissions at 13:30 and 21:30 hrs will also be carried to Europe by
satellite, over Astra (Sky Movies Gold transponder) at 11.597 GHz, audio
subcarrier 7.74 MHz and on Tele-X (TV4 transponder) at 12.207 GHz, audio 7.38
MHz.
MEDIASCAN EN FRANCAIS--We're happy to note that Radio Sweden's French Service
will be resuming DX/media programs, on the last Sunday of each month,
beginning when the new schedule does into effect on September 27th.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN RUSSIAN--Meanwhile, Radio Sweden's Russian Service just
celebrated its 25th birthday with an unusual listener meeting in St.
Petersburg, held at Petersburg Radio and broadcast live on both Radio Sweden
Petersburg Radio. Petersburg Radio is relaying Radio Sweden's Russian Service
on a weekly basis.
This week's English edition of MediaScan/Sweden Calling Dxers contains an
interview with Ulla Lindskoog, assistant Program Director of our Eastern
European Service, responsible for Russian programming.
Please note that there will be no English edition of MediaScan/Sweden Calling
DXers next week. However, on September 29th, we'll be returning to the recent
EDXC conference to meet Simon Spanswick of the BBC World Service, who will be
talking about satellites and technical improvements to shortwave radio.
BREAKFAST TV--What has been touted as Sweden's first breakfast television
programming began on Monday September 14, on the national commercial channel
TV4. It really isn't the first breakfast TV here - Swedish Television has had
a weekend morning news magazine for years, educational television is on in
the morning, the pay TV film channels FilmNet and TV1000 are 24 hour, and the
cable only outlet Z-TV has been running an MTV clone at breakfast time for a
couple of weeks.
But this is the first weekday breakfast news program of the sort found in the
US and Britain. Interestingly, the rival commercial channel TV3 suddenly
challenged the new program by relaying a single half hour of Sky News in the
middle of the morning period.
AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE:
SAREX--The American space shuttle Endeavour began a seven day mission
Saturday. Once again there is amateur radio equipment on board (Shuttle
Amateur Radio Experiment, or SAREX), operated by flight engineer Jay Apt,
N5QWL and Mission Scientist Mamoru Mohri, 7L2NJY. Because of the unusual
orbit for this mission, stations between 70 degrees north and 70 degrees
south latitute will be able to tune in, and make contacts. The downlink
frequency for both FM voice and packet radio.
Shuttle audio and information on the amateur radio operation is also being
relayed on shortwave in single sideband on 3680, 7185, 14295, 21395, and
28395 kHz. North American satellite TV viewers can watch NASA Select on
Satcom 2R, transponder 13. (Pat Gowen in "Practical Wireless", NASA, and
AMSAT)
SATELLITE TELEVISION:
BBC WORLD SERVICE TV--Many satellite viewers have been disappointed that BBC
World Service Television, which uses Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West, uses
the SAVE coding system, as it has been very difficult to find a decoder. Now
the BBC has finally decided to switch to D2-MAC and use the Eurocrypt M
coding system, with subscriptions available through a company in Swtizerland.
The D2-MAC transmissions will begin during the European Autumn, and will
continue in parallel with the current PAL broadcasts for up to three months.
The BBC will switch to just D2-MAC early in the New Year.
(BBC WS TV and "In Orbit")
MARCO POLO--Norway is preparing to launch a direct broadcast satellite
service to Scandinavia. As we've reported before, Norwegian Telecom has
bought Britain's Marco Polo 2 satellite, and it's being moved to 1 degree
West longitude.
When the satellite begins regular operation from its new position, there will
be 8 new services offered, broadcast in parallel in both D-MAC and D2-MAC.
For some reason, the Norwegians like D-MAC, although very few satellite
receivers in Europe can handle that system.
The new channels will include a premium film service, as well as others
dedicated to sports, current affairs, family entertainment, and children's
programming. ("What Satellite")
ARIANE--There are two new television satellites in orbit, launched by an
Ariane rocket on September 10th. The American Satcom C3 is to replace Satcom
1R at 131 degrees West. This carries 24 16 watt C-band transponders, almost
twice as powerful as the older satellite.
The other new orbiter is Spain's first direct broadcast satellite Hispasat
1A, late for the Olympics, but still in time for the 500th anniversary of
Columbus's first voyage. The satellite will be placed at 31 degrees West, and
will carry 5 DBS channels and 18 transponders in other parts of the Ku-band.
Most will be directed towards Spain and the Canary Islands, but two will be
aimed at the Americas. A second satellite, Hispasat 1B is due to be launched
in March. ("What Satellite", AMSAT, Al Stahl via Internet News, and Reuters)
FRANCE/SECAM vs D2-MAC--France's Canal Plus has won its battle with the
French government, and will be allowed to use SECAM for its package on the
Telecom 2A satellite at 8 degrees West. The company had threatened to switch
to Astra if it didn't get its way. Telecom 2A will carry seven SECAM
channels, including Canal Plus, Cine-Cinema (contemporary films), Cine-
Cinefil (older films), Planete (documentaries), TV Sport, Canal J, and Canal
Jimmy, a program for young people which will share the channel with MCM-
Euromusique.
There will be four widescreen D2-MAC outlets: France-2, Canbal Plus, Cine-
Cinema, and Cine-Cinefil.
The five horizontally polarized channels on Telecom 2B at 5 degrees West have
been activated in SECAM, joining the 5 vertical transponders. And Telecom 1C
has now been moved to 3 degrees East, where it also seems to be using SECAM.
With all these new French and Spanish channels, it seems Astra won't need to
continue to try to reserve transponders for those languages. (Bertil Sundberg
in "Paa TV" and BBC Monitoring)
WORLDNET--You heard it here first....we reported some time ago that the US
Information Agency's Worldnet would be leaving the French TV5 transponder on
Eutelsat II-F1 11.080 GHz, when its contract ran out on September 30th. And
we speculated that Worldnet might be moving to the Deutsche Welle transponder
at 11.161 GHz on the same satellite.
Well, our prophecy seems to have come true. And Worldnet will be expanding
its schedule on the new transponder to 10:00-15:30 hrs European time daily.
(Bertil Sundberg in "Paa TV")
VISNEWS and MAXAT--Many satellite monitors have been following newsfeeds on
the Visnews transponder on Eutelsat II-F1, 12.52 GHz. Unfortunately, this has
been scrambled in Videocrypt, to prevent unauthorized access by some
broadcasters. However, there is a new satellite uplink from London, Maxat, on
the same satellite, at 12.56 GHz. (Roger Bunney in both "What Satellite" and
"Shortwave Magazine")
CHANNEL AFRICA--The South African Broadcasting Corporation's external
services are changing their name to Channel Africa. This includes both Radio
RSA and a television service, which begins operations on the Intelsat 605
satellite at 24.5 degrees West on October 1st. This will consist of African
news, information, and educational material in English and French, weekdays
at 12:00-13:00 hrs for rebroadcast by stations in other parts of Africa. (BBC
Monitoring)
SATELLITE RADIO:
DIGITAL SATELLITE RADIO--A number of international broadcasters are taking
part in tests of Digital Satellite Radio (DSR) on Eutelsat II-F3 (16 degrees
East). This is a technology developed in Germany that will be replaced when
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) starts in the next couple of years.
Transponders 26 (11.078 GHz) and 34A (11.650 GHz) are being used, and among
the 8 channels are Voice of America, Radio France International, Deutsche
Welle, and BBC World Service. (Peter, DH3HAP)
16 DSR channels in German are already on DFS-I Kopernikus at 23.5 degrees
East. (Unlike DAB, DSR cannot be transmitted terrestrially.
DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING--The BBC is using the Olympus satellite for DAB
tests until the Spring of 1993. ("What Satellite")
BBC:
BBC EXHIBITION--A new exhibition on the history of the British Broadcasting
Corporation has opened at Broadcasting House as part of the celebrations of
70 years of the BBC and 60 years of Broadcasting House. If you're going to be
in London, you've got until October 4th to see the exhibition. ("AM/FM"
newsletter)
SATELLITE TV NEWS CHANNEL--The BBC has confirmed that it is involved in talks
with British Sky Broadcasting about a proposed 24 hour BBC TV news service.
It's unclear if this means a possible merger with Sky News. (Reuters)
RADIO NEWS CHANNEL--The 24 hour news service, Radio 6, is due to begin
operations by January 1st on 198 kHz. ("Contact" via "Euronews" newsletter)
WORLD SERVICE--BBC World Service radio is to use two former Soviet jamming
transmitters in the Far East to reach China. Another transmitter, in
Tashkent, will be used to reach South Asia. Broadcasts are to begin by the
end of September (presumeably when the new shortwave broadcast period begins
on September 27). Ironically, the transmitters in question were previously
used to jam the BBC. (Reuters)
If you thought World Service radio programming was a bit strange on the
morning of Saturday September 5th, the reason is because Bush House was on
fire! Everything was under control and normal programming resumed by 07:30
hrs. (Alfredo Cotoneo via Internet News)
SHORT AND MEDIUM WAVE:
AFGHANISTAN--Radio Afghanistan appears to have made some adjustments to its
main domestic service in Pashto and Dari. It continues to broadacast from
01:30-04:30 hrs, but the "second" transmission of the day now starts at 13:30
hrs. Previously Radio Afghanistan had broadcast 07:30-08:30 and 10:30-17:30
hrs. This service is now heard on around 4775 kHz and on 657 kHz. The 4 MHz
channel was previously used for the Kabul city local radio service, The 7220
and 1107 kHz frequencies previously used for Radio Afghanistan's main
domestic service have not been heard recently. (BBC Monitoring)
ALBANIA--Trans World Radio will begin using one of Radio Tirana's powerful
medium wave transmitters, beginning October 1st, at 20:30 hrs. (BBC
Monitoring) It's unclear if this is one of the half megawatt transmitters on
1215 or 1458 kHz or the megawatt outlet on 1395.
BOSNIA--Radio Bosnia-Hercegovina was heard on September 3rd around 7240 kHz
in upper side band plus carrier, from tune in at 13:30 hrs until 18:00 hrs.
The transmitter remained on the air unmodulated until 21:00 hrs, and no
further shortwave relays have been heard. (BBC Monitoring)
BURMA/NORWAY--The Democratic Voice of Burma, which broadcasts from a
transmitter in Norway. is extendings its broadcasts to 55 minutes in length,
beginning September 18th, the 4th anniversary of the military coup in Burma.
The program begins at 14:30 hrs on 17840 kHz. (BBC Monitoring)
JAPAN/UK--Radio Japan has modified its schedule to Europe from BBC
transmitters at Skelton. Unfortunately, English is still going to be carried
after midnight local time, but the morning English broadcast at 05:00 hrs is
switching to 6085 and 7230 kHz. Russian at 19:30, Japanese at 20:00 hrs, and
German at 21:00 hrs will be moving to 6005 kHz, while French at 21:30 hrs
will be using 6050 kHz. (Radio Japan)
NORWAY--The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has decided to withdraw its funding of
Radio Norway International, which currently broadcasts 30 minute programs in
English on Saturdays and Sundays. This funding was introduced a couple of
years ago, and made it possible for Radio Norway International to expand its
English programming from one day a week to two days a week.
The rest of the funding has come from the Norwegian National Broadcasting
Corporation, which is financed through licence fees. Now, faced with the
government cut-back, the corporation says it does not consider it a prime
task to broadcast to foreign audiences. So all funding may be cut, and the
days of English broadcasts from Norway may be numbered.
Listeners who wish to react may write to Radio Norway International or to
their local Norwegian embassy. Programming in Norwegian will continue
unaffected. (Gundel Krauss-Dahl, Radio Norway International)
RUSSIA--Since September 3rd, Ostankino's Mayak radio network news bulletin at
17:00 hrs has been replaced by the daily program of a Japanese religious sect
called Aum Shrinrikyo. (BBC Monitoring)
UNOFFICIAL RADIO--The Voice of Rebellious Iraq has been observed on a new
mediumn wave frequency of 1590 kHz at around 16:30 hrs. However, the station
continues to announce 1431 kHz and 6.3 MHz. At 18:30 hrs the station was also
heard on 8080 kHz with news in Arabic. It then broadcast in Kurdish until
19:10 hrs. (BBC Monitoring)
FUTURE TECHNOLOGY:
RBDS--A technology alread used on FM in Europe since 1987 is being introduced
to the United States. Radio Data System, or RDS, is being called RBDS in the
States. Stations using the system transmit inaudible digital signals along
with their usual programming. RDS or RBDS receivers carry small screens for
text information, which displays the name of the station.
In Europe, RDS is primarily used in car radios, to keep a receiver tuned to
one national channel, while driving from city to city. The set automatically
switches to a new transmitter when the old one fades out.
In America car radios will be able to follow National Public Radio affiliates
as the car moves from city to city, for example. The American version does
other things as well. It can carry the names of songs being played, sports
scores, traffic advisories and the unavoidable commercials. It also allows
you to scan for stations playing a set format. (The European system is also
supposed to do that, but it doesn't seem to have been introduced yet.)
Home receivers, which also don't seem to exist yet in Europe, will have
larger display panels, which could allow broadcasters to transmit airline
schedules, weather reports, and stock market quotes.
A total of 37 manufacturers are expected to offer RBDS in the States next
year. (Paul Farhi, Washington Post Service)
Thanks to Kauto Huopio for relaying the items from Internet News!
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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.
Beginning September 27th, Radio Sweden broadcasts to Europe in English on
21:30-22:30 hrs:
on medium and shortwave: 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz
via satellite: Astra 1B (19.2 degrees East) channel 26 (Sky Movies Gold/TV
Asia/Adult Channel) at 11.597 GHz, audio subcarrier at 7.74 MHz,
Tele-X (5 degrees East) (TV4 transponder) at 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier
7.38 MHz.
We're also relay our half hour program at 13:30 hrs on satellite
The rest of the Radio Sweden English schedule is (half hour programs):
Europe:
23:30 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz
Middle East and East Africa:
16:00 hrs 15270 kHz
Asia and the Pacific:
13:30 hrs on 15240 and 21625 kHz
21:30-22:30 hrs on 11955 kHz
01:00 hrs on 9695 and 11820 kHz
North America:
16:00 hrs on 17870 and 21500 kHz
02:00 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 week's contributors Good Listening!