Article: 18743 of rec.radio.shortwave Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!funic!nic.funet.fi!compuserve.com!70247.3516 From: 70247.3516@compuserve.com (George Wood) Subject: Space Guide 5.4 Part II Message-ID: <930305144247_70247.3516_EHB49-2@CompuServe.COM> Sender: root@nic.funet.fi (The FUnny NET guru) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Organization: Finnish Academic and Research Network Project - FUNET Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1993 16:42:48 +0200 Lines: 808 II. Europe and Astra The Soviet Union's Ghorizont was the first TV satellite over Europe. While, the Ghorizont satellites operate in the C-Band, Western European satellites use several sections of the Ku-Band for different purposes. The Ku1-Band 10.9-11.75 GHz is, like the American C-Band, intended for professional relays and not for home viewing. Home reception was originally intended for the Ku2 (DBS) Band 11.75-12.5 GHz. The Ku3-Band 12.5-12.75 GHz, or Telecom Band, is also not intended for home viewing. The first Western European satellites were from Eutelsat, which is made up of the PTTs and Telecom administrations of Western European countries. The intention was that individual countries would offer home viewing to their own residents over high-powered DBS satellites offering only a few channels. Astra, operated by Luxembourg's SES, has changed all that. Here are the channels on Astra 1A and 1B (as of February, 1993): Channel Transponder Frequency Language 1 (RTL 2 expected) 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 Children's Channel/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 9 Teleclub 11.332 German (pay channel) 10 3-SAT 11.347 German 11 FilmNet+ (to Scandinavia) 11.362 several (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 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 1 Plus 11.493 German 20 Sky Sports 11.509 English (pay) 21 DSF (Sports) 11.523 German 22 MTV Europe 11.538 English 23 UK Gold 11.553 English (free-coded) 24 Children's Channel/JSTV 11.567 English/Japanese 25 N3 11.582 German 26 TV Asia/Sky Gold/Adult Ch. 11.597 English (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) Astra uses the Ku1-Band for medium-powered signals, with 16 channels per satellite. Astra 1A and 1B are already in orbit, both at 19.2 degrees East. The similar 1C is due to be launched at the earliest in April or May 1993. Astra 1D, with a further 18 channels, is due for launch in 1994. SES has ordered an Astra 1E satellite, to be launched early in 1995 and placed alongside the other Astra satellites. It will carry 18 transponders with 85 watts each (compared to 45 watts on Astra 1A). Astra 1A, 1B and 1C will provide 48 channels of DTH (direct to home) programming to viewers in Europe. Astra 1D will principally provide backup services to the system, and Astra 1E will be used for digital broadcasting services. Because Astra's medium-powered satellites are at the same spot in the sky, viewers with relatively small antennas (60-90 cm) can tune into all available channels without antenna rotors. British Sky Broadcasting, the company formed by the merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990, is a major user of the Astra satellites. BSkyB's channels are Sky News, the entertainment channel Sky One, Sky Movies Plus, the Movie Channel, Sky Movies Gold, and Sky Sports. The latter four are coded pay channels, requiring special decoders. Astra 1C will carry transponders 33 to 48, using 10.964 to 11.186 GHz. In addition, there will be transponder 63 at 10.921 GHz, and transponder 64 at 10.935 GHz. These are part of the channel plan for later satellites, using 10.7 to 10.95 GHz, which cannot be received on ordinary Astra receivers. All channels are PAL unless D2-MAC is indicated. Pay channels use a variety of scrambling systems, although the emerging standards seem to be Videocrypt for PAL channels and Eurocrypt for D2-MAC. UK Gold, which broadcasts classics from the archives of the BBC and Thames Television, is soft scrambled in Videocrypt, which means anyone with a videocrypt decoder can watch the programs. Cinemania and Documania will use Nagravision when they begin regular broadcasts. On November 30, 1992 the first all-news channel in German, called n-tv, started from Berlin. Originally only on the Kopernikus 1 satellite, n-tv appeared on the last free Astra transponder, number 29, after CNN bought a major share of the channel. n-tv is also relaying BBC World Service news in the original English Monday to Saturday at around 16:30 hrs and an hour-long weekly summary Sundays at 14:00 hrs. It's widely speculated that Germany's RTL 2 will replace Screensport on Astra transponder 1, when the merger between Screensport and Eurosport is complete. RTL 2 has been showing a test picture on Eutelsat II-F1 on 11.095 GHz. The German public broadcaster ARD is reported to be taking over the 1-Plus Astra transponder in August, when the German TV fair "Funkausstellung" takes place in Berlin. 1-Plus will reappear on Astra 1C when that becomes available (which ought to be at about the same time, or shortly thereafter). The German broadcaster ZDF is also reported to intend to start broadcasting on Astra 1C when the Funkausstellung gets underway. British Sky Broadcasting has confirmed that Sky One and Sky News are to join other channels in a subscription package in October, 1993, after the hopefully successful launch of the Astra 1C satellite in April or May. One of the new channels that is to be part of a Sky package is Nickelodeon, a youth channel operated by MTV in the United States. Other channels reported to be switching to Astra 1C and joining the subscription package are Discovery, Bravo, and the Children's Channel. Disney, which initially planned to go onto Astra when it was first launched in 1989, is again looking at taking a transponder. This may have something to do with Turner Broadcasting's new Cartoon Channel, which after its American launch, may be extended to Europe. According to one report, all 16 transponders on Astra 1C will be fully booked. Astra had already announced that 2 Spanish channels had options on the satellite. Other channels on 1C, besides those mentioned above, may be: Filmnet Movies; TV Asia (moving from part-time on 1B); a widescreen film channel from British Sky Broadcasting; and the Games Channel. Thames has a second Astra option, which could also be on 1C. The Family Channel Europe is to be launched in September/October 1993, reportedly over Astra 1C. This follows the take-over of Britain's TVS Entertainment by International Family Entertainment, controlled by American evangelist Pat Robertson. Super Channel, which currently broadcasts on Eutelsat II-F1, is also reported to be planning a D2-MAC widescreen channel on Astra. Other European Ku1-Band satellites include: Intelsat 602 63 degrees East Italy/Iran Intelsat 604 60 degrees 4 Turkish transponders DFS 1 Kopernikus 33.5 degrees German broadcasters DFS 2 Kopernikus 28.5 degrees German broadcasters Eutelsat I-F3, F4 25 degrees feeds DFS 3 Kopernikus 23.5 degrees German transponders Eutelsat I-F5 21.5 degrees Eutelsat II-F3 16 degrees Spanish, Middle Eastern Eutelsat II-F1 13 degrees many European programs Eutelsat II-F2 10 degrees Italian, Spanish, Turkish Eutelsat II-F4 7 degrees Eastern European/EBU Intelsat 512 1 degree West Norwegian channels Ghorizont 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, Discovery) PAS 1 45 degrees mostly feeds (PAL and NTSC) Eutelsat The Eutelsat II satellites are higher-powered than their predecessors, and approach Astra in strength. The most interesting Eutelsat is II-F1 at 13 degrees East, which includes the following transponders: Eurosport 10.970 GHz Super Channel 10.987 Radio: BBC World Service Der Kabelkanal 11.052 D2-MAC, German TV5 Europe 11.080 RTL 2 11.095 German (coming) Deutsche W/World N 11.161 Radio: DW, VOA TRT/Red Hot Dutch 11.181 MBC 11.554 Arabic, Radio: Vatican Euronews 11.575 Multi-lingual sound ARD 11.596 German FilmNet (Belgium) 11.638 Digital sound 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, has taken over the facilities of the Berlin-based American TV station RIAS, and is broadcasting on Eutelsat II-F1 with three two hour blocks after 16:00 hrs European time on 11.161 GHz. The first 90 minutes of each block is in German, followed by 30 minutes in English. There are also Spanish programs. The American government's World Net uses this same transponder at 10:00-15:30 hrs European time daily. The transponder also carries radio programs from both Deutsche Welle and VOA Europe. The European Broadcasting Union's all-news station, Euronews, went on the air at 14:00 hrs on January 1, 1993 from Eutelsat II-F1 at 11.575 GHz. There are no presenters, instead the news footage is accompanied by soundtracks in five languages on various audio subcarriers: German on 6.65 Mhz, English on 7.02, French on 7.20, Spanish on 7.38, and Italian on 7.56. When Arabic is introduced later this year, it will probably use 7.74 MHz. Ten European public broadcasters are funding Euronews. Interestingly, Euronews is broadcasting in clear PAL, and not in D2- MAC, the standard the European Commission and the French electronics industry have been trying to force on European broadcasters. Turkey's TRT International includes daily 10 minute news bulletins in English at around 21:30 hrs and in German at around 21:40 CET. The pornography channel Red Hot Dutch has moved from the Netherlands to Denmark. The channel broadcasts to Britain, where it has 22,000 subscribers. The British have tried to block the hardcore broadcasts, which are at night three days a week. European Community law means that Red Hot Dutch is legal all over Europe if it is acceptable in just one country. There's no law against broadcasting pornography from Denmark. Ironically, while the British authorities are upset about films directed to Britain from Scandinavia, they've made no move to stop the pornography broadcast several nights a week on TV1000, uplinked from Britain to Scandinavia over Astra. Super Channel is carrying three hours of Far Eastern programming every night, at 2:00-5:00 AM European time. Called Europe-China Satellite TV, as well as China News Europe, this brings together reports from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Many satellite monitors have been following newsfeeds on the Visnews transponder on Eutelsat II-F1, 12.521 GHz. Unfortunately, this has been scrambled in Videocrypt, to prevent unauthorized access by some broadcasters. However, there is another interesting satellite uplink from London, Maxat, on the same satellite, at 12.560 GHz. The German music television channel Viva is to begin broadcasts on Eutelsat II-F1 in August, 1993 (apparently also in connection with the German Funkausstellung. Turning to the other Eutelsats: II-F3 (16 degrees East) carries Croatia's HTV on the transponder on 10.986 GHz. The Portuguese RTP International service is at 11.573 GHz. RTP also transmits to Africa on Ghorizont 12 at 40 degrees East, at 3.925 MHz. One or more Polish channels also are reported coming to this satellite. Polsat is reported on 11.675 GHz, while another Polish Television channel has been testing on 11.554 GHz. Hungary's Duna TV has been testing on 11.596 GHz. A number of Middle Eastern broadcasters are also using this satellite to reach Arab speakers in Europe: TV7 Tunisia on 11.658 GHz, the Egyptian Space Channel on 11.161 GHz (audio subcarriers are carrying the Egyptian Radio General Program on 7.02 MHz, the Voice of the Arabs on 7.20, and Middle East Radio on 7.38 MHz). Morocco's RTM is to begin broadcasts on 10.970 GHz on March 3, 1993. Eutelsat II-F4 (7 degrees East), with Greece's ET1 on 11.174 GHz, PIK from Cyprus at 11.141, Turkey's Kanal 6 at 11.158, and Serbia's RTV Belgrade at 11.595 GHz. "Vatican View", a half hour program from the Vatican City has daily broadcasts on 11.678 GHz, at 16:00 hrs. The European Broadcasting Union is using four transponders for program distribution: 10.980, 11.060, 11.100, and 11.080 GHz. Unfortunately for home monitors, these are scrambled with sound-in- sync. Eutelsat II-F2 (10 degrees East) has Spain's TVE at 11.149 GHz. Italy's RAI has two transponders and there are three private Turkish stations. Eutelsat II-F5 is due to be launched in early 1993, and is to be located at 36 degrees East. Eutelsat II-F6 is to be co-located with Eutelsat II-F1 at 13 degrees east. The satellite, due to be launched in the second half of 1994, will be able to relay 16 additional high-powered television channels. Eutelsat is already taking bookings on the satellite. According to a statement issued by Eutelsat, in order to guarantee that the 13 degrees east position "can be reinforced as Europe's principal slot for television for cable and direct-to-home reception, the new satellite will only carry entertainment services at prime-time (17:00-01:00 CET)." Intelsat Another interesting satellite (which may be virtually vacated by the end of the year) is Intelsat 601 at 27.5 degrees West. This carries CNN (11.155 GHz), Discovery (11.175), Children's Channel (11.135), broadcasts from the British Parliament (11.095 GHz), Country Music Television Europe (11.509) and BBC World Service Television (10.995). However, CNN and Children's Channel are now on Astra (and CNN will end the Intelsat service soon), and Discovery is expected to move to Astra 1C. There are reports BBC and CMT may be moving to Eutelsat. In mid-January BBC World Service Television switched to D2-MAC. Subscriptions are available from TV Extra in Motala, Sweden, at telephone number +46-141-355-12. The system uses the same smartcards as Filmnet, and in Scandinavia and the Benelux, Filmnet is handling subscriptions. In May, the American space shuttle Endeavour successfully captured the Intelsat 603 satellite and relaunched it into its proper orbit (34.5 degrees West). The satellite was launched in 1990, but a mistake put it into a useless orbit. This carries C-band feeds to Greenland and the Canary Islands, and a single Ku-band transponder at 10.975 GHz, listed as occasionally used by the BBC. Intelsat-K at 21.5 degrees West is intended to relay signals across the Atlantic. Intelsat's first Ku-band only satellite, it carries 32 high-powered transponders, which can be directed to North America (as far as the Midwest), Europe (as far east as Greece), and selected parts of South America. All beams use 11.45-11.7 GHz, while 11.7-11.95 GHz is also used to the Americas, and 12.5-12.75 GHz to Europe. 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 vertical polarization. "Good Morning America", for rebroadcast by Sky News, is carried weekdays 12:50-14:00 hrs European time on 11.558 vertical. The same transponder carries news for Super Channel from CNBC in the evening. PanAmSat Alpha Lyracom, now known as Panamsat, has taken on the massive Intelsat, seeking to provide an alternative international satellite organization. PAS-1, launched in 1988, is located at 45 degrees West, carries the American Galavision to Europe, along with several channels for newsfeeds. PAS-2 and 3 are to located close by, with PAS-3 at 43.5 degrees reaching farther into Scandinavia and the Middle East, and PAS-2 as a reserve. They are scheduled for launch in 1993. Other parts of the world are to be covered by PAS-4 and 5 above the Pacific, to be placed at 166 and 168 degrees East in 1994 or 1995, and PAS-6 and 7 above the Indian Ocean at 68 and 72 degrees. Russian Satellites A Soviet Ghorizont was the first television satellite over Europe. However, the Soviets concentrated on the C-band, while European satellite broadcasting has used the Ku-band. But there are in fact Ku- band transponders on the Ghorizont (or Statsionar) satellites used by the former Soviet Union. Each of the Ghorizonts over Europe, at 14 degrees West and 11 degrees West, has a transponder at 11.525 GHz. The Ghorizont at 14 degrees carries Reuters TV (formerly Visnews), while 11 degrees has a blank screen much of the day with audio only. CNN is relayed with Russian dubbing at around 19:00-20:00 hrs. The Russian satellite ZSSRD at 16 degrees West carries two very interesting Ku-band transponders, using to relay signals from the MIR space station. Data information is carried at 11.375 GHz, which can often be seen as flashing lines on the screen. More interesting is the transponder at 10.835 GHz, which carries video from MIR in clear SECAM. Unfortunately this frequency is slightly below that covered by most satellite receivers. While the dishes used for Ku-band monitoring in Europe are generally too small for C-band reception, the introduction of new sensitive C-band LNBs has made it possible to receive the very strong Russian C-band signals using dishes as small as 1.5 meters. The Russian signals on 3.675 GHz at 40.5 degrees East and 14 degrees West are perhaps one hundred times stronger than other C-band signals in Europe. Molniya satellites use a highly elliptical orbit that makes it possible to reach high latitudes out-of-reach of geo-stationary satellites (which would be too low on the horizon). These carry satellite broadcast television, relaying Double II (the East Siberian version of the second TV program) on 3.875 GHz. Telecom Band There are 5 European satellites currently using the 12.5-12.75 GHz Telecom band: DFS Kopernikus 1 33.5 degrees East Germany 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 booked any Astra channels. Instead, France plans to use its own Telecom 2A satellite, at 8 degrees West, for direct to home broadcasting. The French government having surrendered its demand for D2-MAC programming, eleven channels are now using Telecom 2A . Seven are in SECAM, one in D2-MAC, and three in widescreen D2-MAC. The SECAM channels are coded in Nagravision: MCM on 12.543 GHz, Planete Cable on 12.585, Cine Cinefil on 12.626, Canal Plus on 12.648, Cine Cinemas on 12.666, TV-Sport on 12.710, and Canal Jimmy on 12.732 GHz. TV-Sport is the French edition of Eurosport. France 2 is broadcasting in uncoded D2-MAC on 12.606 GHz. Widescreen D2-MAC with Eurocrypt soft-scrambling is being used by Canal Plus on 12.522, Cine Cinefil on 12.564, and Cine Cinemas on 12.689 GHz. The five horizontally polarized channels on Telecom 2B (5 degrees West) have been activated in SECAM, joining the 5 vertical transponders. Telecom 1C has now been moved to 3 degrees East, where it is used for feeds in PAL, D2-MAC, and B-MAC. Germany's new DFS Kopernikus 3 is taking over from Kopernikus 1 at 23.5 degrees East. Kopernikus 1 is to move to 33.5 degrees East. Kopernikus 2 is operating from 28.5 degrees East. European DBS Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS) are intended to beam a few (2-5) high-powered signals directly to homes in a single country. Viewers require dish antennas less than 30 cm in diameter. A number of DBS satellites have been orbited above Europe: Tele-X 5 degrees East Sweden Thor 0.8 degrees West Norway Olympus 18.8 degrees West Western Europe TDF-1 and TDF-2 19 degrees France TV-SAT 2 19.2 degrees Germany Hispasat 1A 30 degrees Spain Marco Polo 1 31 degrees Britain (for sale) Astra's hopes to attract Spanish customers are threatened by Spain's two Hispasat direct broadcast satellites. Hispasat 1A was launched on September 10, 1992 and carries 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. TVE International is in the clear on 12.149 GHz. Canal Plus Espana is coded in Nagravision on 12.631 GHz. The three Spanish channels Canal Plus Espana, Tele Cinco, and Antenna Tres have all left Eutelsat II-F3 for Hispasat. This satellite, however, has antenna problems, displacing the footprint towards the north. The problem will be rectified when Hispasat 1B is launched at the end of June. Nine months later, five new television channels will begin to be broadcast. The most regular user of Olympus is RAISAT from Rome on 12.169 GHz. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sends news in English and French using the NTSC standard around 03:00-05:00 hrs and around 23:00 hrs on 12.530 GHz. A DBS war seems to have broken out between Sweden and Norway. Both the Swedish Space Corporation and Norwegian Telecom bid on Britain's Marco Polo 2 satellite. The Norwegians won, and moved the satellite to 0.8 degrees West, renaming it Thor. They are planning to offer a package of initially 5 channels to Scandinavian viewers, with hopes of increasing to 15 channels by co-locating other DBS satellites at that position. However, having won the satellite battle, the Norwegians are losing the standards struggle. They have chosen two of Europe's most obscure standards, D-MAC and Eurocrypt S, available to few satellite viewers. Writing in the magazine "Elektronikvrlden", Sweden's satellite guru, Bertil Sundberg, refers to the Thor coding as "Norwegian Harakiri". CNN is to drop its transmissions to Europe on Intelsat 601 from April 1, and will use Thor with D-MAC with Eurocrypt S encryption. CNN is already testing on Thor in clear D-MAC on 11.893 GHz. Filmnet Movies is also testing, on 12.015 GHz, apparently using D2-MAC Eurocrypt S. Eurosport is also named as a potential Thor broadcaster. Three other transponders are running test pictures in clear D- MAC, on 11.7851, 11.939, and 12.091 GHz. Meanwhile, the owner of Filmnet, South Africa's M-Net, has bought the majority share of Sweden's Tele-X satellite. The new Filmnet Movie Channel began broadcasts on the satellite on December 1, 1992, on 12.673 GHz. The two Filmnet channels have identical programming, but are slightly time-shifted. Filmnet is reported to be looking for another satellite to co- locate with Tele-X. This could be Marco Polo 1, which closed down on January 1, 1993, and is for sale. Another Tele-X broadcaster, TV5 Nordic, is preparing to switch to the same system used by Filmnet and the BBC World Service, D2-MAC Eurocrypt M, and would share a smartcard with the two stations. However, while requiring the card, Nordic would remain free. The Stockholm newspaper "Svenska Dagbladet" is starting a business channel called Executive Television, using Tele-X. Broadcasts every evening for three hours are due to begin soon. ETV hopes to provide programming to existing outlets, such as Sky News, CNN, and Financial Times TV. Despite this Spanish/Nordic activity, the DBS idea seems to have been made obsolete by improving technology. Viewers want more than 2-5 channels and they want channels from other countries (which is why both Filmnet and Norwegian Telecom are now talking about co-locating several DBS satellites). A 60 cm Astra dish that can deliver 16, 32, or 48 channels is more desireable than a 30 cm dish with access to only 3 stations. With the failure of the British BSB system on Marco Polo (it was bought out by Sky in 1990), and the decision of the French government not to build a third direct broadcast satellite, to follow up the existing TDF-1 and TDF-2 satellites (after the breakdown of TDF-1), the DBS idea seems to be virtually dead. French Minister for Post, Communications, and Space Paul Quiles has announced the satellites will be replaced in due course by a new generation of spacecraft. 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 is Europesat, a series of high-powered satellites being called "second generation DBS". Six of the 8 countries with DBS allocations at 19 degrees West (France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, and Switzerland), along with three others (Portugal, Sweden, and the former Yugoslavia) have signed a memorandum of understanding. Europesat will consist of three satellites, plus one in-orbit back-up, all located at 19 degrees West. Together they will carry 36 channels, in either PAL, Secam, MAC, or HD-MAC. Medium quality reception should be possible with 25 to 30 cm dish antennas. The first Europesat satellite is expected to be launched in 1996, with new launches every six months. Since the 9 countries between them are seeking between 39 and 54 channels, it is possible that more satellites will be placed in another slot at 29 degrees East. As an interim measure, a 12 transponder European DBS for France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden is to be launched in mid-1993 and placed at 19 degrees West. Norway's approach to satellite broadcasting has been eccentric. Initially, most of the country's satellite channels were on Intelsat 512 at 1 degree West. In late 1992, these channels cloned themselves onto Intelsat 515 at 18 degrees West. Besides the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, Intelsat 515 is carrying the new Norwegian terrestrial commercial station TV 2, the private TV Norge, and Swedish Television 1 and 2, which are uplinked from Oslo for use by cable systems in Spitsbergen and on North Sea oil platforms. Moving away from 1 degree West was a bit strange, since it happened at exactly the same time Norway was moving Marco Polo 2/Thor to that same position, which would have made it the strongest Nordic satellite position. Bertil Sundberg in "P TV" magazine has pointed out that there are now Norwegian programs on 5 satellites at 4 different positions. They use a bewildering array of standards: PAL, D2-MAC in both Eurocrypt M and Eurocrypt S, and D-MAC. This, he says, may explain why 80 percent of satellite systems in Norway are motorized. The Norwegians are the traditional target of Swedish jokes. But Norwegian satellite broadcasting seems to have become a Norwegian joke in itself. PAL vs MAC The European Commission has backed down on its proposal for the forced rapid introduction of the D2-MAC standard, as a step towards the future introduction of a system called HD-MAC for high definition television. Under a compromise, new satellite services from January 1, 1995 would have to use D2-MAC, and from January 1, 1994 all widescreen TV sets would have to include D2-MAC. The plan has been supported by countries with consumer electronics industries, such as France and the Netherlands. But Britain used its position as EC president during the last half of 1992 to stall the introduction of D2-MAC and HD-MAC. One of the main objections to the MAC system comes from European broadcasters, who say that by the time HD-MAC is introduced, it will already have been made obsolete by digital HDTV. Swedish Television and Swedish Telecom are currently developing an alternative digital HDTV system called HD- Divine. Radio There are more than 100 radio channels on European satellites, using audio subcarriers, slowly approaching the number in North America. Astra is a radio pioneer, with many interesting stations, both new channels and established international broadcasters. There are music stations, such as Sky Radio, Super Gold, and Quality Europe FM. Sunrise Radio is a commercial medium wave station in London for the Indian community 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 transmitted over the Tele-X direct broadcast satellite, using the TV4 transponder at 12.207 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.38 MHz. Also on the Sky Movies Gold transponder (at 7.38 MHz) is Radio Asia, which broadcasts over Spectrum Radio in London. Spectrum's full schedule is to be broadcast over this channel in the near future. Another shortwave broadcaster on Astra is Swiss Radio International, on the Teleclub transponder at 11.332 GHz, audio subcarrier 7.2 MHz. According to a knowledgeable source within the BBC, World Service radio is hoping to use the UK Gold transponder on Astra, along with the domestic Radio 4, which is losing its long wave outlet on 198 kHz to a 24 hour all-news service. Radio 1 is another possible user. World Service may use the subcarrier at 7.38 MHz, and one report says the launch may be in mid-March. MTV reportedly may be planning to join up with the American network ABC in launching a pan-European radio channel. The Irish authorities say they are investigating using Astra to relay RTE programs to Europe. List of Radio stations broadcasting from the ASTRA satellites ------------------------------------------------------------- Station Frequency Subcarrier(s) TV station ------------------------------------------------------------------ Deutsche Welle 11.229 7.38 RTL-Plus 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 Hit Radio 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 Super Gold 11.376 7.92 Sky News RTL-4 Radio 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 Power-FM 11.420 7.38/7.56 MTV-Europe 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 Sunrise Radio 11.479 7.38 Movie Ch. Holland-FM 11.479 7.56 Movie Ch. Sudwestfunk 3 11.493 7.38/7.56 Eins Plus Euronet 11.509 7.56 Sky Sports RTL Berlin 11.523 7.38/7.56 Tele-5 Power FM 11.538 7.38/7.56 MTV-Europe 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 A very interesting service called the World Radio Network conducted tests in April 1992 on the Sky Sports transponder, relaying English language programs from a number of broadcasters, including National Public Radio from the United States, BBC World Service, All India Radio, Radio Australia, Vatican Radio, and Radio Sweden. Some relays were from satellite, some used digital ISDN telephone lines, and some were directly off shortwave. The idea was to create a single channel of English language broadcasters on Astra. But when WRN returned in December, 1992, it was on Eutelsat I-F1, on the MBC transponder at 11.554 GHz, audio 7.74 MHz. Rather than relaying solely English services, it is carrying the schedule of Vatican Radio in something like 15 languages. So far we haven't heard any other broadcasters during the period when Vatican Radio is not being relayed. There are several new radio stations coming to Astra. Two are religious. United Christian Broadcasters hopes to begin at the end of February, 1993 on the JSTV transponder, audio 7.56 MHz. The other station may begin in April, 1993, possibly on the Sky Movies Plus transponder at 7.92 MHz. Country Music Radio is also expected to begin shortly, via Sky Movies Plus on one of the transponders currently used by Quality Europe FM, 7.56 MHz, apparently during the Cable and Satellite Show in London in early April. One of D2-MAC's disadvantages is the limited number of radio channels. With the switchover of BBC World Service television to D2-MAC on Intelsat 601, World Service radio has switched to subcarriers on the SSVC transponder at 11.563 GHz. The Swedish news agency TT has been heard on Swedish Radio since its pioneer days. Now, TT is making hourly 2 minute newscasts available to community radio stations around Sweden, over Tele-X, using the TV5 Nordic transponder at 12.475 GHz, audio 7.56 MHz. Other audio subcarriers can be found on: DFS Kopernikus 3 (German channels) Eutelsat II-F1 (BBC World Service, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Sky Radio, etc) Eutelsat II-F2 (Turkish, Radio Liberty) Eutelsat II-F3 (Portugal, Croatia, Egypt and Tunisia) Eutelsat II-F4 (Turkish, Serbian) Tele-X (Radio Sweden, the Voice, Radio Z) Intelsat 512 (Norwegian channels) Telecom 2B, TDF-1/2 (French channels) Intelsat 601 (BBC and CNN) Svensk Radioutveckling, SRU, supported by major Swedish newspapers, plans to start commercial private radio stations across Sweden as soon as the legislation now before parliament is approved (thought to be by April). SRU has signed a contract to transmit its programs over the Tele-X satellite. Digital Satellite Radio Digital Satellite Radio (DSR) is a German-developed technology, providing CD quality satellite radio. Unfortunately DSR cannot be broadcast terrestrially, which means it will be replaced when Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) starts in the next couple of years. Currently 16 DSR channels in German are on DFS-3 Kopernikus at 23.5 degrees East. A number of international broadcasters are taking part in tests of DSR on Eutelsat II-F3 (16 degrees East). 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. Two digital satellite radio services from the United States are planning on expanding into Europe. Digital Music Express, or DMX, is already available to more than 10 million cable subscribers in the United States. Thirty themed channels of various types of music would be made available 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, classic jazz, country, big band, world beat, blues, reggae, golden oldies, heavy metal, classic rock, chamber music, and opera. Signals would be relayed from DMX's Atlanta studios to a C-band transponder aboard Intelsat 601, before being cross-linked to a Ku-band transponder. Signals would be downlinked by cable operators. British Sky Broadcasting would downlink the signals and provide them to subscribers via Astra 1C, starting in late 1993, using Videocrypt encryption. The DMX decoder, manufactured by Scientific Atlanta, displays information 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 28 CD-quality radio channels to North American subscribers and cable systems. On May 1st this is increasing to 56. With new investments from media giants Time Warner and Sony, DCR plans to bring 28 themed radio channels to Europe, starting this summer. Digital Audio Broadcasting, or DAB, will replace FM in the next few years. The World Administrative Radio Conference held in Spain in January, 1992 approved frequencies for satellite DAB, which would be receivable on small portable receivers. Various countries, including Sweden and Britain, have been conducting test broadcasts of DAB, prior to its expected introduction in 1995. The BBC has used the Olympus satellite for DAB tests as well. Other Non-Video Signals We have had no reports yet of European SCPC. But a number of news agencies are using satellites to distribute their signals. BBC Monitoring is now subscribing to the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency, via a data link on Intelsat 601. The BBC will receive information from Moscow in English and Russian, replacing the previous intricate system of communications cables.