From: xberri@arecibo.aero.org (Jason E. Berri) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Subject: SCDX 2126 Date: 2 Mar 91 22:39:37 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation -Message-Text-Follows- [line eater fodder] ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2126--Feb. 19, 1991 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2126 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- GULF WAR: IRAQ--As news reports have indicated, Baghdad Radio is still on the air, but allied commanders in the Gulf have targeted Iraqi transmitters. Bomb damage to broadcasting equipment and to the electricity grid has been taking Iraqi stations off the air for periods of time. Monitors in the Middle East say the quality of Iraqi transmissions has been gradually deteriorating. Rainer Henrich in Switzerland reports that he last heard Iraq's Radio Mother of the Battles on February 2nd. BBC Monitoring says Iraqi Radio continues only on two frequencies--3980 and 684 kHz. 8350 and 756 kHz were last heard on the morning of February 12th. UNOFFICIAL--There's speculation that the anti-Saddam Voice of Free Iraq may be coming from Egypt, but more likely the location is Saudi Arabia. BBC Monitoring says the station has extended its schedule on 15600 kHz, but no longer mentions the other previously reported frequencies. It's now on the air between 13:00 and 04:00 hrs. On February 5th an anti-Iraqi station in Arabic calling itself Gulf Voice Radio appeared on 1134 kHz, announcing four other medium wave channels. BBC Monitoring says its schedule is 03:00-21:00 hrs. Reuters has interviewed Mohammed Al-Qahtani, a former Radio Kuwait announcer who is now news director for Radio Kuwait in exile, broadcasting 21 hours a day from Saudi Arabia. The station was initially jammed by the Iraqis, but allied bombing destroyed the Iraqi jamming transmitters in the early days of the war. JORDAN--Richard Langley reports Radio Jordan on 9560 kHz signing off at 22:05 hrs, well past its usually close-down in English at 17:30. ISRAEL--BBC Monitoring tells us that the Voice of Israel's English broadcasts have returned to their normal schedule. The Arabic language service, Network D, is operating around the clock, and can be heard on new frequencies of 5900, 7480, 12077, 15100, and 15480 kHz, as well as the regular outlets on 9815 kHz, medium wave, and FM. UNKNOWN--Finally, in what may be related to the Gulf War, Brian Boutel in Wellington, New Zealand has heard a new relay of the BBC World Service on 1233 kHz. Tom Walters at the BBC tells me they added a new medium wave transmitter in Lesotho on 1197 kHz on February 1st. Otherwise, World Service is relayed 24 hours a day on FM in Auckland. But no clue as to 1233 kHz. So if anyone knows anything about this station, please let us know. USSR--Russia's Radio, an independent station operated by the government of the Russian Federation, went on the air on December 10th. But on the 1st of February, the new head of Soviet broadcasting, Leonid Kravchenko, moved the station from the popular All-Union First Program to the All-Union Second Program. That cut the station off from many listeners, and now only 40% of the Russian population can receive their federation's station. The immediate reason, according to Swedish Radio's Moscow correspondent, was the station's coverage of the Soviet crackdown in Lithuania. BBC Monitoring reports that Russia's Radio can be heard at 11:00-14:00 and 22:00-24:00 hrs. The Second Program is carried on many shortwave frequencies, such as 5815, 7240, 7255, 9550, 9570, 9585, 11690, 11830, 11840, 11990, 15630, and 15750 kHz. Latvian Radio has announced it is relaying Russia's Radio for two hours every day on its Second Program, on 1071 and 1539 kHz. 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. He's told a news conference that he is subordinate only to President Gorbachev, and not to the Soviet parliament. The former head of the TASS news agency, Kravchenko has defended news censorship. The Associated Press says that since he took over as head of broadcasting, the main television news program has sometimes reverted from wide-ranging political reporting to little more than readings of government announcements. The most daring shows have been taken off the air. Kravchenko has also criticised the external service Radio Moscow as too big, and for drawing too negative a picture of life in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the chairman of a foreign policy committee in the Danish parliament says Denmark should give Lithuania a television station to replace the one destroyed by Soviet troops last month. The committee chairman, Arne Melchior, says he's trying to gather political support for the proposal. SATELLITE-TV--The second Astra satellite, Astra 1B, is due to be launched just before midnight UTC on Thursday, February 21th, from French Guyana. That will add 16 more channels for owners of Astra receiving equipment, all from the very same spot in the sky. Broadcasts are due to begin on April 1st. So far the three German channels are booked: ARD 1+, the Premier film channel, and Tele 5. British Sky Broadcasting's Sports Channel will probably also be on the new satellite. There's speculation that Discovery may move there, and that a Disney Channel for Europe may emerge. Satellite dish owners are hoping the BBC and CNN will move to the new Astra. Following the merger of Sky Television and BSB, the new company British Sky Broadcasting has two sports channels. The one we just mentioned, called The Sports Channel, is considered the stronger of the two, and Sky wants to sell its 50 percent share of the other service, Eurosport. The European Broadcasting Union owns the rest. Eurosport is also threatened by legal action from its competitor Screensport, which says EBU is limiting competition. Eurosport can currently be seen in 22 countries. SATELLITE-RADIO--There's a lot happening on Intelsat 6-F4, which broadcasts to Europe from 27.5 degrees West longitude. Thomas Bergstam produces a very nice table of European satellite radio channels, and in his latest list, he indicates the following broadcasts from that satellite: BBC 648, British Forces Broadcasting, and two BBC World Service channels on the BBC-Europe transponder. Super Gold on the Children's Channel transponder, CNN Radio News on the CNN transponder, and one or two channels with horse races on the Discovery transponder. The British Forces relay is scrambled. ROYALTIES AND CABLE--Here in Sweden, the door has finally opened for cable systems to carry commercial satellite radio. The rights organization CopySwede has reached agreement with Radio Luxembourg. On the other hand, the American film organization Agicoa is blocking relays of German and Italian television on Swedish cable. The channels in question, RTL Plus, Sat 1, 3Sat, and RAI Uno, are available on cable in Norway, Denmark, and Finland. But rights laws are different in Sweden, where Agicoa has the power to block the relays, because the channels in question carry American films. In the other Nordic countries, royalties are being paid while the question is being debatted, but Agicoa does not the power to block transmission while the issue is in dispute. AMERICAN DBS--American satellite television differs from European in that most American relays are in the 4 GHz C-band, requiring antennas at least 3 meters in diameter, and with rotors to tune to the 20 or so satellites above the Americas. European satellites generally use frequencies around 11 or 12 GHz, with dishes less than one meter in diameter. And you can pick up 16, hopefully soon 32, Astra channels, without a rotor. So the cheapest Astra systems cost around 500 to 600 dollars, while American systems usually cost around 2000 dollars. But now there are several plans for European style direct satellite broadcasting to North America, using the Ku-band around 12 GHz. The first proposal came almost exactly a year ago, when General Electric announced a joint venture with 9 major cable operators to deliver 10 channels of programming using medium power in the Ku-band. They began offering the service, called K Prime, to a limited group of consumers in early November, using the Satcom K1 satellite stationed at 85 degrees West longitude. Three of the channels are pay per view, the others so-called Super Stations. K Prime hopes to be in about 120 test markets by the middle of this year. Turning to real DBS, last February four communications companies--News Corporation, which owns British Sky Broadcasting; the NBC TV network; satellite makers Hughes Communications; and the major cable operators Cablevision Systems--announced a one billion dollar venture called Sky Cable. The system could carry a maximum of 108 channels of high definition television. The receivers would use 12 by 18 inch antennas and would cost around 300 dollars, plus a 25 dollar a month subscription fee. Sky Cable hopes to be in operation by late 1993. But they may be beat out by another system, called Sky Pix, which was unveiled at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sky Pix would offer up to 80 channels initially, in the Ku-band, using the SBS-6 satellite at 99 degrees West. Antennas would be 24 inches in diameter for most of the United States. Receivers will be about the size of a cigar box, and will handle up to 250 channels when more powerful satellites are launched later this decade. They would cost around 700 dollars, along with a 10 to 13 dollar a month subscription fee. Tests are underway now, and the system is due to be launched nationally this summer. Thanks to Richard Doherty, Dave Neff, Kim Elliot, Jack Widner, Philip Berkowitz, and the "San Francisco Chronicle" for information about American DBS. HELP PLEASE--Finally a request for some information from our European users. I'm planning to write about cordless telephones in Sweden, and in order to make a comparison, I would like to know what frequencies are used for LEGAL cordless phones in various European countries, especially Britain, France, and Germany. All help is appreciated. (George Wood) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews since 1948. The program is now broadcast on the first and third Tuesday of each month. RS broadcasts to North America: 15:30 hrs on 17875 and 21500 kHz 02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz 03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Latin America: 23:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Europe, Africa, and the Middle East: 18:00 hrs on 1179, 6065, 9655, and 15270 kHz 19:30 hrs on 6065 and 7265 kHz 22:00 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz 01:00 hrs on 1179 kHz And to Asia and the Pacific: 12:30 hrs on 9765, 17740, and 21570 kHz 14:00 hrs on 9765 and 21610 kHz 01:00 hrs on 9770 kHz The Radio Sweden schedule to Europe in Swedish, English, German, French, and Spanish can be found on EuroSport (on cable and on the Astra and Eutelsat I- F4 satellites) Tele-Text page 496. Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood to Swedish telex 11738, CompuServe (via the HamNet Forum or Easyplex 70247,3516), through the FidoNet system to 2:202/297 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS SM0ETV. Reports can also be sent to: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are copyright. We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden Calling DXers, and our programs in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening! ============================================================================= Distributed by The Pinelands RBBS * 609-859-1910 * HST DS V.32 V.42 * 64 MB FIDO 1:266/32 * RBBS-Net 8:950/2 * Shortwave Listening * Ham & Packet Radio Home of PC Software by W2XQ * Receiver Control Programs for JRC & Kenwood English Language SW Broadcast Schedules (1988 WRTH Industry Award Winner) SYSOP Tom Sundstrom * W2XQ * MCI Mail 244-6376 * InterNet 2446376@mcimail.com TRS Consultants * 609-859-2447 * FAX 609-859-3226 * Telex 6552446376MCI UW ============================================================================= -- Jason Berri (SPEEDX USSR Editor) INTERNET: berri@aerospace.aero.org or berri@arecibo.aero.org [SPEEDX is a SWL club, send email to the above address for more information]