From: xberri@arecibo.aero.org (Jason E. Berri) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Subject: SCDX 2129 Date: 6 Apr 91 23:17:10 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation -Message-Text-Follows- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2129--Apr. 2, 1991 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2129 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SWEDEN--Former Radio Sweden colleague Roger Wallis, armed with his new doctorate in Mass Communications, has written a commentary in the Stockholm daily "Dagens Nyheter" criticising Community Radio in this country. A recent study here called for the introduction of new private commercial radio stations. But Dr. Wallis says the available frequencies are all occupied, because of the growth in Community Radio. Swedish Community Radio was started to help small organizations maintain contact with their members and to help them communicate their message to the public. The various organizations are supposed to take turns sharing time on transmitters. According to Dr. Wallis, most of the small groups have vanished, leaving vast amounts of transmitter time to very large organizations, primarily the Swedish Employers Federation and the Social Democratic Party, both of which broadcast for up to 18 hours a day on some Stockholm transmitters. Their main programming is American rock music. Dr. Wallis is active with the Swedish Composers Society, which has tried to broadcast Swedish music on community radio. According to Roger Wallis, that attempt has been blocked by the Employers' Federation and the Social Democrats' station. The latter claims it needs all its time to provide important information to its shop stewards. According to Dr. Wallis, that important information consists of non-stop international pop and contests. Roger Wallis calls for a clean-up of Community Radio, to make room for small organizations. SATELLITE-RADIO--Two famous medium wave stations from the past have become news on satellite: Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg. 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. Now the station has been reborn on the Lifestyle transponder of the Astra 1A satellite. It can be heard on the subcarriers on 7.38 and 7.56 MHz. However, according to Radio Sweden monitoring, Caroline may be sharing those subcarriers with Club Music, the previous occupant of the channels. We've reported before about Swedish Telecom's plans to carry Radio Luxembourg on its cable networks in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmoe, and the difficulties in reaching an agreement with the Swedish royalties organization CopySwede. That problem was supposed to be solved and one week ago Telecom began carrying test transmissions of Radio Luxembourg in its cable systems in Stockholm and Gothenburg. But last minute problems in the contract between CopySwede and Radio Luxembourg meant that the service was closed down on March 27th. Telecom says it's only a question of time, however, before final agreement is reached. On the other hand, plans to carry BBC World Service on cable in Stockholm have fallen through. The only satellite radio currently carried by Telecom Cable is VOA Europe in Gothenburg and one other system. Meanwhile, Stjaern-TV, which has the largest cable net in Stockholm, has no plans to add cable radio until its fiber optic network is completed in May. Currently Stjaern-TV uses microwave links to relay its signals to different parts of the city, and the signal space on those links is limited. (Anders Karlsson, Peter Lindqvist, Swedish Telecom-Cable, and Stjaern-TV) EUROPEAN SATELLITE-TV--European satellite monitors are anxiously waiting to see what channels are going to appear on the new Astra 1B satellite. The start date for regular broadcasts has been pushed back to April 15th, but over the Easter holiday monitors reported seeing some of the transponders testing. The satellite has been slightly away from its permanent position next to the Astra 1A satellite at 19.2 degrees East. But there's also a report that half of the motors that help keep Astra 1B in place have failed, and that there's a chance the satellite may drift into its companion. However, Astra's headquarters in Luxembourg has denied the report, and says everything is fine. The BBC channel on the Olympus satellite has switched from D2-MAC coding to ordinary PAL, which makes it available to most viewers. ("Elektronikvaerlden") Joaquin de Prada in Spain tells us that Italy's RAI has been testing a transponder on Intelsat 6-F4 (at 27.5 degrees) on 11.09 GHz. The either had a test card with the RAI NEW YORK logo or were transmiting RAI programs with the RAIUNO or RAIDUE caption but with audio from some program originating in the US. Sometimes the video was NTSC. The feed is no longer active. A one time they had a LIVE feed from the Square in front of the Plaza Hotel in NY!. (Joaquin de Prada, Spain) "Elektronikvaerlden" lists this as RAI Corporation New York on 11.087 gHz. Joaquin also wonders if there are any computer bulletin boards or systems similar to CompuServe here in Europe with coveage of satellite-TV DXing? Joaquin also wonders if anyone can suggest a good European magazine about this same topic? The only magazines we've seen here are the British "Satellite TV Europe" and "Which Satellite", both of which are nice, but are very much oriented to Britain. So we welcome any suggestions about magazines or bulletin board systems that we can pass on. NORTH AMERICAN SATELLITE-TV--There seems to be a major shake-up going on in North American satellite broadcasting. The Satcom satellites are reorganizing, and the stations on the C1 satellite are moving to transponders on new satellites, such as Satcom F2. These include the ABC feed from KUSA, CBS from KMGH, NBC from KCNC, all in Denver; NASA; and Japan's JISO. The reason for the change is because the Satcom F5 satellite at 143 degrees West experienced problems on March 22nd. The owner of the satellite exercised its right to move to C1, so the C1 users had to move. When I was in California last year, the only TV signal on F5 was Alaskan television, and reception was very poor. The move to C1 will certainly provide better reception in the Continental US. In 1993 Hughes will launch the Galaxy-5-W satellite to 125 degrees West. Most of the major services will move there, including HBO West, CNN, and Turner Network Television. (Bill Rood, Darryl Peck, Howard Melamed, and Richard Goldstein on CompuServe) SPACE SHUTTLE--The American space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to be launched in a few days, and the entire crew consists of licensed radio amateurs. The launch will be relayed on a number of amateur radio frequencies, including 28650, 28400, 21395, 21350, 21340, 14295, 14280 and 14270 kHz, with a slowscan TV relay on 14230 kHz. Look for voice and slowscan television transmissions from the astronauts on 145.55 MHz and packet radio on 145.51 MHz. CANADA--Radio Canada International says it is cutting its staff nearly in half, and dropping half its language services. This follows the decision by the Canadian government Friday to cut RCI's budget by one third, to 11 million US dollars for each of the next 5 years. Beginning April 1st, RCI cut 7 languages, 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 will be replaced by CBC domestic programs. The national languages English and French will continue on shortwave, but, with the exception of newscasts to selected target areas, programming will be replaced by CBC domestic programs. Those "selected target areas" are English to South Asia and French to Africa and Latin America. Meanwhile, the former President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Pierre Juneau, says that cuts made by the Conservative government impair the CBC's ability to meet its legal mandate. The cutbacks include laying off 1100 employees and the closure of 11 television stations. (RCI, Reuters, "Toronto Globe and Mail" via Richard Langley) IRAQ--The Radio of the Iraqi Republic domestic service in Arabic from Baghdad has been heard since March 13th on a new frequency of 6540 kHz, along with the previously observed channels of 3980 and 4600 kHz. The schedule is 02:25- 23:00 hrs. On March 21st programming resumed on 15600 kHz, and since then 8350 4600, 3980, 1197, 756, and 684 kHz have returned to the air. (BBC Monitoring) KUWAIT--Radio Kuwait reactivated two of its medium wave channels on March 21st, 1341 and 540 kHz. 1134 kHz is still being used by Gulf Voice Radio, and the Radio Kuwait in exile continues to operate from Saudi Arabia on 666 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) USA/BOTSWANA--Technology for Communications International has been awarded a 9.9 million dollar contract to build a Voice of America shortwave relay station in Botswana. The VOA already has a medium wave transmitter in the southern African country. The new relay station will carry the broadcasts previously transmitted by the VOA transmitters in Liberia, which were damaged in the recent civil war there. (Scott Loftenes, via CompuServe) USA/CUBA--TV Marti, the American government television broadcasts to Cuba, which used a blimp over the Florida Keys to hold up its antenna, went off the air on January 16th, when the blimp broke free from its tether and crash- landed. The Usenet News Service carries a report that on March 28th, the one year anniversary of its first broadcast, TV Marti returned to the airwaves. (Kauto Huopio, Finland) USSR--Radio Riga International in Latvia broadcasts a short news bulletin in English and German weekdays at 21:30 hrs. There's a weekly half hour program in English Saturdays at 18:30 hrs. According to announcents, this is repeated the following day at 07:00 hrs. The frequency is 5935 kHz. The short bulletins are announced on medium wave 576 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) The pro-Soviet Latvian station Radio Sodruzhestvo (Radio Community) is reported broadcasting at 05:00, 12:00, 16:00, and 20:00 hrs on medium wave 918 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) Radiocentras is a private commercial station in Lithuania. It operates 07:00- 12:00 hrs on 1107 and 1134 kHz medium wave, along with 4 FM frequencies. Programs are in Lithuanian only, but on May 25th there are hoopes for a special program in English for DXers, on shortwave. The proposed time is 07:30-08:00 hrs, with 06:30-07:00 hrs as an alternative. The frequency will be 9710 kHz. The address for reception reports is: Box 1792, Vilnius, Lithuania. Include 1 IRC for reply postage, 2 for airmail. (Sigitas Zilionis, Lithuania) UNOFFICIAL RADIO--The Voice of the People of Kurdistan temporarily suspended use of its outlet on 3935 kHz on March 15th, returning to 3960 kHz on the 19th at 17:00 hrs. In the previous days the station could be heard on 7030 kHz. On March 20th at 17:05 hrs, the station carried a two minute news item in English. The Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan has been heard again on 5941 kHz between 16:35 and 17:10 hrs. (BBC Monitoring) On March 15th at 17:15 hrs, a station calling itself the Voice of Rebellious Iraq was heard on 7097 kHz, announcing broadcasts at 04:30-06:30, 12:30- 14:30, and 17:30-19:30 hrs. Iranian media says that this station was set up by anti-Saddam rebels in Basra. An Iranian opposition station was heard on March 18th from about 18:04 hrs until sign-off at 18:22 on 4357 kHz. Broadcasting in Farsi, it called itself the Voice of the Guerillas. Another Iranian opposition station, pro- Communist, has been heard from 17:30 hrs until around 18:00, on 4207 kHz. It identifies as the Voice of the Sarbedaran. "Sarbedaran" literally means "those who have laid their heads on the block", that is, those who court danger. The Voice of Ethiopia on the Path to Democracy, operated by the EPRP guerillas, is heard daily at 04:00.04:45 hrs on 7010 kHz. (BBC Monitoring) In Colombia, a leftist radio station called Radio Patria Libre and a right- wing station called El Pueblo Responde have been operating at the same time and apparently on the same frequency. According to BBC Monitoring, when last monitored, they were on variable 6315 khz at 00:25-01:20 and 11:30-12:20 hrs. (BBC Monitoring) CLUB NEWS--The Finnish DX Association invites foreign shortwave listeners to attend its summer meeting August 2-2, in Oulu in northern Finland. The program will include lectures about the DX hobby and shortwave listening, competitions, and a sightseeing tour. For more information write to: The Finnish DX Association, Box 454, SF-00202 Helsinki, Finland. The Swedish DX Federation is awarding its "QSL Station of the Year" award to Radio Clube do Angra in the Azores, for the generosity in answering reception reports. The Federation has awarded the title to a radio station every year since 1986, as an appreciation for answering DXers or encouraging them. The stations involved do not have transmissions to foreign countries, and serve domestic audiences only. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: 17:00 hrs on 1179, 6065, and 9615 kHz 18:30 hrs on 6065 and (Middle East) 15270 kHz 19:30 hrs on 1179, 6065 and 9655 kHz 20:30 hrs on 6065 kHz 22:00 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz And to Asia and the Pacific: 11:30 hrs on 11960, 17740, and 21570 kHz 13:00 hrs on 11960, 17740, and 21570 kHz 01:00 hrs on 9765 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]