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TELE-satellit
EUROPE'S SATELLITE MAGAZINE
International Satellite Broadcasting News
Number 76, Week ending 5 November 1995
By Martyn Williams
News Desk : Internet martyn@twics.com  or CompuServe CIS:martynw
(c) TELE-satellit Magazine


NEW CHANNELS HIT ASTRA
  LONDON, England (TS) -- Six new channels began broadcasting on Astra 
last week although you won't see any unless you are a subscriber to 
BSkyB.
  The new channels are squeezing into space already free on existing 
transponders and give viewers a maximum of one of two extra choices at 
any one time.
  The new channels are :
   Playboy Channel - "Erotic TV for lovers", and a premium service.
   Sky Sports Gold - Free to sports subscribers, reruns of old 
sporting events and sports nostalgia.
   History Channel - A member of multichannels, joint venture with the 
US A&E network.
   Paramount Television - entertainment shows from Paramount and many 
showings of Entertainment Tonight, a multichannel.
   EBN: European Business News - Free on Eutelsat but a multichannel 
on Astra, business news in the mornings.
   The Sci-Fi Channel - 24 hour on cable via a digital feed and just a 
few hours a week on Astra as a multichannel.
  With the new channels the multichannel subscription rises to GBP 
10.99. The full package is GBP 24.99.


BRITISH CHURCH SELLS SKY SHARES
  LONDON, England (TS) -- The Methodist Church has sold the GBP 
850,000 worth of shares it held in BSkyB as a protest to the beginning 
of The Playboy Channel.
  A Sky spokesman said it regretted the decison and hoped the church 
would reconsider its move in the future.


CANAL PLUS, SKY REACH MAURITIUS
  PARIS, France (TS) -- Canal Plus and Sky News have begun 
broadcasting in Mauritius.
  The two broadcasters have teamed up with the Mauritius Broadcasting 
Corporation to send signals to around 40,000 of the 160,000 television 
households on the Indian Ocean island where English and French are the 
principle languages.
  The broadcasts are being scrambled and offered on a subscription 
basis to the homes.


IS IT LIVE, OR IS IT MEMOREX ?
  MANILA, The Philippines (TS) -- When a solar eclipse occured across 
Asia a week ago, the region's broadcasters set up live links across 
their respective countries to follow the total eclipse from west to 
east.
  In the Philippines this included ABS-CBN, the nation's largest 
broadcaster, which had cameras across the country including the remote 
island of Tawi-Tawi, 1,050 kms south of Manila.
  What actually went on there is unclear although a parliamentary 
investigation will now seek to discover if the signals shown on 
ABS-CBN "live" from Tawi-Tawi were actually live.
  News journalists at competing PTV-4 alledge the satellite equipment 
linking the island to the capital failed and the station broadcast 
tape of an eclipse in 1988.
  The government will investigate whether the public's right to 
infomation was compomised.


RUMOUR OF THE WEEK
  LONDON, England (TS) -- Will Dow Jones and General Electric merge 
their competing business channels ? The question is on the lips of 
many industry insiders this week after rumours surfaced of a possible 
tie up between the two.
  Dow Jones operates the European Business News (EBN) and Asia 
Business News (ABN) channels and has recently purchased New York's 
WNYC channel 13 with the intention of changing it from a public 
service broadcaster to a business news channel for the city.
  General Electric owns the CNBC network of channels in the USA, 
Europe and Asia. It also operates the NBC network in the United States 
and the NBC Super Channel in Europe and Asia.
  Both groups are attempting to create a business news version of CNN 
and such a tie up would make sense say some observers. Others contend 
that such talks, or at least the rumours, are continuously circulating 
in the business and there is little to them.


GE STAR SATELLITE SYSTEM TO SERVE THE GLOBE
  PRINCETON, USA (GE) -- GE American Communications (GE Americom), a 
GE Capital Services company, announced that it filed with the FCC to 
construct, launch and operate its new geostationary satellite GE*Star
System.
  Utilizing Ka-band frequencies, the proposed GE*Star System will 
provide broadband, high-speed digital communications connecting the 
United States, North America, Europe, Asia, India, the Pacific, the 
Caribbean, South America and Central America, as well as providing 
services within those regions.
  As envisioned, the GE*Star System will feature nine 
state-of-the-art, high-technology satellites in the Fixed-Satellite 
Service (FSS), each delivering 1,000 MHz of communication channel 
bandwidth.  The GE*Star system is designed to bring innovative and 
low-cost broadband services to a wide range of customers in the United 
States and throughout the world.  The system will make possible 
services that include high-speed data, direct-to-home and broadcast 
video, audio, video telephony, and other important data-based 
applications -- including access to both the NII and GII -- to both 
individual and commercial users.
  GE Americom's GE*Star System will deliver these services through 
highly spectrum-efficient spot-beam technology that will allow signals 
to be uplinked and downlinked to small antennas.  The spacecraft will 
feature on-board processors that can accommodate large streams of data 
traffic and switch them between spot beams to provide full 
connectivity and worldwide coverage. Proposed orbital locations 
include 106 degrees West, 82 degrees West, 16 degrees
East, 38 degrees East and 108 degrees East.
  "We envision the GE*Star System providing a multitude of benefits 
for satellite users worldwide," said John F. Connelly, chairman and 
chief executive officer of GE Americom.  "Satellites will play a key 
role in the ever-expanding Global Information Infrastructure, and the 
GE*Star System will offer efficient, cost-effective access to it for 
individual, regional and global customers."


NEW PRODUCTS
By Petra Huether, TS Munich

Galaxis Revolutionises Antenna Technology

  Flat antennae for satellite reception are not new, and should the 
concept of the high power Trabants have succeeded, they would by now 
certainly have gained popularity. 
  But the failures of TV-SAT, TDF and Marco Polo and the rapid growth 
of ASTRA restricted squarials to a niche market, and in the 11 GHz 
band they could never gain a foothold.
  This is now about to change, as Galaxis Vertriebs GmbH presented the 
antenna "Future" range at the IFA in Berlin, which will give the 
technology a fresh impetus and, in all probability, will achieve 
success. 
  The antenna of the future: Future 1
  The basic model Future 1 for ASTRA and similar satellites measures 
35 x 19 cm, which is a little more than a TELE-satellit page. The 
antenna does not demonstrate the classical dipole configuration, but 
is composed of 128 small flat resonators for both polarisations. 
  The complete unit is covered by a special plastic film, on which 
extremely thin copper elements of about 1 sq. cm are located. These 
elements collect the electromagnetic satellite waves and concentrate 
them on the resonators. The front cover is made from a polystyrene 
composite. 
  Tests over many months have confirmed that the shape is not 
distorted by temperatures of -30 to +70 degrees Celsius. "Future 1" 
includes an LNC with an amplification factor of 55 dB (typical) and a 
noise measurement of 0,8 dB. With a 27 MHz signal, the carrier/noise 
offset amounts to 15,5 dB. The converter printed circuit is mounted 
directly on the rear surface of the antenna, therefore you dont need 
a wave guide. 
  The beam angle matches that of a 65 cm parabolic reflector, and the 
oscillator frequency, of course, is 9,75 GHz. The antenna can be 
mounted horizontally or vertically and, when required, even on a 
tripod.
  Infofax: +49-451-896090


Universal LNBs for the entire ASTRA bandwidth

  With the launch of the new digital ASTRA satellites the bandwidth 
for the current converters will also change. Whereas the old ASTRA 
1A-D are transmitting in the lower frequency range between 10,70 GHz 
and 11,75 GHz, for the reception of the future digital satellites from 
the SES stable (ASTRA 1E, F and G) you will need LNBs, that are 
configured for the upper frequency range 11,70 - 12,75 GHz. 
  Because it would be somewhat complicated to fix two LNBs on one 
satellite antenna, several suppliers are now offering so-called 
Universal LNBs. These LNBs are capable of receiving both analogue and 
digital signals over the entire frequency range from 10,70 to 12,75 
GHz. Apart from your conventional receiver you will also need a 
digital receiver. 
  The Universal LNB for single reception will be controlled by a 22 
kHz switching signal from the future digital receiver. The choice is 
made in the converter itself via a frequency-dependent switch, that 
selects the local oscillator frequency (LO) for the lower band (9,75 
GHz) or for the upper band (10,60 GHz). Vertical and horizontal 
polarisations will be switched by means of the LNB feed of 13/18 volt. 
  When developing the Universal LNB great care was taken that, whether 
installing a new system or updating an old one, with this new LNB the 
previous trouble-free operation of the existing analogue receiver will 
be retained, without extra cost, when receiving the lower ASTRA band. 
  Only after activating the 22 kHz switching frequency from the 
digital receiver, the Universal LNB will be switched to the upper 
ASTRA frequency range. 
  With the Universal LNB for split systems the requisite horizontal 
and vertical polarisation levels of the lower and upper ASTRA band are 
available at the four outputs of the LNB. Selection of the required 
band is achieved with a new multi-switch system. In this case the 22 
kHz signal of the digital receiver controls the additional switch for 
selecting the bandwidth.


Super-fast Data Transmission

  The well-known American supplier of satellite telephones, Magnavox 
from California, launched in time for autumn a new satellite telephone 
innovation. 
  The telephone MX 6060, especially designed for the INMARSAT-B 
satellite fleet, supports high speed data transmission (HSD). Thanks 
to a special integrated high-speed modem, a data transmission rate of 
64 kBits/s can now be achieved. This new generation of satellite 
telephones is eminently suitable for digital transmission. With a 
weight of only 18,6 kg it can be transported anywhere without problem.
  Infofax: +1-310-618-7001

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CREDITS,

Reports in TELE-satellit news are from our worldwide network of 
reporters and sources. In particular we would like to thank :

Curt Swinehart for keeping us up to date with all parts of the 
satellite industry.

Don Fitzpatrick of DFA in San Francisco for providing permission to 
reproduce articles from Shoptalk, the TV news industry's daily news 
and information magazine.

OMRI material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research 
Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, 
Czech Republic. For more information on OMRI publications, please 
write to: info@omri.cz

Reproduction in part of Jonathan's Space Report was maded possible by 
kind permission of Jonathan McDowell. To read the full edition see 
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html or 
ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.*

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Sweden Calling DXers/MediaScan,  the world's oldest radio program 
about international broadcasting. Radio Sweden has presented this 
round-up of radio news, features, and interviews on Tuesdays since 
1948. It's currently broadcast on the first and third Tuesdays of the 
month. A temporary web site exists at 
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