This news is provided free of charge to on-line users by TELE Satellit magazine and TS News Service GB. IT IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. It may not be reproduced for commercial reasons by any means what so ever. If you wish to reproduce this news or redistribute it for non commercial use please contact the email address below. Der TS Nachrichtendienst ist ein Service fuer die Freunde von TELE Satellit und TS-TV und ist nur fuer persoenliche infromation freigegeben. TELE SATELLIT EUROPE'S SATELLITE MAGAZINE European Satellite News - English Version Number 22, Week ending 23 October 1994 By Martyn Williams News Desk : Internet martyn@euro.demon.co.uk or CompuServe 100025,1637 (c) TELE Satellit Magazine SES SACKS DIRECTOR GENERAL As we were going to press late on Saturday evening news reached us that Societe Europeene des Satellites (SES), who own and operate the Astra satellite system, had sacked Director General Pierre Meyrat. The sacking is because of "differences of opinion about the management of SES" in SES' words. At present we have no further details but a full report will be in next week's issue. Russia wants launch pad at Kourou Doug Clarke, RFE/RL Inc Anatolii Kiselev, general director of the Khrunichev research center, told Interfax on 11 October that Russia would like to build a launch pad for its new generation of heavy space booster--Proton-M--at Arianespace's Kourou space facility in French Guyana. Kiselev said he would like to avert future rivalry between Russian and French spacecraft makers; France's Aerospatiale controls much of the market. The Proton series has been in use for 30 years and is touted as the cheapest and most reliable heavy space system in the world. It has been launched solely from the Baikonur cosmodrome, although Kiselev indicated that launch pads for the Proton were being constructed at Plesetsk, in Russia. Late last year, the Russians explored the idea of building Proton launch sites in Papua New Guinea in cooperation with an Australian firm. TeleWest heads for the market Britain's largest cable TV operator is following BSkyB onto the London and New York markets. TeleWest is jointly owned by US West and TCI and is expected to float around 20% of the company early next year. FilmNet - Special broadcasts next week FilmNet officially welcomes it's new viewers in Central and Eastern Europe next week. To celebrate the launch Hans Klok, the Managing Director of the European pay- television channel, will welcome viewers in Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia during special unscrambled satellite broadcasts. The special broadcast will last for half an hour and start at 14.15 on October 28 for Slovakia, at 12.00 on November 2 for the Czech Republic and at 13.00 on November 3 for Hungary. Transmission dates for Slovenia and Croatia will be announced later. The welcome message will coincide with press conferences and dealer seminars organised in those countries the same day. In addition to an impressive line-up of movies, FilmNet will also show regular live football matches from the English and Italian competitions, and other sports programmes to be announced shortly. In addition to a Polish voice-over, movies will be subtitled initially in Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian during the course of December, and sports programmes will be hosted by experienced English commentators. FilmNet launched the first-ever premium satellite channel for Central Europe on 1 October and will start broadcasting for 12 hours a day on 1 November, commencing every day at 14.00. The programme will be transmitted on Astra 1C's transponder 63 (10.92075 GHz, horizontal polarisation), on which the channel for Central Europe is broadcast. New generation Express satellite launched Russia successfully launched the first of it's new generation of broadcasting satellites on Thursday 14 October. The uses of the new satellite include TV and radio broadcasting plus telephone and data circuits. The Express satellites feature two ku and ten C band transpondersand will replace the current Gorizont range which was introduced in 1979. The first satellite is understood to be heading for 37.5 degrees west with further satellites due to fill 14 and 11 degrees west then 40, 53, 80, 90, 96.5, 99 and 103 degrees east. Transponders on Express are as follows : Express Satellite Range C band (34 MHz wide transponders) 3675 , 3725, 3775, 3825, 3875, 3925, 3975, 4025, 4075, 4125 MHz Ku band (34 MHz wide transponders) 11.525, 11.675 GHz Indian space launch success Lea Terhune, VOA New Delhi India has successfully launched a remote sensing satellite weighing nearly one-ton. It is India's first successful launch of a satellite this size, and brings india into a new era of space technology, as Lea Terhune reports from New Delhi. Scientists at the Sriharikota launch site in South India were jubilant on Saturday 15th as they witnessed the successful lift-off of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV). It was the second developmental test of the PSLV. The first test in September 1993 failed when the fourth stage of the rocket did not fire. Scientists say preliminary data shows the 804-kilogram satellite is functioning normally in a polar sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 820-kilometers above the earth. The success of the launch places India in the select group of nations capable of launching large low-earth orbital satellites. the group includes the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency. Both satellite and launching vehicle are the result of indigenous technology, according to the Indian Space Research Organization which was responsible for the launch. The Indian space program suffered setbacks when the United States imposed sanctions against India in 1992, and Russia cancelled a contract earlier this year to supply technical support for building cryogenic rocket engines. There is much speculation about the commercial uses of the launch technology. It could be a large-income source. The chairman of the space commission, K. Kasturirangan, told reporters inquiries have already been received from the US based Motorola company in connection with their Iridium global-telecommunication network. India has constructed large satellites before, but previously relied upon other countries to launch them. The satellite launch is a milestone met with mixed feelings by some countries, notably the United States, which is concerned about military uses of space technology. Although India emphasizes peaceful uses of its technology, many western countries view India as a nuclear capable country and fear its increasingly sophisticated deployment options. India has also been criticized both at home and abroad for spending too much money on defense and space technology when it is unable to provide an acceptable standard of living for most of its population, which now exceeds 900-million. New Channel ! Euro 7 launched Europe's latest TV channel Euro 7 launched on Wednesday afternoon at 1400 UK/CET. The channel is a Dutch language service broadcasting for 3 hours every afternoon with programmes about travel, health and free time activities. Euro 7 Eutelsat 2 F3, 11.556 GHz, 1400 - 1700 CET daily Turksat adds broadcasters Turkey's new direct broadcasting satellite Turksat, at 42 degrees East, has added a couple of new broadcasters. The state TV, TRT, has begun relaying four services on the Turkey spot beam. Cine 5 and Show TV are also expected to join soon. There are still no regular broadcasts on the European beam. This has only been used for tests. Turkey Spot : Kanal D 11.030 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H Radio Club, 7.02 / 7.20 MHz Kanal 6 11.080 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H TRT 1 11.556 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H TRT Touristic Radio, 8.03 MHz TRT 2 11.592 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H TRT Touristic Radio, 8.03 MHz TRT 3 11.644 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H TRT 4 11.680 GHz, 6.80 MHz, H Asia Spot : TRT Int 11.572 GHz, 6.65 MHz, V No Hungarian Media Law before 1995 Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL Inc. Talks on Hungary's media law between the Hungarian Socialist Party and Alliance of Free Democrats, under way since late August, ended without an agreement on 17 October, MTI reported the same day. This means that no media law will be submitted this year by the government to the parliament. AFD parliamentary faction leader Ivan Peto said his party was ready to reach an agreement, unlike the HSP. The coalition partners disagreed over whether Hungarian Radio and Television should function as a public corporation or a joint-stock company, over how to select radio and television directors, and over the future of the Danube satellite television program for Hungarians abroad. New services for Asia The world's largest producer of Chinese language drama, TVB in Hong Kong, has gained a licence from the colonies' Government to operate international satellite services. TVB plans to broadcast an Asian wide channel targeted at the whole continent, especially mainland China. The station has also applied for an uplink licence. The Hong Kong authorities want to establish the colony as a broadcasting hub for the Asia region. Currently the area's market leader, Star TV, is based in Hong Kong and other broadcasters such as the new ESPN Asia service have set up there. TS-TV next week ! Don't forget our TV show next weekend ! TS-TV is broadcast on the last Friday of every month and repeated the followign Sunday. The 90 minute show is full of news for satellite enthusiasts including new product reviews. The language is German and the deatils are : DFS Kopernikus 2, 28.5 degrees east. 11.625 GHz, Horizontal polarisation. Audio 6.60 MHz. 20:00 UK, 21:00 CET Apologies .... .... to those readers that missed the TESUG TV event this past weekend. Last week we published details of the broadcast and said it would be on Eutelsat 2 F1. This information was given to us personally be Eric Wilshire but appears to have been wrong. The broadcast was actually on Eutelsat 2 F3. In brief ... TS News Bureau London and Munich - Apstar 1 is moving from the hotly disputed 131 degrees east position to 138 degrees east where it will prove less of a headache to Asian communications. - The United Kingdom drops Daylight Savings Time this weekend and reverts to a one hour difference with continental Europe. Certain satellite channels will be affected by this including Sky News and CNN International whose programmes will revert to the usual time for viewers on the continent. - ITN's news feeds have been moved to DFS Kopernikus at 28.5 degrees east after a transponder failure on Eutelsat 1 F4 at 25.5 degrees east. - Trac Satellite in the UK have announced a D2-Mac card reader add on for their successfull range of BSB receivers. Trac used the obsolete receivers and converted them to D2-Mac from D-Mac. The new board adds a card reader to the unit. A review in a few weeks ..... - The BBC World Service feed to the Arabic language Orbit TV package is still moving daily ! This week it has remained on Telecom 1C at 3 degrees east but used 12.648 and 12.604 GHz. - CNN TV sound can be heard on an analogue subcarrier of AFRTS TV, the B-MAC channel on Intelsat 702. The TV is at 4.170 GHz with CNN audio on 7.38 MHz. - RTL has been testing Nagra encryption via Telecom 2B. TMC has said they will scramble from the 30 October. TELE Satellit Magazine This news is from the English language news service of TELE Satellit, a monthly satellite magazine edited in Munich, Germany. It consists of 132 pages, full colour with tables, charts and news with many off-screen photos of the satellite channels plus an informative technical section. Subscriptions are available for DM 120, Europe surface mail; DM 144, Europe airmail and DM 192, ROW airmail. Orders for subscriptions and more information should be sent to : TELE-satellit Customer Service, Silheimer Str. 6a, D-89278 Nersingen, Germany, Fax +49-7308-5296 Where to find satellite news : TELE Satellit News, English : CompuServe UK Forum (UKFORUM) - Windows Write / ASCII version, library 19 CompuServe European Forum (EURFORUM) - Windows Write version, library 5 CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - Windows Write version, library 15 fax polling +49-8282-81003 fax polling +49-2163-81744 fax polling +49-611-307307 - due on line in two weeks NBC Super Channel - NBC Text page 171 ISDN Mailbox IDTRANS (128 kBps), User Gast, Password SAT, +49-89-45001424 alt.satellite.tv.europe newsgroup on Usenet World Wide Web : http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html Fidonet SAT.028 newsgroup Fidonet RADIOCOMMS.FR Globalnet : GN.ONDES.COURTES.FR Sparknet : SK_SATELLITE Anonymous FTP to : ftp.funet.fi /pub/dx/text/satellite/telesatellit SAT NET BBS network TELE Satellit News, German : CompuServe Deutschland on line (GERLINE) - ASCII version, library 15 CompuServe Der Spiegel Forum (SPIEGEL) - ASCII version, library 11 fax polling +49-8282-81003 - already active fax polling +49-2163-81744 - due on-line in this week fax polling +49-611-307307 - due on line in two weeks SAT NET BBS network ISDN Mailbox IDTRANS (128 kBps), User Gast, Password SAT, +49-89-45001424 TELE Satellit Hotline +49-90-6350613 Zeiten: Do 15-20 Uhr, Sa 14-20 Uhr TELE Satellit TV ! Last Friday of every month, repeated following Sunday . DFS Kopernikus 2, 28.5 degrees east. 11.625 GHz, Horizontal polarisation. Audio 6.60 MHz. 20:00 UK, 21:00 CET Other reliable sources of satellite news : - Satellite Journal International provides worldwide satellite news and can be found in UKFORUM, EURFORUM, TELECOM, BPFORUM and CEFORUM on CompuServe plus other networks worldwide including Internet, Nifty Serve Japan and Fidonet. - *44022999# ,menu option 30 on BTX / Datex J - 3615 SATPHONE on Minitel - Phone 3670-8192 in France - SAT 1 Text, page 550 with fresh news every 3-4 days plus frequency charts. - BAYERNTEXT page 575 / 576 - Radio Sweden Mediascan. 1st and 3rd Tuesday, 20 minutes into the English programme via Astra, Shortwave, Mediumwave 1197 kHz and the World Radio Network. - Sat News on the Internet - Skyguide on the Internet - Radio Netherlands Media Network, Thursday, 23 minutes into the English programme via shorwave and The World Radio Network - World Wide Web users can access TS News and the electronic journals above and more information via the European satellite home page, URL http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602/satellite.html