COMMUNICATIONS IN SPACE--EDITION 5.1 THE DXers GUIDE TO THE GALAXY George Wood August, 1991 This is the text of Radio Sweden's booklet "Communications in Space: The Dxers' Guide to the Galaxy" edition 5.1. Printed copies are available for free from: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden Copyright 1991 Radio Sweden. Reproduction of this publication is permitted to non-commercial media provided credit is given to Radio Sweden and "Communications in Space". In the beginnning, the Great Prophet Marconi cast his bread upon the waves. Long, medium, even short wave--the ether was filled, and at home listeners tuned the bands, and heard far away signals from Bonaire, Motala, and Oakland. Then, on October 4, 1957, the world changed. The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite, and listeners around the world tuned in to its signals just above 20 MHz. The Space Age had begun. What we find is this. The skies are filled with satellite that can be monitored, some with simple equipment, some with more complex and expensive gear. Weather pictures, satellite TV, astronauts and cosmonauts, computer bulletin boards in the sky, are all there waiting. We used to call satellite DXing the shortwave listening of the future. Well, the future is now. The signals are there, and more are coming. This guide is intended to help you tune in to signals from space. Equipment varies from USD 2000 for C-Band TVRO dishes and receivers to less than USD 200 for a scanner and discone antenna. I. INTRODUCTION-SATELLITES Communications satellites were first proposed by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke in 1945. Clarke pointed out that if a satellite was positioned high enough above the equator (36,000 kilometers or 23,000 miles), its orbit could be matched to the rotation of the Earth. The satellite would appear to remain fixed in one particular spot in the sky. Such a position would be ideal for relaying telephone, radio and television communications. Three such satellites located equidistant from each other could cover the entire Earth. It took technology a while to catch up with Clarke's idea. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. In 1962 the United States launched Telstar, the world's first communications satellite. Today there are more than 100 commercial TV and telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit, and many more are scheduled for launch before the end of the century. In addition, there are communications satellites in non- geostationary orbits (such as the Soviet Molniya), weather and other Earth resources satellites, amateur radio satellites, and Soviet and American space vehicles. All are accessible, if you have the right equipment. II. SATELLITE BROADCASTING-TVRO Television Receive Only systems allow home monitors to tune in to radio and television from geostationary satellites. There are around 3.3 million TVRO installations in North America and more than 1 million in Europe. These differ because of the different bands used for satellite broadcasting. The satellite TV bands are: S-Band 1700-3000 MHz C-Band 3700-4200 MHz (USA and USSR) Ku1-Band 10.9-11.75 GHz Ku2-Band 11.75-12.5 GHz (DBS) Ku3-Band 12.5-12.75 GHz Ka-Band 18.0-20.0 GHz North America Most North American TVRO uses the C-Band. Dish antennas are at least nine feet (3 meters) in diameter. Dishes and receiver prices start at around USD 1000 for systems without decoders, and USD 1500 for systems with decoders. Here are the North American C and Ku-Band downlink frequencies: Channel 1 = 3720/11730 MHz Channel 13 = 3960/12096 MHz Channel 2 = 3740/11743 Channel 14 = 3980/12109 Channel 3 = 3760/11791 Channel 15 = 4000/12157 Channel 4 = 3780/11804 Channel 16 = 4020/12170 Channel 5 = 3800/11852 Channel 17 = 4040 Channel 6 = 3820/11865 Channel 18 = 4060 Channel 7 = 3840/11913 Channel 19 = 4080 Channel 8 = 3860/11926 Channel 20 = 4100 Channel 9 = 3880/11974 Channel 21 = 4120 Channel 10 = 3900/11987 Channel 22 = 4140 Channel 11 = 3920/12035 Channel 23 = 4160 Channel 12 = 3940/12048 Channel 24 = 4180 The Ku-Band frequencies are based on a 16 channel system. For the 32 channel format, half-spacing is used. The 20 plus C-Band satellites above North America stretch from 69 degrees West longitude to 143 degrees West. They typically carry 24 transponders (each transponder can carry one TV channel and several radio channels or many voice and data channels) each with 5 to 8 watts of power. At least 6 satellites regularly use the Ku-Band and 15 others use the Ku-Band for occasional video. Home installations require extra microwave heads and low noise amplifiers for Ku-Band reception. American programmers, led by the pay-film channel Home Box Office, began scrambling signals in 1986. On April 27, 1986 a "video hacker" calling himself Captain Midnight (the hi-tech hero of a 1960's TV series) interupted Home Box Office's broadcast of the film "Falcon and the Snowman". He transmitted a message over the satellite link, overpowering HBO's uplink to the Galaxy 1 satellite. The message was a protest against HBO's scrambing. (The choice of the film was apt, as it concerns military spy satellites.) John McDougal, who called himself Captain Midnight. was traced to a Florida uplink station where he worked part-time. He was fined USD 5000. Many popular American satellite channels now scramble their signals, using the VC II system. Modern satellite receivers come equiped with decoders, and TVRO enthusiasts can subscribe to the coded channels, either by monthly payment to the stations directly, or to organizations offering special packages. The system is being updated to a VC II+ system. The company manufacturing VC II decoders, General Instruments, has a market monopoly. Separate decoders for receivers lacking them are extremely difficult to find, and can cost between USD 600 and 750. There is a lively underground of enthusiasts hacking decoders, hardware and software, in order to view pay channels for free. Some of the more interesting American satellite channels are: Spacenet 2 (69 degrees West): Nebraska ETV Nework on transponder 2, USIA on transponder 21. SCOLA, which carries news broadcasts from around the world, on transponder 23. Satcom 2R (72 degrees): NASA provides coverage of its missions and press conferences, including live video from space shuttle missions, on transponder 13. Programming is in four hour blocks, repeated during the broadcast day. Galaxy 2 (74 degrees): The CNN International feed on transponder 1, is now scrambled. The coding system used is called Leitch, which is not legally available. CNN feeds can be found on transponder 5, sports feeds on many others. Satcom 4 (82 degrees): Many (coded) sports channels. The International Channel is on transponder 12. Galaxy 6 (91 degrees) will replace Westar 4 (99 degrees) in October, 1991. During the Gulf War, this satellite carried many feeds from the Middle East. CNN used transponder 20 and pool reports were carried on transponders 2 and 3. Galaxy 3 (93.5 degrees): The new Fox cable channel is on transponder 2. C-SPAN provides live coverage of the American Congress on transponders 14 and 24. Telestar 301 (96 degrees) and Telstar 302 (85 degrees): The ABC Network will begin scrambling most of its program feeds in September, 1991 using the Leitch encoding system. Right now ABC is available unscrambled on Telstar 301 (East feed) and Telstar 302 (West feed), in both cases on transponder 10. Westar 4 (99 degrees): The former home of the Public Broadcasting Service, which has moved to Spacenet 1. Now, a couple of religious channels, and many feeds. The Outlaw Music Channel is on transponder 21 at night. Spacenet 4 (101.5 degrees): Launched on April 12th, 1991. Three of the six Ku-band transponders on the new Spacenet 4 satellite have reportedly gone bad and are considered unusable. Anik D1 (104.5 degrees): Canadian stations using the Anik D1 satellite at 104.5 degrees West are to moving to the new Anik E2 soon. D1 is expected to run out of steering gas by September. D1 currently carries relays of the Canadian House of Commons on transponder 24, with sound in English and French on separate subcarriers. Anik D2 (111 degrees): More Canadian channels and feeds. Weather Now is on transponder 11, with separate audio subcarriers for English (7.8 MHz) and French (6.8 MHz). Morelos 1 (113.5 degrees) and Morelos 2 (116.8 degrees): Mexico's Morelos 1 offers a number of local stations and sports feeds. Morales 2 is less active, but transponder 5 has been reported carrying graphics reading "This is TNT Latin America", apparently a reference to Turner Network Television. TNT programs, coded and not available for the US market, are listed on transponder 16. Spacenet 1 (120 degrees): The Public Broadcasting Service now uses 4 transponders--3 (coded), 5, 9, and 23 (coded). STEP Educational is on transponder 21. Westar 5 (122.5 degrees): Agrivision is a new channel for rural residents on transponder 17. Telestar 303 (125 degrees): Carries mainly TVN pay-per-view programming. The Fox Eastern feed is on transponder 18 and the Western feed on transponder 23. Satcom 1R (131 degrees): Court-TV, devoted only to live and taped court cases, is on transponder 12. Galaxy 1 (now at 133 degrees, after a move from 134): This satellite includes many popular coded services, including the Disney Channel, Home Box Office, Cinemax, Showtime, CNN, Turner Broadcasting, ESPN, the Discovery Channel, Arts and Entertainment, and the USA Network. CNN transmits the regular Cable News Network on transponder 7, and CNN Headline News on transponder 8. Both are usually coded. Satcom C5 has moved to 139 degrees West, and all Alaskan programming on the C1 satellite will be moved to C5 which will be renamed Aurora 2. C1 will then be moved to 137 degrees and the uplinks of network affiliates from Denver that were shifted to the Satcom 4 satellite in early 1991 will be moved back to C1. Intelsat VI-F4 (27.5 degrees), generally a European satellite, also carries NTSC transmissions to North America from Europe. During the lead up to the Gulf War it was used for NTSC feeds from the United States, presumeably programs for American soldiers in the Gulf, on 11.056 and 11.090 GHz. The transponders there were filled with feeds during the Gulf War. Transponder 11 is the NBC Atlantic link, transponder 14 is the ABC Atlantic link, which carries sound from London's Capital Radio when not being used for feeds. Transponder 15 is the U.S. Information Service, which usually airs C-SPAN I, broadcasts from the American Congress, while Transponder 16 is the CBS Atlantic link, with BBC World Service sound when not being used for feeds. Transponder 10 is BrightStar Communications, which carries the BBC Six O'Clock news at 18:00 hrs. Mondays through Thursdays, the Six O'Clock News is also carried on Westar 4 Transponder 12. This, and many other British newscasts are also carried in PAL on Intelsat VA-F13, at 53 degrees West, on transponder 14. Coming Satellites Mexico has signed a contract for two new communications satellites. They are to be launched in 1992 and 1993, and besides Mexico, will cover the southern United States; as well as the Detroit, Chicago, and New York areas; the Caribbean, Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia. They will also reach Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Santiago de Chile. The new satellites will have three times the capacity of Mexico's existing two Morelos satellites. Non-Video Signals Communications satellites carry much more than TV signals. There are also telephone channels, transmissions by international news agencies, stock market reports, commodity news, and hundreds of radio network relays. There are two main kinds of audio signals. Audio subcarriers are extra signals transmitted along with the video signal. The video information on a satellite transponder typically occupies the space 0- 4.2 MHz. Subcarriers are added at frequencies higher than the video. Usually they will be on 6.2 or 6.8 MHz, but any frequency between 5 and 8 MHz can be used. Modern satellite receivers come equipped with tunable subcarrier control. If a satellite receiver lacks tunable subcarrier control, the antenna jack of a shortwave communications receiver can be plugged into a jack on the back of a satellite receiver marked "video", "baseband video", or "6.8". Subcarrier services should be found in the 5-8 MHz range, generally in FM. There are more than 70 audio only signals available on North American satellites. Here are a sample: Satellite/Channel Program Frequency(ies) Satcom 2R/18 Peoples Network 5.445 Galaxy 3/24 BBC World Service 5.40 MHz International broadcasters 5.22 5.94 Galaxy 3/11 Classical Collections 6.30 6.48 Classic Hits 5.22 5.40 America's Country Favorites 5.04 7.74 New Age of Jazz 7.38 7.56 Light and Lively Rock 5.94 6.12 Soft Sounds 5.58 5.76 In Touch (for the blind) 7.875 KOA Denver 8.06 Galaxy 3/7 Southern Gospel Music 5.50 ACTS Radio Network 6.30 6.48 Spacenet 2/20 Radio France International 5.80 Spacenet 3/5 Pan American Network 6.16 USA Radio Network 6.48 Sun Radio Net 6.80 Spacenet 3/9 C-SAT TVRO 6.18 Modern Country 5.76 5.94 National Black Network 6.30 6.48 Interlink Broadcasting 6.8 Spacenet 3/15 KKJZ-L.A. (Jazz) 5.58 5.76 FBN/Financial News 6.12 Let's Talk Radio is a new program about radio and television on the Spacenet 3 satellite (87 degrees West), transponder 21, using the 6.2 MHz subcarrier (daily at 6:00 PM-1:00 AM Eastern Time). There will be programs about amateur radio, shortwave listening, and computers. Howard Walker, publisher of a magazine for the satellite-TV hacker underground will appear on Saturdays. Other regulars include Havanna Moon, the well-known clandestine broadcast expert. Ironically, users of the VC II descrambler will have to bypass them to hear the program. The second system of sending audio by satellite is SCPC (single channel per carrier). This involves dividing up an entire transponder into individual non-video channels. There is both FM and single side band (SSB) SCPC. Most of the high quality audio (and data) services today use FM/SCPC. It is typically used for network relays. The American non-commercial radio network National Public Radio has 16 audio channels on the Westar 4 satellite, on transponders 2, 3, and 4 (which are used for many other SCPC services as well. NPR's rival, American Public Radio, also uses these channels. The BBC World Service is carried for some 8 hours a day on an APR SCPC channel. There are special SCPC receivers, but SCPC can be monitored with a satellite-TV receiver and a continuous coverage scanner or VHF-UHF communications receiver, although the quality may be less than with a dedicated SCPC receiver. TVRO receivers have intermediate or downblock frequencies at 70, 134, or 950-1450 MHz. If this signal is available, a scanner or VHF-UHF receiver can be used to monitor the frequencies 18 MHz to either side of these channels on every transponder. Apparently Radio Shack's PortaVision miniature black and white portable TV set covers the necessary frequencies as well. SSB/SCPC includes many digital services offering news or business information. Some of these can be monitored by connecting the audio output of a scanner connected to the satellite receiver to a communications receiver in USB mode and tuned to 8.25 or 12.25 kHz. Fine tuning will reveal many radioteletype (RTTY) signals which can be monitored with the proper RTTY interface. Many satellites carry telephone services, One single transponder can hold 9000 telephone channels. These services can be monitored by hooking an SSB communications receiver to the 0-4.2 MHz output of a TVRO receiver. The telephone services, on satellites such as Satcom 5 and Galaxy 2, can usually be found by tuning the SSB receiver between 3720 and 4180 MHz. North American DBS Most North American satellite television has been in the C-Band, which is really intended for professional relays and not for home viewing. Many American TVRO enthusiasts have added extra low noise amplifiers for Ku-Band, however. The NBC network, for example, has stopped using C-Band, and can be found only in the Ku-Band, on the K-2 satellite at 81 degrees (transponders 3, 7, and 11 with feeds on transponders 5, 23, 27, and others). There are also several plans for European-style direct satellite broadcasting to North America, using the Ku-band. The first proposals came in early 1990, 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 (or PrimeStar), to a limited group of consumers in early November, 1990, using the Satcom K1 satellite stationed at 85 degrees West longitude. Transponders 2, 3, 4 (test channel), 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 13, and 16. Three of the channels are pay per view, the others so-called Super Stations. K Prime hoped to be in about 120 test markets by the middle of 1991. A direct satellite broadcasting venture called Sky Cable, which was to carry more than 100 channels, has been disbanded, Sky had four powerful backers: News Corporation, which owns British Sky Broadcasting, NBC, satellite makers Hughes Communications, and the cable operators Cablevision. However, Hughes says it has signed an agreement with United States Satellite Broadcasting to build and run a separate DBS system by the summer of 1994. The satellite would be able to carry up to 150 channels, including regular cable channels, pay-per-view networks, and high definition television services. Another system, called Sky Pix, was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, 1991. Sky Pix would offer up to 80 channels initially, in the Ku-band, using the SBS-6 satellite at 99 degrees West. Using a technique called digital signal compression, the 80 channels would be squeezed onto 10 satellite transponders. The audio quality would rival that of CDs and the video would rival the quality of video discs. 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 dollar a month subscription fee. Viewers would be able to choose between 40 and 50 major Hollywood movies at any time. Tests are underway now, and the system should use the odd numbered transponders between 1 and 19 on SBS-6. Sky Pix is due to be launched nationally during the summer of 1991. Europe The Soviet Union's Ghorizont was the first TV satellite over Europe. 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. 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 in January 1993. Astra 1D is planned for launch in 1994, and will contain transponders for High Definition Television. 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 currently 32 and eventually 64 channels without expensive 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. BSB's channels are Sky News, the entertainment channel Sky One, Sky Movies Plus, the Movie Channel and Sky Sports. The latter three are coded pay channels, requiring special decoders. Here are the channels on Astra 1A and 1B (as of July 24, 1991): Channel Transponder Frequency Language Astra 1A Screensport 11.214 GHz several RTL Plus 11.229 German TV3 Sweden (D2-MAC) 11.244 English/Swedish ?????? (see below) 11.258 Children's Channel/Lifestyle 11.273 English SAT 1 11.288 German TV1000 (D2-MAC) 11.303 Swedish/English (pay) Sky One 11.317 English Teleclub 11.332 German (pay channel) 3-SAT 11.347 German FilmNet (to Scandinavia) 11.362 several (pay channel) Sky News 11.377 English RTL 4 11.391 Dutch Pro 7 11.406 German (partly pay) MTV Europe 11.421 English Sky Movies Plus 11.435 English (pay channel) Astra 1B Premiere 11.464 German (pay channel) The Movie Channel 11.479 English (pay channel) ARD 1 Plus 11.493 German Sky Sports 11.509 English (free/coded) Tele 5 11.523 German Eurosport 11.538 ----- 11.553 JSTV 11.567 Japanese ----- 11.582 ----- 11.597 ----- 11.611 ----- 11.626 TV3 Denmark (D2-MAC) 11.641 English/Danish ----- 11.656 TV3 Norway (D2-MAC) 11.670 English/Norwegian ----- 11.685 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. The European Commission has adopted a proposal on satellite broadcasting, allowing for the gradual introduction of the D2-MAC standard, as a step towards using HD-MAC for high definition television. Existing satellite broadcasters would be allowed to continue using the current PAL and SECAM systems. But new satellite services from January 1, 1992 will have to use D2-MAC. All television sets sold in the community after January 1, 1993 with screens 22 inches or larger will have to include D2-MAC decoders. Besides increasing the cost of receivers somewhat, there is one major drawback to D2-MAC. It restricts the number of sound channels, which could be a major obstacle for future satellite radio. It's use as a bridge to HD-MAC is questionable, since by the time HD-MAC is introduced, it may have already been made obsolete by digital HDTV systems. Eurosport, the satellite sports channel jointly owned by the European Broadcasting Union and Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television, went off the air on May 6th, for two reasons. First, when Sky bought out British Satellite Broadcasting, it also bought a British-only sports channel, now called Sky Sports. Secondly, the European Commission ruled that the venture violated European Community fair competition regulations. Which meant that programming costs were about to go up. So Rupert Murdoch kept the British channel and pulled the plug on Eurosport. Eurosport returned to the air on May 22nd after France's TF1 bought in. It now has a rather restricted schedule on Astra 1B on 11.538 GHz, as well as the Eutelsat II-F1 satellite, on 10.97 GHz, which is also different from its previous transponder on that satellite. Eurosport can also be seen on DFS 1 Kopernikus at 23.5 degrees East, on 11.550 GHz. The former Eurosport transponder on Astra 1A (11.258 GHz) has been showing test pictures and an announcement that a new service would be starting soon. There are are number of rumors about what this could be, including a new location for Sky Sports, a planned French RTL 2 service or the former East German DFF (Deutscher Fernsehfunk), or its new successor, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Japan Satellite Television, JSTV, has broadcast for two hours each night on the Lifestyle transponder on Astra 1A. Since June 3rd it been using transponder 24 on Astra 1B, at 11.567 GHz for 11 hours a day. Some programs are to be dubbed or subtitled in English, to make them more accessible to European viewers. Some news is already subtitled. Other European Ku1-Band satellites include: DFS 1 Kopernikus 23.5 degrees East several German transponders Eutelsat II-F1 13 degrees many European programs Eutelsat II-F2 10 degrees Italian, Spanish, Turkish FilmNet to Benelux Eutelsat I-F4 7 degrees mostly Spanish Intelsat V-F12 1 degree West transponders for Norway Intelsat V-F6 18.5 degrees 3 Italian transponders in use Intelsat VI-F4 27.5 degrees European programs (BBC, CNN) PanAmSat 45 degrees mostly feeds (PAL and NTSC) The Eutelsat II generation satellites are higher-powered than their predecessors, and approach Astra in strength. Relays of the Danish-based One World Channel have been cut back on the French-language TV5 transponder on Eutelsat II-F1, to occasional half hours, since TV5 has expanded its programming. However, the One World Channel has found a new home on Nordic Channel, on the same satellite, on the transponder at 11.638 GHz, daily 14:30-16:00 hrs. Nordic Channel is no longer relaying ITN News at 18:00 hrs, which may be to avoid competition with BBC World Service news at the same time. ITN news continues to be carried by Nordic as the last program of the broadcast day weekdays, starting sometime between 21:00 and 21:30 hrs. Turkey's TRT International has been broadcasting on Eutelsat II-F1, on the transponder at 11.181 GHz. There are daily 10 minute news bulletins in English at around 19:30 hrs and in German at around 19:40. The launch of the Eutelsat II-F3 satellite has been delayed until October at the earliest. There are 5 European satellites currently using the 12.5-12.75 GHz Telecom band: DFS Kopernikus 2 28.5 degrees East Germany DFS Kopernikus 1 23.5 degrees Germany Eutelsat II-F1 13 degrees European Telecom 1C 5 degrees West France Telecom 1A 8 degrees France 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: Italsat 13.0 degrees East Italy Tele-X 5.0 degrees Sweden Olympus 18.8 degrees West Western Europe TDF-1 and TDF-2 19.0 degrees France TV-SAT 2 19.2 degrees Germany Marco Polo 31.0 degrees Britain But 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. 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 channels. 1990 saw two events which may turn out to be the beginning of the end of the direct broadcast satellites. The first was the merger between Sky Television, a major user of Astra, and British Satellite Broadcasting, which had relied on the direct broadcast satellite Marco Polo. The combined British Sky Broadcasting Network, with five channels, has continued on Astra. The second was the French government's decision not to build a third direct broadcast satellite, to follow up the existing TDF-1 and TDF-2 satellites. The two have developed faults which have reduced the number of usable channels. Instead, French Minister for Post, Communications, and Space Paul Quiles says the satellites will be replaced in due course by a new generation of spacecraft. In early 1991 the Olympus satellite, nominally at 18.8 degrees West, began drifting out of control, around 5 degrees a day. The Mission Recovery Team reestablished contact on June 19th. By early July Olympus had gone as far as 140 degrees East and was being controlled from Perth, Australia. The plan is to let it continue to drift until it can be controlled by the American space agency NASA from California. The problem has stopped relays of programs from the BBC, Italy's RAI, and the European educational broadcasting channel Eurostep. With Germany considering dropping use of TV-SAT, it seems the future is bleak for direct broadcast satellites in Europe. 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 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. Radio There are nearly 50 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, Radio Luxembourg, and Holland's Radio Tien. Sunrise Radio is a commercial medium wave station in London for the Indian community there, now on satellite as well. The famous offshore pirate Radio Caroline has been testing on the Lifestyle transponder on Astra 1A. Radio Caroline's management is now negotiating for the subcarrier slot, 7.38 MHz. The Caroline organization plans to keep the flavor of the offshore pirate Radio Caroline alive by prerecording programs on board their ship, the MV Ross Revenge, still anchored in the North Sea. List of Radio stations broadcasting from the ASTRA satelites ------------------------------------------------------------- Channel Station Sub-carrier TV station Frequency ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Deutsche Welle 7.38 MHz RTL-Plus 11.229 GHz 2 " " " 7.56 MHz " " " 11.229 GHz 5 Chiltern Network 7.74 MHz Lifestyle 11.273 GHz 6 Deutschlandfunk 7.38/7.56 Mhz SAT 1 11.288 GHz 6 " " " 7.74 MHz " 11.288 GHz 6 " " " 7.92 MHz " 11.288 GHz 8 SKY Radio 7.38/7.56 MHz SKY ONE 11.318 GHz 8 HIT Radio 7.74/7.92 MHz " " " 11.318 GHz 9 Opus Radio 7.38/7.56 MHz Teleclub 11.332 GHz 13 RTL-International 7.38/7.56 MHz RTL-4 11.391 GHz 13 RTL-4 (Dutch) 7.74/7.92 MHz " 11.391 GHz 14 Star*Sat Radio 7.38/7.56 MHz PRO7 11.406 GHz 14 Radioropa 7.74/7.92 MHz " 11.406 GHz 15 Power FM 7.38/7.56 MHz MTV Europe 11.421 GHz 16 Sky Radio 7.92 MHz Sky Movies Plus 11.436 GHz 18 Holland FM 7.38 MHz The Movie Channel 11.479 GHz 18 Sunrise Radio 7.56 MHz " " " 11.479 GHz 21 RTL Radio (German) 7.38/7.56 MHz Tele The above list was originally compiled by G0DFP and has been updated to July 20th 1991. Radio Sweden plans to begin broadcasts over the Astra 1A satellite, starting by April, 1992. Broadcasts would include relays of Swedish Radio's domestic programs, as well as Radio Sweden programs in English, German, French, and Spanish. Besides reaching European satellite dish owners, broadcasts would be aimed at radio stations in Europe currently receiving Radio Sweden transcription programs. Swedish programs would be intended as well for embassies, Swedish companies, and hotels with many Swedish guests in the Mediterranean region. A British-based pan-European satellite radio station is to be launched in August, 1991. Quality Europe FM will be carried on one of the BSB transponders on Astra. It will concentrate on an audience of 35 years and up, and will offer an information format, with news from CNN and Reuters. Other audio subcarriers can be found on: DFS Kopernikus 1 (German channels) Eutelsat II-F1 (BBC World Service, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Sky Radio, etc) Eutelsat II-F2 (Eurojazz, Spanish channels) Eutelsat I-F4 (Spanish channels) Intelsat VA-F12 (Norwegian channels) Telecom 1C, TDF-1 (French channels) Intelsat VI-F4 (BBC and CNN) Coming Channels On October 23, 1991, the new Baltic University will begin broadcasts via Tele-X to 50 universities in Leningrad, the Soviet Baltic Republics, and Poland. The programs will be courses about environmental problems in the Baltic Sea region, and universities in Copenhagen; Uppsala, Sweden; and the Finnish city of Turku are involved. A proposed British "adult" channel called After 12 has shown interest in leasing a transponder on Astra 1B. Middle East Broadcasting is scheduled to start programming to Arabic speakers in Europe by the end of 1991. It is already sending test pictures on Eutelsat II-F1 at 13 degrees East, on 11.554 GHz. It will transmit news on a 24 hour basis along the lines of CNN. A second channel on Arabsat will broadcast to North Africa and Arab countries. The European Broadcasting Union has announced plans to start a news channel called EuroNews, to challenge Sky News and CNN. It would begin with nine hours a day of programming by late 1991 or early 1992, and expand to 24 hour a day coverage in 1993. Visual images will have priority, with off-screen commentaries in different languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Extensive use will be made of graphics and subtitling. EuroNews will be supplied by 12 satellite signals and four terrestrial signals. The final signal will be transmitted on Eutelsat 2-F1 at 13 degrees West. There will be 5 mono sound subcarriers offering the various language channels. Twelve European broadcasters would be involved, but not Britain or the Scandinavian countries. France's Canal Plus is involved in a project with the over-the-air broadcaster TF1 to launch an all-news channel in French. That service would be launched in mid-1992 at the earliest. German broadcasting authorities hope to turn the television section of an American-founded radio station in Berlin into an international satellite TV channel. Germany's 16 states have proposed merging RIAS-TV with the official German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle. RIAS stands for "Radio in the American Sector" and it was founded after World War II by US occupation officials in Berlin. RIAS-TV was launched in 1988. Britain may start a satellite-TV channel with broadcasts from the British parliament. The leader of the House, John MacGregor, has told the Commons that 4 million people could receive the broadcasts by the end of the decade. He added that the service may be broadcast on one of the BSB transponders on the Marco Polo satellite. The new service, however, initially would be relayed by a lower-powered Intelsat satellite, for relay over cable-TV systems. MacGregor indicated that the parliament channel could be in operation before October, 1991 to coincide with the opening of parliament. Meanwhile, there may be more customers for Marco Polo, which is still transmitting BSB programs in parallel with Astra 1A and 1B. The Indian channel Indra Dnush, currently on some British cable systems, is considering using a Marco Polo transponder. The Italian fianancier who engineered the controversial take over of the MGM film in 1990 is planning to launch a European channel based in Italy to be called MGM-TV. Programming would be provided by the famous MGM film library. The first all-Spanish communications satellite, Hispasat, is to go into orbit in August, 1992. A second satellite is to follow in 1993. Main users will be Spanish National Television and the state telecommunications company. The Soviet Union plans to open its skies and offer satellite time in a DBS system which would use satellites 5 times bigger than any others in geostationary orbit. Called Marathon Energy, the first satellite would be launched by the Soviet space shuttle by 1994. It would provide 5 TV channels, as well as transponders for telephone and mobile telephone communications. Three satellites would cover the Soviet Union, while a fourth could cover other parts of the world. Receiver dishes would be about 50 cm in diameter. Asia, the Pacific, and the Third World There are 27 geostationary satellites in orbit above Asia and the Pacific. Four are Soviet satellites, 7 are from Intelsat. The Intelsat satellites provide a variety of C-Band services. Intelsat V-F8 at 180 degrees East relays Australia's ABC, as well as Japan's JISO, and the American CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and AFRTS in NTSC. There's an RFO-France relay in SECAM and ITN/BBC news feeds to New Zealand in PAL. Intelsat V-F5 (66 degrees East) carries USIA/Worldnet, three Chinese channels, as well as television from Malaysia, Zaire, Ethiopia and Bophuthatswana. (There are also Ku-Band transponders for Iran, Turkey, and the American AFRTS, directed to Turkey). VA-F11 (63 degrees) carries transponders for South Africa, Algeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Thailand, as well as an Italian Ku-Band channel. There are Ghorizonts at 40, 53, and 90 degrees East. Each has 6 C- Band transponders, and the latter two have experimental Ku-Band transponders as well. CNN Headline News can be found on Ghorizont 12 at 40 degrees, on 3825 MHz, in PAL. The Soviet satellite Ekran at 99 degrees East carries a powerful relay of the Orbita III program, on 714 MHz. This is between Japanese channels 53 and 54 and European channels 51 and 52, and is reported to be available all over Asia. Japan has been a pioneer in direct satellite broadcasting, as might be expected from its consumer electronics industry. The world's first direct broadcast satellite was Japan's BS-2. It's successor, BS- 3A, is positioned at 110 degrees East. It carries three 12 GHz transponders, and one wide-band data channel. On April 18, 1991 the American rocket carrying a new satellite was lost. There were fears this would mean the loss of one of the country's direct satellite television channels. But the gap will be filled by juggling channels on the two existing satellites, 2-B and 3-A. BS-3B is due to be launched on August 16, 1991. Another satellite, called BS- 3H, is to be launched in fiscal 1992. Meanwhile, the November, 1991 launch of Japan's Superbird B satellite has been rescheduled to January, 1992. This satellite was supposed to replace Superbird A, which was knocked out of service in December, 1990. Eight TV broadcasters have moved to other satellites. Other Japanese satellites are JCSat 1 and 2 (at 150 and 154 degrees respectively) each with 32 Ku-Band transponders. CS-3a and CS- 3b Sakura (132 and 136 degrees) each carry 2 C-Band and 10 Ka-Band (17.7-19.45 GHz) transponders. Australia's 3 Aussats are located at 156, 160, and 164 degrees East. They provide television to the Australian Outback, New Zealand, and the Pacific, using B-MAC. Each satellites has 15 Ku-Band transponders in the 12.25-12.75 GHz range. In many ways, Third World countries have more to gain from satellite communications than do the developed nations. Arthur C. Clarke, who first proposed artificial satellites, is today a citizen of Sri Lanka, and a dedicated advocate of satellites for Third World development. As one of Sri Lanka's representatives at a UNESCO conference in 1981, Clarke said: "To many developing countries, satellites are ESSENTIAL; they will make it unnecessary to build the elaborate and expensive ground systems required in the past. Indeed, to many countries, satellites could be a matter of life and death." Many Third World countries use the Intelsat system for their communications and television relays. Many countries also contribute to CNN's "International Hour". At a gathering of participating countries in Atlanta in 1990, CCN founder Ted Turner said he wished he could afford to give satellite equipment to every Third World country. He did give equipment to Vietnam, he said, because he felt bad about the way the United States had treated Vietnam. India began using an American satellite for rural education. The first Insat satellite was launched in 1983. Insat 1D at 74 degrees East has 12 transponders for telecommunications and 2 high-power national coverage TV broadcast transponders. India's Doordarshan and All India Radio also lease 4 transponders on Arabsat 1B (26 degrees East). Indonesia has been active in acquiring its Palapa C-Band satellites. Palapa B2P is at 113 degrees East, Palapa B1 at 108 degrees. Both have 24 transponders. B2P provides television for Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines as well as Indonesia. Transmissions to the Philippines are in NTSC, others are in PAL. Some transponders carry SCPC audio. China's DFH2-A1 at 87.5 degrees East carries 4 C-Band transponders. DFH2-A2 at 110.5 degrees was launched in late 1988. It also carries 4 transponders. SCPC traffic used by the Chinese military has been transfered from DFH2-A1. Other transponders are to come into use when Chinese television moves from Intelsat V-F7 at 66 degrees. Asia No. 1, the first commercial satellite designed for Asian countries, was launched in April, 1990 by a Chinese Long March rocket. The satellite was originally called Westar 6, and was launched by the American space shuttle in 1984. It failed to lift into geostationary orbit, and was retrieved by a special shuttle mission in 1985, when it was sold to the AsiaSat consortium. Now located at 105.5 degrees East, it carries 24 C-Band transponders, of which 15 have been leased by Hong Kong, Burma, Pakistan, and Mongolia. Star-TV, operated by Hong Kong's HutchVision, is broadcasting 24 hours a day on Asia No. 1. By the end of 1991, the system is to be operating three channels. HutchVision has announced it is buying Mandarin language programming from Asian Television, ATV. The primary audience will be in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. HutchVision has also signed agreements for its planned sports and music video channels. The music channel will be an Asian version of MTV, due to begin broadcasting in September, 1991. Two more channels are to be added next year. HutchVision says more than 40 countries from Egypt to Japan will be able to receive the broadcasts. Plans are going ahead for an Asia No. 2, which may be launched in 1994. The Cable News Network is facing problems with its feed to the Far East. The Intelsat used by CNN in Asia is entering the final stage of its lifetime, and signals are growing weaker. Analysts say that hotel guests, who account for about one-third of the network's viewers in Asia, could notice a decline in the quality of signals in the coming months. The launch of a replacement Intelsat failed last year. CNN is faced with the alternative of waiting until a new series of Intelsat satellites become available in 1994, or switching to another satellite. The two possibilities are Asia No. 1 or the Indonesian government's Palapa. CNN says its talked with both organizations. HutchVision, which holds exclusive broadcasting rights on Asia No. 1, says it would be willing to let CNN use the satellite, in exchange for rights to integrate CNN programming into its planned satellite TV news channel. But Hutchvision's reliance on advertising would also mean a change in CNN's subscription-based strategy as a primary revenue source. The drawback to using Palapa, is that it only broadcasts to the southern portions of the Asian-Pacific region. Most of CNN's Asian audience is in Japan. Arabsat 1B at 26 degrees East is a reserve for 1A (19 degrees). Both have 25 C-Band transponders, as well as one strong S-Band transponder around 2600 MHz. 1A is used to relay programs from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Mauretania. One transponder is used for Inter- Arab news, co-ordinated via Tunis. The Gulf War brought relays of Egyptian television to the Gulf. A third Arab communications satellite is scheduled to be lanuched from French Guiana in December, 1991. Israel's Amos, carrying 6 or 7 Ku-Band transponders, is due to be launched, probably from French Guyana, in 1994. Turkey's first 12 channel Turksat is due to be launched as well in 1994, with a second satellite 6 to 12 months later. Asian Satellite Radio Japan is launching the world's first nationwide digital radio system, using BS-3A. The broadcasts will use pulse code modulation, or PCM, matching the quality of compact disks, and free from the usual radio hissing noises. Tests have already been carried out via satellite, and full services were scheduled to begin in April, 1991. There are to be around 18 stations. Nippon Television Network and Mitsubishi have joined to launch a satellite broadcast music service using digital pulse code modulation. PCM Japan hopes to start providing the service in April, 1992. Three channels will be available for subscription, to listeners with satellite dishes and receivers. Global Satellite Channels The war in Vietnam was called the first television war, with the pictures of violence and horror on American TV screens night after night contributing to the feelings that fed the growing peace movement. The conflict in the Gulf was the first live TV war, broadcast around the world by satellite, and underlining the arrival of the first global TV broadcaster, the Cable News Network, CNN. Arthur C. Clarke, the English visionary who first proposed communications satellites in 1945, watched what he called "the first's first satellite war" from his home in Sri Lanka. In an interview with Reuters, Clarke said communications is power, and the forces unleased by satellites in the Gulf War have the potential for making the world a safer place. The further development of a satellite communications network with the wider availability of telephone, fax, and television, Clarke says, will make us one global family, whether we like it or not. The conflict in the Gulf was also a boost for the BBC's long discussed plans for World Service Television, which became a reality on March 11th, 1991, taking over the existing BBC-TV Europe service on Intelsat VI-F4. A half hour bulletin of global news is being broadcast daily at 19:00 hrs UTC. Where CNN claims to be around the world in 30 minutes, and is usually around the USA in 30 minutes, BBC World Service TV news really is around the world. The service is to expand. There will probably be more newscasts, and editions in other languages to be marketed to broadcasters, cable channels, and other users. The service will also be expanded to other parts of the world on other satellites. There are other alternatives to the Cable News Network in the pipeline. Claiming that CNN is forcing US news on the rest of the world, the head of Japan's NHK says he wants to create the Global News Network with other broadcasters from around the world. Under the plan, broadcasters from Asia, Europe, and North America would be responsible for three 8 hour daily segments each focusing on their own region. European relays are to begin on Astra 1B before the end of 1991. The network would be based in New York. International Radio Broadcasting By Satellite While the BBC, Radio France, and Deutsche Welle can put out 24 hour services in their native languages by satellite, services which can be relayed over cable networks, it's much harder for small broadcasters. When Radio Sweden starts its satellite channel, what cable system would relay it, with a series of programs in varying languages? What's needed is for many international broadcasters to book a series of satellite radio channels, one for English, one for French, one for German, etc. Then they would take turns, and cable operators in Britain, for example, could offer one channel with alternating programs, say from Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and so on. Uwe Schoop, head of the Swedish Service at Deutschlandfunk, has been working on such a plan. He calls it time-sharing, and it may be the only viable future for many international broadcasters. There are some other options farther into the future. An American company called the International Radio Satellite Corporation, or RadioSat, has announced plans to create a worldwide direct broadcast satellite service for international broadcasters. Called DBS-Audio (or DBS-A), the aim of the enterprise is to ultimately replace shortwave broadcasting. RadioSat plans to launch three high-powered satellites, each with more than 200 channels to be leased to international broadcasting organizations. RadioSat says the Voice of America, BBC World Service, Radio Moscow and 5 other broadcasters have expressed interest and support. The planned downlink frequencies would be in the L-Band, between 1429 and 1525 MHz. The upcoming 1992 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC 92) will discuss the reallocation of frequencies, including DBS-A. Some countries would like to see DBS-A to use the S- Band, which is around 2.5 GHz. RadioSat prefers the L-Band because of cheaper technology and better propagation. RadioSat's Dick Marsten says he believes small portable receivers the size and cost of current short wave receivers would be possible for L-Band reception. RadioSat hopes to launch the first of its three spacecraft in 1995. Worldspace, based in Washingtion, DC, has similar aims. Their first project would be a service called Afrispace, which would broadcast 9 digital radio channels to Africa. They want to use the band between 1470 and 1530 MHz to reach portable receivers in Africa and the Middle East. Afristar 1 would be located at 12 degrees West. Another company called Satellite CD Radio hopes to broadcast directly to motor vehicles through-out North America, with CD quality digital transmissions. All of these plans depend on WARC 92. Nor do receivers exist yet. III. WEATHER, NAVIGATION, EARTH RESOURCES AND RESEARCH SATELLITES If TVRO is the satellite version of shortwave broadcast DXing, these satellites provide the equivalent of utility monitoring and scanning. The equipment required can be much less elaborate and much less expensive than for TVRO. WEFAX or Weather Facsimile, is the method used to transmit photographs and weather satellite maps via radio and telephone lines. The satellite version is known as APT. There are many low orbit weather satellites using this system in the 136-138 MHz band. Some of the active satellites that can be monitored are the American NOAA, along the Soviet Meteor and Okean, and Chinese Feng Yu: NOAA 9 and 11.................137.620 MHz NOAA 10 and 12...........137.500 MHz Okean 2..................137.400 MHz Feng Yun 1B..............137.795 MHz Meteor 2-19..............137.850 MHz Meteor 3-3 and 3-4.......137.300 MHz The geostationary GOES satellites downlink on 1691 MHz, while the Soviet Meteosat uses 1694 MHz. Earth Resources Satellites The American Transit and Soviet CosNav satellites provide navigational data to ships and submarines. They transmit simultaneously on two frequencies: Channel 1--149.910 and 399.762 MHz Channel 2--149.940 and 399.842 MHz Channel 3--149.970 and 399.922 MHz Channel 4--150.000 and 400.200 MHz Channel 5--150.030 and 400.082 MHz On 149 MHz the signals consist of a continuous carrier plus RTTY with the orbital data. Each satellite has an orbital period close to 104 minutes. Other "Utility" Satellites The National Bureau of Standards in the United States has been using two GOES satellites to relay time signals. The western satellite operates on 468.825 MHz and is located at 135 degrees West longitude. The eastern satellite can be received on 468.8375 MHz and is positioned at 105 degrees West. These frequencies are shared with the Land Mobile Services, so there may be some interference. Other interesting satellites include the American research spacecraft Hilat (149.988 MHz narrow band FM) and Geosat (150.015 and 400 MHz CW). India's Bhaskara 1 (137.230 MHz) and 2 (137.380 MHz) also use narrow band FM. MOS-1B is a Japanese Marine Observation satellite, which transmits on 136.11 MHz. Equipment An ordinary VHF-UHF scanner and a small non-directional discone or active antenna are usually are that are required for satellites in low orbit. Larger dish antennas and converters or special receivers are needed to tune in to GOES and other satellites in geostationary orbit. Computers and special interfaces or decoders are necessary to make sense of weather maps or telemetry. For more details about such equipment and satellite tracking programs, see our book "THe DXers Guide to Computing" (available from Radio Sweden for USD 5, GBP 3, FF or SEK 30, DM 8, or 8 IRCs). Also check out articles and especially advertisements in such magazines as "Monitoring Times" in the US and "Shortwave Magazine" in Britain. IV. AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE Besides governments and corporations, radio amateurs have also launched many satellites. The first communications satellite was in fact the Moon, which radio amateurs bounced have bounced signals off for years. In 1960 a group of radio amateurs in the United States formed the Project Oscar Association to design and build satellites for use in the amateur radio bands. Oscar ("Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio") was succeeded by the Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) in 1969. There are national AMSAT societies in many countries, and international headquarters is in Washington, DC. Amateur Radio Satellites: Satellite Orbit Beacon or Downlink Modes/Comments Oscar 10 elliptical 145.810/145.987 MHz Oscar 11 circular 145.826/435.025 RS 10/11 circular 29.357/.408 RS-10 CW 145.857/.903 " 29.407/.453 RS-11 CW 145.907/.953 " Oscar 13 elliptical 145.812/435.651 UO-14 circular 435.070 PO-16 circular 437.02625/437.0513 DO-17 circular 145.825 voice synth. WO-18 circular 437.0751/437.102 slowscan TV LO-19 circular 437.1258/437.15355 packet BBS FO-20 circular 435.795/435.910 packet BBS AO-21 145.822/.948 CW beacon 145.952/.983/.838/.80 FM/packet beacon UO-22 circular 435.120 (see below) packet BBS RS-12/13 circular 29.408/.454 RS-12 CW 145.912/.959 " 29.458/.504 RS-13 CW 145.862/.908 " Oscar 10 and 13 have elliptical orbits, which mean that they tend to "hover" over the Northern Hemisphere, making for long periods for contacts with little adjustment needed in tracking antennas. However, their require antennas with higher gain than those used for the circular orbit satellites. The Soviet RS-10/11 and RS-12/13 are each two separate packages on the same satellite. UO-14 (UoSat-3), PO-16 (PacSat), DO-17 (Dove), WO-18 (WeberSat), LO-19 (LuSat) are known as "microsats" because of their small size. They were launched together with an Ariane rocket in January, 1990. UO-14 was made by the University of Surrey in Britain, following on UO-9, which was launched in 1981, and UO-11 in 1984. UO-15, launched with UO-14, stopped transmitting the day after launch. PO-16 was built by AMSAT-North America, and LO-19 by AMSAT Argentina. They contain packet radio bulletin boards (BBS), with uplink frequencies in the 2 meter band using FM and downlinks in the 70 cm band in SSB. Dove is a Brazilian-made "peace satellite". It has a voice synthesizer and also transmits standard packet AFSK-FM on 145.825 MHz. WO-18 was built by Weber State University in Utah. It contains an onboard camera that downlinks its pictures by packet radio. The Japanese JO-20 (Fuji-2) also carries a packet BBS, with similar up and downlink frequencies to PO-16 and UO-19. Conventional packet radio uses a system known as AFSK (Audio Frequency Phase Shift Keyed) modulation. This was used by some earlier amateur radio satellites, such as UO-11, and is used by Dove. Because of the Doppler Effect (frequency shift from high speed), satellite packet uses a different system called PSK (Phase Shift Keyed) modulation. Circuit boards and kits for PSK modems can be ordered from AMSAT-UK and the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR). A commercial model called the PSK-1 is sold by PacComm (3652 West Cypress Street, Tampa, FL 33607, USA) UO-22 was launched on July 16th, 1991. It carries a packet radio bulletin board, which besides use by radio amateurs, will be used to transmit free medical information to universities in East Africa. The service, known as HealthNet, is operated by an organization called Satel-Life. The information will be uplinked from a ground station in Newfoundland. Ground stations have been shipped to universities in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The researchers who build the satellite at the University of Surrey are also developing portable ground stations that will fit into a briefcase, so that field workers can take them to isolated villages. Health-Net ransmissions will be using packet radio at 9600 baud, with downlinks on 428.01 and 429.985 MHz. Amateur radio operations will also be at 9600 baud, with a downlink on 435.120 MHz. OU-22 also carries a charge-coupled device camera, which will provide pictures of the Earth only slightly larger than the satellite's coverage area footprint. V. MONITORING THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND MIR Space shuttle communications have been relayed on shortwave from a number of amateur radio clubs at NASA bases. These are in single side band (SSB), and the frequencies to look for are 3860, 7185, 14295, 21395, and 28650 kHz from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland; 3840, 14280, 21350, and 28495 kHz from the Johnson Space Center in Texas; and 3840 and 21280 kHz from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Here are some reported frequencies connected with the shuttle missions: Shortwave (SSB): Western Test Range.............................. 5700 kHz 13218 Eastern Test Range.............................. 5190 NASA Tracking Ships............................. 5180 5187 Launch Support Ships............................11104 19303 NASA Kennedy Operations......................... 7675 USAF Cape Radio................................. 6837 6896 11414 11548 19640 23413 Shuttle-Mission Control.........................11201 NASA Ascension Island tracking..................20186 NASA CB Radios..................................27065 UHF (AM): Military aircraft emergency frequency........... 243.0 MHz Primary shuttle communications.................. 259.7 Shuttle space suits............................. 279.0 Primary UHF downlink............................ 296.0 Air-to-ground or orbiter-to-suit................ 296.8 S-Band (Wideband FM): NASA downlink................................... 2205.0 MHz 2217.5 2250.0 2287.5 Primary digital downlink........................ 2287.5 North American satellite TV monitors can watch the missions. NASA Select transmits live video from shuttle missions on the Satcom 2R satellite (72 degrees West) on transponder 13. A voice TV schedule update can be heard by calling American telephone number 1-202-755- 1788. Amateur Radio on the Shuttle There have been a number of amateur radio operations from the shuttles. The first was Dr. Owen Garriott, W5LFL, from "Columbia" in 1985. He was heard by tens of thousands of listeners and made two way contact with some 350 stations using FM with a downlink on 145.55 MHz. Tony England, W0ORE, operated primarily in slowscan television from "Challenger" in July, 1985. In October that year, Dr. Ernst Medderschmid and Dr. Reinhard Furrer operated as DP0SL from "Columbia". With the resumption of shuttle missions after the "Challenger" crash, amateur radio operations have resumed as well. Ron Parise, WA4SIR, operated from "Columbia" on a long-delayed mission in early 1991, with both voice and packet radio. Unfortunately, the signals could only be heard over the lower latitudes. The frequencies used were 145.51, 145.55, and 145.59 MHz. STS-37, on "Atlantis" in April, 1991, was particularly noteworthy, as all five crew members were licensed radio amateurs. There were hundreds of contacts with amateur radio operators on Earth. While a problem curtailed packet radio and slowscan television operation, the first television picture ever received on board a spacecraft was carried out using fast scan television. The Atlantis crew was also able to hear the Soviet cosmonauts on MIR, but were unable to complete two way communications. MIR The Soviet MIR space station can easily be heard with powerful FM signals on 143.625 MHz. Voice communications is also reported on 143.42 and 142.42 MHz, as well as a beacon on 121.75 MHz. Data communications from MIR can be heard on 166.130 (or possibly 165.875) MHz. Other frequencies reported from the Soviet space program are: Salyut space station (now crashed).... 19995 kHz Soyuz T-11 space vehicle telemetry.... 20008 Soyuz T-11 voice communications.......142.423 MHz Soyuz TM-3 and TM-4...................121.750 Progress 7 supply ship................166.000 Amateur Radio on MIR Several MIR cosmonauts have been radio amateurs. In 1988 amateur radio stations U1MIR, U2MIR, and U3MIR operated on 145.550 and 145.400 MHz FM. Musa, U2MIR, has been on the air in 1990 and 1991. On March 2nd, 1991 radio amateurs in Hawaii enjoyed a record 16 two way voice contacts with U2MIR, on 145.55 MHz, in both FM voice and packet radio. There are also reports of U5MIR heard in SSB in the 21 MHz amateur radio band. Britain's first astronaut, Helen Sharman, spent 8 days on MIR in May, 1991. She operated the amateur radio station there, under the call sign GB1MIR. VI. MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS IN SPACE During the Gulf War, monitors reported that American military communications in the Gulf could be heard from the FLEETSATCOM satellite network between 240 and 270 MHz. Most of the voice traffic is in the 260 MHz range, and most is coded. One monitor has reported to "Popular Communications" American AWACS planes on 263.825 MHz and Saudi forces on 249.325 MHz. Other active frequencies reported were 261.825, 262.200, 262.150, 262.425, and 263.525 MHz. Soviet military and navigation satellites use the 149 MHz band, for example: 149.91, 149.94, and 149.97 MHz. VII. HORIZONS Space exploration can be expected to continue. The American space station Freedom is scheduled for launch in the late 1990's. AMSAT and the ARRL have submitted a formal proposal to NASA for a permanent amateur radio station on Freedom. The proposal includes downlinks in the 145, 435, and 2401 MHz bands. Three geostationary satellites would be used to relay continuous communications from Freedom. AMSAT hopes to have its own goestationary satellites in orbit in the near future. Until then, the system would use the TDRS satellites used for shuttle communications. Farther into the future, it may be possible to monitor communications from proposed Moon bases, expeditions to Mars, or future space colonies in Earth orbit. Moving deeper into space, radio astronomy probes the limits of the universe on wavelengths other than those of light used by conventional astronomy. To this belongs SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Life. The United States is planning to launch a 10 year SETI project, using a super computer to pick up possible signals from any distant civilization. NASA scientists also plan to transmit radio signals to every star which can be detected in the universe, in the hope of getting a reply. Project META, a SETI project at Harvard University, funded by the Planetary Society and film firector Steven Spielberg (the maker of "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind") has searched the entire sky at 1420 MHz and is beginning a full search at 2840 MHz. These are both "water hole" frequencies where scientists think intelligent civilizations may try to communicate. There may be a role in the SETI quest for amateurs. Speaking to "Monitoring Times", astronomer Kent Cullers of the NASA Ames Research Center in California says that amateurs could try searching the 1-1.4 GHz range, because "interstellar noise is relatively low there." "Monitoring Times" points out that antennas are critically important, and suggests dishes, quads, and helical antennas. A computer can be programmed to scan frequencies. If signals are passed through a digitizer, the computer can break the information into small slices and can reject certain kinds of local interference. VIII. FOR MORE INFORMATION One way to keep up with the amateur radio satellites is to listen to one of the AMSAT nets on shortwave. Here are some: International Net--Sundays 18:00 hrs UTC on 21280 kHz Sundays 19:00 hrs on 14282 kHz European Net-------Saturdays 10:00 hrs on 14280 kHz Asian-Pacific Net--Sundays 11:00 hrs on 14305 kHz AMSAT and its national societies publish newsletters and sell computer hardware and software for use in monitoring amateur radio satellites. The main AMSAT address is: Box 27, Washington, DX, 20044, USA. AMSAT-UK is at 94 Herongate Road, Wanstead Park, London E12 5EQ, England. AMSAT-Sweden is at Box 1311, S-600 43 Norrkoeping, Sweden. There are a number of computer bulletin boards for space enthusiasts in the United States: 1-205-895-0028 NASA BBS 1-512-852-8194 AMSAT Software Exchange BBS 1-214-394-7438 Downlink BBS (AMSAT) 1-214-340-5850 N5ITU BBS 1-513-427-0674 Celestial RCP/M BBS 1-904-786-8142 Starship Enterprise BBS 1-804-743-0559 Astro BBS (amateur astronomy) The CompuServe HamNet Forum has a section devoted to amateur radio satellites. The Consumer Electronics Forum has a TVRO section. There are a number of other space (and science fiction) forums on CompuServe, including a NASA section with news from the American space agency. For more information contact: CompuServe, 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd,. Box 20212, Columbus, OH 43220, USA. "Dial-a-Shuttle" is a telephone number available during shuttle missions, with news updates and live relays from the astronauts. The number is 1-900-909-6272. The 1991 World Radio TV Handbook contains a new section on World Satellite Broadcasts, underlining that satellites now play an important role in international broadcasting. This section lists current and some planned geostationary broadcast satelliteslites, with some detailed lists of transponder useage. We made extensive use of the WRTH in compiling the section on Asian satellites. The 1991 World Satelllite Annual, compiled by Mark Long, has just about everything you could possibly want to know about communications satellites. It lists all the current and many planned satellites in geosynchronous orbit, with footprint maps and channel tables. There are chapters on satellite launch vehicles for the 1990s, the status of DBS in America, updates on Intelsat and Eutelsat, European Scrambling Systems, and the Satellite News Gathering Revolution. The book is expensive, at USD 50 plus postage. But for the serious satellite DXer, it's well worth it. For more information contact MLE Inc., Box 159, Winter Beach, Florida, 32971, USA. Together with Jeffrey Keating, Mark Long as also written The World of Satellite Television, a basic guide to installing, operating, and maintaining a backyard satellite dish antenna. Available for USD 13 from Quantam Publications, Box 310, Mendocino, CA 95460, USA. Communications Satellites, by Larry Van Horn, covers U.S. and Soviet manned space missions, military, weather, navigational, and communications satellites. It's available for USD 13. (*) The Hidden Signals on Satellite Television, by Thomas Harrington and Bob Cooper Jr., goes into detail about SCPC, audio subcarriers, teletext, and other non-video signals on North American satellites. It also covers the equipment needed. Available for USD 20. (*) The three books above are the best guides for satellite radio and TV DXing. Those interested in weather satellites should look into: The New Weather Satellite Handbook by Dr. Ralph Taggart. The new 4th edition is available for USD 20 from the American Radio Relay League, Newington, CT, USA, or from Metsat Products, Box 142, Mason, MI 48854, USA. (*) AMSAT and the American Radio Relay League have published an excellent guide to amateur radio satellites called The Satellite Experimenter's Handbook. (*) The 2nd edition is available for USD 20, from: AMSAT, Box 27, Washington, DC 20044, USA. AMSAT also publishes "Satellite Journal" magazine and "Amateur Satellite Report". Most of these books are available from a number of sources. Many of the ones marked (*) should be available from the following: "73 Magazine", Forest Road, Hancock, NH 03449, USA; Grove Enterprises, 140 Dog Branch Road, Brasstown, NC 28902, USA; Universal Electronics, 4555 Groves Road, Suite 3, Columbus, Ohio 43232, USA); and EEB, 323 Mill St. NE, Vienna, VA 22180, USA. Some books of interest to Europeans may be ordered from PW Publishing, Enefco House, The Quay, Poole, Dorset BH15 1PP, Britain. The best program listing for North American TVRO monitors is "Satellite TV Week", available for USD 48 a year from Satellive TV Week, Box 308, Fortuna, CA 95540, USA. There are a couple of British monthlies with channel listings and satellite news, "What Satellite" (57-59 Rochester Place, London NW1 9JU) and "Satellite TV Europe" (5 Riverpark Estate, Berkhamsted HP4 1HD). "Transponder" is a British newsletter, filled with information about satellite broadcasting. Published 24 times a year, it's available in the UK for GBP 37, in Europe for GBP 60, and outside Europe for GBP 75, from: Transponder, Box 112, Crewe Cheshire, CW2 7DS, England. "Satellite Watch Newsletter" is the magazine of the video pirate satellite underground, people who regard any kind of coding as a violation of American Constitutional rights. Lots of details on descrambler hardware and software. But 12 issues are available for USD 35, from: Walker Media Group, 6599 Commerce Ct. No. 103, Gainsville, VA 22065, USA. Radio Netherlands publishes an interesting leaflet called "Weather Satellite Fact Sheet", as well as "Satellites for the Shortwave Listener". Both are available for free from: Radio Netherlands, Box 222, NL-1200 JG Hilversum, the Netherlands. The Fall, 1990 edition of "Whole Earth Review" has an excellent article by Robert Horvitz called "Tabletop Earth-Watch Stations" about monitoring WEFAX, with the WER's usual good guide to sources. Available for USD 7 (more for postage abroad) from: Whole Earth Review, Box 38, Sausalito, CA 94966, USA. The American magazines "Monitoring Times" and "Popular Communications" have columns with the latest on North American satellite TVRO. "73 Magazine" has a column on amateur radio satellites. The British sister magazines "Short Wave Magazine" and "Practical Wireless" cover satellites very well from the European perspective. The emphasis in the former is on TVRO, in the latter on amateur radio satellites. For information about amateur radio astronomy, you can contact the British Amateur Radio Astronomy Society, c/o Steven Newberry, 19 Oakway, Kingsley Park, Birkenshaw, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD11 2PG, Britain. Reason not-withstanding, the universe continues unabated, terribly huge and terribly complicated. "The DXers Guide to the Galaxy", while relatively short, and undoubtedly filled with much that is wildly wrong, out-of-date, or at least of marginal interest, is nevertheless greatly inspired by (some might say plagerized from) Douglas Adams and "The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". We hope he doesn't mind too much. For more information on this engrossing subject, consult the books and magazines mentioned above. We did to write this. Please note that things change rapidly in this field, numbers to computer bulletin boards even faster. This is as accurate as we could get it on the day it went to the printers, in August, 1991. There were undoubtedly mistakes then, and many changes since. Should you have any information you would like to pass along, in order to rectify or update any of these unavoidable errors, you can contact Radio Sweden's DX Editor George Wood through any of the following electronic means: CompuServe Mail 70247,3516 MCI Mail or Internet (to the above CompuServe number) Fidonet to George Wood at 2:201/697 Packet Radio to SM0IIN on the SM0ETV mailbox Telefax +468-667-6283 In case of electrical failure the mail will also work: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden =========================================================================== Distributed as a public service by The Pinelands RBBS * 609-859-1910 * HST DS V.32 V.42 * 64 MB * FidoNet 1:266/32 * RBBS-Net 8:950/2 * Shortwave Listening * Ham & Packet Radio * Home of PC Software by W2XQ * Japan Radio Company NRD-535 and NRD-525 & Kenwood R-5000 Receiver Control Programs * English Language SW Broadcast Schedules (1988 WRTH Industry Award Winner) * Software Catalog upon request or download catalog from Pinelands RBBS * SYSOP Tom Sundstrom * W2XQ * MCI Mail 244-6376 * GEnie T.SUNDSTROM * InterNet 2446376@mcimail.com * Telex 6552446376MCI UW * Fax 609-859-3226 * TRS Consultants * PO Box 2275, Vincentown, NJ 08088-2275 * 609-859-2447 ===========================================================================