From: rdickel@cs.strath.ac.uk (Robert A Dickel IE91)
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Subject: Satnews 097
Date: 22 Dec 92 12:50:59 GMT
Organization: Comp. Sci. Dept., Strathclyde Univ., Glasgow, Scotland.
Originator: rdickel@simpson-05

SSSSSSSS AAAAAAAA TTTTTTTT NNNNNNNNN EEEEEEEEE WWWWWWWWW SSSSSSSS
SS    SS AAA  AAA T      T N  NNN  N E       E W  WWW  W SS    SS
S  SS  S AA    AA TTT  TTT N   NN  N E EEEEEEE W  WWW  W S  SS  S
SS  SSSS A  AA  A TTT  TTT N    N  N E EEEEEEE W  WWW  W SS  SSSS
SSS  SSS A  AA  A TTT  TTT N  N    N E     EEE W  W W  W SS  SSSS
SSSS   S A      A TTT  TTT N  NN   N E EEEEEEE W   W   W SSSS  SS
S  SS  S A  AA  A TTT  TTT N  NNN  N E EEEEEEE W   W   W S  SS  S
SS    SS A  AA  A TTT  TTT N  NNN  N E       E W  WWW  W SS    SS
SSSSSSSS AAAAAAAA TTTTTTTT NNNNNNNNN EEEEEEEEE WWWWWWWWW SSSSSSSS

                    incorporating TV Briefly

:----------------------Electronic Edition-----------------------:
:                                                               :
: Issue: 097 :-------:Published Biweekly:------: Date: 14/12/92 :
:                                                               :
:--------------(C) Copyright 1991,92 Darren Ingram--------------:
:                                                               :
:-------------------------------------------:-------------------:
: SATNEWS is published biweekly by Darren   : HOW TO CONTACT US :
: Ingram Media Services and is Copyright (C):                   : 
: 1991-92 Darren Ingram/Darren Ingram Media :                   :       
: Services. It is distributed on various    :                   :          

: electronic computer networks. Selected    : INTERNET           :
: reproduction is permitted as long as the  :    satnews@dims.  :
: copyright holder and title is credited.   :    demon.co.uk    :
: Contributions and solicitations for use   : FACSIMILE         :
: in Satnews are welcome. Please contact    :   +44 203 717 418 :
: the editor before uploading Satnews onto a: TELEX             :
: new information source. Rights Reserved   :   94026650 DBRI G :
:-------------------------------------------:-------------------:
: Editor/Publisher: Darren Ingram           : Contact Satnews   :
: Contributors    : Dave Plumb              : for details on a  :
:                 : Dr. Helmut Vahlbruch    : special Internet/ :
:                 : Robert Smathers         : CIX access deal   :
:                 : And others              : that saves money! :
:---------------------------------------------------------------: 

IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION:

* DECISION ON EURO HDTV DELAYED
* LAUNCH DATE SET FOR EUTELSAT SATELLITE
* NEW VENTURE FORMED TO LAUNCH RUSSIAN SATELLITES
* NTL/SA UNITE FOR VIDEO COMPRESSION
* GO AHEAD RECEIVED FOR TAKEOVER
* ZENITH DEVELOPS CABLE MODULATION TECHNOLOGY
* ENHANCED TELEVISION WORKSHOP PLANNED
* 500 CHANNEL CABLE TV SYSTEM PLANNED
* MTV SURVEY DISCOVERS SINGLE YOUTH MARKET
* EC NEWS CHANNEL DROPS D2-MAC PLANS
* EBU BACKS CENTRAL EUROPEAN BROADCASTERS
* EX LIFESTYLE MD TO OPEN NEW CHANNELS
* SURVEY SHOWS RISE IN ASTRA DISH MARKET
* EBU SAYS THAT CCIR STANDARDS WILL SERVE D2-MAC SYSTEMS
* UK GOLD FUNDING COMPLETE
* MTV HIRES LOBBYING COMPANY OVER MUSIC LICENSING
* TRW SEEKS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME PARTNER
* GERMAN NEWS CHANNEL BEGINS TRANSMISSIONS
* FILMNET ORDERS 300,000 DECODERS
* NEWS IN BRIEF
* EUROPEAN SIGHTINGS
* NORTH AMERICAN SIGHTINGS
* SATNEWS HOLIDAY!


DECISION ON EURO HDTV DELAYED
The European Commission has agreed to delay a decision over which high
definition television system to implement until next year, after numerous
heated debates have seen the UK government accused of attempting to
sabotage meetings and agreements.

     According to reports, Hanja Maij-Weggen, the Dutch minister of
communications, said that the UK blocked an agreement to meet after the
recent European summit meeting to agree on a standard.

     EC members are arguing over the level of funding to be placed into
HDTV development and promotion, with grants in excess of ECU850 million
being mentioned by EC ministers.  Originally there were plans to give a
series of grants to electronics companies so that the production of HDTV
equipment could commence, but these plans are now believed to have been
abandoned in favour of individual broadcaster subsidies.

     The UK has publicly and privately criticised the plans stating that
grants to companies would be against the EC's principles, and that
companies will still develop HDTV equipment, even though the leadtime will
have been lengthened.

LAUNCH DATE SET FOR EUTELSAT SATELLITE
After excessive demands for Eutelsat space segment by signatories, Eutelsat
has decided that it will launch its fifth Eutelsat II satellite as soon as
possible.   Construction of the satellite is expected by April 1993, and a
launch window is being sought during the latter half of 1993.

     Currently there are 64 Eutelsat II transponders in operations, and 62
of them are either fully booked or reserved for services.  Eutelsat says
that the additional capacity will satisfy more requests for business
communications capacity between western and central Europe, and for the
growing demand expressed by broadcasters for SNG services.

     As the Eutelsat I satellites reach the end of their operational life
and enter an inclined orbit, greater demands will be placed on the Eutelsat
II satellites for telephony services.

NEW VENTURE FORMED TO LAUNCH RUSSIAN SATELLITES
A group of American investors have announced plans to lease and launch
Russian-made satellites as a commercial venture.

     The concern, trading as Rimsat, will launch satellites into orbital
positions allocated to Tonga, a small south Pacific island country that
previously caused great contention to satellite services operators who felt
that the company would hold satellite operators to ransom for the lucrative
Pacific satellite positions.

     Michael Sternberg, chief operating officer of Rimsat, said that the
Pacific Rim is poorly served by telephone and other modern communications
technologies, but current satellite costs may lead to only three out of 14
planned satellites ever entering commercial operation.  

     "The Russians can build and launch a satellite in less than a year,"
said Sternberg, citing the fact that it takes other satellite makers up to
three years to deliver a satellite after an order has been placed.

     Rimsat plans to use the Russian cosmodrome at Baikonur, and that it
had already secured its first contract with Informocosmos, a consortium of
Russian satellite makers, to provide seven satellites by 1996.

NTL/SA UNITE FOR VIDEO COMPRESSION
National Transcommunications Limited and Scientific Atlanta have agreed
into a joint product development and marketing agreement for a video
compression system based on the MPEG standard.

     The two companies will share their technical knowledge and jointly
market their products as opportunities in terrestrial, cable and satellite
distribution. 

     "The market for digital compression is about to explode. Solutions
based on MPEG deliver the benefits of standardisation, refinement and
flexibility to network operators.  We are delighted to be working with
Scientific Atlanta in this field, and it will mean digitally-compressed
networks can roll-out faster than our individual plans would have allowed,"
said John Okas, business development director at NTL.

DIRECTV DEMONSTRATES COMPRESSION STANDARD
A demonstration of hardware developed for use on the Hughes DirecTV DBS
service was made over a Hughes Communications SBS-6 satellite in
conjunction with Thomson Consumer Electronics late in November.

     The demonstration featured real-time MPEG digital compression and
decompression while delivering multiple video and CD-quality audio
channels.

     "We are delighted with the successful test results and verification
of the digital compression technologies," said Bill Butterworth, senior
vice-president of DirecTV.

     DirecTV is scheduled to commence operations during the first quarter
of 1994, using a system costing around US$700 and comprising of a 18 inch
antenna, integrated receiver/decoder and universal remote control.  Up to
10 million subscribers are expected to sign up for the service by the end
of the decade.

GO AHEAD RECEIVED FOR TAKEOVER
A consortium headed by Carlton Communications has been given the go-ahead
by shareholders to take over Independent Television News.

     According to the company, it now has the approval of all shareholders
for the takeover.  Other members of the consortium -- Central Television,
London Weekend Television and Reuters -- are reportedly pleased with the
result.  

     The take-over is expected to take several months to complete due to
contractual issues says an ITN source.

ZENITH DEVELOPS CABLE MODULATION TECHNOLOGY
A new digital modulation technology that doubles the amount of digital
information that can be transmitted on cable television channels without
additional video compression was recently announced by Zenith Electronics
in the US.

     Zenith says that the new transmission system is capable of sending
two HDTV signals over a single 6MHz cable channel and doubling the number
of digitally compressed standard TV signals.

     According to a statement issued by Zenith, "To achieve significantly
increased cable channel capacity, researchers in Zenith's advanced
television and cable laboratories extended the capabilities of the four-
level vestigial sideband modulation and transmission technology developed
for the Zenith-AT&T Digital Spectrum Compatible system. By quadrupling the
number of levels of digital data, Zenith has increased the data rate to 43
mbit/s from 21.5 mbit/s. Compared with eight-level digital approaches, such
as 64-QAM, Zenith's 16-VSB system would provide more usable digital data
through the channel."

ENHANCED TELEVISION WORKSHOP PLANNED
The International Telecommunications Union, in conjunction with the
European Broadcasting Union and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, is to
hold a workshop on enhanced television from 23-25 March.

     Topics to be covered by the workshop include the objectives and
requirements of advanced television, colour encoding and decoding
techniques and studio techniques for enhanced television.

     The workshop will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, as it is being
sponsored by Broadcast Communications Limited, a subsidiary of Television
New Zealand.

500 CHANNEL CABLE TV SYSTEM PLANNED
TeleCommunications Inc., the largest cable television operator in the US,
says that it may provide up to 500 television channels by 1994 with the use
of digital compression technology.

     With the new technology, up to ten channels may be carried on a
channel previously used to relay one channel. TCI says that up to ten
million subscribers may be able to benefit from the service.

     Previously the largest cable television channel trial was conducted
by Time Warner in New York, where 150 channels were offered to subscribers.

MTV SURVEY DISCOVERS SINGLE YOUTH MARKET
According to MTV Europe, a unique survey of young Europeans has found that
there is a single, pan-European youth market and that MTV Europe acts as
its primary voice.

     The survey, conducted by Alto -- a group of pan-European advertising
agencies -- claims that today's teenagers are becoming increasingly "one
nation" in their outlook and views.

     Apparently new-age European teenagers are more responsive than their
parents, and are more likely to try the "European experience" and make
their own discoveries.

     MTV Europe are naturally pleased with the vote of support it
received.  "The results of this survey have been extremely gratifying for
us," says Frank Brown, director of advertising sales for the channel."

EC NEWS CHANNEL DROPS D2-MAC PLANS
Plans to use the D2-MAC transmission standard with Euronews, the EBU-funded
European news channel that commences broadcasting on 1 January 1993, have
been dropped.

     The service will now utilise unencrypted PAL transmissions, and the
decision has caused "considerable concern" within French government
circles. The French government, who are providing funding to the venture,
hoped that D2-MAC would be used providing additional support and revenue
for its state-owned Thomson company.

     Sources at Euronews suggest that the decision to drop D2-MAC was
because of internal EC wrangling and the problems noted in getting cable
access rights on European networks.

EBU BACKS CENTRAL EUROPEAN BROADCASTERS
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has signed an agreement
with the European Broadcasting Union which will see the EBU guaranteeing
all loans made to central European broadcasters to enable them to join the
Eurovision news distribution network.

     The loans, granted by the EBRD on favourable terms, will be used to
supply central European broadcasters who have joined the EBU with earth
stations linking them to the Eurovision programme exchange network.  

     Jean-Bernard Munch, EBU secretary general, applauded the agreement,
saying that it will play a fundamental part in unifying European
broadcasters.

EX LIFESTYLE MD TO OPEN NEW CHANNELS
Francis Baron, the former managing director of ETN has announced plans to
launch two new family entertainment television channels aboard the Astra
satellite during 1993.

     The new channels will be launched through Anglo-Saxon Television,
Baron's new venture, featuring sports and mainstream lifestyle programming.

     While details of the new offerings are still scarce, it is understood
that both channels will attempt to provide a strong local presence with
viewers while providing them with a comprehensive news service.
     
     Recently Baron led a failed 14 million takeover bid for the
Lifestyle channel, although he has since admitted defeat and advanced plans
to launch his own offering.  Anglo-Saxon Television has been granted a non-
domestic satellite licence by the UK's Independent Television Commission.

SURVEY SHOWS RISE IN UK ASTRA DISH MARKET
According to the latest Financial Times satellite monitor produced by
Continental Research. there has been a massive increase in demands for
satellite television services. 

     Cut-price offers, extensive advertising and improved deliveries from
manufacturers boosted November's shipment figures to 102,000 units.

     The research is based on interviews with around 4,000 adults and is
integrated with "retail figures". After the survey was involved in a
controversy over the incorporation of BSB swapout figures, Continental
Research says that 20,000 units were discounted from its figures.

     Over 3.14 million UK homes are now receiving satellite television
services through DTH satellite dishes and cable TV networks.

EBU SAYS THAT CCIR STANDARD WILL SERVE D2-MAC SYSTEMS
Studies conducted by the European Broadcasting Union have shown that
recording systems conforming to CCIR 601 recommendations will provide a
fully adequate technical quality for programmes intended to be broadcast in
D/D2-MAC.

     Transmissions in PalPlus and enhanced SECAM are also suitable
broadcast and record standards say the EBU.

     The EBU announcement assures broadcasters and programme makers that
they can continue to use their existing and planned digital component
equipment for the production of wide screen 625 line programming, without
reequipping their studios.

     "The EBB has studied whether 625 line, 16:9 broadcast systems, both
present and planned, would require any change to digital standards used in
production. In particular, consideration was given to an increased sampling
frequency of 18 MHz for 16:9 production," said an official statement
released by the EBU.

     "Given the specifications of the D/D2-MAC, the anticipated
performance of the PALplus system and the probable performance of an
enhanced SECAM system, the EBU considers that present CCIR recommendations
601 and 656 are adequate for 16:9, 625 line productions for these emission
systems.  Therefore, the EBU considers that, in the present situation,no
action has to be undertaken to establish a further 625-line digital
component standard," concluded the statement.

UK GOLD FUNDING COMPLETE
Funding for the UK "classic television" channel UK Gold has been finalised,
with the shareholders completing the purchase and financing of their
stakes.

     TeleCommunications Inc. and Southwestern Bell are committing more
than 10 million for a 20 percent stake.

MTV HIRES LOBBYING COMPANY OVER MUSIC LICENSING
MTV Europe has signed up the London-based PR company Charles Barker to
lobby the European Commission over an alleged monopoly on music video
licensing.

     Charles Barker will provide media backup to MTV's legal action over
the market operations of Video Performance Limited, the UK music industry
body that handles all licensing arrangements for the public screenings of
music videos.  

     MTV and Charles Barker confirmed the contract's existence, but
declined to comment further on future plans.


TRW SEEKS SATELLITE PROGRAMME PARTNER
TRW Inc. has began discussions with potential partners for its US$1.3
billion Odyssey satellite communications system.  TRW Chairman Joseph
Gorman said that the system would form part of the large market for
personal communications by satellite services.

     The Odyssey system is a satellite-based communications system that
would provide voice, data, paging and messaging services to mobile
communications services on a worldwide basis. Twelve satellites will be
used initially for the system that will rival the Iridium satellite
project, which will use 66 LEO satellites.

     "We will be working with potential strategic partners in developing a
business plan that meets our mutual business objectives," said Gorman.  "We
are seeking partners both in the US and aboard to participate in the
development and advancement of this promising venture."

GERMAN NEWS CHANNEL BEGINS TRANSMISSIONS
The first 24-hour German language channel has began broadcasting in Europe. 
N-TV, the Berlin-based broadcasting station, is a commercial venture which
German state broadcasters are considering investing into.

     According to the channel, it aims to concentrate on economic and
market news, and on its first day it broadcast an exclusive controversial
interview with German economics minister Juergen Moellemann.

     Selected news highlights for the channel are provided by the BBC's
World Service Television venture, although a German soundtrack is over-
recorded prior to the broadcast.

FILMNET ORDERS 300,000 DECODERS
Filmnet has signed a contract with Philips to supply up to 300,000 decoders
to be used on cable television systems.

     The company is gradually replacing the use of Satbox decoders with
Cable Crypt. Cable Crypt offers parental control, stereo sound and other
encryption standards such as Irdeto.

     "This contract reflects our confidence in the Philips/Irdeto
technology," said Peter Ekelund, a Filmnet director. "We hope that this
agreement will further enhance our long-term co-operation with the cable
operators."

NEWS IN BRIEF
According to press reports Oliver Reed, the infamous actor, was "tired and
emotional" during an interview with Sky News presenters Kay Burley and
Chris Main. During the interview Reed apparently pledged his undying love
for Burley and asked her to make love to him.  Reed then referred to a
recent fight between Chris Main and fellow presenter Scott Chisholm.  Mann
has separately denied that there was a fight with Chisholm.

     Visnews has signed a contract with Software AG, Europe's largest
software house, for an object-orientated system which will manage Visnews'
sales order processing and operational activities for its Brightstar and
Location Specials services. A package will also be used to automate
Visnews' news archive library.

     The temporary mono sub-carrier of all STAR TV transponders is to be
shutdown, writes Hiroyaki Nagase in Japan.  Users are being advised to
retune their systems to receive Panda stereo transmissions before the
shutdown commences, with a rollout planned from 6 January 1993.

     In Tampa, Florida the battle over adult programming on cable systems
is ongoing. The Hillsborough Country Commission has ordered a local cable
company to show adult programming after 10pm, but executives say that the
order smacks of censorship and want to air programmes earlier.

     US vice-president Dan Quayle's National Space Council says that it
plans to replace America's space shuttles with a "Spacelifter" fleet that
could be phased in by the year 2000, and double as a satellite launcher and
space transport vehicle.

     Reuters and WPBT/2 Miami have extended their partnership to produce
the Nightly Business report for a further two years from 1 March 1993.
Under the agreement Reuters and its Visnews subsidiary will continue to
provide news material and footage to the channel.

     On 1 December an Ariane rocket launched the Superbird A Japanese
telecommunications satellite into orbit.  The satellite, consisting of 23
Ku-band and 3 Ka-band transponders, will provide coverage to the Japanese
archipelago.

     The "Suedddeutsche Zeitung" said on 5 December that a daily half hour
TV programme from the Vatican will start on 12 December, writes Dr Helmut
Vahlbruch. "TelePace" will use Eutelsat II-F3 on 11.678 GHz horizontal from
1600 to 1630UTC.

     Polsat, Poland's first commercial satellite TV channel, commenced
broadcasting on Eutelsat II-F3 on 5 December, providing entertainment and
information to viewers. The channel is currently broadcasting at selected
time segments.

     Spectradyne has filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against
Comsat Video Enterprises over its Spectra Vision in-room entertainment
system, according to a statement issued by the company.

     A Gorizont communications satellite has been launched by a Proton
rocket from the Baikonur space centre say Russian space officials. The
satellite will be used for communications relay purposes.

     Scientific Atlanta has agreed in principle to acquire the business of
Nexus Engineering Corp. to establish its presence in the international
SMATV market and provide international marketing for SA's compression
products.

     Transcripts of CNN's programmes are now available through the
DataTimes international information network, allowing users to read
current-day transcripts or search archives for historical references.

     A one-day conference entitled Cable Television '93 -- the key issues
is to run in parallel with the Cable and Satellite '93 exhibition at
Olympia (5-7 April 1993), says the conference organisers IBC Technical
Services.

     Stephen Barden, the general manager of BSkyB has been  appointed the
chief executive and managing director of News International's News Datacom
subsidiary.

     Eutelsat membership has been approved for Albania, Bosnia-
Herzogovinia, Croatia, Georgia and The Ukraine, following a meeting of the
Eutelsat Assembly of Parties.

     BT has extended its broadcasting feedpoint system in the UK with a
direct connection at Gatwick Airport. Previously extensive microwave
circuits had to be used to relay images.

     The international news agency Visnews has issued a winding-up
petition against Super Channel's European holding company for alleged
unpaid debts.

     The Egyptian Satellite Channel commenced broadcasting on Eutelsat II-
F3 on 12 December. Three Arabic radio programmes are to be relayed on audio
subcarriers.

     BSkyB has secured live rights to show live test match cricket
featuring England for four meetings in January.

     BBC Enterprises is reportedly making plans to take a stake in the
United Artists Discovery channel.

     The Middle Eastern Broadcasting Centre is evaluating plans to make it
a pay-TV station during 1993.

     Daily schedules for the US QVC network are now being carried on the
Prodigy computer network system.

     Mauritius has became the 67th member of the Inmarsat international
satellite cooperative.

EUROPEAN SIGHTINGS
By Dr Helmut Vahlbruch

DFS-2, Kopernikus, 28.5E:
Feeds for n-tv can often be seen on 12.725 GHz vertical
(sound in sync).

DFS-1 Kopernikus, 23.E:
N-tv, the first German all-news-channel started broadcasting on 30 November
at 1000 UTC on 12.524 GHz vertical.

     On 11.600 GHz vertical, the first test programmes from VOX can be
seen, the second German all-news format channel
starting in January 1993.

Eutelsat I-F5, 21.E:
YLE from Finland can often be seen in clear PAL on 11.508 GHz horizontal.

     Feeds from Mogadishu/Somalia for ZDF Germany can be found on 11.593
GHz horizontal.

Astra 1A/1B, 19.2E:
The UK's ShortWave Magazine (issue 12/92) says that the BBC World Service
radio broadcasts can be found on the 7.38MHz audio subcarrier on UK Gold,
but at the time of writing nothing was observed.

     11.332 GHz horizontal - Teleclub has changed its scrambling system to
Syster.

     11.362 GHz horizontal - Filmnet+ has a new logo and many empty
teletext pages.

     Radio 538 from Holland has replaced HIT Radio on 11 December at 1700
UTC (11.317 GHz vertical, 7.74/7.92 MHz) 

Eutelsat II-F3, 16E:
POLSAT from Warsaw has started transmissions on 5 December. Programmes are
announced for Monday-Friday from  1530-1745 UTC and 2215-0015 UTC. The
Dutch channel TV-PLUS is using the transponder outside these times. 

     Tele-5 from Spain was again for some days in the clear
in December (11.090 GHz vertical).

     Canal+ from Spain on 11.178 GHz vertical is now using
the Syster scrambling system.

     Egyptian TV started programming on 11 December on 11.160 GHz
horizontal. Subcarriers are used for additional audio programmes in Arabic
(7.20, 7.38 MHz).

Eutelsat II-F1, 13E:
The Bercenay testcard on 11.674 GHz vertical disappeared, and a new
arrangement brings B-MAC transmissions on 11.617 GHz vertical. A testcard
from SERTE Paris on 11.573 GHz vertical. and feeds from CBS Somalia on
11.658 GHz vertical can also be found.

     The transponder at 11.005 GHz horizontal was observed with feeds for
Filmnet Belgium (football).  A feed scrambled in Nagravision (something new
for the II-F1?) was observed on 9 December  at 1806 UTC on 11.005 GHz
horizontal. 

Eutelsat II-F2, 10E:
TVE1 from Spain was again to be seen on 10.990 GHz horizontal  at 3
December 1992 at 1820 UTC.

     The blue bar testcard on 12.584 GHz vertical is sometimes replaced by
a colour bar testcard from SERTE Paris.

     A feed for TV5 Norway was found on 9 December on 11.095 GHz
horizontal at 1811 UTC.

Eutelsat II-F4, 7E:
ARD (Germany) is using 10.990 GHz horizontal for feeds from Moscow.

Telecom 1C, 03E:
The transponders are often used for feeds for TF1 and France 2, and the
12.658 GHz vertical transponder is sometimes scrambled in D2-MAC.

     Euronews showed up with a testcard on 10 December at 1615 UTC on
12.564 GHz vertical.

HISPASAT 1-A, 30W:
A testcard on 12.50 GHz (lefthand circular polarized) ays that the
frequency range 12.10-12.50 GHz (LHCP) will be used along with
11.450-11.700 GHz and 12.50-12.75 GHz for the Hispasat service.

     A black picture is transmitted on 12.300 GHz (LHCP)

NORTH AMERICAN SIGHTINGS
By Robert Smathers (roberts@triton.unm.edu)
 
Satcom C4 update:  You may recall that the even transponders on Satcom C4
were slow in filling up, leading TVRO hobbyists to  believe there was a
problem with the even numbered transponders.  Home Shopping Club launched
on transponder 10 the other day.  HSC and the Prevue Guide on transponder 8
are the only services on even numbered transponders as of Thursday December
10.
 
     There was a problem with Satcom C4, but it didn't affect the even 
numbered transponders.  According to an item I heard from the SBCA, one of
the two command decoders aboard Satcom C4 failed.  The command decoder is
the device that allows Satcom C4 and GE  Americom's earth station to
communicate with each other. 

     GE  Americom suspects that a power supply failure caused the 
malfunction.  The backup command decoder is being used and Satcom  C4 is
doing fine.   This problem does not cause any problems with  the
transponders or transponder power.
 
     KGAY, an audio service for gays and lesbians, started up on 
satellite radio recently.  Their service can be heard on Spacenet  3R/22 at
6.20 and 7.40 audio subcarriers and on Galaxy 5/6 at  6.30 and 6.48 audio
subcarriers.
 
     GLOBAL (Anik E2/12) scrambled on December 2.  GLOBAL was a  service
where network shows were fed to other broadcasters a few  days before the
shows appeared on the American networks. GLOBAL  not only scrambled with
the LEITCH scrambling system, but they  also turned into a part-time
television network.  Some of the  network pre-feeds have moved to Anik E1/8
in their normal feed  time. What was the reason for the scrambling of the
GLOBAL TV  Network? The CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications 
Commission -- similar to the United States' FCC) has some  distribution
rules that required that GLOBAL would have to scramble their network  feed.
 
     SATELLITE TV EVENT OF THE WEEK:  The United States relief effort  in
Somalia.  Journalists from all over the world were present in  Somalia when
the American military landed on the beaches of  Somalia to start an effort
to make sure dying, starving Somalians  got food.  Television news video
was fed back to the United  States.  Although most of the feeds were on the
Atlantic Intelsats (viewable only from the Eastern United States and 
Eastern Canada), some of the feeds were double-hopped and  appeared on
satellites that viewers on the West Coast of the  United States and Canada
could observe.  Feeds were common on  Galaxy 2, Telstar 301, Telstar 302,
and Galaxy 6 (all C-band).  There was not much Ku-band coverage except for
the normal  packages in the newsfeed services.

SATNEWS HOLIDAY!
Satnews will be taking a Christmas holiday.  The next issue of Satnews will
be datelined 4 January 1993, and the next issue of Data Broadcasting News
will be datelined 11 January 1993.  Satnews would like to thank its
readers, contributors and distributors for their support over the last
couple of years, and wishes them a very merry Christmas and an eventful new
year.

Apologies are also due for the late appearance of this issue, which was due
to technical production problems.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATNEWS is published biweekly by Darren Ingram Media Services and is (C)
copyright with all rights reserved.  Financial and news  contributions  are 
welcome,  please direct to  Satnews,  DIMS,  184  Brookside Avenue,
Coventry CV5 8AD, UK.  
   **
SATNEWS can be received directly to Internet-compatible mailboxes by
sending a message to listserv@orbital.demon.co.uk with the first line of
the message reading "subscribe satnews your_name".  To be removed from the
mailing list, spend a message to the same address with the first line of
the message reading "unsubscribe satnews" 
                                   **
SATNEWS is also available for Fidonet file request from 2:252/21, with the
filename SNEWSxxx.ARJ (where xxx is the current issue number.) On
Compuserve it can be found  in  the UKFORUM, IBMEUROPE and HAMNET forums;
SATEL_TV conference on  Compulink; UK GT-Satellite conference; Radio &
Electronics forum on  GEnie; The Direct Line multiuser service in London.
Usenet newsgroup rec.video.satellite, GB7CHS CLIVE amateur radio database
server; Minitel (3615:SATTV) and other online systems.
                                   **
SATNEWS can be polled  by  Internet  anonymous  file  transfer  (FTP)  
from power.eee.ndsu.nodak.edu.  For further information, please contact
rdickel@cs.strath.ac.uk
                                    **
Articles and contributions are welcome.  Weekly deadline 1800 GMT Friday 
prior to publication.  All articles submitted remain the property and 
rights of DIMS, and may be edited for clarity, brevity etc.  The views of
contributors do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of
Satnews, DIMS or its staff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Darren P. Ingram / DIMS (dingram@dims.demon.co.uk)   - Views expressed do  -
-184 Brookside Avenue, Whoberley, Coventry CV5 8AD UK - not automatically   -
-Tel:+44 203 717 417/Fax:+44 203 717 418/Tlx 94026650 - represent those of  -
-24-HOUR response number:+44 374 108 268              - DIMS or its clients -
- News, features, marketing & PR support and research/consultancy services  -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU