44 What Digital Information Is Available On Satellite And How Do I Get It?
Description
This article is from the Satellite TV FAQ, by Gary Bourgois flash@lopez.marquette.mi.us with numerous contributions by others.
44 What Digital Information Is Available On Satellite And How Do I Get It?
There are a number of different text information services available
via satellite, Unfortunately, at present ALL are pay services.
WST = World System Teletext. This system is very popular in
Europe and was also available in the USA.
At this time, there are no longer any Teletext Transmissions
available in North America
X*PRESS X*CHANGE. By far the most comprehensive source of
text news is X*PRESS. This service links you into all the major
world NEWS WIRE services: AP, UPI, REUTERS, TASS and many
others. To take advantage of this amazing service, you must
have a computer just to sort the incoming data for you. X*PRESS
allows you to select articles based upon key word search.
This is a subscription service, and is not cheap. Expect to
pay $30 per month for the service. You will also need an
INFOCIPHER decoder. Computers supported include PC clones,
Macintosh, ATARI ST, APPLE II. A new PC software package was
released in June of 1993 for MS/DOS machines which addresses
problems of earlier versions. A Windows version was introduced
in 1995.
Full information on X*PRESS X*CHANGE service can be had by dialing
1-800-7PC-NEWS. The fee is reasonable considering the amount
of data available. The total news junkie will love it. This
service is transmitted on Galaxy 5.
SKYLINK. This is also a service available for the home TVRO
user, and offers downloads and some text information and TV
schedules. Reception requires the purchase of a $150 box, and
payment of a yearly $90 fee. The main appeal of this service
is access to a HUGE array of public domain and shareware programs
for MSDOS compatible computers. There are also weather maps and
other services. The Shop-At-Home TV service operate SKYLINK, and
market the box and the subscriptions. The data is fed on an audio
subcarrier of their home shopping network service on G3/17.
For more information on SKYLINK call 1-800-544-6694.
PLANET CONNECT. This is a service similar to SKYLINK, except it
is designed for BBS operators. It contains the FIDO backbone
as well as a lot of USENET traffic. Hardware/Software and
Subscription info available from SKYLINK at the above phone number.
In addition to these services directed at the home user, there are digital
signals all over the sky, but these are commercial services, using
proprietary encoding systems, and are directed at commercial users, which
are either too costly for the home user to subscribe to, or not available
at any price. Experimenters occasionally manage to figure out ways to
tap into these systems, but such discussions are beyond the scope of the
FAQ. If interested in such things, we recommend Tom Harrington's popular
book: THE HIDDEN SIGNALS ON SATELLITE TV, even though much of the infor-
mation in the book is a bit out of date.
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