European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Football piggybacked on no cd a contract to show All Irish Home games. In Between it has a lot of motorcycle and Auto racing soccer and Rugby. A eur sport is the official network of the world league of american football and carries the olympics plus tons of Auto racing and soccer. In addition to the English channels two German channels have programming you can to get elsewhere in Europe. Rel plus has a lock on Complete Wimbledon coverage on the continent and sat 1 has exclusive coverage of the . Open Tennis tournament. Both channels have erotic late shows and Rel s Tutti Frutti could be the worlds first game show to feature topless women fridays at 11 05 . Premium channels just like stateside Cable you have to pay extra Over Here to get movie channels. Over Here though you need a decoder plugged into your satellite receiver to get Access to film not sky movies sky movies plus or the movie Channel. In the first couple of years of Astra decoders for  movie channels were not available on the continent. Now several dealers in Germany advertise the decoders in such publications As ramp a and shoppers news and an to guide. One of these dealers is a sat phone 0611812601 of Wiesbaden Germany where owner Klaus Frankc said of the Maze of Premium Channel possibilities a for 499 Marks you can get a decoder for sky sports. That a a one time charge and the receiver is yours. For an additional 60 Marks a month you get a card to insert into the decoder for sky movies and the movie Channel. A film not requires another decoder for 500 Marks. With this decoder you can get film not Tel club a Home shopping network and Rel 4 a movie and to series network that carries shows in English with dutch subtitles. No card is needed and there Are no additional  the Rhein main audio photo Center the largest in Europe also offers the sky sports decoder for $250 and Sells the decoder card through a satellite agent in Mannheim for $425 a  future Home satellite technology is being renewed so regularly a system bought in 1990 can be a a prehistoric now Hayden said. The future in satellite television in Europe is a div High definition television which is supposed to be the closest thing to 3-d. On dec. 19, 1991, the dec ministers of telecommunications approved the pal plus Standard to carry the a div signal in Europe. Loads of details have yet to be worked out mainly on How to introduce a div monitors and receivers on a mass scale to the european Market. But the dec decision clears the Way to Start the process that will Lead to mass availability of Hetvin Europe by the Dawn of the new  through the channels across the  Meridith Winder . Bureau with the Advent of Cable and satellite systems american television viewers living on and off base in the United kingdom have More to watch than the four Standard British channels. While no figures Are available on the number of Cable or satellite subscribers. Small satellite dishes can be spotted on Many Homes across the Countryside. Some of the larger cities like London have Cable service. And major hotels Are offering can to patrons. Not everyone living on base subscribes to the full Cable to package. A i Only get an Quot said tech sgt. Ricky Johnson of Raf Chicksands. A they an have lot better programs than on the British  master sgt. Hank Durant lives off base so he relies on a satellite system. A a in be been Here 11 years and have owned my sat Clitte system six  Durant said. A i get everything except for an. I wish i could get  he a Happy with what he a receiving but like Johnson wishes there were More to choose from. Cable com investments has the franchise for Cable to at All the major .-run bases in the United kingdom. A a we be been in business since july 1986,�?� said Charles Tompkins managing director of Cable com. A we offer packages to suit the needs of our  his customers subscribe to the Basic package which includes the four British channels sky one mtg can screen sports the children Schannel discovery sky movies plus and an. Cable com also offers two new Premium channels the movie Channel and comedy Channel. Quot we first tried it out at Lakenheath and Are now making it available to everyone a Tompkins said. People who plan to get any of the packages that include British stations and an need a Multi system by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau using a satellite television system in Germany is a relatively simple and inexpensive proposition. The Laws of physics and the Laws of the lands of Southern Europe however add sometimes prohibitive costs and problems to purchasing satellite dishes. Television signals relayed via satellites in the area Are in the pal format rather than Hentsc format used in the states a Factor that Means people must buy a Multi system television before they even think about a dish. The smallest and cheapest Multi system set recently available at the Navy Exchange in Naples Italy was a 14-Inch Sony that Cost $329. At the other end of the Multi system to Price spectrum was a 26-Inch Panasonic with i i stereo sound that Cost $950. A the prices of satellite systems also vary greatly depending mainly on the Sie of dish antennas a Factor determined by location. Parts of Italy and other regions of Southern Europe Are on the Edge of the area covered by tin satellites signals. To receive an acceptable picture in Naples a satellite dish must be at least 1.25 meters slightly More than four feet in diameter. That s roughly twice the television to pick up the american a tsp signal As Well As the British pal signal. If they Don t want to Purchase a Multi system television. They can subscribe to just an. However there is a line fee Cost of $7 per month. And if they need a converter there is an additional Cost of $10 per month. This comes nowhere near the amount of channels offered in some areas of the United states. Third air Force Headquarters at Raf Mildenhall explained that no National Cable service is available. Since the Cable contractor does t originate programs Cable subscribers Are limited to shows received via satellite receivers at each base. There Are also Only 16 English speaking satellite channels available and authorized by the British Cable television authority for distribution by Cable operators. People fluent in other languages such As German. I renew or italian have an option. They can rent or Purchase a satellite system. Quot we offer a number of packages depending on a person s needs said Nigel Warin of Mildenhall satellite systems. His company Sells and rents satellite systems to off base subscribers. And almost 50 percent of his customers Are americans. A your most common package is the sky television package Quot said Warin. Quot that includes eight English language channels and seven foreign language  satellite signals picked up in the United kingdom Are actually beamed from three separate satellites. Customers need either two separate dishes depending on the program package they want or a More expensive satellite tracking system. Warin said Many of his customers have asked about systems to pick up american channels or an. A unfortunately they use a completely different coding system a Warin said. Quot if a customer is willing to spend 3,000 pounds More than $5,000we can provide them with the decoder. But because it s so expensive Only the Cable companies can afford to buy it. They recoup the costs through  Cable or satellite subscribers in the United kingdom have one other Cost to Bear. If they Are using their to they must have a television License. That Cost 77 pounds about $143 per year. Chicksands Johnson does no to feel the Cost of get Ting the full package and paying the television tax is Worth it. Quot when i was stationed in Panama we got Cable to Quot he said. Quot we had More than 60 stations to choose from and Only had to pay a minimal Price. Its too expensive  size of the dishes required in Germany and increases the Cost of a system to Between $ 1,5 h and $ 1,8 h on the italian Economy. The Naples Navy Exchange does not sell satellite systems. The combination of size and Cost makes satellite to uncommon in Southern Italy according to Ralph Magno an air Force communications technician who recently retired in Southern Italy. Magno who has installed satellite systems in Germany and Italy said the picture from a 1.25-centimeter dish he recently helped set up looks Good but would suffer from spots and speckles when there Are Clouds in the area. That was the smallest dish he has seen in Southern Italy. Anything smaller would be of Little use until newer More powerful satellites Are Pul into orbit. Americans stationed in Northern Italy done to need to wait for More powerful satellites. Being farther into the area covered by satellite signals soldiers at Vicenza a to Caserma Ederle for example can receive several English channels with a Small Astra dish and receiver combination that costs about $3 x at the Post sight and sound shop when the system is available said air Force maj. Jereon Brown Deputy commander of Southern european broadcasting which based in Vicenza. Several units have bought satellite systems for their Barracks Day rooms giving their troops the option of watching sky one sky news lifestyle. Screen sport eur sport and it v. The picture gets Cloudy Down in Italy february 16, 1992 sunday a Page 5