The DRM Consortium has posted an All India Radio (AIR) tender for 800 DRM AM/FM/Shortwave receivers.
AIR is seeking a DRM receiver with a feature set that would include:
- DRM decoding on both shortwave and medium wave (AM broadcast) bands
- 1 kHz tuning increments on DRM bands (with DRM auto lock)
- Stereo speakers and headphone jack
- Four line mono/color digital display
- Built-in stereo recording of DRM broadcasts–including a scheduling feature
- Upgradable firmware
- Built-in rechargeable battery pack with 6 hour playback time
There are more specs/features, of course–click here or here to download a scanned copy of the actual AIR tender.
Below is the message i got from DRM.
Greetings!
I am glad to know that you have a great interest in buying the DRM radios . For its availability I would come to you by the end of April 2015 as we are in production now for its 1st batch & would take some time to come out with retail nos.
For the he pricing I have a query do you need 1 pc or you are looking forward to its distribution ? Please help me with this so as to offer you the best price .
Still if there is any query do let me know I am the direct window to contact for anything related to radio business or any other thing in electronics in my company.
Thanks & Regards,
Team Avion
M:-+91-9899507775
http://www.avionelectronics.in
I do not know how they can believe, that all shortwave listeners will change to mobile phones or Internet. Because it has nothing to do with DX, I am of sure not in that group of persons.
I think real DX-ers may change to Amateur Radio when broadcasts via shortwave will not be available in future, which has the additional advantage to be active in DXing, not just a passive listener.
For many years I had waited for a replacement of my trusty Sony ICF7600D: Same form factor, same battery life, same RX quality, plus DRM. It was not to be.
These days my smartphone replaces my shortwave receiver – as long as I have UMTS coverage and do not leave my country.
This week I went to Austria, just 50 km beyond the border. Besides a few local FM stations I got nothing worth listening in German or English. At night only Deutschlandfunk could be heard on AM. Radio gets a regional medium. What a pity!
I wonder who would be able to supply them Newstar in China certainly can’t meet the standards AIR put in place. If DRM did take off in the Indian market the receiver would have to be around 30 or 40USD.
Have you noticed how these radios are all for internal use within AIR. Concerned that AIR is investing in a technology which is like Blackberry is to smart phones – the window of opportunity has passed.
Yes and I also noticed no mention of per unit retail pricing goals. Even if this tender produces a capable, portable DRM receiver, will retail units be affordable enough to entice purchase by the average AIR listener? Unless the final result is price-competitive and accessible, AIR will be throwing their money away. I love the idea behind DRM–it’s an impressive format in many respects–but making it a popular media format, with so very few DRM radios on the market and so much competition from mobile devices, is challenging to say the least.