Yearly Archives: 2017

NASB: “Digital Radio Mondiale Delivers at IBC 2017”

Photo credit: NASB

(Source: National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters Facebook Page)

Digital Radio Mondiale Delivers at IBC 2017

Participants in the four DRM events organised at IBC by Gospell, Thomson Broadcast, Nautel and Ampegon between 15th-17th of September have had an insight into a wide range of DRM activities, from big projects in Morocco (Thomson Broadcast), India and Hungary (Nautel), to the progress of DRM in South Africa. And DRM used not just for broadcasting but for other vital activities was demonstrated by Rfmondial involved in a wide-ranging application for the US Coast Guard.

One constant for all events, each unique and so different from the other, was the positive messages about DRM in both AM and VHF and the increasing availability of new receiver and receiver solutions, many always on display. The first event on Friday the 15th (Gospell) saw the launch of GR-227 the multi-standard (DRM/DAB/DAB+) car adaptor that is compatible with any car stereo with USB port and able to work with Android Smart Tune App. As the manufacturer explained, this after-market solution can be a significant development allowing digital reception in cars initially fitted with analogue receivers.

Of equal major interest was also the Titus II multi-standard digital radio receiver produced by Titus SDR, a division of PantronX. The consumer software-defined radio digital receiver platform, which is the result of collaboration between Titus SDR/Patron X, Jasmin-Infotech, TWR, and Fraunhofer IIS, supports multi-standard radio reception, including DRM, DAB and DAB+ and core data applications. The representatives of PantronX and TWR received lots of questions about this receiver system based on a custom Android tablet platform, featuring multipoint touch, WiFi/Bluetooth and stereo sound.

Other receiver possibilities: the tablet solution presented by Fraunhofer IIS, the Indian receiver Avion, and a new concept DRM receiver produced in South Africa all enforced the idea that the excellent work done by transmitter companies like Thomson Broadcast, Nautel and Ampegon in providing a digital transmitter infrastructure in many parts of the world can link now with the innovative receiver solutions.

The Thomson event came alive with the presentation about the huge project in Morocco and the Nautel event attracted lots of guests already familiar with the big projects of this established transmitter manufacturer recently in India and now in Hungary.

The last of the DRM events, hosted on the 17th by Ampegon was a moment of celebration. First of this company (now 75 years old) displaying solid-state transmitters of all capacities successfully used globally, as well. As Ampegon has been also involved in Africa and supported the first DRM trial in South Africa two years ago, they were the natural hosts of a special DRM award moment. The DRM Enterprise Award 2017 (Africa) has been awarded to 3 pioneering experts in promoting DRM digital radio in South Africa. The winners are Dr Roelf Petersen on behalf of Radio Pulpit (member of the Pulpit Media Group) and Broadcom International involved in the trial of DRM in mediumwave. The other two winners Thembeka Khaka (Thembeka Khaka and Associates) and Johannes von Weyssenhoff have been very active in getting the legal framework and conducting the current trial (DRM for local coverage) that is taking place in conjunction with a community station in Johannesburg. (This event was streamed on Twitter click here to view.)

As Ruxandra Obreja, Consortium Chairman, remarked: ”All those who have hosted successful DRM events, the new and old supporters and specialists interested in digital radio and DRM, all the other companies supporting DRM and present at IBC (BBC, Babcock, Becil, RFI, Riz, NXP, Rfmondial, Sentech, to mention just a few) all the guests from countries as far apart as India, Argentina, the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, the Philippines have seen how much effort goes so that DRM can deliver for all, globally.”

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VORW Radio International’s New Schedule

The GR-227: Gospell introduces a new SDR digital radio car adaptor

Radio exhibit at the Tate Modern

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Photo credit: Rebecca Crysdale

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:

An old friend of mine just emailed me from London after seeing an extraordinary modern art exhibit at Tate Modern. The exhibit, according to my friend Rebecca Crysdale, “is about how we are being overload by communications, particularly digital communications.” She says, “It was a very thought provoking exhibit.”

Photo Credit: Rebecca Crysdale

[H]ere’s a link to Tate Modern’s web page for the exhibit. There appears to be lots of shortwave and other radios in these large sculptures, and SWLing Blog readers might enjoy trying to identify them. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/meireles-babel-t14041

Many thanks Ed and Rebecca for sharing! I just checked out the Tate Modern site–brilliant installations! I love the Tate Modern, but have never had the fortune of seeing a radio-centric exhibition. Amazing!

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Radio World: Preserving Podcasts

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(Source: Radio World via Richard Langley)

Radio World supports efforts to save our radio and audio heritage, including the work of the Radio Preservation Task Force,?a project of the Library of Congress.

Here is one in a series of guest commentaries about the topic.

Jeremy Morris is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In January 2014, Adam Curry sent a quick tweet out to his 40,000-plus followers with a modest request: “Looking for a full archive of ‘Daily Source Code’ mp3s.” Not just your average media user looking for bootlegged files, Adam Curry was one of podcasting’s first breakout stars in the early 2000s. He was trying to track down one of the first widely popular podcasts, the “Daily Source Code.” But his request was certainly odd; after all Curry was actually the host and producer of the “Daily Source Code,” which ran from 2004 to 2013 (over 860 episodes!).

As Curry lamented on his website: “For a number of [stupid and careless] reasons, I am not in posession of most of these.” [sic]

For those familiar with radio history, this story is probably less surprising. Much of radio’s history has been lost to vagaries of time, be it through the willful ignorance of companies looking to “preserve” only that which could be “monetized,” or the unintentional negligence of hosts, producers and engineers without the foresight, budgets or means to realize that the radio they were making and broadcasting would shape culture for decades to come — culture that media historians, scholars and hobbyists would later want to analyze, research, teach and reference.[…]

Click here to read the full article at Radio World.

Thank you–as Richard knows, podcasting is the distribution method behind our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. It’s an ideal platform for delivery of recorded broadcasts–listeners subscribe and then maintain their own local copy of the entire archive. Podcasting applications can insure that any new episodes are downloaded automatically.

This year, I will represent the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive at the Radio Preservation Task Force meeting at the Library of Congress. I very much look forward to the event and meeting others in the radio archives world.

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1296 kHz: Help Andy identify this 1970s/80s mediumwave broadcaster

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andy (G0FTD), who writes:

Back in the 1970’s, there was a rather strange medium wave transmitter on
1296Khz. Originally I think it was in Sussex, and then changed to Orfordness
in Suffolk UK.

It was a weird thing.

I think it was “owned” by the UK’s Diplomatic Wireless Service, not the BBC.

It seemed to be fairly random in its transmissions, and often sent the letter
V in a strange bong-bong-bong-BONG! loops for hours.

Programmes were English by Radio, and a seemingly random mix the BBC World
Service, and BBC Radio 1 (I think).

It slso had a creepy signature tune for the English by Radio programme,
and the modulation had an odd tinge to to it, like it was slightly over modulated.

At some time (the 80’s), I think it’s QTH changed, and the pause between the
letter V being sent was shortened from about 3 seconds to 1 second.

I understand that it had a sharp antenna beam, towards easter Europe, and
was not widely heard in the UK. Those of us that lived in the south east
of the UK could of course hear it off the back of it’s beam.

I’ve never ever seen it mentioned on any radio forums, no archive recordings
seem to exist of these creepy English by Radio them tunes or programmes,
or any off air recordings.

Saying that, I did come across a studio copy of the interval signal, but no
details about it. (But I knew what it was).

Click here to download MP3.

Sometime about 1995 I think it might have been mothballed, and lays ready
for possible future use should there be a need to by the DWS.

If you can help Andy identify, or at least provide more information about this station, please comment! I would love to know about this broadcast service myself.

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Relive This Day In Radio History: When WJSV recorded an entire broadcast day

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Patalon, who reminds us that 78 years ago today (September 21, 1939) radio station WSJV made an audio recording of its entire 19 hour broadcast day. Bill points to these details from Wikipedia:

This undertaking was a collaboration between the station and the National Archives, and it was the first time that such a comprehensive recording of a radio broadcast had been made. The station then donated its original set of recording discs to the National Archives, giving it a rare and complete artifact from an era frequently called the Golden Age of Radio. Due to their historical significance, the United States Library of Congress has since added these sound recordings to its National Recording Registry.

https://www.radioarchives.com/WJSV_A_Day_in_Radio_History_p/ra140.htm

Let’s travel back in time…

If you would like to relive September 21, 1939, you can listen to all of the WSJV recording segments courtesy of Archive.org. I’ve embedded the full playlist below–simply press play at the top of the player and each segment will load automatically as long as this page is open. Note that in the very first segment, due to a WSJV equipment glitch, there is a period of silence. Enjoy:

Click here to view or download the full set of recordings on Archive.org.

Many thanks for sharing this bit of radio history, Bill! As a radio archivist, this sort of thing makes my day.

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