Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Alan, who shares the following announcement from the DRM Consortium:
DRM SW transmissions from Germany after Christmas
On 27 December, SE-TA 2, a private German shortwave radio station, will be on air with a 4-hour moderated music programme “Musikalischer Frühschoppen” from the Waldheim, Germany, transmitter.
The frequency will be 6195 kHz.
The two-hour programme will be played twice in succession within the 4-hour transmission windows. The DRM transmission will be in two different configurations:
09-11 UTC 16 QAM in MSC Mode B
11-13 UTC 16 QAM in MSC Mode C
Both featuring xHE-AAC audio, Journaline, DRM TextMessages with DL+ information, stations logos and Slideshow images.
Hank,
For NXP they only have data sheets not application notes available on line. So you do not know how to wire it up. Qualcomm are still running NXP as a separate company.
As for the Qodosen DX-286 it as a ferrite rod antenna for signals below 1.7 MHz which will make reception directional which is useless in a pickup. What happens on a weak signal when you turn a corner! Have you tried connecting the pickup’s antenna to this radio. Remember that the shark fin antenna contains an amplifier. There is a switch to power an amplifier, but the 12 V from the pickup may be a different voltage so beware.
Qodosen DX-286 does not decode DRM.
> Qualcomm are still running NXP as a separate company.
Since it apparently didn’t sink in: Qualcomm *did not* end up buying NXP. That didn’t happen. NXP remains a stand-alone company *not owned by Qualcomm*. Can’t be any clearer than that.
FWIW, like most complicated chips, the datasheet is just an overview/precis, and all the real information is in the associated Reference Manuals and Application Notes. This is quite common in the industry – for example, Atmel do the same with their AVR, Cortex, and Quark series processors. The difference is that NXP, like many manufacturers who don’t really have direct to end-user sales, only give access to those manuals/notes to registered users (and sometimes with an attached NDA). So that’s why Alan can’t find them online.
Tuned on 6195 kHz at indicated hours but no receiving segnals.
The NXP link is to documentation written in 2013. Since then NXP was sold to Qualcomm which does not have digital radio chips in its product range.
The most available DRM module available in a one off basis is CML’s DRM1000 which is also available on a demonstrator board. To this board you can connect an antenna and sound comes out of the speaker. It is designed for users who have no electricity supply. As a result it will tune the HF bands and many others. It has a mono output even on FM. It does tune AM but not HD Radio. https://au.mouser.com/c/?q=DRM1000 or https://www.digikey.com.au/en/products/result?s=N4IgTCBcDaICICUCyBGADBkBdAvkA This product first became available this year because it is a new design. They also have the application notes on line.
> Since then NXP was sold to Qualcomm which …
… didn’t happen. They couldn’t get regulatory approval from China or a clear determination from the USA, so the offer was terminated. That only happened in 2018, though, so it’s probable that Alan’s info is not so much wrong as just 6~7 years out of date.
NXP is still its own company and have several DRM chipsets active, available to order, and in-stock – though they do seem to have dropped the top-of-the-range ones.
A couple of Gospell DRM receiver models are still available:
https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-Gospell-DRM-radio.html
A question for those familiar with decoding DRM transmissions:
Do you know of any car radios with the NXP TEF668x chip and its associated DRM “co-processor” chips?
This flyer:
https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/brochure/75017468.pdf
says that:
TEF6688 baseband I2S output supporting HD Radio and DRM with digital radio coprocessor (SAF356x or SAF360x)
Maybe a car radio that could be mail ordered from India?
I have been trying out a Qodosen DX-286 since Black Friday and have been impressed enough to consider buying a new radio with that chip for my pickup.