(Source: KBC)
The Mighty KBC will start testing in DRM mode.
More news coming soon!
That’s all they say on their website, but the news is most welcome. KBC only recently started broadcasting on shortwave, to make the jump into DRM so soon shows no lack of enthusiasm for the medium.
KBC currently broadcasts on shortwave (analog) on 6095 kHz from 9:00-16:00 UTC Saturdays and Sundays.
(Source: Radio World Online)
“DRM is not seen as a profitable line for the major manufacturers,” said Sennitt. “A few smaller manufacturers have produced DRM receivers, but the unit cost is still too high, and there simply aren’t enough DRM transmissions audible at any one location to stimulate consumer demand. It’s a classic chicken and egg situation — which comes first, the transmissions or the receivers? The broadcasters and the receiver manufacturers are each waiting for the other to move first.”
Read the full article at Radio World Online.
| UTC | kHz | Target | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0459-0758 | 11725 AM 13730 DRM | Pacific | Daily |
| 0759-1058 | 9765 AM 9870 DRM | Pacific | Daily |
| 1059-1258 | 15720 AM 9870 DRM | Timor | Daily |
| 1300-1550 | 5950 AM | Pacific | Daily |
| 1551-1650 | 7440 AM 5950 DRM | Cook Islands, Samoa | Daily |
| 1651-1750 | 9765 AM 9890 DRM | Cook Islands,Samoa, Niue, Tonga | Daily |
| 1751-1850 | 11725 AM 11675 DRM | Cook Islands,Samoa, Niue, Tonga | Daily |
| 1851-1950 | 11725 AM 15720 DRM | Pacific | Daily |
| 1951-2050 | 11725 AM 17675 DRM | Samoa, Tonga | Daily |
| 2051-2150 | 11725 AM 15720 DRM | Solomon Islands | Daily |
| 2151-0458 | 15720 AM 17675 DRM | Pacific | Daily |
DXing with Cumbre programs 706 is now available for download.
DXing with Cumbre, for those of you who are not familiar, is an excellent program for anyone interested in the shortwave radio listening hobby. Best of all it’s free to everyone!
Click here to download the MP3 of DXing with Cumbre program 706.
The new Tecsun PL-398BT features Bluetooth technology, which allows for remote radio listening on computers and mobile phones with Bluetooth capabilities.
In August, we announced that Tecsun was coming out with several new models this year. Three of them–the Tecsun PL-505, Tecsun PL-398MP and PL-398BT–are now available for purchase on eBay. See links below.
The PL-398BT is the most innovative portable shortwave radio I’ve seen hit the market this year, as it will allow you to stream broadcasts from your radio to any Bluetooth-enabled device. I certainly hope it performs as well as previous Tecsun models. The sister to the PL-398BT is the Tecsun PL-398MP, which has an MP3 player (unfortunately, not a recorder, as we had hoped) that runs from a built-in SD card slot.
Today is Thanksgiving in Canada–and perhaps we should all thank this fine country for its contribution to radio as we know it today.
In this short audio documentary, Radio Canada International focuses on the innovative work of Canadian Reginald Aubrey Fessenden. As this piece points out, though Marconi receives recognition as the father of radio, Fessenden played a stronger role in making it possible to hear the human voice over the air.
For a full biography of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, check out the Hammond Museum of Radio‘s website.
Thanks to RCI’s The Link for the tip & Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
(Source: DRM Consortium Press Release)
The DRM Consortium will make its first ever DRM transmissions for Southern Africa in French and English on October 11th on the occasion of the Digital Radio Conference organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels.
The two day conference will include two live studio discussions on the possibilities and future of digital radio from the multimedia radio studio of the European Parliament. The programmes aim to showcase multiplatform and distribution techniques in front of a studio audience of Digital Radio Conference delegates.
The live show in French from 1200-1300 GMT will be followed two hours later (1400-1500 GMT) by a Digital Radio Show in English with international participation including the chairpersons of the DRM and WorldDMB Consortia.
Both the French and English programmes will be carried live on DRM SW 21800 from Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean and should be heard in countries like South Africa, Angola, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique. The English programme will also be carried at 1800 GMT into Southern Asia on DRM SW 12085, at the end of the daily regular BBC/DW transmission.
Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Chairperson, says: “This is an exciting and imaginative undertaking that will demonstrate practically, even if for a short while, to European MPs and radio enthusiasts at thousands of kilometres apart the capacity of DRM to cover huge areas with excellent audio quality programmes. We are grateful to the EBU for the opportunity to showcase, alongside other platforms, that part of DRM, the only standard for all bands below and above 30 MHz, that could offer so much to the radio lovers in Africa.”
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