Many thanks to Mauno Ritola who shares a link to the following schedule from the DRM Consortium via the WRTH Facebook page:
During IBC, Babcock will be transmitting DRM service from the UK, towards Europe.
[Friday September 11, 2015 to September 15, 2015]
1600-1700 local Amsterdam time (1400-1500 GMT), BAB Woofferton, 100 kW, 6040 kHz, 114 degrees (Programme TBA)
1700-1800 local Amsterdam time (1500-1600 GMT), BAB Woofferton, 100 kW, 6040 kHz, 114 degrees (BBC WS English)
I’ve been on the road a lot lately. A lack of time resulting from this, combined with frequent afternoon and evening thunderstorms when I am home, has meant that I’ve not had the radio time I often enjoy.
This morning, I woke up around 5:50 AM determined to get a bit of time on the radio. After all, today is the first day of summer here in the US, and a special day for me. I walked outside and hooked my antenna back up; I had been forced to disconnect it yesterday as pop-up thunderstorms persisted throughout the afternoon and evening.
I then brewed a cup of coffee and settled into my “listening lounge” for some early morning tuning.
I started off this morning off by tuning the Elad FDM-S2 to Radio New Zealand International on 9,890 kHz in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). I was treated to one full hour of Peter Fry’s Saturday Night music; the DRM lock was completely stable. Though I prefer the sonic characteristics of AM over digital modes, I’m most impressed with the audio quality DRM affords coming from a 50 kW signal being broadcast on the other side of the planet. The quality is so exceptional that, if you listen carefully, you can even hear the news reader shifting papers at the top of the hour.
That got me thinking: I’m flawlessly receiving and decoding a wireless digital audio signal from 13,500 kM away. Amazing. Especially considering that my laptop struggles to receive Wi-Fi in many hotels.
RNZI signed off after an hour, so I switched modes to AM and tuned to Radio Australia on 9,580 kHz.
As I had hoped, RA was broadcasting the second half of the AFL match featuring the Essendon Bombers who ultimately held a nine-point win over the Adelaide Crows. Alas, Radio Australia dropped the signal before the end of the final quarter, but I was able to watch the results roll in on my iPhone while making waffles in the kitchen. If this had been a World Cup match, I would have scoured the shortwaves for another Radio Australia frequency.
Immediately after tuning in RNZI, I hit the record button on the FDM-S2 (around 5:55 EDT/9:55 UTC) and didn’t stop the recording until after Radio Australia signed off, so there is a 30 second silence in the middle while I tuned and switched modes from DRM to AM.
Click here to download my full 2+ hour morning recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Depending on which hemisphere you live in, I hope you enjoy this summer–or winter– solstice.
As for me, I’m looking forward to a happy birthday with my family. Cheers!
This morning, while scanning the 31 meter band, I noticed a DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) signal on 9,890 kHz. Normally, I ignore most DRM signals because the amount of signal strength needed to properly decode the mode (here in the US) is simply too low for pleasant, artifact-free copy.
Still, I thought I’d give the new Elad FDM-S2 a try, so I changed mode from AM to DRM.
To my amazement, the FDM-S2 quickly decoded the signal and produced excellent audio from Radio New Zealand International.
I assumed the decoding lock would not hold, but I was wrong; indeed, I believe there were only one or two significant drops in the 40+ minutes I listened. This may be a very good sign from the FDM-S2, even if propagation was above average.
I’m not a big DRM listener, but that’s mainly because there is so little to hear on the bands. The real test will be All India Radio in DRM–I’ve never managed to get a consistent lock on them from here in eastern North America.
Still, I’m pleased as punch that I can so easily copy RNZI–one of my favorite international broadcasters–in DRM.
Here’s a recording of the broadcast starting at 11:18 UTC on June 14, 2014. Click here to download the the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
(Source: DRM Consortium via Alokesh Gupta)
The DRM Consortium is a Sector Partner at The Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA), Digital Radio Broadcasting Summit in Cape Town from 22nd – 24th April. The event will include a presentation by the DRM Chair, Ruxandra Obreja, on April 22nd at 11.50am and a dedicated DRM workshop on the 23rd April, from 4.00pm to 5.30pm under the title “The DRM Platform: A detailed and practical look at its superior functionalities and flexibility”.
The workshop will offer a live demonstration of DRM30 with a two-hour BBC broadcast, from Ascension Island – a site managed by DRM member, Babcock – to Southern Africa carrying BBC World Service English from 13:30 to 15:30GMT/UTC (114 degrees) 21735 kHz.
During and after the workshop DRM representatives and South African DRM supporters will be available to meet you and explain the features and to answer any questions.
The DRM Consortium has already been present at SABA events in Johannesburg and in Arusha (Tanzania) last year. The DRM standard is the only global standard which can be used in all radio frequency bands and is ideal for the large countries of Southern Africa. From national networks and regional stations to smaller commercial and community stations, all are able to broadcast their digital radio programmes with enhanced content and in excellent sound quality to everyone in their respective countries, regardless of whether people live in large cities, in small towns or villages.
In this BBC World Service report, Mark Whittaker explores Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and, especially, its potential in India. Use the embedded player or link below to listen:
(Source: Audioboo via Tarmo Tanilsoo on Facebook)
You’ll note the BBC World Service fails to mention that DRM has been in use now for over a decade.
The report ends by suggesting that portable DRM receivers will be on the market in a few months. Even if DRM radios start appearing, whether or not they’ll be effective and inexpensive remains to be seen. So far, portable DRM radios have been mediocre performers (at best) and relatively expensive.
Don’t get me wrong: I would love to see DRM take hold, I just have my doubts. DRM might stand a chance if a manufacturer like Tecsun were to build an inexpensive portable radio, with a form factor much like that of their other portables. If they made a DRM version of the PL-380, for example, it could be a winner for both the company and the medium/mode.
By the way, if you’ve never heard what DRM sounds like over the shortwaves, I just posted a fifty eight minute recording of All India Radio on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Contributor, Mark Fahey, recorded the broadcast from his home in Australia.
I’ve embedded a link to the audio below, but you can listen to the broadcast and read Mark’s notes on the shortwave archive (click here).
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Mike, for sharing this news item on RadioInfo:
(Source: RadioInfo)
The latest upgrade to DRM’s audio codec was demonstrated in a presentation at this week’s Digital Broadcasting Symposium in Kuala Lumpur. Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is the first global broadcast standard to adopt the Extended HE-AAC (xHE-AAC), which promises improved quality for DRM broadcasts in SW, AM and FM.
Alex Zink, the Senior Business Development Manager for Digital Radio at Fraunhofer, outlined the benefits of DRM in emergency situations, particularly the ability of DRM transmissions to signal receivers to turn on automatically and deliver emergency warning messages in a crisis.
“Unlike consuming radio on a smart phone, there is no gatekeeper in between digital free to air broadcasting and the consumer,” said Matthias Stoll in his presentation during the afternoon workshop.[…]
Read more at: http://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/new-audio-codec-drm-digital-symposium-2014 © Radioinfo.com.au
There’s a new project in the works, Outernet, that aspires to bring the international accessibility of shortwave radio along with the versatility of the Internet. Outernet’s goal is stated on their website:
“By leveraging datacasting technology over a low-cost satellite constellation, Outernet is able to bypass censorship, ensure privacy, and offer a universally-accessible information service at no cost to global citizens. It’s the modern version of shortwave radio, or BitTorrent from space.”
It’s a fascinating concept: deploy low-cost, CubeSat satellites which broadcast data in a way that it should be accessible to anyone with a wi-fi enabled device such as smart phone or computer. Specifically, Outernet states that they will be using, “globally-accepted, standards-based protocols, such as DVB, Digital Radio Mondiale, and UDP-based WiFi multicasting.”
(What? Did they say Digital Radio Mondiale? They did indeed.)
I’m all about freedom of and access to information, so I hope Outernet is successful. They’ve published an ambitious timeline with a goal of having CubeSats ready to deploy as soon as June of 2015. For more information, check out Outernet’s project page.