Tag Archives: Mangosman

Guest Post: Review of an affordable, compact DAB+ portable radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, who shares the following review:


DAB+ digital audio/FM receiver and Bluetooth Audio Player with 2.4 inch LCD Display 

by Mangosman

Digital Audio Broadcasting with improved audio compression and error correction is called DAB+. I have had this radio for a few years.

Retail in Australia DAB+/FM radios are generally double the price and more. There has only been one model of DAB+/FM/AM radios which is now no longer trading.

This is a size comparison, the sound is very clear and is surprisingly good on music as well, despite having such a small speaker. Even at maximum volume there is no audible noise or distortion. The stereo program HE AAC compressed and FM and Bluetooth and is available on cabled headphones. Such a small speaker cannot produce much in the way of bass, but it is present on headphones.  Since DAB+ is a pure digital system, there is, full stereo, no noise as the radiated signal deteriorates, until the receiver mutes when error correction fails. The radio has a 400 mm long telescopic antenna.

On FM this receiver will decode Radio Data System data, I have had more sensitive FM reception.

This is the most sensitive DAB+ receiver I have owned. I am also currently also using two BUSH clock radios. I also have used older headphone radios, but push buttons and headphone sockets haven’t been very reliable.

This screen shows a full  colour album cover which can fill the screen and title. Smooth FM is the broadcaster’s name because it is simulcast in some other cities on FM and DAB+. The indicators on this screen are level of battery change, muting, stereo indicator, when decoded and the signal strength. Continue reading

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Exploring HD Radio receiver availability

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, who notes that since a number of SWLing Post readers are in North America, he’s curious if readers could read through and add to his list of HD Radios. He notes:

There was a HDradio trial in the FM band in India early 2021. The report shows the receivers used. I wonder if they are currently available in the USA?

I searched the receiver manufacturers’ websites with the following results.

It was not an easy task particularly for car radios so there could be omissions.

HDradio’s list of aftermarket car radios

Kenwood KDC-BT758

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/NEX/AVIC-W8500NEX#Tuner is the only current model of car radio I can find that will receive HDradio When you click on a particular model many of the links go to the manufacturers’ website but not to their product HDradio is very difficult to find.

HD radio’s List of Home radios

Sangean. HDR-15 is manufactured

Sangean SG114 clock radio is on the manufacturers’ website but not HD radio’s website

Sangean HDR-18 is manufactured

Sangean HDT 20 Tuner is on the manufacturers’ website but not HD radio website

Sangean SG108 is on the manufacturers’ website but not HD radio website

Sparc ITR-1  Not on manufacturer’s website

Sparc SHD-BT1  Out of stock on the manufacturers’ website

Now, Viewquest only makes DAB+ radios and not HDradio versions

https://hdradio.com/get-a-radio/portables/ there is only Sparc radio which are all out of stock.

HD Radio’s list of Portable Radios

sparc-shd-tx2 Out of stock on the manufacturers’ website

AudioVox HDP01A This company was renamed Voxx international in 2012 and no longer makes radios.

Sangean HDR-14

Phones

Beatboy was an HDradio with a phone added. It is not a smart phone  https://www.carousell.ph/p/boxed-beatboy-basic-phone-243342561/ a free give away in the Philippines. Internet searches of the Philippines broadcasts shows evidence of HDRadio but all the references are old. Considering that xperi charges broadcasters for the use of HDradio standard, I wonder if they have all dropped it. It is not mentioned on the www.Hdradio website.

On phones I found this https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hd-radio/id333257742 Don’t get excited, look at the comments in 2012!

If you can find any other new HD capable radios which are currently available to consumers please post.

-Mangosman

If you can help add to or correct this list, please comment!

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Short recording of BBC World Service in DRM

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, who shares the following off-air recording via the KiwiSDR network and notes:

Attached is a diagram showing the path and the receiver data, the end of a one hour daily broadcast is in the other file. They switched the transmitter back to AM before the end of the station promo.

I listened to the same broadcast on the previous day. It did not have any disturbances over that time. The quality was identical.

That’s a great decode of the BBC in DRM. Thanks for sharing! DRM is such an amazing mode when you get consistent and stable reception. Here in North America, that can be very difficult to achieve, but it’s fascinating when it does happen! Thanks for sharing!

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Radio Waves: Friedrichshafen Cancelled, Coast Guard Seeks Rare Diode, Kindred Spirits in DXing, and DRM Pitch for India’s FM Band

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers.  To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Ron Chester, and Mangosman for the following tips:


Ham Radio Verbindung 2021 kommt nicht zustande/Ham Radio convention 2021 has been cancelled (Messe Friedrichshafen)

[Note that the following is a Google translation of the original piece in German]

Ham Radio cannot take place this year either – other trade fair events remain on course

Due to the current corona developments, Messe Friedrichshafen cannot hold the international amateur radio exhibition Ham Radio in the planned period from June 25 to 27, 2021. Instead, the industry meeting will take place from June 24 to 26, 2022.

“The decision was not an easy one for us, but a trade fair like Ham Radio lives from its high level of internationality. Due to the current uncertainties in the travel sector, implementation is currently not feasible, ”explains Klaus Wellmann, Managing Director of Messe Friedrichshafen. All other trade fair events in the second quarter of 2021 and beyond should take place as planned at the present time. “A large percentage of our customers from these industries are still on board at the 2021 events. Together we hope that the immunization of society continues to gain momentum and that we can carry out the events with appropriate protection and hygiene concepts. “

Further information at: www.messe-friedrichshafen.de and http://www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de/.

Rare Diode Threatens Coast Guard’s Arctic Ambitions (Hackaday)

The United States Coast Guard heavy icebreaker Polar Star is literally a one-of-a-kind ship. After its sister Polar Sea was deactivated in 2010 it became the most powerful icebreaker in the fleet, and one of only two US icebreakers capable of operating in the treacherous polar regions. The vessel is critical to protecting America’s scientific and economic interests in the Arctic, but according to a recent article in Business Insider, the ship’s age and scarcity of spare parts is making an already difficult mission even harder.

In the article, Captain William Woityra specifically mentions that the ship’s diesel-electric propulsion system is running on borrowed time as the diodes used in its AC/DC rectifier are no longer manufactured. With none remaining in the Coast Guard’s inventory, the crew has had to turn to eBay to source as many spares as possible. But once their hoard runs out, Captain Woityra fears his ship will be dead in the water[]

A toast to the fools standing high on broadcasting’s hill (Doc Searls Weblog)

In Winter, the cap of dark on half the Earth is cocked to the north. So, as the planet spins, places farther north get more night in the winter. In McGrath, Alaska, at close to sixty-three degrees north, most of the day is dark. This would be discouraging to most people, but to Paul B. Walker it’s a blessing. Because Paul is a DXer.

In the radio world, DX stands for for distance, and DXing is listening to distant radio stations. Thanks to that darkness, Paul listens to AM stations of all sizes, from Turkey to Tennessee, Thailand to Norway. And last night, New Zealand. Specifically, NewsTalk ZB‘s main AM signal at 1035 on the AM (what used to be the) dial. According to distancecalculator.net, the signal traveled 11886.34 km, or 7385.83 miles, across the face of the earth. In fact it flew much farther, since the signal needed to bounce up and down off the E layer of the ionosphere and the surface of the ocean multiple times between Wellington and McGrath. While that distance is no big deal on shortwave (which bounces off a higher layer) and no deal at all on the Internet (where we are all zero distance apart), for a DXer that’s like hauling in a fish the size of a boat.

In this sense alone, Paul and I are kindred souls. As a boy and a young man, I was a devout DXer too. I logged thousands of AM and FM stations, from my homes in New Jersey and North Carolina. (Here is a collection of QSL cards I got from stations to which I reported reception, in 1963, when I was a sophomore in high school.) More importantly, learning about all these distant stations sparked my interest in geography, electronics, geology, weather, astronomy, history and other adjacent fields. By the time I was a teen, I could draw all the states of the country, freehand, and name their capitals too. And that was on top of knowing on sight the likely purpose of every broadcast tower and antenna I saw.[]

DRM Makes Its Pitch for India’s FM Band (Radio World)

In India, where regulators have been working toward recommending a standard to digitize the FM band, Digital Radio Mondiale is presenting its case.

DRM has been conducting trials and demos since late February, when a digital radio transmission with three audio services and Journaline text information went live in Delhi alongside existing analog FM transmissions.

It said it is also showing the possibility of extending a shared transmitter infrastructure by broadcasting up to six individual DRM signals or blocks, carrying up to 18 audio services plus 6 multimedia services, being broadcast from one FM transmitter and antenna. It said the number of individual DRM signals is only limited by the bandwidth of the transmitter. Each signal can have its own power level, and gaps in the spectrum are possible, as are individual SFN networks per DRM signal.

“The transmission is part of an extensive trial and demonstration of DRM conducted by Prasar Bharati and its radio arm, All India Radio (AIR), with the help of the DRM Consortium and its local and international members,” DRM stated in a press release. “The test was officially launched on Feb. 24 and 25 at the headquarters of All India Radio in New Delhi.”

The test was requested by regulator TRAI and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

DRM officials said a presentation to AIR’s committee showed DRM in the FM band on various car radios including line-fit, aftermarket, standalone receivers, mobile phones and tablets. A head unit from Mobis, upgraded for FM via firmware, was installed in a Hyundai Verna. DRM said, “The reception was found to be excellent for over 15 km radius with just 100 W of DRM power in digital,” including 5.1 surround sound test broadcasts on DRM.[]

You might also check out the article HD Radio and Digital FM in India at Radio World.


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University of Brasilia and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to experiment with 2.5 kW DRM transmitter

(Source: DRM Consortium)

A new era begins for Brazilian radio broadcasting with the arrival and installation of a first shortwave digital radio DRM transmitter developed and manufactured in the city of Porto Alegre by BT Transmitters. The transmitter will be sited at the public broadcaster (EBC) Rodeador Park, near the capital Brasilia, to be connected to one of the huge HF antennas of EBC (National Amazon Radio is transmitted from there).

The equipment (a transmitter of 2.5 kW) will be tested on an experimental and scientific basis with the help of the University of Brasilia (UnB) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The National Radio of the Amazon broadcasts from Brasilia especially to the Northern, Amazonian region of Brazil. The signal will be also available in the neighbouring countries to the north of Brazil. This is primarily a domestic shortwave digital project aimed at the Amazon where about 7 million riverside and indigenous people live. They are far from any other means of communication as there is no mobile phone or internet coverage.

Rafael Diniz, the Chair of the DRM Brazilian Platform, thinks that: “Shortwave digital radio (DRM) for the Amazon region will ensure a new level of communication and information as Nacional’s programming is both popular and educational. It brings audio and much more at low energy cost to whole communities there. With the adoption of digital radio, one of the major problems, that of poor sound quality affecting at times shortwave, will end. Listeners will be able to enjoy DRM broadcasts in short wave with a quality similar to that of a local FM station together with textual and visual multimedia content.”

“This is a huge step forward, says Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium Chair, “not just for Brazil but for the whole of Latin America. When everything else fails or does not exist, DRM will provide information, education, emergency warning and entertainment at reduced energy costs.”

Click here to read this article at the DRM Consortium website.

As a side note, I do hope the DRM Consortium or the University of Brasilia and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation somehow make DRM receivers available to the “7 million riverside and indigenous people” they hope will eventually benefit from their broadcasts. At this point, however, this sounds more like a university experiment similar to those conducted at the Budapest University of Technology in Hungary.

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Radio technology magazines both online and in print

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

There used to be magazines like Radio Electronics (USA), Practical Wireless (UK), Radio Television and Hobbies (Australia) and other magazines on electronics were sold in shops and on subscription for money which paid their writers. The internet has killed most of these magazines. There are still a few still in publication that I know of:

There are other Amateur radio magazines as part of membership.

Silicon Chip

Silicon Chip magazine publishes an extensive range of electronics projects every month including many which use Arduino, Raspberry Pi and Australia’s own very popular Micromite/Maximite microcontrollers. These projects are conceived, developed, constructed, written, photographed published and any unusual parts are sold on the magazine’s website by professional people who are paid by sales of the magazine.

Whether you’re into the latest digital electronics or prefer restoring vintage radios, or anywhere in between, we have something to interest you.

Of particular interest to radio enthusiasts are;

New W-I-d-e-b-a-n-d RTL-SDR Modules Part 1  and Part 2 where the performance of the available modules are measured and compared by Jim Rowe. Some modules will not work at all below 30 MHz but will above. Sensitivity dropped off at different frequencies depending on the module. Jim has the testing knowledge because he constructed his own version in 2013. Also check out Using the SiDRADIO to receive DRM30 and More Reception Modes for the SiDRADIO.

More recently they published a touch screen DAB+/FM/AM radio construction project.

The online subscription rate is  $Au 85 (= $US 56.29 = € 51.12 = £ 45.88) at the moment for a year of 12 magazines. Individual articles are also available. GST is an Australian Goods and Services Tax.

The above magazines produce their own content rather than just promote a manufacturers’ product.

Many thanks for the suggestions, Mangosman! I imagine there are a number of electronics magazines still in publication in other languages, too. Readers, please comment if you subscribe to a quality publication not mentioned above.

I would also note that if you would like to read archived/vintage copies of electronics and radio magazines–some dating back to the early 20th century–explore the American Radio History website.

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EU vehicle digital radio legislation

Photo by Philipp Katzenberger

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, who shares the following:

The European Union as asking its member states to legislate the following, which Germany has just done today.

EU Vehicle Directive

This directive requires all new car radios sold in the European Union to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio, in addition to any FM or AM functionality which manufacturers may want to include. The code also grants EU member states the power to introduce rules requiring consumer radios to include digital capability.

Following its adoption by the European Council, the directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and came into force on Dec 20 last year. For the automotive industry, the key section of the European Electronic Communications Code is Article 113, XI:

“Any car radio receiver integrated in a new vehicle of category M which is made available on the market for sale or rent in the Union from … [two years after the date of entry into force of this Directive] shall comprise a receiver capable of receiving and reproducing at least radio services provided via digital terrestrial radio broadcasting. Receivers which are in accordance with harmonized standards the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union or with parts thereof shall be considered to comply with that requirement covered by those standards or parts thereof.”

The policy commences 21st December 2020 and applies to any vehicle with 4 or more wheels. It does not apply to amateur radio equipment. The radio must be able to display the broadcasters’ name.

Note the way the type of receiver is phrased is digital terrestrial radio, it does not specify what type. It obviously applies to DAB+ because there are many DAB+ transmitters in Europe, but could also apply to DRM. With the advent of Software defined receivers, it is easy to have both standards. This would then open they way for high frequency (short wave) DRM in most vehicle radios. Remember that there are now 1.5 million factory installed DRM car radios in India which has been achieved in 18 months.

This decision will open the way for all new radios to include DAB+/DRM in all markets except the USA/Mexico.

Thank you for sharing this!

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