Here’s an interesting article investigating the use of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) for military purposes on the background of the planned field tests in Alaska. Now you wonder, what has it all to do with pricing and the customers perspective? Read through to the end, until you get to this quote:

[…] DRM isn’t bad, and the receivers are getting really inexpensive”

Now, if Eric Johnson, professor of electrical and computer engineering at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M. is right in his prediction for a military deployment of DRM, we’ll see receiver prices go down due to the beginning a mass production of the chips needed. Mind you, from my understanding it would take time (read: years) for the military to take and implement such a decision. Don’t count on consumer markets to wait that long…

Here’s another Article from Radio World Online about the tests in Alaska

The kinds of things I am talking about within the U.S. will require at least 1 to 2 to 3 years of testing. By that time, if there aren’t consumer receivers ready, forget you heard this speech.”

At least he hasn’t lost his great sense of humour.

Here’s the whole story:

“DRM WILL SUCCEED, AND CHEAP RECEIVERS ARE COMING VERY SOON” DRM Update at the 2008 USA DRM Annual Meeting [DRM: see also UK]

Adil Mina grew up in his native Lebanon listening to radio stations from around the world on a large shortwave radio, with all of the inherent static, fading and interference. Eventually he would find himself working for Dallas-based Continental Electronics - an NASB member and premier manufacturer of shortwave transmitters. For the past 43 years he helped to design, build and commission many high power mediumwave and shortwave transmitters and systems all over the world. Lately he has been traveling around the world selling shortwave transmitters to religious, government and commercial stations.

Mina is a true believer in shortwave. “I can really tell you that shortwave is alive and it is going forward,” he told the USA DRM annual meeting in Cary, North Carolina May 8. He admits that sales have been a little slow during the past four or five years. “Except for some huge numbers of transmitters that have been sold to China during the period from 2000 to now, shortwave has been a little bit quiet, especially in the building of new stations.” But he says that even with a worldwide recession, many international customers are still making plans to modernize and buy new transmitters.

Why is Adil Mina so bullish on shortwave? “I once asked a friend from Saudi Arabia if he was going to put all of his programming on satellite. He said: ‘Mr. Mina, do I look that stupid? Do you think for one moment I would trust my broadcasting to anyone who controls a satellite or a local radio and who could shut me off at any moment they desire?’ There’s what the beauty of shortwave is. Whatever your faith and your belief in shortwave is, it is justified. Shortwave — no matter how many other ways of broadcasting are invented in the world – DAB, DMB, DVD, whatever it is – is still the only medium that you can broadcast from your backyard to any country in the world.”

“What’s happening today,” explained Mina, “is that we finally realize that we, the technical people, should help you [the broadcasters] make that sound clear and make it practical. And that’s what DRM is all about. It allows you to broadcast your program with clarity.”

But Mina admits that DRM is not quite where it should be today. “I’ll be very honest about it,” he said. “DRM is about two years behind, in our opinion. It’s not because of transmitters or antennas or exciters. It’s because of the receivers. I would estimate we are about two years behind.”

The DRM Consortium began 10 years ago at a meeting in China. For 10 years the Consortium was led by Chairman Peter Senger of Deutsche Welle. Most DRM administrative responsibilities during this time have been centered at Deutsche Welle. But Senger had to retire in March of this year due to German law, and his project director Anne Fechner has also retired. The BBC stepped forward to take over the leadership of DRM. Everything is being moved to Bush House. The BBC’s Ruxandra Obreja is the new chairperson. Unlike Peter Senger, Obreja is not a technical person. The BBC believes DRM has matured, according to Mina, and thus they nominated a person with business development background instead of technical background to be the chairperson. Mina said “Ruxandra, with her experience in business development, will do a great job in promoting DRM worldwide.”

Until three and a half years ago, DRM was a digital system for longwave, mediumwave and shortwave – up to 30 Megahertz. Then DRM Plus was introduced. Now DRM works with frequencies up to 108 MHz – basically FM, so it can compete with IBOC/HD Radio. Unfortunately, Mina points out, no major transmitter manufacturer has yet made FM transmitters with DRM Plus because they have spent too much developing IBOC/HD Radio transmitters. “We are still looking for somebody to jump on top of it,” says Mina.

Now back to the receivers, and the reasons why they aren’t readily available yet. “Part of the reason,” says Mina, “is maybe we took our time on the standard – deciding what we want the receiver to do. We had a lot of debate and a lot of discussion. What should the receiver have in it? Should it be simply a small receiver that you can buy on the street in Hong Kong or Taiwan hopefully for $10? Well, you can’t do that. Most of us were hoping for a $50 receiver to replace what I call the regular or standard $10 or $15 shortwave receiver that you can buy in Asia today.

“Some of the receiver manufacturers said: ‘I’ll wait maybe until you finish your DRM Plus. Why do I want to make one receiver and then possibly have to combat some of the others?’. Some manufacturers said I will combine DRM with DAB and come up with a receiver that some of the early ones – most of them – do.

“But for whatever reason, even though we had Sony as a key member of DRM on the Steering Board – and we had Bosch also and many of the others – none of them really came up [with a receiver], even though they were the key people who helped us, and helped Dr. [Don] Messer – one of his subcommittees – to come up with a specification. None of them – Sony, Panasonic or what I would call the big people – the key people who were driving DRM – and I give them a lot of credit; they really pushed and promoted it – none of them came up with a receiver. It is disappointing, I think, to me and to many of the others.

“So what I would call some of the secondary players introduced receivers. Many of them were waiting, like everybody knows today, for an IC chip – the good chip, the right chip. We do have some receivers now – Roberts, Morphy Richards, Himalaya. These are some of the receivers that you see today. Many of us have got the software receivers. But even some of the early receivers, in six to eight hours the batteries were gone. They were just eating batteries like crazy.

“So the receiver that all of us are looking for is still the small receiver, the inexpensive receiver that will have a good battery life. That’s what most people are looking for. It’s the one that should be like your Blackberry, your telephone, that can sit for two days, three days, without you having to go back and charge it.”

But Mina is hopeful. New chips were introduced a few months ago by Analog Devices, and a new receiver is expected to be built in India. “We’ve seen the prototype,” said Mina. “They’re very encouraged. And we hope that we will have the $100 receiver.”

That $100 receiver could be a major improvement on the current situation. “When we started talking about the $100 and the $200 receiver – that was six years ago,” said Mina. “Well, there are receivers you can buy today for 200 euros. The 200 figure we were hoping for six years ago is here, but it’s in euros, and that’s 300 dollars. Many of us are still hoping for the $100 receiver.”

Mina is also encouraged about what’s coming out of China. His friends at Thomson Broadcast found and worked with Dr. Lin Liang who founded a private company, Newstar Electronics, that plans to make DRM receivers. “I have seen three of these small receivers,” said Mina. “Today the design is being completed on these receivers – a very, very small receiver. This is the new star that is coming from China, that is going to make DRM a success.”

The new Chinese receiver will have a small LCD screen, a built-in photo album, a GPS and a DRM receiver. “What’s going to make DRM are these devices,” Mina believes. “You’re going to step out of your airplane. You’re going to travel to any city you want. You’re going to pull it out, and right there you’re going to have a DRM receiver. You’re going to receive your program with good quality anywhere in the world. This is what is going to be the success of DRM in my opinion.”

Mina says there are many other DRM receivers that are being developed right now. Students at LeTourneau University are working on a receiver. Three to five different groups in China are working on receivers. There is also a group in South Africa working on a DRM receiver, specifically for use on shortwave.

There had been talk in the business that the Chinese would have a lot of DRM transmissions on air in time for the Olympics. “That’s not going to happen,” said Mina, “But eventually we will see DRM broadcasts in China.” Explains Mina: “The reason China will develop DRM receivers is that all of the transmitters they’re buying are DRM- ready. One transmitter is broadcasting DRM, but all of the others are ready. Why would China use DRM? China uses shortwave to talk to their own people. Because of that, they will go to DRM to cover their own territory. People in rural China need shortwave.”

“DRM will succeed,” concluded Mina, “and the cheap receivers will be coming very soon.”

Mina said that most shortwave transmitters bought during the last 20 years that have solid-state modulators are ready for DRM with a minor modification and new exciter. Older transmitters with high-level plate modulation can be modified for DRM. “We have done many of them. We just finished one in Saipan. We put new solid-state modulators on them, and they’re ready.”

Although DRM isn’t being used on mediumwave in the United States, there have been very successful mediumwave simulcast tests in Mexico, Brazil and India. There are also regular DRM broadcasts on mediumwave from many broadcast organizations in Europe.

Mina sees great potential for DRM on shortwave. A TCI International study showed that five transmitters could cover all of the United States with a high-quality DRM signal. “We need a UPS, a DHL, a trucking company. Somebody will have the vision to use DRM and send messages or programs over a large area with a single transmitter.”

If you order a new shortwave transmitter today from companies like Continental, there’s no extra cost for DRM capability; it’s already built in. If you need a DRM exciter for an existing transmitter, it’s a slightly different story. “Our exciters are still a little bit too expensive,” said Mina. “We acknowledge that. But prices have come down, and hopefully can come down more.” He mentioned that HCJB is trying to develop a low-cost DRM exciter, which if successful could cause the big companies to drop their prices.

Mina said prices are still a bit prohibitive for most potential 26 MHz DRM operations. A TCI study showed that a 200-watt AM transmitter could cover the San Francisco Bay Area with one antenna – providing the FCC would license it. “But exciters are still 40,000 to 50,000 euros,” he lamented. “That is discouraging.” He noted that IBOC exciters cost around $20,000.

Finally, Adil Mina thanked former Technical Committee Chairman Dr. Don Messer for all of his contributions to DRM. Messer retired from the DRM Consortium at the end of March, although he is still working hard to promote DRM in the United States. “If you want to get an experimental license for DRM, don’t try to do it on your own,” cautions Mina. “Contact Dr. Messer.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH DRM IN THE UNITED STATES?

Dr. Donald Messer left the DRM Consortium at the end of March. Some months earlier he had relinquished his role as Chairman of the Technical Committee of the DRM Consortium. He is now actively involved in promoting DRM in the United States. At the USA DRM annual meeting May 8 in Cary, North Carolina, he talked about some of the activities he has been involved in during the past several months regarding DRM transmissions from the US to the US.

Messer said there are two major elements involved in domestic DRM broadcasting in the US. One is getting the FCC to approve domestic shortwave broadcasting, which is not permitted currently. Experimental testing is needed for this. The second element is building a constituency by doing developmental work to be able to convince the FCC that domestic DRM has value, includes local content, etc. Thus, we are dealing with getting digital modulation approved in the HF broadcasting bands for domestic use.

As far as mediumwave is concerned, Messer agreed with those who have said that it has to be an analog-DRM simulcast on adjacent channels. “You can’t disturb the analog transmissions,” he said. He noted that very successful simulcast DRM mediumwave tests have been conducted in Mexico, Brazil and India.

Messer explained that DRM+ includes all the broadcasting bands above 30 MHz and below 108 MHz. He insists that “there is some activity, although very limited, in the United States with regard to trying to get experimental licenses for DRM+.”

But shortwave is where most of the activity is with DRM in the United States. Messer divides this into three categories: local coverage on 26 MHz, regional coverage, and traditional shortwave broadcasting for long-distance coverage.

On 26 MHz, Messer said transmitters of 200 watts or less can provide local community radio services. He noted 26 MHz is a natural alternative for the FCC, given the controversy about using channels within part of the existing FM band for low power FM community radio stations. Using DRM on 26 MHz would reduce the political pressure that the FCC is receiving from both sides – the NAB on one, and – for example — universities and religious organizations on the other. These low-power DRM stations would cover 10-100 square miles. Messer says at least three organizations are working with him on developing DRM tests on 26 MHz for local coverage, but no experimental licenses have been issued yet.

The second category of DRM on shortwave is a medium-range regional service. Messer explained that he has been working with a group that has filed an application for at least two years of experimental operation in Alaska, and the FCC has recently accepted that application for evaluation. “Alaska is roughly twice the size of Texas,” said Messer. “so you’re talking about a fairly large regional coverage.”

The plan is to use a 10 or maybe 20 kHz DRM signal with up to four languages of audio to cover the entire state using old 100-kilowatt Defense Department transmitters near Fairbanks. Says Messer: “The Cold War ended, so the transmitters are up there and are not being used.” He says he is working with a company located near Fairbanks that would eventually like to provide a digital audio service throughout the State of Alaska. Does he think the project will be approved? “My guess is that the FCC evaluators will approve this application sometime before the end of this year when the cold sets in and the sun doesn’t rise anymore. We will have the antenna field constructed in accordance with a very good antenna design. Then starting next year when the snows go away… we will start experimental broadcasting.”

Messer cites two key reasons why he thinks the FCC will approve the Alaska application. First of all, he says there isn’t much information about ionospheric propagation at latitudes of around 60 degrees north with regard to how a digital signal such as DRM would work for a broadcasting service. “So this is pioneering,” he says.

Secondly, the Alaska population outside of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau is sparse. Taking this to a global level, Messer says: “If a country has half its population living in three cities, what about the other half?” He criticized some Voice of America research in parts of the world like West Africa that has been used to downplay the importance of shortwave in favor of FM and Internet. Messer asserts that often this research has not taken rural areas sufficiently into account – areas that still depend largely on shortwave.

“Without trying to minimize the value this has to Alaska,” he said, “this is transportable to other places in the U.S. Just think about – if I can use the phrase – the “red states” in the United States. A lot of them are sparsely populated – the Dakotas, Montana, up and down the Rocky Mountain area.”

The final category of DRM on shortwave is “traditional” shortwave for long-distance skywave coverage, but aimed at a domestic audience. Messer said TCI International did some research showing that five transmitters could cover the U.S. with a DRM signal “at power levels that are consistently lower than what you’re used to.” He said it remains to be seen if existing shortwave stations in the U.S. or other commercial concerns will show an interest in the possibility of domestic HF broadcasting. As for the U.S. Government, “the IBB is prohibited from doing this, but I can tell you there is some interest in trying to help us out with some domestic broadcasting.” He noted that IBB is a DRM member.

Messer realizes that the big challenge in the long term for these domestic shortwave DRM applications is that the FCC would have to change its rules to permit domestic broadcasting of digital signals from the U.S. to the U.S.

In summary, for DRM on mediumwave in the United States, Messer says “the technical capability is there. I think the market there depends on how well HD Radio does in the mediumwave band over time.” For shortwave – local community services, Alaska-type regional services, and long-range DRM services – the question is, “are there markets – perhaps niche markets – in the U.S. for this kind of broadcasting? The kinds of things I am talking about within the U.S. will require at least 1 to 2 to 3 years of testing. By that time, if there aren’t consumer receivers ready, forget you heard this speech.”

Meanwhile, Messer pointed out that there are currently shortwave DRM transmissions to the United States from Canada, Bonaire, French Guiana and other sites. And “nobody can prevent some Mexican entrepreneur from broadcasting out of Chihuahua or something like that as long as it’s coordinated with the HFCC.” (June NASB Newsletter via DXLD)

This is from:

DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-073, June 26, 2008 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com

Find the full review and the posting rules here.

From the 30th April, however, we will not be able to guarantee that the transmission will be on-air or stable on a permanent basis, although it is likely to be present most of the time until at least the early summer. It may be switched off for a considerable period of time, however, even before then and when it is finally switched off, it is likely it will go without any notice. As there remains work to be done, the future of this frequency in general is not clear at this time and we can give no guarantee that the former service will return.

here’s the full forum post by Russell Chant, BBC Audiences.

The original data was received from the AIBD server as part of a UNICEF sponsored guide to Lao National Radio. A good example on how to create a lot of potentially very useful data and then let it die away in a dead end of the internet as a PDF file…

Stay tuned as I will be adding more features hopefully soon. The web site is very much a prototype, so it doesn’t really work well with Internet Explorer, rather use Firefoxor any other of the better browsers. Comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!

By the way did you know that Mac-Users can also Dream now

http://drm.sourceforge.net/installationmac.html ?

What he means is, that the software receiver solution to listen to DRM programs using a communication receiver and a computer is now also available for machines running Mac OS X. This is catering a pretty tight target group, but anyway, thanks for the effort, folks!

More wireless than cable (read: more flexible), simpler than setting up a WiFi connection and also cheaper. Advantages: adds FM-sound for nostalgic feel. Disadvantage: If no signal arrives from the transmitter, the receivers (yes, several at the same time if I so desire, this is broadcasting!) switched to noise, which is less convenient.

Now if I imagine using of one of these together with an iPod in a car, traditional radio is just not worth a penny anymore for those interested in listening to music. Listen to your own heavy rotation and if you feel more like being surprised, put the player on shuffle. If you want news, switch station on the hour, while the traffic news will come through anyway if that’s what you want and tell your car radio. In short: terrestrial radio is loosing more and more ground at its strongest point-of-sale: in-car entertainment.

Become your own music radio station - 30 € is all you need. How I wish the field strength were just good enough to go through the bathroom wall as well… BTW, if you fancy to know what I listen to: here’s a list (yepp, don’t ask for something like this on old radio!) If you want to listen to what I listen to, no need to visit, here you go:

Will anyone else miss it? I it a great loss to the world of the radio waves? Well, yes and no. Surely not in the world it used to exist, the world, where international broadcasting was about short-wave or satellite distribution. I guess in this world, the interest among the targeted audience was to little and constantly decreasing.

But we will miss it in a world that could have been created. One, where several Radio Stations across Europe, all of them btw working together in organisations as the European Broadcasting Union, would create a common public service radio for people in the European Union in several languages, or a virtual news room or any other form of joint european public service audio thing we might also call radio. If it just would happen any day soon…

So while this is a sad story on a personal level, I think it’s also a bit of a bigger picture, the failure of people to jointly envision something. At Radio Schweden, staff has been trying to work into this direction for all the years I know of. It’s sad it didn’t pay off.

Radio Schweden will exist as an internet and podcast service. For how long remains to be seen (to use one of those phrases I tell people not to use…)

Brief in German, for the search engines…Radio Schweden wird voraussichtlich Ende März 2008 seinen Sendebetrieb einstellen.

Eindhoven, The Netherlands, December 11, 2007 - NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, today introduced a multi-standard digital terrestrial radio solution for high-quality analog and digital radio for in-car entertainment, anywhere in the world. The system uses NXP newest AM/FM Car DSP, the Nexperia™ PNX9525 including NXP’s own DRM and DAB software, as well as the SAF355x including the IBOC technology from iBiquity Digital Corporation, the developer of digital HD Radio™ technology.

Here’s the full press release by NXP and here’s a short article from “Red Herring”.

The journalist there makes an interesting assumption:

A single-chip solution could be a major boost for the global terrestrial radio industry. Facing stiff competition from satellite radio, MP3 players, and Internet radio, the industry has seen its market stagnate in most areas of the world.

Maybe it’s me, but I don’t see, why a single-chip solution for radio receivers should solve the problems of the radio industry. People don’t use this competing media outlets because of the chipsets used. It’s rather because these technologies offer something that radio today can’t offer. And I am not sure that it can be offered just by going digital and than doing more or less the same.

Look at the recent history of music distribution: LP’s was the analogue technology, CD’s the first digital iteration. But where are CD’s today compared to iPods and other MP3-Players offering you your lifetimes jukebox as a take-away? I guess in many markets, the radio-industry will have to leap-frog that first iteration to again play a role for the consumers.

This is the first time (to my knowledge), that DRM+ is being field tested. Additionally, a licence for a first HD-Radio trial has been granted, to allow for a closer comparison of the two competing standards.

According to a press statement by the German State Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate (Landeszentrale für Medien und Kommunikation - LMK) this is when the trials wil take place:

- DRM+ field trial in Hannover from Nov. 20, 2007 to Feb. 29, 2008
- HD-RadioTM field trial in Heidelberg from Dec. 1, 2007 to Feb. 29, 2008
- DRM+ field trial in Kaiserslautern from March 1, 2008 to May 31, 2008, following the HD radio trial.

More information in the above mentioned press release that is available in English.