|
DRM™ - Digital Radio Mondiale - Reception in New Zealand
This page documents some of the experimenting I have being doing
with reception of digital shortwave broadcasts from my home in
Wellington, New Zealand. To date I have been able to receive
broadcasts from transmitters located in the
Netherlands Antilles, Canada, Portugal,
the UK, Luxembourg, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Thailand,
The Netherlands,
Germany, Russia, China, France, Sweden, Norway, Chile, Austria, Spain, New
Zealand, Australia, India, Ecuador, Bulgaria & Romania.
About DRM™
For those who don't know much about it Digital
Radio Mondiale,
DRM™ for short, is a method of broadcasting on AM radio
using digital signals
rather than analogue - it's like listening to an audio stream on
the Internet, but broadcast on medium or shortwave radio rather
than via the net.
In addition to potentially crystal-clear reception, DRM™ signals
can also carry multimedia information in addition to the
audio signal, or to carry multiple program streams on one signal:
Screen capture of multi-media DRM broadcast
(courtesy
Michael Dressen,
Germany)
Screen capture of DRM broadcast from DW Sines using multiple streams to carry news in four different languages
DRM™ can also send web pages via shortwave:
VT Merlin test website broadcast images
(courtesy Richard Beales, UK)
Amateur radio operators are also using DRM™:
Screen capture of ham radio DRM test broadcast on
3605 kHz
(courtesy Carsten Knütter in Germany)
|
Screen capture
of 1st HamDream intercontinental QSO
PY4BL - HB9TLK 14255 kHz
|
More information about ham application of DRM visit the
HamDream
web site.
I have also experimented with transmitting DRM around my house using
the DReaM software, which includes a transmitter option, and a
Jackson Harbor LF to HF Converter
module which converts the sound card
IF output up to the HF range. This has a range of only a couple
of meters, but I have been able to transmit data and audio from
my own LPFM radio station, WorldFM
around the house. You can see some screen shots
of weather station data being broadcast here.
You can learn more about DRM™ at these web sites:
The DRM logo is a trade mark of Digital Radio Mondiale
Association and is used under license. DRM logo ©DRM Association
1998
My Receiving Setup
I am listening from Tawa, a suburb of Wellington, the capital
city of New Zealand. It's a residential area with houses filled
with TVs, computers and other noise-generating
electronics. My house is no exception!
The receiver I am using is a Yaesu FRG-100/DRM supplied by
SAT-Service Schneider
in Germany. You can see the range of DRM™ products that they
offer on this web page: SAT-Service
Schneider DRM page. The FRG-100/DRM is fitted with
a 12 kHz IF output and has bandwidth filter changes to
receive DRM™ broadcasts. In my receiver I've had the wide
AM filter bank used for DRM™ - this results in AM Wide
being *really* wide when used for normal AM transmissions.
In December 2004 I also purchased a
Digital World Traveller
receiver from Coding Technologies.
This is a small MW/SW/FM &
DRM receiver that is designed for connection to a laptop or
PC via USB.
In March 2007 I purchased a Morphy Richards DigitalRadio 27024, primarily
for monitoring DAB test transmissions, but it also receives DRM quite
well. I wrote a review of this radio for the April 2007 issue of the
New Zealand DX Times magazine.
Thanks to RNZI, I have also had the use of a loaned SAT-Service Schneider
DRT1 receiver.
Yaesu FRG-100/DRM
|
Morphy Richards 27024
|
Digital World Traveller
|
DRT1
|
My own DX setup
My antenna is a 30 metre wire in the garden. This feeds
my receiver through a JPS (now Timewave) ANC-4
noise
reduction unit to help cut down some of the local
noise from my PC (though it appears to make little,
if any, difference
to DRM reception quality).
I have also fitted
SAT-Service Schneider DRM IF modules to my AOR AR-7030
and McKay Dymek DR33C receivers. Both perform well, but
overall I find I use the Yaesu most.
SAT-Service Schneider DRM Mixer
I'm running the "DRM
Software Radio" program on a dual
processor 1 GHz Pentium III computer running Windows XP/Pro
to decode and listen to the broadcasts.
"DRM Software Radio" Main Screen
Schedules
Current DRM Transmission Schedule
Recent Reception Results
| Here are some examples of what I have been able
to receive recently here in Wellington, New Zealand. |
Feed of latest logs:
|
| DRM™ Reception at
Wellington,
New
Zealand |
Date
(year/month/day) |
Time
UTC |
Frequency
kHz |
Broadcast Details |
Screen/Graph |
Audio
(ogg) |
Solar Indices
SF/A/K |
Log File |
| 2009/11/02 |
08:32 |
13810 |
BBC World Service/DW Radio joint service to Europe, 90kW
from Sines, Portugal. 4 & 1/2 hours of generally good
decoding of 17.8k AAC+ mono programming from both BBC & DW,
along with Journaline news service from both broadcasters.
|
|
|
72/2/1 |
view
|
| 2009/11/02 |
08:00 |
9780 |
REE Spain, 100kW to Europe. 17.4k AAC+ mono in Spanish,
but too poor for decoding.
|
|
|
72/2/1 |
view
|
| 2009/11/02 |
07:22 |
17755 |
TDPradio techo dance music, 125kW beamed to Asia from
Darwin, Australia. Just 10 seconds decodable.
|
|
|
72/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/11/02 |
06:29 |
6020 |
Radio Romania International, 90kW to Europe from Galbeni.
20.9k AAC+ stereo English service signing on, but
no decoding possible.
|
|
|
72/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/11/02 |
05:58 |
6100 |
Radio Romania International, 90kW to Europe from Galbeni.
20.9k AAC+ stereo French service signing on, but only the odd
word decodable.
|
|
|
72/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/10/22 |
09:10 |
13810 |
DW Radio/BBC WS via Sines, Portugal, with some
reasonable decoding of 17.8k AAC+ mono audio.
|
|
|
71/2/3 |
view
|
| 2009/10/22 |
05:00 |
17525 |
Faint signs of DW Radio via Sri Lanka. No decoding.
|
|
|
71/2/3 |
view
|
| 2009/09/11 |
04:24 |
9400 |
BNR Digital Bulgarian National Radio. Friday only
relay of Program Horizont in Bulgarian, 14.7k AAC mono
audio.
|
|
|
69/2/1 |
view
|
| 2009/08/29 |
21:40 |
15280 |
HCJB Quito, Ecuador, transmitting to Europe.
Some decoding of AAC+ 14.7k mono German audio possible.
|
|
|
68/3/1 |
view
|
| 2009/08/28 |
04:18 |
9400 |
BNR Digital Bulgarian National Radio. Friday only
relay of Program Horizont in Bulgarian, 14.7k AAC mono
audio.
|
|
|
68/5/1 |
view
|
| 2009/08/21 |
04:00 |
9400 |
BNR Digital Bulgarian National Radio. Friday only
relay of Program Horizont in Bulgarian, 14.7k AAC mono
audio.
|
|
|
68/13/3 |
|
| 2009/06/25 |
21:33 |
15280 |
HCJB Quito, Ecuador, transmitting to Europe. No decoding possible.
|
|
|
68/6/2 |
view
|
| 2009/06/25 |
02:45 |
11675 |
Radio Kuwait (MOI - Ministry of Information) 11.6k AAC mono
audio in Arabic. Just the odd bit decodable.
|
|
|
67/18/3 |
view
|
| 2009/06/24 |
23:15 |
9755 |
Vatican Radio transmitting to North America. Signal
detected but too weak for any decoding.
|
|
|
67/18/4 |
view
|
| 2009/05/20 |
12:35 |
9445 |
Voice of Russia, in Russian, broadcasting to India from Irkutsk
transmitter site with 15kW. Bad adjacent channel interference
here means very little decoding of 13k AAC+ mono audio is possible.
|
|
|
74/4/0 |
view
|
| 2009/05/17 |
05:59 |
9780 |
REE Spain. Good decoding of 17.4k AAC+ mono programme to Europe
in Spanish for an hour before fading.
|
|
|
74/4/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/26 |
08:30 |
11580 |
FEBC testing to China/Japan via KFBS Saipan. Weak
signs of DRM, but no id or decoding possible.
|
|
|
69/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/04/26 |
07:21 |
9780 |
REE Spain. Some decoding of 17.4k AAC+ mono programme to Europe
in Spanish.
|
|
|
69/2/0 |
view
view
|
| 2009/04/26 |
02:41 |
9500 |
BNR Digital, Sofia, Bulgaria. Transmission to North America,
but blocked by Iran on 9495kHz most of the time.
21.9k AAC+ mono audio, just a few audio blips decoded.
|
|
|
69/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/04/22 |
22:41 |
17640 |
CVC Chile, test broadcast for NAB
conference in Las Vegas. 18k AAC+ stereo programming,
but too poor for anydecoding.
|
|
|
71/4/2 |
view
|
| 2009/04/21 |
21:28 |
15280 |
HCJB, Quito, Ecuador, broadcasting in German to
Europe with only 4kW power. Some decoding of 14.7k AAC+ mono
possible.
|
|
|
71/5/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/21 |
00:29 |
17545 |
TDF Montsinery, French Guiana, test broadcast for NAB
conference in Las Vegas. 14.5k AAC mono RFI programming, decoding
good at times, 150kW.
|
|
|
70/5/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/20 |
02:38 |
9500 |
BNR Digital, Sofia, Bulgaria. Transmission to North America,
but blocked by Iran on 9495kHz most of the time.
21.9k AAC+ mono audio.
|
|
|
70/4/2 |
view
|
| 2009/04/19 |
09:00 |
11650 |
FEBC testing to Asia via KFBS Saipan. Signs of tests
using 5kHz b/w DRM, 8.8k audio, but no decoding possible.
|
|
|
70/8/2 |
view
view
view
|
| 2009/04/19 |
08:40 |
9780 |
REE Spain. Some decoding of 17.4k AAC+ mono programme to Europe
in Spanish.
|
|
|
|
view
|
| 2009/04/19 |
04:05 |
3995 |
BBC/DW via Sines, Portugal. Observed daily, but not
decodable.
16.8k AAC+ stereo audio.
|
|
|
|
view
|
| 2009/04/18 |
23:16 |
17545 |
TDF Montsinery, French Guiana, test broadcast for NAB
conference in Las Vegas. 14.5k AAC mono RFI programming, decoding
rate gradually improving.
|
|
|
|
view
|
| 2009/04/18 |
22:08 |
17545 |
TDF Montsinery, French Guiana, test broadcast for NAB
conference in Las Vegas. 14.5k AAC mono RFI programming, some
decoding possible.
|
|
|
70/8/2 |
view
|
| 2009/04/18 |
21:08 |
15280 |
HCJB, Quito, Ecuador, broadcasting in German to
Europe with only 4kW power. Some good decoding of 14.7k AAC+ mono
audio at times considering the low power and target area.
|
|
|
70/8/2 |
view
|
| 2009/04/05 |
07:02 |
9545 |
BBC/DW joint DRM service for Europe via Sines, Portugal.
Some broken decoding of 16.8k AAC+ stereo DW audio.
|
|
|
70/1/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/05 |
06:39 |
9780 |
REE Spain. Some decoding of 17.4k AAC+ mono programme to Europe
in Spanish.
|
|
|
70/1/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/05 |
06:25 |
11900 |
BNR Digital, Sofia, Bulgaria. Some bits decodable from
21.9k AAC mono audio.
|
|
|
70/1/1 |
view
|
| 2009/04/04 |
08:58 |
11995 |
RDPI Portugal, 80kW via Sines. Suffers major interference from
their own AM mode transmission on 12000kHz using 300kW to South America.
18.3k AAC+ mono audio in Portuguese.
|
|
|
70/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/04/04 |
07:14 |
9545 |
BBC/DW joint DRM service for Europe via Sines, Portugal.
Some broken decoding of 16.8k AAC+ mono DW audio.
|
|
|
70/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/04/04 |
07:03 |
9780 |
REE Spain. Some decoding of 17.4k AAC+ mono programme to Europe
in Spanish.
|
|
|
70/2/0 |
view
|
| 2009/04/04 |
04:30 |
3995 |
BBC/DW via Sines, Portugal. Observed daily, but not
decodable.
16.8k AAC+ mono audio.
|
|
|
70/2/0 |
view
|
| |
|
|
This is what a digital signal sounds like on an
ordinary radio in narrow AM mode. |
|
Real |
mp3 |
|
|
Earlier results can be found on these
pages:
Reception in Europe
The BBC is running a DRM trial on mediumwave 855 kHz from BBC Radio Devon
in Plymouth. Thanks go
to Frank G0GSR for providing this
recording of their test loop
Carsten Knütter from
Germany has kindly allowed me to host these recordings of early test
transmissions from RTL, Luxembourg, on 6095 kHz:
RTL_3_209.mp3
(1.220.023 Byte, 20,9kbps)
RTL_5_209.mp3
(862.041 Byte, 20,9kbps)
RTL_6_145.mp3
(991.818 Byte, 14,5kbps)
RTL_6_209.mp3
(1.005.609 Byte, 20,9kbps)
RTL_7_209.mp3
(1.704.020 Byte, 20,9kbps).
RTL_6_247.mp3
(998.713 Byte, 24,7kbps).
stereo_347.mp3
(2.383.621 Byte, 34,7kbps).
Chinese tests to Europe
These brief recordings are from CRI 27.4 kbps stereo tests to Europe, recorded by
listeners in Europe.
easyfm.mp3
cri_274stereo.mp3
If you have any comments about this page, or DRM™ reception,
please feel free to email me.
chris.www@owdjim.gen.nz (or chris@digitalradio.co.nz)
|
