The first trial of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) over medium frequency (MF) in Vietnam kicked off on Thursday in Dong Hoi, the capital city of Quang Binh province. Organised and hosted by VOV-Vietnam with the ABU’s assistance, the trial featured a workshop on the first day where new digital radio technology was presented to technical experts from VOV and the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as government advisors responsible for the country’s digital broadcast development plan.
In opening the workshop, VOV’s Director-General Vu Van Hien outlined the radio broadcaster’s commitment to staying abreast of developments in technology in radio broadcasting. He added that VOV would use DRM to build on its successes in providing a wide range of radio programmes to not only the people of Vietnam but to the rest of the world through shortwave transmissions.
Mr Hien expressed his gratitude for the support received from the DRM consortium and organisations that have actively worked with VOV in bringing the trial to reality. The workshop’s tutorial presentations were made by VOV’s senior staff and experts from the Harris Corporation and VT Communications who are in Dong Hoi to assist VOV with the trial.
The trial will continue with a field strength measuring campaign to assess the digital radio performance throughout the Dong Hoi MF service area, and to better understand the differences in quality of the DRM signal in the station’s distant coverage areas.
(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)
