The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium has welcomed the Indian government‘s approval of All India Radio (AIR)’s ambitious plan of converting its vast broadcasting network to digital using the DRM standard. India is one of the first countries in the world to implement such an extensive and well-researched plan to upgrade its radio infrastructure using the global open DRM radio technology and thereby ensuring that it can maintain significant reach to its 1.2 billion strong population whilst delivering enhanced radio services.
India’s Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure on Thursday 8 April gave its approval to the proposal from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding 11th Plan of Digitalisation where Rs 9.20 billion (approx US$200 million) have been earmarked for AIR to convert to digital which will cover approx 70 per cent of the country. By converting to digital, AIR will deliver enhanced radio services that offer crystal clear sound, increase user experience with additional functionality such as automatic tuning by station name, interactive user interface through digital screens that offer slide-shows and many other services like EPG, Journaline.
The digitisation scheme involves the installation of over 40 digital (DRM capable) transmitters as well as other digital enhancements and networks for both state radio and television.
All India Radio (AIR) began moving towards digitisation with the adoption of the DRM standard after extensive field trials and tests since 2007 that was offering in their opinion the most ‘robust, reliable’ technology. Last year, it started a regular DRM broadcast from one of its high-power shortwave transmitters located at Khampur near Delhi and this year it acquired two high powered mediumwave DRM transmitters.
(Source: DRM Consortium)
on Apr 10th, 2010 at 13:45
I wonder what the reaction of the Indian AM audience will be in a couple of years when they find out that only noise comes out of their tiny AM radio speakers, and they need hard to find cash to buy a new battery eating DRM radio.
on Apr 11th, 2010 at 01:32
I agree with ruud. This technology is not suitable for Indians. I understand it is the government’s way to modernize their people, however the transition is going to take at least 10 years…
on Apr 11th, 2010 at 13:08
Mind you with a market the size of India, it will certainly speed up the production of DRM capable sets and bring the price down, which in turn will make them more affordable for the rest of the world.
on Apr 11th, 2010 at 14:38
To add, even Russia is going that way, DRM. China is comming, even EU with the new law of free speach on all AM broadcasting bands, all frequencies.
on Apr 11th, 2010 at 18:24
I wish the UK had embraced DRM before it went down the ruinous path of DAB, then it wouldn’t be in the situation of having to obsolete hundreds of thousands of radios.
on Apr 12th, 2010 at 11:03
DRM needs a bigger push than it has been given:good to see other countries doing what the UK,Europe and other countries are not by
(a)pushing thru plans to expand the use of it and
(b)also giving a bit more impetus to DRM set manufacturers to put into production and manufacture the new sets, and
(c)for broadcasters a shot in the arm to put DRM into use and provide regular broadcasts, it can only be a good thing overall.
on Apr 12th, 2010 at 15:19
The effect of replacing analogue by DRM on AM broadcasters will be that the audiences will go to FM, HD-radio, DAB or Internet radio.
The M-K-L bands will be abandoned and left alone and useless.
on Apr 12th, 2010 at 16:17
Ruud, the audio quality is even better on DRM on SW than DAB. There is no difference between DAB and DAB+ in audio quality, flat, metallic, no dynamic audio. DAB+ gives you lower speed, more channel, but the same audio.
DRM in the AM band, DRM+ in the band l,ll, lll and L-band, that’s all we need, nothning else. That’s the final solutions.
on Apr 12th, 2010 at 16:51
Hi all,
Don’t think that 200 million USD investment would be thrown without serious optimism that domestic Indian industry is capable to mass produce cheap and reliable DRM receivers. It seems they are making tablets using new NVIDIA Tegra’s 100 USD below Ipad, so probably there is some art to make not so complex DRM receiver after all.
Mirics RF Tuner, coming ARM Cortex A5 processor with NEON should do the job for low power consumption. I’m sure that some software genius out there are able to do some little optimization tricks for mixed radix FFT and HE AAC+ decoding and out of nowhere you have receiver with sub 25 USD BOM
on Apr 12th, 2010 at 18:18
The sound quality of DRM is not better then DAB or internet radio. Nobody says so. Only DRM idiots.
The transition is not solved, it is just Analogue off, DRM on.
A nightnare for audiences.
In this country digital radio is introduced by the Government and sort of forced in by linking it to the renewal of FM and AM licenses off commercial broadcasters.
Nothing about DRM, absolute silence.
Nobody wants digital radio, and certainly not DRM.
The only way is to FORCE people to digiradio.
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 08:32
Ruud, people who believe in Digital Radio Mondiale are NOT as you deliberately call them idiots, but they like myself believe that it IS what\’s needed because AM is a slowly dying format which needs an improvement if it is to stem the decline of slowly declining listenership due to quality and reception issues. Problems with AM are:
(a)Inferior audio quality and reproduction,
(b)Interference from electrical and electronic sources in factories and the home environment spoiling listening with noise generated on top of what you\’re listening to as a result,
(c)And worsening reception at night on the MW band thru continental and international stations causing interference on the same wavebands, and variable reception and fading at various times on SW due to propagation and fading/sunspots and the ionospheric changes plus disturbances in the geomagnetic field around the earth. LW for DRM isn\’t quite so prone to these disturbances and is considerably more stable.
Digital Radio Mondiale in the AM bands of LW/MW and SW was set up by broadcasters/transmission providers and set manufacturers as being an answer to all that(and is able to bring back listeners alienated by poor AM quality and reception that were leaving it with a newer and good quality alternative;that reason alone is why radio luxembourg on 1440kHz AM was losing listeners and audience share due to the fade and audio quality of it\’s transmissions at night and not even a high power 1200kW omnidirectional AM signal from marnach in luxembourg that targeted the United Kingdom and a fair old swathe of Europe could have prevented that as MW always fades and whistles at night due to other stations transmitting on the same frequency bouncing in on top of the station), and with DRM it combats many of the problems that plagued AM listenership and reception with a more robust clearer delivered signal that is better able to counteract the interference problems and reception problems endemic to the AM bands than whistling fading compressed AM ever could. AM Stereo nearly took in the UK after successful AM Stereo trials on Radio Orwell\’s MW257m/1170kHz frequency in the early 80\’s proved positive, but it never really took off in the way the Independent Broadcasting Authority(in charge of Independent Local Radio and Independent Television at the time)expected and thus no receivers for AM Stereo in the UK were ever produced and sold. If AM Stereo had really got it\’s ground in the UK and took off on every ILR station on mediumwave, then that would have been a worthwhile achievement and a good enhancement to AM broadcasting to work in partnership with VHF-FM Stereo broadcasting. But it never did. Also Internet only broadcasting doesn\’t quite deliver the lion\’s share of the audience that conventional terrestrial broadcasting via AM/FM/DAB/DAB+/DRM/DRM+ does, indeed it alienates existing listeners in that they have to upgrade to expensive Internet WiFi radios at excessive expensive cost to the listeners themselves also 3G reception is still not 100% what it should be(it would take millions of pounds of investment to get it to absolutely everybody on the planet,also many poorer countries like Africa and India have extremely poor phone and broadband infrastructure while delivers slow data delivery with poor quality networks in these areas) and is also ridiculously expensive with mobilephonecos and telecoms firms charging ridiculous data charges for streaming of radio via 3G mobile delivery and you would still get dropouts and non availability of services because 3G signals don\’t travel through bridges/mountains/valleys etc like AM/FM etc does. With one DRM-SW signal delivered on an omnidirectional 360deg mast in a good open location at a decent power say 150kW erp you could have one signal go right round the world four times over and reach millions of listeners with DRM equipped sets. You can\’t exactly say that about WiFi internet and 3G Mobile!
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 08:49
Please do not use terms like idiots to describe people who hold different points of view to yours. It seems to me that every time I publish a DRM item, the same people respond with the same points. If this continues, I will switch off the comments facility for all DRM-related items.
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 09:03
Sorry Andy, it was Ruud who started that in saying that people who believe DRM is better than internet and DAB radio are that term. I was defending the people including myself who think otherwise that they are NOT that term. I know I went on a bit but I’am fairly technically minded and I DO know what
I am talking about. Regards. Anthony
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 09:14
I do compare the audio dynamic between DRM and DAB and have my point of wiew.DRM has better sound in my car radio than DAB.
There are non beamed DRM\’s on shortwave to my area, wich I need to get less drop outs. A signal of 55 db will have hardly no dropouts and a superb coverage of scandinavia. Be positive all bands are free to use to AM/DRM in EU.
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 17:31
Sorry if I offended any-one but let us stick to the facts:
- In this country there are 13 AM channels, none of them is planning DRM
- The Pubcaster NOS (Hans Bakhuizen, head of distribution) claims not to consider DRM in any way, to expensive and still limited audio
- Radio Netherlands has dropped DRM al together!!!
So I will now turn it 180 degrees and will qualify these parties as serious and very wise.
They have all, some commercial sttaions - RNW did DRM, been looking at it seriously and came to the conclusion that DRM is no option.
Just a matter of time and in India and Russia after good consideration will come to the same conclusion.
We just wait and see.
on Apr 13th, 2010 at 18:52
Here in Brazil the government officials are still testing the 2 systems ( the American and DRM) I think would very interesting for Brazil adopting DRM taking into consideration the continental dimension of Brazil. The Amazon region could be covered via shortwave DRM. As I know the American system has been tested first - some radiostations even bought some equipments for the American system. The truth is that issue is not resolved.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 07:20
Ruud, AIR have already started to make a regular broadcast contribution to the Digital Radio Mondiale bandwagon with a regular nightly transmission to Europe in English every day from their SW station at Khampur on 9950kHz in the 31metre band and are making progress by buying new Digital Radio Mondiale capable MW transmitters to replace analogue AM service provision(and regular daily broadcasts in DRM on medium and shortwave are enough to make the manufacture and sales of affordable low cost DRM capable AM radios worthwhile), and the Voice Of Russia are making plans for upgrading their existing AM infrastructure of their SW and MW transmitters to Digital Radio Mondiale(or if their existing MW/SW transmitters are not suitable(and many are several years old and may not be suitable for conversion to DRM) then the purchase of brand spanking new DRM capable MW/SW transmitters will probably replace them, and they have also promised regular DRM transmissions to replace the analogue ones once everything is in place and operational. Doing it from existing transmitters or new DRM capable ones you bought as a broadcaster rather using hired facilities/airtime via VT Communications SW stations/T-Systems SW stations/TDF SW stations etc is cheaper because you don\’t have a lease to pay and airtime allowances to pay to those providers costing millions of pounds/roubles/euros etc. Also the new DRM capable MW and SW transmitters have more energy efficient circuitry and more efficient antenna arrays for transmission ensuring a more reliable DRM service in terms of a decent good quality transmission and an improved reception of signal for the listener.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 07:21
Roy Sandgren, a S/N ratio of 55dB would be outstanding. The highest I’ve measured with DReaM DRM software has been about 21dB from Radio New Zealand International. I’m on the east coast of Australia, 2400km (1500mi) from their 25kW DRM transmissions. Even that provides virtually dropout-free reception.
I can sometimes hear signals from Spain and Portugal (100kW and 90kW respectively), with up to 16dB during late afternoon here.
Although I like to tinker, the future remains uncertain for DRM.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 08:42
This fieldstrength estimated plotter was from a SW-transmitter in Norway towards scandinavia approx. 70 kW DRM. Curtain antenna.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 08:44
This fieldstrength estimated plotter was from a SW-transmitter in Norway towards scandinavia approx. 70 kW DRM. Curtain antenna. 49-m band
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 09:41
Ok Osmar,
an omnidirectional SW antenna and a 100kW AM/DRM = DRM about 40 kW can give a great coverage of 1000 km radius or even a little more.Depends of frequency.
on Apr 14th, 2010 at 20:27
O DRM já é o padrão para transmissões em ondas curtas e médias mundialmente. Assim seria de interesse que o Brasil adotasse esse sistema, levando-se em consideração a dimensão cotinental de nosso país.
Todas as grandes emissoras mundiais estão adotando o padrão europeu, como a DW, BBC, RAI, e outras. Recentemente o governo indiano adotou este sistema para a ALL RADIO INDIA, também a Rússia.
O DRM vem se tornando um pesadelo para o sistema Americano, até a empresa UNIVERSAL RADIO está vendendo o UNI-WAVE - um verdadeiro radio multimídia. Quem não quer gastar com um rceptor desses, pode aproveitar seu antigo rádio de ondas curtas, especialmente os da SONY
SW7600G, SW7600GR e muitas outras marcas - compra um conversor DRM - acopla ao seu PC, já existe sistema DRM freeware na net.
Achei inteligente a decisão do Ministro Helio Costa, de protelar mais um pouco, mas tudo leva a crer que o melhor para o nosso querido Brasil é o sistema DRM.
Agora, se realmente o rádio digital vai pegar já é outra conversa? Pois seu maior concorrente é a NET.
Pessoalmente, acho que não importa que sistema seja
adotado no Brasil, isso vai demorar muito tempo para ser comercializado.
A sorte está lançada DRM europeu vs sistema americano!
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 10:52
So some Brazil stations have adopted IBOC and some have or are considering using DRM, interesting scenario. One universal standard rather than two should be considered and it should be DRM. Problem with the American IBOC system is;how many IBOC radios have sold there supporting it? It would be a bit of a farce say if a handful of stations adopted IBOC but all the rest supported DRM, it would be clear where the winner is and what the defacto standard would be.
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 11:10
According to an article in Radio World, Mexico is set to announce IBOC as a standard: http://www.radioworld.com/article/99364
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 11:32
How many countries got HD radio and how many are using DRM??
With a DRM reciever youcan listen to DRM on Mediumwave as shortwave.
With a HD you can pick up medium and FM only, not DRM SW.
on Apr 15th, 2010 at 11:33
Regarding the IBOC standard, as posted by Andy, one of the greatest problems in the world of technology is that a number of players always throw their hats into the ring, each producing their own system to achieve a goal. And the goal is to succeed in producing the dominant standard, let’s face it.
What benefit there is to the end-user is neither here nor there for the players. The most important thing is to have their standard adopted and the competition eliminated. Thus, we have DAB, DRM, IBOC and perhaps others I’m not familiar with. So people are faced with another Beta versus VHS type battle.
Sadly, I don’t suppose this problem will ever go away.
on Apr 23rd, 2010 at 09:16
DRM is universal and covers all wavebands from VHF bands I/III plus band II 87-108Mhz utilizing DRM+ to the MW/LW and SW bands utilizing DRM giving a one stop shop solution for any broadcaster. On the AM bands it can give excellent near FM quality mono and stereo transmissions over large areas such as large regions/countries and continents even pan-european coverage and can combat many problems endemic to AM like the compressed audio/fading and interference that is oh-so-familiar to MW/LW and SW. On bands I/II and III VHF it can give excellent CD quality stereo and mono transmissions local and nationally. IBOC only covers MW and FM but doesn\’t cover LW and SW either;it\’s excellent when used on the FM band and can work on MW too, BUT IBOC on MW at night suffers badly which is why you find NO stations in America broadcasting in IBOC at night because of interference problems. If DRM and DRM+ are properly executed and set up the results are superb;I listened to The Disco Palace’s transmission to Europe via Radio Netherlands SW outlet in Bonaire and the quality and reception were pretty good, digital stereo and wonderfully clear crisp audio. That proves that it can work, you cannot say the same of IBOC which is only designed to work on MW and FM. Brazil would be stupid to consider just IBOC alone when DRM and DRM+ can offer so many advantages to broadcasters and listeners.
on Apr 23rd, 2010 at 11:16
Correct Anthony. With DRM on Sw you get an audio that\’s like FM and better on 11-m band wich can be up to 2 x 18/20 kHz. own TX and a coverage of 500watts is 5 kW ERP simular as FM 5 kW = 50 km radius with vertical antenna. Even DRMPLUS is better than dab+. Have your own TX, don\’t need to share the TX with other broadcasters. Same coverage as FM-Stereo, same power ERP as FM.
on Apr 23rd, 2010 at 15:42
NO Iboc stations in the US at night.
Because they have the decency to switch off and avoid interference.
In Europe the DRM’s go on at night, just neglecting the interference they are causing. Just a matter of civilisation.
on Apr 26th, 2010 at 08:32
Ruud, one IBOC channel on MW occupies a bandwidth of about 30kHz, while DRM just 10kHz. That’s why they have to switch off at night to avoid ajacent channel interference.The defect of IBOC is inherent in its design.
As to the interference from DRM to normal AM broadcasting, I would say the other way round is more true to life.
zfyoung
on Apr 26th, 2010 at 15:14
It makes no difference if you suffer digital interference from some sideband or digital interference in the same channel.
DRM powers are also much higher.
If DRM has a problem with analogue AM, what sort of problem will they have when all channels are used for DRM. It will be a mess.
When DRM becomes a success it will kill itself, just the same way analogue AM is a problem due to overcrowded broadcasted bands.
on Apr 27th, 2010 at 03:50
Quote:’DRM powers are also much higher’ Unquote.
I don’t know where you get that data from. As far as the data in the DRM.ORG web page shows, few of stations broadcast with power more than 100KW and the open field test also confirms its effeciecy over analogue signal.
Those AM stations that DRM has problem with is not the ‘rule abiding’ 10kHz bandwith AM. It is these 15kHz or even 20kHz bandwidth AM stations that cause the biggest mayhem.Without careful frequency planning, no matter what modulation you use, interference is inevitable.
As to the sensitivity of DRM to noise or jamming, I think this is another widely circulated myth. The capacity of DRM’s immunization to noise/interference lies in its decoding algorithm to a some extent. After a hard look at the most popular decoder on the market or internet,I have to say they still have a long way to go to improve its performance to match DRM’s maximum potential. BTW, you can do the same trick on AM signal, but for DRM, it is much more tractable and the return for your cost/money is also more reasonable.
zfyoung
on Apr 27th, 2010 at 08:29
There are very few DRM stations transmitting more than 100kW of power, most stations use less than 100kW erp and this seems to be quite adequate for most broadcasters.
on Apr 27th, 2010 at 08:37
Most DRM TX use higher powers on SW than on MW. The coverage can be excellent on SW in DRM, the target area. 70 kw DRM is simular to 350kW AM