http://www.drm.org/rss.php The latest news from DRM: the future of global radio. The ITU has just published three recommendations on DRM+, known in the documents as Digital System G.  This heralds the introduction of the full DRM system (DRM 30 and DRM+). The process began in October 2009 with DRM's submission proposing that DRM+ should be added to ITU-R Rec. BS.1114.  This is the ITU recommendation for sound broadcasting in the frequency range 30 MHz to 3 GHz.  DAB, HD-Radio and ISDB-T were already recommended in this document as Digital Systems A, C and F respectively.  The members of the ITU WP6A and SG6 ensured that proper rigour was applied to the proposal and after several meetings and the submission of test reports and other information, the proposal was adopted for consultation in May 2011 along with two further recommendations concerning the planning basis of DRM+ and its use for the hearing impaired. Lindsay Cornell, Chair of the DRM Technical Committee welcomed the publication: “This is obviously great news for DRM since both the system characteristics and the planning basis for DRM+ are now part of the global regulatory landscape.” “The DRM Consortium and all DRM supporters”, said Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium Chair, “are delighted that the full DRM standard is recognised and available to broadcasters on all continents.” The three recommendations and the URLs to view them are as follows: - "Systems for terrestrial digital sound broadcasting to vehicular, portable and fixed receivers in the frequency range 30-3 000 MHz":         http://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bs/R-REC-BS.1114-7-201112-I!!PDF-E.pdf - "Technical basis for planning of terrestrial digital sound broadcasting in the VHF band":         http://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bs/R-REC-BS.1660-5-201112-I!!PDF-E.pdf - "Digital radio broadcast service, captioned radio":         http://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bs/R-REC-BS.1894-0-201105-I!!PDF-E.pdf   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=310 Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium and NXP Semiconductors are pleased to announce a major milestone in the introduction of DRM digital radio. At CES on January 10th, NXP will demonstrate the first automotive-ready global multi-standard radio platform for DRM broadcast. http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=309 Approximately 50 people from the car entertainment, radio industry and the media attended the DRM event at the NXP booth at CES where the DRM Consortium and NXP, the world’s number one car entertainment solutions manufacturer, unveiled a new digital car radio platform that supports DRM next to other major global digital radio standards – all on one platform. The demo of the platform attracted a lot of attention as people were keen to see for themselves that the reception of DRM on one combined platform is already up and running and works seamlessly. Everybody cheered this important milestone. Discussions during the networking event reflected that the industry experts had no doubt about a successful future of DRM.   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=311 Vatican Radio carried out DRM+ trials on VHF band II in Rome during December 2011 on frequency 103.8MHz using 200W RMS. The frequency allocation came from GE-84 agreement and the transmission was performed by switching the broadcast to digital during timeslots which were free in the normal program schedule. The digital transmitter used the same antenna system as of the analogue and was combined with other 3 FM frequencies. The antenna, located in Vatican City, is a 10 bay omnidirectional system elliptical polarized. During tests coverage measurements and coverage comparisons between analogue and digital have been performed. Support for the trials was provided by other DRM Consortium members.  Nautel provided a VS1 FM/DRM+ Transmitter and VS-DRM Digital Exciter. Fraunhofer IIS supplied a Fraunhofer DRM ContentServer R5 - Professional Edition, for the DRM+ multiplex signal generation. RFmondial provided an LV6m DRM+ Modulator and a DRM+ Measurement Receiver Professional. The results will be published soon.   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=312 On behalf of the thousands of community media around Europe, the Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) and AMARC-Europe (the European regional section of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) have written to the European Commission asking not to be left behind in the Digital revolution.  In a letter written to Neelie Kroes, The European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda they have emphasized that the widely supported that the widely supported and promoted digitalization technology, DAB(+), although the preferred technology in large(r) coverage areas, is in many cases unsuitable for community (local) radio stations. They have therefore asked for preservation of the FM Band for radio broadcasting and support for the introduction of DRM+ standard on FM and eventually even on Band III alongside DAB(+). They argue that multi standards have never been a major problem in the analogue era and will certainly not have to be a problem in the digital era. CMFE and AMARC Europe have asked the European Commission to have a dialogue with them to include necessary actions in the Digital Agenda to accommodate community (local) media to enter the digital broadcasting era; to enforce the use of open standard, hybrid digital radio receivers; to support and promote the adoption of DRM+ and to monitor the revision of national FM frequency policies among member states.  For more information, please contact Pieter de Wit, President CMFE, president@cmfe.eu. Website: http://www.cmfe.eu http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=308 Seasons Greetings from DRM http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=307 DRM supported by five Consortium members (Continental Electronics, Fraunhofer IIS, Riz Transmitters, Thomson Broadcast and Transradio) along with DRM member Harris will be major sponsors of ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2012. http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=306 DRM supporter company Spaceline Ltd, Bulgaria, has started a special broadcast in DRM mode, called DRM Mix. The project is intended to demonstrate reception quality to the listeners presenting variety of programmes from different broadcasters who wish to participate in this project. Spaceline will be transmitting DRM Mix every Saturday from its station Noratus in Armenia from 18.00 - 21.00 UTC on 7590 KHz and the target area is Europe.  Broadcasts this Saturday will be of KBC Radio;  TWR;  AWR; Wavescan,  HCJB World Radio and great music from the 70's. This project was announced during the B11 HFCC conference and 30-minute slots are being made available free of charge to the HFCC broadcasters who are willing to participate. It is open to  members of the DRM Consortium and other broadcasters too. The technical information and project flyer which can be also found on:  http://www.spaceline.bg/drmmix.html.   Listen to a trailer of the upcoming BBC programmes on the DRM Mix from November 26th For any other information, please contact: info@sapceline.bg http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=303 /uploads/files/Lindsay Cornell article(1).pdf http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=305 The ABU Technical Committee organised a very useful workshop on the first day of their meeting in New Delhi (Technical Committee, Thursday 3rd Nov). This was devoted to discussing DRM and issues surrounding its introduction around the world. It was a unique meeting because it brought together ABU participants from countries like India, China, Turkey, Germany and a full contingent of DRM Consortium members representing transmitter manufacturers, broadcasters and, for the first time, DRM receiver manufacturers. After a brief presentation, participants had a chance to ask their own questions like: Why go digital? Will there be DRM in mobile phones? Could the same receiver have DRM30 and DRM+ capabilities and FM too? Moderated by the DRM Chairperson Ruxandra Obreja and stimulated by the ABU TC Director Sharad Sadhu, the last minutes of the workshop were devoted to the thorny issue of content. Is there need for special content when going digital? Going by the roll-out in the UK and most recently Germany, the answer was yes. Representatives of All India Radio, currently in the process of a DRM roll-out, gave their vision - a mixture of simulcast, new content and new additional information to accompany audio. The forum was well attended and it ended with people wishing for more answers and … more time to discuss them. Besides taking part in the various sessions (where updates on DRM activity around the globe and the DRM+ trial in the UK were given), DRM also displayed new receivers. Stand alone, in USB stick form or car versions these receivers from MSway, Chengdu Newstar, Uniwave and Frontier Silicon were displayed at the DRM booth where visitors could hear and understand more about both DRM30 and DRM+. Other DRM member companies attending ABU were: Fraunhofer IIS, RFmondial, Nautel, Thomson, Transradio, Analog Devices, BBC, Deutsche Welle and TDP.   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=300 Indian state broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) has increased its DRM SW transmission by 8.25 hours to a total of approximately 16 hours a day. AIR first started Digital Radio Transmission from Delhi in Short-Wave band by using DRM Technology on 16th January, 2009 with a target coverage area of the UK and West Europe. Its Vividh Bharti service on DRM (in NVIS mode) has an approx coverage area of 800 Kms. With the increase in transmission time, more language services have now been added to the External services transmission. http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=301 The findings of the Review of Technologies for Digital Radio in Regional Australia was published after the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy and the local media authority (ACMA) published a discussion paper and canvassed submissions into the possible roll-out of digital radio in Australia. The submissions to the review highlighted the desire of the radio industry, organisations and members of the public to see digital radio rolled out to regional areas of Australia. Submissions acknowledged that there are a number of issues, such as availability of suitable spectrum, terrain diversity and technical limitations associated with such a rollout. Among the key findings of the recently published results, was a preference for DRM (DRM30 in the medium frequency bands and/or DRM+ in the very high frequency bands) to supplement DAB+ services in regional areas. DRM was acknowledged as a spectrum-efficient technology with relatively low transmission costs and the flexibility to operate across a number of broadcasting bands. A number of contributors expressed a preference for DRM (either DRM30 or DRM+) to supplement regional coverage if DAB+ is unable to provide effective coverage in regional areas. The full report is available online at www.dbcde.gov.au/regionaldigitalradio   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=302 The first ever DRM transmissions for Southern Africa in French and English was transmitted on October 11th on the occasion of the Digital Radio Conference organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels. The feedback has already been encouraging. A listener from Johannesburg, South Africa sent this: “The broadcast was loud and clear in Johannesburg. I have recorded the transmission and it is available to you if you so wish. The average SNR was 18db but sometimes it climbed to 20db. Also receiving weak signals on 15640 from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka)(9db). DRM is the way to go. Now, how do we roll it out in Southern Africa!”  Martin W The broadcast was also picked up in Brazil and immediately put on YouTube http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=299 The first ever DRM transmissions for Southern Africa in French and English will be broadcast on October 11th on the occasion of the Digital Radio Conference organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels.   http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=297 Pictures from IBC 2011 showing DRM's successful Receiver showcase can now be seen on flickr. http://www.drm.org/index.php?p=news_item&uid=296