02 Dec DRM Shortwave Transmissions Relaunched in Hungary

On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of radio broadcasting in Hungary, the Budapest University of Technology has re-launched on 1st December the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) shortwave transmissions, currently the only digital radio broadcasts in the country. Their prime objective is to demonstrate the technological capabilities and benefits of DRM digital radio to a wide circle of stakeholders.

The DRM shortwave transmissions in Hungary’s capital have improved once the transmitter was moved to a more suitable, elevated site in Budapest (Janos Hill). At the same there was an important technical upgrade.  This improvement is the result of the installation of a new ContentServer. This was provided by Fraunhofer IIS in Germany and their staff gave professional assistance during its installation. The transmissions have now excellent audio quality as the latest audio codec xHE-AAC is now being used. The programmes also benefit from the advanced text feature of DRM called Journaline. This can present on radio screens text in various languages, if needed, as well as graphics and pictures.

Some technical details about these shortwave transmissions:

Frequency: 26.06 MHz

Parameters: Bandwidth = 10 kHz, Mode A, interleaving depth 400 ms, FAC  and SDC constellation: QPSK, MSC constellation: 64 QAM

Transmission power: 50 W, which will be increased  to 100 W in a few weeks’ time

The primary target coverage area is Hungary’s capital city, Budapest.