Former FCC Chairman says "Let DRM compete with HD AM"

Former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler submitted his thoughts on AM Revitalization. See the article here. I think he is right, let the market decide! Even some tests without commitment to accepting the DRM standard would show good faith. Take a look at #drmlog tweets  and you will see both Shortwave and Medium wave DRM reports. India is the proving ground here. Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has always told us he is for AM Revitalization. Let's tell him that DRM is the proven solution for groundwave AND skywave AM! Heck, tell him retired Chairman Fowler says "hi" too!

Open Letter to Brazil's Board of Digital Radio

Rafael sent this to our attention. It is an English translation of the rationale for adopting DRM over HD/iBiquity for Brazil.

Not knowing all the ins-and-outs of decisions that have already been made, this document delivers a very convincing argument for moving ahead with DRM as a single, band agnostic solution for digital radio in Brazil!

"Technopolitical struggle" in Brazil

Diego Vicentin (Center for Information Technology Policy Graduate Student) at Princeton offers his take on Brazil's digital radio debate.

Let's continue to hope (and pray) that the Brazilian government "gets the memo" on the defacto open standard for digital broadcasting - DRM!

(Obrigado Rafael!)

Brazil to test DRM head-to-head with HD

Read a translation of the story from a Brazilian website.

Some highlights:

""In the first test we had not defined assumptions desirable to Brazil, or at least that minimized any negative effects," he said. The standardization of equipment and some criteria for comparing both standards will also be considered in the review of performance of the two systems.
 
The reception of the digital signal into phones will also be a novelty in the new experiments. The need to expand the experiments to the platforms "mobile" was suggested by Abert, which integrates the Council.
 
Another change is the increased power radiated, which is 10% compared to analog. In previous tests were used between 1% and 2%, of which only one has reached the level of 9.6%. "We are increasing the power to perhaps have a better coverage area than the analog," said the director of the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation of the Department of Electronic Communication Services, Octavio Pieranti."
 

IBOC / HD AM Nightime Skywave - FAIL!

Here is a fine article that exemplifies what we have been saying for years! If you want successful digital broadcasting on Medium Wave (or Short Wave), you choose DRM30. Any questions?

NAB pushes for AM digitization tests in USA

NAB is interested in testing all-digital on the AM/MW band in the USA. I say the only way to be able to make the right decision as to what method is best for AM digitization is to permit DRM broadcasting on MW during this test phase. DRM  has been OK'd for SW by the FCC but iBiquity has locked down AM and FM bands with the IBOC HD format.

Problem is, iBiquity HD AM has been shown to be a real dog, with many stations attempting to use it shutting it off due to poor performance. The iBiquity HD AM simply can't stand up to the rigors of skywave propagation. DRM on the other hand is ideal for groundwave and skywave conditions alike. HD is fine for FM but DRM30 is THE solution for digital conversion of the LW, MW and SW bands, hands down! We have years of research worldwide to prove this point. Who can we rally to challenge iBiquity on AM in the United States?