DRM developments at NASB 2015 in Washington DC

I have just returned from an excellent two days at NASB 2015 in Washington DC, hosted by RFA with on-site host Al "A.J." Janitschek . 

I was pleasantly surprised by the volume of DRM30 discussion this year. North American shortwave broadcasters are ready for DRM!




It was the 25th annual meeting of the NASB so Continental helped us celebrate with cake!

Specifically, there were three talks that featured DRM prominently. Below are just a few of the overall conference highlights:

Lauren Libby, President of TWR gave an impassioned plea for DRM receivers and for us to look to DRM for the future of international shortwave broadcasting. TWR trialed a DRM feature to Japan on KTWR Guam where they received a positive response from Japanese enthusiasts. 

On Friday, Cal Carter of Continental Electronics presented updates from the DRM consortium including the current status of the large scale Indian initiative as well as positive momentum in the Asia-Pacific region, Brazil and Southern Africa.

Of course, I took a crack at sharing the excitement by presenting my experience as a listener and logger. I enjoyed showing examples and playing audio from the user's perspective. I explained and demonstrated the strengths of DRM using Terje's DRM-Log Plotter software. My slides here and the audio clip here. I presented a reception time-capsule video at NASB 2014 which you can view here. Thanks to Terje for the great DRM-Log Plotter handout.

Here is a music sample from RNZI, recorded via DRM at my home in Oregon. That is about 7000 miles from their 25kW transmitter and received on my Newstar DR111 using an alligator clip-lead to a basement drain pipe as an antenna. Isn't DRM amazing?

We were very fortunate to have Jerome Hirigoyen in attendance from TDF. Their site in Issoudun, France currently has 2 high-power DRM transmitters in operation.

Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott presented VOA Radiogram and encouraged broadcasters to participate in the Radiogram initiative. VOA Radiogram is a weekly program whereby textual news with images can be transmitted on traditional, unmodified shortwave transmitters and likewise received using off-the-shelf, unmodified shortwave radios.

Gerhard Straub from IBB gave a worldwide update about their broadcast sites. Gerhard also indicated there will be an RFP out soon to develop an end-user app for decoding VOA Radiogram on smartphones and tablets. More info to follow on this exciting development!





During the NASB business meeting, the conversation got very interesting. A significant number of the broadcaster members showed interest in using DRM (sooner rather than later) and working together to make affordable receivers (USD 50 or under) available. This conversation was augmented by audience members including Ludo Maes from Broadcast Belgium and his extensive DRM knowledge. I was really excited to finally get to meet him, having enjoyed years of his work with TDP Radio and The Disco Palace on DRM.

I'm sure that attendees will agree, this was an enjoyable and informative gathering. For me the opportunity to "talk shop" with shortwave broadcasters and enthusiasts is unsurpassed. To those I met for the first time and for those I have known, it was my great pleasure to be in attendance.

As I flew home, I snapped this gorgeous view of Mt. Hood near Portland, Oregon. It was a perfect way to sum up my trip - "the sky is the limit" for DRM in North America. I would like to thank the NASB, RFA and all those in attendance for making this such a great conference. Special thanks go to Dr. Elliott for serving as my local host. It made my trip even better!

Bad news from BBG

It looks like the worst for VOA and affiliated US government shortwave broadcasting. Per their recent report, the listening situation is dire - further causing reductions to most of these services. In addition, the axe falls for BBG using DRM:

"Digital shortwave, or Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), is unlikely to become an established mass media distribution methodology in enough of the BBG’s current or future markets to justify the costs."

I suggest you  save yourself time, by reading this brief synopsis, but if you are into self-harm here is the full report. I'm beginning to think that shortwave in general and DRM in particular need some strong medicine to be successful, and FAST!

As a side note, the report indicates that India is backing away from it "wholesale" conversion to DRM. India has been touted as the one case where DRM could really make a difference. Let's hope that the writers of this report are just plain wrong on that score, but I have no reason to question their understanding of the situation.

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More shortwave casualties in the Pacific (and around the world)

Bad news comes in threes. Radio Australia is about to be impacted by huge reductions which will leave Pacific islands without regional content. Here is an interesting article which lays out the cuts.

A week or so ago, I noted that Radio New Zealand schedule shows that they are reducing their DRM broadcasts that serve as feeders for local FMs on these same islands.

Why is it that none of the "smartest people" in the developed world are able to understand that they remain the privileged around the globe? Just over one-third of the population of our "big blue marble" has Internet connectivity. The US government just made this same mistake with HR 4490 whereby IBB/BBG will be reducing shortwave.

I'm too small and too close to shortwave (a hobbyist) to be of any use to these wonks. Why isn't there outrage from on high? You'd think the old-time hawks in the US government would recognize these cuts for what they are - weakening our ability to spread the "gospel" of democracy and freedom. In addition, the cuts to services by our English speaking friends "down under" weaken their impact to Pacific island neighbors.

Ugh!

Can we save VOA Delano from the wrecking ball?

Apologies to Miley Cyrus (ok, not really!) but VOA Delano is up for auction. I'm not entirely sure what is left in terms of hardware but there certainly are several big transmitters and quite a few antennas (not sure about their condition). Here is the property surplus notice found on this site.

In addition, here is an overview of the site from the recent past. Wow, wouldn't that be amazing, a West Coast powerhouse - all it would take are a few (hopefully) simple DRM upgrades!

Targeting Asia/Pacific, North-Central-South Americas, (perhaps good signals in Brazil?) this site would be truly unstoppable. I'm not sure to whom we should plead, but by all means, spread the word about this!

UPDATE: Here is a 2008 video on saving VOA Delano on YouTube. Lotsa great history here!