New crop of DRM receivers from Gospell

I got this email today:

"Glad to hear that you're on the market for DRM Radio Receiver,we are a professional manufacturer in China, hoping to establish business relationship with you. In my following email, we recommend some of our hot selling products for your reference."

Accompanied by this link

HaoChun Liu @HCLiu11 (who should be familiar to many DRM enthusiasts from his work at Newstar and Gospell) showed off a few of these sets in Twitter teasers earlier in the year.

We reviewed the GR-216 several years back. I have no further information on these new sets, other than what I have seen on Twitter. I'm always glad to see new receivers on the market. Several of these are even battery powered, which is great news.

Gospell GR-216 receiver at IBC 2016 in Amsterdam

Just a sneak peek. I think the new style is quite attractive and I can already tell that the larger, multi-line display will be a significant improvement.

Gospell releases new DRM receiver

As promised, Gospell has entered the DRM market with a good looking new receiver! It is assumed that the development of this device is riding on the backs of previous DRM sets such as the Newstar and the Uniwave.

Product Overview:

The Gospell GR-216 is the new generation DRM receiver designed for the purpose of low-cost access to high-quality information. Reasonable price and high performance for price-sensitive market is the design concept of GR-216.

The GR-216 has been optimized for reliable reception in harsh radio environments. The excellent receiver sensitivity allows extended service quality. Built-in active antenna with two external inputs improves the reception performance compared to the similar products with only passive antenna. The potential risks of environmental interference have been reduced by the combination of excellent receiver dynamic range and band-pass filter.

Key Features:

  •DRM/AM (MW/SW) and FM stereo reception
  •DRM xHE-AAC audio decoding
  •DRM scrolling text message
  •DRM emergency warning reception
  •DRM program recording and playback on USB pen drive
  •DRM alternative frequency switching
  •DRM reception logging for reception performance evaluation  
  •DRM expert mode for reception status inspection with DRM channel/service information
  •FM RDS station name display
  •15 station memory presets
  •1khz step tuning allows fast, precise station reception by tuning at 1khz intervals
  •Auto scan tuning/memory scan
  •Dual alarm clock function lets you set the alarm for two different wake-up times with buzzer or radio stations

Full specifications here.

I'm trying to get an interview about this one, so stay tuned.

Avion gets mixed reviews from DRMNAers

The Avion DR-1401 has been out awhile, and the overall word on the street is not great. As with the Newstar DR-111, the Avion can have firmware upgrades. Let's hope that improves the situation.

So far we have heard about units arriving fully-bricked and units with serious sensitivity issues. Analogue appears lackluster too.

Often it appears that the ergonomics of DRM receivers to date have been user-hostile at best. Perhaps only engineers make radios, not radio enthusiasts! It has been suggested that dongle based receivers to be used with mobiles and tablets may be the answer? I guess we need to wait and see.

The Gospell (sic) according to Newstar

Good News (pun intended)!

We received word today that Newstar has been acquired by Gospell Digital Technology Co., Ltd. Note that the following text includes "Gospell will continue on DRM development and business."

Here is the text of the official news release:

Dear Newstar Customers,

We are pleased to announce Newstar Electronics has recently been acquired by Gospell Digital Technology Co.,ltd. Patents and technology of Newstar will be transferred to Gospell. This acquisition will further enable Gospell to leverage best practices and look at new opportunities in the digital radio receiver market.

Gospell Digital Technology Co.,Ltd. (GOSPELL) is a private hi-tech enterprise with R&D, manufacturing, business consultancy and planning, trade, delivery, project implementation and after sales service, acting as a complete DTV and triple-play solution provider for Digital TV/OTT related projects.

Gospell will continue on DRM development and business.

For more information on DRM technology and products, please email liuhc@gospell.com
For more information about Gospell, please visit www.gospell.com

This is the end of our journey with Newstar, but we are on to new adventures.  The management of Newstar would like to thank you for your past business and long time support. We look forward to these new opportunities and to working together in the future.

Sincerely,
Chengdu Newstar Electronics Co., Ltd.
HC Liu
CEO

Portable power source for the Newstar DR111

Check this out! Thanks to London Shortwave for such a great solution!

Playback DRM recordings from the Newstar DR111 on your PC

The Newstar DR111 allows you to record DRM recordings on an SD card. It uses the Multiplex Distribution Interface (MDI) protocol. While I log reception (you can find out how to do that here) I also record the programs. This is particularly helpful overnight. For me this is nearly always RNZI. They have some great overnight music programs on the weekends. 

The Newstar DR111 allows you to replay these files on the receiver. This is nice, but the best part is that it allows you to archive the audio and convert it for other uses! Visit the CDNSE Newstar DR111 page for the how-to (choose the DR111 Blog tab) or look at this convenient PDF of the directions.

At the point you are setup to do this, you can go into DReaM's Evaluation Dialogue and "save audio as wav" if you want something to play on your portable audio player or mobile. It will make a WAV file which is quite large. It does so in real time as well. Perhaps someone will write a program to expedite this conversion and output in a format more conducive to mobiles.

Unrelated to this topic, but worth mentioning, I located a very nice Melchor Switching Regulator PSR-53-7. I am now running the Newstar DR111 from my always float-charged 12V back-up battery.
Voltage in to the regulator is about 14V and output is a cool 5.11V. I think this is overkill for my application, but it works well where other voltage regulators I have used have been problematic. I'll likely put a cigarette lighter plug on this one, for automobile use.

DRM log Tweets with the Newstar DR111 & DRM-Log Plotter

It is really simple to record and log DRM reception on the Newstar DR111. For recording DRM programs, I'll refer you to the CDNSE website. On the DR111 page, they have a blog that shows the simple steps you can use to record and playback DRM recordings on your DR111 or PC using DReaM software. It is located below the main page entry on a tab labeled "DR111 Blog".

For logging, I'm going to show you some screen shots to illustrate the steps. I use the DRM-Log Plotter from our friend Terje. You can get it on his DRM-Log Plotter page. Once you install the Log Plotter per his directions, it is easy! The Newstar DR111 automatically logs all DRM stations tuned, as long as the SD card is in place and it contains the "drm_log" folder.

Format an SD card (I use a 2GB) using FAT. Add an empty folder called "drm_log". You may notice a folder called "DRM_Record" if you have already recorded DRM on your DR111.

Nigel Holmes says MW for Emergencies

Nigel Holmes of Radio Australia has a great piece on the MediaUK site about the value of MW/AM broadcast band during disasters.
"It turns out that smartphones aren't a good bet for the future of radio transmission; and there are particular benefits to AM radio." 

 He doesn't talk about going digital, but he got me thinking...
What if we could make that band media-rich, just what smartphone users are already used to? DRM would do that nicely, especially at the 18kHz or 20kHz bandwidth being used in Australia and other places!

Another Newstar DR111 Review

George Ross, Frequency Manager at KTWR on Guam contributed a review of the Newstar DR111 to the DRM Consortium website. You can read it here. In conclusion he states "I would recommend the DR-111 as a viable receiver.” My sentiments exactly! Check out the Newstar DR111 on the CDNSE website.

Show the world your DRM logs!

As part of a new campaign to show how much we love Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasting, a number of us are tweeting our DRM reception logs. To join us, send a reception report via Twitter and include the hashtag #drmlog . On the right column of the DRMNA blog you will see live feeds of that hashtag. So far Terje, Alokesh, Ian at DRMradiouk and yours truly have been tweeting our logs. You can do it too! Most of these logs come from the automated logging functionality of the Newstar DR111 firmware upgrade.

Newstar DR111 Firmware Upgrade (version 790)

CDNSE has released new firmware version 790 for the DR111. Highlights include: 

• Supports DRM recording and playback
• Supports DRM reception logging
• Supports DRM expert display mode
• Improved volume control
• Improved AM tuning (no more muting!)
• Improved AGC (better DSP tracking)

The new firmware improves the usability and performance of the receiver. I love the ability to log, record and monitor DRM reception statistics. I'm Tweeting reception reports @drmna_info.

Although not an "official" modification, I have added an external rechargeable battery via a strip of Velcro to the back of the radio. I have gotten about 14 hours of operation with this setup. The switching circuitry in the battery pack seems to interfere a bit with FM reception, but not enough to worry about.

As I have stated before, the DR111 works very well as a standalone DRM receiver. The analog reception is greatly improved with this firmware release. Join the Newstar DR111 Yahoo group for more information and ongoing discussion.

Newstar DR111 Firmware upgrade on the way!

DRM-Log Plotter output from the Newstar DR111

I have had the privilege of playing with some new DR111 firmware and I say it is GREAT!
Improvements include:

• DRM logging support [ability to use the DRM-Log Plotter software from Terje]
• AM tuning without radio muting
• DRM audio recording [length limited only by SD card size]
• Backlight timer setting [always on, always off, various]
• AGC/DSP improvements to reduce audio pumping during weak signal reception.

As soon as the Firmware gets official distribution, I'll offer more info. I'd like to say that Newstar has been very responsive to our suggestions and the radio gets stronger by the day!

Quick video of the Newstar DR111 portable in India

Once again, our friend Alokesh shows off both DRM and the Newstar DR111.

"Here's a video of reception of AIR VBS 6100 DRM txn using DR111 at Deer Park, Green Park, New Delhi on 15th July during Delhi Hams/SWL's monthly meet. Fantastic reception, its not an open area, covered with trees all over. Portable operation, running with 12V UPS Batt + DC to AC converter."

Thanks Alokesh!

Newstar DR111 Tech Spec Olympics!

Longtime DRM supporter and friend Terje has posted his gorgeous bench-top tests of the DR111. Check out the charts, charts and more charts. Wow, great work! I think you will find that most specs point to the fact that the Newstar DR111 is a fine performer! As you can see by the bottom of his page, he isn't done yet!

Another Newstar DR111 Review

Our longtime DRMNA colleague Brendan dives headfirst into the DR111:  

I received my DR111 on May 21st, via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - which is not the shortest route between Cheng Du and Arizona! The package had seen a lot of miles, but it was completely intact and that is what matters most. Arriving at home, I carefully unboxed it and found everything that was supposed to be there was indeed there. I immediately plugged it in, deciphered the controls (who needs a manual? ;) ), and quickly had REE on the air. Since then, I've been enjoying listening to all the DRM I can get here. I am using an outside dipole for nearly everything, and reception has been excellent. Using my RX320D and PC in a side-by-side check, the two radios are about equal in sensitivity and DRM decoding ability, so if I got it before, I can get it now.

More good Newstar DR111 user reports!

Via the Newstar DR111 Yahoo Group, John of Halfmoon NY writes:  "I received my new unit yesterday and spent a bit of time getting familiar with it. I was impressed that I could receive the Vatican Radio DRM transmission at 2300 UT from Santa Maria de Galeria almost flawlessly (one minor dropout for about ten seconds during the half hour) using only the whip antenna and in the house. Later I was able to get sporadic reception of REE via Costa Rica, which I also found somewhat impressive given that this transmission was targeting Central America." 

Alokesh goes crazy over the Newstar DR111!

Check out our colleague Alokesh Gupta's YouTube feed. That boy is going crazy with the Newstar DR111! "Go, Alokesh. Go!" Alokesh does a great job posting informative worldwide (with exclusives from his native India) broadcasting info on his blog Radioactivity! Watch and listen to him receive analogue, DRM, Journaline feeds and so much more. Woo Hoo! Who knew I'd (we'd) get so excited over a working DRM stand-alone receiver! Go, Newstar. Go!

Newstar DR111 Firmware - significant improvements

After installing some experimental firmware from CDNSE,
I wanted to offer my report...

DRM audio bandwidth- 
Considerable improvement. RNZI sounds as good as it does in DReaM software. Disco Palace sounds great too with improved stereo image. Any audio shortcomings now are the result of the smaller size of the unit and speakers. I consider this fix to completely solve the bandwidth and stereo issues I originally noted as a disappointment.

Quick Newstar DR111 update via drmrx.org

I posted this to the drmrx.org list yesterday. Just my current opinion and thinking on the DR111...
In a nutshell, ORDER ONE!