Friday, August 21, 2020

Special VORW Radio International Broadcast To Europe & Asia This Weekend!

There will be a special broadcast of VORW Radio International this Saturday, 22nd Aug'20 with 300 kW of power for listeners in Europe and Asia!

The show will be broadcast live from Moosbrunn, Austria on 6070 kHz and will feature a fun hour of good music and commentary.

Here is the broadcast schedule:

Saturday (22nd Aug, 2020)
1700 UTC (1 PM Eastern / 7 PM CEST) – 6070 kHz – Moosbrunn 300 kW – Europe, Middle East and Africa

A QSL will be given to any and all listeners who submit reception reports. Feedback is most welcome at vorwinfo@gmail.com


Monday, August 17, 2020

Logs - AIR special transmission - Hon'ble President's address to the nation

Hon'ble President's address to the nation was noted on following freq's at 1330-1411 UTC in hindi followed by english on 14th Aug 2020 :

SW

4760 Leh
4800 Hyderabad
4810 Bhopal
4910 Jaipur
4920 Chennai
4950 Srinagar
5010 Thiruvananthapuram
5040 Jeypore
9380 Aligarh
9865 Bengaluru
9950 Delhi
11620 Bengaluru

ICOM R75 +  15 m longwire end fed to 9:1 Balun

FM
100.1 AIR FM GOLD DELHI
100.5 AIR DEHRADUN
101.3 AIR ALIGARH
102.1 AIR MUSSOORIE
102.6 AIR FM RAINBOW DELHI
105.6 GYAN VANI DELHI
106.4 AIR VBS DELHI

And on most of the MW Frequencies.


(Alokesh Gupta)

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Special broadcasts by AIR for Independence Day (15 Aug 2020)


India is celebrating its 74th Independence Day on 15 August 2020.

Details of special programs by All India Radio for the occasion is as follows:

14th August 2020 (Friday)  1330 UTC (7.00 pm IST) onwards "Address to the Nation" on the eve of Independence Day in Hindi and English by  Shri.Ram Nath Kovind, Honble President of India.
All stations of All India Radio will relay this on MW, SW & FM.

Look out on the following Home Service SW frequencies :

kHz     kW       Station

4760    7          Leh              
4800    50        Hyderabad              
4810    50        Bhopal        
4835    10        Gangtok                  
4910    50        Jaipur
4920    50        Chennai        
4950    30        Srinagar        
5010    50        Thiruvananthapuram            
5040    50        Jeypore                    
5050    10        Aizawl ?
6030    250      Delhi            
9380    250      Aligarh
9865    500      Bengaluru ?


Also on DTH Channels/ airlivenews 24x7
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

15th August 2020 (Saturday) 0135-0240 UTC (0705-0810 hrs IST)

All India Radio will live broadcast the running commentary in English and Hindi on the Flag Hoisting and Prime Minister's address to the nation to be held at Red Fort, New Delhi between 0135-0240 UTC (0705-0810 hrs IST) on 15th August, 2020 on the following SW frequencies.

English:
15030 Bengaluru 500 kW

Hindi:
9380  Aligarh 250 kW
9950  New Delhi 250 kW
11620 Bengaluru 500 kW

The following External Services stands cancelled for that day:
11560: Pushtu 0215-0300, Dari  0300-0345

The Regional SW Stations will start using their day time frequencies about 1 hour or more earlier than usual on 15th August as follows to relay the Commentary. This may provide enhanced reception of stations than on normal days.

The sign on schedule for that day is as follows with normal sign on timings in brackets.

1. Bhopal - 0130 UTC (Ex 0225) 7430
2. Chennai  - 0130 UTC (Ex 0300) 7380
3. Hyderabad - 0130 UTC (Ex 0225) 7420
5. Srinagar  -0130 UTC (ex 0225) 6110
6. Thiruvanathapuram - 0130 UTC (Ex 0230) 7290

Other frequencies operating as usual at that time but carrying the commentary is as follows                     
     
kHz     kW       Station

4760    7          Leh              
4800    50        Hyderabad              
4810    50        Bhopal        
4835    10        Gangtok                  
4910    50        Jaipur
4920    50        Chennai        
4950    30        Srinagar        
5010    50        Thiruvananthapuram            
5040    50        Jeypore                    
5050    10        Aizawl ?
6030    250      Delhi       
7270    50       Chennai      
9380    250      Aligarh
9865    500      Bengaluru ? 

All stations of AIR will relay the running commentary.

Live streaming of the above programs is available in:

Reception Reports to :
Please send your reception reports on line at: http://pbinfo.air.org.in/feedback/

or 

Director ( Spectrum Management & Synergy)
All India Radio,
Room No. 204, Akashvani Bhawan,
Parliament Street
New Delhi110001, India

Watch the events live on Doordarshan TV  on all their channels .Try the following links:


(Jose Jacob & Alokesh Gupta)

Photo courtesy @AkashvaniAIR on Twitter

Saturday, August 08, 2020

E-Tenders invited for AIR Kurseong 50 kW AM DRM SW Transmitter



Prasar Bharati has invited E-Tenders for Supply,Testing and Commissioning of 50 kW AM DRM SW Transmitter at All India Radio, Kurseong.


Earlier budgetary cost estimation and comments in respect of Draft Technical Specifications were invited from vendors/OEM's during March'2020.

Details here :

Shortwave transmissions by All India Radio, Kursong were terminated on 30th July, 2019 and decommissioned with effect from 7th August , 2019. They are now on FM 103.5 MHz, 10 kW and 102.3 MHz, 5 kW. They used to operate on 3355, 4895, 7230 kHz, with the following SW transmitters:

1st SW transmitter - Temporary 2 kW SW - June 2, 1962.  
Gates Model HF20BX 20 kW SW - January 1963.
BEL Model HHB144 50 kW SW - 1995

However during Aug'2019 local officials and MP had requested to replace the existing shortwave transmitter with a new 300 kW DRM transmitter.

Plea on hill radio station

On 22nd Nov, 2019 the Minister of Information and Broadcasting informed in Parliament that project for replacement of old SW transmitter with a new one has been approved.



Interestingly AIR Kurseong will be using NVIS antenna which is most effective in mountainous areas where line-of-sight propagation is ineffective & has coverage area of 500-800 kms.


Friday, August 07, 2020

LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel special broadcast on 8th Aug'20

LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel special broadcast

LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel will transmit 24 hours uninterrupted from Base Esperanza, Antarctica, this Saturday August 8 from 1700 UTC on 15476 kHz USB.

There is a special eQSL. 
Reception reports to : tranalra36@radionacional.gov.ar

LRA 36 can be heard on the short-wave frequency of 15476 kHz USB, and on the Internet from the site http://www.radionacional.com.ar  - Emisoras - Antártida.
Program produced and carried out entirely at the Esperanza Base.

(Via Adrian Korol)




Thursday, August 06, 2020

DRM FOR FM – MEASURES UP TO EXPECTATIONS IN INDONESIA

Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) has just conducted measurements proving the DRM in FM is spectrum, energy efficient delivering audio and text in superior quality without any interference even in very crowded FM environments.

RRI has always been on the forefront in the field of radio broadcasting and on-line radio.
The successful testing and measurements carried out in July came on the back of pioneering DRM deployments in the FM band.

PREPARATION

On 10 June 2020, a digital radio transmitter was installed and commissioned by RRI at Pelubharan Ratu in Sukabumi province, West Java. For this purpose, the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)[1] digital radio system was used: this innovative step meant this is the first ever digital radio broadcasting station in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia.

Currently, the Pelubharan Ratu digital radio station is broadcasting three programmes in digital form, RRI Pro 1, RRI Pro 3 and, through its digital technology, news and current affairs information in textual form (in writing) in Bhasa Indonesia. The data provision is done through a digital system known as Journaline. The possibilities are immense as the system can cater to news and other information spanning 64,000 pages.

The second such digital radio transmitter was installed and commissioned on 11 June 2020 at Pantai Labuan in Banten Regency, West Java. Following this, the third DRM FM digital radio transmitter was installed and commissioned in July 2020 in Cilacap, Java Tengah province. These stations also provide similar programmes and digital services. In addition, by August 10, RRI plans to install and commission two more DRM FM transmitters in Painan, West Sumatra and in Labuan Bajo, Nusa Tengarah Timor province in eastern Indonesia.

In July RRI conducted the evaluation of trials and measurements of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) technology in Pelabuhan Ratu area, Sukabumi, West Java, an area often struck by natural disasters.

These activities carried out on Wednesday (23/7/2020) and (Thursday (24/7/2020) were conducted in preparation for the implementation of digital radio.

DRM is an open all-band standard digital audio broadcasting radio technology recommended by ITU and ETSI (EN 302 245 and ES 201 980). DRM has several features and benefits including the incorporated feature of Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF).

DRM can be a digitisation solution both in the MF radio frequency band, or VHF Band II (FM). Irrespective of band, since the DRM standard is one, each DRM radio frequency channel can accommodate up to three broadcast programs (audio) along with text data (presented as news media, advertising, public information, and so on).

DRM is both spectrum and energy efficient and delivers local, regional, national and international coverage. Unlike analogue DRM can be used to achieve broader coverage using the Single Frequency Network (SFN) feature.

DRM can be used on the MF radio frequency bands using the same bandwidth as analogue (AM) and this was successfully demonstrated in Indonesia during the Bogor and Bali trials.

If DRM is used in the VHF Band II it only utilises a 96 kHz that can accommodate up to three audio channels and one data channel. This was also demonstrated by RRI in their trial conducted with the DRM Consortium in Batam. So, half the spectrum for up to three audio channels and one data channel, rather than one analogue audio only programme in FM.

In Indonesia FM is widely used in large cities, so there are not many FM radio frequencies available now. To avoid interference between FM radio broadcasts, the FM broadcast radio frequency channel is ideally separated by 400 kHz (adjacent-4). As DRM can fit in these guard spaces DRM can be a solution even in the cities with a very congested FM spectrum.

The DRM for FM RRI measurements in West Java were carried out for two days, namely 23 and 24 July 2020. The first day, they started with six Test Points (TP), namely TP1 on Karang Hawu Beach, TP2 Karang Papak Beach, TP3 Kadaka Beach, TP4 Vihara Nam Hay Kwan Se Im Pu Sa, TP5 Batu Bintang Beach and TP6 Pantai Loji.

The sixth test point location was obtained based on the results of simulated computer predictions of radiation coverage of an analogue 1 kW FM transmitter.

Measurements were aimed at technically evaluating DRM transmissions and features that can be broadcast through DRM transmitters.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of the field measurements obtained in the six test points covered by the 1kW transmitter it was noted that these can be served with only 50 watts of DRM power delivering throughout a good DRM audio quality. In testing a simulcast broadcast using 1 kW and 800 Watt with spacing distance 150 kHz between the middle frequency FM and DRM, the measurement showed no interference between FM and DRM. The DRM quality was at least equally good to FM, but the sound quality of DRM was even better than FM.

The field test results are thus consistent with the ITU-R Recommendations BS. 1114 and BS. 1660. The next measurement is scheduled to be held at RRI Central Jakarta in August 2020.

For the map, click here : https://tinyurl.com/yxgnwo4d

Related :

DRM Trial Begins Digital Radio Implementation

Translated version :   https://tinyurl.com/y3a4yrkf

Video of field tests : https://youtu.be/sc4_4MZ6AvY

Saturday, August 01, 2020

Radio Channel 292 on new frequency 9670 kHz


With effect from August 1st, 2020, Radio Channel 292 will use a new frequency 9670 kHz, this replaces 7440 kHz.  9670 kHz will be good for long distance reception, especially during darkness.

Program information:

(Rainer Ebeling, Radio Channel 292)


New AIR SW DRM test schedule via Bengaluru


New AIR SW DRM test schedule via Bengaluru wef 31st July'20 : 

1000-1010 UTC 15410 kHz to NE Asia
1145-1155 UTC 15030 kHz to NE Asia 
1745-1755 UTC 7550 kHz to Europe

Reception reports to : drmofallindiaradio@gmail.com

(Via Jose Jacob)  

Voice of Hope - Africa Schedule Change

Voice of Hope, Africa is temporarily suspending morning broadcasts and resuming evening broadcasts once again, due to changes in the 'load shedding' schedule by the local power utility, ZESCO.  Effective 1st August, 2020, Saturday, we will be transmitting:
 
1400-1600 UTC daily on 6065 & 9680 kHz
1600-2130 UTC daily on 4965 & 6065 kHz
 
The evening broadcasts on 6065 may afford better listening opportunities for DX-ers in Europe.  Reception reports are always welcome to reports@voiceofhope.com
 
A full program guide is on our website, here:  

We are hopeful we will be able to resume broadcasting in both the mornings and evenings later this year as the local electricity supply improves.
 
Ray Robinson
Strategic Communications Group
Voice of Hope World Radio Network