Silicon Labs introduces new hybrid software-defined radio automotive tuner supporting Digital Radio Mondiale

Silicon Labs introduces new hybrid software-defined radio automotive tuner Si479x7 supporting the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard

http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics/silicon-labs-enhances-si479xx-automotive-tuner-family-with-sdr-technology/217857/

  

Sentech Shuts Meyerton Shortwave Site

Sentech Shuts Meyerton Shortwave Site

South Africa-based public broadcast signal distributor, Sentech, shutdown its shortwave station in Meyerton at the end of March. The closure was planned and follows years of financial losses.

Full story at :

https://www.radioworld.com/global/meyerton-shortwave-shuts

KTWR Guam to start regular DRM transmissions

KTWR is about to start regular DRM broadcasts to four different areas. There will be broadcasts one day per week to each of four areas starting 5 August 2019. They will be working with the content server parameters to come up with the best compromise settings for each area. Each week will have different settings. KTWR will  really appreciate your feedback for as many weeks as possible. Your assistance will ultimately help give your fellow listeners the best possible reception in the long run. For now, all programs will be in English.

The schedule will be as follows, starting the week of 5 August through the end of the A19 broadcast season:

Day                 Freq                Time                  Region                   Power

Monday         11580kHz   1215-1245 UTC   South Asia               90kW

Tuesday         11995kHz   1026-1056 UTC   ANZ/South Pacific  50kW

Wednesday    11995kHz   1026-1056 UTC   China                       50kW

Thursday       11995kHz   1026-1056 UTC   Japan/Korea             50kW

DD’s TV transmitters to now be All India Radio set ups

Closed TV transmitter set ups of the Doordarshan will now be turned to All India Radio set ups by the Prasar Bharati as part of its efforts to rationalise its set ups.

More here :

http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2019/jul/14/dds-tv-transmitters-to-now-be-air-set-ups-2003677.html

New updates for SDR#, libairspyhf and Airspy HF+ (Discovery) Firmware

Airspy has announced the latest releases of SDR# r1702, libairspyhf r1.5.0 and Airspy HF+ Firmware r2.4.0. 

Here's a summary of the changes:

The FM Stereo flag was added in the SDR# API: FmPilotIsDetected.

A new experimental Low-IF mode at a lower sample rate (256ksps IQ) was added across the chain to allow portable devices to operate smoothly without requiring further DC/IQ correction or frequency translation. This mode is considered "experimental" because the AGC has yet to be optimized to accommodate for the smaller bandwidth, but it is already usable as-is with the AGC always on. 

For the curious types, 256ksps Low-IF was obtained by shifting the IF, adding a narrower channel filter and decimating 768ksps by 3. This gives a wonderful number that is a multiple of a known sound card standard rate: 32kHz.

The IQ streaming and command handling were optimized to allow all of this processing to happen. A positive side effect is that the streaming is no longer interrupted by the commands (set frequency, gain, etc.) - and this one is not experimental.

SDR# r1.0.0.1702 : https://airspy.com/download

libairspyhf r1.5.0: https://github.com/airspy/airspyhf/tree/master

HF+ Firmware R2.0.4 : https://airspy.com/downloads/airspy-hf-flash-20190708-bb.zip

All India Radio Urdu Haj Service From 12th July

Date – From 12th Jul to 9th Sep

Time 1100-1130 Hrs. (IST)

Programme – Special Service is Urdu for Haj Pilgrims

Short Wave – 11560 kHz 15210 kHz  

More at : https://hajinfo.in/haj-india-radio-urdu-service-12th-july-5234.html

Frequency changes of CNR-1 in DRM mode from July 3

Frequency changes of CNR-1 in DRM mode from July 3

0000-0400 NF 13850 QIQ 030 kW / 225 deg to EaAs Chinese, ex 17800

0400-0900 NF 11990 QIQ 030 kW / 225 deg to EaAs Chinese, ex 15735

0900-1200 on 13710 QIQ 030 kW / 225 deg to EaAs Chinese add.freq

(Via Ivo Ivanov)

KBS World Radio English Service Tests starting 4th July 2019

Hello Listeners,

We are delighted to announce that our shortwave transmission from Kimje, South Korea will be normalized after a three week test transmission starting at 0400 UTC on July 8th, 2019. We thank you for your patience during the past year.  

Our English programming on 9785 kHz that was initially moved to 1800-2100 UTC due to a transmitter problem will be back on 1400-1700 UTC at a stronger output of 250 kW.  

Listeners who tune into our programs on 11810 kHz and 15575 kHz can also expect to enjoy better reception since the current 100 kW transmitter will be replaced by a 250 kW transmitter.

Please be sure to tune into KBS World Radio during the test transmission period and send us your reception reports. Your feedback will help us find ways to improve your listening experience.  

Thank you!

KBS World Radio English Service

Emergency Warning Functionality on DRM Digital Radio for Saving Lives

Six-hundred-and-seventeen (617) lakh people in the world were impacted by disasters in 2018. Extreme weather conditions accounted for majority of people affected by these disasters. Unfortunately, India is also being affected by disasters a number of times. But extreme weather conditions often come with a pre-warning phase. The questions is – Are we getting the most out of this time window to warn the public and save lives?

More at :

https://www.broadcastandcablesat.co.in/services/emergency-warning-functionality-on-drm-digital-radio-for-saving-lives/

Updated DRM shortwave A19 schedule

Updated DRM shortwave A19 schedule as on 20th June 2019

Download here :    https://tinyurl.com/yxex8f4g

Band 2 Es Logs - 24th June 2019 (Mon)

Band 2 Es Logs - 24th June 2019 (Mon) - 0330-0400 UTC

88.0 Radio Foorti, Dhaka, Bangladesh (10 kW)
88.4 Radio Aamar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

88.8 Bangladesh Betar Traffic Channel, Dhaka

89.2 ABC Radio, Dhaka, Bangladesh
89.6 Radio Today, Dhaka, Bangladesh (10 kW)
90.4 Dhaka FM, Dhaka, Bangladesh

91.6 Peoples Radio, Dhaka, Bangladesh  

92.0 Bangladesh Betar, Thakurgaon or Goplagunj ? (10 kW)

94.4 Jago FM, Dhaka, Bangladesh (10 kW)

94.8 Capital FM, Dhaka, Bangladesh

95.2, Bangla Radio,  Dhaka, Bangladesh (10 kW)

96.0 City FM,  Dhaka, Bangladesh 

100.5 AIR Dehradun

101.0 Beng song, Unid AIR  

101.6 Colors FM,  Dhaka, Bangladesh 

101.7 AIR Eng News Unid , Meerut ?

102.4 Amber Radio, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sony XDR-F1HD + Triax 5 Ele Yagi Hor beamed east  

USAGM networks recognized for excellence with Edward R. Murrow Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Two U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) networks-Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA)-have been named winners of the prestigious 2019 National Murrow Awards. This is the first time the two networks have received this honor, presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for excellence in electronic journalism.

"I am thrilled that the RTDNA's Edward R. Murrow Awards have recognized the high-caliber reporting that RFE/RL and RFA produce," said USAGM CEO John F. Lansing. "My heartfelt congratulations go to the skillful journalists and storytellers who offer our global audiences accurate and professional journalism-the bedrock of what we do at USAGM."

CEO Lansing added, "Edward R. Murrow, who in the early 1960s led the U.S. Information Agency, a predecessor to USAGM, would be proud of our modern media organization's wide-reaching impact."

Daisy Sindelar, Acting President of RFE/RL, and Libby Liu, President of RFA, offered praise for their award-winning networks, which provide compelling, uncensored and locally-oriented news and information to audiences in some of the harshest media environments around the world.

"We are honored to receive this recognition for providing our audiences with unique stories, powerfully told, on the most influential formats in our coverage area," said Sindelar.

RFE/RL received the National Murrow Awards' top honor for Multimedia in the Television Network category. Judges reviewed eleven examples of RFE/RL's impressive domestic news coverage ranging from Armenia to Uzbekistan.

RFA Mandarin's "The Women Against the State" won in the juried contest's Excellence in Video category. The piece focuses on the aftermath of China's "709 crackdown"- a nationwide roundup of lawyers and legal activists that began in July 2015 - and the wives of those still held in custody today.

"RFA Mandarin's digital team deserves full credit for this prestigious award. Their hard work to spotlight these brave individuals and share their stories speaks to Radio Free Asia's critical journalistic mission," said Liu.

Although this marks the first time that RFA has won a National Murrow Award, the network won several Regional Murrow Awards in years past.

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international media, whose mission is to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. USAGM networks include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti), Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa). USAGM programming has a measured audience of 345 million in more than 100 countries and in 60 languages.

(Press Release)

       

JST JJY Ohtakadoya station celebrating 20th anniversary, special QSL card offered

JJY is the call sign of a low frequency time signal radio station located in Japan. The station broadcasts from two sites, one on Mount Otakadoya, near Fukushima, and the other on Mount Hagane, located on Kyushu Island. JJY is operated by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), an independent administrative institution affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Japanese government. (Wikipedia)

Ohtakadoya-yama LF station is celebrating 20th anniversary

Ohtakadoya-yama LFStandard Time and Frequency Transmission Station celebrates the 20th anniversary this year. It is our pleasure to have transmitted LF40kHz signals for 20 years and contributed to many users. We also thank for reception reports from many users all over the world. We will issue the commemorative cards as follows.

Reporting period:  Jun. 10, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019 (postmark deadline)

Reception report:  Receive 40kHz signals from Ohtakadoya-yama LFStation and send reception report during the period for commemorative card. Reception report requirements unchanged

Information about reception report :

http://jjy.nict.go.jp/QandA/reference/reception_report_info.pdf

Issuing of cards: Issuing expected after July

(Source : https://tinyurl.com/y6gno9bg )

BBC World Service Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2019, June 21

BBC World Service Midwinter's Day 2019 special program in english on June 21, 2019  :

2130-2200 UTC on 5875 kHz Woofferton, 9455 kHz Wooferton, 7360 kHz Ascension

About BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/48Gx2jfJBWHyWggDSD19gFT/antarctic-midwinter-broadcast

Cerys Matthews presents music requests and special messages to the staff at the British Antarctic Survey.

 

All India Radio, Research Department website launched

All India Radio, Research Department has lanched a website at :

http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/

The R&D website gives details about on going research activities in the field of Remote Monitoring, Telemetry, Acoustic, Antenna, Propagation & Radio/TV lab.

The propagation survey reports of DTT & AM-DRM transmitters are also available in the website.

Few AM-DRM transmitter survey reports are available :

Reception Survey Report of 200 kW AM-DRM Tx in Simulcast mode and 20 kW AM-DRM Tx in pure DRM mode in respect of AIR, Chennai

http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/AM-DRM_Report_Chennai.pdf

Reception Survey of 100 kW MW AM DRM Transmitter, Trichy in Simulcast Mode

http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/AM%20DRM%20Trichy%202.pdf

DRM Reception Survey Report in respect of 200 KW AM-DRM MW Transmitter at AIR Dharwad

http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/DRM%20Survey%20Dharwad.pdf

Reception Survey Report of 100 kW AM-DRM Transmitter, Patna
http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/p1%203%20DRM_Patna_Web.pdf

Reception Survey Report of 200 kW AM-DRM Transmitter,Delhi A
http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/p1%204%20907-AM-DELHI-A.pdf

Reception Survey Report of 100 kW AM-DRM Transmitter, Vijaywada in Simulcast Mode
http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/p2%2018%20AM-DRM.pdf

Reception Survey Report of 200 kW AM-DRM Transmitter, Bangalore
http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/p2%2019%20AM-DRM-200KW-BENGALURU_1.pdf

Reception Survey & Field Strength Measurement of DRM, Kolkata
http://prasarbharati.gov.in/R&D/propagation/doc/p3%2021%20DRM_Kolkata_Web.pdf