DREAM Softwre And DRM ?

[BOBRR]

Hi,

Not at all sure that this is the best, or correct, Forum for this.
if not, please just let me know.

Thought I'd try and see if I could pick anything up here in Boston from drm broadcasts.

Never played with drm before, but my understanding is that with the DREAM software, one could experiment a bit with it before spending the $50 for a full license.

Is this so ?

Anyway, I downloaded the DREAM software, and looked at their page, and apparently its usage isn't all that straightforward. Or simple.
There seem to be a bunch of .dll required, and some other manipulations.

So, does DREAM work ?

Is there a version that one can just (simply) load it and go ?

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[ka3jjz]

There aren't many DRM broadcasts beamed to North America, Bob - in addition the additional sidebands that DRM generates wipes out any weaker signals that are beneath them, making them the bane of SWBC DXers (believe me, I got into a very long discussion on this very topic during the last Winterfest...).

When - and if - you get a clear DRM signal, nice and strong, it's really not all that hard to adjust the software and get a signal that sounds amazingly good (some people have put a 10k linear taper pot in line with the feed from their receiver so they can control the level without fooling around with their soundcard settings).

But notice I said ' When- and if -'

best regards..Mike

 

[BOBRR]

From OP: Re DRM

Hi Mike,

Thanks for info.

May try it, but will probably just forget about it.

As always, thanks for suggestions and help.

Best regards,
Bob

 

[Jimepage]

well a good frequency for North America to test Dream is 9800 khz RCI from sackville I don't have a drm capable receiver I don't even know how to use DRM but from the youtube vids it seems likeit would be well worth the investment for the world to have a few of them instead all anyone says is theres barely any around and its not worth the trouble.

 

[kilokat7]

Hi,

Never played with drm before, but my understanding is that with the DREAM software, one could experiment a bit with it before spending the $50 for a full license.

So, does DREAM work ?

Yes, it works great once you get everything set up initially. I use Dream with my Perseus SDR to receive shortwave DRM broadcasts and the audio quality is impressive when you get a good lock. True, there aren't a lot of DRM broadcasts targeting the US, but RCI on 9800 khz puts out a strong DRM signal. I've also received Vatican Radio and REE via Costa Rica with strong signals resulting in no "drop outs" which is important with DRM. On weaker DRM signals I can sometimes get enough data to identify the broadcaster, even without decoding any audio - somewhat like RDS for shortwave. Oh, and the Dream software is free open source software. The only purchase I made was a piece of software called "Virtual Audio Cable" to tie the Dream software to the SDR running on my netbook.