No more DXing when DRM comes along?

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greedo24

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I'm worried that when DRM and/or HD radio come along, there will be no more DX stations to listen to, since it's an "All or nothing" kind of a thing with digital. I'll be able to hear the local/big gun stations, but nothing from a long ways away anymore. I can appreciate that broadcasters want ppl to receive a super clean, high s/n ratio signal, but I wonder how much more limited their audience would be.
 

rdale

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That's what, a good 5-10 years away or more? I wouldn't worry too much yet...
 

ka3jjz

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If that....DRM is not the panacea that the Consortium had hoped it would be. Only a few manufacturers (in Europe and Asia) have been producing DRM ready portables, and they aren't exactly flying off the shelf. The economy hasn't helped matters - importing radios can get expensive, particularly with a very narrow market.

It's true that there has been some very slow growth in the market, but it's creeping along. There was a report some time back that a couple of tropical band stations had gotten permits for using DRM, but so far, nothing has come of it.

As rdale said, nothing to worry about right now...Mike
 

k9rzz

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The sky is falling!

There's too much DX to be had right now to worry about years down the road.

Just keep DXing and *POST YOUR LOGS*,
 

majoco

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When the HF radio stations start getting reports that "I can't hear you anymore" then perhaps they will stop transmitting in DRM/HD/smoke signals or whatever and go back to good ole AM! :wink:
 

jeatock

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Contrary to the hype being promoted by many Manufacturers, plain stupid old-fashioned analog will always be around. When the sky does fall (even locally and temporarily) it may be the only thing that still works.

Remember that all radios send a voice signal by modulating the RF carrier, either in strength (AM) or frequency (FM). Analog radios modulate the signal directly. Digital radios modulate that same RF carrier to specific deviation points to transmit the one's and zero's that represent the voice. It is the differences in the deviation pattern and the speed that changes between the physical transport layers of the formats, but it is still RF energy on specific frequencies.

Liken it to smoke signals: Analog radios look for smoke, while digital radios have to see the width variations in the smoke column. If a digital receiver can see 95% of the variations in the width of the smoke column it will work perfectly. But the atmosphere can introduce errors into the visibility of the width of the smoke which the digital receiver requires. Trees can get in the way and block the view of a portion of the billowing smoke. The further off (or smaller) the smoke column is, the harder it is to see details. Error correction can only do so much. But no matter whether you are far away or up close an analog radio can still tell it's smoke, which is all it needs to know.

Digital communication is only being promoted as new and better- the SOS sent by the Titanic was in Morse code, technically a digital format with a baud rate of what, two? Real smoke signals are much older and have an even slower baud rate. Digital radios require accurate data throughput speeds thousands of time greater.

Many users are going to digital for localized communications, but when it comes to long distance or imperfect but reliable communications, analog will always be the format of choice.
 
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kb2vxa

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Pardon my giggles but good old fashioned AM won't be going away any time soon. First of all many stations have abandoned DRM and returned to AM when they lost a great percentage of listeners. Why? Selective fading plays hob with AM but can be overcome by a synchronous detector or receiver in SSB mode. Since digital is an all or nothing proposition when it goes into selective fade it disappears entirely from a receiver's point of view. Imagine trying to listen to a broadcast full of holes and you get the picture.

Bottom line here; DRM isn't coming, it's going.

"...he SOS sent by the Titanic was in Morse code, technically a digital format with a baud rate of what, two?"

CW sent at 20WPM is 50bd and I'm reasonably sure Jack Phillips and Harold Bride 2nd RO did routinely from MGY.
 
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E-Man

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Bottom line here; DRM isn't coming, it's going

I think at the present time DRM may be gone and dead for US listeners? (Unless there is another DRM Broadcast Service I am unaware of?)

With the end of Radio Canada International's shortwave service in June 2012 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is reportedly seeking to sell the Sackville transmission complex to either another international broadcaster or a wind farm company. According to Martin Marcotte, director of CBC Transmission: "[The Sackville complex] will be fairly costly to dismantle and as a last resort we would dismantle the facility, return it to bare land as it was when we first acquired that site.

Radio Canada International - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

E-Man

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Current broadcasters include All India Radio, BBC World Service, Deutschlandradio, biteXpress, HCJB, Radio Canada International, Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, RTÉ Radio (RTÉ), Radio Exterior de España, RAI,[1] Kuwait Radio, Radio New Zealand International, Vatican Radio, Voice of Russia and Radio Romania International.[2]


Digital Radio Mondiale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

majoco

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Yes, but not exclusively. Just for a few hours each day when propagation conditions are at their best for the target area.
 

Boombox

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It seems to me that DRM will fizzle because the most important audience for SW broadcasters seems to be poorer people in the third world, and I doubt many of them have the cash handy to pony up for a DRM receiver. Those that have that kind of money probably have other things they'd rather spend it on.
 

gpsblake

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DRM is a non-factor. There are less shortwave stations transmitting in DRM now then 8 years ago. Most people who listen to DRM are hobbyist who hook the radio to a computer to listen, which of course completely defeats the purpose as you can just skip the radio step and listen directly on your computer via the stream. A few years ago, there were a couple DRM transmissions from Sackville on 9800khz targeting the US but those had already stopped before Sackville closed down. Portable and affordable DRM receivers are almost non-existent. Universal tried to sell a portable DRM radio with dismal results and horrible reviews and now the maker of that radio, Uniwave is gone.

Bottom line: Don't worry about DRM, the biggest threat of course is the rapid disappearance of shortwave broadcasting all together.
 

KC4RAF

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As others' have posted,

DRM isn't gonna cut the mustard. DRM is okay for local transmission/receiving. But the receivers loose the signal when just of few of the 1s and 0s are missing. With analog, you can loose a lot of the signal and still understand the information being sent. I just can not see shortwave broadcasters going with DRM now or in the future. That's my .02 worth
 

Cruiseomatic

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DRM Isn't even good for local. Couple years ago, I was given a HD radio for one of my trucks. If I move 4 ft. It loses the signal and takes 5 minutes to re-acquire it for 1 minute. It is slow to tune, Can't keep a signal, Etc... Analog does NOT have that problem. Even local PD won't go digital for those reasons.
 

KF5UFA

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DRM isn't taking over. A large number of people in Africa and South Asia listen to shortwave to get their news and to enjoy other broadcasts. Most of them cannot afford a DRM or other type of digital receiver. In many cases, there is just one AM recieve in the village and the whole community gathers around it to listen.
 
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