"Karl Graff" wrote in message
...
Please excuse any ignorance I am going to show- you have helped me a lot
as
I learned to DX and what kind of radio gives the most bang for the buck.

What is the real deal with DRM?

In my opinion, it's a solution to a problem which doesn't exist. There's
the idea that there's a lot of people who would want to listen to SW radio,
if only SW radio had better sound. I'll say that more people would listen
to SW radio if only the programming appealed to them. Most nations are
cutting budgets for SW programming.

There's some hope that DRM might help with the penny pinching, if the
digital modulation will work acceptably with lower transmitter power.

About 20 years ago, there was hope that the SWL hobby would boom as the
affordable digital display radios became common. There was a sort of boom,
in that the radios sold fairly well. But I think a large number of those
sales went to existing SWLs who were replacing their analog display radios.
I don't think the easier to tune radios attracted many new listeners.
Again, I don't think SW radio appeals to most people.


Are analog SW radios going away?

Not any time soon. Nearly all SW transmissions are analog. An even higher
percentage of newly manufactured radios have analog demodulators.


Have any of
you invested in a DRM capable receiver and how are they?

I've thought of going the hobbyist route. My SX-62 has variable IF
selectivity, and the wide setting seem suitable for DRMs bandwidth. Using
the BFO, I should be able to generate a 12kHz IF output. I just need to tap
off the detector, and feed the output to the soundcard in my computer. Of
course, that radio is hardly frequency stable, and the combination of local
oscillator and BFO stability would be stinko. But it would be cheap.

I don't want to play with it. Everything I want to hear is on standard AM.


Should I begin to
move towards DRM and if so, what receivers will pick up and decode those
signals?

DRM will have to get pretty inexpensive before it becomes popular. I really
don't think there's much added value in DRM for most SWLs and certainly not
for most normal people. Consider that US satellite radio carries some of
the big international broadcasters. The audio quality is supposed to be
excellent. But few Americans subscribe to satellite radio, and it's
unlikely that more than a small percentage of those subscribers listen to
international broadcasting.


What are the limitations, or the cons if any, of DRM?

Ready to go DRM receivers are expensive, right now. Hobbyists can put stuff
together for DRM reception at a much lower cost, but that involves alot of
skilled work. And, in the end, you're still listening to the same old
international broadcasters.

The dropout/fadeout problem has been brought up. I'm another who would find
dropouts far more jarring than fadeouts.



Thanks for any info/opinions you are willing to pass on...

Pastor K


Frank Dresser

In article ,
Frank Dresser wrote:

I've thought of going the hobbyist route. My SX-62 has variable IF
selectivity, and the wide setting seem suitable for DRMs bandwidth. Using
the BFO, I should be able to generate a 12kHz IF output. I just need to tap
off the detector, and feed the output to the soundcard in my computer. Of
course, that radio is hardly frequency stable, and the combination of local
oscillator and BFO stability would be stinko. But it would be cheap.

And it probably wouldn't work. According to one of the series of
articles in Elektor Electronics magazine, you need a good oscillator
in your receiver to get a signal the software can deal with. Their
DRM receiver project used a DDS chip for the LO.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message ...
"Karl Graff" wrote in message
...
Please excuse any ignorance I am going to show- you have helped me a lot
as
I learned to DX and what kind of radio gives the most bang for the buck.

What is the real deal with DRM?

In my opinion, it's a solution to a problem which doesn't exist. There's
the idea that there's a lot of people who would want to listen to SW radio,
if only SW radio had better sound. I'll say that more people would listen
to SW radio if only the programming appealed to them. Most nations are
cutting budgets for SW programming.

There's some hope that DRM might help with the penny pinching, if the
digital modulation will work acceptably with lower transmitter power.


I think you're right. I listen to SW because the programming appeals
to me--and I suspect the current audience of SWLers is made up of
people like me, who are turned off by what they hear on much of MW and
certainly by what they hear on FM. If DRM caused the nature of SW
programming to change, then it might create a new (very small)
audience, but I suspect it would lose a huge chunk of the current SW
audience.

Steve

"Mark Zenier" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Frank Dresser wrote:

I've thought of going the hobbyist route. My SX-62 has variable IF
selectivity, and the wide setting seem suitable for DRMs bandwidth.
Using
the BFO, I should be able to generate a 12kHz IF output. I just need to
tap
off the detector, and feed the output to the soundcard in my computer.
Of
course, that radio is hardly frequency stable, and the combination of
local
oscillator and BFO stability would be stinko. But it would be cheap.

And it probably wouldn't work. According to one of the series of
articles in Elektor Electronics magazine, you need a good oscillator
in your receiver to get a signal the software can deal with. Their
DRM receiver project used a DDS chip for the LO.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident


I wouldn't say it wouldn't work at all. I was kinda expecting it might lock
for ten of fifteen seconds at a time.

I've got a bunch of FT-243 crystals, and I might even be able to find or
grind one to give me a suitable local oscillator for the radio.

Ten or fifteen seconds. That's about how long I thought this might be a
worthwhile project.

Frank Dresser

Rember the predicted death of Medium Wave.
What do you think revivied it to it's current robust state?

I think it was CONTENT!

Do you remember some of the technological "advancements" the
industry tried to institute in order to "compete" with VHF FM BCB?
(AM Stereo for one).

To broaden your listener ship, you need CONTENT.
Something people want, but can't get easily elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------

Here is a thought: In 10 years HF BCB could be the terrestile equivalent of
sattelite radio via DRM. (is that good or bad?) In my mind it is only bad
if content is limited.

Digital radio is a bad idea for DXing. You are basically at the mercy of
the computer inside the radio to give you audio. And only one stream of
audio - the one the computer decides to lock on to - the strongest signal
only. You, your ears and brain, have thus lost the ability to listen for
weak signal DXl.

Do what stereo AM radio manufacturers did - DON'T BUY A DRM RADIO!
Manufacturers will stop producing them and radio stations will pull the plug
on digital. DRM will go the way of stereo AM.

DRM is a marketers dream come true. There is little incentive for the
consumer to invest. IT IS ALL CREATED FOR THE MARKETING FOLKS!

"0ff_Ramp" wrote in message ...
Digital radio is a bad idea for DXing. You are basically at the mercy of
the computer inside the radio to give you audio. And only one stream of
audio - the one the computer decides to lock on to - the strongest signal
only. You, your ears and brain, have thus lost the ability to listen for
weak signal DXl.

Do what stereo AM radio manufacturers did - DON'T BUY A DRM RADIO!
Manufacturers will stop producing them and radio stations will pull the plug
on digital. DRM will go the way of stereo AM.

DRM is a marketers dream come true. There is little incentive for the
consumer to invest. IT IS ALL CREATED FOR THE MARKETING FOLKS!

Yep, I don't understand the attraction of DRM receivers. It sounds
like they promise to bring the primary *disadvantages* of other
broadcast media to shortwave.

Steve

"-=jd=-" wrote in message
...


Back when I was toying with a DRM signal, I was able to get 10
to 15 seconds worth (before drop-out) with an unmodified PCR-
1000 simply be using ssb and tuning down a bit. I also had to
set Dream to reverse some setting in the software that I can't
recall at the moment. It was the only setting that allowed you
to reverse/invert some aspect of the processing.

-=jd=-


Yeah, those were interesting posts. That's what triggered my thoughts on
using a computer as a DRM detector with the 62 and feeding the signal back
to radio's hi-fi audio section. The experiment would be cheap enough for
me, and it's probably doable, but I'm just not interested enough in DRM to
start playing with it.

Frank Dresser

On 13 Nov 2004 04:56:02 -0800, (Steve) wrote:

"0ff_Ramp" wrote in message ...
Digital radio is a bad idea for DXing. You are basically at the mercy of
the computer inside the radio to give you audio. And only one stream of
audio - the one the computer decides to lock on to - the strongest signal
only. You, your ears and brain, have thus lost the ability to listen for
weak signal DXl.

Do what stereo AM radio manufacturers did - DON'T BUY A DRM RADIO!
Manufacturers will stop producing them and radio stations will pull the plug
on digital. DRM will go the way of stereo AM.

DRM is a marketers dream come true. There is little incentive for the
consumer to invest. IT IS ALL CREATED FOR THE MARKETING FOLKS!

Yep, I don't understand the attraction of DRM receivers. It sounds
like they promise to bring the primary *disadvantages* of other
broadcast media to shortwave.

Steve

DRM is being pushed by broadcasters because it saves power (therefore
money) for the broadcasters (Transmission power) - what other reason
would they have in promoting it?

juny

"juny" wrote in message
...
On 13 Nov 2004 04:56:02 -0800, (Steve) wrote:


DRM is being pushed by broadcasters because it saves power (therefore
money) for the broadcasters (Transmission power) - what other reason
would they have in promoting it?

juny

Sangean and Sony are also part of the DRM consortium. Obviously, they have
an interest in selling a new generation of higher priced radios.

I don't think any of the Chinese manufacturers are involved with DRM.

Frank Dresser