XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated

EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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New Android App for decoding DRM digital radio broadcasts

Posted: 15 Apr 2021 05:04 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/04/new-android-app-for-decoding-drm.html






On the 13th of April 2021, a company named StarWaves announced the release
of a new Android app called DRM SoftRadio. The app allows a user of a
Software Defined Radio (SDR) to listen to any DRM digital broadcasts on an Android smartphone or tablet.
DRM or Digital Radio Mondiale is the global digital radio standard used for digital transmissions on medium wave and short wave in several countries.
Some of the features...
Languages: English, German, Simplified Chinese
Convenient frequency tuning and DRM Service selection
Journaline, DRM’s advanced text application, allows to interactively browse through latest news, sports and weather updates, programme background information and schedules, distance learning/RadioSchooling text books,
travel information, and much more
Free tuning to any DRM broadcast frequency

Supports all DRM frequency bands – from the former AM bands (LW/MW/SW) to
the VHF bands (including the FM band), depending only on RF dongle functionality
Graphical spectrum view to check the signal on the tuned frequency
For live reception, an SDR RF dongle must be connected to the device’s USB port (with USB host functionality). The following SDR RF dongle families
are currently supported, along with a range of specifically tested models: Supported SDR receivers...Airspy HF+ family: Airspy HF Discovery, Airspy
HF+ (Dual Port). (Note: Airspy Mini and R2 are NOT supported.)
SDRplay family: SDRPlay RSP1A, SDRPlay RSPdx, SDRPlay RSPduo, SDRPlay RSP1, SDRPlay RSP2, SDRPlay RSP2pro, MSI.SDR Panadapter (Note: SDRPlay family
support on Android is currently limited to the 32-bit version of this app.) RTL-SDR family: The experimental support for RTL-SDR based RF dongles
requires that you manually start the following separate tool before opening this app (on standard port ‘14423’): The app ‘SDR driver’ can be installed
from the Google Play Store and other Android app stores.
Analysis... While DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) has been around as a digital radio standard since 2003, it has proved difficult to get accepted by broadcasters and the general public. Broadcasters were unwilling to use DRM
due to a lack of suitable receivers and the public weren't interested
because there were a lack of DRM transmissions.
That has changed of late with the introduction of DRM transmissions in the medium wave band in India. Considering its population, it is assumed that
this will kick off the development of cheaper DRM receivers.
While SDR receivers are probably used more by those interested in
technology and radio rather than the general public, this new app does open
up DRM transmissions to a whole new audience.
The app costs in the region of €5/$5 which is very modest for most SDR
users.
It is my understanding that a Windows version is being developed by the
company and this should be of interest to an even wider audience.
Links...
1) StarWave news release - 13th April 2021
2) Google Play Store
3) Official DRM website

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Opening to the South Atlantic on 28 MHz - 14th Apr 2021

Posted: 14 Apr 2021 11:14 PM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/04/opening-to-south-atlantic-on-28-mhz.html

The last two days have been pretty quiet on the 10-metre band with no real
sign of the Summer Sporadic-E season starting.
Tues 13th Apr 2021: This was a really quiet day with just two European
stations heard on the band using FT8.
Wed 14th Apr 2021: This day was a little bit better with a few more
European signals heard as well as ZD7JC on St.Helena Island and PY1VOY in Brazil.
Txmtr Band Mode Distance Time (UTC)PY1VOY 10m FT8 8976 km 18:05:59
ZD7JC 10m FT8 7542 km 18:31:14
IK7FPV 10m FT8 2323 km 17:51:59
IZ0GIY 10m FT8 1979 km 17:52:59
IK5BSC 10m FT8 1681 km 16:38:59
IU5LQC 10m FT8 1642 km 18:22:27
DF8XC 10m FT8 1154 km 11:43:05
MM0ABM 10m FT8 482 km 15:44:29
EI4GEB 10m FT8 79 km 19:13:14
EI8GS 10m FT8 7 km 11:47:45

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