[DX] 594 kHz DRM

["Mauno Ritola" <mauno.ritola@xxxxxxxxx>]

594 kHz:llä havaittu kroatiasta tuleva DRM-häiriö on lopettanut ainakin 
pimeän ajan lähetykset, joten taajuus on taas puhdas. Ilm. ao. kirjeet 
saivat tämän aikaan, joten kyllä vieläkin keskiaaltojen radiohäiriöille 
pystyy jotakin tekemään!

73, MR

Dear Mr. Nikola Percin 9A5W of HRT,

the following letter circulates in interested European and North American
Medium Wave Internet circles.

The disturbing signal of your TEST DRM digital radio tx HRT Deanovec on
medium wave 594 kHz is so tremendous all over Europe, since it started on
December 15th, 2005.

Even 140 km away of co channel Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt Germany tx
location, I cann't hear HR program anymore. Your DRM signal from Deanovec
is too strong and broadbd of 14 kHz wide at nighttime til 0830 UTC at
present winter time. This is a silly action, because there is really no
availability of DRM consumer receivers at affordable costs at present
worldwide.

Therefore I will ask Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt Germany, Technical
Departement next week, to increase their final stage power to once ITU
Geneve registered 900 KiloWatt again, in pure AM mode on the 594 kHz
channel.

All DRM mode tests on European should move to the 1611/1620 kHz out of
band range. Inband usage of different mode should be strictly forbitten.

As Ham Radio operator you should be aware, that audio modes should be
strictly separated in different band ranges

Kind regards Wolfgang Bueschel Germany
(Jan 21)

I want to let you know that the present situation on the MW band here
prompted me to write to the EBU and items published in DXLD were a great
help as illustrations of my point of view. Here is the text of my letter:

Mrs. Raina Konstantinova Director of the Radio Department European
Broadcasting Union Geneva, SWITZERLAND

Dear Mrs. Konstantinova:

I am writing this letter to you because of my worries concerning the
present situation on the Medium Wave broadcast band here in Europe. It's
far from an exaggeration to state that we as listeners experience an
increasing chaos after the introduction of DRM tests on these freqs.

Before I go on, I would like to tell you a little about my background. I
have been profoundly interested in world radio ever since my childhood. I
started listening to international broadcasts on SWs and European medium
wave stations at the age of eleven, back in 1945, keeping a log book of
the stations I heard. Our Swedish radio weekly magazine "Roester i Radio"
at that time was a great help with information and freq lists of LW. MW
and SW stations already at that time. In my archives there are
confirmations from broadcasting stations in 155 countries that I have
heard their txions. I have also been a transmitting radio amateur for a
number of years and the producer of a local radio programme for three
years. In other words, I know very well the reality I am writing to you
about.

Today, on January 17th, EBU participates in the celebration of "Art's
Birthday". Innovative, non traditional mxal art has been supported by the
broadcasters, its development and the interest of the public has been very
much depending on the broadcasting media, the radio and television. So the
event tonight, broadcast all over Europe, is a very positive one. But my
thoughts and concerns, when I heard about Art's Birthday, went in another
direction:

Art connected with daily life, mx which takes elements from the reality
around us. Good. Then I thought: If someone made a recording of Hessischer
Rundfunk, listening any time on 594 kHz Medium Waves, somewhere outside
Frankfurt, this could be used as a mxal satire. Take sections of this
recording where the German broadcast is often drowned by the mill like
noise from the Croatian DRM test on the same frequency. A (nominal) 10 kW
tx down in Croatia has got the power of overriding a 250 kW+ txion in
Germany, when you listen within the normal reception zone for this tx

And together with this segment of recording, the mxal artist could create
the satirical effect: A recording from the years of the Cold War, in which
a Soviet jamming tx almost drowns the Voice of America or BBC txion in
Russian

THE TERRIBLE THING IS THAT TO US LISTENERS, THE SITUATION OF THE COLD WAR
HAS COME BACK

Dear Mrs. Konstantinova, I would like to know what the EBU is going to do
to make the situation for us listeners tolerable. It seems to me, maybe I
am wrong, but it seems to me that the DRM tests are carried out completely
without planning and without concern for the listeners affected. Remember
all those who rely on Medium Wave AM Radio: those who listen to stations
which only broadcast on medium waves, those who listen in their cars where
FM reception is too problematic, those who are abroad and tune in the
broadcasts of their homeland, like I did when in Italy and could hear the
Swedish broadcast on 1179 kHz down there every night.

There is always a problem of interference, but the situation has become
chaotic as it is now. Planning and organization is necessary. Perhaps a
segment of the Medium wave band or the whole Long wave band, could be
allowed for DRM tests on a shared basis, where say 6 broadcasters are
allowed to have tests 4 hours a day during the experimental period.

There is also a severe problem of splatter to adjacent freqs. The BBC
World Service DRM txion on 1296 kHz strongly affects reception also on
1287 and 1305 kHz. The DRM mode causes a very broad signal, too broad for
the 9 kHz segments on the LW/MW band.

I do not want to sound like a reactionary, since I fully realize the
possibilities of DRM for the communication of good audio broadcasts. But
my experience tells me that the coexistence between DRM and AM Radio is
impossible. And I will end my letter by quoting from the American Media
expert Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest, January 14th, 2006, in which we
read:

Here in Germany criticism on the DRM operation from Croatia on MW 594 kHz
rises, since it ruins reception of co channel Hessischer Rundfunk outside
the Frankfurt area. It was definitely no DRM detestor who wrote today that
they should fire up the old Siemens gear again to let the brute force of
1000 kW making the point.
(Kai Ludwig D, dxld Jan 7)

And from the same source further on:

DRM has been a pest on 1485 for at least a year. At night I cannot hear
BBC Humberside any more which is SE of me by about 30 miles. Channel
always dominated by DRM. I guess many broadcasters adversely affect by DRM
won't complain because they want to use DRM. I'm still baffled why no one
has attempted bandplanning DRM on the MW band. DRM clearly does not
coexist with AM (from the AM listener's point of view) so why not assign a
couple of channels as DRM only channels and let DRM txs congregate
together. If DRM expands then add extra channels. At the moment with no
bandplanning it justs makes MW a worse place to listen. Cynic mode on:
Rotten noisy AM is a good reason to persuade people to switch to DRM, so
could this be a deliberate policy of DRM jamming? Cynic mode off. 73s
(Steve Whitt via Chris Brand, BDXC UK via dxld)

I think, Mrs. Konstantinova, this is more than ample proof to support my
point. I am now awaiting your and the EBU's comments and future plans in
this matter. I am fully aware of your limitations as an organization
representing a large number of countries, and as the saying goes, no chain
is stronger than its weakest links. Nevertheless, the situation caused
must be met with decisive action from the EBU. And I am sure the EBU will
be willing to act, to uphold the standards of listening on the Medium Wave
band.

Yours sincerely, Ullmar Qvick

Glenn, feel free to use my letter in case you find it appropriate. Kind
regards from Sweden in full winter with lots of snow.
(Ullmar Qvick SWE, dxld Jan 21)

Hi Glenn,
I copied the letter of Ullmar Qvick (dxld) to the Technical Departement of
HRT Radio Zagreb at Deanovec, Technical Director Nikola Percin_HRT,
Telecom Ministry Croatia, TX provider OIV at Zagreb, Croatia.
(wb, Jan 21)

So, in connection[?] to these complaints, Croatia stopped DRM
transmissions on 594 kHz to limited daytime operation since Jan 25,
reported
(Patrick Robic AUT, A DX Jan 27)

594 kHz DRM. Gestern und heute keine DRM Sendungen aus Kroatien auf 594
kHz.
(Patrick Robic AUT, A DX Jan 26)

Wohl eher Zufall, denn mittlerweile rauscht es wieder.
[later] Da muss ich mich selber korrigieren. Es scheint tatsaechlich so,
als wuerde man sich in Kroatien mit den DRM-Sendungen auf die Mittags- und
Vormittagsstunden beschraenken. Jetzt am spaeten Nachmittag ist die
Frequenz wieder rauschfrei.
(Patrick Robic AUT, A DX Jan 27)

___________________________________________________________________________________
Ennakkotilaa WRTH 2006 nyt:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823059367/hardcoredxcom/
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