DAB – just an in-car option

The Ford Motor Company, although a shareholder in MXR Digital, plans to offer DAB Digital Radio in three models from later this year – but only as an option.

For the not insignificant upgrade cost of £300, future owners of new models of the Ford Focus, Ford C-MAX and Ford Kuga will be able to order their car with a Sony digital receiver.

While is expected to remain only an option for most Ford cars in the near future, one model – the Ford Kuga Titanium – will come with DAB as standard.

Car manufacturers traditionally require a very long lead-time to introduce new features and costs of DAB car units remain relatively high.    This step by Ford may be a small step in the right direction for DAB, but it seems that the important in-car radio listener market will continue to rely on AM and FM as their main means of radio reception for the immediate future.

Insight Radio for national DAB ?

Glasgow’s Insight Radio broadcasts on 101FM, from an Anniesland based transmitter, and is available throughout the UK and Europe via satellite.

The station is now reported to be in talks with DAB multiplex operators with a view to securing space on that terrestrial digital platform. This could be a national DAB network or a series of local DAB networks.

It has also been reported that the station will launch on Freesat next month.

National DAS licence for Trafficmaster

Ofcom have announced that Trafficmaster plc have been granted a DAS (Digital Additional Services) licence for use on the national DAB multiplex.

Positive Results From DRM+ Tests on FM

Kaiserslautern, Germany

Positive tests results using the DRM+ standard for a radio station broadcasting on FM were unveiled at an international symposium at the end of May.

Throughout March, April and May 2008, the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern broadcast its experimental radio station across the southwest German city in digital on 87.6 MHz using DRM+ in order to test this extended version of the DRM digital radio standard.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency, the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern and the German
State Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate carried out extensive field tests to validate the trial.

DRM+ extends the regular DRM standard, which is the universal, openly standardised, digital
radio system for the radio frequencies below 30MHz (short-wave, medium-wave and long-wave)
by allowing FM stations in the 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz frequency range to broadcast in digital.

Mr Lindsay Cornell, the Technical Committee Chairman for the DRM Consortium who spoke at
the symposium, says: “these tests demonstrate that DRM+ provides clear added value for the
listener by offering not only an uninterrupted service for both portable and mobile reception but
also excellent audio quality. The DRM Consortium applauds the work undertaken in
Kaiserslautern which goes a long way to show that DRM+ has great market potential.”

Mr Cornell went on to thank Prof. Dr. Andreas Steil from the University of Applied Sciences
Kaiserslautern and Mr Joachim Lehnert, Head Engineer from the German State Media Authority
of Rhineland-Palatinate for their significant input into the tests.

The University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern expects to receive a new licence to continue
DRM+ test broadcasts from the German Federal Network Agency following this successful first
test phase.

Visit www.drm-radio-kl.eu for further information on the trial and the project.

Bulgarian National Radio begins DRM trials

Bulgarian National Radio has begun a trial DRM digital broadcasts for listeners in Central and Western Europe.

According to the DRM Consortium, the trial will run for six months.

DRM schedules

Frequency 11.900MHz

• 09.00-12.00 Monday to Thursday
• 06.00-12.00 Friday to Sunday on 11,900 kHz

Frequency 9.7MHz

• 13.00 to 16.00 Monday to Thursday

All transmissions are beamed 306 degrees, with 20kW power.