Trevor M5AKA

DRM Plus v DAB

At the start on the year the DRM Consortium announced they intended DRM to be used on frequencies up to 120 MHz rather than the 30 MHz limit previously stated.

Back in the early days of DRM there were plans for a higher quality, wider bandwidth version, these were quietly shelved. I believe the consortium at the time wished to avoid a head-to-head confrontation with DAB hence the emphasis on the bands below 30 MHz.

EETimes at http://tinyurl.com/8kut3 carries this report:
"Meanwhile, others are already working on advanced development of DRM standards, called DRM Plus. The enhancement to the current standard will provide some features that the older DAB standard did not: conquering very high frequency (VHF) issues and establishing itself as
an alternative to FM broadcasting services. That means DRM will compete with the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard. "DAB has permanently adopted other frequency domains," Senger said. For example, DRM Plus could bring high quality stereo broadcasts or even Dolby Surround 5.1."

It looks as if they are now going to confront DAB head-on.

If the strategy is adopted of interleaving DRM Plus in between FM station in the 88-108 band and eventually replacing FM then there is no threat to the Amateur Radio Services. However, the DAB consortium are well aware that there are frequencies between 45 and 70 MHz that could be used for a seperate DRM Plus broadcast band. This could effect the 50 and 70 MHz Amateur bands.

In Australia Lo-Band VHF has already been considered for a seperate digital service. Amateurs need to watch developments in this area.

A DRM Yahoo email group can be found at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DRM-L/

73 Trevor M5AKA

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