9 March 2005
Sony Corporation has chosen RadioScapes RS350A DAB module design as the basis for its upcoming automotive DAB radios. The RS350A module is designed for the challenging environment of automotive applications and provides DAB functionality for existing radio designs.
We are delighted that one of the worlds leading consumer electronics companies has selected RadioScapes module for its entry into the DAB automotive market, said Dave Hawkins, RadioScapes Vice President for Receivers. Our unique, Software Defined Digital Radio solution provides the flexibility for customers to customise the module to create products that meet their specific requirements. This is not only cost effective but also ensures our solutions are continually at the forefront of innovation and technological leadership.
The entry of Sony into the automotive DAB market is a positive endorsement of the excellent growth potential in this market segment, added Anika Nyberg, President of WorldDAB. It takes several years for new products such as DAB to be designed into cars as standard. The opportunity that Sony and others are addressing is the aftermarket demand to have DAB radios fitted to their cars. The explosive growth of DAB receivers in the UK, and increasingly in other countries in the world, has mainly been in the home and now people, hooked on the exciting unique content only available on DAB, want to be able to continue their listening experience during the drive to work. We believe that automotive is one of the next important growth sectors for DAB and are delighted that RadioScape is committed to empowering it.
RadioScape RS350A
The module has several features specifically for automotive use. It can process up to three DAB channels on a multiplex simultaneously to provide any combination of audio channels and data channels of news or travel information. Service Linking enables the radio to automatically move to associated stations when the first goes out of range using linking information provided by the broadcaster. Lastly, the module provides phantom power up the antenna cable to power an amplifier at the base of the antenna. This is the preferred design for many cars as it removes the necessity of having expensive coaxial cable to screen the signal cable, instead it boosts the signal from the antenna immediately for its journey to the receiver so that it stands out from any background interference.
Specifications and price
The RS350A is powered from an externally regulated DC supply of 5V and 3.3V. Control is provided via a serial interface for example I2C. It measures 62mm by 37mm by 10mm to allow vertical fitment in a standard automotive receiver DIN enclosure and is fully screened to meet all electromagnetic requirements for automotive type approval. It can receive DAB Band III and L-band enabling it to be used world-wide wherever there are Eureka 147 DAB transmissions. This fully integrated module requires only the minimum of external components. The module is available from RadioScape at around $40 depending on volume and optional features.
Local representation in Japan
RadioScape has recently appointed Triangle Technologies as its representative in Japan, who assisted with this design win. It provides local support to the Japanese consumer electronics companies, who are now entering the DAB market in a big way.
7 March 2005
Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has become the first European TV broadcaster to present news in the Arabic language, launching the service in Kuwait on 28 February.
The three-hour programme is based on two daily news shows, each 26 minutes long. The shows are transmitted via the Nilesat satellite to about 10 million viewers in more than 20 countries from Morocco to Saudi Arabia. Anchorwoman is Dima Tarhini, a Lebanese presenter who previously worked at Al Jazeera.
DW Director-General Erik Bettermann said: “The Arabic-language news further expands the presence of Deutsche Welle in an important market and intensifies our dialogue with the Arab world.” This service is supplemented by magazines with Arabic subtitles and dubbed documentaries. The programme window is supported with special funds from the German Foreign Office.
On 12 January DW had launched its new interactive Arabic web site (www.dw-world.de/arabic). The Arabic language online journalists focus on reporting current events about Germany, Europe and the Middle East. In addition to politics, the arts and business, there is plenty of sports and news from science and technology. Roughly 15 million people in the Arabic-speaking world presently use the Internet, and there is growing demand from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, above all reaching younger people and opinion leaders.
DW-WORLD.DE is DWs multilingual web service information in 30 languages, in words and pictures, audio and video offering news and background reports from Germany, Europe and the world, supplemented by information on the programmes of DW-TV and DW-RADIO.
7 March 2005
Broadcasters from across Asia are meeting in Tokyo to review their coverage of the tsunami and discuss their role in the event of future disasters.
The three-day workshop on Natural Disasters and the Broadcasters Role is being staged by Japans public broadcaster, NHK, and the ABU.
Senior representatives of the national broadcasters in the four worst-hit countries Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand are among about 40 participants.
On the first day, participants recognised the key role of broadcasters in educating people about the true nature of natural disasters. A number of speakers noted that, before 26 December, most people knew little about a tsunami and the devastation it can cause.
Participants also agreed that that it took too long for some broadcasters to receive official confirmation of the early information they received about the tsunami. Ways of speeding up this process needed to be found, they said.
Speakers also noted that the tsunami aftermath had clearly demonstrated the importance of radio in a time of natural disaster.
Participants will visit Japans Meteorological Agency and a disaster prevention centre in Shizuoka prefecture, southwest of Tokyo.
25 February 2005
RCI’s 60th anniversary is a good time to look back at a history filled with remarkable success and rich anecdotes. Its a history worth discovering . . . and rediscovering. Did you know that Radio Canada International has attracted some of the leading lights in Canadian journalism over the years, including future Quebec premier René Lévesque and legendary CBC host Peter Gzowski?
Some might recall that Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King set up a shortwave service during the Second World War to inform and entertain our troops overseas with programming from Canada. But few people are aware that RCI also played a key role in promoting Canadian music. After making its debut on the international scene in 1945, RCI quickly became an ambassador for homegrown artists. Many famous names in Canadian music, including Oscar Peterson and Glenn Gould, made some of their first recordings in RCI studios.
RCI Today
▫ RCI produces programming in nine languages.
▫ More than 300 hours of programming are broadcast each week via shortwave, satellite and www.RCInet.ca.
▫ RCI programs are rebroadcast in over 75 countries through its 300 partner stations.
▫ RCI airs special programming for listeners in Florida and the Caribbean, featuring the best of CBC Radio One and Radio-Canadas Première Chaîne.
▫ Listeners from all over the world participate in RCI phone-in shows.
▫ RCI broadcasts language courses for the whole family.
▫ The daily Cyberjournal provides a roundup of the key news stories.
▫ RCI oversees the Canadian Institute for Training in Public Broadcasting, which offers radio, television and new-media training to journalists, managers and technicians in emerging democracies.
▫ Internet users can listen to live and archived programs in nine languages at www.RCInet.ca and explore a brand-new databank containing over 20,000 links pointing to nearly 200 countries.
A Special 60th Anniversary Contest for
18- to 30-Year-Olds Who Want to Build a Better World . . .
International Development Week (January 30 to February 5) and the UN-sponsored International Year of Microcredit 2005 will be marked in an original way by Développement international Desjardins (DID) and Radio Canada International . . . the two have teamed up to launch Building the Future Now!, a major worldwide contest for 18- to 30-year-olds.
What can we do in 2005 to build a fairer, more prosperous, more equitable world? Young people around the world will be challenged to answer this ambitious question in a short essay or illustration, giving them a chance to win one of two international development education missions organized by DID in partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Prizes are valued at $15,000, and contestants can enter by visiting www.RCInet.ca.
RCI has also produced a series of short radio features, consisting of two- to three-minute interviews with young adults whose lives have benefited from microcredit. They hail from Africa, Latin America and Asia, and can be heard on RCIs international airwaves throughout the year.
Relive the best of RCI on CD and on the Web . . .
We also invite you to visit a special 60th anniversary section of the RCI website, jointly produced by the CBC Archives team and RCI staff. It contains a wealth of radio and TV clipswith different selections in English and Frenchthat look back at the landmark events of the past 60 years on RCI. Judith Jasmin, Maurice Chevalier and René Lévesque are just a few of the stars of yesteryear youll be able to see and hear again. Be sure not to miss this fascinating walk down memory lane at www.RCInet.ca and www.cbc.ca/archives/rci .
A complete press kit with audio and photo archives can be obtained on request – please contact: Denis Pellerin, Communications Director, RCI Promotion, Analysis and Broadcasting, French Radio Communications and RCI, (514) 597-4204
denis_pellerin@radio-canada.ca
24 February 2005
NPR affiliate WJCT-FM selects Z Series HD Radio transmitter with Split-Level Combining solution, entire FLEXSTAR range of products and NeuStar pre-codec processors
Building on its HD Radio(TM) conversion momentum, Harris Corporation announced on 22 February that WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, Florida’s NPR affiliate, has purchased a complete HD Radio transmission package. Scheduled to go on-air in the spring, the WJCT solution includes a Z16HDS 3.5 kW solid-state HD Radio transmitter operating in Harris’ patent-pending Split-Level(TM) Combining method with an existing analog transmitter; all three components of Harris’ growing FLEXSTAR(TM) family of HD Radio products; and NeuStar(TM) HD/FM codec processors for the cleanest audio possible. WJCT expects to be the first Jacksonville area station to officially launch an HD Radio service, covering a multi-county region at 100,000 watts ERP (Effective Radiated Power). The package also will fully prepare WJCT to launch a complete Tomorrow Radio service dependent on FCC approval, including supplementary audio and data and an HD Radio simulcast of its current analog Radio Reading Service for the sight impaired.
The station will utilize Harris’ FLEXSTAR HDI-100 importer and HDE-100 exporter, introduced at the October NAB Radio show, at the studio instead of at the transmitter site. This allows WJCT to reduce bandwidth and enable supplemental audio and data at the studio, thereby reducing its STL investment by up to 25 percent. The importer feeds multiplexed supplemental audio and data to the exporter, which multiplexes the main channel audio with secondary services and sends them to the exciter in a single bit-rate efficient stream. With its hybrid analog/HD capabilities, the FLEXSTAR exciter further increases efficiency by allowing the station to pre-correct and condition both signals in a single box within the Z16HDS transmitter. WJCT will employ dual exciters for additional redundancy.
Harris’ turnkey HD Radio transmission package offers further efficiencies through its Split-Level Combining method and the Neural Audio NeuStar codecs. Using the Split-Level Combining method, WJCT will save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for a new analog transmitter that would be necessary with high-level combining. Furthermore, Split-Level Combining reduces the total power output of the analog transmitter and allows the station to transmit at the same power level, keeping power costs to a minimum. Meanwhile, two NeuStar pre-codec processors – one each for WJCT’s main and supplemental HD Radio signals – will provide the cleanest result to listeners possible by preparing and optimizing audio content prior to encoding, eliminating artifacts that reside within highly bit-rate reduced signals in the process.
Harris is providing further redundancy for WJCT with an in-house engineered switching solution that creates a combiner bypass system. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the combiner can be bypassed so the analog signal can still reach listeners throughout the region. This means that even with the loss of the HD Radio signal and/or secondary services, the primary service will remain on the air. The Z16HD also functions as a 7 kW analog backup transmitter to ensure maximum on-air reliability.
