DRM Reception Results in Long-Range Short Wave Broadcasting

The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) digital radio standard is the only one recommended by the ITU to be used in Short Wave bands. These bands present unique characteristics for the broadcasting, very big coverage areas and long-range transmission. But they suffer of complicated propagation channel with big time variations that make difficult the regular broadcasting operation. In order to evaluate the DRM performance, field trials were made in Brazil by the Brazilian Government. The objective was to evaluate DRM technology for long-range transmission in Short Wave frequencies. In this paper, the results of these field trials are explained. Two frequencies were used during a period of three weeks at different hours of the day. The transmission was made from French Guyana and the reception was tested in Brasilia.