Basis of Technical Design and Development a Single-Frequency DRM Digital Broadcasting Network for Venezuela

The current state of analogue broadcasting in the Republic of Venezuela is examined and the digital broadcasting standard Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) promising for future use is selected. The technical basis of designing digital broadcasting networks in a given territory are determined - taking into account climatic features, soil conductivity in various parts of the country and the distribution of maximum levels of atmospheric radio noise. The preferred radio frequencies are determined. It is shown that with a soil conductivity of 25 mS/m, at a distances of up to 65 kilometers from the transmitter, it is preferable to use operating frequencies in the region of 1 MHz. At long distances, it is advisable to move towards lower frequencies. At lower soil conductivity values, in almost all cases, the use of low frequencies provides a larger radius of the service area. Possible scenarios of building a large-clusters network of synchronous single-frequency digital broadcasting of the DRM standard for Venezuela are considered. Clusters sizes, their numbers needed to service a given territory, the main parameters of broadcast transmitting and antenna-feeder devices are determined. The developed example of the topology of a large-clusters single-frequency DRM synchronous network for servicing the entire territory of Venezuela contains three clusters: two clusters with a radius of the transmitter service area of 140 kilometers, consisting of 7 and 8 transmitters, respectively, and one cluster with a radius of the transmitter service area of 90 kilometers, consisting of seven transmitters.