View Full Version : RNE tests to Europe on 11920kHz - Madrid, Spain
RNE is upgrading a 250kW transmitter to DRM at their SW site (Noblejas) near Madrid, Spain. If all goes as planned there should be test broadcasts running the rest of the week. Please look to see if it is on the air from tommorow onwards.
Nov 15-18th
0600-0800 UTC
frequency: 11920
Program: RNE - Spanish
Many thanks for your monitoring and feedback. Tnx to Continental and Transradio (Telefunken) for their work.
Mike
Only a weak signal with AM interference from 11925. See screenshot.
Does anybody know the antenna beam and the transmitter power?
73, Klaus
Much better with S 9 +40dB at 0720 UTC. :)
It looks like there is an AM station only 5khz up at 11925khz.
Does this interfer strongly with the DRM reception? This is a scheduled frequency that RNE/REE use only once a week on Sunday for AM. Looking forward to your comments.
Mike
Only a weak signal with AM interference from 11925. See screenshot.
Does anybody know the antenna beam and the transmitter power?
73, Klaus
The AVG DRM Power is 100kw and the azimuth is 50 degrees.
From the RMS site it looks like the propogation only came up at 0700?
Thanks for that information.
Excellent signal now after the AM interference has gone.
After interference concerns we dropped the code rate from .6 to .5 which reduced the bit rate from about 21kbps to 17.5kbps but making it more robust/rugged we hope. :)
Hi Here's my log of REE on 11920 kHz today. I got all excited when the signal peaked up around 06:40 UT, but it didn't last :-( From 07:00 UT, NHK are on this frequency, broadcasting in Japanese to Oceania via Kranji, Singapore. I imagine they won't be very pleased - the REE DRM signal was totally wiping out the NHK AM signal. Cheers, Chris
mitajohn
15-11-2006, 08:09
Hi all,
A nearly excellent result here. The signal reached 38-45 dBuV. The impulse response has two peaks.
Good reception also with the Morphy Richards, no dropouts in the last 30 min.
73, Klaus
Very bad reception at Paris.
Daniel
Hello Mike,
signal was quite weak at the beginning, also interference from the adjacent channel above, see screenshot.
Results in the last half hour were perfect but I did not watch it during this period, it should also have worked with CR 0.6 then.
Simone
Hi Mike,
I don't think that the interfernce from 11925 khz was the problem. The main problem was a too weak DRM signal before 7:30 UTC, as you can cleary see in my fieldstrength plot. I think that is a bit too early for 12 MHz. After 7:30 UTC the signal was strong and very stable. The SNR was a bit too low for a brand new TX and and such a strong signal. I thing that there is room for improvements. But good to see a new DRM Site active!
Klaus, Chris, John, Daniel & Simone.
Many thanks for all the good feedback on the first day of tests from Madrid! :) :)
Yes, it looks like there was no propagation in the first hour to Germany and it "turned on" around 0730. I think the interference that was heard was from Turkish Radio off the back of their antenna.
John - that was GREAT reception for solid hour in Athens. thanks.
Chris - great to hear you got some reception in NZL. It was interesting conditions. RNE also have coordinated for this frequency for its target are, like NHK but this is one of those cases where .... it just keeps going.
Sorry to hear no coverage in Paris, perhaps too close?
There will be tests for 2 more days ... but Friday will be the last day as the antenna is in use on the weekend. Klaus can you make the correction on the DRM list, etc?
I will be heading home to the UK on Thur but will be watching for your reports over the next days and will pass this on to RNE. Yes - it is good to have another DRM partner on the air! :D
Mike
FritzWue
16-11-2006, 07:14
Signal weak and a lot of interference/ bad frequency during the first hour, much better after 07:00 UTC. RX G303i and DREAM as software.
Hello,
this morning at 6:10 Utc i have made a fast test before going to work: signal was weak and interference from other station. No Audio and best SNR was only 10 dB.
Wishes from IW0HK Andrea - Roma
Rx: ICOM IC 756 + SatService Converter
Ant: 12 Meter Vertical
I tuned in at 07:15 UTC with the Morphy Richards, no dropouts so far.
Transmission ended at 07:49 UTC. With the Winradio I see an AM signal with S 9 on the same frequency, S 9 also on 11925 and a weaker station on 11915 kHz.
Hi Mike.
I tune up 0700UTC to 11920Khz , very strong signal strength S9+20db.
:)
Problem in sound ,type telephone sound . And tone peak on 12Khz ,see picture of sound spectrum.
:confused:
Mike,
again signal was too weak in the first hour, much stronger signal from 07:00.
Today I had the chance to listen a few minutes, audio bandwidth is restricted to less than 9 kHz, audio quality could be better with 21kbps using a better audio feed. I also noticed the peak at 12.5 kHz which was there all the time, maybe a signal for monitoring in the analogue in the past?
Simone
Hi all,
Missed out on this almost completely! Very strong signal, >50 dBuV into the antenna socket. Despite the strong signal, there were som dropouts.
Terje
FritzWue
16-11-2006, 16:35
Gescher 52°N07°E to Nottuln via B525:
Hi Mike,
the path opened shortly after 7 UTC this morning in Frankfurt. Then the DRM signal was really strong, sometimes up to 70dBµV:eek:
FritzWue
17-11-2006, 08:22
The first hour was not usable here, too early for that frequency and a lot of interference.
Audio bandwidth was OK but sound was not good, compressed and always like when you are humming into a comb with thin aluminium foils wrapped around it.
Impulse response was good when the signal came out of the noise.
mitajohn
17-11-2006, 08:37
Hi all,
The 1st hour was problematic also here with a lot of interference. Then at the 2nd half hour the result was nearly perfect with the signal at 40 - 55 dBuV. The impulse response was chaotic and the sound not good. See the log file.
Hi,
Not good at all. The Turkish station +5 kHz caused too much interference. Still at 07 UT there were just occasional bursts of DRM to hear. At 0728 UT the decoded audio suddenly popped up like turning a switch only to disappear around 0737 UT. :confused:
The audio level seemed to be a bit too high; the 12.5 kHz signal was present today as well.
Terje
Hi Mike,
similar results like yesterday. Again a very strong DRM signal after 7 UTC.
Quite good in the second hour when signal was stronger.
Wider audio bandwidth today, still the 12.5 kHz test signal in the back.
Simone
Wow! Thanks to; Carsten, Friedrich, Andrea , Klaus, Andrea, Sixten, Simone, Terje & John for all the Thur/Fri reports! (sorry if I missed anyone).
Today was the last day of these short term tests. When all is finalized we can expect to see RNE/REE back on the air with regular broadcasts.
Let me summarize what I have learned from your feedback:
1. Good Freq planning is needed. The 11Mhz freq did not come up reliably in the first hour. It was amazing to see the band turn on over a manner of minutes some times. Also it is clear Freq managers need to avoid QRM/Interference.
2. The Audio feed needs to be improved. I noted your comments about audio quality feed. To get audio above 4khz they had to bypass the audio processor. Even then they only had 8khz audio thru their link. They are in the process of increasing the bandwidth of their link from the studio. We also noted that little audio spike at 12khz in the audio feed. These are all things that you don't have to worry about in AM SW but they need to sort out before regular broadcasts. I'm glad you caught these things.
3. When they had a good interference-free signal the DRM signal did a great job. I think they can expect to be able to put a high quality signal into most of Europe like Sines does.
Many thanks to you all for your reports and support. :D :D :D
Mike
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