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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.


Wavescan 460, October 26, 2003

AWR Gets Into Digital Radio

Ever since our inauguration in 1971, Adventist World Radio has kept abreast of all significant developments in the field of electronic broadcasting. Initially we were on the air shortwave from Portugal in the analog mode, which of course was the best available form of international radio communication at the time.

Since those early years, we have expanded our own broadcast output with the construction of our own shortwave station with its four transmitters and four antennas on the island of Guam. Over the years, we have also taken out numerous relays in a multitude of languages from additional shortwave transmitters located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

In addition to the analog broadcasts on shortwave, and at times on mediumwave, we have also placed our programming on satellite over the Americas, Europe and Africa. You can also hear our programming via another form of electronic delivery, that is, the Internet, and we are available from our website atawr.org.

Over the past several years, the radio studios in the many different countries that are producing programming for broadcast over the AWR shortwave network have been converted from the analog to the digital mode.

Now comes the most recent new development in international radio broadcasting, the introduction of digital shortwave radio. We here at AWR are honored to be invited to participate in this new American development, and we commend NASB in the United States for their involvement in this progressive move.


Where did Digital Radio Come From?

Digital radio broadcasting is the new wave in the electronic delivery of audio news and entertainment, and at this stage several different systems are under serious consideration in different parts of the world. Digital radio broadcasting has many significant advantages, including the delivery of programming with a superb quality. This is the new wave of the future, so let's go back over the years and trace the development of the various modes of electronic broadcasting, culminating with the digital.

We go back to the beginning, more than 100 years ago, to the usage of simple wireless apparatus for long distance communication. The first electronic broadcast of news took place from the Eiffel Tower in Paris on March 27, in the old year 1899. This was a simple dissemination of news information in Morse Code, and it occurred when the Eiffel Tower was only a few months old and wireless itself was only five years old.

However, over a period of time and in many locations around the world, Morse Code wireless was often used for broadcast purposes. The programming content that was presented this way consisted of news and weather bulletins, and time signals. For example, time signals were noted from station FL on the Eiffel Tower and from NAA in Arlington, Virginia. Weather and news was noted from several of the maritime stations around the Australian coastline, including VIS in Sydney and VIM in Melbourne.

Following the invention of the radio valve, or tube, in 1904, it was a simple transition to analog broadcasting in the AM mode, amplitude modulation. It is considered that radio program broadcasting on both mediumwave and shortwave made its inauguration on November 2 in the year 1920, when station KDKA signed on in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the broadcast of the Harding-Cox presidential election.

Analog broadcasting does have several major drawbacks, including the fact that the quality of the received program is marred by propagation variations and by static and local electrical noise. In an effort to overcome these reception problems, FM broadcasting was developed in the 1930s and launched commercially in the United States on January 1, 1941. Mono FM was soon afterwards displaced by stereo FM, which provides an outstandingly clear signal in the local area.

But now comes digital radio broadcasting. In this mode, a stream of electronic data is transmitted from the radio station, and the radio receiver reacts to this electronic information and it reconstructs the programming on instruction according to the over-the-air information. In this way the program quality is not spoiled by propagation variations and local electrical interference.

Actually, digital development began in an endeavor to improve audio quality in electronic equipment. Then some ten years ago, experimental work began in the transmission of TV pictures and sound in the digital mode, and currently experimental transmissions are on on the air for local radio coverage and for international coverage. At the present time, experimental digital transmitters are on the air in several countries, including England, Canada and Australia.

On the international scene, experimental broadcasts in the digital mode have been made in recent time by a small group of progressive shortwave stations in Europe. These stations, located in Germany, France, Holland, England, and also Canada, are now organized as DRM, Digital Radio Mondiale. They began a regular daily service on shortwave on June 16, just earlier this year.

And now comes NASB in the United States, which is just now launching a regular series of shortwave programs in the digital mode.