Swiss electronic music artist C.M. Obrecht is looking to make a splash in India with a long-distance performance airing via a DRM shortwave transmitter in the United Kingdom.
Encompass Digital Media is using its Woofferton transmission site for the one-off broadcast on 11710 kHz. From the site near the border with Wales in Shropshire, England, to India is around 8,000 kilometers (about 5,000 miles) and will be one of the longest distances spanned by Encompass for a DRM transmission.
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The hour-long broadcast starts at 19:00 UTC on the evening of Nov. 4, which will be 12:30–1:30 a.m. Nov. 5 local time across India. Despite the lateness of the broadcast, Encompass is looking for reception reports from within the country, particularly from anybody using a car radio. The company requests reception reports be sent to Steve Palmer at spalmer@encompass.tv.
Encompass is using the xHE-AAC codec with DRM Mode B for the broadcast, transmitting at 125 kW on a 78° bearing from Woofferton. The broadcast will also include ancillary data, including a slideshow image of the album cover art.
To prepare for the broadcast, Encompass made several test transmissions using different frequencies, antennas and power combinations. The final test on Nov. 2 was successfully recorded with a KiwiSDR receiver in New Delhi, and listener reports were also received from Thailand and Canada, according to the DRM Consortium.