BERLIN Media Broadcast is a leading service provider for the broadcast and media industries in Germany. The company is a driver of technical development and provides consultation for all products and solutions.
For a long time, my colleagues and I have searched for a reliable satellite audio receiver to feed FM transmitters. Due to our desire to provide excellent service for our customers, the best quality and state-of-the-art technology along with specific product requirements, our search was not particularly fruitful.
Networked
With the 2wcom DSR01 satellite receiver we found a device that fits our needs nearly completely. The DSR01 is fully controllable via an integrated Ethernet interface. Purchasers have the option of a front display or not. For Media Broadcast we decided that we did not need one because we operate a huge network where all receivers are linked to and controlled remotely by that network. In most of the cases the devices will be configured by a laptop at installation.
Working with the DSR01 is easy for a technician because the Web interface is mostly intuitive. The Web GUI is easily understood. The integrated SNMP interface is able to send alarms to designated recipients. Every alarm can be configured independently via the Web interface concerning thresholds and times.
The availability of several options makes it possible to set up the DSR01 for your needs. By utilizing an optional DVB-S2 tuner module users have the ability to decode low symbol rates and therefore receive SCPC signals. For us this was also an important need because Media Broadcast operates SCPC links on leased transponders.
The receiver also has an adjustable, accurate audio decoding delay. This feature has become more and more important for us over the last few years because the FM network in Germany has become very crowded. Because of that FM radios are switching with the help of RDS-AF, sometimes very often, between the different frequencies carrying the same program. In many cases listeners notice if the satellite receivers have different audio delays. That’s why we had some trouble with other receivers in the past but no longer now that we can synchronize the delay.
The main reason for choosing the DSR01 is the large number of excellent audio features of the receiver. Users can choose between analog L/R and digital AES/EBU or X.21 output of the audio signal. For RDS you can choose between RS-232 and LAN (UECP over IP).
To set up several DSR01s with the same configuration users can download the settings via the Web interface and upload the configuration to the other DSR01s. After a reboot the DSR01 keeps its IP address so the receiver is always reachable. After startup the receiver is ready to operate within two seconds. That’s really fast and it is absolute necessary because at remote transmitter sites the power supply is not always stable. With that short startup time you can shorten your failure time.
2wcom has built a very interesting satellite audio receiver. The engineers at 2wcom always pricked up their ears for the needs of Media Broadcast. That’s one reason why we are satisfied with the device.
Olaf Muehlbauer is an expert for FM broadcast with Media Broadcast GmbH.
For information, contact 2wcom at 011-49-461-97892-0 or visitwww.2wcom.com.
