How Digital Radio Works

An introduction of the differences between analogue and digital radio, and why digital radio is a better system for the future.
Web page write up is available here:
tallpaultech.com/?p=397
Links to programs used in video:
spektrum
github.com/pavels/spektrum
qt-dab
github.com/JvanKatwijk/qt-dab...
welle.io
www.welle.io/
gqrx
gqrx.dk/download
mediainfo
mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Do...

[@babayaga1758]

You're making a huge impact. Your sacrifices don’t go unnoticed. 👍

[@tobmaster1985]

14:44 "Don't ask me about Windows, 'cause I don't care" Thanks for another reason I like your channel & videos 👍🤓

[@TallPaulTech]

Good to see there's still people out there who don't cry at the drop of a hat

[@otoolepw]

@@TallPaulTech You got me on to Linux from your series of videos last year. I'm still somewhat of a n00b hacking my way about but liking the control there is over it. My job mandates the corporate stuff so this is on my own time. Shame there isn't an easier path for smaller employers who are being fleeced now more than ever, azure, aws et al.

[@TallPaulTech]

I could not agree with you more. Linux lets you do things that you want. It's your computer system. You're right about everyone getting fleeced too. I'm actually concerned about the way these things try to steer messages by suggesting responses for youto just click on, rather than writing your own genuine response. Those auto response options are always lah-de-dah nice pretty lovey dovey responses. It's just not real.

[@bvds2007]

Fantastic video & set of links

[@r.b.ratieta6111]

You scared me there for a second. I went to look for your old channel name and saw it was no longer in my Subscriptions list. I thought with the lockdown measures they've been taking in Australia, KZbin may have been doing some shadow censorship. I was like, "NOOOOOO..." Thankfully, you just changed your channel name, which I found after some extra searching. I always enjoy your videos. Glad you're still up and running.

[@TallPaulTech]

I'm here, but I can't be fucked making these videos for the most part... not on youtube anyway. Something new will be coming in the near future. I don't know what yet, but something!

[@FloKoboi]

Great summary, awesome. Thanks mate! 🫶

[@padden999]

Satellite technology in deep would also be nice. Great video. Thanks.

[@JTMilic]

Great video mate!!!

[@calibre_au6183]

Love your knowledge, love your content.

[@farticus01]

I like the new channel name and the video was very informational

[@egbertgroot2737]

One of the few video's with an in-depth presentation on the DAB+.topic Thx!

[@wilbamate]

Looking fresh, did you end up finishing the install of your water tank ultrasonic sensor? I’ve been referencing a few of your videos as I delve into the world of tech operations and I’ve found your content to be super useful/informative. Enjoyed this one, appreciate the upload my dude!

[@netoeli]

terrific video

[@seedymac]

Do you have your VK license? Great video, thanks!

[@fragske]

I've picked up a blue dongle to play around with. But i'm looking around to get a better antenna. I'm a bit clueless. How to capture a wider range of radio transmissions?

[@Elvis-guy1973]

DAB might work in Australia, but its not worth a bugger in the UK!

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

It works perfectly here! I’ll take my 100 UK DAB stations instead of 6 FM ones that barely work in my area thank you very much 😀

[@Elvis-guy1973]

@@SproutyPottedPlant I spent £120 on a fancy Dan Roberts DAB+ radio and the only stations I could pick up were a couple of Asian stations and a local station. Surely that is unacceptable. After a week I got sick of looking at it and took it back. Based on Argos reviews I decided to buy a Bush DAB+ model. For £35, I got a radio that picks up over 100 stations with not too much difficulty and with decent reception. I'm finding different makes of DAB radios give you differing quality in service. For example, my old Pure DAB radio signal was perfect and in comparison, the Roberts radio is a joke.

[@TVperson1]

Hi from Sydney 👋, Can you use the RTL-SDR to record all the DAB+ stations at once? Ordered one, going to take till October for it to arrive.

[@TallPaulTech]

Theoretically yes. I mean, you can record the I+Q samples of the whole thing, but as for doing what I think you're trying to do, I haven't done that yet. I saw some programs that seemed like they were trying to do that but they were a bit raw and I couldn't get them working nicely. What I'd really like is a program like dvblast for digital tv, which streams out all the stations on their own multicast group. That would be ideal for digital radio too.

[@stephanepeters6097]

​@@TallPaulTech Hi from Belgium ;-) eit-stuff just seems to do that, at least for one channel. I just started looking at DAB a couple of days ago (the new pandora box !), and fell onto a simple dab player: dablin, which needs eti-cmdline to convert the stream from the rtl-sdr dongle to a pipe. Instead of a pipe it can save to a file, which you can still open with dablin, and then you choose any station of that stream, . You still need to select your channel beforehand.

[@pquodling]

Re SDR Dongles - I have a couple of the black ones, planning to get one of the metallic - amazon have the "Rtl-sdr.com" onces, and also one labelled rtl-sdr blog? Are they the same?

[@pquodling]

there are also some metallic case ones labelled as being from NESDR? any thoughts on them.

[@randomstring200]

Hi Paul, very interesting your video about DAB+ in Australia; and it is true that DAB makes a more efficient use of the spectrum than analogue FM; but ... 88 > 108 Mhz is a 20 Mhz bandwidth; if you set one FM TX each 400 Khz, then you have 20000 / 400 = 50 stations, approx (I am rounding numbers here); first consideration: the 400 Khz separation is dictated by ACMA, not by a real technical rule or formula; in other parts of the world TX licenses in ana FM are issues even wit has low as 50 Khz separation; and trust me, you can tune each one of them no problem; yes, you would need better quality (i.e. higher selectivity) receivers, but then what the ACMA is saying is that b'cause in Australia crap FM RXs are allowed to be sold, then the minimum separation can't be any lower than 400 Khz? Anyway, lets' stay with the 50 stations inside a 20 Mhz bandwidth; Let's focus now on another digital modulation: DRM30; DRM 30 has been designed and advertised as the way to digitise AM and SW; I have carried out few experiments and found (with my own eyes and ears) that stereo audio, better than FM and almost CD quality, can be transmitted using just 20khz of bandwidth using the OPUS audio encoder with DRM30; during my experiments I have also found that it is absolutely irrelevant the actual frequency used to transmit the data stream; I have even very successfully transmitted the DRM30 data stream via internet, sending it to an ICEcast server, then tuning into it from another PC / another location and feeding the data stream received to a DRM decoder via a virtual audio cable; with beyond impressive results; SNR >60 dB!!!; so, I don't know over east ( I am in Perth) but here nobody listens to DAB; everybody goes with conventional FM for convenience or with web radio streaming; simply because almost everybody has an FM radio already and definitively everybody has already a smartphone with internet access, so why would anyone want to spend $ 50 por more for a decent DAB radio? RAdio is not the same as TV; TV was successful in moving from ana to didgi because one can actually SEE the difference; HD, UHD, just are not possible with analogue TV; but with radio, FM quality is enough for the vast majority of listeners; a good FM station already provides interference free reception; and if they will one day stop TXing in analogue, people will simply switch to internet streaming, not DAB. DRM30 used on FM band 88 - 108 has, in my opinion, a change; because it takes much less bandwidth than ana FM and becausesmall adaprtos might be marketed to adapt already existing FM radios to receive digital DRM30. Think about this: why do you think CRA ha snot abandoned FM analogue just as yet? Why do you think HPONs and LPONs still can fetch many thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars at auction, if they are allegedly a thing of the past? Cheers, Stefano VK6WFM

[@TallPaulTech]

I know a couple of people who bought specific digital radios. I don't know their motive, but I think a lot of new cars have them nowadays. As for tv, I recall the gov even paid welfare people to get a set top box so they wouldn't miss out on tv. Priorities!

[@randomstring200]

@@TallPaulTech Yes, but TV is different; would you be able to make a similar video but describing the technical details of DRM?

[@j7ndominica051]

You have to leave 200kHz gaps for the transmitters of the neighboring city to fit in. Otherwise you couldn't receive in the countryside area where both signals on the same frequency are equal in strength. Low deviation FM doesn't have the same fidelity. The SNR of a decoded digital codec is not a good measure. Digital adapts to the current average level, and can fall to absolute silence for infinite SNR. But at any instant the dynamic range is in the order of 10 to 30 dBs per subband depending on the bitrate. You get the familiar underwater sound and double speak. If the spectrum is "full" as in the case of rock music, then there is no spectral redundancy to extract. I don't see a need for even more local stations if most of them only transmit static music without new information. You could download a music collection of a particular theme instead. They could extend the FM band down to 65 MHz, and there already are radios that can receive it.

[@jamesthompson3517]

In the UK radio stations have highly compressed audio,even even with AAC codec being used. They seem ram in too many stations into a multiplex,which cause sound quality issues. Your favourite stations appear and go from multiplex from time to time. DAB is crap, there's more of varied selection in internet radio. I don't think DAB will be here for long .

[@richarddeane3039]

So how does digital radio work? I'm no wiser.

[@thingyee1118]

And do you have a license?

[@An.Individual]

What have they done with CWNE88?

[@cazarilolsen4630]

Is this the same as HD radio in the USA.?

[@degan6]

no

[@TallPaulTech]

I personally don't know what system they use over there, but let's just have a think about this.... they don't use the same digital tv standard as the rest of the world, they don't use the same electricity supply as most of the world, they get scared by the words 'metric system', so I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest they probably don't use the same system. They don't really play nicely with others, do they? :D

[@yannisgk]

lol@@TallPaulTech

[@j7ndominica051]

They shoveled so many low effort music stations in there. If they only play music like the background of a supermarket, they can download the music easily and just play it without a radio. 32 kbit/s in the 21st century is a disgrace. Nobody would have music files any less than 192 today. At good quality you can fit more stations. Count the money that it cost them to put up the new super expensive computerized transmitters. And the kickbacks they received from manufacturers.

[@jamess1787]

Tall Paul tech? How tall? +200cm?

[@ArclampSDR]

there is actually 4 ensembles now 9A 9B 9C and now 9D

[@TallPaulTech]

I know. Keep up kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJSXlWOla9CWY9k

[@paulhunter123]

well this goes way over my head i quit , i just want to know why DAB needs an 80's analogue aerial? and reception usually crap

[@willgrigg1779]

why is it that every time you release a video it is about something i had just recently developed an interest in?

[@CucamongaGuy]

It's kinda freaky... I just purchased the silver dongle two weeks ago on a whim.

[@joeltyler3427]

I can't even get digital radio on the Gold Coast. Even if the repeater is on Mount Tamborine.

[@TallPaulTech]

What are you using?

[@joeltyler3427]

@@TallPaulTech Sorry. I should of said it's not available on the Gold Coast.

[@programorprogrammed]

Who is this guy? What did you do with CWNE88?! lol

[@TallPaulTech]

Just some lunatic

[@eliotmansfield]

dont take this the wrong way - but you look more professional in a t-shirt rather than a wife-beater.

[@TallPaulTech]

Don't take this the wrong way... I don't really give a fuck what some random cunt on the Internet thinks.

[@vudu5vudu]

What he said.

[@eliotmansfield]

@@TallPaulTech Dont sugar coat it - tell me how you really feel 😎 73 R Fuck.

[@MaximumEfficiency]

So DAB will still be broadcasted over antennas? That's idiotic, instead of reducing RF pollution, we're increasing it!

[@jamess1787]

Radio is nearly dead, with all the streaming services and personal media.... Radio wont last long, death of FM will surely be the death of radio... Except for those hardcore enthusiasts and hams.

[@drjubierre]

I do not agree. FM will die by sure, but radio will live much longer than most current social platforms

[@TallPaulTech]

@@drjubierre Exactly.