Blog Editor Note: This feature and more will be available in the new International Shortwave Broadcast Guide Winter 2016-2017 e-Book that will be released in the next few days on Amazon. Watch this site for an announcement of availability.
Story by Larry Van Horn, N5FPW
Most shortwave radio enthusiasts have heard of digital broadcast mode Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). DRM is a set of standards designed by a European consortium, and most commonly used for digital audio broadcasting and it is the only digital HF broadcasting mode authorized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) here in the United States.
DRM transmissions sporadically appear on the various broadcast bands and offer the listener high quality broadcast audio if the signal is strong enough for reception. There are also text stream, and other data sub-channels that can be imbedded in a DRM transmission streams.
For all the usual reasons, DRM has never caught on in North America. Among other problems, changing market forces had killed off most or all of the DRM-ready transmitting sites capable of a 12 dB signal to noise ratio to DRM capable receivers.
Recently while tuning outside the international shortwave broadcast bands, a Mojave Desert, California, DX’er nicknamed Token, came across some DRM transmissions on 5200 and 8000 kHz. The signals he monitored were using the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) in a tight waveform fitting the 10-kHz broadcast channel.
When he started decoding the DRM transmission what he found was not an voice audio broadcast, but instead a data sub-channel which identified itself as “USCG Journaline.” Journaline is a trademark of Fraunhofer IIS, in Germany. It’s a hierarchical data mode, using a “Journaline Markup Language” based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language). This is sent in one or more DRM data channels. It also works in DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting). It is currently being used by several broadcasters, including BBC and Deutsche Welle, for “multicast” information such as news stories and weather maps. While not interactive, it does give the user menus of data “objects” available for viewing. It somewhat resembles a very streamlined and compacted one-way version of what web browsers do.
Some quick research, by Token and Hugh Stegman, The Spectrum Monitor e-zine Utility Planet columnist, turned up that indeed, the U.S. Coast Guard was responsible for these DRM Journaline broadcasts.
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| COMMSTA Kodiak (Courtesy of USCG 17th District Blog) |
Subsequent research by the pair found the following U.S. government website entry: “The United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center has a requirement to procure, install and provide technical support for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) with High Frequency (HF) for testing in New London, CT and Kodiak AK.”
“Later amendments specify that the DRM equipment must work with existing (and nonlinear) HF transmitters by Rockwell Collins. The transmitting antenna must be the existing TCI 530. The receive antenna must be “suitable for installation on a medium-sized vessel (100-250 ft).” Another source, Doug Irwin in Radiomagonline, has the following information: “The USCG is very interested in testing the propagation characteristics of using DRM with High Frequency as a means to broadcast digital data for its ongoing project in the Northwest Passage. If successful, the USCG will investigate using the system to enhance existing means of distributing digital maritime safety information in the far north of the U.S.”
The Arctic region in recent years has become navigable in summer, and for the first time the fabled “Northwest Passage” actually exists as a shipping route. International groups have created new world navigation areas (NAVAREAs) for this region. The USCG has a number of testing programs regarding safety on this new frontier. Among other issues, these latitudes are a bit far north for geostationary satellites stationed in the “Clarke Belt.” That’s one of the reasons why we keep seeing interest in HF. The USCG became interested after a contractor called RFMondial reported the success of a similar system used by the German Navy. This one, according to the same source, “explored how to use encrypted data transmission for maritime broadcasting of information and entertainment to ships at sea.”
Utility DX Forum member Brendan Wahl WA7HL, a former U.S. Coast Guard radioman, dug further into the story by contacting the project office directly and passes along the following information regarding this new DRM service that the US Coast Guard is testing.
“The Next Generation Arctic Navigational Safety Information System (ANSIS) project is an ongoing U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC) project that is attempting to meet the challenge of disseminating Maritime Safety Information in the Arctic.
“I had a conference call on November 21, 2016, with the good folks at R&D to go over what can be offered by the monitoring community and me to their experiment. They are quite interested in reports that are as detailed as possible. I am running the DReaM software here and using DRMPlot to produce graphs of my logs, and they like those graphs very much!”
Officials associated with the project told Brendan, "For a variety of reasons we ended up with DRM over HF. It is where the data rate would allow transmission of detailed weather, ice edge, and notice to mariner's information, as well as electronic chart updates. A one year field test is being conducted in Alaska. We completed installation during the week of October 23, 2016. We have been working with RFMondial and Fraunhofer. We are transmitting (at around 800 watts) from Kodiak and our receive equipment is in Cordova (shore side and aboard the buoy tender). We have 10 authorized frequencies to use between 2.45 and 29.9 MHz. But have reduced them to the six lowest frequencies.
"Initial research indicates that lower frequencies are best, so we came up with a schedule for these transmissions. The test will go for one year, so we may change this schedule at some point to maximize reception."
Brendan further asked about the antenna system and they confirmed that they are using a TCI 530 antenna (omnidirectional and NVIS).
He also addressed to the Coast Guard the frequencies being used for the test since two of them are in broadcast bands and he relayed his concerns about directly adjacent and on-frequency interference from much higher powered broadcasters.
The project office said that the frequencies may or may not change, as it was apparently difficult to arrange what they did get allocated. Currently they are 2450, 5200, 6850, 8000, 9900, and 12100 kilohertz (kHz) with three more inactive higher frequencies in reserve. The transmission site is located in Kodiak, Alaska, (Coast Guard call sign NOJ) and it is the only transmitter site for this experiment at present. The precise location of the station is at 57.778455N, 152.526588W.
Brendan also received a current schedule of dates/times/frequencies for these broadcasts for the next year and we have included that information below. The broadcasts are on 24 hours a day and last until the next frequency change in the schedule. Reception reports may be emailed directly to the R&D Center in New London at the following email address: drminfo@uscg.mil.
If anyone has any questions, you can contact Brendan via the UDXF group and feel free to contact him there and he will contact members of the group conducting the test to get answers you may have.
We appreciate The Spectrum Monitor, Utility Planet columnist Hugh Stegman, Token in the Mojave, the UDXF newsgroup, and Brendan Wahl, WA7HL, located in Bellingham, Washington, for their assistance in preparing this article.
USCG Journaline Simplified Broadcast Schedule
Start Time/Date (UTC) Frequency (kHz)
16:00 12/2/2016 12100 16:00 12/5/2016 2450
16:00 12/7/2016 6850 16:00 12/9/2016 5200
16:00 12/12/2016 8000 16:00 12/14/2016 2450
16:00 12/16/2016 9900 16:00 12/19/2016 12100
16:00 12/21/2016 2450 16:00 12/23/2016 6850
16:00 12/26/2016 5200 16:00 12/28/2016 8000
16:00 12/30/2016 2450 16:00 1/2/2017 9900
16:00 1/4/2017 5200 16:00 1/6/2017 12100
16:00 1/9/2017 2450 16:00 1/11/2017 6850
16:00 1/13/2017 5200 16:00 1/16/2017 8000
16:00 1/18/2017 2450 16:00 1/20/2017 9900
16:00 1/23/2017 12100 16:00 1/25/2017 2450
16:00 1/27/2017 6850 16:00 1/30/2017 5200
16:00 2/1/2017 8000 16:00 2/3/2017 2450
16:00 2/6/2017 9900 16:00 2/8/2017 5200
16:00 2/10/2017 12100 16:00 2/13/2017 2450
16:00 2/15/2017 6850 16:00 2/17/2017 5200
16:00 2/20/2017 8000 16:00 2/22/2017 2450
16:00 2/24/2017 9900 16:00 2/27/2017 12100
16:00 3/1/2017 2450 16:00 3/3/2017 6850
16:00 3/6/2017 5200 16:00 3/8/2017 8000
16:00 3/10/2017 2450 16:00 3/13/2017 9900
16:00 3/15/2017 5200 16:00 3/17/2017 12100
16:00 3/20/2017 2450 16:00 3/22/2017 6850
16:00 3/24/2017 5200 16:00 3/27/2017 8000
16:00 3/29/2017 2450 16:00 3/31/2017 9900
16:00 4/3/2017 12100 16:00 4/5/2017 2450
16:00 4/7/2017 6850 16:00 4/10/2017 5200
16:00 4/12/2017 8000 16:00 4/14/2017 2450
16:00 4/17/2017 9900 16:00 4/19/2017 5200
16:00 4/21/2017 12100 16:00 4/24/2017 2450
16:00 4/26/2017 6850 16:00 4/28/2017 5200
16:00 5/1/2017 8000 16:00 5/3/2017 2450
16:00 5/5/2017 9900 16:00 5/8/2017 12100
16:00 5/10/2017 2450 16:00 5/12/2017 6850
16:00 5/15/2017 5200 16:00 5/17/2017 8000
16:00 5/19/2017 2450 16:00 5/22/2017 9900
16:00 5/24/2017 5200 16:00 5/26/2017 12100
16:00 5/29/2017 2450 16:00 5/31/2017 6850
16:00 6/2/2017 5200 16:00 6/5/2017 8000
16:00 6/7/2017 2450 16:00 6/9/2017 9900
16:00 6/12/2017 12100 16:00 6/14/2017 2450
16:00 6/16/2017 6850 16:00 6/19/2017 5200
16:00 6/21/2017 8000 16:00 6/23/2017 2450
16:00 6/26/2017 9900 16:00 6/28/2017 5200
16:00 6/30/2017 12100 16:00 7/3/2017 2450
16:00 7/5/2017 6850 16:00 7/7/2017 5200
16:00 7/10/2017 8000 16:00 7/12/2017 2450
16:00 7/14/2017 9900 16:00 7/17/2017 12100
16:00 7/19/2017 2450 16:00 7/21/2017 6850
16:00 7/24/2017 5200 16:00 7/26/2017 8000
16:00 7/28/2017 2450 16:00 7/31/2017 9900
16:00 8/2/2017 5200 16:00 8/4/2017 12100
16:00 8/7/2017 2450 16:00 8/9/2017 6850
16:00 8/11/2017 5200 16:00 8/14/2017 8000
16:00 8/16/2017 2450 16:00 8/18/2017 9900
16:00 8/21/2017 12100 16:00 8/23/2017 2450
16:00 8/25/2017 6850 16:00 8/28/2017 5200
16:00 8/30/2017 8000 16:00 9/1/2017 2450
16:00 9/4/2017 9900 16:00 9/6/2017 5200
16:00 9/8/2017 12100 16:00 9/11/2017 2450
16:00 9/13/2017 6850 16:00 9/15/2017 5200
16:00 9/18/2017 8000 16:00 9/20/2017 2450
16:00 9/22/2017 9900 16:00 9/25/2017 12100
16:00 9/27/2017 2450 16:00 9/29/2017 6850
16:00 10/2/2017 5200 16:00 10/4/2017 8000
16:00 10/6/2017 2450 16:00 10/9/2017 9900
16:00 10/11/2017 5200 16:00 10/13/2017 12100
16:00 10/16/2017 2450 16:00 10/18/2017 6850
16:00 10/20/2017 5200 16:00 10/23/2017 8000
16:00 10/25/2017 2450 16:00 10/27/2017 9900
16:00 10/30/2017 12100