Danmon Systems Group Completes DR DAB+ Contract

Danmon Systems Group has completed a project for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) to design, integrate and commission a complete DAB+ radio headend system.

The installation is located at the network's headquarters, DR Byen, in Copenhagen, and includes full redundancy with automatic switchover between the primary and secondary circuits. Installation, documentation, commissioning and training were included in the contract.

"Digital Audio Broadcasting as a standard has been in use by broadcasters around the world for exactly 20 years," comments Danmon Systems Group Deputy Managing Director Peter Thomsen. "It is a good technology where the signal strength is high but less effective in marginal reception areas. DAB+ is much more efficient in its use of transmission bandwidth and creates a more robust signal stream. DAB+ sound quality can be very high. The new service will be introduced on all ten DR Regional P4 radio stations, DR News, and six commercial radio stations.

"The system we have provided includes Telos Axia Livewire nodes which convert source audio into an AES digital audio stream. This is then forwarded via an audio-over-IP link to AVT Ensemble multiplexers and AVT DAB+ monitoring decoders. Grass Valley AES probes are used to check audio quality. These are operated using DR's existing Grass Valley iControl system.

"For greatest possible safety, the secondary system is installed in a separate DR equipment room rather than in the same area as the primary equipment. The two systems are linked via optical fibre. The DAB+ signal will be forwarded to the 66 transmission antennas around Denmark."

Photo: DR headquarters at DR Byen (DR City), Copenhagen

www.danmonsystems.com

www.dr.dk

(JP)