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Tuesday, December 29, 2020

New Mid Season DRM Schedule

 KTWR will be airing DRM From January 2021 onwards.  The frequencies and times are listed below and all broadcasts will be in English.

Frequency    Time                    Day                        Designated Coverage Area        Language

9910kHz    1130-1200UTC    Saturday                  Japan                                          English

9910kHz    1058-1129UTC    Saturday                  China                                           English

13800kHz  1026-1056UTC    Sunday                    India                                            English

Monday, December 21, 2020

Receiving DRM broadcasts

Suggestions when receiving DRM broadcasts.

Since many listeners use Software Defined Radio's (SDR) We thought it would be helpful to share a few links to tools that may assist you in receiving and decoding DRM.

Once an SDR has been chosen there are several free or donation type Windows PC software that can be used to receive the RF signals carrying the DRM encoded program.

A few popular RF reception software programs are:

Console from SDR-Radio.com 

SDR Sharp

HD SDR

SDR Uno

If you agree with us that these software packages work well for you, we highly recommend supporting the developers.

When Run from a PC the SSB (10khz wide for DRM30) received audio will need to be routed to a DRM decoder.  This can be accomplished by using physical cables or a virtual audio cable software.

The most popular DRM decoding software is Open Source DREAM.

There are various builds of DREAM that have been contributed over the years.  Each version uses some unique methods for dealing with data broadcasts, some implement the ability to view slide shows or web data services.  For instance the Version 2.1.1 decodes Web very well, but does not decode slide show's well.  Details of DREAM can be found on the DREAM Wiki page.

An all in one RF reception and decoding application for windows PC's that is very impressive and currently works very well with SDR Play (RSP1) devices is the Algorkorea DRM4WIN software.  This software is very reliable and comes with scheduling capability for viewing / recording audio or full DRM presentations at a very reasonable price.  We have been told by the developer that the software will also support RTL type SDR's in the near future.


The companion DRMTX4WIN is a great tool for experimenting with DRM and can be used to create DRM presentations that can be delivered to an audio device or saved and then played back and decoded with DRM4WIN

At only $5 for both programs - these tools add a great benefit to your DRM reception endeavors. 

For more information contact ssjarng1@gmail.com ~ Algorkorea Co. Ltd. 2020

If you use Android and want to experiment with DRM, the Android versions of the Algorkorea  decoders will work with a headphone audio input or SDR direct.  The SDRPlay type receiver is DRM+Msi  and RTL Device users can try DRM+SDR  Android Device drivers (SDRPlaydriver, RTLdriver) will be needed as well as an On the Go cable (OTG) to power the SDR from the Android device.

Lastly - The key to a good DRM reception experience is your Antenna.  Locating the Antenna away from your computing device is important.  Shielding and grounding is also important.  Many types of Antennas can be found online and the designs can be adjusted to your unique location.  One of the best performing DRM antenna that we have used is a noise canceling mobius loop.

These antennas can be purchased with many models available on shopping networks or can be home made.  The benefit of a loop antenna is its ability to cancel out noise by its driven element and also by rotating the antenna away from the noise source.

Your Friends at KTWR wish you well in your DRM reception adventures and would love to hear if your receive our broadcast and how your equipment works!

May you have a Joyous Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year!

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

KTWR Christmas DRM Broadcasts

KTWR will be airing special Christmas broadcasts in DRM later this month. The frequencies and times will be the same as we use for the current DRM broadcasts. All broadcasts will be in English. (We hope to do this in more languages next year.)

Frequency    Time                    Date                        Designated Coverage Area

7500kHz    1246-1315UTC    20-23 December          Japan

9910kHz    1057-1130UTC    19, 20-26 December    China

13800kHz  1026-1056UTC    20-25 December          India

Merry Christmas from KTWR


Japanese DRM Move

It seems that there is quite a bit of support for moving our Japanese DRM broadcast to Saturdays on 9910kHz at 1130-1200UTC. Not only did we receive only positive feedback from listeners about the proposed move, we had to move this block due to a scheduling conflict. 

Now that the sun has ramped up activity, propagation for the new time should be very good. We also believe that there will be less interference than we currently have on 7500kHz. We hope you will have an easier time listening to the broadcasts after the move.

73 de KTWR

Good News

After some hick-ups were resolved, it turns out that KTWR will be able to air the DXers Diary program. The first air date will be 3 January. This will be a weekly 5-minute program inserted in our English DRM broadcast on 13800kHz on Sundays at 1026-1056UTC. While this broadcast is beamed toward  India, many listeners are picking this up in Southeast Asia, southern China, Europe, and beyond.

This program is designed to make it easy for listeners to contribute to the advancement of the DX hobby. You may send log entries and other discussion contributions to dxersdiary@gmail.com.

73 from KTWR



Monday, November 9, 2020

Possible Move for Japanese DRM Block

Hi again. We have heard from a couple of Japanese DRM listeners that the current 1245-1315UTC block we air on Sunday is a bit late. We could move it to 1130-1200UTC on Saturday. This would put it immediately after our Chinese DRM block on 9910kHz. We have already gotten reports that the Chinese block is easier to receive in Japan than our Sunday Japanese broadcast. If we move it to Saturday at 1130UTC, we would use 9910kHz with a beam heading of 350 degrees. Due to the better propagation, more direct heading, and higher antenna gain, we would reduce the power output to 50kW. That should still provide a very strong signal to most of Japan. (There will some months when Hokkaido gets a weak signal, but that is also true with the current broadcast.)

Before we make this move, we would like to get more feedback from our Japanese audience. Please let us know whether you prefer the current time on Sunday or the earlier time on Saturday. You may contact us at by commenting to this post or via email at ktwrdrm@twr.org. Thanks for your help.

73 and may the Lord be with you.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Bad News

We are sorry to report that KTWR will not be able to broadcast "DXers' Diary". After fine-tuning the program to make it broadcast-ready, we found out that TWR cannot air it for non-technical reasons. The team at KTWR was really looking forward to having this on the air. We hope to find a good home for this program on another broadcaster.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

New DRM Schedule for B20

It's hard to believe that the B20 broadcast season starts this Sunday! It truns out that there will only be a slight change to KTWR's DRM broadcasts. The B20 DRM schedule is shown below:

Day               Time (UTC)    Frequency    Region        Language
Sunday         1026-1056    13800 kHz       India         English
Sunday         1245-1315    7500 kHz        Japan        Japanese
Saturday       1057-1130    9910 kHz        China        Mandarin/Cantonese

73 de NH2MS

Friday, September 4, 2020

Special DRM Broadcast week September 6-11

 

Listen to DRM tests everyday this week!

This is your chance to try out your DRM reception capabilities.

KTWR will be conducting daily test DRM broadcasts and each day we will be testing different DRM modes of transmission. 

This broadcast will be on 15200khz in the 19 meter band directed toward listeners in India. 

We look forward to receiving your feedback and hope that you enjoy these programs. 

Please contact us with your location and SNR and reception details by emailing ktwrDRM@twr.org.


Our Test schedule:

KTWR DRM Receiver Test Broadcast Schedule September 6 - 11, 2020

 
TIME UTC    Sept 6   16 QAM SBR Change  - Data service: Mot web

1027-1041       S1 English TX7 AAC B/16QAM No SBR Mono PL0, - English Metadata 

                        S2 MOTweb 

1041-1057       S1 English TX7 AAC B/16QAM SBR Mono PL1, - English Metadata 

                        S2 MOTweb 



TIME UTC    Sept 7   64QAM/ SBR Change,  No SBR PL1 to SBR PL2 - Data service:  Slides


1027-1041       S1 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM No SBR Mono PL1, - English Metadata 

                        S2 Slides 

1041-1057       S1 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM SBR Mono PL2, - English Metadata 

                        S2 Slides 



TIME UTC    Sept 8    Param Stereo PL0 – low bit rate, high protection - No Data Service

1027-1057       S1 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM Param Stereo PL0 – English Metadata

 

TIME UTC    Sept 9   Dual Language & UTF-8 Text, protection High/Low - No Data Service

1027-1057        S1 Tamil TX7 AAC B/64QAM No SBR Mono PL0 - Tamil Metadata

                         S2 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM No SBR Mono PL0 - English Metadata

1041-1057        S1 Tamil TX7 AAC B/64QAM No SBR Mono PL1 - Tamil Metadata

                         S2 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM No SBR Mono PL1 - English Metadata
                        


TIME UTC    Sept 10   QAM change 16 to 64 - Data service: Journaline


1027-1041       S1 English TX7 AAC B/16QAM No SBR Mono PL0, - English Metadata

                        S2 Journaline

1041-1057       S1 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM SBR Mono PL1, - English Metadata

                        S2 Journaline

 

TIME UTC    Sept 11  Param Stereo PL1 – high bit rate, low protection - No Data Service

1027-1057       S1 English TX7 AAC B/64QAM Param Stereo PL1 – English Metadata

Saturday, June 27, 2020

KTWR Mid Season Schedule

KTWR A 2020 Schedule

KTWR Program Schedule - Spring/Summer Schedule   Effective July 5, 2020
Trans World Radio  P.O. Box 6095 Merizo, Guam 96916 USA  

Digital (DRM):

Day               Time (UTC)    Frequency    Region        Language
Sunday         1026-1056    15200 kHz       India         English
Sunday         1245-1315    7500 kHz        Japan        Japanese
Saturday       1057-1130    9910 kHz        China        Mandarin/Cantonese

Analog:
                    
Target    Language        UTC                Days           Frequency / MB    Program    
 China    
                Mandarin      1130-1200     Sunday        9910/31                The Lord's Challenge, Macedonian Call   
                Mongolian    1100-1115     Mon - Sun   9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Cantonese   1350-1400     Mon - Fri      9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Mandarin    1115-1145     Mon - Sun      12120/25              The Straight Path   
                Hakka         1145-1200     Mon - Sun      12120/25              Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Mandarin    1200-1215     Mon - Sun      9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Nosu Yi       1215-1230     Sun - Sat       9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Mandarin    1200-1215     Sun - Fri         9910/31                God Remembers Them   
                Mandarin    1315-1345     Saturday        9975/31                 Hope for Today, Macedonian Call   
                Hakka         1315-1330     Mon - Fri        9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Mandarin    1330-1345     Mon - Fri        9975/31                 Son-Lift - Do You Know   
                Mandarin    1345-1350     Mon - Fri        9975/31                 A Word with You   
                Mandarin    1315-1345     Sunday          9975/31                 The Word Today, Hope for Today
                English        1100-1130     Sunday          9910/31                 Unlimited Grace   
 Korea   
                Korean         1400-1415     Mon - Fri    7510/41                Your Quest for God, TWR Seminary
                                                                                                               (Pray School  - Thu, Rediscovery the Gospel - Friday & Sun)   
                Korean         1345-1400    Mon - Fri, Sun     7510/41           Bible reading   
                Korean         1445-1500    Mon - Tue, Thu-Fri 7510/41        Music Walk   
                Korean         1445-1500     Wednesday    7510/41               Lets Talk About Something   
                Korean         1315-1345     Mon - Fri        7510/41               With You   
                Korean         1400-1415     Saturday        7510/41                 Truth in a Test Tube   
                Korean         1415-1445     Saturday        7510/41                 Women of Hope   
                Korean         1345-1515     Saturday        7510/41                 Writers Drawer   
                Korean         1415-1445     Wed - Fri        7510/41                 TWR Seminary   
                Korean         1415-1445     Sunday           7510/41                 Sunday Service   
                Korean         1415-1445     Mon & Tue     7510/41                 Bible School Basics    
                Korean         1445-1515     Sunday           7510/41                 Gospel Train   
                Korean         1445-1515     Saturday        7510/41                 History of Doctrine Christian Faith   
                Korean         1500-1515     Mon - Fri        7510/41                 Light & Life   
                Korean         1515-1545    Mon, Sat, Sun     7510/41         Discovery Bible Study   
                English         1315-1345     Saturday        7510/41             Unlimited Grace   
 Japan    
                Japanese    1215-1245     Sunday         7500/41             B Japan - Friendship Radio   
 South East Asia     
                 English         1100-1105     Mon-Fri     11965/25            Reaching Your World   
                 English         1105-1120     Mon-Fri     11965/25            Running to Win   
                 English         1120-1135     Tuesday - Friday11965/25   Grace Notes - Tue, Search for Truth - Wed,
                                                                                                        Bread of Life - Thur, Hope for Tomorrow - Fri,
                                                                                                        Reaching Your World, Running to Win   
                 English         1100-1130     Sunday         11965/25         Unlimited Grace   
 South Pacific     
                 English         1000-1015     Saturday     11995/25             Bread of Life   
                 English         1000-1025     Mon - Fri     11995/25             Running to Win, Reaching Your World
                 English         1015-1045     Saturday     11995/25             Unlimited Grace   
 Indonesia     
                 Madurese     1000-1030     Mon - Fri     11965/25            Thru the Bible   
                 Sundanese   1030-1100     Mon - Fri     11965/25            Thru the Bible   
                 English          1000-1030     Sunday        11965/25            Unlimited Grace   
                 Indonesian    1030-1100     Sunday        11965/25            Women of Hope   
                 Indonesian    1045-1100     Saturday     11965/25             News of Truth   
                 Javanese      1030-1045     Saturday      11965/25             News of Truth   
 Myanmar     
                 Burmese         1145-1215     Mon - Fri     12040/25            Thru the Bible   
                 Burmese         1145-1215     Saturday     12040/25            Macedonian Call, The Word Today   
                 S'gaw Karen   1215-1245     Mon - Fri     12040/25           Thru the Bible   
                 S'gaw Karen   1215-1230     Sunday        12040/25             The Word Today   
 Vietnam     
                 Vietnamese     1245-1300     Sunday          9975/31         The Word Today   
                 Vietnamese     1245-1315     Saturday       9975/31         Women of Hope   
 South Asia     
                 Kok Borok       1245-1315     Mon - Fri       9910/31         Thru the Bible   
                 Manapuri         1300-1315     Sunday          9910/31         The Word Today   
                 Nepali              1300-1315     Saturday       9910/31         Jiwan ko Roti   
                 Assamese      1215-1245     Mon - Fri       9910/31         Thru the Bible    

DRM Web Service

Starting today 27 June 2020 we will test web service over DRM on the English, Japanese and Chinese broadcasts.

Please report back if you are able to receive the web information along with the Audio Service and what tools you use to decode / display DRM media to ktwrdrm@twr.org