In the bustling Vietnamese capital Hanoi this week, a team of Australian digital radio experts demonstrated DAB+ to local broadcasters, in a series of drive tests.

The tests, timed to coincide with the 2013 RadioAsia conference, marked the first time DAB+ has been broadcast in Hanoi.

Transmissions came from the top of the Voice of Vietnam headquarters in central Hanoi on a clear frequency at 229.072 MHz. Four VoV services were transmitted, with a varying range of bit rates between 32 kilobits per second up to 80 kbps, to demonstrate transmission quality at a range bit rates. A station logo picture, text and audio were all broadcast on each data stream.

The trial demonstrated:

• how to operate the field test system,
• the quality of different audio bit rates and coding methods,
• the impact of field strength on performance, in complex multipath situations,
• how DAB+ performs in dynamic environments

The broadcast technicians, who piled into the test van to listen to the broadcasts and monitor the test equipment, experienced DAB+ in their own environment for the first time.

Data was captured from an antenna on the van’s roof sitting about 2 meters above street level. The data was recorded in .csv files on a RadioScape field monitor, then files were displayed over a GoogleEarth map to show field strength coverage (click map to enlarge).

The coverage was as predicted and the results showed the robustness of the digital signal under various conditions. Groups of about 7 broadcasters each trip took to the streets at various times of the day for the test drive.

A half day World DMB workshop followed the field tests to explain the results to broadcasters and technicians attending the Radio Asia conference. In the workshop Joan Warner, who is chairperson of the WorldDMB Asia Pacific Committee, outlined the success of digital radio in Australia and shared tips on how to successfully launch digital services. Les Sabel, Wilson Ng and Kath Brown explained the test results and discussed receivers and digital content.

“With the analog signal being increasingly compromised, traditional media must build on its strengths – great content, live, local, mobile, intimate and social… Digital radio can stimulate new revenue streams and keep audiences listening longer,” said Warner.

World DMB Project Director Bernie O’Neill outlined the success of the DMB family of broadcast standards around the world and said receiver sales are growing, with 80 million digital receivers available now.

Dao Duy Hua, Vice president of the Radio and Electronics Association of Viet Nam and former Deputy Director General of VoV Radio, told workshop participants:

“This is a great opportunity for broadcasters to share and update knowledge and experiences, and help each other to improve their work, matching the pace with the world digital broadcasting standard.”

The president of Vietnam, who launched the RadioAsia conference this week, has given broadcasters a mandate to go digital and has launched a road map for the digitization of broadcasting between now and 2020. The Ministry of Communications and broadcasters are working together to achieve the goal.

Mr Dao said: “Nowadays, there are many standards not only for audio and television broadcast but for  telecommunication as well. Therefore, the very first problem in path to digitalize broadcast system, is picking the right standard. It must suit with our condition of current broadcasting systems, geography, terrains, humans, economy and digital receiver market.”

Although the process of going digital won’t be easy, Vietnamese broadcasters are confident they can achieve the goal by 2020.

Pic below: The temporary DAB+ transmission test antenna set up on top of the VoV building.