The People of the Amazon will soon be covered by DRM shortwave as National Radio of the Amazon orders a 100 kW BT transmitter
The vast area of the Amazon known as the Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical ecosystem in the world, with rainforest covering roughly 40% of South America, stretching over ten countries in South America, and is almost as large as the United States! The rainforest is home to both large and small communities in very remote areas, some harvesting crops along the rivers and others in more secluded villages deep within the forests.
As you can imagine communication to these areas can be difficult so it was no surprise when at the end of last year, testing of DRM technology began using a transmitter of 2.5 kW with the digital power of just 1 kW.
Despite this low power of the transmitter supplied by BT Transmitters, recordings were reported from different regions of the country and even from North America and Europe.
As a result of these tests, the National Radio of the Amazon decided to use DRM shortwave transmissions to serve indigenous populations in the northern Amazon region.
At the sizable cost of $650,000 USD. Public broadcaster Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) ordered a 100 kW BT transmitter to broadcast in DRM at 11,780 kHz in the 25-meter band, an existing shortwave channel used by Rádio Nacional da Amazônia.
This is considered to be the first domestic DRM installation on a locally produced transmitter in Latin America.
Information from The Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium.
Image via https://amazonaid.org/
Picture this, a family huddled around the radio on Halloween, the sun is going down and a spooky story unfolds, everybody listens intently, imagination is working overtime, a bell chimes, there is a scream…. 
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