The Morphy Richards 27024 is the first radio that can receive all of Europe’s digital and analogue broadcast radio standards.
Within lies
RadioScape’s RS500 module, which provides reception for DAB on Band-III and L-Band; DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) on LW, MW and SW; FM with RDS; and AM on LW, MW and SW. It includes AMSS (RDS-like data for AM), automatic alternative frequency switching (AFS), DAB’s electronic
programme guide, SD Card recording for DAB and DRM, and playback of MP3/WMA files. It is not clear if all of these functions are implemented on the 27024.
DRM is the digital broadcast standard that fits an audio channel exactly into a standard 9kHz MW, LW or SW slot, and therefore allows digital and analogue stations to be mixed and matched across Europe.
“There is a huge amount of collaborative effort behind the rollout of DRM,” said John Sykes,
digital radio project director at BBC World Service. “Manufacturers, retailers and broadcasters are working together to help make this happen as quickly as possible.”
The Morphy Richards radio became available in the UK last week through German firm 004 GmbH. 004 has been selling these radios through its Germany-only website for a while.
“The DRM/DAB radios have been selling well and so we have put in a further two orders for more to meet demand,” said 004 CEO Robert Hein.