In a bid to serve Australia’s very unique radio market, Boston-based radio manufacturer Tivoli Audio has added AM (analog mediumwave) radio reception to its high-quality Tivoli Model One Digital FM/DAB+ receiver. The reason why these modifications were necessary is related to Australia’s geography and population distribution.
Virtually all Australians live on the coast, where FM and DAB+ stations are available. But journey into this continent’s sparsely populated desert interior, and the only stations that can be heard are those covering wide areas using AM transmission. “Through vast tracts of Australia if you don’t have AM you don’t have radio, says a listener.
Tivoli Audio had already a modified FM/DAB+ Model One Digital radio to suit specific markets. We did this to enter the Japanese market, where 90 percent of people listen to AM, 10 percent to FM, and there is no digital radio in use, said Pupino. So we changed the Model One Digital to support AM and FM, and started selling them in Japan.
Modifying the Model One Digital to receive AM as well as FM, DAB+, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi wasn’t easy. Our engineers achieved AM reception in the Model One Digital by physically shielding the AM circuits from the rest of the receiver’s digital electronics, said Pupino. Now that the Australian Model One Digital is available for sale, purchases have been brisk — and AM is the big selling feature. The price of the Tivoli One receiver is about US$344.
Read the full story in Radio World
DAB+ is well established in Australian metro areas but FM is still the major listening platform and AM (medium wave band) is in wide use both by public and commercial broadcasters. There are no government plans to close AM and FM in favour of DAB+.
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