Astra digital radio

Astra digital radio logo

Astra Digital Radio (ADR) was the name for a digital radio transmission system that was mainly used for broadcasts via the Astra 1 satellites at 19.2 ° East until April 30, 2012.

history

ADR was introduced in 1995 as part of the 40th Berlin International Radio Exhibition (August 26th to September 3rd) and made it possible to transmit a digital radio program in stereo via a subcarrier of an analog satellite television program. Data was reduced in the Musicam format ( MPEG 1, Layer II , better known as MP2). The data rate was always 192 kBit / s with 48 kHz. Special receivers that are not compatible with the digital transmission standard DVB-S were required to receive ADR . For a short time there were not only broadcasts on Astra but also individual broadcasts via the Eutelsat satellites on 13 ° East, for example by Radio Polonia .

In Germany, ADR replaced the digital satellite radio (DSR) for direct satellite reception, which never exceeded 16 broadcast stations and was switched off after ten years on January 16, 1999. With DSR, the sound quality was better because of the uncompressed transmission, but because of the variety of German programs, ADR had reached many times the number of DSR users in Germany, but without finding mass distribution. At the height of ADR in the late 1990s, practically all VHF programs from the ARD stations, almost all channels from the Swiss SRG and around ten private radios could be heard via the system via Astra satellites . This program selection was unique at the time and was only achieved in 2005 using the DVB-S standard.

In addition to direct reception, ADR was also used to simplify signal feed to transmission systems and cable head stations .

Many ADR features were only used half-heartedly by the stations. For example, the option to display the title name and artist was initially only used by very few broadcasters. ADR also had the disadvantage that it could not be distributed as a package in the cable (the DSR package with 16 programs was also fed into the cable). The program offer quickly concentrated on German channels. In the meantime, the sale of ADR receivers in Germany has been completely stopped, only used devices are available.

When all analogue satellite TV and radio programs were switched off on April 30, 2012, broadcasting of radio stations from Germany in ADR mode was discontinued. Before that, all private broadcasters had given up broadcasting via ADR. The public service SRG SSR idée suisse from Switzerland had stopped its ADR broadcasts at the end of 2004. The Saarländischer Rundfunk stopped broadcasting its programs at the beginning of 2006. Radio Bremen ended the broadcast of its radio programs Bremen Eins and Nordwestradio via ADR in June 2009; RadioBOB on July 26th, 2011 and now feeds its FM frequencies via an IP-based solution.

Replacement by DVB-S

The much more widespread DVB-S standard, with which an even larger number of radio programs can be received, is a replacement for the ADR offer. Since August 19, 2005, almost all ARD radio stations have been broadcast on the Astra 1M's own radio transponder 93 (12266 MHz) in the DVB-S standard. This also includes stations that could not previously be heard via satellite.