European Space Agency to test Satellite Radio

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Conventional satellite radio, such as services offered by XM and Sirius, uses new satellites and networks of ground-based transmitters. This new European system, which has been in development for three years, uses existing communications satellites to send its radio or television signal. A group led by the European Space Agency (ESA) will demonstrate on Thursday what it calls "the multimedia car radio of the future" at the Noordwijk Space Expo in the Netherlands.

The key to the system was developing a specially designed, flat mobile antenna that could capture the signal from satellites built to broadcast to fixed dishes. The system consists of the new antenna and a hard drive built into a given car. Received signals are recorded, preventing audio or video playback from being interrupted and letting travelers pause/rewind/fast-forward through a program. Companies and organizations involved in the project include satellite TV company SES Astra, BMW, Deutsche Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Dornier Consulting, Deutsche Welle, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Institut fur Rundfunktechnik, Technische Universitat Braunschweig, and TriaGnoSys.

News source: CBC News

(1 reply) #1 Soham on 24 Jan 2007 - 22:55

I can't believe that Europe doesn't have satellite radio.

#1.1 westonb_2005 on 25 Jan 2007 - 00:57

Most of Europe, along with Africa, most of South Asia, and soon South America, does already have a satellite radio service avalable called Worldspace.

Edit: I guess they are taking North Africa and Europe offline for a while for upgrades and they are not accepting anymore subscriptions in that area.

Last edited by westonb_2005 on 25 Jan 2007 - 01:03

#2 TruckWEB on 24 Jan 2007 - 23:15

Yeah well, what they are going to have will probably be better than the crap we have with XM and Sirius. It's not that they don't give huge amount of choice, it's the VERY poor quality of the stream that kills it.

XM and Sirius are like low quality MP3 encoded at 48kbps or lower. Most of the time, my FM radio sound much better. We are FAR from near-CD quality.

#3 freeeekyyy on 24 Jan 2007 - 23:45

satellite music/talk is a stupid idea anyway. now, actual digital RADIO, like hd radio, is a good idea. it generally sounds much better, has no monthly fee, and doesn't eliminate local stations.

#4 TruckWEB on 25 Jan 2007 - 00:14

HD-Radio is nowhere to be found in Canada.... And their is no plan for it. So we only have XM or Sirius or better, plain FM radio.

#5 Croquant on 25 Jan 2007 - 08:10

Who actually NEEDS sat radio? Jebus, you people are spoiled.

(1 reply) #6 +Cheshire Cat on 25 Jan 2007 - 10:01

who needs radio??

Just slap in a cd and listen to music you want, rather than what some brain-dead DJ wants

#6.1 Glassed Silver on 24 Apr 2007 - 13:11

its good if you want to get to know the latest stuff and check it out before ~~downloading~~ buying

Glassed Silver:mac

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