The Kothagudem-based All India Radio (AIR) Station is all set to embrace the digital technology for improving its transmission quality and expanding its reach beyond the primary expected coverage area.
The AIR station in the coal town, an over two-and-a-half decades old facility, is poised to convert its transmission system to the digital mode.
This will help the station ensure enhanced coverage with improved sound quality. The digitisation of radio transmission will also facilitate expanding its coverage to some of the shadow zones in the district.
Khammam town, Aswaraopeta and several other places, including in plain as well as hilly areas, are identified as “shadow areas” plagued by poor transmission of radio signals during a survey conducted by the AIR staff recently, sources said.
Kothagudem AIR station earned wide accolades for broadcasting diverse range of programmes of both entertainment and informative value for its listeners mainly concentrated in the coal belt region of Kothagudem and the tribal sub-plan mandals in Bhadrachalam division. The station relays live radio commentary of Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsavam from Bhadrachalam, the abode of Lord Sitaramachandra Swamy, on Sri Rama Navami festival day every year.
The existing old transmitter in the radio station will be replaced with the digital transmitter soon, said K Shankar Rao, Transmission Executive, AIR, Kothagudem.
The digital equipment has already arrived from Chennai and it is about to be installed by the trained personnel in a few weeks, he said, adding that the digitisation will significantly improve the coverage of the radio programmes.
The listeners in Khammam town will also be able to access the Kothagudem AIR programmes with a better reception quality. Listeners are evincing keen interest in the live phone-in programmes on agriculture, health and other important topics being aired by our radio station, he remarked.
The equipment has already arrived from Chennai and it will be installed in a few weeks
