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Section I
INTRODUCTION
Product Description
The
INO
mini
703
is Inovonics’ third-generation “Mini-
Encoder” for the
Radio Data System,
or RDS. The 703
enables the FM broadcaster to implement many of the im-
portant RadioData functions with maximum ease and at a
minimum of expense.
When the European Radio Data System was adapted for use
in the U.S. it was renamed the
Radio Broadcast Data System
,
or “RBDS,” to differentiate it from the European standard.
Differences between the two versions were gradually recon-
ciled, and the term “RDS” may now be legitimately applied
to the system as practiced worldwide.
Product Features
Features of the Inovonics 703 include:
•
Scrolling-PS messaging is automatically ‘parsed,’ or
divided into word groups for proper presentation on
radio faceplates.
•
IDs, flags, static and scrolling messages are held in
non-volatile memory. This allows the encoder to be
programmed with any PC, whenever and wherever it’s
convenient, and then unplugged and relocated to a
remote transmitter site.
•
Programming software runs under Microsoft Win-
dows® with easy USB connectivity. Software is sup-
plied on a CD-ROM or may be downloaded from the
Inovonics Website. All programming may be verified
with the front-panel LCD readout.
•
The 703 locks to the 19kHz stereo pilot from a com-
posite/MPX sample; a dedicated stereo-gen ‘sync’
port is not necessary for operation. However, a com-
posite/MPX signal (or 19kHz sample) must be pro-
vided for the encoder to generate the 57kHz RDS
subcarrier..
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Product Specifications
Standards Supported:
European CENELEC and United
States NRSC.
RDS Applications Supported:
Groups 0A and 2A, which
include the following RDS features:
PS
Program Service Name
– the station identifier actual-
ly displayed on the radio faceplate. This may be a
fixed display with the station’s call letters:
WXYZ-FM
or its ‘street name’:
LIVE 105
, or a dynamic, ‘scrolling’
ID of up to 128 characters:
LIVE 105 PLAYING THE
GREATEST OLDIES from THE PAST AND THE BEST HITS OF
TODAY
.
PI
Program Identification
– identifies the station with a
unique hexadecimal code, its ‘digital ID.’ In North
America this is mathematically derived from station
call letters. The required calculation for US and Ca-
nadian stations is done within the Model 703 soft-
ware. In other countries the PI is assigned by an ap-
propriate radio authority and entered manually.
PTY Program Type
– PTY identifies the station format
from among 30 predefined categories. The PTY code
helps a ‘smart’ radio search for the listener’s pre-
ferred variety of programming. The PTY code
represents the primary difference between the Euro-
pean and American systems, as each system has a
different list of station program format varieties.
Both lists are supported by the Model 703 and the
proper list is presented automatically when the RDS
or RBDS operating mode is selected.
AF Alternative Frequency List
– a utility that can identi-
fy up to twenty-five rebroadcast ‘translators’ or net-
work sources of the identical program that is being
broadcast simultaneously at different frequencies.
The AF list helps RDS radios automatically re-tune to
the strongest signal carrying the programming.
RT Radio Text
– a 64-character block of plain text that
the listener can call up to scroll across the front pan-
el of RDS radios that have a TEXT or INFO button.
Radio Text can be used for promos, contests or ad-
vertising, and is additional to, and independent of,
