This weekend, VOA Radiogram will be all MFSK32. It will include an item in Russian. You will need theUTF-8 character set to decode the Cyrillic text. In Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts > set Rx/Tx Character set to UTF-8.Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 166, 4-5 June 2016, all in MFSK32:

1:34  Program preview

2:55  50 Cent Party supports China on Internet*

8:26  US Embassy in Beijing takes break from social media*

14:18  RFE/RL will end shortwave transmissions in Russian* **

21:44  Train trip in Alaska*

26:04  Closing announcements*

* with image

** Russian text requires UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi:

Configure > Colors & Fonts > set Rx/Tx Character set to UTF-8.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

(all days and times UTC):

Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz

Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will broadcast to North America for only one hour this weekend: Sunday at 0000-0100 UTC (Saturday 8-9 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0030 UTC. Reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and other modes on its usual schedule: Sunday 2130-2200 on 15770 kHz, and 2330-2400 UTC on 11580 kHz, both via WRMI in Florida. And Monday at 2000-2030 UTC on 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 in Germany. Also listen for DigiDX on 6070kHz (Channel 292) every day at 1830-1900 UTC (co-channel with Vatican Radio: a good test of the modes) and 0530-0600 (reception in the Americas might be possible.) Consult http://www.digidx.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any schedule changes. 

Looking ahead to VOA Radiogram for the last two weekends of May 2016:

Program 164, 21-22 May 2016 will begin with an MFSK32 introduction, then transmit the same VOA Science World item about boiling water on Mars in Olivia 64-2000, Olivia 32-1000, and Olivia 16-800.  This will be a chance to compare the performance of these three modes, which all have speeds in the 20-30 wpm range. The program will conclude in MFSK32 with an image and closing announcements.  

Program 165, 28-29 May 2016 will consist of six science images from the VOA Science World Blog. All of these will be in MFSK32, although the sixth, showing a Falcon 9 rocket launch, will be transmitted in both MFSK32 and MFSK64. Images in MFSK32 and MFSK64 require the same amount of time to transmit; the MFSK64 image has more resolution but is more susceptible to interference. After the MFSK64 image, VOA Radiogram will return to MFSK32 for closing announcements.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC schedule has been changing in recent weeks. Try Sunday at 0000 UTC (Saturday 8 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz (via Germany), with the broadcast continuing until 0200. The minute of MFSK32 will be at about 0130 UTC. Consult http://kbcradio.eu or http://facebook.com/themightykbc for updates on the schedule. Reports for KBC reception and decodes to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com. 

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and perhaps other modes on its usual schedule:

Sunday 2130-2200 UTC - 15770kHz via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330-2400 UTC - 11580kHz via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000-2030 UTC - 6070kHz via Channel 292 Germany

Consult https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

VOA Radiogram this weekend will be all MFSK32, except for the transmission schedule in Olivia 64-2000 under the closing music. The show will include six MFSK images.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 163, 14-15 May 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:34  Program preview

2:46  Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile*

8:42  UK government review of the BBC*

14:29  RFE/RL Crimea website blocked*

18:35  Radio/TV Martí now receiving letters direct from Cuba*

23:11  Image from South Pole Journal*

26:36  Closing announcements*

28:15  Olivia 64-2000: Transmission schedule under music

*  with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

(all days and times UTC):

Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz

Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC has a different transmission schedule this weekend: To North America Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC on 9925 kHz, via Germany, with a minute of MFSK32 at about 0130 UTC. And to Europe Sunday at 0800-1000 UTC on 6095 kHz, also via Germany, with the minute of MFSK32 at about 0830 UTC. Reports for KBC reception and decoding to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and perhaps other modes on its usual schedule:

Sunday 2130-2200 UTC - 15770kHz via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330-2400 UTC - 11580kHz via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000-2030 UTC - 6070kHz via Channel 292 Germany

Consult https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

Lately we have been trying to determine why some listeners have less success with Olivia 64-2000 than with MFSK32, even though, in theory, Olivia 64-2000 should be more robust. I suggested that the problem might be related to the bandwidth of the receiver, given that Olivia 64-2000 is 2000 Hz wide.

Christopher, K6FIB, a key adviser to VOA Radiogram, thinks the performance of Olivia is related to the processing power of the PC or the mobile device. Paul in Europe provided evidence of this in his TIVAR Android shoot-out.

Other listeners wonder if it could be other components, such as the microphones on Android devices, which would be important if acoustic coupling from the radio to the device is used.

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include an eight-minute story in Olivia 64-2000. This will allow further experimentation. If we enjoy poor reception conditions, the experiments will be even more interesting.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 162, 7-8 May 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:34  Program preview

2:41  Rubbish-burning experiment in Norway*

7:55  Olivia 64-2000: UAE may make mountain to change climate*

18:34  MFSK32: FCC considers change to amateur data regulations*

23:37  Closing announcements*

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at about 0220 UTC (Saturday 10:20 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. This is part of the KBC broadcast to North America at 0000-0300 UTC on 9925 kHz. Please send reception reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and perhaps other modes on its usual schedule:

Sunday 2130 UTC - 15770kHz via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330 UTC - 11580kHz via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000 UTC - 6070kHz via Channel 292 Germany

Consult https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will include a news item in Olivia 64-2000. This might be an opportunity to investigate why some listeners do not have successful decodes of this mode. One way to do this is to use two radios, with two different bandwidths. The hypothesis is that a wider bandwidth should work better with the wide Olivia 64-2000 mode. You could decode “live” from one radio while recording  from the other radio for later decoding.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 161, 30 April-1 May 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:33  Program preview
2:43  Russia launches rocket from new cosmodrome*
6:44  Freedom House press freedom report*
14:01  Olivia 64-2000: Dwarf planet has a moon*
23:31  MFSK32: Old RFE/RL transmitting site in Spain*
26:07  Closing announcements*

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at about 0220 UTC (Saturday 10:20 pm EDT) on its new summer frequency of 9925 kHz, via Germany. This is part of the KBC broadcast to North America, 0000-0300 UTC. Eric will want to know how the new 9925 kHz frequency is working, so please send reports to themightykbc@gmail.com .

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and perhaps other modes on its usual schedule:

Sunday 2130 UTC - 15770kHz via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330 UTC - 11580kHz via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000 UTC - 6070kHz via Channel 292 Germany

Consult https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

This weekend, all the content will be in MFSK32, except for the transmission schedule in Olivia 64-2000 mixed with the closing music.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 160, 23-24 April 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:34  Program preview

2:44  Can AC and DC power integrate?*

12:13  Radio Farda TV signal jammed in Iran*

16:38  New report finds media freedom declined globally*

26:53  Closing announcements*

28:17  Olivia 64-2000: Frequency schedule under music

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.  

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at about 0220 UTC (Saturday 10:20 pm EDT) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. This is part of KBC’s North America broadcast at 0000-0300 UTC. Reception reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com .

DigiDX will transmit DX news in MFSK32 and perhaps other modes:  

Sunday 2130 UTC - 15770kHz via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330 UTC - 11580kHz via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000 UTC - 6070kHz via Channel 292 Germany

Consult https://www.facebook.com/digidx/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

The VOA Radiogram transmission at 1600-1630 UTC on 16 April 2016 on 17580 kHz received an unexpected workout by the presence of Radio Habana Cuba on the same frequency. RHC was broadcasting a speech by President Raúl Castro to open the VII Congress of Cuban Communist Party. President Castro was speaking when the 1600 UTC broadcast of VOA Radiogram began, and he was still speaking when it ended at 1630 UTC.

In Europe, the nominal target area for the Saturday 1600 UTC VOA Radiogram, RHC was in the background and generally did not impede the decoding of the text and images. (See this example from Germany.) In the Americas, the RHC signal was more disruptive, but usually in places where VOA Radiogram is usually not heard well 17580 kHz.

Tim, K0RUS, in Colorado, produced his usual weekly YouTube video of his reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram Saturday at 1600-1630 UTC on 17580 kHz. This weekend, his video was especially instructive, because RHC and VOA Radiogram signals were fairly evenly matched in Colorado. Despite this conflict, you can see that the MFSK32 and Olivia 64-2000 text decoded successfully, and that the MFSK32 images, if fuzzy, were legible.

Tim’s video is here …

https://youtu.be/TUeuCuihui4

The audio from Tim’s video is suitable for your own decoding using Fldigi for PCs or TIVAR for Android devices.

Reception was good last weekend, allowing for successful decodes, including the nuances of the gray-scale images. Here is the photo of the migrant as decoded by Dmitry in Kursk, Russia, on 15670 kHz …

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include a seven-minute segment of Olivia 64-2000, so let’s hope for poor reception to give this slow-but-robust mode a workout. If reception conditions are good, try a cheap receiver, or a compromised antenna, or a location with electrical noise.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 159, 16-17 April 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

  1:31  Program preview

  2:39  Octopus makes daring escape*

  7:53  Kerry calls for more connectivity in poor countries*

12:42  Trolleybuses in Moscow to be retired*

16:10  Olivia 64-2000: Tiny spacecraft to explore space

23:21  MFSK32: Closing announcements*

 *with image

 Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will have an extra digital mode transmission this weekend. The usual minute of MFSK32 is Sunday at about 0220 UTC (Saturday 10:20 pm EDT), on 6040 kHz, via Germany, part of KBC’s broadcast to North America Sunday 0000-0300 UTC.  Eric van Willegen’s Giant Juke Box show will then be repeated to Europe, Sunday, 0800-1000 UTC, on 6095 kHz, also via Nauen, Germany. The MFSK32 will be at about 0920 UTC. Outside of Europe, you can listen via http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ . Reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com.

DigiDX will transmit MFSK32 and possibly other modes …

Sunday 2130-2220 UTC - 15770kHz - via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330-2400 UTC - 11580kHz - via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000-2030 UTC - 6070kHz – via Channel 292 Germany

Consult http://www.digidx.uk/ for any additions or changes to this schedule.

The German communications regulator Bundesnetzagentur has changed its mind about allowing digital modes on shortwave broadcast transmitters in Germany. Apparently BNetzA thought that Channel 292 was transmitting the text and images in single sideband (SSB), which is how amateurs, military, etc, transmit the digital modes. Now that they know that the MFSK32 and other modes are sent as program audio on an analogue amplitude-modulation shortwave transmitter, their objections were withdrawn.  (It’s similar to A2A modulated CW.)

BNetzA prefers that the term MFSK32 not be used to describe these broadcasts, but we have to specify the mode so that you can set Fldigi or other decoding software to the correct mode. In any case, the weekly MFSK32 transmission will resume on The Mighty KBC, and DigiDX will return to Channel 292.

Meanwhile, VOA Radiogram this weekend will be all MFSK32 except for the transmission schedule in Olivia 64-2000 under the closing music.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 158, 9-10 April 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

 1:32  Program preview

 2:46  China domain name rules*

11:58  South Korea blocks North Korea Tech website*

18:09  Mars Opportunity rover photographs dust devil*

23:01  Photo of migrant from RFE/RL Top Shots*

26:24  Closing announcements*

28:01  Olivia 64-2000: Frequencies under music

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will (after a one-week break) transmit a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at about 0220 UTC (Saturday 10:20 pm EDT) on 6040 kHz, via Germany.  Sometimes the MFSK32 is as late as 0228 UTC. Reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com

DigiDX will broadcast DX news in MFSK32 (and perhaps other modes)  …

Sunday 2130 UTC 15770kHz via WRMI (Florida)

Sunday 2330 UTC 11580kHz via WRMI (Florida)

Monday 2000 UTC 6070kHz via Channel 292 (Germany)

Check http://www.digidx.uk/ for any changes or additions to this schedule.