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VOA Radiogram, 20-21 February 2016: Winter at the South Pole
Last weekend’s World Radio Day edition of VOA Radiogram was successful, based on the number of emails I received, and the response on Twitter. Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, you can see many of the decoded images at http://twitter.com/voaradiogram . If you are on Twitter, follow @voaradiogram for program reminders and retweets from listeners.
This weekend, we resume Olivia 64-2000 as our robust mode of the week. Most of the show will be in the usual MFSK32.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 151, 20-21 February 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:35 Program preview
2:40 Remnants of atmosphere on exoplanet*
7:50 Olivia 64-2000: System stores renewable energy (image in MFSK32*)
15:42 Preparing for winter at the South Pole*
26:45 Closing announcements** with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 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 9:20 pm EST) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. Reports for KBC reception and/or decoding to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .
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VOA Radiogram, 13-14 February 2016: World Radio Day via shortwave radio
February 13 is World Radio Day. VOA Radiogram this weekend will include content pertaining to World Radio Day.
In addition to our usual MFSK32, one VOA News story will be in MFSK16. MFSK16 and MFSK32 are both 16-FSK, but MFSK16 is about half the speed and occupies about half the bandwidth (316 Hz). MFSK16 performed well in difficult reception conditions in past VOA Radiogram and Radio Australia broadcasts.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 150, 13-14 February 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:35 Program preview (now)
2:55 MFSK16: Galaxies behind the Milky Way (MFSK32 image*)
9:43 SpaceX will attempt another launch later this month*
15:39 Da Vinci drawings converted to real objects*
21:34 World Radio Day*
26:57 Closing announcements** with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz (might still be audible in Europe via the gray line)
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 9:20 pm EST) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. Reports for KBC decodes to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com .
Here is the World Radio Day logo as decoded last weekend by VOA Radiogram listeners around the world …
http://voaradiogram.net/post/139005577392/the-world-radio-day-logo-as-transmitted-on-voa
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The World Radio Day logo as transmitted on VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 6-7 February 2016, and received by shortwave listeners around the world. The fuzzy images were decoded in locations too far or too close to the North Carolina transmitter, given the time and frequency, or suffering from local interference. In most cases when the images are not clear, the accompanying text decodes without errors because of the error correction incorporated into the MFSK32 mode (see the image below). Shortwave, as well as medium wave and longwave transmitters, heretofore used only for voice and music, can now be used to transmit text and images successfully, even in reception conditions where the voice content may be difficult to understand. This capability could be useful when the Internet is not available for any reason.
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Text and images via shortwave herald World Radio Day
Emanuele in northern Italy produced this video of his reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram, program 149, 6 February 2016, 1600-1630 UTC, 17580 kHz, about 7000 km from a 50-year-old BBG/IBB/VOA transmitter in North Carolina. (This video was available live during the broadcast from the Associazione Italiana Radioascolto Facebook page.) …
The image shows the text and image at the point during the program when World Radio Day was mentioned and its logo transmitted …
Another video of the same VOA Radiogram broadcast was produced by Tim in Colorado, 2300 km in the other direction.
Note that the 1600 UTC transmission is directed to Europe, not to the Rocky Mountains, and that Tim was experiencing local noise interference during his reception. Tim’s text decode was, nevertheless, mostly free of errors, although the image was somewhat fuzzy. (The vertical lines in the waterfall show the interference.) …
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VOA Radiogram, 6-7 February 2016: MFSK32 - 1 = MFSK31.
This weekend, the only departure from our usual MFSK32 is one news item in MFSK31. Both MFSK31 and MFSK32 have a symbol rate of 31.3 baud, but MFSK31 is only half the speed: 55 wpm. MFSK31 also has half the bandwidth, 330 Hz. Its modulation is 8-FSK, meaning 8 tones, rather than the 16 tones of MFSK32. (This table of modes may be helpful.) We’ll see if the performance of MFSK31 is better or worse than that of MFSK32, especially if reception conditions are difficult. (MFSK31 does not do images, hence the MFSK32 image following the MFSK news story.)
During the past several weeks, you have seen VOA RADIO GRAM transmitted as “video text” in the waterfall. To see all three lines of the video text, make this adjustment in Fldigi: Configure > Waterfall > FFT Processing > change Waterfall height in pixels to a higher value – try 185 and adjust from there. And note that the change does not take effect until Fldigi is started again.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 149, 6-7 February 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:34 Program preview
2:52 2018 NASA space launch will carry 13 cubesats*
9:24 MFSK31: Russian spacewalk (MFSK32 image)*
16:16 MFSK32: Afghan IS radio station destroyed*
22:34 Coming events* and closing announcements** with image
Due to last minute edits, the times listed above may vary somewhat from the actual broadcast times.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 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 0225 UTC (Saturday 9:25 pm EST) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. Please send reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .
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MFSK32, Olivia 64-2000, and MFSK8 versus RTTY interference
Bruno in Italy received VOA Radiogram on 31 January 2015, 0230-0300 UTC, on 5745 kHz. This transmission via North Carolina is directed to the Caribbean using a dipole antenna, so reception in Europe is usually less than brilliant.
An interesting challenge to the reception of this broadcast in Europe was the presence of an RTTY signal centered on 1000 Hz. The VOA Radiogram modes are centered on 1500 Hz.
MFSK32
In this Fldigi screenshot provided by Bruno, the RTTY and VOA Radiogram’s usual MFSK32 mode are seen side-by-side …
Despite the absence of direct interference by the RTTY signal, the MFSK32 still showed errors …
Welcome to program 148 of VOA deeo r Che Voice of Americr
™s® x Andrew Elliott in Washington.Here is the lineup for today’s prograotl¡ay qez×eept where noted.
1:35 Program preview (now)
2:56 Very wide solar system found*
7:25 i Sht)t e¥ctoVFÒe1sr13:56 Olivia 64-2000: New satellite tracks sea level
19:40 MFSK8: Same news item
24:44 MFSK32: Image, closing announcements, image** with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
An<STX>hestQlo nmunm 9
Olivia 64-2000,
In the Olivia 64-2000 portion of the VOA Radiogram program, the RTTY signal is within the 2000-Hz-wide trace of the Olivia mode …
The overlap of the RTTY may have caused the errors in the usually robust Olivia 64-2000 mode …
This is VOA Radiogram in Olivia 64-2000
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
NASA Launches New Weather/Climate Satellite
VOA Scien3"/<ESC>rld Blog
22 January 2016An international oceanographic collaboration has a new tool to
help it monitor the rise in global sea level aMFhe successful
launch of a meteorological satellite.A Space X Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Jq<DC4>yl<DC2>, spacecraft blasted
off from Vandenberg Air Force base in California re<SO><DC4><FF><EM>.
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the spaceCraFt will help cnnTinue efforts to measure changes in
global ocean height by satellite that began in 1992 with the
Topex/Poseidon mission.MFSK8
In this screenshot of the MFSK8 portion of the show, the RTTY and MFSK8 are adjacent …
The MFSK8 was the most successful mode in Bruno’s reception, showing no errors. MFSK8 is slower than MFSK32, 30 vs. 120 wpm …
This is VOA Radiogram in MFSK8
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
NASA Launches New Weather/Climate Satellite
VOA Science World Blog
22 January 2016An international oceanographic collaboration has a new tool to
help it monitor the rise in global sea level after the successful
launch of a meteorological satellite.A Space X Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Jason-3 spacecraft blasted
off from Vandenberg Air Force base in California recently.The spacecraft will help continue efforts to measure changes in
global ocean height by satellite that began in 1992 with the
Topex/Poseidon mission.The Jason 3 mission is a collaboration between NASA, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the French space agency,
CNES and the European Organization for the Exploitation of
Meteorological Satellites.bit.ly/1ORax9J
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VOA Radiogram as received in Sydney, NSW, Australia, 30 January 2015, 0948 UTC, 5865 kHz, via North Carolina transmitter. Modes are Olivia 64-2000 and MFSK8, each preceded by a 15-second tuning signal transmitted at 1500 Hz but received at 1384 and 1612 Hz (1612 seems to decode more successfully). Transmitter was AM, but receiver was set to USB. Some unsuccessful MFSK32 is included at the end of the recording.
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VOA Radiogram, 30-31 January 2016: Comparing slow modes MFSK8 and Olivia 64-2000
We will test slow modes again this weekend, so let’s hope for some bad reception. In addition to the Olivia 64-2000 that we have tried the past few weeks, we will transmit the same news item in MFSK8, which is slightly faster, about 30 words per minute. MFSK8 does require very precise tuning, so a 15-second tuning signal will be transmitted before the news content begins. The 15-second signal will also be transmitted before the Olivia 64-2000.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 148, 30-31 January 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted …
1:35 Program preview (now)
2:56 Very wide solar system found*
7:25 ISIS radio in Afghanistan*
13:56 Olivia 64-2000: New satellite tracks sea level**
19:40 MFSK8: Same news item**
24:44 MFSK32: Image, closing announcements, image** with image
** preceded by 15-second tuning signal
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 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 0223 UTC (Saturday 9:23 pm EST) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. Reports for KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .
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Olivia 64-2000 segment of VOA Radiogram, 23 January 2016, 1600-1630 UTC, 17580 kHz via North Carolina, as received in the northern Virginia skip zone. Because of apparent multipath propagation, the MFSK32 decoded less than 10%, but the robust Olivia 64-2000 decoded 100%. You can decode it yourself from this audio. A center audio frequency of 1506 Hz seems to work well.
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VOA Radiogram, 23-24 January 2016: News about Planet Nine
Last weekend’s long transmission of Olivia 64-2000 was very interesting. It did result in some successful decodes under difficult conditions. One thing I discovered is that, when receiving and decoding Olivia 64-2000, it is important that the receiver bandwidth be wide enough to include all of the data, which extends to 2500 Hz above and below the carrier frequency. Otherwise, you cannot take advantage of all the redundancy built in to the Olivia 64-2000 mode.
Those of you who can record the audio using an SDR receiver can experiment with various bandwidths, shape factors, AM versus SSB, etc.
Last weekend’s Olivia 64-2000 was so much fun that we’ll include one news item in that mode this weekend, in addition to our usual MFSK32.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 147, 23-24 January 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:32 Program preview
2:49 Evidence of “Planet Nine.”*
8:15 Plastic in oceans*
12:51 Olivia 64-2000: Papal Fiat to be auctioned
23:02 MFSK32: Image, closing announcements, and snow*
* with imagePlease send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 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 0220 UTC (Saturday 9:20 pm EST) on 6040 kHz, via Germany. Please send reports for KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .