VOA Radiogram this weekend will include interesting (and longer than usual) stories, one about an Internet conference in Turkey, the other about a major Russian news agency reverting to the name TASS. There will also be a brief item in Russian, so set Configure > Colors & Fonts to the UTF-8 character set.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 75, 6-7 September 2014, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz except for two surprise modes at the end of the show:

  1:31  Program preview (now)
  2:26  Internet Governance Forum in Turkey, with image
11:02  Russia’s renamed TASS news agency, with image
21:31  VOA Russian: paper microscope, with image
25:57  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 17860 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 repeat last weekend’s one-minute test of the vertical blue line in MFSK64. This will be Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday evening 9:30 pm EDT) on new 7375 kHz. Both frequencies are via  Germany. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com.

VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 30-31 August will begin with the transmission of a straight vertical blue line. Some of us experience slant when we decode MFSK images, so this line will help us determine if we have a slant problem.  If your line is slanted, URLs for web pages that might help solve the problem will be provided.

Near the end of the program will be a brief sample of Tibetan language text. “Chicken tracks” like this should appear in the Fldigi receive pane…

Copy this line and paste it to a word processor, and the Tibetan text might display correctly. 

OR: In Fldigi’s Configure > Colors & Fonts: Select the UTF-8 character set, then adjust Rx font to Microsoft Himalaya. Because this is a very small font, adjust the point size to 20. In Linux, the font is Tibetan Machine Uni.

You can switch to the Himalaya or Tibetan fonts just before the Tibetaan text begins 22:39 into the show. Or use the font to decode the entire program, because it displays adequately in English (at least the Microsoft version).

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 74, 30-31 August 2014:

MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz

 1:30  Program preview

 2:31  Vertical line for sound card calibration

 4:18  Neuron loss and insomnia, with image

 9:36  Producing rubber from dandelions, with image

14:47  North Korea inspecting TVs from China, with RFA logo

22:39  Some Tibetan text

24:05  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 17860 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 MFSK64 Saturday, 30 August 2014, at 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday, 31 August, at 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com .

Recent YouTube videos demonstrate remarkable decoding of VOA Radiogram content under adverse reception conditions. In these examples, because of a weak signal, or local noise, or both, the music and voice introduction to the program are generally inaudible, but when the MFSK32 begins, text becomes visible.

You can watch the decodes in the videos, or decode the shows yourself using the audio. 

From TW in Japan (11000 km from the North Carolina transmitter site), 16 August 2014, 0930 UTC, 5745 kHz:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SJvdXITwtI

From TW in Japan, 17 August 2014, 1930 UTC, 15670 kHz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q5aw7jD4BQ

TW has many videos of shortwave and medium wave reception, including VOA Radiogram, at…

https://www.youtube.com/user/2010DFS

From Tim in Colorado, 16 August 2014, 1600 UTC, 17860 kHz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5FrPgUdkg

Tim has several other videos of VOA Radiogram reception…

https://www.youtube.com/user/K0RUSHam

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about a new trans-Pacific undersea cable, and about the closing of the VOA Greek Service after 72 years on the air. There will be a news item in Greek, so have the UTF-8 character set on Fldigi.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 72, 16-17 August 2014 (MFSK32):

1:32  Program preview

2:37  Trans-Pacific undersea cable

4:51  Van Allen radiation belt, with image

12:36  High resolution imaging satellite, with image

18:14  VOA Greek Service closes

21:19  VOA Greek reports its closure (in Greek)

24:43  VOA Greek logo

26:27  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 17860 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 MFSK64 Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany.  Send reports for these transmissions to themightykbc@gmail.com .

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about legislation that could bring major changes to VOA and to other entities of U.S. international broadcasting.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 70, 2-3 August 2014 (MFSK32):

  1:32  Program preview

  2:40  International broadcasting bill passes House, with image

  8:17  Moose drool detoxifies fungus, with image

11:36  ESA spacecraft will land on comet, with image

18:18  Bahama Islands formed from Sahara dust, with image

22:29  Outernet, via satellite, launches 11 August, with logo

25:25  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 17860 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 MFSK64 Saturday at 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports for this broadcast to themightykbc@gmail.com .

VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 26-27 July 2014 will include two stories about international broadcasting, and one in Russian. For the Cyrillic text to display correctly, use the UTF-8 character set (Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts).

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 69, 26-27 July 2014 (MFSK32):

1:38  Program preview

2:32  Voice of Russia in Washington, with image

6:14  Iranian satellite jamming, with image

10:47  Battery of the future, with image

18:29  VOA Russian on global Internet policy, with image

25:10  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 17860 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 MFSK64 Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) in 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports for KBC should go to themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will include an invitation to  a meeting of  shortwave DXers in Mexico. Most of it is in Spanish, so make sure you have the UTF-8 character set selected in Fldigi Configure > Colors & Fonts. After that, back to English for interesting science news from the VOA newsroom, accompanied by interesting images.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 68, 19-20 July 2014 (MFSK32):

 1:36  Program preview
 2:43  Encuentro Nacional Diexista in Mexico, with image
 7:19  Water wheel cleans Baltimore waterways, with image
14:04  Launch of cargo craft to the ISS, with image
19:27  Lab tests energy-saving technologies, with image
26:26  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 17860 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 MFSK64, including a great photo of a yellow Corvette, Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reception reports for KBC should be sent to themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

 If you are in North America, reception of KBC’s 6095 kHz frequency is generally possible only via this web-controlled SDR receiver at the University of Twente in the Netherlands: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

This receiver is also useful for VOA Radiogram if you are in the skip zone for 17860 and 15670 kHz (look for Kim KD9XB in the chat area).