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VOA Radiogram, 12-13 July 2014: maritime radiotelegraphy
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 67, 12-13 July 2014 (MFSK32):
1:31 Program preview
2:36 Maritime radiotelegraph commemoration, with image
9:35 “Nanojuice” improves intestinal scans, with image
15:16 Titan’s subsurface ocean probably is salty, with image
21:27 Training center could lead to South Korean-Russian rail
link, with image
26:48 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 (12 July) at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday (13 July) at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reports for these KBC transmissions to themightykbc (at) gmail.com .
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VOA Radiogram, 5-6 July 2014, still on shortwave…
VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about reductions to the shortwave transmissions of VOA and other stations of US international broadcasting. These cuts were effective on 30 June..Fortunately, VOA Radiogram remains on shortwave, at least for now..Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 66, 5-6 July 2014 (all in MFSK32 except where noted):.1:33 Program preview
2:45 Major reductions to US shortwave broadcasts, with image
8:10 Car fumes affect pollinating insects
10:10 Test of Mars landing craft a success, with image
14:23 India launches satellites at low cost, with MFSK64 image
20:32 Spanish: Triple black hole discovery, with image
25:59 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 about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies via Germany. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com . -
VOA Radiogram, 28-29 June 2014, CQ FD
Some of our North American listeners may be busy this weekend because of the annual amateur radio Field Day event. If you are participating, you might want to take a break to tune in VOA Radiogram and demonstrate the concept to other radio amateurs. This weekend's program will include items that will be of interest to anyone involved in radio..Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 65, 28-29 June 2014 (MFSK32):.1:36 Program preview
2:40 Field Day greetings to radio amateurs, with image
5 03 VOA Cold War broadcasts from a Coast Guard cutter, with image
14:25 Scientists push for continued HAARP funding, with image
23:08 Associazione Italiana Radioascolto 10M river beacon, with image
26:30 Closing announcements.There will also be two surprise modes at the end of the show..Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com..Again this weekend, VOA Radiogram is recorded at a sample rate of 8000 Hz. This does not seem to have any negative effect on the decoding of the digital modes, but it does make the opening and closing music sound muddy and low-fi. Now that I’ve remembered the Fldigi Configure > Sound Card > Wav setting, things should be back to normal next week..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..This weekend, The Mighty KBC will also transmit greetings to Field Day participants this weekend. A minute of MFSK64 will be transmitted 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. Reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com . -
VOA Radiogram, 21-22 June 2014, includes news about a Plutonian moon
VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 21-22 June 2014 (program 64) will be in the usual MFSK32 mode, except for two surprise modes at the end of the show…
1:36 Program preview
2:41 Subsurface ocean on Pluto’s moon, with image
9:57 Indonesian smartphone use surges, with image
15:54 Designing buildings to withstand disasters, with image
21:22 Al Jazeera reporter released from Egyptian prison, with image
26:32 Closing announcementsPlease 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 (9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies via Germany. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.org .
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VOA Radiogram, 14-15 June 2014, MFSK32 and a couple of surprises
VOA Radiogram for 14-15 June 2014 (program 63) is MFSK32, with a couple of surprises at the end…
1:35 Program preview
2:37 Mapping the salmon genome, with image
8:10 Internet traffic may triple by 2018, with chart
15:31 Pao-pao.net evades Chinese censorship, with image
21:49 World Cup Fever at VOA, with image
26:50 Closing announcements
Please send your 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 (9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. These frequencies are via Germany. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com.
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VOA Radiogram, 7-8 June 2014, mentions radio for disaster relief
Last weekend’s EasyPal experiments resulted in the same high failure rate that we experienced several months ago during our first round of EasyPal transmissions. That is in addition to Mac and Linux users who were not able to use EasyPal because it is currently only available in Windows.
But there were some successes with EasyPal, resulted in a brilliant image of the VOA Radiogram test card. Most of these were from North American listeners, but the image was also successfully decoded in Poland, Greece, Italy, Germany, England, and Scotland. See examples.
We also experimented with MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK128 images at X1, X2, and X4 images. The X2 and X4 images were somewhat (X2) and very (X4) fuzzy. The X2 speed in MFSK64 might be useful when a larger image must be transmitted. See examples, provided by François in France, received 31 May during the 1600 UTC broadcast on 17860.
VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 7 and 8 June 2014 (program 62) returns to the usual VOA science news in MFSK32, plus an item about the International Radio for Disaster Relief (IRDR) exercise that is taking place 5-6 June. Here is the lineup:
1:35 Program preview
2:49 International Radio for Disaster Relief, with image
10:35 “Flying Saucer” for future Mars missions, with image
17:11 Large rocky exoplanet discovered, with image
23:59 Private space race heats up
27:47 Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com, this weekend with a cc: to info (at) hfcc.org. HFCC, the association that coordinates shortwave broadcast frequencies, is the organizer of the IRDR. You might include a comment about the use of text via shortwave during and after disasters.
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. Reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com . -
MFSK images at X1, X2, and X4 speeds
The Fldigi software from w1hkj.com includes the ability to transmit and receive MFSK images at normal speed (X1) as well as faster (X2, X4) speeds.
On VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 31 May/1 June 2014, we experimented with images in the MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK128 modes at the X1, X2, and X4 speeds.
Not surprisingly, the X2 and X4 speeds produced fuzzier images.
The images below were received and decoded by François in France, 31 May, during the 1600 UTC broadcast on 17860 kHz…
MFSK32 X1:
MFSK32 X2:
MFSK32 X4:
MFSK64 X1:
MFSK64 X2:
MFSK64 X4:
MFSK128 X1:
MFSK128 X2:
MFSK128 X4:
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EasyPal images as received and decoded by VOA Radiogram listeners during the weekend of 31 May/1 June 2014 (program 61). The top photo was received in Scotland 31 May during the 1600 UTC broadcast on 17860 kHz, while the middle photo was received by Jeff in Texas, same time and frequency. The bottom photo was received by Martin in Poland during the 1930 UTC broadcast on 1 June, 15670 kHz.
I would post more photos, but they all look the same. EasyPal (Ham DRM) images are either perfect or not decoded at all. As usual with our EasyPal experiments, there was a rather high failure rate.This is why we usually use the less crisp but more robust MFSK analog images.
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Videos of VOA Radiogram, 17-18 May 2014
T.W. in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, had fair decoding (considering the distance from North carolina transmitter) of VOA Radiogram, 17 May 2014, 0930 UTC, on 5745 kHz. Reception and decode were even better later that day at 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz.
Look for links to videos of these broadcasts on T.W.’s web page…
09326811.at.webry.info/201405/article_13.html
Tim in Colorado experienced marginal reception for the Saturday 1600 UTC broadcast on 17860 kHz, but his decode was generally good…
youtu.be/Gd4lvN2bPjM
Below: Three MFSK32 images as decoded 17 May 2014, 1600-1630 UTC, on 17860 kHz, by T.W. in Japan…
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VOA Radiogram, 24-25 May and 31 May-1 June
VOA Radiogram, program 60, 24-25 May 2014This program will include two interesting stories about the Internet, but because of their length we will use the faster MFSK64 mode (240 words per minute). Apologies to those who do not receive 100% copy of the MFSK64 text because of challenging shortwave conditions.
1:31 MFSK32: Program preview
2:48 MFSK32: Tropical storms, with image
6:54 MFSK32: Russian scientific cooperation, with image
14:10 MFSK64: China Internet censorship, with image
21:35 MFSK64: Comparing Internet censorship regimes
27:21 MFSK32: Closing announcementsPlease send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.VOA Radiogram, program 61, 31 May-June 1 2014(The “VOA Radiogram Picture Show”)To make time for all the material in this program, my usual voice
introduction will be missing. The program preview in MFSK32 will
start immediately after the opening music.On program 61, instead of news stories from VOA News,
we will experiment with the transmission and decoding of
images.
In the first part of the program, we will experiment with
MFSK images. Later in the program, an EasyPal digital image will
be transmitted.
The Fldigi software allows for the transmission of MFSK images at
different speeds: X1, X2, and X4. X2 and X4 “paint” more quickly,
but result in lower resolution: X2 is fuzzier, and X4 is
fuzziest. (Fldigi software is required to decode the X2 and X4
images.)
As the symbol rate (baud) of the MFSK modes increases from MFSK32
to MFSK64 to MFSK128, the resolution of images sent in those
modes also increases. The time required to send a picture is the
same for MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK128.
We therefore have two variables: the transmission speed and the
symbol rate of the MFSK mode.
We will transmit the same VOA Radiogram test card (254x197
pixels) as follows:
MFSK32 X1
MFSK32 X2
MFSK32 X4
MFSK64 X1
MFSK64 X2
MFSK64 X4
MFSK128 X1
MFSK128 X2
MFSK128 X4
EasyPal. Also on program 61, our experiments with the EasyPal digital
image mode resume after a break of several months. Download the
EasyPal software from vk4aes.com. For practice, radio amateurstransmit EasyPal images on 14233 kHz.
EasyPal is the work of Erik, VK4AES, in Australia. His software
uses DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) encoding to allow the sending
of image files over an HF or VHF using only 2.5Khz (same as
voice). EasyPal is also known as Digital SSTV (slow scan
television).
The EasyPal transmission will be the same test card transmitted
earlier in the program in the various MFSK modes. The EasyPal
transmission will be just over 7 minutes. The picture might
appear before the 7-minute transmission is completed, or it might
not appear at all – there is a rather high failure rate with
EasyPal on shortwave.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, transmitting from Germany, will continue its
MFSK64 transmissions Saturdays at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and
Sundays at about 0130 UTC (Saturdays 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz.
Reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com.