-
The QSL for VOA Radiogram, program 54, 12-13 April 2014, as received and decoded by listeners in various parts of the world.
-
Videos of VOA Radiogram, 19-20 April 2014.
Two videos of VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 19-20 April provide examples of very bad shortwave reception. The decode of the digital text was reasonable given the conditions.
T.W. in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, provided this YouTube video of his reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram on 19 April 2014, 0930-1000 UTC, on 5745 kHz. The decode was not 100% perfect, but he is about 11000 km from the North Carolina transmitter, and there was noise on the channel (T.W. thinks it is over-the-horizon, or OTH, radar.):
youtu.be/YKgFKZZNpeM
Tim in Colorado (the North Carolina transmitter is beamed entirely the other direction) produced this video of his reception and decoding Saturday at 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz. The decode was difficult at first, due to low signal level, but settled down after 3:30 into the video:
youtu.be/3UMPQHuD8Yw
-
VOA Radiogram, 19-20 April 2014: MFSK32 and MFSK8
Last weekend’s experiment with the “mystery mode,” MFSK8 as it turned out, was mostly successful. I reduced the level of the MFSK8 to 8 dB below the level of the MFSK32, because unattenuated MFSK8 at a piercing audio frequency of 2300 Hz can be rather painful to listen to.
This weekend, we’ll repeat the contact information and schedule in MFSK8, but we’ll move it to 1000 Hz, which is easier on the ear. With MFSK32 and MFSK8 both at full level, a distorted, other-worldly sound resulted. So I reduced the MFSK8 to 4 dB under the MFSK32. You can still hear what sounds like distortion, but it should be harmless. Probably. I hope.
If you prefer an easy, set-it-and-forget-it decoding experience, just do the MFSK32 at 1500 Hz. If you want more of a challenge, then run two instances of Fldigi, or Fldigi and another decoder such as MultiPSK, or record the program, to see the MFSK8 output. Please remember that MFSK8 must be precisely tuned (it will likely be received a few Hz above or below 1000 Hz) for a successful decode.
Please let me know if you think the simultaneous modes are making the MFSK32 images “noisier.”
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 55, 19-20 April 2014 (content in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz):
01:39 Program preview
02:57 Survey of US software developers, with image
07:08 Planets that wobble, with image
13:38 Cambodia’s draft cybercrime law
16:06 Google buys drone company, with image
21:42 VOA Spanish* news story about El Niño, with image
26:23 Closing announcements
*Use the UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts …
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, with studios in the Netherlands and transmitter in Germany, will include a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1130 UTC (during the new Big Beach Show) on 6095 kHz. And Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 7375 kHz. Reports to Eric at themightykbc (at) gmail.com. -
QSLs for VOA Radiogram, program 52, 29-30 March 2014, and program 53, 5-6 April 2014, showing MFSK32 images as decoded in various parts of the world.
-
Videos of VOA Radiogram, 12-13 April 2014
Despite some poor shortwave conditions during the weekend of 12-13 Aril 2014, three videos of reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram were provided by listeners, including one all the way from Japan.
This video from T.W. in Japan was from the broadcast Saturday at 0930-1000 on 5745 kHz. The decode was not perfect, but not bad considering the conditions and the huge distance from the North Carolina transmitter:
youtu.be/t9buRjXaA78
Nicolas in Colombia produced this video on his reception Sunday at 0230-0300 on 5745 kHz. Again, the decode is not perfect, but respectable given reception on an inexpensive Sony ICF-SW15 portable radio that, according to its specs, does not even tune down to the 5745 kHz transmission frequency:
youtu.be/aEjoqQOI62k
Tim in Colorado received and decoded the same transmission, using amateur radio equipment:
youtu.be/0BE6y31_dgkMagdiel in Mexico produced this video of same broadcast, first six minutes, showing successful text decode despite local electrical noise caused by streetlights:
youtu.be/SNTGR9ATUlAThere is also a brief video of this broadcast Saturday at 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz, contained in this Twitter post from Ricardo in Spain.
Sceen capture by Japanese listener T.W.:
-
VOA Radiogram, 12-13 April 2014, includes mystery mode
VOA Radiogram, for the weekend of 12-13 April 2014, will be all MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz, but there will also be a mystery mode transmitted simultaneously at an audio frequency of 2300 Hz. (An RSID will help unlock the mystery of the mystery mode.)
You can decode both the MFSK32 and the mystery mode by 1) running two instances of Fldigi, 2) running Fldigi and another decoding software such as MultiPSK or DM780, or 3) recording the show and decoding the mystery mode later.The audio frequency of the mystery mode needs to be tuned very precisely. The content of the mystery mode is the VOA Radiogram email address, website URL, and schedule, transmitted over and over, so you will have plenty of time to achieve a successful decode.
One of the MFSK32 VOA news items will be in Spanish. You will need the UTF-8 characters for the accented letters to display correctly. Find the UTF-8 setting via Configure > Colors and Fonts.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 54, 12-13 April 2014 (all MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz except where noted):
1:43 Program preview
2:58 Mystery mode starts centered on 2300 Hz
4:44 Survey of trust in the Internet, with image
13:00 Intel’s use of non-conflict minerals, with image
19:15 US Navy developing fuel from seawater, with image
24:19 VOA Spanish on “cardio,” with VOA Voz de América logo
27:10 Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.comVOA 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 (new time) on 6095 kHz and Sunday at 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz. Reports to Eric at themightykbc (at) gmail.com.
-
VOA Radiogram, 5-6 April 2014, includes the VOA English transmission schedule as a table
Last weekend’s “battle of the 100-word-per-minute modes” produced useful results. Based on a quick analysis of the percentage of correct characters, the average of all responses is…MFSK32 98%MT63-1000L 90%Thor25x4 86%PSKR125 74%The MT63-1000L would have had an even better result if it had not been for four occasions of no decode at all. In situations where any MT63-1000L text was received, its performance was very close to that of MFSK32.MFSK32 does have the advantage of being about 20 words per minute faster than MT63-1000L. Furthermore, MFSK32, unlike MT63-1000L, can be used for images.This weekend, VOA Radiogram will return to an all-MFSK32 “set it and forget it” format. I do this at the risk of losing the interest of those of you who prefer a program replete with experiments. The program will be interesting in that it will include four images and an Flmsg CSV form with the updated VOA English transmission schedule.Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 53, 5-6 March 2014:All MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz…1:36 Program preview2:40 Head of Russian social network resigns, with image9:28 NASA aircraft research, with image16:13 Maryland company helps in search for MH370, with image23:04 VOA English broadcast schedule as Flmsg* CSV form26:44 Closing announcements*To make Flmsg work with Fldigi (both can be downloaded from w1hkj.com), in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS – Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.comVOA Radiogram transmission schedule(all days and times UTC)Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz(not this weekend)Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHzSun 0230-0300 5745 kHzSun 1300-1330 6095 kHz (this weekend only)Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHzAll via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.Reception of the Sunday 0230 UTC broadcast in Europe: This broadcast is audible in Europe but occurs at a rather inconvenient time for Europeans. If you are in Europe, please consider unattended reception of this transmission. Three ways to do this involve leaving you radio on and tuned to 5745 kHz all night: 1) Use the Audacity audio recording software, specifically its Transport > Timer Record feature. 2) Use Fldigi’s File > Text Capture feature, then retrieve the decoded text from the file that will contain mostly gibberish. 3) Instead of using Fldigi text capture, scroll up through the receive pane to find the decoded text, which you can copy and paste to a text editor or word processor.The Mighty KBC will again transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 7375 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reception reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com.Amateur radio digital nets: As KD9XB, I usually check in to the New York NBEMS net Saturdays at 1400 UTC (10 am EDT) on 7036 kHz and the Pennsylvania NBEMS net Sundays at 1500 UTC (11 am EDT) on 7072.5 kHz. I occasionally also check in to the USeast NBEMS net Wednesdays at 2300 UTC (7 pm EDT) on 7036 kHz. All these nets are USB and start with Olivia 8-500, then change to another mode such as MFSK32 or MT63-1000L for messages.VOA Radiogram marked 52 broadcasts, i.e. one year of broadcasting, with this image as decoded by Iain in Scotland, Saturday at 1600 UTC on 17860 kHz:
-
Videos of VOA Radiogram, 29-30 March 2014, “battle of the 100-wpm modes.”
VOA Radiogram during the weekend of March 29 and 30 included a “battle of the 100-word-per-minute modes.” The modes were PSKR125, MT63-1000L, Thor25x4, and MFSK32. Videos kindly provided by three VOA Radiogram listeners demonstrate the comparative performance of the modes.
TW in Japan provided this video of the beginning of the broadcast Saturday at 0930 UTC on 5745 kHz. Because of the challenging transmission path from North Carolina to Japan, even the MFSK32 text was not 100%. The PSKR125 that followed was mostly unusable:
youtu.be/jl1SKcfZXAY
Tim in Colorado provides this YouTube video of the entire broadcast Saturday at 1600-1630 UTC, along with some of his commentary typed in the Fldigi transmit pane. This is a good example of the decoding of the four modes under fair – meaning not great but not too bad – shortwave reception conditions. At 22 minutes into the video, Time declares “DA WINNER” of the battle of the 100-wpm modes.youtu.be/-VqIXc9SEXw
Nicolas in Colombia produced this video of his reception Sunday at 0230 UTC (Saturday evening local tme) on 5745 kHz. It demonstrates the decoding of VOA Radiogram modes under even more challenging conditions, and using a relatively inexpensive shortwave portable with an analog dial. It appears that Nicolas edited out his mostly unsuccessful decode of MT63-1000L. Thor25x4 was more successful with only a few errors. Nicolas’s decode of MFSK32 had some errors, as shown in the video, but my decode of MFSK32 using audio from his video was error-free:
youtu.be/H2-o4y_fkhQ
Here is a screenshot from Nicolas’s video…
-
The QSL for VOA Radiogram, weekend of 22-23 March 2014. Even in cases when the image was fuzzy, usually due to the distance from the transmitter in North Carolina, the text portion of the program was received 100% because of the forward error correction of the MFSK32 mode.
-
VOA Radiogram, 29-30 March: Battle of the 100-wpm modes
This weekend, 29-30 March 2014, will be program 52 of VOA Radiogram. This means that VOA Radiogram has survived one year of shortwave broadcasting.
VOA Radiogram has been successful because of its audience: tuning in, decoding, experimenting, and sending in reports.
We will mark one year of VOA Radiogram with a “battle of the 100-word-per-minute modes.” The same VOA News story will be transmitted using four modes that have a speed of more-or-less 100 words per minute.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 52, 29-30 March 2014:
1:51 MFSK32: Program preview
3:28 PSKR125 (110 wpm): VOA News re Ethiopia
7:42 MT63-1000L (100 wpm): Same VOA New story
12:34 Thor25x4 (100 wpm): Same VOA News story
17:58 MFSK32 (120 wpm): Same VOA News story, with image
23:55 MFSK32: US international broadcasting FY2015 budget
25:58 MFSK32: Closing announcements, with image
Each mode will be preceded by 5 seconds of silence, followed by the RSID, 5 more seconds of silence, and the RSID again.
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.
(Many shortwave broadcast frequencies will change on 30 March with the beginning of the A14 season, but the VOA Radiogram frequencies stay the same, for the time being.)
The Mighty KBC, via Germany, will again transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz. (KBC’s change from 7375 to 9925 planned for this weekend has been postponed until May.) STF Radio International will also have a minute of digital modes during the same hour (simultaneous MFSK32 streams at 1500 and 2100 Hz).