VOA Radiogram, program 43, during the weekend on 25-26 January 2014 included the simultaneous transmission of two MFSK16 streams, one centered on 700 Hz, the other on 2000 Hz. You can see the dual transmission in these three videos kindly prepared by listeners…

Mark in the UK provides this 47-second excerpt of the broadcast 25 Jan, 0930 UTC, on 5745 kHz. (The audio is not the MFSK16, but the introductory music.)

youtu.be/GvvwXDpWtQA

Tim in Colorado produced this video from 25 Jan at 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz:

youtu.be/zMobD7EH5uA

Steve in Nebraska provides this video of the broadcast UTC 26 Jan at 0230-0300 on 5745 kHz:

youtu.be/epmodO8qKOk

All of the text and images, as received and decoded, plus Fldigi screenshots, are complied in this html document:

www.rhci-online.de/VoA_Radiogram_2014-01-25.htm

Last weekend’s experiment with the two simultaneous MFSK16 streams on one broadcast channel worked well, for the most part, according to your reports. Perhaps a future software application will simplify the decoding of simultaneous digital signals.

This weekend, we will do another experiment with simultaneous streams. It will involve MFSK32 text transmitted on a center audio frequency of 1500 Hz, and an accompanying MFSK32 image centered on 2100 Hz.

You can decode the two streams sequentially from your recording. Or you can run two instances of Fldigi, following this procedure:

1) In both instances of Fldigi, turn the RxID on (green).

2) An RSID for MFSK32 at 2100 Hz will be transmitted, moving both instances of Fldigi to an audio frequency near 2100 Hz.

3) On the second instance of Fldigi, turn the RxID off.

4) An RSID for MFSK32 at 1500 Hz will be transmitted, moving your first instance of Fldigi back to an audio frequency near 1500 Hz.

5) A VOA News story will be transmitted, with the text at 1500 Hz, and the image at 2100 Hz. You will probably notice mixing products on the waterfall when both streams are transmitted simultaneously. Do these mixing products have an adverse effect of the decoding of the text or image?

6) After the dual MFSK32 transmission, you can turn off or minimize your second instance of Fldigi.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 44, 1-2 February 2014:     

  1:42  MFSK32: Program preview
  3:19  MFSK32: China moon rover with image
  6:56  MFSK32: Same story and image transmitted simultaneously
  9:51  MFSK32: Al Jazeera reporters in Egypt, with image
15:26  MFSK32: Washington Auto Show, with image
23:18  MFSK64L: Beehive Radio in Cambodia
26:22  MFSK32: Beehive Radio logo
28:08  MFSK32: 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.

A few additional notes:

Turn off the AFC. Many VOA Radiogram listeners recommend turning off the AFC (lower right corner of Fldigi) for best decode, especially in unattended receiving situations.

The VOA Radiogram broadcast Saturday at 0930 UTC is not bringing many responses. Reception in Europe is probably deteriorating as we approach spring. On the other hand, reception all the way to the west cost of North America has been very good. The problem is that 0930 UTC is the middle of the night in North America. So I would suggest unattended reception for later retrieval.

One way to accomplish this is the Audacity audio recording/editing software. Audacity has a useful timed recording function: Transport > Timer Record.

Of course, you have to keep your receiver on all night, unless your receiver also has a timer.

You can also decode VOA Radiogram while you are asleep using the Fldigi File > Text Capture function. If you do not want a night’s worth of mostly random characters taking space on your hard drive, you can also go to the receive pane of Fldigi, copy the text from VOA Radiogram, and paste it to a text editor. The MFSK images will be in the folder \fldigi.files\images.

This weekend’s experiment with two simultaneous digital streams might not lend itself to unattended reception. You can run a second instance of Fldigi with the RxID off and the center frequency pre-set to 2100 Hz, but the audio frequency as received might not be exactly at 2100 Hz.

The Mighty KBC, kbcradio.eu, based in the Netherlands but using transmitters in Germany, will broadcast a minute of MFSK32 this weekend: Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday at about 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz (Saturday evening 8:30 pm EST). The center audio frequency is the usual 1500 Hz. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com .

Tim in Colorado produced this YouTube video of his VOA Radiogram reception and decoding, 18 January 2014, 1600-1630, om 17860 kHz:

youtu.be/tr_CodsgkII

Marco in Italy provides this video of the broadcast on 19 January, 1930-2000 UTC, 15670 kHz:

youtu.be/toTzkawRr4o

Nicolas in Colombia has a brief video of the same broadcast:

youtu.be/qnqEzp_y-f0

Here is the “QSL” card for VOA Radiogram, 18-19 January 2014:

VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 11-12 January 2014 was a “set it and forget it” program. All of the text and images were in the MFSK32 mode centered on 1500 Hz. The show was especially suited to unattended reception. Most listeners reported good results.

Two YouTube productions of this edition of VOA Radiogram are available.

Lorenzo in Italy, reception 11 January at 1600 UTC on 17860 kHz:

youtu.be/Cbx4GZpSSR0  

Roger in Germany provides this printout of all the text and images from that same broadcast:

www.rhci-online.de/VoA_Radiogram_2014-01-11.htm

Tim in Colorado produced this YouTube video from 12 January 2014, 1930-2000 UTC, 15670 kHz:

youtu.be/kcjPxtDRLNk

Here is the “QSL” for that broadcast:

The MFSK16 mode performs well in difficult reception conditions, but it is slow (55 word per minute).

This weekend, we will experiment with the simultaneous transmission of two MFSK16 signals, one on a center frequency of 700 Hz, the other on 2000 Hz. By transmitting the first half of a news story on the left “channel,” and the second half on the right, the speed of MFSK16 is effectively doubled.

The additional speed does come at a price. The transmit power is now divided between the two MFSK16 streams, resulting in a lower signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio for each.

Reception of the two simultaneous transmissions can be accomplished by decoding sequentially from your recording. Or you can run two instances of Fldigi. On one instance of Fldigi, turn the RxID on. On the other, turn the RxID off. The RSID will be transmitted for the 700 Hz MFSK16 transmission and will (we hope) guide your first instance of Fldigi to the correct audio frequency. It will not be transmitted on the 2000 Hz transmission, so use the 20-second tone to tune your second instance of Fldigi to the exact frequency near 2000 Hz. Decoding software must be tuned precisely for successful printout of MFSK16 text.    

Maybe all these steps are not worth the effort, but let’s see what happens.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram 43, 25-26 January 2014 (all modes centered on 1500 Hz except where indicated):

 1:38  MFSK32: Program preview

 3:52  MFSK16: IMF 2014 world economic outlook

 9:32  MFSK16 at 700 and 2000 Hz: Same VOA News story

13:22  MSFK64/Flmsg: Global effects of net neutrality debate,

       with image

20:09  MFSK64: China Internet outage, with image

23:52  MFSK64: Image of Kim shoveling snow

25:42  MFSK32: Closing announcements

 Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram, program 40, during the weekend of 4-5 January 2013,
 included greetings to the IV Encuentro Diexistas Colombo-Venezolano in Barinas, Venezuela, organized by the Club Diexistas de la Amistad.
 
 A YouTube of reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram from the site of the meeting, 5 January, 0230 UTC, on 5745 kHz, is here:
 
 youtu.be/3drrVitlXtE
 
 Tim in Colorado produced this video of his reception, 4 January, 1600 UTC, on 17860 kHz:
 
 youtu.be/7Tcpk9tQ3FU  
 
 Here is the “QSL” for that weekend’s VOA Radiogram:
 
 

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 18-19 January 2014 will include the MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK64L (long interleave version of MFSK64) modes.

Please note that MFSK64L text does not begin to display until a few seconds after the tones are heard.

The Flmsg 1.1.33AC alpha version works with the MFSK64L mode. Our experiment this weekend will try this combination, so please download Flmsg 1.1.33AC from http://www.w1hkj.com/alpha/flmsg/ .  Also, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS  – Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe 1.1.33AC file is located.

One difference this weekend is that the program preview will be in MFSK32 (120 wpm) rather than MFSK16 (55 wpm). We will try MFSK32 for the preview during the next few weekends. MFSK16 is useful in very poor shortwave conditions, so we might want to bring this mode back in the future.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram 42, 18-19 Jan 2014:

 1:42 MFSK32: Program preview

 2:55 MFSK32: Korea balloons, with image

 8:08 MFSK32: Ten years of Mars rovers

12:38 MFSK64: Gassy exoplanet, with image

17:06 MFSK64L: Three-star system

20:24 MFSK64L/Flmsg: Detroit Auto Show

24:10 MFSK32: Detroit Auto Show image

26:48 MFSK32: 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

Here are details of the next two VOA Radiogram programs:

Program 40, 4-5 January 2014:

  1:33  MFSK16: Program preview (2:08)
  3:41  MFSK16: Greetings to DXers meeting in Venezuela (2:02)
  5:59  MFSK32: Same greetings in Flmsg* format (2:08)
  8:07  MFSK32: Club Diexistas de la Amistad logo (3:24)
11:30  MFSK32: Undersea cable (in Spanish) (1:49)
13:19  MFSK32: 2014 global economic outlook, with image (6:39)
19:57  MFSK32: Conference of pastoralists, with image (7:13)

Program 40 will include items in Spanish. For the accented letters to display correctly, use the UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts > Rx/Tx > use the white pull-down menu to select UTF-8.

*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.

Program 41, 11-12 January 2014:

This is a “set it and forget it” program. All content, include the program preview, will be in MFSK32, on the usual 1500 Hz center frequency. You won’t have to worry about mode changes. And there won’t be any Flmsg. You can tune in this program, set your software to MFSK32, make sure the first few line decode correctly, go do something else for a half hour, then look at the results later. The two images will be stored in the folder \fldigi.files\images somewhere on your hard drive.

Program 41 will consist of press releases from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, parent agency of the Voice of America:

 2:51 Audience size of US international broadcasting, with image
13:41 BBG media innovation panel
19:34 Media environment of Vietnam, with image

Please send reception reports to

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.

*New transmission. Reports from the Pacific and Asia region are especially welcome.