VOA Radiogram listeners helpfully provided YouTube videos of their reception during the weekend of 21-22 December 2013. You can watch the decoding on these videos, or decode the digital modes yourself using audio from the recordings.

Lorenzo, IZ0KBA, near Rome, produced this from his reception 21 December 2013, 1600-1630 UTC, on 17860 kHz:
http://youtu.be/5_ALfz7C3-A

Claudio, in Napoli, received the same broadcast on his Tecsun PL-660 portable shortwave radio:
http://youtu.be/GDGcBxrOuSA

Tim, K0RUS, in Colorado received and decoded the same broadcast:
http://youtu.be/PxgcWMZ9exw

Tim also received the broadcast 22 December 2013, 0230-0300 UTC, on 5745 kHz. Reception conditions were challenging, with low signal strength and much local noise, but the MFSK16 and 32 modes performed well. MFSK64, however, struggled:
http://youtu.be/qm8xJYA2JRs

Steve, somewhere in the Centtral Standard Time zone of the United States, provided this recording of the last VOA Radiogram broadcast (for now) on 6095 kHz, 1300-1330 UTC, on 22 December 2013:
http://youtu.be/ePbdMuC45DE

On VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 21-22 December 2013, our experiment with shifting the center frequency of MFSK64 images from 1500 Hz to 1700 Hz resulted in improvements that were, at best, subtle.

This weekend, 28-29 December, begins our new broadcast Saturday at 0930-1000 UTC on 5745 kHz. The time is inconveniently early for listeners in the Americas, but it might be audible and decodable in the Asia-Pacific region and in northern Europe. Expecting that reception conditions might be marginal in these parts of the world, the program will include a VOA News item in the robust MFSK16 mode.

Because of the addition of the new transmission had to be budget-neutral, the VOA Radiogram broadcast Sunday at 1300-1330 UTC on 6095 kHz is, unfortunately, discontinued.

Here is the lineup for program 39 of VOA Radiogram, 28-29 December 2013:

  1:38  MFSK16: Program preview
  3:30  MFSK16: Supercomputer for bioresearch
  8:08  MFSK32: ESA Gaia satellite, with image
13:58  MFSK32: Scientists predicted earthquake
21:01  MFSK64/Flmsg: Novice farmers, followed by image
25:48  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.

Christmas tree at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry as received and decoded by Giuliano Bertozzi in Italy, 22 December 2013, 1939 UTC, 15670 kHz…

Effective 28 December  2013, VOA Radiogram will add a new transmission Saturday, 0930-1000 UTC, on 5745 kHz.

Because of interesting propagation this time of day, this broadcast has a chance of being heard and decoded in the Asia/Pacific region and in northern Europe, at least this time of year.

To keep this schedule change budget-neutral, the VOA Radiogram broadcast Sunday at 1300-1330 UTC on 6095 kHz has been discontinued.

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.

Even though we are in the midst of the holiday season, our experiments continue.

Our MFSK64 mode centered on 1500 Hz has data from 1000 to 2000 Hz, with a second audio harmonic from 2000 to 4000 Hz.

Technically, there is no overlap, but there is also no “guard band” between the fundamental and the second harmonic. This can cause interference, especially with less selective, lower cost receivers.

To determine if a guard band would be helpful, we will first transmit an MFSK64 image on our usual center audio frequency of 1500 Hz.

Then we will move the center audio frequency up to 1700 Hz. The fundamental will be 1200 to 2200 Hz. The second harmonic from 2400 to 4400 Hz. The guard band will therefore be 200 Hz wide, between 2200 and 2400 Hz.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 38, 21-22 December 2013:

 1:33  MFSK16: Program preview (2:58)
 5:40  MFSK32: Introduction to experiment (1:21)
 7:36  MFSK64/1500 Hz: Image of Christmas tree (2:05)
10:17  MFSK64/1700 Hz: Same image of Christmas tree (2:05)
12:22  MFSK64/1700 Hz: Collapse of universe (3:39)
16:15  MFSK64/1700 Hz/Flmsg*: Electronic waste, with image (3:26)
19:41  MFSK64/1700 Hz: Converting algae to oil, with image (4:19)
24:41  MFSK64/1500 Hz: Same image (1:46)
26:38  MFSK32/1500 Hz: Closing announcements (:35)

*Use Flmsg with Fldigi. *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.com


VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

VOA Radiogram listeners have kindly produced YouTube videos of their reception and decoding of VOA Radiogram. You can see how the text and images decode in the video, or you can use the audio of the video to decode the text and images yourself.

The following three YouTube videos are from the transmission 21 December 2013, 1600-1630 UTC, on 17860 kHz…

Lorenzo in Italy
http://youtu.be/pQ0ZDHiXzUA

Tim in Colorado:
http://youtu.be/I2Qq2zmWWwQ

Gary in Maryland:
http://youtu.be/KSCbbTIZKfQ

Gary also provided a video of decoding the “Easter eggs,” or the surprise text modes transmitted under the closing music. This is for reception of the transmission 22 December 2013, 1300-1330 UTC, on 6095 kHz:
http://youtu.be/h2TDPGrBEDM

The following two videos are from the transmission 22 December 2013, 1930-2000 UTC, on 15670 kHz:

Marco, near Rome:
http://youtu.be/0TO6mhKGAkI

Mario, in Sicily (two videos):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE9zZHfAFnbHUnE5AdX7ncQ

All VOA Radiogram transmissions are via the Edward R. Murrow shortwave transmitting station in North Carolina.

VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about international media from VOA’s “sister” broadcasters Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 37, 14-15 December 2013:

  1:31  MFSK16: Program preview (2:32)
  4:03  MFSK32: DDoS attack on RFE/RL, with image (3:50)
  7:53  MFSK32: Reorganization of Russian media, with image (5:08)
13:52  MFSK64: Foreign journalists in China, with image (5:06)
18:58  MFSK64/Flmsg: Ancient Martian lake, with image (5:17)
24:20  MFSK64: Image of National Christmas Tree (2:28)
26:57  MFSK32: Closing announcements (:40)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com

Screenshots and audio samples are also appreciated. Audio of reception in the presence of interference from other shortwave broadcast stations or from local noise sources is especially helpful.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

For each of the YouTube videos below, you can watch the text and images decode on the video, or you can decode from the audio of the videos using the Fldigi software. Or both.

Lorenzo, IZ0KBA, near Rome, produced this YouTube video of his reception on 7 December 2013 at 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz. He received VOA tadiogram on his Kenwood TS950SDX transceiver:

http://youtu.be/HGvKIlxOsvw

Oscar in Milan provided this YouTube video of reception, same time and frequency. He used a Yaesu FRG7 receiver.

http://youtu.be/sY_25yqthRY

Tim, K0RUS, in Coloradio, same time and frequency:

http://youtu.be/jPj23yaozjE

Magdiel in Mexico received VOA Radiogram 8 December 2013 at 0230-0300 UTC on 5745 kHz. He used an Alinco DX-R8T receiver.

http://youtu.be/ZEtJgGh16bs
 

Marco, IK0DWN, near Rome, produced this YouTube video of reception on 8 December 2013, 1930-2000 UTC, on 15670 kHz. He used a Kenwood TS930S transceiver with an 8-element Yagi antenaa. This 15670 kHz frequency wass difficult to hear in northern Europe over the weekend, but provided satisfactory reception in southern Europe:

http://youtu.be/p2fM3X8J4CM

Tim, K0RUS, in Colorado, same time and frequency:

http://youtu.be/EtDYc9I6MOI

During VOA Radiogram for the weekend on 30 November and 1 December, we noticed horizontal interference lines in the MFSK64 image of VOA correspondent Steve Herman, W7VOA. The transmission of this image was centered on 1000 Hz, thus occupying 500 to 1500 Hz. The second audio harmonic overlapped at 1000 to 3000 Hz. Did the overlap cause the lines?

During the past weekend, 7-8 December 2013, we transmitted the same MFSK64 image of Steve, first centered on 1500 Hz. In this case the fundamental was 1000 to 2000 Hz, and the second audio harmonic was 2000 to 4000 Hz. The we transmitted the same image centered on 1000 Hz, thus including the overlap.

The photos in the left column below were centered on 1500 Hz, in the right column on 1000 Hz. They are typical of several screenshots sent in by listeners. The overlap of the second harmonic, or some other phenomenon related to the center audio frequency, caused the horizontal lines.

During VOA Radiogram, 30 Nov/1 Dec, the 1000 Hz center audio frequency, with overlapping second harmonic, had no negative effect on the decoding of MFSK64 text.  

Centered on 1500 Hz                                    Centered on 1000 Hz

Netherlands 17860 kHz

Norway 17860 kHz

Greece 17860 kHz

UK 17860 kHz

Texas 5745 kHz