VOA Radiogram during the weekend on 9-10 November 2013, will be a bit different. In addition to the usual MFSK modes, we will transmit Thor100.

We will also continue our comparisons of the new long-interleave modes MFSK64L and MFSK128L with their short counterparts.

All of the modes to be broadcast this weekend are available in the latest version of Fldigi: 3.21.77, available from w1hkj.com.

Here is the lineup of modes for VOA Radiogram, program 32, 9-10 November 2013:

2:55  MFSK16: Program preview
4:35  MFSK32: Radio France International memorial and logo
1:30  MFSK64: VOA News re SR-32 airplane
1:53  MFSK64L: Same VOA News story
3:36  MFSK32/64: Artist’s conception of SR-32   
  :38  MFSK32: E-mail address
2:17  Thor100: VOA News re earth-sized planets
1:48  MFSK128: Same VOA News story
2:10  MFSK128L: Same VOA News story
1:44  MFSK32 image: Artist’s conception of planet Kepler 78b
1:48  MFSK32: Closing announcements/VOA Radiogram logo (500x44) 

There will also be some surprises at the end of the show.

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.

Dave in New Jersey provided these images from VOA Radiogram, 3 November 2013, 0230-0300 UTC, 5745 kHz, showing the difference in resolution of the same photo in (left to right) MFSK16, 32, 64, and 128:

His reception earlier, 2 November at 1600-1630 on 17860 kHz was less successful. New Jersey is in the “skip zone” for 17860 kHz, i.e. too close to the North Carolina transmitter, at that time. Here are MFSK16 and 32, with 64 and 128 not decoding at all:

At the same time, on the same frequency, the above images were decoded successfully in Europe and in western USA,

Here are Dave’s images of mobile phone modules, 5745 (top) and 17860 kHz:

And the VOA Radiogram logo, 5745 (top) and 17860 kHz:

To date, we have three YouTube videos of VOA Radiogram from the weekend of 2-3 November 2013.

Here they are in chronological order:

From Tim in Colorado, 2 November, 1600-1630 UTC on 17860 kHz:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=raX42K40-lM

Also from Tim, 3 November, 0230-0300 UTC on 5745 kHz:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-8tNhMo5mc

And from Lorenzo in Italy, near Rome, 3 November 2013, 1930-2000 UTC on15670 kHz:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWFPIIgfxS4

Last week we experimented with the new long-interleave versions of MFSK64 and MFSK128. For some of you, when the MFSK64L or MFSK128L modes began transmitting, your Fldigi software crashed or froze.

The cause for that has been identified, and newer versions of Fldigi should alleviate the problem. Use Fldigi 3.21.76AT or later. The current alpha version of Fldigi, used to produce this weekend’s program, is 3.21.76AU. It can be downloaded from http://www.w1hkj.com/alpha/fldigi/v3.21/.

From last weekend, we have some occurrences of MFSK64L and MFSK128L providing a better decode than their “short” counterparts. But we need more examples.

This weekend’s show (November 2-3, 2013) should be interesting, and it will keep you busy:

2:38  MFSK16: Program preview

6:27  MFSK64/Flmsg*: Rails-to-trails, with image

1:11  MFSK32: Introduction to MFSK64L and MFSK128L

1:38  MFSK64: Modular smartphones

2:03  MFSK64L: Modular smartphones

1:46  MFSK32: Image of modular smartphone

1:19  MFSK128: Aging minds

1:40  MFSK128L: Aging minds

 :46  MFSK32: Intro to MFSK images

6:20  MFSK16/32/64/128: Same image in each mode

 :36  MFSK32: Closing announcements

*Use Flmsg with Fldigi, both available from w1hkj.com. To make FLmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS – Under Reception of fldigi 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.

Marco near Rome produced this YouTube video of his reception on 26 October 2013, 1600-1630 UTC, on 17860 kHz. It’s a good example of decoding in a weak-signal situation:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QepJ2vwxz8k

Lorenzo, also near Rome, produced this video of the first 12 minutes of the same broadcast of VOA Radiogram.  It’s a sequence of still images:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6GlC70z6GQ

Robert in Texas provides this video of his reception on 27 October 2013, 1300-1330 UTC, on 6095 kHz. Another example of decoding from a weak signal:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-dg6tFfUe8

In the past few weeks, we have included the MFSK64 and MFSK128 modes in VOA Radiogram. These fast modes are useful for sending large amounts of information, including html coding. But they are often prone to errors if shortwave reception conditions are less than ideal.

To address that problem, the Fldigi development team has created long interleave versions of the two modes: MFSK64L and MFSK128L. They include a “6.25 second interleaver for very robust HF reception.”  The new MFSK64L and MFSK128L modes are available in the latest “alpha” version of Fldigi, 3.21.76AR, available from http://www.w1hkj.com/alpha/fldigi/v3.21/

During VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 26-27 October 2013, we will transmit the same VOA news story in the MFSK64 “short,” then in MFSK64L. After that, we will do the same comparison with MFSK128 and MFSK128L.

When you are the w1hkj.com website, please also download the latest version of Flmsg: 1.1.33. In the past, diacritics and non-Latin alphabets would not display correctly after an Flmsg item was received, because Flmsg used a different character set. Flmsg 1.1.33 uses the UTF-8 character set, same as used for international language alphabets. Because of this, the VOA Spanish news item at the end of the show, after the Flmsg item, should display the correct diacritics.

Here is the lineup of  modes for VOA Radiogram, number 30, 26-27 October 2013:

3:17  MFSK16: Program preview

7:02  MFSK16/32/64/128: Image in each mode

  :45  MFSK32: Introduction to MFSK64L and 128L

1:43  MFSK64: VOA News re flying cars

2:00  MFSK64L*: Same VOA News story

2:16  MFSK32 image: Flying car in flight

1:20  MFSK128: VOA News re oldest comet strike

1:36  MFSK128L*: Same VOA News story

2:12  MFSK32/Flmsg**: News from kimandrewelliott.com

2:26  MFSK32: VOA News in Spanish re Blackberry

  :33  MFSK32: Closing announcements   

*Requires Fldigi 3.21.76AR. Note that text will not display until a few seconds after the tones are heard.

**Use Flmsg 1.1.33 to ensure that the accents appear correctly on the VOA Spanish news item that follows. To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS – Under reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your flmsg.exe file (1.1.33) is located.

Please send your reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com. Audio samples and screenshots are also appreciated.

The VOA Radiogram transmission schedule remains unchanged in the B13 HF broadcast frequency season beginning 27 October:
(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, program 29, during the weekend of 19-20 October 2013, is preserved in YouTube videos.

From Oscar, near Milan, Italy, 19 October 2013, 1600-1630 UTC, 17860 kHz:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=INyEpg6ewFs

From Marco, near Rome, same time and frequency:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhuGW_dCERc

From Lorenzo, near Rome, same time and frequency (no audio):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q1KiJKZiNM&feature=youtu.be

From Tim in Colorado, 20 October 2013, 1930-2000 UTC, 15670 kHz:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F6t3uqS3g

From Robert in Texas, same time and frequency (no audio):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbivWd-XYM&feature=youtu.be