We’ll keep this weekend’s program simple, with MFSK32 as the only mode.
One addition of digital modes this weekend is from the Winter SWL Fest, near Philadelphia. On its agenda is the Shortwave
Shindig, which will be broadcast live on WRMI, 6855 kHz, Saturday
0300-0600 UTC (Friday evening in North America). Host David Goren, of Shortwaveology, plans to include one or two MFSK32 images during the show.
Please also note that The Mighty KBC will transmit on 6040 kHz, in
addition to its usual 6145 kHz, Sunday 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm
EST). This is because of an interfering signal just above 6145 kHz. A
minute of MFSK32 will be at about 0130 UTC.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 205, 4-5 March 2017, all in MFSK32:
1:49 Program preview
2:54 Cambodia threatens media outlets*
12:31 Foreign TV blocked for North Koreans in China*
With reception conditions
apparently improving, we will take a chance with MFSK64 (240 wpm) for one of
our news stories this weekend.
But if reception conditions
are poor, we will also transmit one story in MFSK16 (58 wpm). Tuning for
MFSK16 needs to be precise, so if the RSID does not work, I precede it with a 10-second
tuning signal.
So this will be a weekend to
compare MFSK16, 32, and 64, including one image transmitted in both MFSK64 and
32, and another image transmitted in both MFSK16 and 32.
Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 204, 25-26 February
2017, all in MFSK with baud rates as noted:
Italian
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY
ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON
9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON
1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete
IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest. I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4,
2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com
. (Single-day walk-ins are welcome.)
Last weekend, we marked World
Radio Day with a malfunction of the radio transmitter on 17580 kHz, during the
time that the World Radio Day logo should have been broadcast. Other than
that, we had a good weekend of reception and decoding!
This weekend, we will again
transmit an excerpt of text in a non-Latin Alphabet. This time it will be
Ukrainian. Use the UTF-8 character set, which, in Fldigi, you can adjust (if
necessary) via Configure > Colors & Fonts.
Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 203, 18-19
February 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:50
Program preview
3:17
Trump Administration sued over bumble bee protection*
9:18
India rocket launches 104 satellites*
16:09
Olivia 64-2000: First white dwarf pulsar discovered
Italian
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY
ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON
9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON
1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete
IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest. I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4,
2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com
. (Single-day walk-ins are welcome.)
VOA Radiogram Olivia 64-2000 received in NSW Australia, 11 February 2017, 0947 UTC, 5865 kHz shortwave, via North Carolina transmitter, 80 kW into dipole directed to the Caribbean. Despite weak signal and interference (might be over-the horizon radar), the Olivia 64-2000 was decoded 100%. You can decode from this audio using Fldigi software for PC, or TIVAR for Android.
Happy World Radio Day! World Radio Day will be Monday, 13 February, and it will be mentioned this weekend on VOA Radiogram.
Also this weekend, we will transmit
samples of text in Chinese, Russian, and Persian. For these alphabets to
display correctly, Fldigi should be configured to the UTF-8 character
set (Configure > Colors & Fonts > adjust Rx/Tx Character set
to UTF-8, if it is not there already). Your operating system might also
need font support for non-Western languages. If the Chinese, Russian, or
Persian text is seen as a series of boxes in the Fldigi receive pane,
copy and past those boxes to a word processor, and the text might
display correctly. At the bottom of this email is a picture off what the received text in the three languages should look like.
There will be four MFSK32 images this weekend, but they will not be transmitted until the second half of the show.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 202, 11-15 February 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:45 Program preview
3:05 China to vet online content and services
6:11 Experiment with non-Latin alphabets**
10:17 Olivia 64-2000: ESA to help NASA
15:53 MFSK32: SSTV from the International Space Station*
19:58 Video of Radio Australia shortwave shutdown*
The Mighty KBC broadcast
to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST)
on 6145 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at
about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/
Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON 9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON 1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest.
I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4, 2017, at
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com .
Thanks for your reports from last weekend. (Or, if you are in Europe and tuned in Sunday at 1930 UTC on 15670 kHz, reports of attempted
reception.) Now that I’ve finally responded to the reports from program
198, I’ll start with the program 201 reports and work backwards.
PS: A few operating notes:
For best Olivia 64-2000 performance, turn Fldigi’s squelch (SQL) off.
The
RSID at 1500 Hz sometimes mixes with the transmitter hum, most
noticeable at 360 Hz, to move your receive audio frequency down to 1140
Hz, resulting in no decode. To prevent this, in Fldigi: Configure >
IDs > RsID > unselect Searches passband. Your center audio frequency will wander no more than +/- 200 Hz.
Fldigi
automatically saves your decoded MFSK images as png files in the folder
\fldigi.files\images\ (in Windows; folder names might be different with
other operating systems). You can attach those png files with your
reception report.
The
VOA Radiogram Twitter account @VOARadiogram is especially active
before, during, and after the broadcasts. You don’t need a Twitter
account: just go to https://twitter.com/voaradiogram and refresh it occasionally.
VOA Radiogram this weekend
will be, as usual, mostly in MFSK32, with some Olivia 64-2000. It will include
information about VOA’s 75th anniversary, which was 1 February. And
the show will conclude with mention of the last Radio Australia shortwave
transmission on 31 January.
Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 201, 4-5 February
2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:48
Program preview
2:58
Saturn’s rings revealed in unprecedented detail*
7:05
Batteries will help power California’s grid*
11:37
Olivia 64-2000: Breitbart News expands to Europe
19:31
MFSK32: VOA’s 75th anniversary on 1 February*
The Mighty KBC
broadcast
to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST) on 6145
kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130
UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/
.
Italian
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY
ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON
9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON
1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete
IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest. I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4,
2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com
.
DigiDX is taking a few weeks
off. VOA Radiogram will be heard during the DigiDX broadcast times on WRMI
Florida and IBC Italy. See the expanded schedule below.
The expanded schedule is a
good way to celebrate the 200th program of VOA Radiogram this
weekend.
Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 200, 28-29 January
2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
The Mighty KBC broadcast
to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST) on 6145
kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130
UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com. See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/ .
Italian
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY
ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON
9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON
1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete
IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest. I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4,
2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com
.
I produced this weekend’s VOA Radiogram
yesterday (Thursday), during the administration of Barack Obama. It will
be broadcast during the administration of Donald Trump.
The show will include one item about
past inaugurations, and the final image will show the National Mall,
site of the inauguration, with the VOA headquarters also in the picture.
One science news item this weekend will be in Olivia 64-2000, which may be helpful if reception is poor.
Mid-winter propagation continues to provide challenges and opportunities. Some listeners in northern Europe heard and decoded last weekend’s broadcast Saturday 0930-1000 UTC on 5865 kHz. And the Sunday 1930-2000 UTC broadcast on 15670 kHz, lately difficult to hear in Europe (the nominal target), was received last weekend in New Zealand. (See images below.)
A few operating notes:
For best Olivia 64-2000 performance, turn Fldigi’s squelch (SQL) off.
The
RSID at 1500 Hz sometimes mixes with the transmitter hum, most
noticeable at 360 Hz, to move your receive audio frequency down to 1140
Hz, resulting in no decode. To prevent this, in Fldigi: Configure >
IDs > RsID > unselect Searches passband. Your center audio frequency will wander no more than +/- 200 Hz.
Fldigi
automatically saves your decoded MFSK images as png files in the folder
\fldigi.files\images\ (in Windows; folder names might be different with
other operating systems). You can attach those png files with your
reception report.
The VOA
Radiogram Twitter account @VOARadiogram is especially active before,
during, and after the broadcasts. You don’t need a Twitter account: just
go to https://twitter.com/voaradiogram and refresh it occasionally.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 199, 21-22 January 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
18:24 Olivia 64-2000: Milky Way looting stars from near galaxy
24:44 Closing image and announcements*
* with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz (To the Americas, try also in Asia-Pacific and Europe)
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz (To Europe, try also in the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz (To the Americas, try also in Europe)
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz (To Europe, try also in the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.
Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON 9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON 1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest.
I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4, 2017, at
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com .
The VOA Radiogram broadcast last Sunday (8 January) at 1930-2000 UTC
on 15670 kHz was heard in Europe, or at least parts of Europe, but also
in western North America. The top row of images above was decoded by
Franco in Italy, the bottom by Eric in California, both tuned to the
same 15670 kHz transmission.
This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will be all MFSK32 except for the transmission schedule in Olivia 64-2000 at the end of the show.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 198, 14-15 January 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:48 Program preview
2:48 Iranians fear health effects of jamming*
13:23 Flagstaff, Arizona, keeps night sky dark**
23:29 VOA 75th anniversary*
25:57 Closing announcements
26:31 Olivia 64-2000: Transmission schedule
* with image
** with two images
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz (To the Americas, try also in Asia-Pacific and Europe)
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz (To Europe, try also in the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz (To the Americas, try also in Europe)
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz (To Europe, try also in the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.
Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON 9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON 1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest.
I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4, 2017, at
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you
there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com .
Eastern North Carolina is
expecting snow and perhaps other forms winter precipitation on Saturday.
If there is any disruption to VOA Radiogram transmissions this weekend, that
might be the cause. You can follow weather developments in Greenville NC
at http://www.witn.com/weather
For those of you who are new
to sending reception reports, Fldigi automatically saves decoded MFSK images as
png files in the folder \fldigi.files\images\ . That’s under C:\Users … on my
Windows machine. Folder names might be different with other operating
systems. You can attach those png files with your report.
Last week we experienced the
first relatively good gray-line reception in Europe during the Saturday
0930-1000 UTC broadcast on 5865 kHz. If you are in Europe, especially northern
Europe, try it soon, while the nights are still long!
Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 197, 7-8 January
2017, in MFSK32 except where noted:
1:31 Program preview
2:41 Turkey moves
to block Internet access*
10:46 McDonald’s opens
near Vatican*
14:56 BBC World Service
feature re BBC Monitoring* **
(all
days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz (To the
Americas, try also in Asia-Pacific and Europe)
Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz (To Europe, try
also in the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz (To the
Americas, try also in Europe)
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz (To Europe, try also in
the Americas and Asia-Pacific)
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.
The Mighty KBC
broadcast
to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST) on 6145
kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130
UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/
.
DigiDX transmits DX news in
MFSK32 and sometimes other modes:
Sunday 2030-2100
UTC on 11580Khz (Via WRMI Florida, to Europe)
Sunday 2330-2400 UTC on 11580kHz (Via WRMI Florida, to North and South America)
Italian
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY
ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON
9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON
1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON
6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete
IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit http://ibcradio.webs.com/
Winter SWL Fest. I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest,
March 2-4, 2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to
see you there. Information at http://www.swlfest.com
.
