VOA Radiogram

VOA Radiogram, 30-31 July 2016: More fun (or frustration) with html via shortwave

Last weekend’s experiment with the transmission of an html-formatted VOA News story resulted in many successful decodes, but also several failures. The failures were mainly due to the base64 compression of the transmitted file, which requires all of the received characters to be received correctly. On shortwave, as we know, perfection is often elusive.

This weekend, we will transmit another html-formatted VOA News story. This time we will use Flwrap, another Fldigi add-on program. See details and instructions here: http://voaradiogram.net/post/148147415237/experimenting-with-web-pages-via-shortwave .

Because Flwrap does not require the html to be compressed, if the checksum fails, you have a Plan B: Copy the text in the Fldigi from <html> through </html>, paste it to a text editor (like Notepad), save it as an .html file, and open it in a browser.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 174, 30-31 July 2016, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz:

1:31 Program preview

2:41 Great Red Spot may heat Jupiter’s atmosphere*

8:31 High-speed travel in near-vacuum tube*

12:44 Strange purple orb in Pacific Ocean**

18:43 Three images

26:08 Closing announcements*

* with image

** formatted for Flwrap

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 17580 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 broadcast to North America this weekend for one hour: Sunday 0000-0100 UTC (Saturday 8-9 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via shortwave. A minute of MFSK32 will be at about 0032 UTC. Reports for KBC reception to Eric: themighty (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and possibly other modes (and they have been experimenting with html/svg content) : Sunday 2130-2200 UTC, 15770 kHz, via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330-2400 UTC, 11580 kHz, via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000-2130 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany Daily 1830-1900 and 0530-0600 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany Look for any additions or changes to the DigiDX schedule at http://www.digidx.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) has a broadcast to Europe on 6070 kHz, Wednesdays, 2000-2200 UTC, with MFSK32 and Olivia 16-500 at 2030-2100 UTC. And IBC has added MFSK32 transmissions via WRMI in Florida: Friday 0125-0200 UTC on 9955 kHz (Thursday 9:25 pm EDT), part of its 0100-0130 broadcast. And Saturday at 0155-0200 UTC (Friday evening 9:55 pm EDT), on 11580 kHz, part of its 0130-0200 broadcast. See http://ibcradio.webs.com/ for the complete schedule and contact information.

7 years ago

Experimenting with web pages via shortwave

VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 23-24 July 2016 included the transmission of an html-formatted VOA News story using the file transfer form of Flmsg, an add-on to the Fldigi software.

Many listeners reported a successful decode, resulting in a perfect looking news story, complete with headlines and hyperlinks. See the example below received by Lorne in New Zealand (Saturday 0930-1000 UTC on 5745 kHz). The photo was transferred to the listeners’ computers via the Internet. This may seem like cheating, because one of the main purposes of the VOA Radiogram project is to find ways to provide information when or where the Internet is not available, or restricted. But it was an interesting experiment with the hybrid use of shortwave and the Internet.

Several listeners reported a failure to receive the html file. The Flmsg file transfer form compresses files using base64. If even one character of that compressed file is lost in transmission (not unusual on shortwave!) , the checksum fails, and the html file cannot be decoded.

This weekend (30-31July) on VOA Radiogram, we will cheat again. The html-formatted VOA News story will include a photo and a video, both transferred to the listeners’ computers via the Internet.

This time, we will Flwrap, another Fldigi add-on program. Flwrap can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/flwrap/ . The Flmsg manual can be downloaded or is available here: http://www.w1hkj.com/Flwrap/ .

When the Flwrap VOA News story is finished transmitting, in Fldigi: File > Folders > NBEMS files > WRAP (folder) > recv (folder): drag the most recent .wrap file to the right window of Flwrap. If there is no checksum error, the wrap file will appear as VOA_Purple_270716.html in the same folder where the .wrap file was found.

If there is a checksum error, or Flwrap otherwise does not work, or if you do not have Flwrap installed, copy the content in the Fldigi receive pane from <html> through </html> (including the <html> and </html>, paste it to a text editor (like Notepad), save it as an .html file, then open the file in a web browser.

The html-formatted VOA News story as received by Lorne in New Zealand:

7 years ago

VOA Radiogram, 23-24 July 2016: Transmissions from the cerebral cortex

Italian Broadcasting Corporation, IBC, has new MFSK32 transmissions. See the information below.

I have not been able to do a character-by-character analysis of all the reports on last weekend’s Battle of the 55-wpm Modes, but it generally appears to me that MFSKI16 was best, followed by Olivia-8-1000, with BPSK63F most prone to errors. (In defense of BPSK63F, however, it has the narrowest bandwidth, and thus will be the most welcome on the amateur bands.)

Roger in Germany reminded us that BPSK63F, because it involves phase shift keying, may not work as well in AM mode, because, with fading, the two sidebands can be out of phase. The frequency shift keying of MFSK and Olivia suffer less from this phenomenon. I decoded the three modes using SSB on various receivers, but it still seems that BPSK63F had the most errors. Several listeners and I also decoded BPSK63F in AM mode (and a good signal) with 100% success.

Meanwhile, the html VOA Radiogram transmission schedule was received perfectly in many parts of the world, even where the MFSK32 images were fuzzy. (See some examples.)

This weekend, VOA Radiogram will again transmit an html document. This time, instead of using the Flmsg blank form, we will use the Flmsg file transfer form. When the content is all received, the file transfer window will open. You can save the document and open it when convenient. (The photo in the document will come to your PC via the Internet rather than shortwave.) (See instructions at http://voaradiogram.net/post/147385924137/this-weekend-again-web-pages-via-shortwave )

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 173, 23-24 July 2016, all in MFSK32, all centered on 1500 Hz:

1:32 Program preview
2:52 New map of cerebral cortex*
9:21 X-shaped configuration at center of Milky Way*
14:41 US Navy will visit New Zealand*
19:04 Amateur radio numbers decline in Germany*
22:17 Kepler telescope discovers planets (Flmsg html file transfer)
27:18 Closing announcements

* with image

** information about using Flmsg is at http://bit.ly/29Yen0J

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 17580 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 broadcast to North America Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday evening 8-10 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130 UTC. It will be another Flmsg blank form, so an html item will pop up as a new window on your browser. (The large photo will come to your PC via the Internet rather than shortwave.) Reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com.

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and possibly other modes (and they have been experimenting with html/svg content) :

Sunday 2130-2200 UTC, 15770 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Sunday 2330-2400 UTC, 11580 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Monday 2000-2130 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Daily 1830-1900 and 0530-0600 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Look for any additions or changes to the DigiDX schedule at http://www.digidx.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) has a broadcast to Europe on 6070 kHz, Wednesdays, 2000-2200 UTC, with MFSK32 and Olivia 16-500 at 2030-2100 UTC. And IBC has added MFSK32 transmissions via WRMI in Florida: Friday 0125-0200 UTC on 9955 kHz (Thursday 9:25 pm EDT), part of its 0100-0130 broadcast. And Saturday at 0155-0200 UTC (Friday evening 9:55 pm EDT), on 11580 kHz, part of its 0130-0200 broadcast. See http://ibcradio.webs.com/ for the complete schedule and contact information.

7 years ago

This weekend (again): Web pages via shortwave

During the first year of VOA Radiogram we experimented with Flmsg, a companion program to Fldigi. Flmsg enables content transmitted by radio to be opened in your browser as a formatted web page.

Again this weekend (23-24 July) on VOA Radiogram and on The Mighty KBC, web documents will be transmitted using Flmsg. (More information about these programs: http://voaradiogram.net/post/147795364347/voa-radiogram-23-24-july-2016-transmissions-from.)

You will, as usual, use the Fldigi software to decode the modes. If you don’t already have Fldigi, download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/fldigi/ .

And you will use the companion program Flmsg. Download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/flmsg/ .

To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under Reception of flmsg files, select Open with flmsg and Open in browser, and below that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located – probably somewhere in Program Files(x86).

If all goes well, when the digital mode transmission concludes, Flmsg will open a new window of your web browser to display information about The Mighty KBC. If your default browser is not open, Flmsg will open it for you. (If you are asked to ignore checksum error, select Yes.)

NB: On VOA Radiogram, 23-24 July 2016, the Flmsg file transfer form will be used. When the Flmsg transmission ends, a window will open. You can save the VOA News .html file and open it at your convenience.

If it doesn’t work the first time, or you don’t have Flmsg installed, you can try this later from your recording.

In Windows, an easy way to save the received document is to use the Microsoft Snipping Tool. Please send that image as an attachment to your reception report.

(Both the VOA Radiogram and KBC html files this weekend will include photos which are accessed via the Internet rather than transmitted via shortwave. The latter would require several minutes.)

If you are an Android user, TIVAR does not accommodate Flmsg files. But a similar program, AndFlmsg, as its name would indicate, does. Unlike TIVAR, which is receive-only, AndFlmsg encodes as well as decodes and is used by radio amateurs for message traffic. After the Flmsg is received, go to the index screen and press on the name of the file.

#shortwave

7 years ago

VOA Radiogram 172: Results of Battle of the Modes and Flmsg

A busy VOA Radiogram, program 172, during the weekend of 16-17 July 2016, included “The Battle of the 55-wpm Modes” (BPSK63F, MFSK16, and Olivia 8-1000), as well as a formatted html VOA Radiogram schedule transmitted via Flmsg, an add-on to the Fldigi decoder software.

Tim, K0RUS, produced a YouTube video of VOA Radiogram, 17 July 2016, 0230-0300 UTC, 5745 kHz. In this video, you can see the Battle of the Modes (starting at about 11:10 into the video) and the Flmsg item (starting about 24:05, with the schedule popping up in a new browser window).

Roger in Germany showed all of the reception of program 172, 16 July 2016, 1600-1630 UTC, 17580 kHz, including the Flmsg:

http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/VoA_Radiogram_2016-07-16.htm#FLMSG

Because the html in the Flmsg transmission is all text, with MFSK32’s forward error correction, the web pages were crisp and clear, even if the MFSK32 images were fuzzy. Here’s an example from Frank, VK6FH, in Perth, Western Australia, who tuned in Saturday, 0930-1000 UTC, 5745 kHz, nominally directed to the Caribbean:

Many examples of perfect html decodes were received from all over the world. Here are two examples from the Saturday 1600-1630 UTC broadcast, 1600-1630 UTC, received by Mike in Washington state (L) and Merkouris in Greece, demonstrating the intercontinental footprint of the North Carolina shortwave transmitter:

Frank also provided text of his reception of the three modes in the Battle of the Modes. Only MFSK16 was perfect:

7 years ago

VOA Radiogram, 16-17 July 2016: Battle of the 55-wpm modes

Have your white laboratory coats ready, because VOA Radiogram will be very experimental this weekend.

Battle of the 55-wpm modes. VOA Radiogram listener and contributor Mark Hirst in the UK suggests an experiment with the BPSK63F mode. His interest was generated by an article in the August QST magazine about the “flavors of PSK.” It noted that BPSK63F, with its forward error correction, has a “remarkable ability to be decoded under poor conditions.”

During the early editions of VOA Radiogram, we did transmit BPSK63F a few times. This weekend, we’ll do it again, in comparison with two other modes that also have speeds of about 55 words per minute: MFSK16 and Olivia 8-1000. The RSID for each mode will be followed by a 15-second tuning signal, in case you must manually change modes. More details below in the lineup.

The return of Flmsg. This weekend’s program will include on item in Flmsg format. Flmsg is an add-on to Fldigi that allows the transmission and reception of message forms and formatted html documents.

If you don’t already have Fldigi, download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/fldigi/ . Download Flmsg from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/flmsg/ . (If SourceForge is not working, use http://www.w1hkj.com/files/ )

To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under Reception of flmsg files, select Open with flmsg and Open in browser, and below that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located – probably somewhere in Program Files(x86).

If all goes well, when the digital mode transmission concludes, Flmsg will open a new window of your web browser to display a formatted VOA Radiogram transmission schedule. If your default browser is not open, Flmsg will open it for you. (If you are asked to ignore checksum error, select Yes.)

If it doesn’t work the first time, or you don’t have Flmsg installed, you can try this later from your recording.

In Windows, an easy way to save the received document is to use the Microsoft Snipping Tool . Please send that image as an attachment to your reception report.

If you are an Android user, TIVAR does not accommodate Flmsg files. But a similar app,AndFlmsg, as its name would indicate, does. Unlike TIVAR, which is receive-only, AndFlmsg encodes as well as decodes and is used by radio amateurs for message traffic. After the Flmsg is received, go to the index screen and press on the name of the file.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 172, 16-17 July 2016. All modes are centered on 1500 Hz.

1:35 MFSK32: Program preview (now)

3:06 MFSK32: Osmosis to generate electricity*

Battle of the 55 wpm modes …

11:33 BPSK63F: “Snowline” around new star

15:04 MFSK16: Fuel-saving cars may pollute more

18:36 Olivia 8-1000: “Frankenstein” galaxy detected

21:30 MFSK32: Image and intro to Flmsg

23:52 MFSK32: VOA Radiogram schedule in html via Flmsg

27:03 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image

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 17580 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 also transmit Flmsg. This will be during its broadcasting to North America, Sunday 0000 to 0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT), on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32, in Flmsg format, will be at will broadcast at 0131 UTC. Please send reports for this KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com .

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and a mixture of other modes: Sunday 2130-2200 UTC, 15770 kHz, via WRMI Florida

Sunday 2330-2400 UTC, 11580 kHz, via WRMI Florida

Monday 2000-2130 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany Daily 1830-1900 and 0530-0600 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany Look for any additions or changes to the DigiDX schedule at

http://www.digidx.uk/

or

https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) has a broadcast to Europe on 6070 kHz, Wednesdays, 2000-2200 UTC, with MFSK32 and Olivia 16-500 at 2030-2100 UTC. See http://ibcradio.webs.com/ for the complete schedule and contact information.

VOA Radiogram, 9-10 July 2016: Pasta in Olivia 32-1000

During the past two weekends, many listeners noted that the RSID for the Olivia modes did change the mode. In an attempt to fix that problem, I have amplified the RSID for this weekend’s Olivia 32-1000 by 2.5 dB.

Also, please make sure that Fldigi is configured to search the passband for the RSID. Such a search is necessary given that the MFSK32 is centered on 1500 Hz, but the Olivia is centered on 2000 Hz. In Fldigi: Configure > IDs > RsID: select Searches passband. In newer versions of Fldigi, you can alternatively left-click on the RxID in the upper right of the main screen, then select Passband.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 171, 9-10 July 2016, all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz except where noted:

1:36 Program preview

2:51 Saturn’s moon Titan might support life*

7:47 New Horizons space probe extends its mission*

13:01 Lightning rod may have saved Maryland’s State House*

18:42 Olivia 32-1000/2000 Hz: Pasta is good for you

26:29 MFSK32/1500 Hz: Closing announcements*

* with image

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 17580 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 broadcast to North America Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130 UTC. Reports for KBC reception and decode to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and a mixture of other modes:

Sunday 2130-2200 UTC, 15770 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Sunday 2330-2400 UTC, 11580 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Monday 2000-2130 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Daily 1830-1900 and 0530-0600 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Look for any additions or changes to the DigiDX schedule at http://www.digidx.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) has a broadcast to Europe on 6070 kHz, Wednesdays, 2000-2200 UTC, with MFSK32 and Olivia 16-500 at 2030-2100 UTC. See http://ibcradio.webs.com/ for the complete schedule and contact information.

If you want to see images posted by listeners during, or shortly after, the weekend broadcasts, visit https://twitter.com/voaradiogram . I retweet the images submitted by VOA Radiogram listeners. You do not need to be a Twitter registered user to read the tweets. If you do register, you can send your own MFSK32 images, screen captures of text, etc. Please include @VOARadiogram in your tweet, and follow @VOARadiogram.

QSL (sample) from VOA Radiogram, 2 July 2016, 0930-1000 UTC, 5745 kHz, via North Carolina transmitting station.

7 years ago

VOA Radiogram, 2-3 July 2016: MFSK32, Olivia 32-1000, and a slightly confused producer

Last weekend VOA Radiogram heard from many interesting places (e.g., Morocco, Poland, Russia, Japan, Australia, Colombia), saw four YouTube videos (from Colorado, Germany, Maryland, and Japan), and heard and decoded the modes fighting off over-the-horizon (OTH) radar. See examples at this website: just scroll down. See examples also at https://twitter.com/voaradiogram

Last week’s MFSK32 performed well, and the Olivia 16-1000 even better. There were a few instances where the Olivia 16-1000 not not decode successfully. This week will will try the slower (24 wpm) but more robust Olivia 32-1000.

At one point in the show I mistakenly refer to Olivia 32-2000 …

VOA Radiogram now changes to Olivia 32-2000 centered on 2000 Hz

But Olivia 32-1000 is the only mode on the program other than MFSK32. I apologize for the confusion.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 170, 2-3 July 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:20 Program preview

2:37 Bamboo as a building material*
8:09 Juno spacecraft nears orbit around Jupiter*
15:12 Olivia 32-1000 at 2000 Hz: Neptune vortex* **
21:20 MFSK32: Image and closing announcements*

* with image
** and, yes, it is Olivia 32-1000, regardless of how Kim introduces it.

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 17580 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 to North America Sunday at 0000-0100 UTC (8-9 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be at about 0030 UTC. Reports for KBC reception and decode to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and a mixture of other modes:

Sunday 2130-2200 UTC, 15770 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Sunday 2330-2400 UTC, 11580 kHz, via WRMI Florida
Monday 2000-2130 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Daily 1830-1900 and 0530-0600 UTC, 6070 kHz, via Channel 292 Germany

Look for any additions or changes to the DigiDX schedule at http://www.digidx.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) has a broadcast to Europe on 6070 kHz, Wednesdays, 2000-2200 UTC, with MFSK32 and Olivia 16-500 at 2030-2100 UTC. See http://ibcradio.webs.com/ for the complete schedule and contact information.

VOA Radiogram images decoded in Colombia

Gabriel, HK4GOO, @8adesigner, in Colombia, successfully decoded two airplays of VOA Radiogram 169 during the weekend of 25-26 June.

Saturday, 25 June 2016, 0930-1000, 5745 kHz …

https://twitter.com/8adesigner/status/746645910088720384

Saturday, 25 June 2016, 1600-1630 UTC, 17580 kHz (to Europe) …

https://twitter.com/8adesigner/status/746742804882329600

Here are examples of MFSK32 images he received on 17580 kHz …

7 years ago