VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 7-8 March will be for experimenters.

The first experiment involves the RSID, which instructs your software to switch to the correct mode and center audio frequency.

In the path few months, several listeners have noticed the RxID moves Fldigi to the wrong audio frequency, usually around 1140 kHz. I think it has something to do with the “halo” that sometimes surrounds the MFSK32 trace  …

The first news item on VOA Radiogram will include five MFSK32 RSIDs (1 to 1 ½ minutes apart) so that we can troubleshoot this problem.

Dave, W1HKJ, the lead author of the Fldigi suite, tells me that the problem is caused by “overdriven audio at the receiver.” He’s not sure at which point in the receive path that the overdrive is occurring, but his first guess is the input to the computer. “The user might be connecting a high level signal to the microphone input of the sound card (mic in on a notebook).”

Dave advises Fldigi users to look at the signal on Fldigi’s signal view. In the lower left corner of Fldigi is the WF (for waterfall) button. Click it until SIG appears.  

Dave says “never allow the audio waveform to exceed the upper and lower gray boundary lines.”

During the weather volunteers’ news item, start with your normal settings. Then try reducing the audio input to your computer. Note if the RxID directs you to the correct audio frequency, which should be 1500 Hz plus or minus a few Hz.  

To reduce the level of audio into Fldigi, if you have the SignaLink interface, reduce the RX setting. Make a similar adjustment if you have another digital interface.

If you patch audio from the earphone jack of your radio to your PC, turn down the volume of your radio.

If you are using a line out or rec out jack of your radio, the audio level adjustment will have to be made within your computer. On a Windows 7 PC, this involves a right click on the speaker icon, then select “Recording devices,” then right click on the input device.  Next, select “Properties,” then “Level,” and reduce that level.

Attenuating patch cords or inline attenuators might also help. Until recently, you could visit your neighborhood Radio Shack and buy this handy headphone volume control, which is useful for adjusting the audio level between a radio and a computer.

You could also try adjusting the RF level. This can be accomplished by using an attenuator or RF gain control, if your radio has either of these, or by using a less sensitive antenna.

The second experiment will be a resumption, after several months, of a news item in the Flmsg format.

If you do not have an updated version of Flmsg (the latest is 2.0.8), download it from [http:// http://w1hkj.com/download.html]http://w1hkj.com/download.html. To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi:  Configure > Misc > NBEMS: Under “Reception of flmsg files” click “Open with Flmsg” and under that indicate where your flmsg.exe program is located. If it works, Flmsg will open your default web browser and display the VOA News story on it.

One reason we are using Flmsg this weekend is that a beta version of the new AndFlmsg app for Android devices is now available. It is designed for use with Flmsg forms. If you have an Android device and want to try using this app to decode VOA Radiogram, the manual and files are at  http://www.w1hkj.com/vk2eta. Be sure to read the readme.txt file and the manual.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 101, 7-8 March 2015, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:29  Program preview
2:52  Description of RSID experiment*
5:25  Volunteer weather reporters in the USA*
13:09  Iran cyber war (in Flmsg format)
19:59  White House proposes restructuring of Radio/TV Martí*
27:30  Closing announcements
28:32  Feld Hell: Bonus mode of the week

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5910 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.

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 8:30 pm EST) on 7375 kHz, both frequencies via Germany. Send reports for the KBC transmission to Eric at themightykbc (at) gmail.com.