I would like to thank all the listeners around the world who sent reports, audio, screenshots, spectrum displays, etc of the VOA Radiogram “soft launch.” I’m still absorbing all this material and hope to respond to your e-mails within a few days.

Success in decoding the PSK modes varied, as expected, by time, frequency, location, software, and hardware.

Some of you noted a low audio level. This should be improved next week, when the levels for both the tones and my voice will be increased. Also, we will transmit only one mode at a time. This will simplify your decoding, and allow us to concentrate all of the RF energy in one mode, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio.

Next weekend’s VOA Radiogram will feature the BPSK and PSKR modes. I am starting with PSK because it is well known to the amateur radio community. While we had good success with BPSK and PSKR during the soft launch, these are not the most robust modes available to us. In future weekends, we will try MFSK, Olivia, MT63, and other modes that might better be able to withstand fades and other degradations of shortwave.

We hope the VOA Radiogram broadcasts will encourage the development of software applications for PCs and for mobile devices that will simplify the process of decoding the text transmissions. Perhaps future shortwave receivers will include a suitable display and the software for the reception of text and images.

For those who requested QSL cards, it may take a couple of weeks for those to be designed, printed, and mailed.

Information about next weekend’s VOA Radiogram will be posted soon.

Thanks again.

Kim Andrew Elliott

PS: See these YouTube videos of VOA Radiogram reception:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCW_iOoEfAE (Italy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWbZs6jFkcA (Germany)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwGAI39kfU (Slovakia)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEM8DhgX1cU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd7uDj8Iznw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaTTG944c20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HSM4V_CyFU& (Mexico)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqn8E70kKiI (Oregon)