For details, see ….

http://voaradiogram.net/post/148784430842/wrmi-will-showcase-digital-modes-via-analog-radio

http://voaradiogram.net/post/148839425652/voa-radiogram-13-14-august-2016-radio-that

Based on your reports, last weekend’s Thor25x4 performed well, but not as well as our standard MFSK32, which is faster.

This weekend, VOA Radiogram will be all MFSK32. A VOA News video will be presented, via the Internet with the help of Flmsg. Instructions on how to use Flmsg are included in the post about the WRMI special broadcasts mentioned below.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 176, 13-14 August 2016, all in MFSK32 centered in 1500 Hz:

  1:34  Program preview

  2:54  Pinatubo eruption hid rate of sea level rise*

  8:58  Do black holes have black door?*

12:49  No new stars at Milky Way’s center*

16:31  Method to convert CO2 to fuel

18:19  Flmsg: Hubble Telescope gets extension (video)

19:56  FCC action on amateur radio digital modes*

23:58  Special WRMI broadcasts showcase digital modes*

25:30  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.

WRMI, Radio Miami International, will broadcast a special program showcasing digital text and images via analog shortwave radio. This will be transmitted nine times from Saturday through Tuesday. Details and schedule: http://voaradiogram.net/post/148784430842/wrmi-will-showcase-digital-modes-via-analog-radio.  

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK32 at about 0030 UTC on 9925 kHz, via Germany. This will be in the Flmsg format, with a surprise at the end. The KBC broadcast to North America this weekend is 0000-0100 UTC. Reception reports to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX has provided its usual broadcast times to the WRMI digital mode special, this Sunday and Monday: 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 Visit DigiDX 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.

This YouTube video by Tim, K0RUS, in Colorado, 6 August 2016, 1600-1630 UTC, 17580 kHz, is a good way to see how VOA Radiogram works, using Fldigi to decode ….

WRMI, Radio Miami International, will showcase digital text and images via analog radio in a half-hour special broadcast to be transmitted nine times (at least), beginning Saturday, 13 August.

The broadcast will mostly be in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz. There will also be segments in MFSK64, MFSK32 centered on 2200 Hz, and Olivia 64-2000. The program will include MFSK images, examples of non-Latin alphabets, and an Flmsg transmission. You will also hear “co-channel” music.

To decode the modes on the WRMI broadcast, Fldigi software is recommended. Download it from https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/fldigi/ . The main Fldigi website is http://www.w1hkj.com.

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).

For correct decoding of the languages with diacritics, or using non-Latin alphabets, in Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts > RxTx > in the Rx/Tx Character set menu, select UTF-8.

For Fldigi to automatically select the mode and the center audio frequency of the mode, select RxID (upper right of the interface) by left clicking. In newer versions of Fldigi, also right click on RxID and select Passband.

You can decode this WRMI special broadcast as it is broadcast, or from your recording.

TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE

Via WRMI’s transmitters at Okeechobee, Florida, except where noted:

Saturday 13 August 0030-0100 UTC on 7730 kHz (285 degrees azimuth)
Saturday 13 August 0730-0800 UTC on 5850 kHz (315 degrees)        
Saturday 13 August 1330-1400 UTC on 11580 kHz (44 degrees)        
Saturday 13 August 2200-2230 UTC on 5950 kHz (181 degrees)        
Sunday 14 August 0230-0300 UTC on 11580 kHz (44 degrees)          
Sunday 14 August 2130-2200 UTC on 15770 kHz (44 degrees)*
Sunday 14 August 2330-2330 UTC on 11580 kHz (44 degrees)*
Monday 15 August 2000-2030 UTC on 6070 kHz* **
Tuesday 16 August 2130-2200 UTC on 15770 kHz (44 degrees)

* Preempts DigiDX, usually heard at this time

** Via Channel 292, Germany

Many of these broadcasts will be heard outside their nominal target areas.

Reception reports to Jeff: info (at) wrmi.net

Last week’s html transmission using Flwrap, or cut/paste as a Plan B, was successful among listeners in many parts of the world. One example was from New Zealand: https://twitter.com/VOARadiogram/status/761559631135141889 .  If you’re interesting in more html pages via shortwave, please let me know.

This weekend’s broadcast will not include an html segment. It will, however, include a VOA News story in Thor25x4. This mode is interesting because of its 2-second interleave. Thor25x4 might be able to resist fading, if it occurs this weekend. (We tried Thor25x4 in program 52, 29-30 March 2014, with good results.)

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 175, 6-7 August 2016, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:32  Program preview

2:52  Life in the deep Pacific*

12:49  Private US company plans moon shot*

17:18  Thor25x4: Io atmosphere collapses in Jupiter’s shadow**

22:17  MFSK32: Io image

24:34  Special broadcasts by Club Diexistas de la Amistad

26:10  Closing announcements

* with image

** RSID will be followed by 10-second tone in case manual mode change is required

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 a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. This is part of its broadcast to North America, this UTC Sunday from 0000 to 0200 UTC. Reports for KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc (at) gmail.com .

DigiDX will provide DX and media news in MFSK32 and possibly 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. 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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.