Grove Enterprises to Close

Several sources agree that the end of Monitoring Times is also the end of Grove Enterprises.  Along with working for some very nice people there, I had the frequent (if expensive) pleasure of talking to them about radio purchases.  Bob and Judy Grove are two of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and the Brasstown Radio Ranch was legendary.  Pop Comm is a business, but Grove was a family.

No date has been made public for its closing.

This is going to leave an enormous hole in a hobby that unfortunately is becoming all too accustomed to same.

That hole will not include this blog.  It will be renamed, given a skin other than the one I picked to look like the other MT blogs, and hopefully updated more often.

Dorian Air Recon May Begin 28 July

000
NOUS42 KNHC 261503
REPRPD
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHTS
CARCAH, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, MIAMI, FL.
1100 AM EDT FRI 26 JULY 2013
SUBJECT: TROPICAL CYCLONE PLAN OF THE DAY (TCPOD)
         VALID 27/1100Z TO 28/1100Z JULY 2013
         TCPOD NUMBER.....13-056

I.  ATLANTIC REQUIREMENTS
    1. NEGATIVE RECONNAISSANCE REQUIREMENTS.
    3. SUCCEEDING DAY OUTLOOK: BEGIN 6-HRLY FIXES FOR TROPICAL
       STORM DORIAN AT 28/1730Z NEAR 19.5N 60.0W.

II. PACIFIC REQUIREMENTS...........................(NO CHNAGES)
    1. NEGATIVE RECONNAISSANCE REQUIREMENTS.
    2. OUTLOOK FOR SUCCEEDING DAY.....NEGATIVE.

$$
JWP 

Air Recon Possible for Dorian

000
NOUS42 KNHC 251800
REPRPD
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHTS
CARCAH, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, MIAMI, FL.
0200 PM EDT THU 25 JULY 2013
SUBJECT: TROPICAL CYCLONE PLAN OF THE DAY (TCPOD)
         VALID 26/1100Z TO 27/1100Z JULY 2013
         TCPOD NUMBER.....12-055 AMENDMENT

I.  ATLANTIC REQUIREMENTS..........................(OUTLOOK CHANGED)
    1. NEGATIVE RECONNAISSANCE REQUIREMENTS.
    2. OUTLOOK FOR SUCCEEDING DAY: POSSIBLE NOAA G-IV SURVEILLANCE
       MISSION AROUND TROPICAL STORM DORIAN FOR 28/0000Z.
    3. ADDITIONAL DAY OUTLOOK: BEGIN 6-HRLY FIXES FOR TROPICAL
       STORM DORIAN AT 28/1200Z NEAR 19.8N 57.0W.

II. PACIFIC REQUIREMENTS...........................(NO CHNAGES)
    1. NEGATIVE RECONNAISSANCE REQUIREMENTS.
    2. OUTLOOK FOR SUCCEEDING DAY.....NEGATIVE.

$$
SEF

All MFSK in VOA Radiogram for July 27-28

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

I was away on travel during the first half of this week, so I have not had a chance to read or respond to most of your emails from last weekend. I hope to do that before this weekend.

In most editions of VOA Radiogram, we include at least one VOA News story in the MFSK16 mode. I know that MFSK16, at 55 words per minute, can be aggravatingly slow. The idea is that MFSK16 decodes successfully in poor reception conditions, when the other modes do not.  Occasionally, however, I see reports of better results from MFSK32 than from MFSK16.

What do you think? Should we keep the MFSK16 items in VOA Radiogram?

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, 27-28 July 2013:

2:22  MFSK16: Program  preview

5:01  MFSK16: VOA News re photo of Earth from Cassini spacecraft

:35  MFSK32: Image of Earth and moon from Cassini

3:03  MFSK32: VOA News re dolphins whistling "names"

2:00  MFSK32: Image of dolphins

1:07  MFSK32: Email address and image of logo

6:32  MFSK32/Flmsg*: VOA News re solar storm

2:22  MFSK32: Image of coronal mass ejection

1:10  MFSK16: Closing announcements

1:55  MFSK32: Surprise image 

*To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your flmsg.exe file is located.

As usual, please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

(all days and times UTC)

Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

I hope you can tune in this weekend.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott

Producer and Presenter

VOA Radiogram

radiogram@voanews.com

http://voaradiogram.net

Twitter: @voaradiogram

Monitoring Times to Cease Publication

December 2013 will be the last issue of Monitoring Times.

Yes, I'm as surprised as you are.

This isn't April first, so I have to assume the following message from Bob Grove is real:

After 33 years of publishing the most informative and lauded magazine on monitoring the radio spectrum, Judy and I are finally going to retire. We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of our fine staff of writers for the excellent work which has kept MT alive for all these years. While we know the discontinuation of MT, with our December issue, will be a disappointment to our readers and writers alike, we realize that a combination of a down-turned economy, as well as the ready availability of free listening and technical information on the Internet, has reduced sales and subscriptions throughout the market place. I would like to thank you personally for your knowledge, your dependability, and your professionalism in making MT the publication that is most often referred to in the radio monitoring hobby. It is a legacy that we have all inherited.

They haven't even changed the web site yet.

I'll miss Utility World as much as you will.  More, in fact.

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 20-21 July

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Because of  deadlines associated with my audience research work at VOA, I have not yet had a chance to respond to or even to read most of your emails from the weekend of 13-14 July. But I will. As soon as possible.

Last week during the broadcasts on 5745 and 6095 kHz, we employed the Optimod audio processor that is typically used during VOA voice broadcasts. The purpose of this experiment was not to determine if the Optimod would improve the decoding of the modes, but if it would have any negative effect. If future VOA voice broadcasts include short segments of digital text, the audio processor would almost certainly be used.

I certainly noticed it was easier to hear what I was saying during my voice introduction to the show. On 6095 kHz, however, even though the signal was strong in northern Virginia, I noticed several errors with the MFSK32 when usually there are no errors. That may or may not be related to the use of the Optimod. I look forward to analyzing your reports to find out if there were similar results.

One anomaly from last weekend's show was that, for me at least, in the plain-text Spanish-language greeting to a shortwave listeners meeting in Mexico City, the accents displayed correctly, but in a VOA Spanish news story later, the accents did not display correctly. The mystery is discussed here: voaradiogram.net/post/55797046544/the-mystery-of-the-missing-accents

Some of you were impressed with the performance of last weekend's surprise mode: MT63-1000 long interleave, especially as it was mixed with music. For that reason, VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 20-21 July will include a VOA News story in the MT63-2000L mode (200 wpm), followed by the same story in the MFSK64 mode (240 wpm).

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, 20-21 July 2013:

2:20  MFSK16: Program preview  
4:31  MFSK16: VOA News about quartz glass for data storage
2:04  MFSK32: Image of data stored in silica glass
3:59  MFSK32: VOA News about end of India's telegram service
2:42  MFSK32: Image of sign at telegram office
2:53  MT63-2000L: VOA News about new materials for solar cells
2:32  MFSK64: Same VOA News about new materials for solar cells
1:10  MFSK32: Image of molecularspace.org logo
1:08  MFSK16: Closing announcements
1:11  Surprise image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .

Especially helpful are...

1) Audio samples of poor reception nevertheless resulting in a successful decode of text modes.

2) Reception on less expensive portable shortwave radios. Please also share your advice on feeding the audio from your portable radio to your PC and eventually to your decoding software. If use of the earphone jack mutes the radio's speaker, how do you listen to the program? Do you use an external sound card? Any other tips and tricks?

3) Of course, resume listening on and decoding from your transceivers and high-end receivers if reception on portable radios proves unsuccessful.

Thanks for listening and decoding.

Kim


Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram

radiogram@voanews.com
http://voaradiogram.net
Twitter: @voaradiogram

The VOA Radiogram schedule is:

Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz


 (all days and times UTC)

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

To decode the digital text and images transmitted on VOA Radiogram, download Fldigi, Flmsg and Flamp from w1hkj.com.

The Mystery of the Missing Accents

Kim Elliott's description of an apparent bug in the Fldigi suite of applications closely parallels mine.

The issue is that, if Fldigi is left open for the entire program, the way anyone would do it, something changes the character set even though no defaults have been changed.  While the program is still in UTF-8 characters, which include all the international accented ones, subsequent copy omits them, printing place holders instead.

Kim's repeated runs seemed to indicate that the bug happens after Flmsg is used. My testing would seem to verify this.

In any event, the problem goes away if Fldigi is restarted before the next foreign language message containing the accented characters.

Here's what Kim has to say about this:

VOA Radiogram during the weekend on 13-14 July 2013 included this sequence:

(1) Greetings to the Mexico City meeting of shortwave listeners in MFSK32 plain-text Spanish

(2) Same greetings to the Mexico City meeting in MFSK32 formatted for Flmsg (a message handling program that works with Fldigi).

(3) MFSK32 image publicizing the Mexico City meeting

(4) VOA News story about Pluto’s moons in MFSK32 plain-text MFSK32 Spanish

When I decoded from recordings and from the actual broadcasts, the Spanish accents displayed correctly from (1) but never from (4), even though the character set was still UTF-8. The only way to restore the accents was to close Fldigi and and turn it back on during (4). Why was this happening?

Using audio editing software, I deleted (2) and (3) and decoded from what remained. The accents displayed correctly on both (1) and (4).

Then I played (1), (2) and (4). The accents were no longer visible on (4).

Finally I played (1), (3) and (4). The accents were visible on (4).

The culprit is Flmsg. Something in the Flmsg code alters the character set. Whatever that may be, I’ll just avoid text containing diacritics after using Flmsg on the program. 

VOA Radiogram for 13-14 July 2013

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Thanks to everyone who sent reception reports for VOA Radiogram during the weekend on 6 and 7 July. Some of you found ways to add local noise to your reception, allowing us to test the limits of MFSK text under difficult conditions. I look forward to analyzing your reception, and responding to your emails, now that I have finished producing the VOA Radiogram for this coming weekend.

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 13-14 July 2013 will include some items in Spanish. This will allow us to review our ability to display accent marks (diacritics) on decoded MFSK text. In Fldigi, use the UTF-8 character set: Configure > Colors & Fonts >   Select Char Set UTF-8.

In my decoding from the recording of program to be broadcast 13-14 July, I was able to see the accent marks in the first Spanish item, greetings to the Encuentro Nacional Diexista 2013, a meeting of shortwave listeners in Mexico City. But in the second plain-text Spanish item, a VOA news story about Pluto's moons, the accents were no longer visible. If this happens to you, during the Pluto story, try closing Fldigi and opening it again.

There will also be a brief MFSK transmission in the Flmsg format. To make Flmsg work adjust these settings in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.

EasyPal also returns this weekend. We will use the more robust 4-QAM transmission setting, which requires seven minutes to transmit one image. You can download EasyPal from vk4aes.com.

Another change for the 13-14 July program is that the Optimod audio processor will be used at the North Carolina transmitter site for the broadcasts Sunday 0230-0300 UTC on 5745 kHz and at 1300-1330 UTC on  6095 kHz. So far, we have not been using the audio processor that is typically present for VOA shortwave voice broadcasts because of our concern that the processor might affect the spectral purity of the digital tones. This weekend we will find out if the audio processor has any adverse effect on the ability to decode MFSK and EasyPal. (Radio Australia used the Optimod during its recent digital text tests, with no problems at the transmitter end and no apparent reduction in the  ability to decode.)

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, 13-14 July 2013 (duration of each transmission in the left column):

3:00  MFSK16: Program preview
 :38  MFSK32: Greeting to SW listeners in Mexico City (Spanish)
1:10  MFSK32: Same greeting in Flmsg format
2:42  MFSK32: Image related to meeting in Mexico City
2:16  MFSK32: VOA Spanish news story about Pluto's moons
2:14  MFSK32: Image showing orbits of Pluto's moons
5:22  MFSK32: VOA News about O2B satellite system
1:05  MFSK32: VOA Radiogram logo and intro to EasyPal
7:04  EasyPal image
1:14  MFSK16: Closing announcements
 :22  Surprise mode of the week    


As usual, please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com

Especially appreciated:

1) Audio samples of difficult reception which nevertheless results in a successful decode of MFSK text.

2) Reception on less expensive portable shortwave receivers. (And your advice on how to transfer audio from the portable radio to your PC and into your decoding software. It's often difficult to do this.)

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

Thanks as always. I very much enjoy producing these VOA Radiogram broadcasts and hearing from you.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
http://voaradiogram.net

USCG Will Drop 2 MHz Radio Guard & WX

The following announcement has been made over Navtex and the Web: 

ON 01 AUG 2013 THE U.S. COAST GUARD WILL TERMINATE

RADIO GUARD OF THE INTERNATIONAL VOICE, DISTRESS,

SAFETY AND CALLING FREQUENCY 2182 KHZ AND THE

INTERNATIONAL DSC DISTRESS FREQUENCY 2187.5 KHZ.

MARITIME INFORMATION AND WEATHER BROADCASTS ON

2670 KHZ WILL TERMINATE CONCURRENTLY. WATCHKEEPING

CONTINUES ON EXISTING VOICE AND DSC FREQUENCIES IN

THE 4/6/8/12 MHZ BANDS AS DESCRIBED ON THE U.S.

COAST GUARD NAVIGATION CENTER WEBSITE.

Night of Nights Signal Reports @0330-0400

2055.0             WLO   N/H

4247.0             KPH    S9+30

4343.0             WLO   S7

6474.0             KSM   S9+30

6477.5             KPH    S9+30

8438.3             KSM   S9

8582.5             KLB    S8

8642.0             KPH    S9

12695.5           KFS     S6

12808.5           KPH    QRM

12992.0           WLO   S7

12993.0           KSM   S6

16914.0           KSM   S2

16968.5           WLO   N/H

17016.8           KPH    S2

17026.0           KFS     S2

22477.5           KPH    N/H

Night of Nights Signal Reports @0030-0100

4247.0             KPH    s5-9

6383.0             NMC   s9+30

6477.5             KPH    s9+30

8574.0             NMC   s9+20

8582.5             KLB    s5

8642.0             KPH    s9+30

8658.0             WLO   s5

12695.5           KFS     s9

12808.5           KPH    s6

12992.0           WLO  fading,  s5 on peaks
14050.0           K6KPH s9, wkg amateurs

16914.0           KSM   s3

17016.8           KPH   s3

17026.0           KFS    s3

17220.5           n/h

22477.5           KPH    up & down, peaking s5

New KPH 22 MHz tx sounds as great as everyone's saying it does.

Lower frequencies haven't opened up yet.  MF is mostly broadcast intermod.

Night of Nights: The Four Questions

On all other nights, we communicate in voice and digital modes. Why on this night alone do we communicate in Morse code?

 Let Richard Dillman of the Maritime Radio Historical Society tell it:

Morse code.

It's just beeps in the air. Yet on 12 July 1999 some very tough looking grizzled old radio pioneers had tears in their eyes as the last commercial Morse code radiogram was sent. It was the end of an era. And as the last beeps faded away into the static they witnessed the end of the career to which they had devoted their lives.

These men - and some women - had stood watch over the airwaves on shore and at sea. Theirs was mostly the business of maritime commerce. But when their ship was in peril they were called upon to send the most electrifying three letters in radio, S O S, knowing that all their fellow radio operators would press their earphones close to get every scrap of information and bring aid to their stricken ship.

Once, our coasts were dotted with great Morse code radio stations, all communicating with ships at sea. They're all gone now... all except one, the one they called the Wireless Giant of the Pacific, located at Point Reyes.

On that sad day in 1999 another event took place. The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) was formed. We made it our life's work to honor the men and women of wireless by restoring that wireless giant. One year and one minute later the giant's voice once again spanned the oceans as we picked up the thread and kept the faith with our colleagues of the air.

Every year since, in an event that became known as the Night of Nights, Morse code station KPH has returned to the air, joined by KFS and the station of the MRHS, KSM.

This year our friends and colleagues at USCG station NMC have labored mightily to bring that storied call sign back to life on Morse code for the evening along with NMQ in Cambria, CA.

WLO and KLB will join us again as they have in years past.

This is a global and local event. Hundreds of listeners around the world will be waiting with their earphones on, waiting for the signals of the great station to once again arc over the dome of the Earth to their receivers.

On all other nights we know KPH only as a license owned by Globe Wireless. Why on this night alone do we hear its mighty dahdidah didahdahdit didididit from its old station?

Because the restoration of San Francisco Radio on Pt. Reyes is one of the great triumphs of the human spirit.

Imagine you and your bunch of friends decide you want to restore old KPH, known worldwide as the Power House, dating to Marconi Wireless and then RCA Radiomarine. This mega-station is the former king of the Pacific. It's bigger than Disneyland. It has several sites many miles apart, towering MF masts, and endless acres of wire antennas on wooden poles.

You want to scrounge parts they don't make any more for vintage equipment, scrape off years of rust and grunge, attempt to decipher old wiring diagrams, revive dedicated lines between facilities, clean up old buildings, and do antenna work in a windy environment full of nasty bugs and pests.  You go to the National Park Service, which runs Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and say you want to do this.  You promise to put it back just the way it was when it saved lives at sea, creating a great radio museum and the crown jewel of their park.

They say go ahead, and you do.  Against all odds.  Arriving at the receive building, you find the filaments still lit in the vacuum tube receivers, as a final act of defiance by the station manager as he left the decommissioned facility. You set to work. Accomplishing the impossible, within the one year anniversary of the "last commercial Morse code message," you come on-air as KPH (with permission from Globe, of course).  Too cool.

The Power House lives!

Restoration continues.  Something like 16 transmitters will be used this year.  It's awesome.  One of these, restored vintage H set number 298, will be formally dedicated by Cicely Muldoon, superintendent of Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

You can come to the station. Details are in the MRHS Newsletter.  Pt. Reyes is very pretty.  Most years, they have cake.


On all other nights, we don't hear KFS any more at all, not even in its Globe Wireless hex ID. Why on this night alone do we hear its awesome cadence?

Because Globe Wireless started as KFS World Communications at Palo Alto Radio.  It was another mighty station, long gone, and you could dance to its Morse code ID - dahdidah dididahdit dididit. The call ended up on another Globe license, used in Dixon, CA. Again, they were more than happy to have it revived on the Night of Nights.

Globe Wireless greatly cut back HF services on June 30, and in fact the KFS transmitters are silent. Now, this historic call sign lives only on this Night of Nights.

The name Globe Wireless has a historical significance that I do not understand well.  It's cool that the new company wanted to use it.


On all other nights, special operations begin right at zero Zulu.  Why on this night alone do we begin at 0001?

That's when the "last Morse code message" ended.  It's yet another final act of defiance.  By the way, a commercial FCC license exists for the MRHS radio sites, call sign KSM.  It uses the 5 kW Henry transmitters that had been installed at the old KPH. It is allowed to accept commercial traffic, and also take OBS and AMVERs for free.  All of this means that the supposedly 'last commercial Morse code message," wasn't.  So there.

Keep in mind that 0001 is July 13 UTC. The event is on July 12 in the United States.

Strap on the cans, dust off your rusty CW, cheat with the computer if you have to, and celebrate this Night of Nights.

Complete Night of Nights Frequency List

RSS/ATOM users note:
Corrections have been made to this list since initial posting.
 

MRHS Stations
(Transmit Bolinas, Receive Pt. Reyes)

> KPH

Frequency (kHz)  Transmitter   Antenna

500/426  Henry MF-5000D  Marconi T
4247.0   RCA K Set       Double Extended Zepp
6477.5   RCA K Set       Double Extended Zepp
8642.0   RCA L Set       Double Extended Zepp
12808.5  RCA L Set       H over 2
17016.8  RCA L Set       H over 2
22477.5  RCA H Set       H over 2


> KFS

12695.5  Press Wireless  H over 2
17026.0  Henry HF-5000D  H over 2


> KSM

500/426  Henry MF-5000D  Marconi T
6474.0   Henry HF-5000D  Double Extended Zepp
8438.3   Henry HF-5000D  Double Extended Zepp
12993.0  Henry HF-5000D  H over 2
16914.0  Henry HF-5000D  H over 2


> K6KPH (Amateur)

3550.0   Henry HF-5000D  Double Extended Zepp
7050.0   RCA L Set       Double Extended Zepp
14050.0  Henry HF-5000D  H over 2
21050.0  Henry HF-5000D  H over 2

Reception reports/ QSL request:

Maritime Radio Historical Society
PO Box 392
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
USA
+1 415-669-9646


USCG Stations

> NMC (Transmit Bolinas, Receive Pt. Reyes)
[Not far from old KPH facilities -Hugh]

448.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    173' monopole twr
472.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    173' monopole twr
500.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    173' monopole twr
6383.0 Harris RT-2200       Conical omni
8574.0 Harris RT-2200       Conical omni
17220.5?    Harris RT-2200  Conical omni


> NMQ (Transmit Cambria, Receive and Control Pt. Reyes)
[Central California -Hugh]

448.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    Inverted L
472.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    Inverted L
500.0  Nautel ND2500TT/6    Inverted L

Reports/ veries:

Attn: OSCS Phil Marsh
USCG CAMSPAC Point Reyes
17000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
USA


ShipCom, LLC Stations

> WLO

2055.5
4343.0
8658.0
12992.0
16968.5

> KLB

488.0
500.0
8582.5

No QSL information available


> Calling Channels

All stations QSX on
500.0
plus

ITU Channel 3 HF:
4184.0
6276.0
8368.0
12552.0
16736.0
22280.5

Listen on these frequencies if you want to copy both sides of ship to shore contacts.
[These have been active with traffic in the past. -Hugh]

It's Night of Nights Time Again!

More details when we get them. 

From R. Dillman:

Night of Nights 2013 will take place on 12 July (Pacific time).  

Coast stations KPH, KFS and our own KSM will be on the air.  Most frequencies will be activated with vintage transmitters.  Plus we have just be informed that US Coast Guard station NMC will be on the air.  We hope (but can't yet confirm) that WLO and KLB will be on the air as well.

This annual event, sponsored by the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS), commemorates the sending of what was supposed to be the last commercial Morse message in North America.  But one year and one minute later we returned KPH to the air, picking up the thread and keeping the faith with the men and women who went before us and made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of honor and skill.  Every year since that first Night of Nights we have recognized and honored our heritage by returning these stations to the air on all marine frequencies from MF to HF.  And our amateur station, K6KPH, will be on the air as well.

You can receive full information including the transmitters and antennas in use for each frequency by subscribing to our electronic Newsletter to receive the special Night of Nights 2013 Extra Edition.

To subscribe go here:

http://tinyurl.com/kkd662d

The extra edition will be issued on the evening of Tuesday 9 July Pacific time so subscribe before then if you want to receive it.   You can opt out at any time with the click of the mouse.

We will send out last minute changes and signal reports by Twitter.  You can join Twitter free at:

https://twitter.com/

and follow us at 

@Radiomarine

You can join us in person as well at the RCA receive site in the Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco.

VY 73,

RD

All MFSK on VOA Radiogram for July 6-7

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

This weekend, we will take a break from EasyPal. But don't worry EasyPal fans, EasyPal will return soon to VOA Radiogram.

This past weekend, many of you noticed distorted audio on the transmitter. I did, too. It was caused by a problem with the the audio patching system at the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina. The interesting thing is that even though voice and music were difficult to listen to, the MFSK text decoded well for most of us. MFSK text seems highly tolerant of distortion.

This weekend, VOA Radiogram will consist entirely of MFSK text and images. We still need more data on how MFSK text copes with co-channel noise, so if you can introduce noise at your location, at least during the MFSK16 and first MFSK32 VOA News story, that would be helpful. This could be done by turning on an appliance in your house that is notorious for generating RF noise. Or move your portable radio or antenna to a place where RF noise occurs.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, July 6 and 7, 2013:

2:26  MFSK16: Program preview
4:00  MFSK16: VOA News about solar cells
4:21  MFSK32: VOA News about fires in Indonesia
1:55  MFSK32: Accompanying photo
4:18  MFSK32: VOA News about India's Science Express train
2:35  MFSK32: Accompanying photo
2:30  MFSK64: VOA News about solar observation satellite
1:50  MFSK32: Accompanying photo
1:08  MFSK16: Closing announcements
 :21  Surprise mode of the week

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com  
  
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.