Small Government/ Military Log for 27 January

From Jack Metcalfe in KY:

5232.0   GROUPALE-US Marine Corps  1758  ALE  Net with BOGUEALE and MACS2ALE, calling each other until 1904. Also on 7532.0.  (27/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7510.0   Hotel 0 Victor-US Army Continuity of Operations net  2019  USB/ALE  Voice calling Papa 0 Tango.  ALE addresses USADA1010 (H0V) and USAIS1012 (P0T).  (27/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7615.0   Avenging Spirit-US Civil Air Patrol  2007  USB  Working Middle East 34 and Louisiana CAP 30.  (27/JAN/2014) (JLM)

11175.0  ANVIL 55-USAF aircraft over Amarillo, TX  1902  USB  Calling MARS RADIO and reporting position.  Oops, wrong frequency.  (27/JAN/2014) (JLM)

VOA Radiogram Transmission Schedule

Yes, Kim, you did forget the sked.

No problem, it's same as the past few weeks and I'd have found it and stuck it up here soon enough.

But now I don't have to.

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 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.

Simultaneous Text & Image in VOA Radiogram for January 1-2

This might get interesting.  Also note the MFSK32 sked on The Mighty KBC in Europe.

Note that the 0930 Saturday schedule usually gives the best copy of the weekend here in California, The Land that Shortwave Forgot.  It will always be unattended here, because that's 0130 local.  Lately, however, the fldigi copy waiting in the morning has been close to perfect.   All I have to do is run the SDR recording back to do the multiple fldigi parts.

The graphic relating to net neutrality was processed in the 2-pass mode that I mentioned in a previous blog post.  I'm not sure it was worth the time expended to do it manually in Photoshop, but the quality of the final product greatly exceeded most other images received here.

Believe it or not, that's good for here.

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

 

Hello friends,

Last weekend's experiment with the two simultaneous MFSK16 streams on one broadcast channel worked well, for the most part, according to your reports. Perhaps a future software application will simplify the decoding of simultaneous digital signals.

This weekend, we will do another experiment with simultaneous streams. It will involve MFSK32 text transmitted on a center audio frequency of 1500 Hz, and an accompanying MFSK32 image centered on 2100 Hz.

You can decode the two streams sequentially from your recording. Or you can run two instances of Fldigi, following this procedure:

1) In both instances of Fldigi, turn the RxID on (green).

2) An RSID for MFSK32 at 2100 Hz will be transmitted, moving both instances of Fldigi to an audio frequency near 2100 Hz.

3) On the second instance of Fldigi, turn the RxID off.

4) An RSID for MFSK32 at 1500 Hz will be transmitted, moving your first instance of Fldigi back to an audio frequency near 1500 Hz.

5) A VOA News story will be transmitted, with the text at 1500 Hz, and the image at 2100 Hz. You will probably notice mixing products on the waterfall when both streams are transmitted simultaneously. Do these mixing products have an adverse effect of the decoding of the text or image?

6) After the dual MFSK32 transmission, you can turn off or minimize your second instance of Fldigi.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 44, 1-2 February 2014:     

 1:42  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:19  MFSK32: China moon rover with image
 6:56  MFSK32: Same story and image transmitted simultaneously
 9:51  MFSK32: Al Jazeera reporters in Egypt, with image
15:26  MFSK32: Washington Auto Show, with image
23:18  MFSK64L: Beehive Radio in Cambodia
26:22  MFSK32: Beehive Radio logo
28:08  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com

A few additional notes:

Turn off the AFC. Many VOA Radiogram listeners recommend turning off the AFC (lower right corner of Fldigi) for best decode, especially in unattended receiving situations.

The VOA Radiogram broadcast Saturday at 0930 UTC is not bringing many responses. Reception in Europe is probably deteriorating as we approach spring. On the other hand, reception all the way to the west cost of North America has been very good. The problem is that 0930 UTC is the middle of the night in North America. So I would suggest unattended reception for later retrieval.

One way to accomplish this is the Audacity audio recording/editing software. Audacity has a useful timed recording function: Transport > Timer Record.

Of course, you have to keep your receiver on all night, unless your receiver also has a timer.

You can also decode VOA Radiogram while you are asleep using the Fldigi File > Text Capture function. If you do not want a night's worth of mostly random characters taking space on your hard drive, you can also go to the receive pane of Fldigi, copy the text from VOA Radiogram, and paste it to a text editor. The MFSK images will be in the folder \fldigi.files\images.

This weekend's experiment with two simultaneous digital streams might not lend itself to unattended reception. You can run a second instance of Fldigi with the RxID off and the center frequency pre-set to 2100 Hz, but the audio frequency as received might not be exactly at 2100 Hz.

The Mighty KBC, kbcradio.eu, based in the Netherlands but using transmitters in Germany, will broadcast a minute of MFSK32 this weekend: Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday at about 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz (Saturday evening 8:30 pm EST). The center audio frequency is the usual 1500 Hz. Reports to themightykbc@gmail.com .

I will try to answer your reception reports from last weekend before the end of this coming weekend. Your reports are very helpful and much appreciated.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net

     

Logs for Late 2013/ Early 2014 from New Jersey

From Mario Filippi, NJ:

2598.0   Saint John's Coast Guard Radio-Canadian Coast Guard MCTS St. John's, NL (VON)  0017  USB  Male voice with maritime weather for Southwest Grand Banks, Northeast Coast, Hawk Island Banks, etc. Signed at 0020. (12/27/13) (MF)

5000.0    WWVH-US National Institute of Standards & Technology  1100   AM  Standard time & frequency signals, HI, female voice ID at minute+45. [Not that easy in NJ given distance, WWVH's pattern, and other stations on frequency. -Hugh] (1/15/14) (MF)

6604.0   Gander Radio-North Atlantic Volmet, Canada   1152   USB  Voice-synthesized male with aviation weather for Gander, St. Johns, etc. (12/29/13) (MF)

Historic VOA Delano Site for Sale

QTH FOR SALE: US Government surplus property consisting of 800 acres just to the west of Delano, California. Property contains several buildings, a water pumping station, and a number of very large curtain array transmitting antennas aimed in various directions. Dream antenna farm for well-heeled DX club or ham radio syndicate. Sale is as-is. Some TLC needed.

Your neighbors are farms, several small state prisons, and a couple of recently sold parcels owned by developers.  Quiet for audio and RF.  Plenty of room for remote link antennas to allow ham radio use of the remote site from a home QTH in the noisy city.  Also room for tennis court or swimming pool.

Now let's get serious: the hobby has an incredible opportunity here.

This property has considerable historical significance.  It would make a great on-air radio museum,  similar to the Maritime Radio Historical Society's KPH/KSM/K6KPH installations on Pt. Reyes National Seashore, several hundred miles north.

The United States GSA will take public interest inquiries first (possibly including the aforementioned museum use, don't know).  Absent these, it will then put the property up for competitive bidding.  Presumably, the cost should not greatly exceed that of a mansion in Los Angeles, and there are certainly far fewer antenna restrictions.

Full information is at this government web site.

Really Interesting VOA Radiogram for January 25-26

This weekend, VOA Radiogram is doing an interesting (if geeky) experiment with MFSK16. This proposes a doubling of this mode's speed by transmitting two signals simultaneously. They will be centered on 700 and 2000 Hz. These will each carry half of a VOA news story.  The listener should either run two instances of their decoder program (usually Fldigi), or make two passes from a recorded transmission.

I've had interesting results with sequential decoding of MFSK images.  Fading often affects the two sidebands independently, and often a line of noise in one is a reasonable decode of that line in the other.  In this case, however, the user must capture the images sequentially in USB and LSB, and assemble the finished composite with an editing program like Photoshop.  It's tricky, and some skill is required.

I've wondered, though, whether software could analyze lines of pixels and pick the best ones of the two, then write out the composite image.

Anyway, this is from Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

The MFSK16 mode performs well in difficult reception conditions, but it is slow (55 word per minute).

This weekend, we will experiment with the simultaneous transmission of two MFSK16 signals, one on a center frequency of 700 Hz, the other on 2000 Hz. By transmitting the first half of a news story on the left "channel," and the second half on the right, the speed of MFSK16 is effectively doubled.

The additional speed does come at a price. The transmit power is now divided between the two MFSK16 streams, resulting in a lower signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio for each.

Reception of the two simultaneous transmissions can be accomplished by decoding sequentially from your recording. Or you can run two instances of Fldigi. On one instance of Fldigi, turn the RxID on. On the other, turn the RxID off. The RSID will be transmitted for the 700 Hz MFSK16 transmission and will (we hope) guide your first instance of Fldigi to the correct audio frequency. It will not be transmitted on the 2000 Hz transmission, so use the 20-second tone to tune your second instance of Fldigi to the exact frequency near 2000 Hz. Decoding software must be tuned precisely for successful printout of MFSK16 text.    

Maybe all these steps are not worth the effort, but let's see what happens.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram 43, 25-26 January 2014 (all modes centered on 1500 Hz except where indicated):

1:38  MFSK32: Program preview

3:52  MFSK16: IMF 2014 world economic outlook

9:32  MFSK16 at 700 and 2000 Hz: Same VOA News story

13:22  MSFK64/Flmsg: Global effects of net neutrality debate,

       with image

20:09  MFSK64: China Internet outage, with image

23:52  MFSK64: Image of Kim shoveling snow

25:42  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

With VOA Radiogram 43 now produced, I will continue to respond to your reception reports.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott

Producer and Presenter

VOA Radiogram

radiogram@voanews.com

http://voaradiogram.net

Twitter: @voaradiogram

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 0930-1000 5745 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

WebSDR logs for January 21-22

All logs by the editor, via University of Twente WebSDR, Netherlands:

4593.5    AFE1TM-USAF MARS net control  0117  USB  Discussing msg format for upcoming comm drill this weekend, passed test msg "C130 wheels up at this time."    (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

5505.0    Shannon Volmet-Shannon Ireland aviation weather  0109  USB    Voice syn female in British EE, aviation wx for London Heathrow Metroport, then ID.     (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6504.0    Unknown-Military?    USB   0024   Possible time domain scrambling; tones and gurgles. (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6519.0    WLO-ShipCom, AL   USB   0021    Voice syn YL, maritime wx for Gulf & Caribbean.  (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6532.0    07-Shannon HFDL, Ireland   USB  0042  Position from ETH701, Etihad Airlines flight (52 43 48 N, 008 55 46 W).     (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6535.0    Unid-Weak HFDL a/c wkg Hat Yai   USB  0046  Partial decodes only.     (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6565.0    244-Likely Algerian Air Force  ALE   2350  Calling 514; later voice on frequency.    (Jan-21 2014) (HS)

6586.0     Unknown-Caribbean MWARA air control   USB  0048  Working JetBlue 803     (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6607.0    4XZ-Israeli Navy   CW   2358  Fast marker VVV DE 4XZ 4XZ = =, repeated, then into usual numbered message format at 0000.     (Jan-21 2014) (HS)

6617.0    Unid-St. Petersburg Volmet, Russia   USB   0010 Male voice with aviation weather in Russian, stomped on by unknown strong ANDVT.     (Jan-21 2014) (HS)

6628.0    Santa Maria-North Atlantic MWARA (NAT-E)    USB   0018   Selcalling FQ-GR many times, no joy. Selcal returns to Nordwind Airlines B757 reg  VQ-BAL.  (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6661.0    Unid-Station selcalling HP-CS   USB  0030  Position check, selcal returns to Air Atlanta Icelandic B747 reg TF-AMX, frequency listed as a RDARA. Loud QRM from Riverhead HFDL.   (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6676.0    Bangkok Volmet-Bangkok, Thailand    USB   0014  Voice synthesized male in English with aviation weather, signed "Bangkok Volmet, out"  at 0015.  (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6712.0    03-Reykjavik HFDL, Iceland   USB   0037   Loud squitters, then working SU0153 (Aeroflot).   (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6739.0    Mainsail-US Air Force collective callsign for HFGCS ground stations    USB   0036  Male giving SKYKING broadcast, huge signal.   (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6754.0    Trenton Military-Canadian Forces Volmet   USB   0014   Probable voice synthesized male with aviation weather for Canadian fields.  (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

6917.5    "L"-Russian military, St. Petersburg   CW   0053  Single-letter marker, continuous ID  (Jan-22 2014) (HS)

US Federal/ Military Logs for January 16-17

From Jack Metcalfe in KY:

6803.1    WQLE815RZUB-Unknown station licensed to NVIS Communications, possible test project, ALE sounding at 2011. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

6845.0    KNR33-US federal Shared Resources pool (SHARES), VA, USB voice with no joy calling  KGD34, SHARES Master Control Station, VA, at 2001. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7348.0    FC1FEM/ WGY901-FEMA Region 1, MA, raised VA3FEM/ WGY963, VA State EOC, then voice and AMD chat (1), at 1548. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

9352.2    KLE438-Unknown US Government, ALE soundings along with KLE439, KLE444, KLE445 & KLE446. Also sounding on 4947.9, 5241.7, 7971.7, 10874.3, and 12188.6. At 1800 - 2314. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

9414.5    087CDCS51-VA Department of Health, Richmond (voice call WNG940), ALE linking and AMD chat with NPHRN (2) station 002CDCNHQ, US Centers for Disease Control, at 1550. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

14458.4    CIW634-Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System (CFARS), ALE sounding at 2128. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

14484.0    DESERT EAGLE-US Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS), Ft. Huachuca, AZ, checking unknown station into a net, at 2027. (16/JAN/2014) (JLM)

18475.0    ADWSPR-US Air Force Secure IP Routed Network, Andrews AFB, MD, sounding on the "HIJ net" (unknown US Govt/Mil), at 0022. (17/JAN/2014) (JLM)


---
1. AMD chat is a text mode used by US federal stations that allows real time chat using the Automatic Message of the Day (AMD) strings in ALE exchanges. -Hugh

2. NPHRN = National Public Health Radio Network. -Hugh

VOA Radiogram for January 18-19

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 18-19 January 2014 will include the MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK64L (long interleave version of MFSK64) modes.

Please note that MFSK64L text does not begin to display until a few seconds after the tones are heard.

The Flmsg 1.1.33AC alpha version works with the MFSK64L mode. Our experiment this weekend will try this combination, so please download Flmsg 1.1.33AC from http://www.w1hkj.com/alpha/flmsg/ .  Also, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS  -- Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe 1.1.33AC file is located.

One difference this weekend is that the program preview will be in MFSK32 (120 wpm) rather than MFSK16 (55 wpm). We will try MFSK32 for the preview during the next few weekends. MFSK16 is useful in very poor shortwave conditions, so we might want to bring this mode back in the future.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram 42, 18-19 Jan 2014:

1:42 MFSK32: Program preview
2:55 MFSK32: Korea balloons, with image
8:08 MFSK32: Ten years of Mars rovers
12:38 MFSK64: Gassy exoplanet, with image
17:06 MFSK64L: Three-star system
20:24 MFSK64L/Flmsg: Detroit Auto Show
24:10 MFSK32: Detroit Auto Show image
26:48 MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

The VOA Radiogram transmission schedule is below.

I will soon respond to your emails and reception reports received during the weeks I was away.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram

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

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)

Sat 0930-1000 5745 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

Correction of Typo in Post Made 5 Jan 14

Common sense, not to mention the actual Canadian band plan, indicates that the voice broadcast frequency for Canadian Coast Guard MCTS Port aux Basques/VOJ  is 2598, not 2898.  (It was right in the title.)  It has been corrected.

Mixed Logs (Mostly Military) for January 2-4

From MD Monitor, using the webSDR at Univ. of Twente, Netherlands:


2920.0 - Unid-Unknown OM, speaking Russian: 0050 USB w/several unid (O/M Russian). Informal contacts with much readability/comms terms. Procedures & terms sound like Russian hams. (2014/01/04 MDMonitor-MD)

11168.6 - KWA54-US State Dept: 1337 USB/ALE w/KVX45 (US State Dept)--voice checks after ALE handshake. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11205.0 - Tascomm-UK Terrestrial Air-Sea Communications, 1213 USB w/Ascot 5529 (C-130J Hercules C.5.--ZH887) with 2 unsuccessful pp. Selcal check on DK-ER. At 1228 Ascot 5529 w/Brize Metro discussing severe wx conditions & forecast for Brize Norton at 1545Z. At 1334 again in pp w/Brize Metro for wx updates. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11239.0 - Puna-Unknown OM, possibly speaking Urdu/Hindi, 1459 USB w/Regal (OM Urdu/Hindi). (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11360.0 - Chkalovskij-Russian Aviation Base, Moscow: 1200 w/several test counts. (2014/01/06 MDMonitor-MD)

11360.0 - Korsar-Russian Air Force 6985th Aviation Base, Pskov: 1256 USB w/78809 (IL-76MD) reporting 2 hrs flt, passed point (?SUGIR/SOGIR?) FL-240 and fuel 22 tons. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)


From MD Monitor, in Maryland:


9025.0 - 180216-USAF Air Mobility Command C-5 #68-0216 60, AMW/22 AS, Travis AFB, CA: 0220 USB/ALE sounding. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11175.0 - Convoy 3301-US Navy C-130T, USB calling Mainsail for radio checks 1828Z . Answered by Puerto Rico. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11175.0 - Mainsail-USAF HFGCS collective ground call sign: 1713 USB w/Husker 17 (KC-135R 173rd ARS, NE ANG Lincoln NE) who requests current traffic. Mainsail responds that current traffic is G5RSTC, G57TPA & G5WUTJ. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11232.0 - Trenton Military-Canadian Forces, Trenton, ONT: 1847 USB w/Sentry 60 (E-3B AWACS, Tinker AFB OK--not heard) in pp to Tinker Metro for wx at Tinker for 2230Z. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

11232.0 - Trenton Military, 1743 wkg Canforce 2553 reporting departure from CFB Trenton at 1638Z and ETA Comox of 0002Z. (2014/01/02 MDMonitor-MD)

Government/Military Logs for January 7-9

From Jack Metcalfe in KY:

3242.0  -  Unknown-US MARS stations (one call 8AY), fairly weak, with voice & data: 0256 UTC in USB voice & MIL-STD 188-110A (09/JAN/2014) (JLM)

3308.0 - AFE5DM-USAF MARS, possible net control), AFA5CM, AFA5LC & AFA5TA in net. After net became free, AFA7WU & AFE5DM running OLIVIA tests: 0308 UTC in USB voice & 16/1000 OLIVIA (09/JAN/2014) (JLM)

6876.5  -  595 BRAVO-TN National Guard, with 11 MIKE, active off & on this morning along with a FOXTROT (something or other) station, maybe 595 FOXTROT. Weaker signals than normally heard here: 1616 UTC in USB voice (08/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7348.0  -  WGY908-FEMA Region 8, Denver, CO (ALE call FC8FEM) working WGY948, ND EOC, Bismark, ND (ALE call ND8FEM).  Radio checks in voice after ALE link: 1603 UTC in USB voice & ALE (08/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7448.5  -  USAIS1012-US Army Continuity of Operations station, in AMD text mode to USADA1010 after ALE link: 1504 UTC in USB ALE (08/JAN/2014) (JLM)

7535.0  -  MIGHTY VANGUARD-USN vessel, testing LSB voice with SESEF NORFOLK: 1548 UTC in USB voice coordination (08/JAN/2014) (JLM)

12362.0  -  VMW-Australian BOM, Wiluna, Australia with weather info. Also running on 8113.0: 2137 UTC in USB voice (07/JAN/ 2014) (JLM)

12365.0  -  VMC-Australian BOM, Charleville, Australia with weather info. Also running on 16546.0: 2144 UTC in USB voice (07/JAN/2014) (JLM)

Easy VOA Radiogram for 11-12 January

  From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Program 41, 11-12 January 2014:

This is a "set it and forget it" program. All content, include the program preview, will be in MFSK32, on the usual 1500 Hz center frequency. You won't have to worry about mode changes. And there won't be any Flmsg. You can tune in this program, set your software to MFSK32, make sure the first few line decode correctly, go do something else for a half hour, then look at the results later. The two images will be stored in the folder \fldigi.files\images somewhere on your hard drive.

Program 41 will consist of press releases from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, parent agency of the Voice of America:

 2:51 Audience size of US international broadcasting, with image
13:41 BBG media innovation panel
19:34 Media environment of Vietnam, with image

I will probably not be able to answer your reception reports for these two broadcasts until mid-January, but please do send them to radiogram@voanews.com

I have finally posted YouTube videos of the VOA Radiogram broadcasts of 21-22 December on this page of voaradiogram.net. Thanks to listeners who sent these. If there are any YouTube videos from 28-29 December, I'll post them in the next day or two.

I will also try to answer your emails from the past weekend before I go into vacation mode.

Thanks for all your support in 2013. All the best for 2014.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 0930-1000 5745 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

Solar Flux Finally Hits 200+

In the past few days, the various observatories taking 10.7 cm solar flux data have all had readings above 200 for the first time in Cycle 24.

The highest solar flux measurement was 262, taken at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory on January 3. The "WWV" solar flux peaked at 218, and on January 5 it was still 204.

These are uncorrected solar fluxes, and the Earth reached perihelion for the year on January 4. Even so, when corrected to 1 Astronomical Unit, the higher values exceed 200.

Low mid-latitude K indices have helped HF propagation, though strong aurora and polar absorption have degraded high-latitude paths. This is due mostly to a coronal hole, followed by a minor proton storm caused by several events on the sun.

Forecasts are for a minor magnetic storm in the higher latitudes, as ejected coronal mass from several solar disturbances does a near miss of this planet. Watch the K index, even though it is currently still at a nice low 2.

We may also see sudden HF blackouts if the expected class M solar flares materialize.  The current probability of this is currently estimated to be around 75%.

Today saw a brief opening of strong signals up to about 35 MHz here in California. Distances were consistent with F2 propagation.  Since these are business and public safety radios using FM and designed for local coverage, it's likely that stations optimized for ultra-weak-signal F2 propagation worked higher up than this.

Obviously, Cycle 24 is having the second peak predicted by many, as the other magnetic pole on the sun changes polarity. With spring DX coming, this cycle is not out of surprises yet.

Canadian CG on 2595 May Be VOK on 2598

Martin Foltz, who listens from Southern California, writes:

There was a log by Mario Filippi in NJ on your blog in November.


2595.0  Unknown-Canadian Coast Guard  0214  USB voice synthesized "female" with maritime weather in English for Canadian waters, then switched to "male" in French.  11/22/13
[...] there is a listing for MCTS Port aux Basques/VOJ for a broadcast at 0207UTC on 2598 kHz. Starts with English and then French. Seems to fit.

Indeed, the Canadian publication listing these frequencies does not have a 2595, but it does show the sked Martin mentioned on 2598*. I think we've solved this one. Thanks, Martin, and happy new year!


*Frequency corrected  1/11/14.

NYC NOAA Weather Radio Still Out of Service

Going on 6 months......

----------

NOUS41 KOKX 152131 PNSOKX CTZ005>012-NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ067>075-078>081-176>179-170000-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 435 PM EST SUN DEC 15 2013

...NOAA WEATHER RADIO NEW YORK CITY IS OUT OF SERVICE...

THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER THAT SERVES THE NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA HAS BEEN CAUSING RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE ON THE U.S. COAST GUARD CHANNEL 16 TRANSMITTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DISTRESS...SAFETY AND CALLING SINCE LATE JULY.

THE NEW YORK CITY TRANSMITTER BROADCASTS ON A FREQUENCY OF 162.550 MHZ AND THE U.S.COAST GUARD TRANSMITTER BROADCASTS ON A FREQUENCY OF 156.800 MHZ. OTHER TRANSMITTERS...IN VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE NYC TRANSMITTER BROADCAST ON A FREQUENCY OF 168.3 MHZ.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS WORKING WITH SEVERAL U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO ISOLATE AND RESOLVE THIS TECHNICAL PROBLEM. WE HAVE INSTALLED A FILTER ON THE NYC TRANSMITTER...WHICH REDUCED...BUT DID NOT ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM. WE WORKED WITH ANOTHER FEDERAL AGENCY AND OVERSAW THE INSTALLATION OF ANOTHER FILTER...ON A TRANSMITTER BROADCASTING OVER 168.3 MHZ...WHICH DID NOT FURTHER REDUCE THE RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE.

WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE U.S. COAST GUARD TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPTION OF OUR ROUTINE WEATHER BROADCASTS.

 ...NOAA WEATHER RADIO WILL BE PLACED IN OPERATION TO BROADCAST SHORT FUSE LIFE THREATENING WEATHER WATCHES AND WARNINGS...

NOTE THAT THE NYC TRANSMITTER WILL BE PLACED IN OPERATION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF SHORT FUSE LIFE THREATENING WEATHER WATCHES AND WARNINGS...SUCH AS TORNADO...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WATCHES AND WARNINGS...TO ENSURE DISSEMINATION THROUGH THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM...WHICH IS CARRIED BY THE BROADCAST MEDIA.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND FOR LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

WE WILL PERIODICALLY PROVIDE YOU WITH UPDATES ON THE STATUS OF THE NEW YORK CITY NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER VIA THESE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS.

$$

VOA Radiogram for January 4-5 and 11-12

Like everyone else, I forgot today was Friday.  Well, better late than never.  These are for the next two weeks, but I'll post next week's again when it's closer.

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

The new Saturday 0930 UTC transmission on 5745 kHz was mostly off the air on 28 December because an intermittent door interlock in the transmitter caused the carrier to drop. That problem has been resolved. Please try again on 4 January. The part of the 0930 UTC broadcast that was on the air brought good results all the way out to California, and it was decoded in many parts of Europe.

I will be on vacation for several days, so here are the details of the next two programs...

Program 40, 4-5 January 2014:

 1:33  MFSK16: Program preview (now) (2:08)
 3:41  MFSK16: Greetings to DXers meeting in Venezuela (2:02)
 5:59  MFSK32: Same greetings in Flmsg* format (2:08)
 8:07  MFSK32: Club Diexistas de la Amistad logo (3:24)
11:30  MFSK32: Undersea cable (in Spanish) (1:49)
13:19  MFSK32: 2014 global economic outlook, with image (6:39)
19:57  MFSK32: Conference of pastoralists, with image (7:13)

Program 40 will include items in Spanish. For the accented letters to display correctly, use the UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts > Rx/Tx > use the white pull-down menu to select UTF-8.

*To make Flmsg work with Fldigi (both can be downloaded from w1hkj.com), in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS -- Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.

Program 41, 11-12 January 2014:

This is a "set it and forget it" program. All content, include the program preview, will be in MFSK32, on the usual 1500 Hz center frequency. You won't have to worry about mode changes. And there won't be any Flmsg. You can tune in this program, set your software to MFSK32, make sure the first few line decode correctly, go do something else for a half hour, then look at the results later. The two images will be stored in the folder \fldigi.files\images somewhere on your hard drive.

Program 41 will consist of press releases from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, parent agency of the Voice of America:

 2:51 Audience size of US international broadcasting, with image
13:41 BBG media innovation panel
19:34 Media environment of Vietnam, with image

I will probably not be able to answer your reception reports for these two broadcasts until mid-January, but please do send them to radiogram@voanews.com

I have finally posted YouTube videos of the VOA Radiogram broadcasts of 21-22 December on this page of voaradiogram.net. Thanks to listeners who sent these. If there are any YouTube videos from 28-29 December, I'll post them in the next day or two.

I will also try to answer your emails from the past weekend before I go into vacation mode.

Thanks for all your support in 2013. All the best for 2014.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 0930-1000 5745 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