Speed Test on VOA Radiogram for March 29-30

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

This weekend, 29-30 March 2014, will be program 52 of VOA Radiogram. This means that VOA Radiogram has survived one year of shortwave broadcasting.

VOA Radiogram has been successful because of its audience: tuning in, decoding, experimenting, and sending in reports.

We will mark one year of VOA Radiogram with a "battle of the 100-word-per-minute modes." The same VOA News story will be transmitted using four modes that have a speed of more-or-less 100 words per minute.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 52, 29-30 March 2014:

1:51  MFSK32: Program preview

3:28  PSKR125 (110 wpm): VOA News re Ethiopia

7:42  MT63-1000L (100 wpm): Same VOA New story

12:34  Thor25x4 (100 wpm): Same VOA News story

17:58  MFSK32 (120 wpm): Same VOA News story, with image

23:55  MFSK32: US international broadcasting FY2015 budget

25:58  MFSK32: Closing announcements, with image

Each mode will be preceded by 5 seconds of silence, followed by the RSID, 5 more seconds of silence, and the RSID again.

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 17860 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

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

(Many shortwave broadcast frequencies will change on 30 March with the beginning of the A14 season, but the VOA Radiogram frequencies stay the same, for the time being.)

The Mighty KBC, via Germany, will again transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz. (KBC's change from 7375 to 9925 planned for this weekend has been postponed until May.) STF Radio International will also have a minute of digital modes during the same hour (simultaneous MFSK32 streams at 1500 and 2100 Hz).

Amateur radio digital nets: As KD9XB, I usually check in to the New York NBEMS net Saturdays at 1400 UTC (10 am EDT) on 7036 kHz and the Pennsylvania NBEMS net Sundays at 1500 UTC (11 am EDT) on 7072.5 kHz. I occasionally also check in to the USeast NBEMS net Wednesdays at 2300 UTC (7 pm EDT) on 7036 kHz. All these nets are USB and start with Olivia 8-500, then change to another mode such as MFSK32 or MT63-1000L for messages.