Friday, March 03, 2017

VOA Radiogram for 4-5 March

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

I'm sending this note early this week, as I prepare for the Winter SWL Fest Thursday through Saturday at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.  For the  same reason, we'll keep this weekend's program simple, with MFSK32 as the only mode.

Speaking of the Winter SWL Fest, on its agenda is the Shortwave Shindig, which will be broadcast live on WRMI, 6855 kHz, Saturday 0300-0600 UTC (Friday evening in North America). Host David Goren, of Shortwaveology, plans to include one or two MFSK32 images during the show.

Please also note that The Mighty KBC will transmit on 6040 kHz, in addition to its usual 6145 kHz, Sunday 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST). This is because of an interfering signal just above 6145 kHz. A minute of MFSK32 will be at about 0130 UTC.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 205, 4-5 March 2017, all in MFSK32:

 1:49  Program preview
 2:54  Cambodia threatens media outlets*
12:31  Foreign TV blocked for North Koreans in China*
19:28  Few complain after ABC drops shortwave
23:26  Dubai amateur radio satellite*
27:24  Closing announcements

* with image

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule (temporarily expanded):

UTC Day
UTC Time
kHz
Transmitter
Target
Also try in …
Saturday
0930-1000
5865
North Carolina
Americas
Asia-Pacific, Europe
Saturday
1600-1630
17580
North Carolina
Europe
Americas, Asia-Pacific
Sunday
0230-0300
5745
North Carolina
Americas
Europe
Sunday
1930-2000
15670
North Carolina
Europe
Americas, Asia-Pacific
Sunday
2030-2100
11580
WRMI Florida
Europe
Americas
Sunday
2330-2400
11580
WRMI Florida
Americas

Monday
2000-2030
3975
IBC Italy
Europe

Wednesday
2100-2130
3975
IBC Italy
Europe


The Mighty KBC broadcast to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST) on 6145 and 6040 kHz, via Germany. A minute of MFSK32 will be transmitted at about 0130 UTC. Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/ . 

DigiDX is taking a few weeks off, hence the VOA Radiogram transmissions via WRMI and IBC.  See http://www.digidx.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/digidx/

Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) has digital modes as follows:
EVERY WEDNESDAY ON 3975 KHZ 20.30-21.00 UTC in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500
EVERY FRIDAY ON 9955 KHZ 02.25-02.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SATURDAY ON 1584 KHZ 21.25-21.30 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 7730 KHZ 00.55-01.00 UTC in MFSK32
EVERY SUNDAY ON 6070 KHZ 11.30-12.00 UTC  in MFSK32 and OLIVIA 16-500 (VIA RADIO BCLNEWS)
For the complete IBC transmission schedule, including voice broadcasts, visit  http://ibcradio.webs.com/

Winter SWL Fest.  I am planning to attend the Winter SWL Fest, March 2-4, 2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Hope to see you there. Information at  http://www.swlfest.com .  (Single-day walk-ins are welcome.)

Thanks for your reports from last weekend. Our experiment with MFSK64, 32, and 16 was very interesting, with MFSK16 performing very well in poor reception conditions.

Because of preparations for the Winter SWL Fest, and attending it, there will be some delay in answering your reports. Apologies for that and thanks for your patience.

I hope you can tune in (especially because I may not be able to) and write in this weekend.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net
Twitter: @VOARadiogram  (especially active just before, during, and after broadcasts)


PS: A few operating notes:
  • For best Olivia 64-2000 performance, turn Fldigi's squelch (SQL) off.
  • The RSID at 1500 Hz sometimes mixes with the transmitter hum, most noticeable at 360 Hz, to move your receive audio frequency down to 1140 Hz, resulting in no decode. To prevent this, in Fldigi: Configure > IDs  > RsID > unselect Searches passband.  Your center audio frequency will wander no more than +/- 200 Hz.
  • Fldigi automatically saves your decoded MFSK images as png files in the folder \fldigi.files\images\ (in Windows; folder names might be different with other operating systems). You can attach those png files with your reception report.
  • The VOA Radiogram Twitter account @VOARadiogram is especially active before, during, and after the broadcasts. You don't need a Twitter account: just go to https://twitter.com/voaradiogram and refresh it occasionally.

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