Friday, July 24, 2015

VOA Radiogram for 25-26 July and 1-2 August

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

Because of a busy week of audience research work, plus a week-long summer break starting today, I will not be able to answer your reception reports for program 118 this weekend.  I will resume responding to emails as soon as possible.

And because of the summer break, this email contains the previews for programs 121 and 122.

VOA Radiogram, program 121, 25-26 July 2015

Here is the lineup, all in MFSK32 except where noted:


 1:29  Program preview

 2:41  Philae comet lander may have shifted position*
 6:07  Replicating earth's magnetic field*
13:08  Weak solar activity puzzles scientists*
19:04  Olivia 32-2000: Puddles as origin of life
24:02  MFSK32: Closing announcements*
28:29  Olivia 32-2000: Transmission schedule

* with image


VOA Radiogram, program 122, 1-2 August 2015

On this program, the same photo will be transmitted in MFSK16, MFSK32, MFSK64, and Scottie DX SSTV. The duration of each photo transmission will be between 4 minutes 15 seconds and 4 minutes 32 seconds.


In the three MFSK modes, the caption of the photo will be transmitted before each image to provide a comparison of the text performance of each mode.

Each MFSK mode will begin with an RSID, followed by ten seconds of silence to allow for a manual change of mode if necessary.

MFSK32:        Program preview

MFSK16:        Text and image
MFSK32:        Text and image
MFSK64:        Text and image
MFSK32:        Introduction to Scottie DX SSTV
Scottie DX:    Image
MFSK32:        Closing announcements and VOA Radiogram logo
Olivia 64-2000:VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

In the Windows environment, RXSSTV and MMSSTV, among other programs, can be used to decode the Scottie DX. For Linux, Slowrx is available, among others.


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 17870 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 MFSK64 Sundays at 0230 UTC (Saturdays 10:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany -- part of the transmission to North America Sundays 0000-0300 UTC. Eric enjoys receiving reports for these KBC MFSK64 transmissions: themightykbc@gmail.com .


Thanks for your reports and support. I hope you can tune and write. I will, eventually, respond to all reports.


Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net


Sunday, July 12, 2015

2015 Night of Nights is TONIGHT! ALL Frequencies Here!

Youngest:

On all other nights, we use voice or digital modes. Why, on this night alone, do we use good old Morse telegraphy?

Father:

Because July 12 is the Night of Nights, one of the great moments in human defiance, when the barbaric yawp of Morse code comes once again from the RCA Radiomarine transmitter farm at KPH in Bolinas. The corporate Pharoahs gave KPH and CW up for dead, but they were led to freedom by the Maritime Radio Historical Society.  On this night alone, we commemorate this miracle.


The frequencies

KPH has fixed its MW antenna, and, gods be willing, will be on this band again this year.

KPH frequencies:

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



K6KPH will again invite amateur QSOs, as propagation and the number of available operators permit. Frequencies (+/- QRM):

3550.0                 Henry HF-5000D           Double Extended Zepp
7050.0                 RCA L Set                     Double Extended Zepp
14050.0               Henry HF-5000D           H over 2
18097.5               Henry HF-5000D           H over 2
21050.0               Henry HF-5000D           H over 2 



KSM, a real genuine commercial maritime coastal station at the KPH sites, will be using:

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



KFS, a call that is now licensed to Globe Wireless, will be heard on:

12695.5                Press Wireless PW15   H over 2
17026.0                Henry HF-5000D            H over 2


Reception reports and verification requests for the MRHS stations listed above may be sent to:

Maritime Radio Historical Society
PO Box 392
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
USA

415-669-9646
 

The Coast Guard CAMSPAC will again take to the CW airwaves, and this might well be the last year due to big changes at this station. They will also be using the remotes in Astoria, OR and Cambria, CA (usually more associated with NAVTEX).

NMC, Pt. Reyes:

472.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6           173' monopole tower
500.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6           173' monopole tower
6383.0                  Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional
8574.0                  Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional
17220.5                Rockwell-Collins RT-2200  Omni-directional



NMQ, Cambria:


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


NMW, Astoria:

448.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6    Capacitive top hat
500.0                    Nautel ND2500TT/6    Capacitive top hat

 NOTE regarding NMC/NMQ/NMW MF transmissions.  Only one MF transmitter will be in service at each station.  Morse transmissions will be made on an as-available basis from each station as USCG operators must also accommodate scheduled NAVTEX transmissions. 

Reception reports and verification requests for the USCG stations listed above may be sent to:

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



You've read about ShipCom in the UP column, and you'll read about them again because the HF 911 project is coming along nicely.  Meanwhile, good old WLO (AL) and KLB (WA) will come back on the CW airwaves:

WLO:

2055.5
4343.0
8658.0
12992.0
16968.5



KLB





488.0
500.0
8582.5

Reception reports via email (for both stations) to: wloradio@wloradio.com



W4WLO


Another amateur station will be available for QSOs around 7055/14055 kHz.


Duplex calling channels

Usually at least one ship calls up and passes traffic using standard commercial procedures. Most years, there's way more than one.  Monitor these calling channels for some great catches:

500 (international MW calling channel) 
ITU Channel 3 HF:

4184.0
6276.0
8368.0
12552.0
16736.0
22280.5
 


Catch some dits and dahs starting at 0001 UTC.  That's in a little over two hours!



Friday, July 10, 2015

VOA Radiogram for July 11-12

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will be all-MFSK32 except for the bonus mode. We will try another non-Latin alphabet, this time Korean. You will need the UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi: Configure > Colors & Fonts > Rx/Tx Character set.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 119, 11-12 July 2015, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

 1:31  Program preview
 2:43  Student Dust Counter aboard Pluto probe*
10:03  Tajiks want "bear man" statue*
16:57  VOA launches mobile audio app*
21:34  Excerpt of VOA story in Korean text**
25:32  Closing announcements
28:42  Bonus mode: Olivia 16-500

* with image

** requires UTF-8 character set, Configure > Colors & Fonts >
Rx/Tx Character set: UTF-8

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 17870 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 MFSK64 Sunday at 0230 UTC (Saturday 10:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz via Germany. Reports for KBC to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com.

Thank you  for your reception reports from the weekend of 4-5 July. I am still about three weeks behind in answering your emails, but I will try to gain on that today and this weekend. 

I hope you can listen, decode, and write in this weekend.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram


Friday, July 03, 2015

Bang-Up VOA Radiogram for July 4-5

From Kim Andrew Elliott:

Hello friends,

If you participated in last weekend's amateur radio Field Day exercise, I hope you had a good time and lots of contacts. Because of travel, I missed Field Day entirely.

This weekend's program includes two gray-scale/grey-scale (black and white) images, because they take less time to transmit. That allowed me more time for the four text news stories, one of them in the rather slow  Olivia 32-2000 mode. 

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 118, 4-5 July 2015, all in MFSK32 except where noted ...


 1:32  Program preview
 2:48  Christchurch NZ rebuilds after earthquake*
10:39  Rosetta spacecraft finds sinkholes on comet**
16:56  One-person flying vehicles**
22:34  Olivia 32-2000: World's first 3D-printed office building
28:12  MFSK32: Closing announcements
29:08  BPSK63F: Bonus mode of the week.

* with color image
** with gray-scale image

(The closing music is the overture from the musical play 1776, to mark Independence Day in the United States.)


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 17870 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 MFSK64 Sunday at 0230 UTC (Saturday 10:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz, via Germany. Reports for KBC reception to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com.

Thank you for your reports from last weekend. Good to hear from several news listeners. 

Because of my travel and audience research tasks (which occupy 80% of my work week), I am even further behind in answering your reports. I hope to answer most reports from program 115 today (a holiday, so no distractions from the pesky audience research datasets!).

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net