Weekend VOA Radiogram schedule

Hello friends,

Now that most of North America has changed to Daylight Savings Time, most Americans and Canadians will hear VOA Radiogram one hour later by local time. This is because VOA Radiogram stays at the same UTC time year round. The same will happen for European listeners beginning 26 March 

Also that last weekend of March, many shortwave broadcast stations will change some of their frequencies to correspond with seasonal shifts in propagation. The only change for VOA Radiogram from North Carolina is that the Saturday 0930-1000 UTC broadcast will move from 5865 to 5745 kHz, effective 1 April.

Effective 26 March, IBC (Italian Broadcasting Corporation) will drop its 3975 kHz frequency for the summer. IBC will no longer broadcast VOA Radiogram. There might be one more VOA Radiogram via IBC, Wednesday, 22 March, at 2100-2130 UTC, on 3975 kHz.       

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will be all MFSK32, except for one item in MFSK16, in case reception is difficult.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 207, 18-19 March 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted:

1:46  Program preview  

 2:56  Fog-clearing apparatus used at Oregon airport*

9:52  'Boaty McBoatface' submarine to embark on first mission*

16:44  MFSK16: RFE/RL photo archive from 1950s USSR

21:50  MFSK32: Images* and closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .

VOA Radiogram Transmission Schedule
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
Wednesday	2100-2130	3975 **	IBC Italy	Europe
* Moving to 5745 kHz effective 1 April ** Discontinued after 22 March

The Mighty KBC broadcast to North America will be Sunday at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 8-10 pm EDT) on 6145 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/.  (KBC will move to 9925 kHz on 7 May.)

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)  For the complete IBC transmission schedule, including changes after 27 March, visit  http://ibcradio.webs.com/  The new English version of IBC’s “Shortwave Panorama” begins  31 March, via WRMI Florida, Friday 01.00-01.30 UTC on 9955 kHz, Saturday 01.30-02.00 UTC 11580 kHz, and
Sunday 00.30-01.00 UTC on 7730 kHz. The last five minutes of these shows will be in MFSK32.

Thanks for your reception reports from last weekend. In comparison of the two 58-wpm modes, MFSK16 and Olivia 8-1000, it appears that MFSK16 performed better, based on most reports.

Due to commitments related to my audience research work at VOA, I am vastly behind in answering your reports, but I hope to get back on track this weekend.

I hope you can tune in 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.
•