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Friday, November 16, 2018

Shortwave Radiogram weekend schedules


Hello friends,
The Mighty KBC's new frequency of 11600 kHz, Saturdays at 1300-1400 UTC from Bulgaria, reached across the Atlantic last weekend. That included the minute of MFSK64 at 1330 UTC (see below). If you are in North America, try it this weekend.

Unfortunately, the Shortwave Radiogram frequency of 9400 kHz at 1400-1430 UTC, also from Bulgaria, was less successful last weekend reaching the United States and Canada. It is, nevertheless, worth a try this weekend.

Videos of last weekend's Shortwave Radiogram (program 73) are provided by Scott in Ontario (Friday 2030-2100 UTC) and by Ralf in Germany (Saturday 1400-1430 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is prepared by Roger in Germany.

As of this weekend, our broadcast at the inconvenient (at least for North Americans) time of 0800-0830 UTC moves to Sunday, from Monday, and thus might be slightly less inconvenient. North Americans who prefer not to wake up in the middle of the night can use Audacity's timer record feature. Or just leave your radio and Fldigi on all night and look at your results in the morning. Europeans should note that winter gray-line (grey-line) propagation may allow reception of the this Sunday 0800-0830 UTC broadcast. Frequencies are 5850 and 7730 kHz from WRMI Florida.

Winter propagation is allowing reception of Shortwave Radiogram broadcasts in areas where they were not heard during the summer, but the signal might not be sufficient for a good decode of our usual MFSK modes. To improve the chances of a successful decode, we will transmit some of this weekend's content in the robust Olivia 64-2000, 32-2000, and 16-2000 modes.

A few notes about Olivia: 1) For best decode, turn squelch (SQL) off.  2) The RSID should direct Fldigi to the correct Olivia modes, but if manual mode selection is necessary, Olivia 32-2000 and 16-2000 will require using the custom menu under the Olivia op mode. 3) Keep in mind that the text will not begin to print until a few seconds after you hear the tones.

Another interesting feature in this weekend's unusual program is a waterfall graphic created by Merkouris, SV2HWM, in Greece. It's a replica of the message sent to outer space in 1974 by the Arecibo radio telescope. This can be seen in the Fldigi waterfall or on an SDR spectrum display (zoom in). To see as much of it as possible in Fldigi:  Configure > UI > Waterfall > FFT Processing > Increase waterfall height > Save, then close and restart Fldigi.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 74, 16-18 November 2018, in modes as noted:

 1:41  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:07  Olivia 64-2000: Earth's dust clouds***
 6:11  Olivia 32-2000: Earth's dust clouds***
 8:42  Olivia 16-2000: Earth's dust clouds***
11:43  MFSK64: Image from previous story*
14:27  Arecibo radio telescope message to space**
20:31  This week's images
27:41  MFSK32: Closing announcements


* with image(s)

** with waterfall graphic and image

*** for best Olivia decode turn off squelch (SQL)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Twitter: @SWRadiogram or https://twitter.com/swradiogram (visit during the weekend to see listeners' results)

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304
Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule
UTC DayUTC Time FrequencyTransmitter
Friday2030-2100 UTC7780 kHzWRMI Florida
Saturday1400-1430 UTC9400 kHzSpace Line Bulgaria
Sunday NEW DAY0800-0830 UTC5850 kHz
7730 kHz
WRMI Florida
Sunday2330-2400 UTC7780 kHzWRMI Florida
Slow Scan Radio transmits SSTV images and text modes Saturdays on 6070 kHz (and maybe also 7440 kHz) via Channel 292 in Germany -- according to the latest schedule information I have. The website is http://www.slowscanradio.com. Reception reports to x@xdv.me.

The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1300-1400 UTC on 11600 kHz (new time and frequency via Bulgaria), with the minute of MFSK at about 1330 UTC (if you are outside of Europe, listen via websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ ). And to North America Sundays at 0000-0200 UTC (Saturday 7-9 pm EST) on 5960 kHz, via Germany. The minute of MFSK is at about 0130 UTC.  Reports to Eric: themightykbc@gmail.com . See also http://www.kbcradio.eu/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyKbc/.

Italian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)  Five minutes of MFSK32 is at the end of the 30-minute English-language “Shortwave Panorama. For the complete IBC transmission schedule visit  http://ibcradio.webs.com/ 

Broad Spectrum Radio is transmitted by WRMI Florida Mondays at 0700-0800 UTC on 5850 and 7730 kHz. MFSK32 is broadcast during the second half hour of the show. Reports to broadspectrumradio@gmail.com.

Thanks for your reception reports!
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram

Reporting on international broadcasting at https://twitter.com/kaedotcom
The MFSK64 segment of The Mighty KBC, Saturday, 10 November 2018, 1330 UTC, 11600 kHz from Bulgaria, received in Virginia.
Images received by IT2024SWL in Italy, 10 November 2018, 1400-1430 UTC, 9400 kHz from Bulgaria.
 
Images and text received by Guy in Texas, 11 November 2018, 2330-2400 UTC, 7780 kHz from WRMI Florida.
Also from the Sunday 2330 UTC broadcast, these MFSK64 images were received by Merkouris in Greece, with artistic effect.
Images received by Zach in Alabama, who was awake for the 0800-0830 UTC broadcast, 12 November 2018, 5850 kHz from WRMI Florida.