Holiday "Spectacular"
Hello friends,
This week's program (382) will be our Holiday Spectacular. It will feature 18 MFSK64 images, all 150x150 pixels, of commercial light-pole-mounted holiday decorations. We've done light-pole decorations before, but the photos this year are new (I think).
Program 382 will be repeated the following week (27 December-1 January).
Despite the festive content, production of program 382 was a harrowing experience. As I was encoding the content using Fldigi > File > Audio > TX generate, I noticed that the audio did not sound quite right. The pitch seemed high. When attempting to decode from the playback, the RSIDs would result in incorrect modes and audio frequencies. Some of the text did not print out correctly. I tried restarting the PC, with no improvement. Finally, I downloaded and installed the latest version of Fldigi (4.2.03), the the audio during encoding sound normal. Decodes on playback were OK. My previous (old) version of Fldigi (4.1.20) seems to have corrupted itself. I re-produced the show using the new, uncorrupted Fldigi. (I notice that the new Fldigi records at a lower amplitude. I hope this does not adversely affect your decoding.)
On the subject of failures, my Yaesu FT-897D transceiver has stopped operating correctly after 13 years of nearly flawless service. The mode and band switches, which are rather essential, no longer work. Yes, I tried the lock button. I also tried using Flrig via the CAT cable, but it also would not switch the modes. I have yet to try a factory reset, although another owner noted online that this did not fix the problem. What might work, according to that owner, is unplugging the FT-897D for a long time, maybe months, to let the capacitors fully discharge.
And speaking of failures, again, the exploded Florida Power and Light transformer serving the WRMI site is probably replaced by now. Some WRMI frequencies were off the air, including last week's Shortwave Radiogram on 9955 kHz. The schedule should be normal this week.
A video of last week's Shortwave Radiogram (program 381) is provided by Scott in Ontario (Wednesday 1330 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is provided by Roger in Germany.
Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 382, 20 December 2024-1 January 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:43 MFSK32: Program preview
3:18 MFSK64: Our Holiday Spectacular:
18 images, each 150 x 150 pixels
27:59 MFSK32: Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social
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 Gateway Wiki: https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Shortwave_Radiogram_Gateway
THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE BELOW.
IF THE SCHEDULE IS NOT VISIBLE FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.
Last week, the Saturday 2300-2230 UTC transmission was on both 7780 kHz and 7570 kHz. 7570 was the pre-Hurricane-Milton frequency. Try both.
Other Shortwave broadcast programs that include digital text and images include The Mighty KBC, Pop Shop Radio and Radio North Europe International (RNEI). Links to these fine broadcasts, with schedules, are posted here.
Thanks for your reception reports!
Kim
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram
Reporting on international broadcasting at https://twitter.com/kaedotcom
Photo/
|
