Hello friends,
Sorry about the late start of the 1400-1430 UTC show last Saturday. Let's hope the transmitter in Bulgaria on 9400 kHz gives us the full half hour this weekend.
New this weekend is transmissions of Shortwave Radiogram from WINB in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. See the revised schedule below for the times and frequencies. One of the broadcasts is in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale)! Most of us don't have a DRM-capable receiver. But most of the KiwiSDR receivers at https://sdr.hu/ can be used for DRM if you select the IQ mode.
You will also need the Dream DRM decoder in combination with the elusive audio codec that must be placed in the same directory as the Dream application. I don't have time before today's 1500 UTC DRM transmission show to recall and explain the best places to find the necessary software. If a Shortwave Radiogram listener can help (for next weekend), I would be grateful!
When Dream is finally working, under Settings > Sound Card > Signal Input > Channel: select I/Q Pos Split. For most comfortable listening, use separate sound cards (device) for input and output.
Then there is the WINB DRM signal. It needs to be strong for DRM decoding to succeed. I have decoded WINB DRM a few times using receivers in Europe, North America, and even Hawaii. The signal may drop in and drop out. The bottom 5 kHz of its bandwidth is for some unspecified data. The voice part (and Shortwave Radiogram digital modes) will be on the upper 5 kHz.
As for WINB analog on 9265, I have no idea where that might be audible. We'll find out this weekend. Consider it an adventure on shortwave.
NBEMS nets. Most weekends, as KD9XB, I check in to the amateur radio NBEMS nets in New York and Pennsylvania. See the information below.
Chinese text. This weekend's Radio Free Asia story about the internet in China will be followed by an excerpt the same RFA news item in Mandarin. For the characters to display correctly, you will need the UTF-8 character set. UTF-8 is now the default character set in Fldigi, and it's also default in TIVAR. If you need to change the character set in Fldigi: Configure > UI > Colors & Fonts > Rx/Tx.
Videos of last weekend's Shortwave Radiogram (program 81) are provided by Scott in Ontario (Friday 2030-2100 UTC) and Ralf in Germany (Sunday 2330-2400 UTC), with thanks to Ralf for recording late on Sunday because of the half-missing show Saturday at 1400 UTC. The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is prepared by Roger in Germany.
Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, Program 82, 11-13 January 2019, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:39 MFSK32: Program preview
3:05 MFSK64: China targets internet users seeking news**
8:33 Astronomy from the far side of the moon*
15:33 This week's images*
24:06 Tecsun Radios International decoding competition*
27:49 MFSK32: Closing announcements
* with image(s)
** use UTF8 character set for the Chinese characters
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
Day UTC Time Frequency Transmitter
Fri 1500-1530 13690 DRM WINB Pennsylvania
Fri 2030-2100 7780 WRMI Florida
Sat 0330-0400 9265 WINB Pennsylvania
Sat. 1600-1630 9400 Space Line Bulgaria
Sat 1830-1900 9265 WINB Pennsylvania
Sun 0800-0830 5850, 7730 WRMI Florida
Sun 2330-2400 7780 WRMI Florida
Slow Scan Radio transmits SSTV images and text modes Saturdays at 1300-1330 UTC on 6070 kHz and 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. Last weekend Slow Scan Radio transmitted some DRM Easypal images.
The Mighty KBC transmits to Europe Saturdays at 1300-1400 UTC on 11600 kHz from 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/.
New York and Pennsylvania NBEMS nets. Most weekends, as KD9XB, I check in to the New York NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software) net Saturday at 1300 UTC on 3584 kHz USB, and the Pennsylvania NBEMS net Sunday at 1300 UTC on 3583 kHz USB. Check-ins are in Thor 22, and messages are in MFSK32. Messages usually use the Flmsg add-on to Fldigi. If you are a radio amateur in eastern North America, feel free to check in. Outside the region, use an SDR in the eastern USA to tune in and decode. You do not need Flmsg to check in, and most of the messages can be read without Flmsg. If you can decode the net, send me an email to radiogram@verizon.net , or tweet to @SWRadiogram , and I will let them know you are tuned in.
Thanks for your reception reports!
Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram
Reporting on international broadcasting at https://twitter.com/kaedotcom