Category Archives: Digital Modes

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, David Iurescia, who shares this news and audio report via the Radio Praha website:

“10:55 on Thursday morning was an important occasion in the history of radio in the Czech Republic as it was the exact moment that full digital broadcasting was launched in the country. The new network carries nine Czech Radio stations, some of which were previously only accessible online. For now the service is just available in the capital and Central Bohemia, but there are plans to roll it out to other parts of the country in the next few years.”

Click here to read the full transcript at Radio Praha.

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In the UK, digital radio is not always well-received

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Many thanks to my buddy, Dan, who shares this article from the Daily Mail:

“It was supposed to be the technology that would transform the way we listen to the radio.

But audiences condemned DAB – or Digital Audio Broadcasting – as a disaster yesterday because of the poor quality of the signal.

They complained that it cuts out in the middle of broadcasts, while others claim the technology is already out of date.

One even joked on Twitter that while we can now receive close-up photos of Pluto taken billions of miles away, he ‘still can’t get a good signal on DAB’.

DAB had been heralded as less prone to interference than AM or FM, but household appliances including microwave ovens, laptops, mobile phones and TVs have all been found to affect reception. Power lines and the weather can knock out digital signals, while signal strength can be reduced in built-up areas, in basements and inside buildings with thick stone or reinforced concrete walls.”

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3168864/Coming-loud-clear-gripes-digital-radio-Audiences-condemn-DAB-poor-quality-signal-cuts-middle-programmes.html

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SSTV from the International Space Station this weekend

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This is a VHF news item, not shortwave, but many SWLing Post readers have wideband SDRs, HT’s and scanners that cover this portion of the VHF band. Unique opportunity:

(Source: AMSAT bb)

40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted. Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented the first joint USA-Soviet mission and set the stage for follow-on Russia-USA space collaboration on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and the International Space Station. The Soyuz and Apollo vehicles were docked from July 17-19, 1975, during which time joint experiments and activities were accomplished with the 3 USA astronauts and 2 Soviet Cosmonauts on-board. Apollo-Soyuz was the final mission of the Apollo program and the last USA human spaceflight mission until the first space shuttle mission in 1981.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this historic international event, the ARISS team has developed a series of 12 Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images that will be sent down for reception by schools, educational organizations and ham radio operators, worldwide. The SSTV images are planned to start sometime Saturday morning, July 18 and run through Sunday July 19. These dates are tentative and are subject to change. The SSTV images can be received on 145.80 MHz and displayed using several different SSTV computer programs that are available on the internet.

We encourage you to submit your best received SSTV images to:
http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php

The ARISS SSTV image gallery will post the best SSTV images received from this event at:
http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php

Also, as a special treat, on Saturday July 18 the ISS Cosmonauts will take time out to conduct an ARISS contact with students attending the Moon Day/Frontiers of Flight Museum event in Dallas Texas. This Russian Cosmonaut-USA Student contact is planned to start around 16:55 UTC through the W6SRJ ground station located in Santa Rosa, California. ARISS will use the 145.80 MHz voice frequency downlink (same as the SSTV downlink) for the Moon Day contact.

For more information on ARISS, please go to our web site: www.ariss.org

The ARISS international team would like to thank our ARISS-Russia colleague, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for his leadership on this historic commemoration.

Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO

ARISS International Chair

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Practice your RTTY with ITTY

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SWLing Post reader, George (NJ3H), writes:

First off, this short message is not about listening to anything over the radio, but over the internet. So I am sure that may be a disappointment for some. However, it does give folks a chance to listen to and decode RTTY and exercise their copy of FLDigi or MMTTY.

At rtty.com, there is an application called “Teletype over the Internet (ITTY)”. Instructions are posted that allow the user to connect to the ITTY server (with WinAmp, Media Player, etc), hear teletype, and decode with you choice of decoding software.

I use Windows Media Player and FLDigi to copy the ITTY channel. As I recall, one must set “Reverse” to the on (green light) position in FLDigi.

There are folks who are continually uploading news articles (some serious – some offbeat). Instructions are included so you can upload your own news articles also.

So for times when nothing is happening on the radio or for something a little different to do, users may find this an enjoyable diversion.

Have fun and enjoy.

Many thanks, George. Indeed, this is a great way to hone your RTTY decoding skills and build confidence in those who are new to this classic digital mode!

Click here to go to RTTY.com; the link to ITTY is found in the body of their home page.

I’ve pasted an instructional video below which gives a great overview if ITTY:

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Norway: first country to shut down FM analog radio

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The City Hall (Radhus) in Oslo, Norway. (Source: Public Domain)

(Source: Radio.no)

NORWAY TO SWITCH OFF FM IN 2017

Within two years from now, the shutdown of national FM-networks begins in Norway. The switchover will begin in the North and will be implemented region by region.

Thursday, the Ministry of Culture announced a national FM-switch off, to complete the transition to digital radio. Norway is making an historical move into a new radio era, being the first country in the world to decide upon an analogue switch-off for all major radio channels. With DAB and digital radio, listeners will be provided with more radio channels and greater diversity in content.

[Continue reading on Radio.no…]

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