STF Radio International just shared the following digital announcement. Yes, you’ll need to decode this message from SoundCloud with an application like FLDigi:
STF also mentioned that a text version of this announcement with follow in the next few days (but surely it’s more fun to decode the digital version!).
You should make the time to decode STF Radio International broadcasts if at all possible. Their QSL cards are some of the best in the business.
Check out this article from Radio World which addresses the state of shortwave radio broadcasting.
Jeff White of WRMI and Kim Elliott of the VOA are both interviewed. Elliott even speaks about the virtues of the VOA Radiogram experiments which have had success circumventing shortwave radio jamming (broadcasts which were completely omitted from the BBG Special Committee report on the efficacy of shortwave radio).
[STF Radio QSL card front (above) back (below). Original scans by Steve Yothment]
SWLing Post reader, Steve Yothment (WD0HGB), writes:
“I received an “audio QSL” card from STF Radio International a few days ago. Have you heard about it? [The QSL] actually has grooves on the card that you can play on a phonograph. I had a friend play the audio on his phonograph and he converted the audio to MP3 format. Then, I decoded the digital info in the file.”
Click here to download or listen below:
Steve decoded the digital data from the audio QSL card and documented the contents on a PDF document. Click here to download.
Steve: this is brilliant! Thank you not only for sharing the QSL card images, but for the audio and your excellent documentation of the digital decode!
Readers: What’s the most interesting QSL card you’ve ever received?
(Source: VOA Radiogram)
VOA Radiogram this weekend will include news about reductions to the shortwave transmissions of VOA and other stations of US international broadcasting. These cuts were effective on 30 June.
Fortunately, VOA Radiogram remains on shortwave, at least for now.
Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 66, 5-6 July 2014 (all in MFSK32 except where noted):
1:33 Program preview
2:45 Major reductions to US shortwave broadcasts, with image
8:10 Car fumes affect pollinating insects
10:10 Test of Mars landing craft a success, with image
14:23 India launches satellites at low cost, with MFSK64 image
20:32 Spanish: Triple black hole discovery, with image
25:59 Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to [email protected]
VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.
The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies via Germany. Reports to [email protected].
This morning, while scanning the 31 meter band, I noticed a DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) signal on 9,890 kHz. Normally, I ignore most DRM signals because the amount of signal strength needed to properly decode the mode (here in the US) is simply too low for pleasant, artifact-free copy.
Still, I thought I’d give the new Elad FDM-S2 a try, so I changed mode from AM to DRM.
To my amazement, the FDM-S2 quickly decoded the signal and produced excellent audio from Radio New Zealand International.
I assumed the decoding lock would not hold, but I was wrong; indeed, I believe there were only one or two significant drops in the 40+ minutes I listened. This may be a very good sign from the FDM-S2, even if propagation was above average.
I’m not a big DRM listener, but that’s mainly because there is so little to hear on the bands. The real test will be All India Radio in DRM–I’ve never managed to get a consistent lock on them from here in eastern North America.
Still, I’m pleased as punch that I can so easily copy RNZI–one of my favorite international broadcasters–in DRM.
Here’s a recording of the broadcast starting at 11:18 UTC on June 14, 2014. Click here to download the the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Last month, I was interviewed by NK News regarding the possibility of using inexpensive SDR dongles
While not yet as portable as an SDR dongle, Anonymous is developing a tool called AirChat which will allow long-distance communications via radio. AirChat borrows from Fldigi: a free application that decodes a variety of digital modes and has been used by amateur radio operators for years. Indeed, Fldigi is the same software you’ve used to decode broadcasts from VOA Radiogram and the new STF Radio.
Many thanks to the excellent Southgate ARC news site for this article about AirChat:
(Source: Southgate ARC)
The International Business Times reports that the online hacktivist collective Anonymous has announced that it is working on a new tool called Airchat which could allow people to communicate without the need for a phone or an internet connection – it uses radio waves instead
Initially the data mode software AirChat used code from ‘minimodem’ and then from ‘soundmodem’ sources but they say after suggestions from radio amateurs involved in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), they decided to make it modular to use the Fldigi software, a broadly deployed solution for use with ham radios.
They say “So far we have played interactive chess games with people at 180 miles away. we have shared pictures and established encrypted low bandwidth digital voice chats. We have 3D printed over distances of 80 miles and transmitted medical orders at distances of over 100 miles.”
So far Yaesu FT-897D’s amateur transceivers have been used and the developers are also looking at using low-cost ($40) VHF/UHF handheld transceivers.
Read the International Business Times story
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/anonymous-airchat-aims-allow-
communication-without-needing-phone-internet-access-1445888
LulzLabs AirChat
https://github.com/lulzlabs/AirChat/
You can read about the goals of AirChat on their Github site and follow AirChat on Twitter with the hash tags #lulzlabs and #AirChat.
Anonymous has also posted the following video–a demo of AirChat:
(Source: DRM Consortium via Alokesh Gupta)
The DRM Consortium is a Sector Partner at The Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA), Digital Radio Broadcasting Summit in Cape Town from 22nd – 24th April. The event will include a presentation by the DRM Chair, Ruxandra Obreja, on April 22nd at 11.50am and a dedicated DRM workshop on the 23rd April, from 4.00pm to 5.30pm under the title “The DRM Platform: A detailed and practical look at its superior functionalities and flexibility”.
The workshop will offer a live demonstration of DRM30 with a two-hour BBC broadcast, from Ascension Island – a site managed by DRM member, Babcock – to Southern Africa carrying BBC World Service English from 13:30 to 15:30GMT/UTC (114 degrees) 21735 kHz.
During and after the workshop DRM representatives and South African DRM supporters will be available to meet you and explain the features and to answer any questions.
The DRM Consortium has already been present at SABA events in Johannesburg and in Arusha (Tanzania) last year. The DRM standard is the only global standard which can be used in all radio frequency bands and is ideal for the large countries of Southern Africa. From national networks and regional stations to smaller commercial and community stations, all are able to broadcast their digital radio programmes with enhanced content and in excellent sound quality to everyone in their respective countries, regardless of whether people live in large cities, in small towns or villages.