VOA Radiogram 31 August/1 September 2013 includes Vietnamese and Russian

Leave a reply

VOARadioGram(Source: VOA Radiogram)

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will include sample text in Vietnamese and Russian. Vietnamese has all sorts of diacritics, and Russian uses a Cyrillic alphabet, so this will be a real workout for your decoding software. Your character set should be UTF-8. In Fldigi, this adjustment is via Configure > Colors & Fonts.

The program will also attempt to improve the performance of RSID (Reed-Solomon Identification), the brief signal at the beginning of a digital mode transmission that automatically switches decoding software to the correct mode and audio frequency. I produced the program using Fldigi 3.21.74AB. You will need Fldigi 3.21.73 or newer for the MFSK64 and MFSK128 RSIDs to work correctly. If you have a previous version of Fldigi, or another decoding software, I have provided time for the mode to be changed manually.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, 31 August/September 1 2013:

2:55  MFSK16: Program preview

3:10  MFSK32: Vietnamese and Russian text samples

2:58  MFSK32: Discussion of RSIDs

1:50  MFSK64/Flmsg: VOA News re dung beetles*

:56  MFSK32: Image of dung beetle

3:07  MFSK128/Flmsg/Base64: VOA blue logo*

2:16  MFSK64: VOA News re China hack attack

2:38  MFSK32: VOA Khmer radio photo contest

2:31  MFSK32: Image of submitted radio photo

1:10  MFSK16: Closing announcements

:15  Surprise mode of the week

*To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS, under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

(all days and times UTC)

Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

Please send reception reports to radiogram (at) voanews.com

A great weekend to catch some pirate radio action

Leave a reply
Most pirate radio stations will send you an electronic or paper QSL. This is one I received from All Along The Watchtower Radio. (Click to enlarge)

Most pirate radio stations will send you an electronic or paper QSL. This is one I received from All Along The Watchtower Radio. (Click to enlarge)

Monday, September 2nd, is Labor Day throughout most of North America; shortwave pirates love to operate on long holiday weekends (though you can hear them most any weekend for that matter).

So, if you’ve never heard a live pirate station on shortwave radio, this is a great opportunity to catch your first pirate!

Where to find pirate stations

In a nutshell: In North America, you can usually find pirate radio broadcasters in AM or upper side band (USB) between 6,920 – 6,970 kHz from early evening into the night. 6,925 kHz is one of the most popular frequencies. Pirates broadcast elsewhere–especially in Europe–but this is the best watering hole in North America.

Pirates transmit at much lower power than commercial broadcasters, so it takes a good ear and, sometimes, a little patience to hear them through the static.

Let us know if you hear any pirate stations this weekend! Weather permitting, I’ll be listening and even tweeting pirates/frequencies when I hear them. Also check the HF Underground forum for live pirate radio loggings.

Good luck and good listening!

Russian Numbers Station UVB-76: “the most mysterious radio transmission in the world”

2 Replies

UVB-76-detailJames Cook, associate editor, at The Kernal has written an excellent article about the Russian numbers station UVB-76. Those of us who listen to numbers stations are very familiar with this reliable buzzer on 4.625 MHz. Cook writes:

The radio signal that occupies 4625 kHz has reportedly been broadcasting since the late 1970s. The earliest known recording of it is dated 1982. Ever since curious owners of shortwave radios first discovered the signal, it has broadcast a repeating buzzing noise. Every few years, the buzzer stops, and a Russian voice reads a mixture of numbers and Russian names.

A typical message came hours before Christmas day, 1997:

“Ya UVB-76, Ya UVB-76. 180 08 BROMAL 74 27 99 14. Boris, Roman, Olga, Mikhail, Anna, Larisa. 7 4 2 7 9 9 1 4”

Instead of shutting down with the fall of communism in Russia, UVB-76 became even more active. Since the millenium, voice messages have become more and more frequent.

Click here to read Cook’s full article on The Kernel.

If you would like to listen to UVB-76, and can’t easily receive it via radio, click this link to listen to a live stream or click this one to load a live stream in iTunes.

If you’re interested in numbers stations, click here to read some previous articles on the SWLing Post.

Voice of Russia poll

Leave a reply

VoiceOfRussiaTroy wites:

…I received [an email] from the Voice of Russia.  It parallels what you have reported on your blog, however in her reply Elena Osipova also sent me an attachment in the form of a “poll” or survey.  It seems she may be collecting data re: listenership habits.  I would encourage others disappointed in the VOR closure reports to email Ms. Osipova and complete the survey as well.

If you wish to participate, click here to download the poll, then send your answers to [email protected].

Thank you, Troy, for forwarding this!

No news is no news: a response from the Voice of Russia

1 Reply
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Kremilin (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I wrote the Voice of Russia following the suggestion that their broadcasting on shortwave radio may soon end. A response has now arrived from the Letters Department of the VOR’s World Service.  And the current word?  Very similar to that of my previous post, though VOR confesses that the topic is presently being talked about:

This is to…inform you that the information about the presumable cancellation by the Voice of Russia of shortwave broadcasts as of January 2014 does not come from VOR’s official sources, therefore at this point we can neither confirm nor deny it since the issue is currently under discussion.

In other words, stay tuned…

Not exactly a positive note–no news is no news–but I am impressed that they are taking the time to respond to each inquiry so quickly.

The view from the Voice of America

1 Reply
VOA-Roof - DC

Click to enlarge

Today, I visited the Voice of America in Washington, DC and had lunch with my good friend and fellow shortwave radio enthusiast, Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott, creator of the VOA Radiogram. Besides giving me an update on the success of the VOA Radiogram broadcasts, Kim took me to the roof of the VOA building on Independence Avenue, so that I could check out the antenna farm of the VOA Ham Radio Club (K3VOA). I took several photos on my DSLR camera and will post them here upon my return.

While up there, I couldn’t help but note this incredible view of the Capitol Building; I snapped this quick shot–which can’t do it justice–with my iPhone.

Myke maps his radio recordings

1 Reply

MykeOur friend, Myke Dodge Weiskopf, writes with an update:

“I went through all 600+ recordings of mine and generated a highly accurate Google Earth KML file pinpointing all the transmitters (along with reception details). Lots of fun for SWL types to fly around and look at antenna farms!

http://dodgeblog.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/SWM-GoogleEarth.kml

It’s also available directly from www.myke.me/shortwavemusic/ along with the normal maps version and the comprehensive spreadsheet.”

This is fascinating–thanks, Myke!

I’ve already checked out the Google Maps version online but will certainly download the KML file and import it into Google Earth as well. It’s fun zooming around the globe and finding all of these transmitter sites; this took serious dedication to plot. (To have had tools like this when I was eight years old…)

Note that the next season of shortwavemusic starts on October 1st. Check out Myke’s website for more details!