DRM propagation map for Europe (image courtesy: The Mighty KBC)
The Mighty KBC has announced that they’re going to broadcast in DRM again on the 22, 23, 25 & 26 of December from 16:00 – 18:00 UTC. This is in addition to their previous announced December specials. The DRM broadcasts will come from a 100 kW transmitter and curtain antenna in Kostinbrod (Sofia) Bulgaria on 9,755 kHz DRM.
Tune in and let us know if you heard The Mighty KBC in DRM.
As 
DRMNA.info says:
“Let Dr. Elliott take control of your PC!”
I agree.
On several occasions now, Dr. Kim Elliott has transmitted digital messages via shortwave radio in an assortment of digital modes. We’ve mentioned this in the past (and we even posted a tutorial on decoding his WBCQ message).
Early Sunday morning (UTC–Saturday night for many) The Mighty KBC will once again broadcast some of Elliott’s digital messages from 00:00-02:00 UTC on 9,450 kHz. This time, they’ll even broadcast two different messages in two different modes simultaneously (details below). No Johnny, this isn’t your granfather’s shortwave:
(Source: Kim Elliott)
The Mighty KBC, 21 Nov 2012: “This UTC Sunday, 25 November, more digital text during the broadcast of The Mighty KBC at 0000 to 0200 on 9450 kHz. At about 0130 UTC, PSK125 will be centered at 1300 Hz on the waterfall, MFSK32 at 2200 Hz. Decode one from the radio, and the other from your recording. Just before 0200, only one mode, MFSK32, will be transmitted, centered at 1500 Hz. For this message, please have Fldigi and Flmsg (both available from www.w1hkj.com), as well as your web browser, all running on your PC. If all goes well, at the end of this transmission, the message should pop up in new windows of Flmsg and your browser. (In Flmsg, click Configure, then Misc, then NBEMS, then check Open with flmsg and check Open in browser.)
[Elliott’s comments] “UTC Sunday 25 November at 0000 to 0200 UTC is the same as Saturday evening, 24 November, 7 to 9 pm Eastern Time in North America. This transmission on 9450 kHz is via a leased transmitter in Bulgaria.
To decode the two text transmissions, download Fldigi and Flmsg from w1hkj.com. Configure Fldigi to work with your PC’s sound card.
Also, in Fldigi, click Configure, Misc, NBEMS. Under NBEMS data file interface, click Enable. Under reception of flmsg file, click Open with flmsg and Open in browser.
During reception, patch audio from the earphone or line out jack of your radio to the microphone input of your PC. You may have to experiment a bit with audio settings. You should see a “waterfall” on your Fldigi display.
If all goes according to plan, when the text message just before 0200 UTC (9 pm Eastern) is completely received, it should pop up in a new window of your default web browser.
By the way, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of The Mighty KBC. Not only do they broadcast an excellent mix of music on shortwave radio, but they’ll also blast these digital messages to their listeners. Thanks, KBC!
Again, please comment if you decode these messages!
In a previous post we mentioned that the Mighty KBC, who has been very active on the shortwave bands, announced a line of special broadcasts in December. They’ve just published the frequencies for the broadcasts:
The extra frequencies and transmitters for 22, 23, 25 and 26 December are:
EU (German time) UTC +1
9835 kHz, 1500-1600 UTC, Non Directional, 125 kWUSA (East Coast time) UTC -5
21600 kHz, 1500-1600 UTC, 300°, 250 kWAsia (Vietnam time) UTC +7 / Australia (Sydney time) UTC +11
15470 kHz, 1500-1600 UTC, 75°, 250 kWAnd on 22, 23 December we also have our 6095 transmitter on the air as
well with 100 kW 09.00 – 16.00 UTC.During weekdays we also have The Mighty 6095 on the air between 09.00
– 11.00 UTC with 100kW
(Source: The Mighty KBC)
The Mighty KBC is going globally with The Giant Jukebox!!
Extra broadcasts on December 22, 23, 25 and 26 2012 between 15.00 – 16.00 UTC.
We are using 3 extra transmitters to go globally:
One 125 kW TX extra on +/- 9 MHz, 1500-1600 UTC, Non Directional (we already use 6095 on 22 & 23 December),
One 250 kW transmitter for the USA (East Coast time) UTC -5 n +/- 21 MHZ, 1500-1600 UTC, 300°, 250 kW
One 250 kW transmitter to Asia (Vietnam time) UTC +7 / Australia (Sydney time) UTC +11
We will soon announce the exact frequencies for those 4 days in December
A one time KBC Radio event
Sponsored by KBCimport.com and Hifun.nlFor a QSL card check the link below
http://www.kbcradio.eu/index.php?dir=qsl Spread the word, tell your friends about The Mighty KBC
KBC Propagation Map (Source: The Mighty KBC)
This Sunday, from 00:00-02:00 UTC, The Mighty KBC will again broadcast 2 hours of music on the 31 meter band. This time, they will be testing on 9,450 kHz to avoid adjacent signal interference heard on 9,500 kHz last week.
They will also broadcast a special digital message at 01:30 and then again prior to the end of their broadcast. They have sent full details about the broadcast in a press release (below). Note that though the mode is different, the procedure of decoding the digital message is similar to the one WBCQ broadcast this year. We published a short primer on decoding the WBCQ message in May.
Here are the details on Sunday’s broadcast and how to decode the QPSK125 message:
(Source: The Might KBC)
The Mighty KBC will test to the USA on Sunday 11 November 2012 00.00 – 02.00 UTC on 9450 kHz!
Please join the Mighty KBC for a test of a digital text sent via a shortwave broadcast transmitter. This will take place during the next transmission to North America, Sunday 0000-0200 UTC, at approximately 0130 and just before the end of the broadcast at 0200.
All you need is a basic shortwave receiver (no SSB mode is necessary), and a basic personal computer. Using a patch cord, you will feed the audio out of the earphone jack (or line out) of your radio into the microphone jack of your PC. If you don’t have a patch cord, you can try placing the speaker of your radio close to the built-in microphone of a laptop PC.
You will also need software. There are several freeware or shareware programs used by the amateur radio community that decode digital text modes. One is FLDIGI, available from http://www.w1hkj.com .
After installing FLDIGI, pull down the Configure menu, then click Sound Card, and select the soundcard your PC is using.
You might also have to adjust your audio settings. In Windows 7, left click twice on the speaker icon in the lower right of PC display, then click Options, then click Properties, then click Recording, then click the input that works. Other operating systems will have different procedures. A good way to test your audio settings is to try to decode the radio amateurs using the PSK31 mode on 14070 kHz.
For the test digital text transmissions on Sunday, The Mighty KBC will be using the QPSK125 mode. On your software, your cursor should be centered on 1500 Hertz, where you will see the “waterfall” of the QPSK125 signal. You can decode the transmission while you receive it, or record the transmission and decode from the recording. The latter will give you more opportunities to perfect the technique.
The test to be transmitted will be a formatted html file. Copy it from <html> to (and including) </html>, and paste it to a text editor (such as Notepad in Windows). Save the file, using any file name, with the suffix .htm or .html. Then open the file in any web browser. If all goes well, this might be the first time you receive a shortwave radio broadcast in color!
In the future, an app will be developed to make this process simpler!
Once again, The Mighty KBC broadcast a two hour mix of music to the world on 9,500 kHz. Fortunately, I was able to record the entire broadcast–you can listen below.
The KBC signal and audio out of their transmitter in Bulgaria were both excellent. There was very noticeable interference from the clandestine station, Radio Republica, who broadcasts at the same time (00:00-01:57 UTC) on 9,490 kHz. According to my spectrum display, Republica’s signal had a bandwidth of 20 kHz! At times, I had to narrow my receiver filter to about 6.6 kHz and use a USB sync mode to keep KBC’s broadcast clear. Still, you can certainly hear some of the noise from Radio Republica in the recording.
Though somewhat difficult to see since this is a snapshot, Radio Republica’s signal covered a 20 kHz wide swatch of the spectrum. The KBC broadcast is shaded and centered on 9.500 MHz.
Since Radio Republica is broadcast from the US, I’m curious if listeners in other parts of the world (or other parts of North America) had the same problem. If so, please comment! I’ll pass this along to KBC.
You can download the entire broadcast as an mp3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below:
KBC Propagation Map (Source: The Mighty KBC)
The Mighty KBC is once again broadcasting into North and South America on 9,500 kHz, Sunday, November 4th (00:00-02:00 UTC).
This is their third 2 hour broadcast in the 31 meter band this year.
Try to catch them! If the past is any indicator, their signal is strong (easily heard on a portable in eastern NA) and their music mixes are fantastic.
Please comment if you hear this KBC broadcast outside of North and South America.