Hello friends,

It’s hot here, 91F or 33C, as I type this. Chances are it’s also hot where you are, and obviously too hot for April.

A followup on the antenna woes I discussed last week. (Skip this paragraph if your are not into antenna stuff.) The air band vertical dipole that I purchased did not provide good, or even adequate, reception. At first I suspected the connectors at either end of my coax run, either the BNC male that I installed on the inside 18 years ago, or the PL-259 I installed on the outside just a few days ago. I am not brilliant when or comes to installing connectors. Or maybe it was the coax itself, though I reduced it outside by several feet to eliminate any moisture infiltration. So I tried a few feet of wire antenna outside: reception on shortwave (HF) on a Drake SW8 receiver inside was OK. Then I affixed a barrel connector to the outside PL-259, put a banana plug in barrel connector, attached an old telescopic whip antenna to the banana plug. The resulting half-a-dipole worked OK on the air band.  

Given that the coax and connectors seemed to be working, the problem must have been the antenna I purchased. I gave the antenna a second chance with a three-foot coax jumper connected to a scanner receiver. Still poor results compared to the whip. Very strange, because what can go wrong with a vertical dipole? Anyway, the antenna company in Indiana has kindly offered to send me one of their ground plane antennas cut for the air band. We’ll see how that works. If it doesn’t, homebrew.

This week on Shortwave Radiogram we transmit the sad announcement from the BBC that they will close their longwave service on 198 kHz, lather this year. Because that facility is dismantled, I would like to find a way to use it to send text, images, and even formatted web pages. Let’s see what longwave can do.

Also this week, the SaveVOA group requested me to write and submit testimony of the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, which is considering the Voice of America budget for Fiscal Year 2027. That testimony will be transmitted in MFSK64. It is testimony For the Record: I won’t be appearing at a hearing.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 444) is provided by Scott in Ontario (Wednesday 1330 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is provided by Roger in Germany. Also the IQ audio file and other resources provided H0B0_Radio in Washington state. And John Rabold’s image archive. 

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 445, 16-23 April 2026, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:43  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:53  MFSK32: BBC longwave 198 kHz will close 
 7:16  MFSK64: Testimony to Appropriations Committee about VOA 
11:35  MFSK64: This week’s images
27:08  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky:swradiogram.bsky.social or  swradiogram.bsky.social

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 Gateway Wiki: https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Shortwave_Radiogram_Gateway

Shortwave Radiogram Transmission Schedule

Other Shortwave broadcast programs that include digital text and images include The Mighty KBC, Pop Shop Radio and Radio North Europe International (RNEI). Links to these fine broadcasts, with schedules, are posted here.

Thanks for your reception reports!

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott, KD9XB
Producer and Presenter
Shortwave Radiogram
Reporting on international broadcasting at https://twitter.com/kaedotcom

Fuente: https://swradiogram.net/

Categorías:Broadcasting

Etiquetas:Digital Modes, Frecuencias, MSFK64, Onda Corta, Shortwave, SW, SWL