This week’s Shortwave Radiogram will include another story about the crisis of US international broadcasting. It’s from Radio Free Asia about the loss of most of its shortwave and medium wave frequencies, and how they are continuing on a much reduced transmission schedule using what money they have on hand. The situation at RFA and the rest of US international broadcasting may have changed by the time the program 397 transmissions have all completed. I post much of this news at kaedotcom.bsky.social .

Some notes about Shortwave Radiogram frequencies: Those of us who were tuned in heard no transmission Friday at 0530-0600 UTC on 7780 kHz from WRMI Florida. I haven’t had a chance yet to ask Jeff White at WRMI what happened. When it is on the air, that transmission is almost always heard in New Zealand, and probably in other parts of the southern Pacific region. 

Also, please note that the Saturday 2300-2330 UTC broadcast is on three frequencies from WRMI: 7570, 7780 and 9455 kHz. Of the three, 9455 seems to provide the best reception in most parts of the world. Last week, I had fairly good results using an SDR in Australia.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 396) is provided by Scott in Ontario (Wednesday 1330 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. H0b0_Radio in Washington state offer this IQ recording. Analysis is provided Roger in Germany.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 397, 10-16 April 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:46  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:01  MFSK32: Asteroid briefly threatened Earth but may hit moon
 8:11  MFSK64: RFA radio transmissions to China, Tibet halted*
13:03  MFSK64: This week’s images*
27:31  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social or https://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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Sporty Porcupine in coastal Alabama received these images 3 April 2025, 2330-2400 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania …

This week on Shortwave Radiogram, I violate my own rule against transmitting stories about AI. Artificial intelligence gets so much news and discussion we don’t need more from SWRG. But this week’s item involves propaganda and disinformation, sufficiently interesting to offset the IE stuff.

Also a story about the debate within the European Union about whether to provide funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Developments concerning this topic are moving quickly, so this news might be overtaken by events by our last transmission on April 9.

My Yaesu transceiver has developed an audio problem, so it will be going back to Yaesu for warranty service. For direct reception (not via an SDR) of the Wednesday 1330-1400 UTC broadcast, 15770 kHz, I swapped in my Sangean ATS-909X receiver. The nice thing about this Sangean receiver is that it has an external antenna jack, and a line-out jack, so that audio is not muted. My new Lenovo small-form-factor PC has a separate mic jack, not just one of those combo ports. I made sure of that when shopping for computers. So by way of a patch cord from the Sangean to the Lenovo, it worked.

There were some errors in the MFSK64 text. I noticed deep fades in the Fldigi waterfall. Probably the Sangean’s AGC (assuming it has one) is not as good as my transceiver’s AGC. And the images showed some interesting artifacts. Was there weird multipath between WRMI Florida and here in Virginia? Or was it caused by the Sangean and/or the unusual audio connection to Fldigi?

Scott in Ontario, called out on an errand, was unable to provide his usual video this past week. But H0B0_Radio provides this IQ file. You can open it in an SDR for various adjustments. The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. Analysis is provided by Roger in Germany.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 396, 3-9 April 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:44  MFSK32: Program preview (now)
 2:56  MFSK32: Russian propaganda outlet leverages AI
 6:07  MFSK64: EU Lawmakers Debate Support For RFE/RL*
10:33  MFSK64: This week’s images*
28:27  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social or https://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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Max in Texas received these images 29 March 2025, 2300-2330 UTC, 9455 kHz from WRMI Florida …

President Trump’s shutdown of US international broadcasting has generated news, to much and too fast to cover it adequately on Shortwave Radiogram.

Some of the USAGM entities are experiencing victories. Radio MartÍ is back in operation via its medium wave transmitter in the Florida Keys, and it might also get some revived shortwave from North Carolina. USAGM turned over funds to RFE/RL for part of March, and now has rescinded its grant termination, for the time being. Radio Free Asia has now brought court action against USAGM, hoping for similar results. Voice of America employees and its director have initiated court actions against USAGM.

For news about US international broadcasting, see my Bluesky feed kaedotcom.bsky.social or my X account @kaedotcom – X.com/kaedotcom.

This week’s Shortwave Radiogram includes an analysis by a New Zealand scholar about the implications of the closure of VOA and the other entities. Also an item about a survey of American support for public broadcasters PBS and NPR.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 394) is provided by Scott in Ontario (Wednesday 1330 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK. H0b0_Radio offers this useful IQ recording. Analysis is provided by Roger in Germany.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 395, 27 March-2 April 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:44  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:58  MFSK32: Americans surveyed on PBS/NPR funding*
 7:05  MFSK64: Does closing VOA leave void for Russia and China?
12:07  MFSK64: This week’s images*
28:19  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social or https://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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Tobias in Germany emailed these images received 20 March 2025, 2330-2400 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania …

This week, instead of searching for science-related news for this Shortwave Radiogram, I was instead searching for any news and commentary about President Trump’s shutdown of the Voice of America and its parent agency US Agency for Global Media. I worked for these organizations for 32 years, until retiring in 2017, so these developments are heavy on my mind.

There is plenty of press coverage of this topic, summarized in my bluesky account kaedotcom.bsky.social and X/Twitter feed @kaedotcom. A good overview of events last Saturday are in this NPR piece by David Folkenflik. For this week’s Shortwave Radiogram, I chose a statement from Deutsche Welle and France Médias Monde, and an analysis from France 24.

There is no news about this from VOA. Their last content was posted March 15. And USAGM transmitting stations seem to be off the air. One report is that power was turned off at the shortwave facility near Greenville, North Carolina. If the air conditioning is not working, mold will quickly form and ruin those excellent transmitters.

To cheer things up, many of the images in this week’s show are spring flowers. This is the time of year when such photos are in abundance. They transmit well through the murk of shortwave.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 393) 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.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 394, 20-26 March 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:47  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:01  MFSK32: French, German international broadcasters re USAGM
 6:59  MFSK64: France 24 analysis: Trump mutes Voice of America
13:13  MFSK64: This week’s images
28:38  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social or https://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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Images received 15 March 2025, 0230-0300 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania, by Ciro in Italy …

VOA filler music instead of English to Africa, 16 March 2025, 1620 UTC, 15580 kHz from the Botswana relay, monitored via SDR in Kuwait.

At :43 into the recording, the announcement “This program is coming to you from the United States of America.”

The North American spring time change is now complete. WINB’s schedule stays with Eastern time, so the Shortwave Radiogram broadcasts on WINB are now Thursday 2330-2400 UTC and Saturday 0230-0300 UTC on 9265 kHz – same local times in most of North America.

The only Shortwave Radiogram frequency on WRMI that stays on Eastern time, thus shifting by UTC, is 9955 kHz. SWRG is now Sundays at 1430-1500 UTC on 9955 kHz.

All other WRMI frequencies for Shortwave Radiogram stay with UTC, so note changes in your local time. The transmission schedule below reflects the new times.

One of the news stories in this week’s Shortwave Radiogram is about a planned DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) portable radio to be made in India. I have been experimenting with and demonstrating DRM since the technology began just after the year 2000. It’s great when it works. It eliminates the fading that many people, who are not frequent shortwave listeners, find annoying. Background noise is eliminated. But DRM can tolerate only so much reduction in signal strength, or interference, or noise – all conditions that are typical on shortwave.

If this radio does come to the market, I’m sure several North American shortwave enthusiasts will purchase it. There are no longer any DRM capable shortwave broadcast transmitters in the Western Hemisphere, except for USAGM at Greenville, North Carolina. For the most part, we North Americans will have to receive DRM from European transmitters. I would like to see side-by-side transmissions across the Atlantic of DRM, analog audio, and our Shortwave Radiogram technique of digital text via analog carriers. Let’s find out which best copes with the rigors of shortwave propagation. With the internet increasingly blocked, shortwave may find new purpose.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 344) 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.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 393, 13-19 March 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:45  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:59  MFSK32: A new portable DRM receiver made in India*
 7:24  MFSK64: NASA fires chief scientist, and more cuts
 9:56  MFSK64: This week’s images*
27:39  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with images

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: swradiogram.bsky.social or https://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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Alan in the UK emailed these images from his reception 12 March 2025, 1330-1400 UTC, 15770 kHz from WRMI Florida. Also pictured are the Shortwave Radiogram signal on 15770 kHz and a data transmission on 15778 kHz.

March is here, and time changes are in the air. I think I have written here that I prefer standard time to daylight savings time. However, I think, if time changes are eliminated, it will be daylight time year round.

Anyway, for this week’s Shortwave Radiogram, the only time change is that Sunday 1530-1600 UTC becomes 1430-1500 UTC on 9955 kHz. This is because WRMI’s 9955 schedule stays with Eastern Time. All our other WRMI frequencies stay with their UTC schedule, so, for most North Americans, your local reception times will change after Sunday. This includes Monday 0400-0430 EDT on 5850 kHz and Wednesday 0930-1000 EDT on 15770 kHz. More time changes next week. 

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram  (program 391) 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.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 392, 7-12 March 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:43  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:12  MFSK32: Some Earth’s meteors may come from Alpha Centauri
 2:54  MFSK64: NASA powers down two Voyager science instruments
 9:31  MFSK64: This week’s images
27:28  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

hamstergraf in New Jersey received these images February 28, 2025, 0530-0600 UTC, 7780 kHz from WRMI Florida …

Here in northern Virginia, we had a couple of days with spring-like weather, with temperatures up around 65F/18C. I just heard a gust of wind form the west try to nudge our house to the east, so a cool front is moving in. Winter-like temperatures will return Sunday, but only for a day.

I am becoming more accustomed to the additional keystrokes and additional operations required by the software that works on my new Windows 11 PC. The newest Audacity seems to use up system memory, requiring a multi-step production process. Eventually I will figure out the best way to do that. Thanks to listeners who emailed helpful advice.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 390) 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.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 391, 28 February-5 March 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:47  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:57  MFSK32: Most BBC radio will be unavailable internationally
 5:32  MFSK64: Radiation at 21 cm key to search for aliens
 8:13  MFSK64: This week’s images
27:07  MFSK32: Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Pop Shop Radio in British Columbia received these images 24 February 2025, 0800-0830 UTC, 5850 kHz from WRMI Florida …

Here in northern Virginia, we have just endured two days of high temperatures below freezing. This is unusual for us, but typical for many of you living farther north. Tomorrow, our typical winter weather, reaching above freezing during the day, returns. And by Sunday, hints of spring.

Producing this week’s Shortwave Radiogram has been much easier than last week. I am getting more used to the software that runs under Windows 11. The programs that I use primarily are Fldigi (of course), Audacity, UltraEdit, MS Paint and Snipping Tool. 

I still have to find solutions for a few quirks in Windows 11. Firefox windows and even instances of Fldigi will disappear, not to be found in the Task Bar or anywhere else. I know the Firefox windows are running, because if they have audio (eg a KiwiSDR), I can hear it. I can access some of the hidden Firefox pages by using Firefox History. Frequent trips to Task Manager are required to clean up all those hidden-but-running apps and pages. 

And Audacity will claim that there is insufficient memory to paste a small segment of audio. So I have to save the Audacity file to a wav file and build on to that.  Sorry to bore you with these details!

Please note that the Saturday 2300-2330 UTC transmission is now (or at least least week was) on three frequencies: 7570, 7780 and 9455 kHz, all from WRMI Florida.  The 9455 transmitter seems especially to offer DX opportunities.

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 390) is provided by Scott in Ontario (Wednesday 1330 UTC). The audio archive is maintained by Mark in the UK.  @CadiereGerald contributes this IQ audio file of the Friday 0530 UTC show. Analysis is provided by Roger in Germany.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 390, 21-26 February 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:44  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:55  MFSK32: Why we think planet Theia existed
 6:31  MFSK64: Test of new geothermal technology in Germany*
12:56  MFSK64: This week’s images*
28:23  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

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

THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGRAM TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IS IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. IF THE IMAGE DOES NOT DISPLAY FULL WIDTH, CLICK ON IT.

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.

Sporty Porcupine in Alabama received these images 15 February 2025, 0330-0400 UTC, 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania …

This week is the first Shortwave Radiogram produced using my new Windows 11 PC. The old PC was not Windows 11 eligible, and it developed the habit of crashing at inconvenient moments. The new PC is “small form factor,” about 1/6 the size of the old tower, so it’s a better fit for my diminutive office/shack/Shortwave Radiogram World Headquarters.

But the move up to Windows 11 means installing software compatible with the new OS. Software is usually “updated” by abandoning the elegant simplicity of earlier versions. It was a struggle producing program 389, learning where basic commands are now hidden. And many times during the process, I had to fetch a file or a password from the old PC, which fortunately is still operating. 

It’s a good challenge for an old brain.

Happy World Radio Day, February 13. World Radio Day is organized by UNESCO. It seems to be more about UNESCO’s ideals than about radio specifically. UNESCO is commendable, but its aspirations do not always fit smoothly with the radio broadcasting of today, in the United States and in much of the world. 

A video of last week’s Shortwave Radiogram (program 388) 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.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 389, 14-19 February 2025, in MFSK modes as noted:

 1:42  MFSK32: Program preview
 2:53  MFSK32: Comets found outside our solar system
 7:39  MFSK64: Planned large airship would move cargo*
14:38  MFSK64: This week’s images*
27:15  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Bluesky: 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

TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE IN THE IMAGE IMMEDIATELY BELOW. ADD 9455 TO THE SATURDAY  2300 UTC ROW …

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.

Pop Shop Radio in British Columbia received these images 10 February 2025, 0800-0830 UTC, 5850 kHz from WRMI Florida …