Al Holt | @RadioActiveAl.bsky.social

Be sure and tune in when The Mighty KBC's Dave & Eric rock the airwaves soon at 0000-0200 UTC (Sat. 8-10p EDT) on 5950 kHz. A minute of MFSK64, with this weekend's musician birthday, at 0130 UTC. And later in the 0100z hour some SSTV with Peter John's "DX Headlines"

I never publicly comment on political matters because they are usually irrelevant to my work of providing hurricane data and forecasts to people in my personal capacity. Today though, it is highly relevant, and as a member of the meteorological community, I am angry. Planned or ongoing bulk workforce cuts would irreparably harm the National Weather Service, NOAA, and their scientists who save innumerable lives by warning people in advance of tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, blizzards, and other life-threatening hazards. Many of you reading this may knowingly or unknowingly be alive today because of their work, or know someone who is. As a direct consequence of wounding the NWS and NOAA, the public would be less safe. My personal mission to bring hurricane science, data, and forecasts to the public would not be possible without the weather observations, doppler radar stations, computer models, hurricane hunter aircraft, and weather satellites provided by NOAA and the NWS. Your favorite weather apps, TV meteorologists, and private weather companies would also be unable to function without this data or the civil servants who live and breathe it to synthesize it into public safety information. All of these benefits cost each taxpayer the equivalent of a few cups of coffee per year, and surveys show most would be willing to pay much more. The American weather enterprise saves many, many times more money than it costs to run, making it one of the biggest bangs for your buck in the government. The impact of quality weather forecasts and infrastructure on society is multiplied many-fold by preventing economic disruptions, keeping public transportation efficient, and providing lead time to prepare for and mitigate disasters. Most importantly, it saves priceless lives. Careful, long-term plans to streamline or reorient the weather enterprise in an evolving world are not bad, but *this plan* is insane. A feverish rush to take a cleaver to this workforce is self-destructive and dangerous to Americans who rely on the services they provide. It also cuts off the legs of young, passionate scientists who represent the future of meteorology in the new age of AI and other emerging technologies -- the very people we need in the field right now. As a part of this community since the age of 8 when I began analyzing hurricanes with dial-up internet, I am heartbroken and concerned by what appears to be planned or already in motion. It also directly impacts my friends and family. I cannot be silent, despite knowing I do myself no favors by speaking out. I ask you to join me in advocating for @NWS and @NOAA if you value their work or the work that I am able to do because of them. There are many ways to make your voice heard. That's all for now, thanks for reading.

It's Friday and Mighty KBC's "Giant Jukebox" with Uncle Eric cranks up a great mix of rock 'n' roll soon at 1100-1200 UTC on 15770 kHz from WRMI Florida. A minute of MFSK64 with @WD4AH_Al at ~1130 UTC.

@jollyrogermania @SWRadiogram Very nice captures!!

@SWRadiogram @WD4AH_Al KBC data from today at noon, Zulu time. Hopefully Peter John and his PC equipment will feel better soon. dropbox.com/scl/fi/oibkzc8…

It's Friday and The Mighty KBC's Uncle Eric and his "Giant Jukebox" program airs soon at 1100-1200 UTC on 15770 kHz from WRMI Florida with a great mix of rock 'n' roll. A minute of MFSK64 with @WD4AH_Al at ~1130 UTC.

@SWRadiogram @SWRadiogram Tonight they're on both frequencies. There's some cancellation having them both on at the same time. I'm using 7570 kHz.

@SWRadiogram Going to see how this set up works...

Shortwave Radiogram soon at 2300-2330 UTC on 7780 kHz, or maybe 7570 kHz, or maybe both, from WRMI Florida. Listeners heard both frequencies last week. swradiogram.net/post/770335953…

@SWRadiogram Their latest update indicated transmitters 11-14 would return to the air as of 2200z. 5850 kHz is transmitter 12. Hopefully the 0800z broadcast won't get bumped!

Which also means Shortwave Radiogram's broadcast on 9955 at 1530 UTC will not air.

Word from WRMI is they've lost power to some of their transmitters. At the moment, 15770 kHz is not on the air and will probably not return to air in time for Eric's broadcast at 1200 UTC. They still have power transmitters #11-14 (which are 7570, 5850, 7780 and 5010 kHz.

@SWRadiogram Shouldn't it be 7780 kHz. from WRMI in Florida?

The next Shortwave Radiogram is Friday 0530-0600 UTC on 9265 kHz from WINB Pennsylvania. swradiogram.net/post/769065737…

@jollyrogermania @SWRadiogram @EvWillegen EQing was a half-hearted attempt to pull something out of the audio. I'm sure FLDigi's filtering does a great job. You did a good job of decoding that image!

@WD4AH_Al @SWRadiogram @EvWillegen I don't know how “EQ-ing” (equalizer?) could improve the SNR of the data. We were on the same remote SDR, but I was running an IQ rec. for subsequent demodulation, that's the crucial difference. In addition to French Alps, there were also usable signals from Bermudas & 2xIceland.

@SWRadiogram Friday's "Birthday Radiogram" segment during @EvWillegen's "Giant Jukebox" music program featured June Pointer of the Pointer Sisters. Good reception in French Alps using the KiwiSDR network. Not much signal in NE USA today.

Congratulations to the winners of Airspy's Black Friday Giveaway Game. Great gear doesn't miss!

@jollyrogermania @SWRadiogram @EvWillegen I didn't have any luck decoding that one 'on-the-fly.' I tried EQ-ing the recording I'd made and the only thing I got was the word, "Pic" I think we were using the same KiwiSDR, the one in the French Alps, on Friday. It usually has a good signal and low noise.

@WD4AH_Al @SWRadiogram @EvWillegen KBC data from today: The “birthday radiogram image” is based on a median stack of 4 decoded images, a previous LSB notch N1 at -2 kHz/400 Hz BW and additional subsequent noise removal. dropbox.com/scl/fi/mnjck8e…

@hurricanetrack @CJMorganFL Gotta get a T-Shirt run going!!

That’s a lot of landfalls during the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Special thx to @CJMorganFL for the graphic.

A great offer! This is one Black Friday you (or I) shouldn't overlook! Great hardware and software, actively developed and supported!

@SWRadiogram @SWRadiogram And the last of today's images. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

@SWRadiogram More results here in n. FL from the broadcast...

@SWRadiogram It's Thanksgiving eve and time to put out holiday lights! We'll start with an rescaled image from today's broadcast, 15770 kHz @ 1330-1400 UTC, decoded in northern Florida, USA. A bit of multipath mixed in with the data stream helps to make things bright...

I don't usually re-Tweet others' posts, but when I do it's usually Airspy's Black Friday giveaway Tweet! Hopefully there's also one on BlueSky...

@SWRadiogram Excellent results in northern Florida, USA with last night's broadcast over WINB on 9265 kHz, 0330-0400 UTC. I fired up the old Kenwood R-5000 connected to a W6LVP active mag loop antenna. I even remembered how to set the time and use the timer function in the KW

@AtlDivARRL @SWRadiogram Very good work! Could you share the antenna bearing .kml file to allow rotation/zoom in Google Earth? Thanks!

SWRG reduces 6-freq. to 5-freq. for ITU HFBC B-24 season. I created expanded version of #SWRadiogram weekly schedule. Added ET Zone, Antenna Type/Bearing, CIRAF Zone, Station detail and created GoogleEarth's antenna bearing .kml. See info @SWRadiogram & swradiogram.net