VOA Radiogram
Program #200
MFSK32/Olivia 64 2K
With Images.
"Welcome to program 200 (!) of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of
America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
Here is the lineup for today's program, all in MFSK32 except
where noted:
1:52 Program preview (now)
3:02 Strange insect gets new scientific order*
8:54 China will crack down on VPNs*
14:02 Olivia 64-2000: Naval Academy HF Cubesat
21:30 MFSK32: 200th edition of VOA Radiogram*
25:09 Closing announcements*
* with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
VOA NEWS
A Bug So Strange It Deserves Its Own Order
George Putic, KI4FNF
January 25, 2017
Even to an untrained eye, the 100-million-year-old insect that
American entomologists are showing off this week looks a bit
strange.
Experts say the slender, long-legged tree-dweller is unique among
the more than 1 million insects that science has identified. It
is so different, in fact, that a new scientific order has been
created to describe it.
After extensive analysis, a team at Oregon State University has
assigned the insect to the new biological order Aetheocarinodea,
the 32nd classification of groups of insects recognized by
science.
As seen frozen in amber, the wingless insect has a triangular
head, with large eyes at the two widest points, giving it the
ability to look in any direction. The bug moved quickly over tree
bark, looking in crevices for its prey - most likely mites, tiny
worms or fungi - and it lived in Myanmar at a time when dinosaurs
roamed the Earth, according to the OSU scientific team.
"This insect has a number of features that just don't match those
of any other insect species that I know," said George Poinar, an
OSU entomologist considered to be one of the world's leading
experts on plant and animal life forms found preserved in amber.
"I had never really seen anything like it," he said. "It appears
to be unique in the insect world, and after considerable
discussion we decided it had to take its place in a new order."
The ancient insect, whose species is designated as Aethiocarenus
burmanicus, had a gland at the base of its neck that probably
secreted a substance to repel predators.
After a thorough analysis, scientists concluded that each of its
strange, bulging eyes could cover a field of view of almost 180
degrees - meaning it literally could see behind, as well as
forward.
Only two specimens of the strange insect have ever been found.
They both have been assigned to the same species, and they
"comprise the totality of the order Aetheocarinodea," according
to a university spokesman in Corvallis, Oregon.
"The strangest thing about this insect is that the head looked so
much like the way aliens are often portrayed," Poinar said. "With
its long neck, big eyes and strange oblong head, I thought it
resembled [the alien from the movie] E.T. [the Extra-
Terrestrial]. I even made a Halloween mask that resembled the
head of this insect. But when I wore the mask when trick-or-
treaters came by, it scared the little kids so much I took it
off."
http://www.voanews.com/a/new-bug-strange-scientists-give-it-own-order/3692191.htmlImage: The strange insect found preserved in amber ...
Sending Pic:153x208C;
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
China to Crack Down on Virtual Private Networks
VOA News
January 24, 2017
Chinese Internet users may soon find it a lot harder to get
around the notorious "Great Firewall" as the government has
announced a crackdown on virtual private networks, or VPNs.
According to an announcement from China's Ministry of Industry
and Information Technology, VPN service providers will now have
to obtain government approval. Using a non-approved VPN will no
longer be allowed. The move is part of a 14-month campaign to
"clean up" the service providers, according to the government.
VPNs, which cost about $10 per month, have been used in China by
some as a way to disguise Internet traffic to allow access to
restricted websites like Facebook and Twitter, among others. The
Great Firewall also filters access to certain topics the Chinese
government finds objectionable, such as Tibet and the 1989
Tiananmen Square protests, which ended in violence.
Criticism of the government is also filtered.
China began to police the internet in the mid-1990's and is
constantly upgrading and changing how it censors certain content.
The move to crack down on VPN use is just the latest attempt by
the government to strengthen its hold on the internet in China.
Last November, the government enacted a new law requiring
internet service providers to collect personal information, CNN
reported, adding that in 2015, Chinese state media called the
blocking of VPN's a "healthy development."
http://www.voanews.com/a/mht-china-to-crack-down-on-virtual-private-network/3689805.htmlSee also:
http://www.voanews.com/a/china-internet-controls/3691276.htmlhttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/rules-01232017110543.htmlSending Pic:216x160C;
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
VOA Radiogram now changes to Olivia 64-2000 ...
Cs
Before RSID: <<2017-01-29T02:44Z MFSK-32 @ 6926+1504>>
This is VOA Radiogram in Olivia 64-2000 ...
From ARRL.org:
US Naval Academy HFsat Coordinated for 15 Meter-to-10 Meter
Transponder
01/24/2017
The US Naval Academy has received IARU satellite frequency
coordination for HFsat, a 1.5 U CubeSat with a 15- to 10-meter
linear transponder with a 30 kHz bandwidth (uplink 21.4 MHz,
downlink 29.42 MHz). The Mode K configuration is reminiscent of
the old "RS" series of Russian satellites.
The CubeSat will also carry an APRS digipeater on 145.825 MHz.
HFsat is a project to demonstrate the viability of HF satellite
communications as a back-up communications system, using HF
radios found in a typical Amateur Radio installation or
frequently used to support disaster and emergency response
communication.
"HFsat will be gravity gradient-stabilized by its full-sized
10-meter half-wave HF dipole with tip masses," said Bob Bruninga,
WB4APR.
A standardized CubeSat VHF communication card based on the
popular Byonics MTT4B all-in-one APRS Tiny-Track4 module for
telemetry, command, and control is under development at the US
Naval Academy. US Naval Academy students are working with Bill
Ress, N6GHZ, on the HF transponder card.
bit.ly/2kp0Dmk
Returning to MFSK3
Before RSID: <<2017-01-29T02:51Z OL 64-2K @ 6926+1499>>
2 ...
This is the 200th edition of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of
America! ^^^
Thank you for tuning in, decoding, and reporting your reception
during these two hundred broadcasts.
By now, we have demonstrated that the transmission of digital
text modes on existing analog shortwave broadcast transmitters
works, and it works very well. It can convey content even in
reception conditions where conventional voice broadcasts would be
difficult to understand.
Please invite other shortwave listeners and radio amateurs to
tune in and decode VOA Radiogram. And encourage shortwave
broadcast stations (those that remain on the air!) to transmit
digital text and images, even if only for a few minutes each
week.
Sending Pic:232x193C;
Note from Kim: I will be attending the Winter SWL Fest, 2-4
March 2017, at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania (near
Philadelphia), demonstrating VOA Radiogram.
Hope to see you there.
Information at
http://www.swlfest.comPlease send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
Thanks to colleagues at the Edward R. Murrow shortwave
transmitting station in North Carolina.
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next VOA Radiogram.
This is VOA, the Voice of America.
Sending Pic:658x48C;
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but it's all I can pick up at the moment.