View source for Decoding the SW Radiogram Broadcasts with TIVAR

<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 2px solid #B6B6B6; padding: 0 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#ffcc33; align:right;">
Welcome to the Decoding the SW Radiogram (SWR) Broadcasts with TIVAR article. Here you will find where to get the application as well as tips to help you be more successful in decoding the broadcasts
</div>

*'''What Kind of Radio Do I Need?'''
**Just about any radio that covers the 2-30 Mhz range is capable of receiving these stations. It should be reasonably stable, selective and sensitive. This encompasses a wide range of radios, everything from portables, such as those from Tecsun and Degen, all the way to Software Defined Radios (SDR) such as the SDRPlay and Perseus. Even wide band radios like those from Icom and AOR can be used. It doesn't need to be expensive. To begin your research, see our [[HF Equipment and Accessories]] and [[Software Defined Radios]] articles.


*'''What are some examples of portables used to receive the SWR broadcasts?'''
**These are just a small sample of the portables reported to be used on the SWR Facebook and Twitter pages. There are numerous others, and the reader is encouraged to research these and other radios using the resources mentioned above.
** [https://swling.com/blog/2014/12/a-review-of-the-countycomm-gp5ssb-portable-radio-a-great-emergency-portable/ CountyComm GP-5/SSB]
** [https://radiojayallen.com/eton-e5g5/ Grundig G5]
** [https://radiojayallen.com/grundig-s450dlx/ Grundig S450DLX]
** [https://swling.com/db/tag/kaito-ka1103-reviews/ Kaito KA1103]
** [https://swling.com/blog/2018/12/quick-look-the-radiwow-r-108-a-new-dsp-shortwave-portable/ Radiowow R-108]
** [https://swling.com/blog/2014/07/the-mega-shortwave-radio-review-of-the-pl-880-pl-660-ats-909x-and-icf-sw7600gr/ Sangean ATS-909X]
** [https://swling.com/blog/2014/07/the-mega-shortwave-radio-review-of-the-pl-880-pl-660-ats-909x-and-icf-sw7600gr/ Tecsun PL-660]
** [https://swling.com/blog/2013/12/a-review-of-the-tecsun-pl-880-portable-shortwave-radio/ Tecsun PL-880]
** [https://swling.com/blog/2018/04/a-detailed-review-of-the-xhdata-d-808-and-comparison-with-the-tecsun-pl-660/ XHDATA D-808]


*'''What About Antennas?'''
**It's been often said that the better the antenna, the better your results. Unfortunately sometimes that is difficult to obtain; you may be in a situation where outdoor antennas are not allowed, or you have very little space with which to work. What radio you are using, your budget and circumstances will play a large role in what you can use. Read our [[Basic HF Antennas]] article for a discussion on this topic.


*'''How Can I Get a Better Signal?'''
**If you have done as much as you can with your radio and antenna, but are still not satisfied with your results, there may be some more than you can do to improve your chances. See our [[Improving HF Reception]] for a discussion on this topic.


*'''How Does the Signal Get to Me, Anyway?''' 
**We are very much at the mercy of the Sun when it comes to how signals get propagated across the globe. Unfortunately, as of this writing, we are in a very low period of solar activity, so we must depend on better radios and antennas to help. However, an understanding of how a signal propagates through the ionosphere is very important; this will help you to understand why a signal can be heard at some times but not others. See the [http://www.ae4rv.com/tn/propflash.htm AE4RV Propoagation Primer] for a basic discussion on this topic. Be sure to turn your flash player on before looking at this site.


*'''Where Can I Get the Schedule and Frequencies?'''
**Take a look at the [https://swradiogram.net/ Shortwave Radiogram] website. This is where the program for the week, along with the schedules and frequencies are posted. They are also repeated on mailing lists such as World of Radio (WoR) on groups.io


* '''Where can I get TIVAR?'''
** You can get it from [https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/AndFlmsg/TIVAR/ here]


* '''Are there any instructions for running TIVAR?'''
** Yes, see the [[Media:TIVAR Quick Start Guide.PDF|TIVAR Quick Start Guide]] - it's a PDF so you will need to use Adobe Acrobat or similar to read it 


* '''On what devices will this application run?'''
** Smartphones, tablets - anything that runs Android


* '''What Modes Are Being Used?'''
**There are literally hundreds of different modems being used on the HF spectrum. Here, we are concerned with modes that are used in the amateur radio (ham) community. 
*** From the Signal Identification Wiki
*** What is [https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Multi_Frequency_Shift_Keying_(MFSK) MFSK?] 
*** What is [https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Olivia Olivia?]
*** What is [https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Phase_Shift_Keying_(PSK) BPSK / QPSK?] 
*** What is [https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/THOR Thor?] 

; Other Sources
* [http://www.w1hkj.com/modes/index.htm Digital Modes Sights and sounds (fldigi wiki)]


* '''Are there any tips/issues/workarounds?'''
** Make sure that TIVAR is the only application that is accessing the microphone on your device. Any other application that tries to use the microphone as input should be shut down, or TIVAR might not receive any data


* '''Are there examples of using TIVAR decoding the SWR Broadcasts?'''
; From YouTube
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgKwAJoaEY Decoding (MFSK32, MFSK64) with #Tivar of #Shortwave Radiogram 57]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COhUi603NVo Shortwave Radiogram Decoding text and image]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTOKWdkzoV8 Shortwave Radiogram] 


*'''Does This Program Have A Social Media Site?'''
** Both Facebook and Twitter are used; these sites often display decoded images
**[https://www.facebook.com/groups/567099476753304/ SW Radiogram Facebook Page]
**[https://twitter.com/swradiogram SW Radiogram Twitter Page]


----
* Return to [[Decoding the SW Radiogram Broadcasts]]
* Return to [[DXing Digital Utilities]]
* Return to [[Testing Your New Setup]]
* Return to [[Shortwave Radiogram Gateway]]


[[Category:HF Modes]]
[[Category:HF Signal Analysis and Decoding]]