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                                            http://www.kbcradio.eu/

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RSID: <<2016-08-27T16:01Z MFSK-32 @ 17580000+1500>>
 

Welcome to program 178 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 centered on
1500 Hz:

  1:34 Program preview (now)
  2:46 NASA finds "lost" space probe*
  6:53 Octobot, a soft cheap robot*
12:33 North Korea confiscating popular video player*
19:41 RFA anniversary*, new DRM receiver*
25:50 Closing announcements
28:52 VOA newscast via Flmsg

* with image


Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.

And visit voaradiogram.net.

Twitter: @VOARadiogram







NASA Finds 'Lost' Space Probe

VOA News
August 23, 2016

After losing communication with a space probe two years ago, NASA
says it has reestablished contact.

NASA said it lost contact with the Solar Terrestrial Relations
Observatories, known as the STEREO-B spacecraft, on Oct. 1, 2014,
but that on Aug. 21, the Deep Space Network (DSN) established a
link with the craft.

Contact with the probe was lost after a maneuver to try to
prevent overheating of the ship's antenna.

STEREO-B is the sister craft to STEREO-A, both of which were
launched in 2006 to study the sun and space weather. The
spacecraft have contributed greatly to the understanding of
coronal mass ejections, a bubble of super-heated gas and charged
particles blasted into space from the sun's upper atmosphere, the
corona.

STEREO-A is reportedly working normally.

NASA said it will now have to test STEREO-B to see how
instrumentation and other sensors are operating after two years.

Both spacecraft are located on the other side of the sun from
earth.

http://www.voanews.com/a/mht-nasa-finds-lost-space-probe/3477542.html

rinRån




Image: Artists's concept of the Stereo-B spacecraft ...

 

Sending Pic:220x180C;





This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.


Meet Octobot, a Robot That's a Real Softie, and Cheap

Associated Press via voanews.com
August 24, 2016

WASHINGTON - The latest revolutionary robot isn't the metallic,
costly machine you'd expect: It's squishy like Silly Putty,
wireless, battery-less and made for pennies by a 3-D printer.

Meet Octobot. It looks like a tiny octopus and is designed to
mimic that slithery creature to get through cracks and tight
places, making it ideal as a rescue robot.

A team at Harvard University has created a robot - actually about
300 of them, since they are so cheap to make - that is opposite
of the common view of a robot. Soft, not hard. Flexibl,e not
rigid. It's not mechanical, nor electrical. It's powered by
fluids. The discovery is described, photographed and on video in
the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday.

"It's sort of a hybrid between octopus and robot," said study
author Jennifer Lewis, a Harvard professor of biologically
inspired engineering. "We've done something that nobody's been
able to do."

Soft robotics are important because "you've got these hard
mechanical objects and soft humans" and when they interact - or
collide - it can be a problem, Lewis said. That's not the painful
case with Octobot, which fits in the palm of a hand. It's softer
and more adaptive, she said.

Here's a reality check: So far, all Octobot can do is wiggle a
bit. It can't really even move along a table yet, so this is an
"extremely simple first step," Lewis said.

Initially it was supposed to be a spider, but the team wanted
both swimming and crawling and it looked more like an octopus,
Lewis said.

The idea is to make this something that is powered by a chemical
reaction in fluids; fluid movement moves the arms and directs the
robot's actions. It can be printed cheaply by the 3-D printer
with the most costly part a really small bit of platinum.

Aside from that it is essentially like bathroom caulk, "a
rubbery-type object," Lewis said.

Outside robotic experts raved about the new squishy machine.

In an email, Tufts University professor Barry Trimmer called it
"an ingenious approach to building and controlling a completely
soft robot."

Daniela Rus at MIT said the discovery was what the soft robotics
community has been looking for: "The octopus robot is a first
self-contained soft robot system whose components are all soft -
it is a very beautiful machine."

http://www.voanews.com/a/octobot-a-cheap-robot/3479534.html

Sending Pic:234x114C;

This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
 

From Radio Free Asia:

North Korea Does an About Face as Authorities Now Fear the
Notetel

August 24, 2016

North Korea's most popular electronic gadget has suddenly caught
the eye of the authorities who have become fearful that the
device makes it too easy to watch forbidden TV stations and
videos.

The Chinese-made Notetel may be primitive when compared to an
iPhone or Galaxy Note, but its cheap price, small size,
availability and functionality have made it a big hit with North
Koreans.

While North Koreans love their Notetels for the device's ability
to play DVDs, EVDs, accept USB sticks and SD cards, and its
ability to tune in Chinese or South Korean TV stations, that very
ability has Pyongyang worried, sources tell RFA's Korea Service.
The EVD, or enhanced video disc, is China's equivalent to the
DVD.

While the North Korean government recently legalized the Notetel,
they are apparently having second thoughts, as the sources tell
RFA that the authorities are now confiscating the devices.

"The most popular electronic product among North Koreans is
Notetel from China," a source in North Hamgyong province told
RFA. "Since people in North Korea are able to watch videos via
DVD, USB or SD card with Notetel, and also watch Chinese TV
programs with the device, the NK authorities ordered the forfeit
Notetels."

Despite severe penalties, North Koreans appear to have a hunger
for media other than the state-sponsored programming they are
legally allowed to watch.

"North Korean residents seldom watch domestic TV, considering it
a home decoration, rather, they frequently watch a small TV or a
Notetel which is easy and quick to hide from sudden inspection,"
a source from South Hamgyong province told RFA.

Cost for the device runs from a low of about $33 for the most
basic black-and-white model to around $66 for the newest models
with the most features, according to the sources. The devices are
particularly popular with students who use them for both
education and recreation.

"If people adjust the antenna of small TV or Notetel, they can
watch South Korean and Chinese TV programs under the blanket even
at night," said the source from North Hamgyong province. "Most
students own a Notetel, which is intended for education, but it
can been also used for watching illegal videos."

South Korean English study programs are a popular product for
Notetel owners, the source said.

"North Korean authorities are even confiscating students'
educational Notetels, but the upper class and executives avoid
the authorities' inspections and keep their children's
educational Notetels. ...

Reported by Sunghui Moon and Jieun Kim for RFA's Korea Service.
Translated by Hyosun Kim. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.

Full text:
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/north-korea-does-an-about-face-08242016144903.html

Kim's note: A web search on "Nototel" won't find much. To find
devices of this type on the Internet, search ...

PDVD Alibaba

They look like this ...

Sending Pic:219x190C;


 

A similar item, with digital TV tuner, is available in the USA
for $80 ...

bit.ly/2cbKssL

North Koreans would have to live close to the borders to receive
Chinese or South Korean broadcasts using the TV or FM tuners on
these devices. For viewing content from outside North Korea, they
are useful because they accommodate various disc formats,
and their ports accept USB drives and different sizes of SD
cards.



This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.


RFA 20th Anniversary QSL

Radio Free Asia will mark the 20th anniversary of its first
broadcast (in Mandarin) during September. A special anniversary
QSL card will be issued.

Details:

http://www.myradiowaves.com/rfa-announces-20th-anniversary-qsl/1153/

More about the history of RFA:

http://www.rfa.org/about/info/history.html

Sending Pic:229x123C;






New DRM-capable SDR receiver

At the High Frequency Coordination Conference (HFCC) held in
Miami during the past week, the prototype of the Titus II
combination SDR and Android tablet was introduced. The device
tunes from 100 kHz to 2 GHz. It decodes DRM digital broadcasts
"natively," as well as analog transmissions. According to its
brochure, it "runs any Android app." If so, it should be able to
run TIVAR to decode VOA Radiogram and other text and images via
analog radio.

For information:

http://drmna.info


Sending Pic:236x166C;



 

Also at the HFCC, a YouTube video of the WRMI digital special
broadcast was shown to the participants. The WRMI special
showcased the capabilities of text and images via analog radio.
The videos are available here:

http://voaradiogram.net/post/149173780217/youtube-videos-of-the-wrmi-digital-special

Please 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.

 

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