Winter Field Day 2025 introduces a new feature – the Winter Field Day bulletin. The digital mode for the bulletin will be Olivia. You may not even know what that is, but once you’re done with these instructions, you may still not know what it is, but you’ll be able to decode Olivia transmissions anyway.
The WFD Bulletin will be sent on Olivia at 18:15 UTC (10:15 am PST) on Jan 25th and again at 00:15 UTC on Jan 26th (4:15 pm PST Jan 25th) on
40m Dial: 7.071, Center: 7.0725
20m Dial: 14.071, Center: 14.0725
15m Dial: 21.071, Center: 21.0725
10m Dial: 28.1215, Center: 28.123
“Dial” is the frequency you set your transceiver to in order to decode the transmission. “Center” is what frequency fldigi is decoding on the main screen. More about that below.
Olivia bulletins will be sent using Olivia 8/250 at 18:15 UTC Jan 25th and sent using Olivia 8/500 at 00:15 UTC Jan 26th.
THIS IS A RECEIVE-ONLY GUIDE! Transmitting requires more setup you can do after you follow these instructions.
NOTE: This guide was made on Windows 10 and Firefox. Other Windows versions, MacOS, and GNU/Linux, and other operating systems will be different to some extent. Other browsers may be different. You can find support on the Olivia Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/505403352886411) and the Olivia Discord server (https://discord.gg/kPH8kM7q) as well as many websites and YouTube videos.
The first thing you need to do is download a program called fldigi. The website for this program is http://www.w1hkj.com/files/fldigi/. There’s a lot to choose from here, but you’ll want to find the file that ends in setup.exe. The number before setup.exe will change as new versions come out. That’s okay.


You’ll see the file in your web browser’s downloads section. Click on it to run it. Windows may complain about running it. If at any time you aren’t comfortable telling your computer to install a program, don’t install it. At no point did I tell you to install something that might be harmful to your computer.




If you want to install fldigi: You’ll have to click “More info” to get access to the “Run anyway” button. Click that. Then, click “yes” in the User Account Control window. Likewise, click “Continue” in the Setup window.

There’s no need to change any of the installation options. Click Next.

There should be no need to change the installation folder. Click Install.

Congrats, fldigi is installed. Click Close.

Tap the Windows key or click the Windows icon in the bottom left. fldigi will be at the top of the “recently added” programs in the top left of the menu.

If Windows Defender complains about fldigi’s network access, take a deep breath. This is normal, because flgidi uses network protocols to talk to logging programs. This isn’t important right now, but if you think you’ll ever use fldigi for transmitting digital modes in the future, make sure both boxes are checked then click Allow access.

There’s not much to do here. Click Next then click Next again.

Make sure PortAudio is checked. This should default to your computer’s internal speakers and mic. This is how you’ll be able to decode digital modes without a special interface. If you have a sound card interface for your transceiver, you’ll need to find out what its sound devices are named, and select them from the Capture and Playback drop-down menus. Click Finish.

Welcome to your first look at fldigi. There’s a lot to take in! Don’t worry about it. Take a deep breath. All you need to do is click the square in the top right to maximize the screen. There should be some blue in the black area at the bottom, and it should change color in areas based on the noise around you if you have it set to your computer’s microphone. If you whistle, you should see blue streaks on the waterfall. If you set this up with your transceiver’s sound interface, you should see blue and maybe yellow areas across the waterfall from band noise.

Head up to Op Mode in the top left, go down to Olivia, then go down to OL 8-250 or OL 8-500 depending on the bulletin window you’re trying to decode and click to set the mode.

Hover over the black/blue area with your mouse, and ensure the thin center line in the center is under the 1500 mark. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just pretty close. Click.

The number with arrows on each side should be 1500. If it’s not, use the arrow buttons on each side to get to 1500. This will set your center frequency to decode the WFD bulletin in the main decode window on fldigi.



Go to the very bottom right corner of fldigi. You’ll see a slider. Slide it down to the very bottom. You’ll start to see garbage characters come across your screen, and a little green show up in the bar next to the slider. Slide the slider up just a tiny bit until the bar has no green and the garbage characters stop. This makes sure you only decode actual Olivia transmissions.

Head up to the top right and click RxID. This will help fldigi change to the correct mode when it hears a mode ID transmitted. This is not strictly necessary, but a helpful feature.
You’re ready to decode digital signals! But wait, you don’t have a handy supply of Olivia signals lying around? Say no more, I have you covered. This is only going to work if your fldigi audio is configured for your computer microphone. Head over to https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/Olivia#Olivia_Modes and find the samples labeled 8/250 and 8/500. Make sure your computer speaker volume is up at least halfway. Click the play button, and your computer should start playing some digital noises. Your computer’s microphone should hear it, and fldigi should decode it.
For decoding Olivia signals on the air, just get your computer microphone as close to your transceiver’s speaker as you can, and adjust your transceiver’s volume as needed in order for your computer to hear the band activity.
That’s it, hopefully you’re ready to decode Olivia signals. If not, you’re probably most of the way there, and it’s likely some small issue that’s easily fixed.
72 de KY4LV