Possible new 4096.55 kHz Pirate Beacon, 24 Nov, 2013, 1500 UTC

[Token]

I have been on travel for a while, and away from the radios, so not sure when this beacon might have started.  Also, while I did not log it so I don’t remember the exact date, I did tune to the Inyo-Whooper (very close to the same frequency) a couple of weeks ago, and the Whooper was there, but not this “new” beacon.

Might be of interest to note that this morning the Inyo-Whooper is not present, could this new beacon be a Whooper replacement?  The rough bearing I have to it is consistent with the area the Whooper was in, but the bearing is just that, rough, at best.  Then again, there was snow in the area of the Whooper for the last couple days/nights, it might just be waiting for the sun to do its thing.  Call this tentatively a replacement for the Inyo-Whooper.  Hexie (4096.3 kHz) and Coxie (4095.9 kHz) are both present, although Coxie is pretty drifty, moving from 4095.8 to 4096.1 in 10 minutes.  Later it shifted more than 1 kHz in a few seconds.

The “new” beacon sends two dashes.  The group is sent every ~6.5 seconds.  The first dash is slightly shorter than the second, first dash ~0.59 sec, second dash ~0.74 sec.  The pause between the two dashes is ~0.55 sec.  This might be the letter “M”, but since the dash and gap times are pretty close it also might be a slow “I”.

The frequency is 4096.55 kHz.

Signal level in here is good at S4 to S8 through the day.

T!

[Token]

OK, not a replacement for the Inyo Whooper, the Whooper was active today.  This frequency is very close to the one that “Kelsie” used to be on.  Might be a replacement for Kelsie?

So this morning Hexie, Coxie, this new one, and the Inyo Whooper are all active.

T!

[cwguy]

Excellent find, Token!  It's always exciting to hear something new. Your detailed reports are valuable to the rest of us - we all have something new to look for now.

I had been wondering about all of those 4 MHz beacons - there haven't been any reports for some time, and while I was able to dial in one of the 4096 beacons the other night, I was not able to hear the Wind beacon, to TMP.... I hope these guys make an appearance this winter.  'Tis the season....!

[Token]

Excellent find, Token!  It's always exciting to hear something new. Your detailed reports are valuable to the rest of us - we all have something new to look for now.

I had been wondering about all of those 4 MHz beacons - there haven't been any reports for some time, and while I was able to dial in one of the 4096 beacons the other night, I was not able to hear the Wind beacon, to TMP.... I hope these guys make an appearance this winter.  'Tis the season....!

W and TMP are both there, no problem.  I kind of take these for granted, I see many of them every time I turn the radio on, day or night, so I sledom report them.  Maybe this evening I will do a sweep of the beacons I see.

T!