6.990MHz LSB / 6990 kHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

[Looking-Glass]

The last two evenings at 0900z there have been some Indonesians appearing on 6.990MHz LSB with "chanting" similar to that heard by VC01 Chinese Robots.  The transmission stops around 0920z.  

On Sunday night I heard "Kilo Papa Lima" mentioned in English and "Australia, Indonesia and Mr Robert".

Maybe it's some village radio pirates playing about but then again, it could be something else.  I have heard drunken Indonesians singing and other carry-on but not two chanting very similar to VC01 Chinese Robot stations.

Part of the "chant" on Sunday night was "Lima Dua" which is the numbers five and two in Bahasa Indonesian language, also "Jandi Gandi" repeated over and over. "Gandi" means "over" in Indonesian.

Amazing what you hear just tuning about the 4-10MHz bands in this region...

[R4002]

Maybe not too far off from drunken Portuguese speaking fishermen on 6925 LSB and dozens of other frequencies. 

Then again, if its similar to the Chinese VC01 stations...is somebody spoofing these transmissions and just playing around or have they moved to a different frequency? 

[Looking-Glass]

I think it's the Indonesians making a mockery of the VC01 Chinese, then again, we never know what they are up to...

[skeezix]

On Sunday night I heard "Kilo Papa Lima" mentioned in English and "Australia, Indonesia and Mr Robert".

I'd like to know more about Mr. Robert.  This is intriguing.

"Australia, Indonesia and Mr Robert" would make a good movie title.

[R4002]

^Seconded (on both points).

KPL (Kilo Papa Lima) and AIM / AIMR (Australia, Indonesia and Mr. Robert) - well, the KPL part sounds like a callsign, or maybe part of a callsign...but who would use "Mr. Robert" as part of a phonetic alphabet?  I know using place names is popular but yeah, what?

Hopefully further monitoring of these guys on 6990 kHz LSB / 6.990 MHz LSB will clear at let some of this stuff up.  Have you heard anything else in English on this frequency? 

[Looking-Glass]

Seemed strange that a jammer appeared on their original frequency of 6.995MHz LSB, thus they have been on 6.990MHz LSB the last few nights.  

"Kilo Papa Lima" was said in English prior to the chanting, there were two stations detected doing the chanting as one would stop before the other.

The Ring Leader is very strong signal wise here, often 10dB over most nights, the two chanters are between 5X5 and 5X7.

The "chanting session" usually runs between 0900-1000z, sometimes 1030z, last night (Monday) it abruptly ended at exactly 0930z and not a sound was to be heard from any of them.

"Lima Dua" means 52 in Bhasa Indonesian language too, I know the numbers from 1-10 plus a smattering of other words.  

"Selamabatan" was heard last night, translates to "greetings" and "Batam" heard also which means "Island".

Nothing else in English noted so far.  Would like to know what the Ring Leader is running, great signal and tremendous audio, also spot on frequency every night.

OK on Mr Robert, I remember an American movie made with Jimmy Cagney in it "Mr Roberts" an old navy supply ship in the Pacific during WW-II...

[R4002]

Somebody needs to call them back when they're on frequency and give them a signal report, especially if this Ring Leader station is putting such a powerful signal out there.  10db over S9 consistently is impressive by anybody's standard.

Wouldn't surprise me if these guys were running re-purposed military gear - that, or just higher-end amateur radio equipment and The Ring Leader has a good antenna setup. 

[Looking-Glass]

Didn't hear them chant last night as the propagation was shot, although snippets from the leader running his "power house" came through. 

Literally hundreds of Asian voices on SSB and AM between 4 and 16MHz this way, main ones are Indonesian, Philippines, China and Burma etc.

Even hear them on the aviation channels on 8MHz, nothing is sacred to these parasites.

You have the Spanish/Latino gang, we have them...and before you ask...no I don't want to do a swap!

[Looking-Glass]

Big chanting session tonight on 6.990MHz LSB kicking off from 0925z through to 1015z.  Big power station or the Ring Leader was there plus around three or four chanters.

I seem to be of the opinion it's just a bunch of locals who get together and have a bit of fun? 

Maybe they have had too much fermented coconut milk to drink or off their faces from smoking zipped up Gudang Garam's?

Good signals too, up to 20dB over at times.

Tonights chants were, in order of appearance: 

*  Double Man Double Man Double Man Double Man etc...

*  Copy Robbie Copy Robbie Copy Robbie etc...

*  Eewa Eewa Eewa Eewa etc...

*  Bango You Bango You Bango You etc...

*  Walu Why You Walu Why You Walu Why You etc...

Just the Village Idiots off their fruit boxes, gone troppo in the Indonesian tropical sun...

[R4002]

Sounds like the Portuguese speaking stations often heard on 6925 kHz LSB and dozens of other frequencies....the chanting may be just them messing around and not realizing that they're "getting out" (reminds me of local freehand CB nets that I've logged hundreds of miles away) - lots of inside jokes, etc. I have a feeling "The Leader" station knows he's getting out but probably doesn't care - another CB-like characteristic (see: people having long-winded QSOs on 27.385 LSB / channel 38 LSB, etc).  If they're in remote areas and, like you say, there's an endless stream of these stations all over the bands...chances are they're not going to get busted.

If the stations talking on the 8MHz aircraft HF-SSB frequencies can operate with impunity, I know stations using 6990 kHz don't have anything to worry about.

In a way, this reminds me of the European "Echo Charlie" freebanders that use the 6 MHz aircraft channels in LSB mode.

They're all over the place, I would like to set up a SDR or a scanner in one of the bigger Asian cities and see how crazy the VHF/UHF and FM broadcast spectrum is.

I know Thailand has a VHF CB allocation at 245.0000 to 245.9875 MHz, and Indonesia has a VHF CB allocation at 142 MHz IIRC...then there's places that use the same band plan as 476 / 477 MHz Australian UHF CB. I bet the frequencies around those bands are heavily used too. Apparently the 245MHz VHF CB band is extremely popular with heavy use of repeaters, high power radios, etc.

[Looking-Glass]

R4002:  I think we can close the case of the Indonesian Chanters, but as Doctor Sidney Friedman often says on MASH: "I will call in from time to time and see how things are..."  

Maybe you can tune in and see for yourself and pass a comment?  

There are two SDR's in the region, the best bet would be the Manly Warringah Amateur Radio Society VK2MB SDR down in Sydney at grid square QF56oh which was active a while back.  

Another popular one the folks in EU use is the VR2HF Hong Kong DX SDR.  I think there is also an SDR in Japan that the Egnima2000 people use to monitor M89 etc.

I personally don't use SDR's but stick to my old fashioned station and methods.

The mystery of "Mr Robert" remains unsolved, maybe the "Copy Robbie" chant last night was directed at him?

UHF CB in Australia runs 80 channels, with 1 to 8 reserved for repeaters.  Not many people use it, easy to find a clear channel even down in Sydney. Truckers, bush walkers, road works companies and virtually any one who wants to use it, no licence required.  Truckers sit on channel 40, road works contractors 27 & 28, bush walkers 11 and any where else you like...

Let me know how you get on.  Jack VK2XQ.

[Looking-Glass]

Chanters are on 6.980MHz LSB tonight, big signals and plenty of chanting...

[R4002]

I'll check out those SDRs,  I'm on the other side of the world (almost literally, I'm located on the East Coast of the USA) - so maybe grayline I'd be able to reach all the way around to Indonesia    The GMRS/FRS service at 462 MHz and 467 MHz here is the functional equivalent of UHF CB, and most everywhere has repeaters (which have to be licensed - as do the users of the repeaters).  The FCC is in the process of deregulating simplex FRS/GMRS use - since the vast majority of traffic on these frequencies is simplex.  Lots of adoption by businesses, I hear everything from bar/nightclub security to schools to road flaggers to drug dealers using the channels, with heavy use of CTCSS/DCS.

[Looking-Glass]

Indonesian chanters were back on 6.990MHz LSB last night with a huge chanting session, jammer has also gone from 6.995MHz where they originally were.

Last night "Kilo Lima", "Jakarta" and "Timor" were mentioned.

Around six chanters last night, weekend special I guess...

[Rob.]

They are all over the band including 11 MHz. Old RR thread here: https://forums.radioreference.com/utility-listening/223429-weirdness-7000-khz.html