Messages

2731

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6929.3 AM 2220 UTC 07 DEC 2016

« on: December 07, 2016, 2226 UTC »

Hearing some music and an AM carrier on 6929.3 kHz or so.  Very strong pescadore/freebander QSO going on on 6930 kHz LSB making it very difficult to copy 6929.3 AM but there is music there. 

2225 UTC - Music and carrier whine getting stronger. 

2732

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: YHWH 4875khz 0227z 12/7/16

« on: December 07, 2016, 0322 UTC »

I've got a carrier and music right above the noise floor on 4875 kHz  Heavy QRM at times with digital roars, rushes, whistles and beeps on top of the music.  Can't really tell what the music that's being played is but there is certainly something there.

At least YHWH is using part of a broadcast band (instead of in the middle of ham bands/military bands/etc like the original YHWH).

On a side note, do we have any confirmation that this station actually is the [in]famous YHWH?  Could it be somebody relaying their programming?  Anybody heard an ID of any sort?  

2733

10/11 meters / Re: 27.455 USB

« on: December 02, 2016, 0318 UTC »

27455 USB is one of the more common Latin American SSB freeband frequencies (I mostly hear Spanish and Portuguese on that frequency) so hearing Italian stations is a nice catch!  When the band is really open 27455 USB can be one of the busiest frequencies on the "high channels" (above 27405/CB channel 40), sometimes even more congested than 27555 USB.

Next time the band is open to Europe check out 27465 kHz AM (commonly referred to as "27.465 AM" or "canale 45" by the operators that use that frequency).  27465 AM is basically the 'Italian Superbowl' frequency (compare to 26585 AM for Mexico, 26705 AM and 26715 AM for Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic/Florida and 27025 AM for the USA).

2734

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: RELAY STATION 5150 AM 1428 UTC 29 Nov 2016

« on: November 29, 2016, 1815 UTC »

Nice wide and clear AM signal, especially on the peaks.  Cranked passband up to 9.0 kHz and the audio is sounding great.  Signal appears to be 10 kHz wide on the waterfall.  

Consistent S7-level signal with some peaks to S8-S9.  Loving these remixes/mashups you're playing, Relay Station 5150

Tuned in real quick and,

1812 UTC: Remix / Mash-up of "Dream On" by Aerosmith and "We Will Rock You" by Queen, then two Bon Jovi songs
1816 UTC: Remix of "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes (love this track!)  
1821 UTC: Livin' On a Prayer mashup/remix with some Faith No More [signal up a bit, some QSB but now its averaging at S8 instead of S7]
1822 UTC: Signal dropped down to S5 for a bit with some more noise, reducing passband down a bit fixed the noise issue.  
1826 UTC: Right back up to a solid S9 signal.  Nice clear audio now, very little noise and very little to no fading/QSB.


5150 kHz is the new 6770 kHz?  [Kidding]  I'm only making that comparison because both Old Time Radio on 6770 kHz AM and Relay Station 5150 on 5150 kHz AM seem to transmitting effectively nonstop.  I really respect and appreciate what these two operators are doing for shortwave pirate radio (even if one of them is doing it unintentionally).  

2735

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: RELAY STATION 5150 AM 1622 UTC 28 Nov 2016

« on: November 28, 2016, 2126 UTC »

2125  - It appears that Relay Station 5150 AM is relaying the UNID on 6925.5 kHz (live).  5150 kHz AM is a few seconds behind 6925 kHz AM. 

2736

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 2055 UTC 28 Nov 2016

« on: November 28, 2016, 2106 UTC »

Via K2SDR.  Some frequency drift.  Seems to be moving around between 6925.5 kHz and 6925.6 kHz.  

S9 level signal, strong modulation (especially with the musical parts).  The music is most certainly Ennio Morricone.  

2105 UTC - Bank teller speaking to Col. Mortimer.  This is audio from For A Few Dollars More going by the music and the dialog.  
2106 UTC - More music, lots of whistling.  Loud audio!
2107 UTC - OM talking
2109 UTC - OM talking to YL and another OM about "the room right above"
2110 UTC - Music, guns being fired, laughing, and other sound FX
2149 UTC - Music clock scene...appears to be being relayed on 5150 kHz AM (Relay Station 5150). 

2737

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6958 AM 1850 UTC 27 November 2016

« on: November 27, 2016, 1858 UTC »

As Amphetamine Radio was closing down on 6955 kHz USB, a carrier popped up on 6958.0 kHz AM.  I'm getting faint bits of audio but I can't really pull anything discernible out.  

Basically just looking at the carrier signal on the K2SDR WebSDR.  Can't hear anything on my local RX setup on 6958 kHz. 

S7 level carrier 6958 kHz at 1900 UTC. 

2738

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: WREC 6925 USB 1622 UTC November 27, 2016

« on: November 27, 2016, 1659 UTC »

WREC - Radio Free East Coast on 6925.0 kHz USB.

Listening on both my local RX and on the K2SDR.  Nice WIDE audio!  

1657 UTC - "Riding on the Freeway" at 1657 UTC.
1658 UTC - "WREC Radio Free East Coast Audio Test" ID at 1658 UTC
1658 UTC - "Pirate Radio on Shortwave" 1658 UTC
1702 UTC - Conclusion of audio test of Radio Free East Coast and email address for QSLs 1702 UTC into "Centerfold" - GREAT TRACK!  
1704 UTC - Audio quality and signal strength steadily increasing during "Centerfold"
1705 UTC - a massive dip down into the noise at 1705 UTC) then it came right back!
1706 UTC - Talking about HFU comments, saying one more song before signing off, email address for QSLs...and, another classic track - Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf"  still some fading/QSB, but great solid signal overall SIO 455.  
1710 UTC - Appears to be QRT or has faded out. 

Thanks for the show WREC!  Always love hearing your station!  Whatever audio adjustments you were making, they sure did the trick.  This is some of the best audio I've ever heard.  Keep up the good work.

Slight QSB but really really nice audio on the peaks.  Had to crank the passband up to 4.5 kHz and the audio really comes screaming through.

There's been an carrier fading in and out on 6925.00 kHz, not sure if its another station or local QRM, but I was able to hear WREC in AM mode when the carrier was there!

2739

10/11 meters / More Latin American 11 meter DX 18 November 2017 2000 UTC +++

« on: November 18, 2016, 2051 UTC »

Some quick logs:


SS = Spanish language
EE = English language


26555 LSB - SS Latin American SSB Calling Channel, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico heard
26565 AM - SS OMs talking, likely truckers.  Lots of noise toys/roger beeps heard
26575 AM - SS Lots of stations heard at once
26585 AM - SS Mexican Calling Channel, very very active
26615 AM - SS "Puerto Rico Calling"
26695 AM - SS YL taxicab dispatcher, weak
26705 AM - SS "The Spanish Superbowl" - Puerto Rico, Florida, etc.  VERY loud and overmodulated signals
26725 AM - SS YL taxicab dispatcher talking to several OM taxi drivers.  YL's radio has a multi-tone roger beep
26735 AM - SS YL taxicab dispatcher (single roger beep)
26795 AM - Unknown language, can only hear roger beeps, etc
26885 AM - EE Truckers
26905 AM - SS Taxicabs talking to each other, with YL dispatcher
26945 AM - EE Truckers

26965-27405 - Legal 40 channel CB Band (North America)
26965-27855 - Legal CB 80 channel Band (Brazil and several other South American countries)

27435 USB - SS, with very strong OTH Radar bursts
27445 LSB - EE, southern accents
27455 USB - SS Latin American SSB Calling Channel
27515 AM - SS YL taxicab dispatcher (very strong S9++ signals)
27515 LSB - EE "Knight Patrol" CB Club Calling Frequency (Caribbean area) with heavy QRM from 27515 kHz AM
27530 USB - SS, weak
27555 USB - International Calling Frequency, English and Spanish heard, with OTH Radar QRM
27575 AM - SS, weak, possibly taxis/truckers??
27665 LSB - SS
27675 USB - SS
27690 USB - SS
27695 USB - SS
27705 USB - SS

2740

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Relay Station 5150 1557 UTC 10/26/2016

« on: October 26, 2016, 1909 UTC »

Voice heard just above noise floor at 1905 UTC.  Something about "in 1997..." 

Strong pulsing-like wideband QRM from roughly 5090 kHz to 5190 kHz (maybe OTH Radar?) at about the same signal level as the station on 5150 kHz AM making reception difficult.   

2741

Other / UNID 7188 LSB 2120 UTC 10/23/2016

« on: October 23, 2016, 2129 UTC »

Marshall Tucker Band - Can't Ya See (2125 UTC)
S9 signal on the K2SDR, with lots of amateurs talking over their signal

Now,

"They're coming to take me away!"

2742

10/11 meters / 11 meter DX Logs 28 September 2016 2000 UTC +

« on: September 28, 2016, 2040 UTC »

And we're back!


25000 AM - WWV (nice and loud)
25625 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (Spanish-speaking YL with roger beeps and echo)
25910 FM - STL (lots of fading but its there, nice strong carrier when tuned in SSB mode)
26095 AM - Spanish
26225 USB - Spanish
26375 AM - Spanish language, truckers
26425 AM - Spanish language, lots of stations at once
26515 AM - OM doing radio tests "Hola....Hola....Hooolllaaaaa!" etc (nice signal at peaks)
26525 AM - Lot of roger beeps and music/sound FX heard
26535 AM - Music and distorted audio, lots of noise toys/roger beeps etc - fading from S9 down to S3 back up to S9
26555 LSB - Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other Spanish-language traffic heard (S9 to S9+30db VERY loud)
26565 AM - Spanish
26575 AM - Spanish
26585 AM - The usual Mexican QRM (S9 ++ at points)
26605 AM - Spanish, weak
26635 USB - Spanish, two OMs having a QSO
26655 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (Spanish-speaking YL, can hear taxi drivers replying to her)
26665 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (Spanish-speaking YL reading numbers)
26705 AM - Puerto Rico/Miami Florida (Spanish language - VERY strong signals)
26715 AM - Similar traffic as 26705 (likely the same group of stations)
26735 AM - Truckers (English language)
26835 AM - English (US stations, likely Southern USA)
26905 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (Spanish-speaking YL, often heard on this frequency)
26955 AM - Faint traffic heard, unknown language
27015 AM - Spanish language, lots of QRM and splatter from 27025 [CB Channel 5]
27025 AM - The Superbowl (nothing more needs to be said) [CB Channel 6]
27045 AM - Spanish language, possibly a taxi company [not a legal CB channel, but often called "7A"]
27065 AM - Puerto Rico (similar to 26705, 26715, etc) [CB Channel 9]
27125 AM - Truckers [CB Channel 14]
27175 AM - Spanish, lots of QRM [CB Channel 18]
27185 AM - Truckers, ads for truckstops, etc, solid S5 noise floor due to heavy heterodyne [CB Channel 19]
27235 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (Spanish-speaking YL, often heard on this frequency) [CB Channel 24]
27265 AM - US stations working Puerto Rico [CB Channel 26]
27285 AM - Similar to 27265, high powered AM stations (see also, channels 6, 11, etc)
27375 LSB - US SSB traffic with strong AM het[CB channel 37]
27385 LSB - North American SSB Calling Channel [CB Channel 38]
27405 AM - Spanish, YL reading numbers (likely a taxi dispatcher) [CB Channel 40]
27420 USB - Spanish, with QRM from 27425 AM
27425 USB - Spanish, somebody whistling into mic
27425 AM - Spanish, likely taxicabs (with roger beeps)
27430 USB - Mexico, Dominican Republic (heavy QRM from 27425 AM)
27455 USB - Latin American SSB calling frequency, very busy
27475 LSB - Southern US stations with OTH Radar pulses
27505 USB - Spanish
27510 USB - Spanish, very strong
27515 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (often heard on this frequency dispite heavy SSB traffic on/near it)
27520 USB - Spanish
27525 USB - Spanish, weak
27530 USB - Spanish, "10ADxxx" callsigns heard
27535 USB - Spanish, Mexican accents
27555 USB - International Freeband Calling Frequency, Spanish language stations calling CQ and "Hola!"
27560 USB - Spanish
27605 AM - Carrier fading in and out
27625 USB - Spanish
27665 USB - Spanish, with AM carrier het underneath
27695 LSB - Spanish, Puerto Rico mentioned
27765 USB - Somebody whistling into mic
27775 AM - Weak carrier heard, probably a taxicab dispatcher (with heavy OTH Radar QRM)
27845 AM - Taxi Dispatcher (YL talking to OMs, reading numbers)

2743

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6930 USB 0007 UTC 16 Sep 2016

« on: September 16, 2016, 0021 UTC »

Got 'em right above the noise floor on the local receiver and the WebSDR (K2SDR) out of New Jersey.  Unable to ID music due to noise levels but there's most certainly music there on 6930 kHz USB.  

Hearing CW at 0022 UTC

2744

10/11 meters / Re: CB band, 10/11 meters very active 8/14/2016

« on: September 13, 2016, 1908 UTC »

Sounds about right flexoman61,

I'd be interested to know how many export radios/radios with "extra channels" are in operation in the USA compared to legal 40 channel radios. 

2745

10/11 meters / Re: CB band, 10/11 meters very active 8/14/2016

« on: September 06, 2016, 0354 UTC »

flexoman,  were most of the signals you heard below 26965 kHz in English or Spanish language?  And were most of them in AM mode? 

I've noticed what seems to be a "gentleman's agreement" when it comes to freeband frequencies and modes.  At least in the Americas. Below CB channel 1 (26965 kHz) down to 25 MHz (although most traffic stops at 25165 kHz or 25615 kHz as, depending on the radio model, those are the lowest frequencies available) seems to be almost all AM mode, with some notable exceptions (26225 kHz is USB, as are several frequencies around it (I've logged USB traffic on 26210 kHz, 26230 kHz, 26235 kHz and 26240 kHz).  The other "big one" for SSB below channel 1 is 26555 LSB.  It is a Spanish language calling frequency and is often extremely busy.  The Spanish-speaking stations seem to stay below 26775 or so, with most of the US-based traffic operating around the "low channel" freeband calling frequency of 26915 AM.  So 26905 AM, 26935 AM, etc.

On the other side of the "legal 40" you have a majority of SSB traffic.  This is probably due to the proximity to channel 38 (27385 LSB) being the US calling channel for CB/11 meters.  27425 LSB, 27435 LSB, 27445 LSB all the way up to 27495 LSB all busy with English speaking stations.  English speaking stations seem to prefer LSB while Spanish speaking stations seem to stick with USB.  27555 USB being the obvious exception to this, along with all the truckers running AM and using any frequency they want.

There's interesting patterns to be found when you take into account the fact that 95% of these transmissions are coming from channelized radios that allow the operator to select one of 40 channels (or 45 channels if the radio includes a +10 kHz switch to reach the "A" channels) plus a band switch.  If you look at the commonly used channels in the legal band and then subtract 450 kHz (that is, "go down one band") you find channels that are almost equally as active.  Last time 26905 AM 26915 AM etc were busy, 26815 and 26835 were also booming in.  Now CB channels 26/28 are heavily used for high power AM communications.  26815 kHz is CB channel 26 down one band, and 26835 is CB channel 28 down one band.  Take into consideration that a large amount of these radios do not have frequency displays.  Just a channel display and a band switch.

Freeband is interesting stuff.  When the conditions are right you'll hear traffic every 10 to 20 kHz from 25615 up past 28000 and into the 10 meter ham band (not including licensed ham traffic in the 10 meter ham band of course).