Messages

2191

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: OTR 6770 AM 2346 UTC 20 Aug 2017

« on: August 21, 2017, 0119 UTC »

Old Time Radio OTR Pirate 6770 kHz 6.770 MHz AM mode 21 August 2017

I've got a carrier and very faint bits and pieces of audio but there is certainly something there at 0118 UTC

2192

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6849 Am 0049 UTC 8-21-2017

« on: August 21, 2017, 0116 UTC »

Frequency seems to be 6849.3 kHz or so, but tuning to 6849 kHz or 6850 kHz doesn't cause any reduction in audio quality due to nice strong AM modulation and overall good signal.  Some fades.

0113 UTC - Hearing bits and pieces of audio, music and talk (but can't really make anything usable out) at
0114 UTC - lots of sound effects, music playing (too weak to tell what I'm hearing though...)
0114 UTC - edit, I'm definitely hearing Pink Floyd
0115 UTC - and everything under the sun is tune...but the sun is eclipsed by the moon...
0115 UTC - more crazy sound effects, possibly bells ringing, lots of fading at this point.  Decent carrier, S6 at peaks, sliding down to S3 during fades
0124 UTC - psychedelic trance style electronic music, some quality beats...at some point a carrier appeared at 6850.0 kHz
0125 UTC - carrier on 6849.3 kHz cut out a couple times...possibly technical difficulties?  music continues...
0126 UTC - YL talking, electronic music / techno beats playing in background with increasing static noise levels
0128 UTC - Pink Floyd - Speak to Me/Breathe (signal came up noticeably right as this track started...coincidence?  )
0129 UTC - Mystery unmodulated carrier or CW signal on 6850 kHz disappears as 6849.3 keeps going strong
0130 UTC - Pink Floyd - Any Colour You Like
0134 UTC - Pink Floyd - Brain Damage (the intro anyway, then carrier disappeared)
0134 UTC - appears to be off the air

2193

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 AM 1348 UTC 20 Aug 2017

« on: August 20, 2017, 1909 UTC »

Radio Azteca
6.925 MHz AM 6925 kHz AM 20 August 2017


Tuned in at 1908 UTC to hearing a YL vocals, decent signal strength (S6-S7), nice wide 9 kHz wide signal and good AM audio with some noise bursts and minor fading.  

1910 UTC - deep fade
1911 UTC - "Stayin' Alive" with signal peaking back up into the S6-S7 range.  Deeper fades but really strong audio on the peaks.  
1912 UTC - massive ute buzz burst QRM on 6925 kHz USB (the upper side of this AM transmission)
1921 UTC - hearing a SSTV signal mixing in with the music
1923 UTC - SSTV gone (PD90 mode) -
1923 UTC - mash-up with various songs, including "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Died In Your Arms Tonight" by Cutting Crew
1924 UTC - another deep fade
1926 UTC - minor SSB voice QRM, seemed to be chatter on 6928 LSB (possible pescadores) for 10 seconds or so
1928 UTC - yet another fade, signal is now down to S2, peaking at S3...but still readable
2040 UTC - still going strong, audio is same as before, nice and wide...still hanging around the S2-S3 mark
2042 UTC - BIG signal increase, watching on two remote SDRs saw signal jump up now back up to S7, S8 peaks.  Nice looking audio on the waterfall on several Virginia remotes and an Ohio remote receiver
2050 UTC - signal dropped back down to previous levels...then continued to fade to S1 and barely readable levels
2119 UTC - Radio Azteca ID, followed by "Today's Top Ten List" - signal is back up to S6-S7 with same killer wide audio

2194

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID Giles Live Shortwave Radio Show Relay 6770 AM 1845 UTC 11 August 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 2043 UTC »

Tuned off frequency for a bit, then tuned back in to 6770 kHz at 2040 UTC.  Signal is still there, with the usual fading...appears to be being simulcasted on 6925 kHz USB as well (albeit much weaker).

2195

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID Giles Live Shortwave Radio Show Relay 6925 USB 2000 UTC 11 Aug 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 2042 UTC »

In addition to 6770 kHz AM, there's a relay of the Giles Shortwave Live Shortwave Radio Show (YouTube relay) on 6925 kHz USB.  S3 signal at best, 6770 is sounding much better.  

Signal dropped off or faded down into the noise around 2045 UTC but came back up at 2052 UTC.  

CW at 2132 UTC: "THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL SWL CHANNEL THIS IS NOT THEOFFICIALSWLCHANNEL YOUTUBE RELAY 6770 KHZ AM 6925 KHZ USB SIMULCAST AUGUST 11TH 2017

Appears to be off the air at 2135 UTC

2196

Peskies / UNID Italian Language 11180 kHz USB 1950 UTC 11 August 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 1955 UTC »

Was watching 11175 kHz USB on the waterfall, and noticed SSB traffic 5 kHz up on 11180 kHz USB (which is also a USAF HF-GCS frequency, alternate to 11175 kHz USB).  Hearing casual Italian language traffic on 11180 kHz USB.  One station is considerably stronger than the other, but doesn't sound like aircraft comms to me.  Could be wrong (it should be aircraft, military aircraft communications, considering the frequency in question is in the aeronautical off-route band).

Either pescadores or Italian military traffic?  I don't speak Italian but this sure is an interesting frequency either way.  11175 kHz USB is active at the same time as well.

2197

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 AM 1915 UTC 11 Aug 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 1919 UTC »

UNID 6925 kHz AM - UNID pirate 6.925 MHz AM

Carrier appeared at 1915 UTC, bits and pieces of audio, couldn't make much of anything out though.  Gone at 1918 UTC.  

2198

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID Giles Live Shortwave Radio Show Relay 6770 AM 1845 UTC 11 Aug 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 1845 UTC »

UNID pirate station 6770 kHz AM UNID station 6.770 MHz AM pirate radio August 11th, 2017

Not Old Time Radio or OTR, the station "usually" heard on this frequency....playing "Alone" by Heart at 1845 UTC.  Lots of fading.  No ID or anything heard until around 2000 UTC, then an OM started reading off names, likely listeners, and their locations.  Discussion of playlists, etc.  Maybe this is some sort of relay of an Internet broadcast or pre-recorded show?

Apparently this is a relay of a Giles Live Shortwave Radio Show (a YouTube live show)

1849 UTC - Dead carrier is all I'm getting on 6770 kHz AM now.  Maybe somebody doing some testing.  Haven't heard any audio since "Alone" stopped playing.  Strong S5-S6 carrier on the Rochester, NY remote SDR receiver.  

1853 UTC - "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley now up to S7 with some noise
1904 UTC - "Photograph" - Def Leppard, signal jumped up for a few moments, then back down to S5 or so with lots of static crashes
1906 UTC - "Under Pressure" - Queen/David Bowie with some SSB QRM from 6765 kHz USB / 6.765 kHz USB (SHARES frequency, among other users)
1908 UTC - more minor SSB QRM from 6765 kHz USB
1911 UTC - another track being played, music audio level is too low to ID
1920 UTC - "Need You Tonight" - INXS - signal still sitting right between S6 and S7 with minor fades (not as bad as before)
1922 UTC - a few seconds of dead air, then "What About Love?"
1924 UTC - signal jumped up to S9 for a second or two, then dropped back down to previous levels
1924 UTC - adjusted passband from 5 kHz (narrow AM passband) down to 4 kHz and that helped a lot with extra noise
1925 UTC - just for fun, cranked passband back up to regular AM (10 kHz wide passband) just in time for....
1926 UTC - "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Def Leppard, sounding good now!  Sitting right at S7
1927 UTC - must be really close to critical frequency, as I typed "right at S7", signal jumped up another S-unit to S8, then dropped down to S5
1928 UTC - rapid fading now, peaking at S9, dropping down to just above the noise floor, then right back to up S6-S7
1931 UTC - switched from Warrenton, VA and Luray, VA SDRs to Rochester, NY SDR [much improvement]
1932 UTC - signal is same (fluctuting between S6 and S8) on both VA SDRs and the NY SDR, however the NY SDR has less noise
1933 UTC - Phil Collins now with some fades down to S4
1935 UTC - "Caught Up In You" - .38 Special [S7 in VA, S5 in NY, with much better copy in NY due to lower noise]
1936 UTC - BIG signal increase for a few seconds signal was just over S9
1937 UTC - now back down to S7 on the Rochester, NY remote.  Crazy propagation right now!
1938 UTC - signal dropped down into the noise for 1-2 seconds, then faded back up to readable levels (S3, peaking to S4)
1939 UTC - back up to S7 with good signal at .38 Special's track ends
1940 UTC - another deep fade
1941 UTC - and...right back to S8-S9
1942 UTC - audio cutting out, some sort of technical difficulties
1949 UTC - "Enjoy The Silence" - Depeche Mode
1957 UTC - "Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC - SIO 333 signal due to fading and minor noise, S6-S7 signal level
2002 UTC - "Hey everyone welcome aboard" - OM talking but unable to make very much out.  
2003 UTC - OM still talking but signal has dropped down considerably...not sure if this is an ID or not
2004 UTC - talking about a chat room, mentioning usernames in a chat room (shoutouts!)
2005 UTC - continuing to talk about "man cave", "it all came together", OM chatting, laughing, mention of K3SF or K3SWF and "other stations"
2006 UTC - mention of "playlist"
2009 UTC - OM continuing to talk, lots of fading and QRN making copy even harder than it was before.  SIO 312 maybe
2010 UTC - mention of repeater
2011 UTC - "The 8500 is the best shortwave radio I've ever had"

2199

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 USB 1830 UTC 11 Aug 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 1836 UTC »

6925 kHz USB / 6.925 MHz USB techno music UNID pirate station 1830+ UTC 11-AUG-2017

Electronic dance music, S3-S4 with some really deep fades down into the noise.  

1837 UTC - another long deep fade
1841 UTC - carrier appeared on 6927 kHz, possibly somebody tuning up on top of UNID station on 6925 kHz...or maybe jamming, carrier then dropped
1848 UTC - several false stops, like somebody is skipping tracks, then back to music
1855 UTC - faded or went off the air

2200

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6925 USB 1520 UTC 11 Aug 2017

« on: August 11, 2017, 1534 UTC »

S4-S5 signal with decent modulation at 1533 UTC.  Talking about blood that has been tracked.  "Ran past here, kept on running to the back of the house"  "Looks like our crime scene just got bigger"

YL cop said "there is a large amount of blood on the front porch"

1535 UTC "There's nothing that we can look at right now that says Maddox is our shooter"  "We're back to square one"
1536 UTC playing 9-1-1 call tape
1538 UTC talking about repairing the victim's cell phone
1555 UTC hearing background noise, not sure if another station or something else
1600 UTC off abruptly

2201

10/11 meters / Re: Does your area still have CB "home channels" or "town channels"?

« on: August 07, 2017, 1547 UTC »

Channel 44 as in 27.445 MHz?  Some of the locals around here call refer to one of their out of band / freeband CB channels as Channel 50 - 27.505 MHz (usually followed by "yeah, go to channel 8 and then go up one band" since most people are using export gear with a channel display and a band switch, but no frequency display or frequency counter). 

2202

10/11 meters / Re: Paging System Pager CB Channel 23 27.255 MHz 27255 kHz FM 5 August 2017

« on: August 07, 2017, 1546 UTC »

I compiled a list of European 26 MHz paging and 27 MHz paging frequencies for the 11 meter band in this thread [https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,35331.0.html]

26 MHz paging 26MHz pager 27 MHz paging 27MHz pager 27MHz data link 27.255 MHz 27255 kHz 27.255MHz

After several days of browsing through European based remote SDR receivers, I've noticed heavy use of the 11 meter band for paging activities (among other digital modes).  All have been using POCSAG.  The UK frequencies are often quite active, as is 27.300 MHz (although I can't figure out where this one comes from).  The 27.600 MHz one is based somewhere in Northern Europe and is extremely strong, often pushing past S9+30db signal strength. 

The Europeans seem to be a lot more fond of both the FM voice mode and using 11 meters for digital modes and local paging. 


26200 kHz / 26.200 MHz - UK Hospital Pager POCSAG
26225 kHz / 26.225 MHz - UK Hospital Pager POCSAG
26250 kHz / 26.250 MHz - UK Hospital Pager POCSAG
26300 kHz / 26.300 MHz - UK Hospital Pager POCSAG
26350 kHz / 26.350 MHz - UK Hospital Pager POCSAG
26715 kHz / 26.715 MHz - UK Paging POCSAG
26745 kHz / 26.745 MHz - UK Paging POCSAG
26750 kHz / 26.750 MHz - UK Paging POCSAG
26755 kHz / 26.755 MHz - UK Paging POCSAG
26785 kHz / 27.785 MHz - UK Paging POCSAG
26835 kHz / 26.835 MHz - POCSAG - unknown origin pager (heard sporadically in UK)
26900 kHz / 26.900 MHz - POCSAG - unknown origin (heard daily in UK, very strong signals)
26945 kHz / 26.945 MHz - Local Paging or On Site Pager 26 MHz band [heard in mainland Europe]
26950 kHz / 26.950 MHz - Local Paging or On Site Pager 26 MHz band
26955 kHz / 26.955 MHz - Local Paging or On Site Pager 26 MHz band [heard in The Netherlands]
27300 kHz / 27.300 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard daily in UK)
27350 kHz / 27.350 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard sporadically in UK - unknown origin)
27360 kHz / 27.360 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard sporadically in UK - unknown origin)
27450 kHz / 27.450 MHz - POCSAG Paging - this frequency seems to be used for basically everything
27550 kHz / 27.550 MHz - POCSAG Paging (with obvious QRM from 27555 USB)
27600 kHz / 27.600 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard daily in Netherlands)
27650 kHz / 27.650 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard daily in Netherlands)
27700 kHz / 27.700 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard daily in Netherlands)
27750 kHz / 27.750 MHz - POCSAG Paging (heard daily in Netherlands)

2203

10/11 meters / Paging System Pager CB Channel 23 27.255 MHz 27255 kHz FM 5 August 2017

« on: August 05, 2017, 1851 UTC »

Checking out some remote SDR receivers for activity on 11 meters elsewhere in the USA.  Currently listening to 27.255 MHz CB channel 23 on a remote SDR in Ohio and am noticing a data link or possibly pager transmitter right on frequency.  It will transmit an unmodulated carrier for about 1 second, followed by two data bursts about 0.5 seconds apart while "idling" - and when its busy its a series of data bursts.  Reminds me of POCSAG.  I know this frequency is one of the six available in the 26-27 MHz band under FCC rules Part 95 for data transmission.  While the other five frequencies have a maximum carrier power of 4 watts, 27.255 MHz has a maximum carrier power of 25 watts, which means you can do a lot more with it as far as on-site paging systems go. 

As my other logs will show, there is heavy use of the 11 meter band for paging systems, on-site pagers for hospitals, etc and for data link systems.  I know if one data link system that is sold that uses 27.255 MHz and FSK modulation.  I'm hearing bits and pieces of a CB QSO in AM mode underneath the data bursts but it is by far the primary user of this frequency even though band is open and basically every channel is in use.

2204

10/11 meters / Truckers outside CB band 27.435 MHz AM 27435 kHz AM 5 Aug 2017

« on: August 05, 2017, 1822 UTC »

5 AUGUST 2017

27.435 MHz, AM mode.  Starting at 1815 UTC.  Hearing two truck drivers talking out of band on 27435 AM, decent signals with some minor fading.  Talking about taking routes around a city, can't seem to figure out which one it is but they're almost certainly truckers and not freebanders. 

2205

10/11 meters / Music on 27575 kHz AM 27.575 MHz AM 5 August 2017

« on: August 05, 2017, 1814 UTC »

Starting around 1330 UTC and going until just after 1345 UTC, some fading. 

Lots of stations from the Midwestern USA and Canada coming in today on basically every legal CB channel, lots of SSB activity noted on 27.385 MHz LSB and 27.395 MHz LSB (CB channels 38 LSB and 39 LSB) as well as

26865 kHz AM - 26.865 MHz AM
26905 kHz AM - 26.905 MHz AM - two QSOs going on at the same time, Midwestern accents heard
26915 kHz AM - 26.915 MHz AM
26925 kHz AM - 26.925 MHz AM
26945 kHz AM - 26.945 MHz AM - Canadian stations having a QSO, sounded like they were locals who knew each other personally
27425 kHz LSB - 27.425 MHz LSB
27440 kHz LSB - 27.440 MHz LSB
27460 kHz LSB - 27.460 MHz LSB
27470 kHz LSB - 27.470 MHz LSB
27475 kHz LSB - 27.475 MHz LSB
27555 kHz USB - 27.555 MHz USB