HFU HF Underground
Loggings => Utility => Topic started by: jasmine on October 20, 2019, 1543 UTC
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Bangkok Meteo with musical interval tones & weather in English and Thai. I pick this up most mornings on 6765.1 but this is the first time I've picked it up on 8743 where it is booming in at an S6 (6765.1 is only at an S4). BTW: I can hear NOAA's weather broadcast via the US Coast Guard's Chesapeake (NMN) station on 8764 but it is weak by comparison, only an S3-S4.
I also have a question about the musical interval tones for Josh or anyone who knows. They seem much stronger than the USB voice, similar to the SELCAL tones on HF aero frequencies. Are Bangkok Meteo's music tones generated the same way as SELCAL tones, as a separate mode?
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I've never heard the tones myself, but imagine those tones are prerecorded, so their resultant level of modulation may not be the same as the selcal tones. Also, if the intro tones are single tones, not mixing products as with selcal tones, they may appear to be stronger as the energy is concentrated in that single tone where the selcal tones spread the same total energy between the mixing tones. Just an idear.
:D
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That totally makes sense. If you'd like me to make a recording of the tones or anything else i come across let me know. i'm still trying to find the best way to make a simple audio (not IQ) recording from SDRUno. I may use a different SDR app like HDSDR or SDR Console to do so.
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Thanks for the heads-up that Bangkok was audible here near Seattle during the 1500 UTC hour. Somehow, I'd not tuned into this station since I resumed shortwave listening a year and a half ago.
I tuned in this morning at 1547 UTC, and both frequencies were audible, though 8743 was the better of the two by a little at the time and much better than the lower frequency by 1635 UTC. And you're right: Those musical tones cut through the noise floor way better than the rather monotone male and female voices.
Is this one really 1,000 watts? That's the only power I find listed.
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On what apps to use with a RSP, I prefer HDSDR if only a single channel is so be monitored, with SDRuno following closely. Nothing beats HDSDR for simplicity as well as for low cpu usage, but I find SDRuno to have the best agc and audio at the cost of high cpu usage and utter complexity.
For multiple VRX work, SDR Console is my goto as it is very foolproof, very stable, great aduio and agc action, and much reduced cpu usage compared to the same number of VRX in SDRuno. SDRuno sure looks great tho.
On recording, any app should be able to make good audio frequency recordings. Considering a max bandwidth of say 3kHz for a single ssb channel, you only need an 8kHz recording rate, making for tiny files so you can pack more on a disk. For voice recording, audio freq is best, for digital modes, IQ recording would be better but take up a bit more disk space.
Some guys go hog wild like the NSA and record entire swaths of spectrum as IQ, saving it to disks, a few gb or more for a few hours recording is typical for a hobbyist. I imagine the NSA and its counterparts worldwide go through a few hard drives. I prefer to have the audio recording always on, and have it on a loop so it overwrites as time goes on, this way I have a copy of what ever of interest pops up without running out of disk space. A dedicated drive is a plus, and I still prefer ludite spinning metal to the bleeding edge solid state (aka flash) drives for reliability.
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On what apps to use with a RSP, I prefer HDSDR if only a single channel is so be monitored, with SDRuno following closely. Nothing beats HDSDR for simplicity as well as for low cpu usage, but I find SDRuno to have the best agc and audio at the cost of high cpu usage and utter complexity.
Thanks, I'm just getting into HDSDR and will reformat my frequency database from SDRUno for use in HDSDR. I agree about the audio of SDRPlay. As for CPU usage I'm using SDRUno on a pretty ancient laptop (HP Envy 15-4030nr) running Windows 7 and haven't had a problem unless I want to listen while looking at over 5 Mhz of spectrum. At 2 Mhz it's fine. Usually I am in 2Mhz with a Decimation of 8.
For multiple VRX work, SDR Console is my goto as it is very foolproof, very stable, great aduio and agc action, and much reduced cpu usage compared to the same number of VRX in SDRuno. SDRuno sure looks great tho.
I love the multiple VRX ability. It's great for monitoring something on USB and decoding digital stuff on another frequency, which I do sometimes with one or more other VRXs monitoring ALE channels.
On recording, any app should be able to make good audio frequency recordings. Considering a max bandwidth of say 3kHz for a single ssb channel, you only need an 8kHz recording rate, making for tiny files so you can pack more on a disk. For voice recording, audio freq is best, for digital modes, IQ recording would be better but take up a bit more disk space.
Thanks for the tip. The only thing I regret about SDRUno is that from what I can tell I can only do IQ recording. The workaround I found is just set up another VRX on the same frequency with its audio routed to an app like Audacity. Still more complicated than just hitting record in HDSDR though.
Some guys go hog wild like the NSA and record entire swaths of spectrum as IQ, saving it to disks, a few gb or more for a few hours recording is typical for a hobbyist.
Looks like I will have to keep an eye towards Frys black friday sale for an external.
I imagine the NSA and its counterparts worldwide go through a few hard drives. I prefer to have the audio recording always on, and have it on a loop so it overwrites as time goes on, this way I have a copy of what ever of interest pops up without running out of disk space. A dedicated drive is a plus, and I still prefer ludite spinning metal to the bleeding edge solid state (aka flash) drives for reliability.
I don't think SSD's are bleeding edge anymore, they might have been 6 years ago but nowthey're pretty common, especially on gaming PCs. That said for large amounts of data archiving a hard drive is still the better value in terms of capacity vs cost. I swear by SSDs for anything where I have to have data streamed on and off it quickly (like video editing) but for archival storage I prefer high capacity. So I'll probably get one of those 4TB external USB 3.0 hard drives if I start recording stuff regularly.
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Thanks for the heads-up that Bangkok was audible here near Seattle during the 1500 UTC hour. Somehow, I'd not tuned into this station since I resumed shortwave listening a year and a half ago.
I tuned in this morning at 1547 UTC, and both frequencies were audible, though 8743 was the better of the two by a little at the time and much better than the lower frequency by 1635 UTC. And you're right: Those musical tones cut through the noise floor way better than the rather monotone male and female voices.
Is this one really 1,000 watts? That's the only power I find listed.
yes, it's crazy isn't it? amazing the reception we're getting from Asia lately. i'm trying to log all the volmets and marine weather stations i've seen listed for asia, australia and new zealand because i feel there is a good chance of hearing them. i'm wondering if i should also try to pick up stuff from eastern russia? i have heard magadan's aeronautical station talking with planes.
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8743 kHz USB wx EE from 1535z until 1539z 7 Nov 2019 also //6765.1
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I also get this but on 6.676 in the mornings. Figured you'd like another freq to try and catch them on.
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6.676MHz USB HSD Bangkok Radio VOLMET for aviation weather in English only, no music interludes.
6.765MHz USB HSW Bangkok Meteo Radio weather for maritime mobile stations, in English then repeated in Thai with musical interludes.
Many get confused and mix the two up, both use share the same transmitter site in Thailand I have been told but not confirmed.
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6.676MHz USB HSD Bangkok Radio VOLMET for aviation weather in English only, no music interludes.
6.765MHz USB HSW Bangkok Meteo Radio weather for maritime mobile stations, in English then repeated in Thai with musical interludes.
Many get confused and mix the two up, both use share the same transmitter site in Thailand I have been told but not confirmed.
I was definitely hearing the musical interlude on 6.676 yesterday unless there was mixing product involved local to me. Gunna have to watch this one more closely it is really weak here for me so I don't get it strong everyday. Yesterday was special so I did record a bit of it. I'll get it uploaded and a link when I get home from work.
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https://vocaroo.com/i/s1do7tVr5oVT
As promised the audio of 6.676 USB Bangkok Volmet with musical tones. A bit low but you can hear them. I think. Maybe my ears are too old ;D
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Strange that tone, it's not the melody/tune they use for the maritime allocation, doubt if ICAO would allow Bangkok to use a interlude tone on a shared international VOLMET channel either, will have a look through my 2018 ICAO manual on PDF today to confirm.
HSD Bangkok comes in here around 5X7 to 5X9 plus 10dB over most nights on 6MHz so will have a look tonight at their transmission... :)
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HSD Bangkok Volmet 1410z to 1414z 10 Nov 2019 6676kHz USB signal s-7
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9VA-40 Singapore Volmet 1420z 10 Nov 2019 6676kHz USB signal s-6
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VKA-930 Australian Volmet, Alice Springs 1430z 10 Nov 2019 6676kHz USB signal very weak qsb
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8743 kHz USB wx EE 1534z 27 Dec 2019
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8743 kHz USB wx EE 1643z 18 Aug /20
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8743 kHz USB wx EE 1546z 1 Dec /21
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8743 kHz USB wx EE id@1607z 22 Dec /21