HFU HF Underground

Loggings => HF Beacons => Topic started by: l0ngwire on December 12, 2022, 2301 UTC

Title: Rapid Ditter On 4097.3 & FT8 (?) On 4095
Post by: l0ngwire on December 12, 2022, 2301 UTC

This afternoon around 2245z I was using the KB6C Kiwi SDR in Ventura county, which has far better "ears" than my long wire antenna in Santa Barbara. 

The Desert Whooper was coming in fairly well.  On 4097.3 I heard a weak rapid "ditter", which I could also just barely hear on my home station.  Listening also while in the CW mode I heard what sounded like amateur FT8 on 4095, which I could not hear at all on my own station. It was sending a short burst about every 30 seconds. I am set up for FT8 and know that sometimes nearly inaudible FT8 will sometimes decode, so I turned on WSJTX and tried both USB and LSB near that frequency, but could hear or decode nothing.

Both signals are still there on the KB6C SDR at 2300z.

Title: Re: Rapid Ditter On 4097.3 & FT8 (?) On 4095
Post by: ~SIGINT~ on December 13, 2022, 0016 UTC

Thanks for the KB6C SDR tip. The Desert Whooper's signal doesn’t make it all the way up to my location but I was finally able to hear it via the mentioned KiwiSDR. No ditter or FT8 observed at 00:15 UTC 13 December 2022.

I was also able to pick up the Coastal Slider beacon but on what appears to be 4109.20 kHz CW.

Title: Re: Rapid Ditter On 4097.3 & FT8 (?) On 4095
Post by: l0ngwire on December 13, 2022, 0254 UTC

I can't hear either signal at 0240 UTC on the KB6C SDR.  The next time I hear the FT8-like signal, I'll time its transmissions, as it may be FT4.

Recently I sent Dennis/KB6C an email thanking him for the use of his excellent SDR in northern Ventura county and got back a pleasant reply.  He also sent a photo of its antenna, a large home-brew 6 to 30mHz discone.

I can't get the [img] feature to load the Imgur.com link of his antenna, so here is the direct link:  https://imgur.com/a/UljqfSi

Here is the link to the KB6C SDR: http://kb6c.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/