HFU HF Underground

Loggings => Utility => Topic started by: jasmine on September 17, 2019, 0231 UTC

Title: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: jasmine on September 17, 2019, 0231 UTC
Just happened upon this transmission, they asked New York for a phone patch (couldnt make out who to) and reported they had smoke in the cockpit. they had turned around near grand turks and were headed back to San Juan.
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: Josh on September 17, 2019, 1821 UTC
Nice catch. Only interesting thing I caught on an ldoc was some passenger went nuts so crew and non nuts passengers held him down for the flight.
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: jasmine on September 17, 2019, 1939 UTC
Nice catch. Only interesting thing I caught on an ldoc was some passenger went nuts so crew and non nuts passengers held him down for the flight.

i'm kinda new at this. i only became an SWLer this past summer. i assume from your reply this stuff is rare? if so i was extremely lucky to catch it on my RSP1a SDR and MLA-30 magnetic loop antenna up here in Seattle. i know propagation conditions aren't the best right now but when they are at their peak is this stuff more typical?
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: KaySeeks on September 17, 2019, 2139 UTC
i'm kinda new at this. i only became an SWLer this past summer. i assume from your reply this stuff is rare?

Yes, but the "stuff" he is referring to is actually hearing an emergency taking place while you are listening.


if so i was extremely lucky to catch it on my RSP1a SDR and MLA-30 magnetic loop antenna up here in Seattle. i know propagation conditions aren't the best right now but when they are at their peak is this stuff more typical?

Well, being able to hear the conversation is important but I don't think that this is what Josh was referring to. (See above.)

You are listening to one of the many transoceanic HF communication frequencies set aside for commercial aircraft. Each flight path zone has several frequencies allocated to it. (You probably already figured that out though.)

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/MWARA (https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/MWARA)

They do this so that at least one frequency of the many they are allocated will likely work well enough between aircraft scattered about and the land stations. They spend enough money on equipment, antennas and propagation forecasting to be sure that they can maintain contact. So it's not surprising that you can hear the conversations but it's much more unlikely that you hear an ongoing emergency in progress.

I hope that makes sense.
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: KaySeeks on September 18, 2019, 0324 UTC
And yeah, it is a good catch. It's rare to be listening and hear one emergency but it appears that you've heard two in 24 hours. That's a big deal.
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: jasmine on September 18, 2019, 0400 UTC
And yeah, it is a good catch. It's rare to be listening and hear one emergency but it appears that you've heard two in 24 hours. That's a big deal.

thanks, i'm amazed i can do this! and yes, i found this handy map for aeronautical frequencies (MWARA, LDOC, RDARA and others). it's from 2002 but i assume such frequencies don't change very often.
Title: Re: JetBlue 1304 Reporting Smoke in the Cockpit to New York Radio 6640 USB 0220 UTC
Post by: KaySeeks on September 18, 2019, 1946 UTC
No, not too much. I know of a few changes but the allocation is in "chunks" (frequencies used are all within ~150 KHz of each other) so easy enough to find.