HFU HF Underground
Loggings => Other => Topic started by: Shortwave_Listener on September 18, 2022, 1726 UTC
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Overview:
In Asia (mainly Southeast Asia) there are massive amounts of illegal two-way communications on HF. Very little is known about these stations including who they are, what they talk about, or the origin of all the stations. I believe that the majority are likely Indonesian and are “village radio” stations used for people to communicate informally without internet. These stations are almost exclusively two-way, making them of little interest to people who do not speak their languages. However, there are such a large amount that sometimes stations that play music will appear. They make up only a tiny fraction of these stations, but with the number of two-way stations these music stations are still not uncommon. Since these seem to be dual purpose (also used for two-way comms) the programming heard can vary widely. Audio quality can range from very poor (as if a mic is held up to speakers) to very good (as if a music source is connected directly to a high-quality transceiver). Music can last from only a matter of seconds with many interruptions to over 30 minutes without stopping. Sometimes station operators will talk frequently, and others may not talk at all. Unfortunately, it seems these stations are generally not interested in correspondence with DXers and they do not provide station names or contact information. They do often conduct regular conversations after playing music. These stations use regular ham radio equipment, so power is likely not very high. Thank you to Pigmeat who has informed me that these stations have been around for at least two or three decades. I feel it is worth logging these stations here because, at the moment, these are the only know shortwave music pirates from Asia. They use multiple bands, which are listed below.
4000-4200 kHz, AM mode, night:
Mostly used for two-way voice traffic, occasionally voice stations play music. 5 kHz channel spacing. There is also a station around 4142 AM (extra drifty) that seems to operate 24/7 with almost exclusively music. Not heard during the day but I do not know if it simply fades out or only operates at night. This is part of the 4 MHz marine band, so maybe stations on boats? Possible, but I have not heard any boat motors and I often hear music in the background. Not heard in North America due to the use of AM mode. 4100 AM is the most used voice frequency.
6900-7200 kHz, LSB mode, night:
Mostly used for two-way voice traffic, occasionally voice stations play music. 5 kHz channel spacing. Music stations mostly use 6980 and 6985 kHz. Indonesian chanters are found in this band. Many stations are intruders in the 40 meter ham band, although no music stations are found there. Seems to be mostly ham radios in use, very good SSB audio. Heard in Western North America.
8000-9300 kHz, SSB mode, day:
Mostly used for two-way voice traffic, occasionally voice stations play music. LSB and USB used randomly, channel spacing also random. Very busy, likely over 1000 conversations at any time. Not heard in North America due to operation at a time when propagation to Asia is closed.
10000-11500 kHz, SSB mode, day & night:
Mostly used for two-way voice traffic, occasionally voice stations play music. LSB and USB used randomly, channel spacing also random. Very busy, likely over 1000 conversations at any time. Often intrude into the 30 meter ham band. Heard in Western North America.
26000-29000 kHz, AM mode, day:
Used for voice only, no music. Extremely busy, at least three stations on the same frequency every 10 kHz from 26000-28000 kHz when the band is open. Stations are also heard intruding on the 10 meter ham band but it is not as busy as the Citizens band or the freeband. It is possible the ones in the Citizens Band are operating legally but without knowing what equipment and power level they are using it is difficult to say for sure. Not heard in North America due to poor propagation on the 11 meter band.
I have created this thread as a place to put all my loggings of these stations without creating an unnecessary number of threads in the other board. It would be highly appreciated if anyone else posts loggings here or information about these stations. Since there is no information about these stations online, everything I know about them is based on observations and guesses. All loggings are using the KiwiSDR in Jakarta, Indonesia unless otherwise noted.
S7 signal on 6990.03 LSB.
1710 UTC-Indonesian pop music, maybe Dangdut?
1716 UTC-More Indonesian pop music
1718 UTC-OFF
1720 UTC-Back, now in FM with Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straits
1722 UTC-Briefly in AM then OFF
S7 signal on 6985.03 LSB.
1722 UTC-ON
1726 UTC-Still going with Dangdut (?) music
1727 UTC-Next possible Dangdut music
1732 UTC-Man now talking over and singing along to the music, not sure if it’s the music station op (I think so) or another station
1741 UTC-Signal keeps going off air, but it is on currently with music
1745 UTC-Now staying on air, next Dangdut
1747 UTC-Skipping through songs (trying to find one he likes?), found one he likes
1748 UTC-Bukan Yang Pertama by Unknown Artist (detected by YouTube)
1752 UTC-Cincin Puthin by Unknown Artist (detected by YouTube)
1756 UTC-OFF
0420 UTC 19 Sep 2022
Music station on 10393.60 USB.
Recording (I have more if anyone is interested): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQSFQ6nIi8
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Station on 6980.04 kHz LSB at S9. S3 on the Prince George, British Columbia KiwiSDR. Down to S2 in Prince George at 1515 UTC.
1415 UTC-Dangdut music
1418 UTC-More Dangdut music
1426 UTC-Still going although breaks are frequent
1438 UTC-Station op said something over the music
1455 UTC-Playing a song I heard earlier
1502 UTC-Different style of music, instrumental
1506 UTC-OHR signal suddenly much louder
1509 UTC-OHR back down to previous level
1514 UTC-Long break
1515 UTC-Instrumental music, unknown genre
1526 UTC-The music station lowered the volume of the music and had a QSO with another station with the music in the background
1529 UTC-Now mostly back to music, sometimes talking or singing over it
1534 UTC-Song ended, op said "standby, standby" then a QSO
1600 UTC-GONE
Station on 4075 kHz AM at S9 in the 4 MHz maritime band playing music. This band is busy in Aisia with AM voice, but this is the first time I have heard music there. 4100 AM seems to be a net, nearly all voice traffic in this band is on this frequency. Also producing a spur on 4110.9v kHz. This station seems to be testing using music.
1612 UTC-Music, Dangdut?
1613 UTC-OFF
1614 UTC-Back on
1615 UTC-OFF
1617 UTC-Transmitter on and off frequently, some whistling over the music
1618 UTC-Moved to 4130, spur now on 4094v
1619 UTC-OFF
1622 UTC-Back on 4075, spur now on 4111v kHz
1625 UTC-OFF
1630 UTC-Back ON
1632 UTC-Talking and whistling over the music
1636 UTC-Now having a QSO
Station on 4137.30v at S5. First seen on the waterfall by 1612 UTC at the latest. Severe rapid frequency drift between 4137.0 and 4137.5 kHz.
1640 UTC-Very weak, some kind of music
1700 UTC-Still going, no breaks
1740 UTC-Still going
2130 UTC-Still going, up to 4139v kHz
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The station on 4139 AM is still there, S5 today and drifted up to 4140v.
Station on 4060 AM at S9.
1525 UTC-Dangdut and OM singing and talking over top
1526 UTC-Song ended, now just talking
1530 UTC-QSO now?
Station on 6980.02 LSB at S9+10. S3 on the Prince George, British Columbia KiwiSDR. I am certain I have heard all this music on this frequency before, maybe somebody's favorite music?
1535 UTC-Dangdut music
1538 UTC-Next Dangdut song
1542 UTC-Music cut off and OM now talking
1543 UTC-Back to music
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The station on 4139 AM is still there, S5 today and drifted up to 4142v.
Station at S9 on 6955 LSB.
1505 UTC-Dangdut music
1506 UTC-OFF
Station at S7 on 6980 LSB.
2347 UTC-Dangdut music
2352 UTC-Next Dangdut music
2355 UTC-OFF
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The station on 4139 AM is still there, S7 today and drifted up to 4142.5v.
1431 UTC-Unknow music, audio quality seems poor.
1444 UTC-Now talking with music in the background, maybe a speech or something from a licensed station?
1505 UTC-Still talking
1513 UTC-Back to music by this time
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The station originally on 4139 AM is still there, S5 today and on 4142.5v (same as yesterday).
2300 UTC-Now up to 4144v
Station at S7 on 6980 LSB.
1800 UTC-Dangdut music
1840 UTC-GONE
Station at S9 on 6990 LSB.
1800 UTC-Dangdut music
1840 UTC-GONE
Station at S5 on 6985 LSB.
0616 UTC-Dangdut music, another station whistling and talking over top
0620 UTC-OFF
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The station originally on 4139 AM is still there, S5 today and on 4140v (gone back down). No music stations heard in the 43 meter band today.
1459 UTC-Talk by man, super weak
1515 UTC-Still the same person talking
1520 UTC-Unknown music
1526 UTC-Oriental sounding music
1529 UTC-OFF mid song, maybe technical problems?
1544 UTC-Back by this time
This station really has me thinking. Being that it seems to operate 24/7 (or at least all night every night) and broadcasts long talks I am doubting it is a station like any of the others I have logged in this thread. The rest have been short broadcasts without a lot of effort going to really reach an audience, very different from this station. If it is a hobby operation, it is more like the shortwave pirates found in North America (someone is actually trying to broadcast to an audience). That is one idea, a hobby broadcasting pirate. I had also read the information linked from this website (http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/DXing_Indonesia/DXing_Indonesia.html) long before I found these stations I log in this thread. In those articles are mentions of "amatir" stations, but booth articles disagree on the legality of those stations. One states they are privately owned SWBC stations with a license and the other states they are pirates, much like the many MW pirates in Indonesia. If they are indeed pirates, could this be the only remaining "amatir" station? One that has decided to continue on shortwave despite the disappearance of all the other SW amatir stations? Finally, the least interesting theory, it could be some sort of harmonic or spur from a MW station. However, it can be heard on all three Indonesian KiwiSDR's (a very long range for a harmonic or spur) and it drifts a lot more than any Indonesian MW station I have heard (they often use bad transmitters but none of them will drift almost 1 kHz in a matter of seconds like this). What I do know about it is it seems to be very low power, and the transmitter drifts a lot. It is not audible outside of Indonesia. Anyone with information or ideas is very welcome to post them.
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The station originally on 4139 AM is still there, S5 today and on 4140v (same as yesterday). No music stations heard in the 43 meter band today.
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The station originally on 4139 AM is still there, S7 today and on 4141v. This is the strongest I have heard it yet, I can even identify some of the music.
1839 UTC-Athair Ar Neamh by Enya
1841 UTC-Aria by Yanni
1846 UTC-Unknown music
1850 UTC-Unknown music
1853 UTC-Unknown music
1857 UTC-Amazing Grace by Judy Collins
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UNID 4137.7v AM 1435 UTC 3 OCT 2022, S7
1434 UTC-Unknown music, very weak
UNID 4130 AM 1436 UTC 3 OCT 2022, S9
1436 UTC-Dermaga Biru (feat. Fendik Adella) by Difarina Indra
1439 UTC-OFF
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Strange observation today, the 43 meter band and the 40 meter ham band (which are normally full of pirates having QSO’s) is dead silent today. The other stuff (e.g. OHR, Sound of Hope) is still present. I have checked this on multiple KiwiSDR’s.
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Multiple UNIDs (Music & QSO) 4100 AM 1558 UTC 16 NOV 2022, S7 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR
1558 UTC-Indonesian Music
1558 UTC-OFF
1559 UTC-ON
1559 UTC-Harta Dan Surga by Anisa Rahma
1602 UTC-Man said something in Indonesian
1602 UTC-OFF
1602 UTC-ON (could always be another station, 4100 AM is a pirate QSO net in Indonesia)
1602 UTC-Unknown Indonesian Music (pop music in Gamelan style?)
1607 UTC-OFF
1608 UTC-ON (different station, drifted onto frequency while others didn’t)
1608 UTC-Korban Perasaan (feat. Elsa Pitaloka) by Andra Respati
1609 UTC-OFF
1610 UTC-New station spoke briefly
1610 UTC-ON (another new station)
1610 UTC-Apakah Itu Cinta (feat. Ovhi Firsty) by Ipank
1610 UTC-Man talking over the music in Indonesian
1611 UTC-Now having a QSO with another station (one station has music in the background)
1616 UTC-Someone trying to test a reverb device, talking with it on and off (this is the first time I have heard any “noise toys” from an Indonesian pirate)
1618 UTC-Repeated mentions of “Radio” from one station, maybe an ID?
1635 UTC-All stations OFF
The station drifting around 4140v that broadcasts music all the time was there a few days ago but no sign of it today.
UNID 6955 DSB 2357 UTC 16 NOV 2022
S3 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Audio on both sidebands but no carrier, slightly better on LSB (maybe intended to be that mode?).
2357 UTC-Music, not strong enough to identify but sounds like American pop music
2357 UTC-Next Unknown Music
0001 UTC-Long silence
0002 UTC-Distorted voice whistling and talking
0002 UTC-OFF
0005 UTC-Man briefly talking again
UNID 4120 AM 0006 UTC 16 NOV 2022
S5 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
0006 UTC-Unknown Dangdut Music
0010 UTC-OFF
0018 UTC-ON, not sure if the same station or another one
0018 UTC-Dangdut Music
0020 UTC-OFF
UNID 4110 AM 0039 UTC 16 NOV 2022
S3 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
0039 UTC-Very weak music
0042 UTC-OFF
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UNID 7000 LSB 1607 UTC 17 NOV 2022
S7 with the VK2GGC KiwiSDR in Australia.
1607 UTC-Unknown Music (English lyrics)
1608 UTC-Next Unknown Music (English lyrics)
1608 UTC-OFF
The station drifting around 4140v kHz is back today, weak carrier on the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
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No music stations (except traces of the 4140v station) heard so far as of 1600 UTC but I have made some observations about the net on 4100 kHz.
1. Both today and yesterday I have observed these stations engaged in the chanting contests normally heard in LSB on and around 7000 kHz. This is the first time I have heard these stations doing it. Similar procedure to the other chanters, although it seems the length of the chanting is shorter.
2. Their equipment is very high quality, but I have no idea what it is. Their frequency accuracy is great and so is their audio. It is normal for Indonesian freebanders to use high quality equipment (the 43 meter stations have some very nice ham transceivers), but I do not know why these stations use AM. It seems they may be capable of SSB, I once heard a station using LSB join the 4100 kHz net and it seemed he had no problem communicating with the AM stations (and vice versa). My best guess about these guys is they use the normal modified ham transceivers but are the Indonesian equivalent of the AM Window in North America.
Hearing people singing on 7000 LSB at 1610 UTC on the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Not technically a music station, but interesting. A couple times someone even started playing guitar along with their singing. Someone played a bit of music a few times with what sounded like a speaker up to the microphone.
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UNID 4140v AM 1755 UTC 20 NOV 2022
Just traces of a carrier on the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
UNID 4100 AM 1756 UTC 20 NOV 2022
Weak on the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Other strong stations talking over the music station. Off at 1757 UTC. Some of the stations in the QSO have music in the background.
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UNID 7010 LSB 1830 UTC 3 DEC 2022
S5 with the Jakarta, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
1830 UTC-Sounds like the station operator singing along to an instrumental background
1831 UTC-BREAK
1831 UTC-ON, same as before
1833 UTC-End of song, start of the next
1837 UTC-BREAK
1838 UTC-ON, just talking
1843 UTC-OFF
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UNID 6995 LSB 1556 UTC 6 DEC 2022
1556 UTC-Indonesian pop music
1556 UTC-BREAK
1557 UTC-Next pop song
1600 UTC-OFF
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UNID 7025 LSB 1542 UTC 8 DEC 2022
S7 with the Jakarta, Indonesia KiwiSDR.
1542 UTC-Indonesian Pop Music
1542 UTC-OFF
UNID 7030 LSB 1543 UTC 8 DEC 2022
S7 with the Jakarta, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Technically more of a QSO than a music broadcast.
1543 UTC-Two stations in a QSO, one with loud music in the background and the other only voice
1545 UTC-Both sometimes singing over the music
1546 UTC-Next pop (?) song
1553 UTC-Now just a QSO, no music
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UNID 4059v AM 1753 UTC 7 JAN 2023
S3 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Frequency drifting around within +/- 100 Hz.
1753 UTC-Music, very weak
1805 UTC-Still going, probably a full broadcast instead of just a bit of music
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UNID 6985 LSB 1610 UTC 12 JAN 2023
S9 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Extremally weak direct. Signal went on and off a few times.
1610 UTC-Indonesian pop music via the Bandung SDR
1613 UTC-Weak fragments of audio coming through direct on my Sony ICF-2010 at an almost imaginary level, still being heard at 1614 UTC
1615 UTC-OFF by now?
First time I have heard one direct! The chanters on 7000 LSB are booming in here this morning and other QSO frequencies (6990 LSB, 7065 LSB, some others) are also being heard.
UNID 6955 DSB 1620ish UTC 12 JAN 2023
S7 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. No chance of hearing it direct due to strong local QRM on 6955 kHz.
1620ish (wasn't paying attention to the time) UTC-Indonesian music, off about a minute after it came on. This station using double sideband with no carrier has used this frequency for music before.
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UNID 7000 LSB 1548 UTC 16 JAN 2023
S9 with the Bandung, Indonesia KiwiSDR. Very very weak direct.
1548 UTC-Easy by The Commodores
1551 UTC-OFF
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UNID 8323.45 USB 1544 UTC 27 FEB 2023
S5 with the Jakarta KiwiSDR.
1544 UTC-Sounds like a professional backing track with amateur vocals. Fisherman karaoke?
1545 UTC-Break
1545 UTC-Next song
1550 UTC-OFF?
1550 UTC-Short chatter from other stations with a bit of singing
UNID 7100 LSB 1554 UTC 27 FEB 2023
S7 with the Jakarta KiwiSDR.
1554 UTC-Perfect by Rajiv Dhall
1557 UTC-OFF
UNID 10686 LSB 1604 UTC 27 FEB 2023
S9 with the Jakarta KiwiSDR.
1604 UTC-No background music but the station op singing
1604 UTC-Talking with another station
1607 UTC-Both briefly singing and laughing a lot
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UNID 4125 AM 1502 UTC 24 APR 2023
S7 with the Jakarta KiwiSDR.
1502 UTC-Unknown Dangdut Music, sounds older?
1506 UTC-Off then on again, next song
1512 UTC-Off then on again, next song
1514 UTC-Music cut off, silence
1520 UTC-Music finally resumed
1551 UTC-Still going
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UNID 4150 AM 1438 UTC 27 APR 2023
S7 with the Jakarta KiwiSDR. Also throwing FMing spurs around 4132 and 4168 kHz. Also sounds like someone frequently keying up on the same frequency?
1438 UTC-Music, transmitter on and off a few times, op speaking briefly, then OFF
1510 UTC-Back again, instrumental easy listening music with the op singing
1511 UTC-Break, back on with the op talking and more music and the op singing
1518 UTC-OFF, a different station on air with instrumental music and many breaks
1521 UTC-OFF for good
1524 UTC-First station on with music, YL speaking (ads?), and the operator speaking, on for less than a minute
1529 UTC-Back again, music with OM karaoke
1534 UTC-Off
1534 UTC-Different station talking on the frequency
1536 UTC-First station back with music and talk, now I conversation between two stations with music in the background on both
1537 UTC-I could be wrong but it sure sounded like he said “I guess so”
1538 UTC-Third station (who is only S5) doing some karaoke
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Not a new recording, but it seems to have captured one of those pirates in pseudo stereo using two KiwiSDRs (https://youtu.be/LqjH33ft-Xw), apparently in Indonesia and the Philippines.
(https://ibb.co/vkNrM3F)
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S5 direct, best ever signal direct from an Indonesian music pirate!
1335 UTC-Dangdut music
1346 UTC-Music off, QSO now
1353 UTC-Music back
1354 UTC-Weaker station playing music now