HFU HF Underground
Loggings => North American Shortwave Pirate => Topic started by: n8hensley on March 28, 2012, 0333 UTC
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Having a hard time hearing it due to interference from Nashville, but pretty sure it's pirate. A mix of songs.
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Odd, that's a protected frequency (http://books.google.ca/books?id=LICPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA2641&lpg=PA2641&dq=3223khz&source=bl&ots=vvuv_IJz3h&sig=cmzNmtYIJ1eTWTQzn5YTe4bA4Lg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y4lyT4r2BovKiALH8c28AQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=3223khz&f=false) and is also used by military.
If it's a pirate, he's asking for trouble :o
Peace!
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Interesting. It might not be exactly 3223kHz. As I said, there's a ton of interference, so I might have to tune a little downstream to hear the broadcast. I'm also not 100% sure it's pirate; as my profile says, I'm a newb. At any rate, there was a possible station ID at 0351, but I couldn't really hear it.
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It does seem an odd choice for a North American pirate. However, Europirates often use the 3 MHz band.
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It seems to me a Latin American broadcaster used that frequency in the past? As we're just past the equinox,it could be enhanced props due to that factor making them audible here.
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Curiouser and curiouser...
Maybe this will help: I first heard the signal hidden underneath WWCR, which was on 3215 kHz at the time. I narrowed the bandwidth on my receiver (which is about all I can do on my basic setup), tuned it around 3223 kHZ, and heard a blues song playing. I assumed it was a normal broadcast station, but knew it wasn't WWCR, and assumed it wasn't North Korea, which broadcasts at 3220 at the same time. After the blues song was some pop song I had never heard before, followed by a punk song. This is when I started to suspect pirate. Then there was a rap-rock song, then a Crystal Method song.
As I stated above, there might have been a station ID around 0351 UTC, but I couldn't hear it.
After that, a movie started. I mean like a whole movie, like the broadcaster just decided to leave the mic next to his tv. I couldn't figure out what the movie was; it sounded like an extremely crappy B-Movie. This lasted till 0510 UTC, when I called it quits. The movie was still playing.
I wonder if it was someone close by just farting around? Did nobody else hear this signal?
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It's on right now!
2310z
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I have what sounds like a PSK UTE at 2317 UTC. Not hearing any music or audio atm, but I will keep listening.
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Not hearing anything here on 3223. The closest thing I've got is a carrier on 3219.6. Very weak modulation and storms in my area.
I occasionally hear bits of music. I assumed it was HCJB, but can't tell for sure.
I'm hearing Voice of Guyana with a decent signal on 3290, so this is probably HCJB on 3219.6
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Here's what I'm hearing today:
Move your feet--Junior Senior
The Reflex--Duran Duran
[unknown song]
Thriller--Michael Jackson
[some film score or something, with a lot of French horns]
Clocks--Coldplay
Immigrant Song--Led Zep
Golden Years--D. Bowie
Wonderful Night and Right Here, Right Now--Fatboy Slim
[two songs I don't recognize]
Serial Thrilla--Prodigy
Since I can listen to this for more than an hour without hearing an ID, and because no one else is picking this up, I feel like I might be wasting everyone's time here. I'll let everyone know if I find out anything new. Till then...
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This frequency was used many years ago by Radio Swaziland. I have no listing of any stations on 3223 kHz on my EiBI or NASWA listings so maybe it is a private or a spur from someone elses transmitter. Hope you ID this one.
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FWIW, I do have a carrier with occas scraps of mx here. Something with a big thumpy beat at 0055. Just obliterated by 3215 s/on.
Just a thought; what's on 1610 your area?
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I hear two things going on at 1610, neither of which I can account for, and neither of which is the same as the 3223 signal.
My area is close to your area. I'm in Chicago (Pilsen).
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Pleasure to talk, n8! Always nice to eliminate harmonics, and I see what you mean on 1610.
Your never wasting time; people whose curiosity is piqued are going to join in and play CSI. The fact that you heard such a distinctive set of music certainly seems to indicate that there is something there; nobody seems to know exactly what yet. Time will tell.
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Welcome to the board, n8. Thanks for the heads up on this one. It will be interesting to see if they make another broadcast this weekend.
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A LP AM'er in SW Ohio uses 1610. I hear them very occasionally,maybe once a year,tops. Their format is a lot like college station. It's usually a guy/girl announcing team.
Other than them coming in via skip,1610 in my listening area is all Latino.
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Still wondering about the possibility of a second harmonic!
Could be as that sounds like a typical AM broadcaster who
might've included some non-music programming.
Just a guess!!
weaksigs
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It's pretty early (~2230) and this thing is still coming up. I've been listening abt a half hour and have been getting a "POSSIBLE" correlation between audio on the UNID and this stream: http://www.goodtimeoldies.webs.com/
Song tempos, song breaks, and some bass line has been jiving over this period.
It is a Part 15 near Rock Island, IL. I will be away from the RX for a while, and just throw this out as a possibility only...
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It's likely an AM BCB harmonic...
If it's coming up now [before sunset], it clearly shows it is being affected by sunset...
JMHO but if it were really late at night, it could be Pacific, like Papua New Guinea...
BTW: Welcome to the group N8 !!!
Rafman
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Let me throw in this juicy nugget: The signal has been broadcasting since I first heard it the other night. Or, at least, any time I tune in, it's on. It's very faintly on right now, playing what sounds to be metal. I think this possible 24-hour play supports the skipped-AM signal. (Either that, or there's a dead pirate somewhere with his/her transmitter still running.)
On the other hand, I listened to the broadcast for more than an hour yesterday [see above] without hearing one station ID or commercial. I would expect both of those from an AM station in the States.
I should also mention here that all the songs, and that crappy movie I heard, are all in English. Not sure if that thickens the plot.
ps: Hungry Like a Wolf (Duran Duran) is playing right now, 0323z
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I've been listening off and on to 3223 since 2300Z this evening. I haven't heard even a hint of a signal in Urbana, IL. Not even a carrier.
WWCR on 3215 is 40 over 9 or better, almost pinning my s-meter.
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Carrier current "listen in any room" device? ???
Peace!
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Hi N8,
First off, welcome to HFU!
What kind of a radio are you using? Antenna?
Is there anything in your vicinity you know of that might be doing an in-house transmission that just covers a building, as CM mentioned?
Can you DF the signal at all to get a direction?
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Considering you hear it day & night, I's bet whatever you are hearing is within 500 miles of you...
As some suggest, it is likely even very close to you...
I have heard nothing here in VA since you posted this...
Very Curious Indeed!
Rafman
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I'm not hearing it approximately 150 miles to the south. I will probably be passing right by him next Saturday on my way to Wisconsin for Easter. I'll give a listen then.
Maybe it's coming from that huge tower on that building in Pilsen?
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Ha! Maybe. I've always wondered what that was about.
To answer Zackers's question: I have a Grundig S350DL. Like I said above, pretty basic; not only am I new to this board, I'm new to SWL as well. My antenna is a "loop"--really a square--about 50 feet long. I don't have a whole lot of options where I live; I'm surrounded by buildings and electric wires.
I believe the "in-house transmitter" theory is probably correct. I'm not sure why someone would transmit on a SW frequency, or why they would have their music on at all hours, but there are a lot of weird cats in this city. I could attempt to locate the signal, but at 11,864.4 people per square mile, it might be easier said that done.
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A few comments to FUBAR this whole thing up.
Observations the last two late afternoons have convinced me that at my location I am seeing two carriers. There is a weaker one, typically around 3219.8 +/- change. This carrier seems to be "fairly" stable in frequency, and is usually noted as a faint trace in the waterfall, although it does from time to time diminish in strength, only to reappear. I have not been able to get any audio from this, even in USB, with either the SDR or an R8.
The second carrier I note is always stronger, and lower in frequency. It typically varies during a one hour listening period from a min of about 6219.397 to a max of about 6219.576 and between. I have been able to get trace audio from this, and have been able to ID maybe 10% of the songs.
I use a small loop to DX. I absolutely do not DF pirates, and if I did, I would definitely not put that information into the public domain. The loop is mounted on mast at a fixed (although rotatable) azimuth which benefits my non-pirate targets as well as suppressing QRM from the closest house.
Many of the above comments, especially those by CM and Pigmeat, taken together kind of forced me to believe that this UNID, at least the one I was hearing, was not a pirate, a commercial station or harmonic, or an int'l broadcaster. That left a Part 15 op as a possibility. I supposed that it would be possible for a bit of 2nd harmonic to go NVIS and make it here to Chicago. I did an "exhaustive" search for Part 15s here in the Tri-State area. I realize that they are most likely not all listed, but there were two in the area listed as using 1610. One, in Michigan, had religious programming. The second, near Rock Island IL, had a website with an embedded stream player.
Yesterday afternoon (Thursday 29Mar12) I compared audio from the web stream for the Part 15 to the trace audio on 3219+. Listening to about 15 songs, the audio of about half of what I heard on both the radio and the web stream seemed to jive in their tempos and bass lines. Two songs (Magic Carpet Ride and Bad to the Bone) were definite. A third (Green Onions, unmistakable at any S/N ratio!) I was able to ID via the radio prior to checking the web stream. Dead air between stream songs was consistently and accurately rendered in the SDR waterfall.
I was a little stunned, but convinced that the lower of the 2 carriers was indeed a harmonic of a listed Part 15 named Good Time Oldies 1610 in near Rock Island IL. That being the case, I DFed it. 3 measurements taken over a half hour period of running in and out of the house and manually rotating the loop by hand put this about 5 to 15 estimated degrees South of due West (and also North of due East); Quad Cities.
I repeated this exercise this afternoon (Friday 30Mar12) with the same results. The DFs were the same. Out of twenty songs, I was only able to ID one first via the RF. But it was impossible to mishear Frankie Valli singing "Girl, you make me lose my mind!"
So, I think this may actually make things worse for n8! The playlist and presentation of GTO 1610 does not seem to, at least in this late afternoon time slot, match what he was hearing. I would like to hear GTO far later at night, as possibly he goes off the playbook. It's been a little too noisy the last couple of nights to do this.
There are two carriers there. It may be that I can hear one and not the other, the one that n8 is hearing. And vicey versy...I just dunno. Still need some boots on the ground for the second.
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Joe: Awesome catch & great detective work. I've never heard of a true Part 15 station being heard so far away (whether via a harmonic or the fundamental). It's what, about 150 miles away from you?
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Andrew; thanks, but the credit goes to n8 for a really great log, and the 2 guys I ment for their comments.
You used the term "true Part 15"; On the web site noted above, there is a statement of compliance to Part 15. There is also a link to their coverage map. I don't know know enough about such ops, but the coverage area shore do seem a bit large for legal power and antenna height...
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Great detective work indeed! I'm impressed by your moxie.
But alas! The radio station you posted was not playing the same songs as our mystery broadcaster. (Earlier today--starting at 2323z--the "pirate" played more than an hour of Foreigner songs. That's a lot of Foreigner.)
I'll be very interested to see if Zackers can pick up the signal while he comes through town.
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That pretty much clinches it, I think. Two carriers, and I can't really hear yours here. It must be somewhat local to you. By 2300z, props allowed storm QRM to rise to where I could no longer see "my" UNID, but you were about to get a big block o' Foreigner.
What a long strange trip it's been, and we're only half way there...