Messages

1141

Utility / 8.776MHz USB 1945-2015z.

« on: March 02, 2016, 2023 UTC »

Someone had already posted this a week or so back but it was moved and I cannot find it.  Around 1945z a female announcer appeared and it appears she is reading news, not Volmet, not maritime, continuous transmission which switched to a male announcer around 2000z.  No music, no station jingle, just continuous reading with no interruptions.

Transmission was terminated at 2015z, hard to understand what language through the noise here as it peaked 4X5 at best.  From what I could pick it sounds like Spanish from Latin America as I thought I heard "
Argentina" mentioned a couple of times but not positive.

Maybe this is a relay (akin to Armed Forces) to some outpost? Will keep an eye on this and hope to ident when signal is better, thunderstorm season here doesn't help with static levels a five.

FT-2000D to 200 feet of wire, 3,654 feet ASL 127kms west of Sydney, Australia.

1142

Fishing Drift Net Beacons / Re: Two beacons on 27MHz CW, mystery? Can anyone id location/purpose for me?

« on: February 29, 2016, 0856 UTC »

Just had 5ABH come in today (Monday 29th Feb 2016) for a good seven and a half hours with signal ranging from 419 to 569 report on 27.878MHz CW, however, no sign of IR2 down on 27.003MHz CW.

A friend of mine in Taiwan suggested that these beacons maybe "Master Beacons" established by a fishing company (Taiwan, Japan, South Korea etc) to indicate to trawler captains if there is propagation to a certain area and thus indicating if they should/can hear own their drift net beacons.

Seems to make sense as these beacons have been on air for a number of years now, if they were a drift net beacon they would have periods of non transmission as the beacon and nets would have been hauled aboard the trawler. 

Maybe the beacons are set up in some small island country, CB antenna, solar panel to a battery and low power beacon keyer common on amateur radio.

I tend to go along with the Master Beacon theory, which would explain their presence for a number of years now and seemingly running 24 hours...

1143

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter DX Logs Sporadic-E Skip Conditions 24 February 2016 02/24/2016

« on: February 29, 2016, 0846 UTC »

Thanks, I have heard quite a lot of Central & South American stations on 11m, especially on 27.555MHz USB, also many from the Caribbean and Cuba too. 

I was a CB pirate back in the 1970's before I was a radio amateur in 1975, was in the Earth, Whiskey and Alfa Tango.  Used to run a full Yaesu outfit for many years, started with a FT-200 (black cabinet) then had a full Yaesu FT-101E series station complete with FL-2100B etc.

I like listening to the regulars on 27.025MHz AM, especially John Deere and Magnolia, big signals with big opinions...

1144

Equipment / Re: Yaesu FT-1000D Receiver failure...

« on: February 29, 2016, 0840 UTC »

Trawling through the rather cumbersome FT-1000D Service Manual I found a Lamp Fuse F-9801 on the BPF-1 board option so after a lot of fiddling and jiggling about removed said board and found said F-9801 hidden under a small board mounted on the main, Fuse Lamp looks good, not clouded, and wires inside appear to be fine.

Fired up the radio minus the BPF-1 option receiver board and still the same, dead as from one end of the bands to the other, next step?  RX-2 board looks like the next stop but not looking forward in the task of extracting it, wish me luck...

1145

Equipment / Re: Yaesu FT-1000D Receiver failure...

« on: February 27, 2016, 0900 UTC »

Thanks for the insight, cannot find a inbuilt lamp/fuse that protects the front end, my IC-736 base set had one of those but this radio does not appear to have one either externally or internally.  Don't think RF overload was the cause from another radio transmitter as I live in a isolated area with a population of around 200 all on large land tracts. No other radio enthusiasts around here, although there is another radio amateur six kilometers from here but he is not very active.

Lightning strike may be a possibility as I am at 3,654 feet ASL and thunderstorms are regular here, what ever it was happened while the set was off and I was at work.  The only antenna that was plugged in was 200 feet of plastic coated wire strung through the trees for my Low Wave DXing on the NavAids NDB band. 

The receiver is working, noise comes from the speaker but no signals at all across the bands, will have to investigate the Service Manual a little more when I get the time, it's a huge read and a little all over the place.  I managed to download the Service Manual in PDF with no problems from a Yaesu users web site, Fox Tango, I think.

May have another poke around tomorrow and remove the under section, only have the top cover off at present, your input much appreciated...

1146

Other / Re: UNID 8776 usb 1957 2/8/16

« on: February 27, 2016, 0442 UTC »

I quite often come across stations in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia talking on SSB right across 8MHz, some are inter-island radio (Philippines & Indonesia) and some are commercial (Japan).  Many of these stations are illegal as they are quite often adjacent to maritime and aviation frequencies.

Have made note of 8.776MHz USB and will check it out from time to time and see what I can hear from Australia....

1147

Equipment / Yaesu FT-1000D Receiver failure...

« on: February 27, 2016, 0436 UTC »

Came home from work the other day and turned on the FT-1000D Yaesu only to find the receiver totally dead, and I mean dead!  Radio transmits OK and everything else works fine except for the receiver, you can VFO from 250KHz to 30MHz and nothing all the way.

I have had this radio since purchased new in 1991 and it has never given an ounce of trouble to me so I guess I can say that I have had a fairly decent run out of it?  Done the following so far:

*    No burning or burnt smell under the top cover.

*    Antenna's are all fine, they work well on the FT-2000D so it's the FT-1000D receiver that has failed.

*    Checked for dry joints & loose connections in and around the two SO-239 inlets (the set has the BPF-1 option installed since new).

*    Tried swapping antenna access from direct to via the BPF-1 option, nil.

It is so cramped inside that radio I don't want to start taking things apart any more than required, so just a basic spot checking so far.  Have downloaded the FT-1000D Service Manual and found it not to be all that helpful, also would need a full bench of test gear, something I do not have.

One option would be to take out the BPF-1 option and see if that may be the problem and if the receiver comes back to life with the BPF-1 removed? 

Checked out numerous web sites but have not come across any one with a total receiver failure in an FT-1000D, so can the collective minds here can be pooled with some suggestions?  Would be much appreciated.  Look-Glass.

1148

10/11 meters / Re: 11 meter DX Logs Sporadic-E Skip Conditions 24 February 2016 02/24/2016

« on: February 27, 2016, 0426 UTC »

American CB heard quite strong at Mount Piddington (127kms west of Sydney) from 2200z Saturday 26th Feb 2016 with 27.025MHz AM the best performer, stations noted:

John Deere

Witch Doctor

Magnolia

West Side

Mod Squad

Some strong Hawaiian stations were noted at the same time on 27.085MHz AM talking to west coast USA, some very big signals suggesting some very big linear amplifiers being employed? 

1149

Fishing Drift Net Beacons / Re: Two beacons on 27MHz CW, mystery? Can anyone id location/purpose for me?

« on: February 27, 2016, 0419 UTC »

The mystery surrounding 5ABH & IR2 deepens, I had two friends who live on Guam Island check out both beacons and they found the following, using tri-band HF beams:

5ABH  27.878MHz  CW   160 and 170deg from Guam for maximum signal.

IR2     27.003MHz  CW  180deg from Guam for maximum signal.

That places the two beacons between Papua New Guinea and the southern fringes of Micronesia.  5ABH was last heard here yesterday at 0300z 539 report, IR2 also yesterday 519 report.

Slowly getting there I guess...

1150

Fishing Drift Net Beacons / Re: Two beacons on 27MHz CW, mystery? Can anyone id location/purpose for me?

« on: January 27, 2016, 0425 UTC »

R4002, I think you are near the target, China does run it's own show on HF with scant regard to international spectrum allocations.  CB radio in Australia on 27MHz is dying away, empty channels are common in the major cities, back in the late 70's through to the early 1990's CB was everywhere on 27MHz, CB shops have also disappeared in Australia.  UHF CB is reasonably popular in Australia and although not heavily populated there are plenty of repeaters to chat on.

In our mornings here I also have a listen to 27.025MHz AM and cannot believe the massive signals from some stations in the USA, Switchblade, John Deere, Magnolia and West Side seem to dominant 025 AM, they must be running the Full Gallon (1 Kw) and probably more.  Same applies to 27.085MHz AM which the group mentioned alternate between, some big signals from Hawaii also on 27.085MHz AM during our afternoons, sometimes 10dB over on the meter.

Amazed how many old fashioned Radio Telephones still in operation in the Philippines too, mostly between 16.100 to 16.700MHz USB unscrambled, broken English, Tagalog and sometimes English used, very strong here at night. 

The allocation 25-29MHz in this region is full of Indonesian, Japanese, Burmese and Philippine AM stations, some are fishing trawlers, taxi cabs, trucking companies, inter-island trading companies and other little businesses, I don't think Indonesia has any spectrum enforcement, any thing goes 25-29MHz.

New Zealand CB is still on the 26MHz part of the band, but like Australia, has decreased in popularity over the years, truck drivers can be heard on 26.450MHz AM CB when the band is open.  Most Australian truckers are on UHF CB, very few on 27MHz these days.

1151

Fishing Drift Net Beacons / Re: Two beacons on 27MHz CW, mystery? Can anyone id location/purpose for me?

« on: January 26, 2016, 0842 UTC »

Thanks for you input gentlemen, however, the general opinion is that they are not related to fishing beacons, I have debated this with some friends in Japan, Philippines and Australia and the reason being:

1.   They have been on for a number of years, fishing beacons come and go, these are consistent and are there every time the band is open.

2.   My friend in the Philippines has the best beam heading having 5ABH as in China, he says the Chinese are up to weird things across the HF spectrum.

3.   The beam heading to China is consistent, if they were fishing net beacons drifting about the heading would change.

4.   Fishing beacons on 27MHz often have two, three or four on the same frequency, 5ABH and IR2 are on stand alone frequencies and have never been joined by other beacons.

Token may be close as the callsigns he has mentioned for 1.7MHz comes close to 5ABH, also the transmission format is identical too.  There is also 4IBH on or around 27.385MHz CW, stand alone frequency also heard in Victoria and Tasmania over the past few years, I am yet to hear this on to date.

Thanks to R4002 for that listing, will have a look for those from time to time, the mystery continues, personally, I think there is more to them than simple old fishing beacons...

1152

Longwave Loggings / Re: Winter 2016 NDB Logs

« on: January 24, 2016, 0819 UTC »

Great list and some good distances, here in Australia they are gradually closing down the aero NDB beacons, May 2016 will see many more go off the air, pity, as I love my NDB DXing.  No two monitoring sessions are ever the same with the NDB's.

Just using an old Yaesu FT-1000D and 240 feet of wire running around my land nearly in a cube shape, New Zealand is the only big DX so far here with best distance so far to 382KHz WU Wanganui for 2,312kms, best local distance within Australia is to 356KHz TN Tindal NT for 2,797kms.

Keep up the good monitoring...

1153

10/11 meters / Clandestine 27MHz CW beacons...

« on: January 24, 2016, 0516 UTC »

"5ABH"  27.878MHz  CW  Transmits "5ABH" three times, then tail, then keys off for four minutes, hence sequence, been around for over 2 to 3 years. Last heard 23rd January 2016 539 report 0410z.

"IR2"     27.003MHz  CW  Transmits "IR2" three times, then tail, then keys off for four minutes, hence sequence, been around for over two to three years.  Last heard 23rd January 2016 569 report 0345z.

"4IBH"   27.385MHz  CW  Not personally heard by me but reported by others in Australia coming from Asia, some format as 5ABH & IR2, so probably some group.

Some radio friends in Asia say the beam heading suggests China, not in Japan nor Philippines.  Could be university propagation beacon?  Military beacon?  Possibly from Asiatic Russia?  Not coming from Pacific region or North/South America, only heard during daylight hours on 11m when band open to Asia.

Google and other net searches has given me a zero result, someone must know these mystery beacons?  Jack, Mount Piddington NSW (Yaesu FT-1000D, multi vertical & 240 random wire)

1154

Fishing Drift Net Beacons / Two beacons on 27MHz CW, mystery? Can anyone id location/purpose for me?

« on: January 24, 2016, 0507 UTC »

Over the past two years I have been hearing "5ABH" on 27.878MHz CW during daylight hours here, it transmits "5ABH" three times in CW then a tail then keys off for four minutes, runs on a four minute cycle. 

It is not in Australia, the Pacific Islands or USA region but somewhere in Asia, a friend in the Philippines says he has it beaming to China best.  Three friends in Japan have confirmed it's not in Japan either.  It is not a Drift Net or other fishing beacon, been on too long for that.

My friends in Japan said it could be a university "propagation beacon" or a spy beacon from either China, Vietnam or Asiatic Russia etc.

"5ABH" also has a sister by way of "IR2" CW on 27.003MHz same transmission format and has been around for a number of years.  There have been reports of "4IBH" on 27.385MHz CW also heard in Australia during daylight hours from the north, it has the same cycle/format as "5ABH".  I have yet to hear this one.

Both 5ABH & IR2 were last heard yesterday, Saturday 23rd January 2016 during an Asian opening.

Google searching and looking at other Utility DXing web sites have given me not one clue.

Any one help?  73 Jack Mt Piddington, NSW, Australia (Yaesu FT-1000D to multi band vertical and 240 feet random wire.)