Messages

2161

Peskies / Siberian Village Radio 3 MHz Band AM 3053 kHz, 3104 kHz, 3127 kHz, 3158 kHz

« on: July 14, 2017, 1848 UTC »

Thank you for the additional web SDR links, I've added them to my "international SDR" bookmark folder.

I am currently (1800 UTC) switching between the Swedish remote SDR (SK3W KiwiSDR) and the Russian one in grid square NO14nv.

There are several AM QSOs going on at the same time around 3 MHz.  One very strong (S9+10) signal around 3152 kHz (the transmitters are not all on exactly the same frequency).  The powerful one is on 3152.1 kHz, and the one he's talking to (S8 signal) is transmitting on 3152.7 kHz.  But that doesn't matter with AM anyway.  A third station is on 3152.3 kHz.  Speaking Russian.  Very informal sounding.  Sort of reminds me of the Russian taxi traffic heard in the 25-30 MHz area, only a bit more "laid back" and only OMs are heard.  The 3152 kHz stations were consistently the strongest and most active at least in the 1800 + UTC time frame.  

Other frequencies noted on the SDRs, all in AM mode:

3022 kHz - 3022.1 kHz, weak AM voice traffic heard
3050 kHz - 3048.9 kHz, 3050.0 kHz, 3050.8 kHz (with drift from 3050.6 kHz to 3051.0 kHz)
3055 kHz - 3055.3 kHz
3060 kHz - 3059.5 kHz, 3060.1 kHz, 3061.0 kHz, also with lots of drift
3077 kHz - 3076.8 kHz, weak station causing QRM to SSB traffic on 3075 kHz
3082 kHz - 3081.1 kHz, 3081.5 kHz, 3082.4 kHz, 3082.5 kHz, all seemed to be talking to each other (lots of frequency drift!)
3084 kHz - "main" station is on 3083.7 kHz, but another AM carrier was noted on 3084.1 kHz w/data link QRM
3098 kHz - another weak net here, 3097.8 kHz, 3097.9 and 3098.1 noted
3110 kHz - 3110.1 kHz, 3110.4 kHz, etc - weak, but active QSO heard
3112 kHz - 3111.7 kHz, weak but readable AM audio here (much weaker than the stations around 3114 kHz)
3114 kHz - 3113.8 kHz (somebody doing a radio check, powerful S9 to S9+10 signal)
3126 kHz - 3126.1 kHz, 3126.2 kHz, the station on 3126.2 kHz was very loud, strong S9 signal
3136 kHz - 3136.1 kHz - much weaker
3140 kHz - only one station logged here
3142 kHz - 3141.9 kHz, but weak.
3152 kHz - 3154 kHz - 3152.2 kHz, 3152.5 kHz - very strong.  Possibly the same "net" as the 3153.9 kHz an 3154.2 kHz stations
3154 kHz - 3153.9 kHz, 3154.2 kHz, AM QSO in progress, later noted a signal on 3154.8 kHz and 3155.5 kHz (S9+20db!)  
3160 kHz - signals on 3159.9 kHz, 3160.6 kHz, and a very strong signal on 3159.6 kHz
3163 kHz - signals on 3162.7 kHz, 3163.1 kHz
3196 kHz - 3195.5 kHz, 3196.0 kHz both noted (weak)
3210 kHz - 3210.3 kHz, 3210.4 kHz, 3210.5 kHz

Many of them exhibit the "swinging onto frequency" characteristic secretsquirrel noted, sometimes to an extreme amount.  

SSB traffic noted on the following frequencies, also in Russian (or Russian sounding language)

3075 kHz USB - scrambled traffic, similar to 3178 kHz (with AM heterodyne QRM from 3076.8 kHz)
3178 kHz USB - scrambled traffic, possibly fishing fleets?  Russian fishing boats have been known to use analog "scramblers"
3270 kHz USB - OM and YL having a QSO, S7 to S9 signals with good audio for both stations

CW traffic noted on:

3246.5 kHz - strong signal, heard clearly underneath Pyongyang Broadcasting Station / PBS North Korea DPRK PBS on 3250 kHz

Broadcast stations noted on the following frequencies:

2850 kHz AM - Korean Central Broadcasting System KCBS Pyongyang - Pyongyang transmitter 50 kW - very good signal
3250 kHz AM - Pyongyang Broadcasting Station - but bad copy due to heterodyne QRM from 3255 kHz AM and CW on 3246.5 kHz
3255 kHz AM - BBC via Meyerton transmitter (100 kW) - S2-S3, weak with heavy QRM from North Korea PBS on 3250 kHz
3320 kHz AM - Pyongyang Broadcasting Station - North Korea / DPRK (Korean language) - same broadcast as 3250 kHz
3480 kHz AM - Voice of Korea, S9+20 signal good audio, het QRM from carriers on 3478.9 kHz, 3479.5 kHz and odd signal on 3485.2 kHz
3485 kHz AM - UNID, S7 signal, "wobble" sound, possibly a jammer? (frequency is closer to 3485.2 kHz)

2162

Peskies / Re: 3.053 MHz AM / 3053 kHz - 3104 kHz 3127 kHz 3158 kHz all AM

« on: July 14, 2017, 0404 UTC »

Awesome. The Russian version of "village radio", that matches up with the transmitters being old tube type military gear.  Interesting that the article mentions use of SSB and narrow band FM (NFM or NBFM) in addition to regular old AM. 

2163

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Clever Name Radio 6940 USB 2059 UTC 13 Jul 2017

« on: July 13, 2017, 2111 UTC »

Clever Name Radio 6.940 MHz USB 6940 kHz USB

Tuned in to 6940 kHz USB at 2108 UTC to hear "Purple Haze" booming in!  Some minor fading.  S4 signal with some peaks to S5.  

Data burst QRM from time to time, pretty severe at 2110 for a few seconds, then disappeared.  

2111 UTC - tones fading in and out for a bit, then back to music at
2112 UTC - more music - fading has become basically nil here in Virginia.  Good sounding signal!
2113 UTC - signal dipped down a few S-units, now S2-S3, but still readable. Seems like the data signal has moved up to 6970 kHz or so
2120 UTC - Lenny Kravitz - American Woman (cover) - signal is now a solid S3, some peaks back up to S4

2164

10/11 meters / Legal CB Band DX Activity Legal 40 Mid Band CB 13 July 2017

« on: July 13, 2017, 2106 UTC »

Started listening at around 2000 UTC / 1600 local time

While the out of band frequencies (freeband CB frequencies) appear to be quiet (at least for me) - there are lots of stations working skip on the various legal 40 CB channels, including the always-busy 27.025 MHz AM CB channel 6 The Superbowl and the other main AM calling channels, as well as the SSB CB calling channel 38 frequency 27385 LSB.  CH 38 LSB is also used by locals as a "stand by" channel, and then they often QSY to an out-of-band frequency if channel 38 LSB is busy. 

CB Channel 11 CH11 27.085 MHz - the original AM calling channel from the 23 channel days - very busy
CB Channel 13 CH13 27.115 MHz - not as busy as 11 but still active
CB Channel 19 CH19 27.185 MHz - trucker channel / highway channel, very high noise level but can hear DX on top of it sometimes
CB Channel 22 CH22 27.225 MHz - local channel with locals working DX (heard one of the louder locals working Chicago)
CB Channel 26 CH26 27.265 MHz - Seems to be slightly more sane and professional than channels 6 and 11
CB Channel 28 CH28 27.285 MHz - Alternate to channel 26 / 27.265 MHz
CB Channel 31 CH31 27.315 MHz - Also one of the locally active channels
CB Channel 38 CH38 LSB 27.385 MHz LSB - US stations working DX stateside USA American CB DX channel

2165

Peskies / Re: UNID Spanish Speaking 6858.50 kHz USB 0015 UTC 13July 2017

« on: July 13, 2017, 2057 UTC »

Thanks for catching this one, Traveling Wave!  Another example of the pescadores or freebanders using "offset" or point five frequencies.  I've logged 6771.5 kHz, 6772.5 kHz, 6936.5 kHz and 6956.5 kHz and there's probably others.  6858.5 kHz is another example of an easy to remember frequency (like the log for 15151.5 kHz, 6969.6 kHz, etc) Lots of repeating digits makes it easy to remember. 

2166

Peskies / Re: 3.053 MHz AM / 3053 kHz - 3104 kHz 3127 kHz 3158 kHz all AM

« on: July 13, 2017, 2053 UTC »

Around what time do you hear them?  I'll try and catch them on the remote SDR you linked sometime.  Interesting that they're still using AM.  But since you've noticed the carriers swing onto frequency when they transmit, they could be using old military radios (as you say).

If they're stronger in Sweden, I wonder if these transmissions are coming from Portuguese fishing fleets operating close to Western Europe.

2167

10/11 meters / Spanish language 11 meter DX Free Band 27 MHz Skip 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 2127 UTC »

Hearing Spanish traffic on the following frequencies:

27435 kHz USB - 27.435 MHz USB - Weak Spanish language traffic heard here
27455 kHz USB - 27.455 MHz USB - Latin American 11 meter calling frequency (almost exclusively Spanish language heard here)
27535 kHz LSB - 27.535 MHz LSB - Faint Spanish language speaking traffic heard here
27535 kHz USB - 27.535 MHz USB - Distorted audio, but I can make it out as Spanish
27540 kHz USB - 27.540 MHz USB - Spanish language heard here, likely stations QSYed from 27.555 MHz USB
27675 kHz USB - 27.675 MHz USB - Sporadic voice traffic heard, SIO 111 at best
27695 kHz LSB - 27.695 MHz LSB - appears to be the primary frequency, or at least the strongest/busiest frequency
27705 kHz LSB - 27.705 MHz LSB - nearly as busy as 27.695 LSB
27755 kHz LSB - 27.755 MHz LSB - only hearing one station talking on this frequency, probably just one side of a QSO

2168

10/11 meters / Latin American 11m DX Spanish on 27.695 MHz LSB 27695 kHz LSB 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 2121 UTC »

Date: 07/11/2017 - 11/07/2017 July 11th, 2017. 
Time: starting at 2120 UTC
Frequency: 27.695 MHz - 27695 kHz 27.695.0 MHz
Mode: LSB

Receiver:  Superstar 3900 (EPT3600-11B board, 1980s vintage version, made in Philippines)
Antenna:  President Texas 1800 POWER - 7/8 wave mobile antenna

Hearing some strong Spanish speaking traffic on 27.695 MHz LSB, one of the more common frequencies for SS traffic to be heard.  Lots of switching between LSB and USB for these guys.  Sounds a lot like the stations heard on 6900 kHz LSB and other 43 meter band frequencies.  Slight overmodulation noted at 2121 UTC.  Station welcoming another station to the frequency, giving signal report and callsign (numerical). 

2169

10/11 meters / Truckers outside CB band 26.655 MHz AM 26665 kHz AM 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 2115 UTC »

Hearing two operators (sounds like truckers, going by the conversation topics) chatting away on 26.655 MHz AM.  Lots of echo/reverb on the stronger of the two stations.  No roger beeps heard, and unable to get any info on where these guys are at.  SIO 444 for the stronger signal.  Decent modulation, nice strong audio but not overmodulated or distorted.  Mention of "got everything hooked up...we got it 'in-line' again" (likely a reference to an amplifier).

2170

10/11 meters / 26.855 MHz AM - 26855 kHz AM Freeband 11 Meter DX Skip 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 2113 UTC »

Hearing at least three different stations talking about "individual cups" and "had a wooden paddle with it" "that little cardboard little box" some item that used to cost 59 cents.  Something about wooden paddles.  Another station underneath a stronger station now at 2110 UTC.  Southern accents.  Lots of signals in the legal 40 CB channels.

"down here in Texas" heard at 2111 UTC, followed by a station calling out the "home boy channel" bleedover from channel 6 / the superbowl / 27.025 MHz AM 27025 AM.  "We got a few big radios....[faded out]"  Lots of QSB at 2112 UTC.  Sounds like a local or regional channel, like a lot of these "lowers" frequencies that pop up during band openings.  Lots of complaints about bleedover from nearby channels.  Seems like most, or all, of these stations are coming out of Texas. 

2171

10/11 meters / 11 Meter Band DX Skip 27MHz Band Activity 1630-1645 UTC 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 1645 UTC »

Seems like some Sporadic-E propagation, 11 meter DX 27 MHz band skip propagation free band freeband CB radio 11m

15 minutes of monitoring, starting at 1630 UTC and ending at 1645 UTC. 

26.105 MHz / 26105 AM - Truckers, busy with heavy QRM at points (US stations, EE English speaking)
26.135 MHz / 26135 AM - English language, likely also truckers
26.375 MHz / 26375 AM - Spanish language, very heavy QSB fading
26.515 MHz / 26515 AM - English language, Southern US accents - possibly a local net (similar traffic noted on this frequency before)
26.735 MHz / 26735 AM - Truckers, lots of fading
26.775 MHz / 26775 AM - Florida, Texas and several other southern US states heard working DX
26.885 MHz / 26885 AM - "557 North Carolina" and dozens of other stations from Southern USA booming in nicely
26.915 MHz / 26915 AM - Very busy, mostly southern US with some heavy QRM
26.945 MHz / 26945 AM - Stations shooting DX
26.955 MHz / 26955 AM - Sounds like truckers, talking about spring-loaded clamps?
26.965-27.405 MHz - all channels busy, suffering from heavy splatter from 27.025 / 27025 channel 6 mess
27.420 MHz / 27420 LSB - English language
27.425 MHz / 27425 LSB - English language
27.440 MHz / 27440 LSB - "Number 1 Central Florida"
27.455 MHz / 27455 USB - Heavy QRM - Spanish, with English speaking OM "yes, QSY, give me a frequency!"
27.465 MHz / 27465 LSB - Northwestern Illinois working an unheard station
27.475 MHz / 27475 USB - 2W294 194 Running a Galaxy 2517 working a Moonraker on the tower, working several stations
 

2172

Peskies / UNID Unknown Language 6956.5 kHz USB 0430+ UTC 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 0439 UTC »

Sounds like Portuguese but it could be Italian for all I know.  6956.5 kHz USB.  6.956.5 MHz USB

Not 100% sure this is Portuguese, as the signals are quite weak.  Seems like all the Spanish speaking freeband nets on 6900 kHz and other frequencies have disappeared.  Reminds me of the Portuguese speaking traffic often heard on 6919 kHz, 6925 kHz, and a bunch of other frequencies.  They are using 6956.5 kHz, which is interesting. 

2173

Peskies / Re: 6.990MHz LSB / 6990 kHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

« on: July 11, 2017, 0403 UTC »

R4002 & others:

In essence when all is taken into account and given the due consideration it deserves it's just Indonesian pirate operators mucking about in a form of "Claytons CB Radio" in a world of Play Wireless etc.

Someone mentioned awhile back, it may have been you R4002 or Token, due to poor propagation on 25-30MHz a lot of "Freeband" style operators have made the migration south frequency wise (6MHz for example).  More evident in Latin America and parts of EU.

Spectrum Anarchy is alive and well it seems with authorities in all countries concerned doing sweet FA about it.  It amazes me how the Indonesians get away with it on the upper 8MHz aviation section.  There is a group every opening on 8.831MHz yakking away with Flight Watch in Brisbane working traffic on same.  

The Indonesian version of the FCC would take years to clean them up, hundreds of isolated islands make up Indonesia, many don't have air services and rely on sporadic shipping services.  Then again, with bribery and corruption part of the Indonesian culture in government many would be protected by way of financial back handers.

I guess if an aircraft crashes and kills scores of passengers due to the pilot experiencing interference on the channel from the Indo's etc they may get off the clackers and actually do something?

What transceivers are they running?  Converted amateur gear or cheap junk box 0-30MHz transceivers from China?  Some of the Indonesian signals here are very strong and have excellent audio (ideal for chanting) suggesting good quality equipment. Very little bleed over/splatter noticed on many so quality gear?

Guess we can close the book on the Indonesian chanters, thanks all for your investigating, especially Omega who found info via the VKlogger, good research!  

In regards to the interference with aeronautical HF communications, I remember reading somewhere about the Cuban numbers station HM01 causing interference to one of the Caribbean sector frequencies and the controller had to request that all aircraft QSY to an alternate frequency.  Although there's a difference between a 10 kHz wide AM signal transmitted at hundreds of kW and a SSB voice signal transmitted at the most maybe 1-2 kW (but probably more like 100 watts) but still.  

I can say with 99% certainty that several of the Latin American operators I've heard chatting in the 6-7 MHz region have also been heard (by me, and likely a bunch of other people) on various 11 meter freeband frequencies.  I've seen several YouTube videos of stations on some of these 11m free band frequencies, namely 26.225 MHz USB, 27.455 MHz USB and of course 27.555 MHz USB and they're using various higher-end HF amateur radio rigs, all the name brands can be found, Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, Alinco, all the big ones.   I know the markets are flooded with cheap Chinese CB radios that do 25.615-30.105 MHz out of the box, with more expensive ones doing SSB in addition to AM/FM.  

Some of these guys are running HF equipment that would leave most ham operators jealous.  Others are using open-banded "10 meter" radios and others are likely using marine SSB equipment or maybe even old military gear.  I know there has to be at least some old HF military equipment floating around that part of the world, and most of the older-generation gear (for the US anyway) didn't even cover the whole 2-30 MHz band, some of it stopped at 12 MHz, others stopped at 18 MHz Vietnam War era HF military radios did have SSB (I think the more common ones only had USB/CW or USB/AM/CW, so that doesn't match with these guys using LSB).

Anyway, the AN/PRC-74, AN/PRC-74A (2-12 MHz) and the AN/PRC-74B as well as AN/PRC-74C (2-18 MHz) were USB/CW only, but can apparently be modified to transmit in LSB mode as well.  Bigger base station military radios like the Collins series and the AN/GRC-106 radios (which does cover 2-30 MHz, again only in USB/CW) transmit considerably higher power, up to 400 watts PEP SSB power for the GRC-106 HF radio.  The more modern HF military equipment does 2-30 MHz in 1 kHz steps, often with LSB included on the mode switch...I don't see it as being to far-fetched for a village to have re-purposed surplus or simply left-behind military radio equipment for use as their "village radio".

Of course, its a lot easier to get a full band 160-10 meter HF ham radio, do the "freeband" or MARS/CAP mod, and then use any frequency you want.  I think this is the most likely option.  That, and at least some of these stations are licensed amateurs who use the amateur frequencies when they want to, and bootleg in the freeband frequencies (or, you know, the safety of life radio service frequencies...) when they want.  As you mention, they're isolated and live in a world where cops are underpaid and corruption is common.  There are lots of cheap junk box transceivers from China, but I haven't come across too many full band HF ones.  "CB" equipment that covers roughly 25-30 MHz, and VHF/UHF equipment...well that's another story.  I've seen several listings for radios on Chinese vendor's websites - a lot of these guys think "HF" is the 66-88 MHz VHF mid band, and "CB" is 25615-30105.    Do a Google search for radios like the CRE 8900 (also known as the Alinco DR-135CB, Alinco DR-135UK, and Alinco DR-10), the Anytone AT-5555 series (known under about three dozen other brand names and model numbers), the Anytone AT-5555N (completely different radio from the AT-5555), Anytone AT-6666, Anytone Apollo II, the Nanfone radios, and dozens and dozens of other makes and models - all coming out of China.

2174

Utility / Halifax CANFORCE wrkng aircraft 6855 kHz USB 0040 UTC 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 0041 UTC »

Hearing some military two-way comms on 6855 kHz USB.  Station HALIFAX working an aircraft station (wasn't able to copy any sort of ID or callsign due to heavy fading).

2175

Peskies / Re: UNID Spanish Language 6900 kHz LSB 0000 UTC 11 July 2017

« on: July 11, 2017, 0025 UTC »

Tuned back in to 6900 kHz - 6.900 MHz - LSB mode this time (Yes, I know, I logged traffic on 6900 USB, but 6900 kHz USB is now quiet).

Tuned back in at 0023 UTC.  Hearing two or three stations (at least) talking about various things.  Seems to be another one of these "roundtable" ragchew like nets with the QSO being controlled by a net control station, even if its just an informal one.  Talking about conditions on other bands, specific mention of 11 meters being open earlier.  Haven't heard any names or locations in the past few minutes.  Minor summer season static crashes.  Somebody whistling into their mic at 0025 UTC.