Messages

1

HF Beacons / Re: Rapid Ditter On 4097.3 & FT8 (?) On 4095

« on: December 13, 2022, 0254 UTC »

I can't hear either signal at 0240 UTC on the KB6C SDR.  The next time I hear the FT8-like signal, I'll time its transmissions, as it may be FT4.

Recently I sent Dennis/KB6C an email thanking him for the use of his excellent SDR in northern Ventura county and got back a pleasant reply.  He also sent a photo of its antenna, a large home-brew 6 to 30mHz discone.

I can't get the [img] feature to load the Imgur.com link of his antenna, so here is the direct link:  https://imgur.com/a/UljqfSi

Here is the link to the KB6C SDR: http://kb6c.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/

2

HF Beacons / Rapid Ditter On 4097.3 & FT8 (?) On 4095

« on: December 12, 2022, 2301 UTC »

This afternoon around 2245z I was using the KB6C Kiwi SDR in Ventura county, which has far better "ears" than my long wire antenna in Santa Barbara. 

The Desert Whooper was coming in fairly well.  On 4097.3 I heard a weak rapid "ditter", which I could also just barely hear on my home station.  Listening also while in the CW mode I heard what sounded like amateur FT8 on 4095, which I could not hear at all on my own station. It was sending a short burst about every 30 seconds. I am set up for FT8 and know that sometimes nearly inaudible FT8 will sometimes decode, so I turned on WSJTX and tried both USB and LSB near that frequency, but could hear or decode nothing.

Both signals are still there on the KB6C SDR at 2300z.

3

HF Beacons / Re: Letter "F" Beacon on 4100.4 @ 0715z

« on: December 06, 2022, 0826 UTC »

Teotwaki, my Icom 7200 read 4100.4.  And... I"ve finally realized its display is about four-tenths of a KC off in the CW mode, thanks to your correction.  Curiously, on SSB it still is correct in its read-out.

No F beacon tonight here in SB...

4

HF Beacons / Letter "F" Beacon on 4100.4 @ 0715z

« on: December 03, 2022, 0724 UTC »

Here in central California I am hearing the letter "F" at about 12wpm CW at 0715z.  Also some Asian langauge QRM on 4100 USB.

Anybody else hearing it?  Evidently it has been on before--last heard about ten months ago.

FWIW, the Desert Whooper is currently weak and I can't here the Coastal Slider at all.

5

Spy Numbers / 6989.2 CW Letter & Number Groups-- 0755 UTC-- 16 SEP 2022

« on: September 16, 2022, 0815 UTC »

Here in central coastal California at 0755 UTC I heard several minutes of a CW transmission that I believe is spy-related.  It was around 20wpm, a little faster than I can reliably copy.  Appeared to be number and letter groups--letters did not seem to be words or usual ham abbreviations, but my fast CW copy is marginal.  Off at 0800 UTC.

6

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Ballsmacker Radio 6960 LSB 0200 UTC 11 Sept 2022

« on: September 11, 2022, 0236 UTC »

S9 in Santa Barbara, in central California.

7

HF Beacons / Coastal Slider Back On 4109.5

« on: April 26, 2022, 0658 UTC »

The Coastal Slider on 4109.5 is back, about S3 here in central California at 0650z.  Wonder what repairs were needed to get it back on the air again?

8

HF Mystery Signals / Re: Carrier on 7033 kHz

« on: April 21, 2022, 0730 UTC »

The 7033 carrier went off two days ago.  According to the above thread on the QRZ forum, the FCC tracked it to a summer cabin owned by a ham in Alma, Colorado.  The carrier was on constantly for about a month.

9

HF Mystery Signals / Re: Carrier on 7033 kHz

« on: April 18, 2022, 0733 UTC »

It's been over a month now, and the 7033 carrier is still there.  Tonight at 0730z I can only hear two signals in the 40 meter CW band here in central California:  the "K" Russian beacon on 7039.2 and the mystery 7033 carrier, which is currently S4.

There's a 25 page discussion about it on the QRZ forum.  Utah or Colorado continues to be the suspected origin.

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/carrier-on-7033-khz-for-3-weeks.808535/

10

HF Beacons / Re: Long Dasher On 4069.4

« on: April 01, 2022, 0713 UTC »

I hope you're right.  I believe both beacons went off the air on the same day central and southern California had a fairly large rainstorm, which might have silenced them.

11

HF Beacons / Long Dasher On 4069.4

« on: March 30, 2022, 0752 UTC »

At 0745z here in Santa Barbara I am hearing a long dasher on 4069.4.  It does not quite have a pure CW note--a pirate beacon or just another utility signal?  It is stronger on the Token SDR and very weak on the KFS omni.

And what happened to the Desert Whooper and Coastal Slider?  No copy either on the usual SDRs.  Perhaps "Uncle Charlie" got tired of the unlicensed fun?

12

HF Beacons / Re: Teotwaki's Evening Beacon Log

« on: March 19, 2022, 0621 UTC »

0600z  --I can't hear the Desert Whooper or Coast Slider from my home in DM04.  I then try Token's Mojave SDR and can't hear them either.  I also tried the KFS Omni, but it does not load.  So I then listened on the N. Utah SDR and could hear both beacons with no problems.

It appears signals are "going long" tonight.

FWIW, I heard some fast 20+ WPM CW on 4101.4 fairly strong on the N. Utah SDR and much weaker on my own station.  Too fast for me to pick out more than a few letters.  4100 USB has weak Asian language.

13

HF Beacons / Re: 4107.8 slow dasher

« on: March 17, 2022, 0930 UTC »

Guess this is is is a utility signal of some kind.

On the KFS Omni at 0430z there were two long dashers at 4108 and 4109 going at the same time.  When dashing there was also a fairly wide digital signal on either side--strange.

At 0925z on the KFS Omni the 4108 and 4109 dashers are still going, but the nearby digital signal is gone.

14

HF Beacons / Re: "5 Dits And A Dah"--4108.0 0730z --New Beacon?

« on: March 16, 2022, 0731 UTC »

Tonight at 0715z I am again hearing a beacon on 4108.  About every six seconds it sends either two "dahs" or one "dah".  It is very weak here in Santa Barbara and the N. Utah SDR.  On both the KFS Omni and KFS SE SDR it is a little stronger, about S4.

15

HF Beacons / Re: "5 Dits And A Dah"--4108.0 0730z --New Beacon?

« on: March 11, 2022, 0649 UTC »

Thanks!  I have a weird work schedule working 3 to 11pm and I often unwind after work spinning the VFO knob on my Icom 7200.  Around midnight local time (0800z) appears to be a good time to be beacon DXing. 

When I was learning CW thirty years ago to get my Novice ham ticket, I especially appreciated slow CW beacons on the air because most ham CW QSOs were too fast and/or poorly sent for me to copy.  So 30 years later I still look for them.  I'm also glad that 10 meters and its many propagation beacons are again active.