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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