Topics

931

Peskies / UNID Portuguese Language 6845 kHz LSB 2300 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2315 UTC »

Frequency: 6845 kHz 6.845 MHz
Mode: LSB
Language: Portuguese
Time: 2300 UTC (creating log at 2314 UTC - 2315 UTC)
Date: 13-SEPT-2017

Here's another new frequency for me.  6845 kHz, LSB mode.  Lots of Portuguese chatter heard here.  After stumbling upon 6868.6 kHz and 6860 kHz, I decided to go a little further down in frequency to see what else I could find.  SIO 333 or so. 

932

Peskies / 6860 kHz LSB UNID Portuguse or Spanish (maybe) 2250 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2251 UTC »

Too much noise to really ID the language here...but 6860 LSB is active with two-way comms (probably Portuguese...that's what my gut is telling me) lots of stations talking over each other but very weak signals overall.  Checked four different remote SDRs and none of them have a better copy. 

933

Peskies / UNID Portuguese Language 6868.6 kHz LSB 2245 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2249 UTC »

Hearing faint Portuguese chatter on yet another easy-to-remember or "cute" frequency / channel designator, that is, 6868.6 kHz, which probably shows up as 6.868.6 MHz or 6,868.6 kHz on their radio displays.  Getting obliterated by ALE soundings and other data bursts but they're definitely there. 

934

Utility / Civil Air Patrol / CAP Net 4636 kHz USB 2240+ UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2244 UTC »

White Peak 4 (net control) station calling White Peak 6 at 2242 UTC, then giving a general call for any other stations at 2243 UTC.  Nothing heard (at least by me and the net control station) for several minutes.  

0039 UTC - discussion of antenna and relaying information from net control station to another station
0040 UTC - reference to "headquarters antenna" and "southeast group antennas"
0041 UTC - further discussion of background noise at antenna installation, radio check with White Peak 30
0042 UTC - "spoke with the Group Commander the other night" - two stations talking about "White Peak 30" and extra transceivers
0042 UTC - talking about radios having the "new frequencies" programmed in an older transceiver
0043 UTC - further discussion of SWR readings on particular antenna system
0044 UTC - "put the other radio on and give a try, over" "we do not have a power cord for it" talk about swapping radios
0045 UTC - "I will have to tell him to talk louder" - stations on first name basis with each other
0046 UTC - ham radio like discussion about issues with old vs. new radio at one station

935

Peskies / UNID Portuguese Language 6935 kHz LSB 2235 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2236 UTC »

Presumed fisheries radio communications 6935 LSB
6935 kHz 6.935 MHz
Portuguese language
Time: 2235 UTC (start of log)
Date: 13-SEPT-2017

Much weaker than the traffic heard on 6925 LSB right now (seriously, those guys are booming in) is some other Portuguese radio chatter, likely pescadores fishing fleet communications on 6935 kHz, LSB mode. 

936

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6910 kHz LSB 2230 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2234 UTC »

6910 kHz 6.910 MHz
Spanish speakers Spanish voices freebander outbander

This frequency is pretty messy, but I am hearing what sounds like Spanish voices on 6910 LSB.  There's a data signal, sounds like ALE sounding, that pops in every once in a while. 

937

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6900 kHz USB 2230 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2231 UTC »

Hearing some faint Spanish voices on 6900 USB this afternoon/evening.  6900 kHz USB is busy at 2230 UTC, nothing seen or heard on 6900 LSB however.

938

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6717 kHz USB 2225 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2227 UTC »

Language: Spanish
Frequency: 6717 kHz 6.717 MHz
Mode: USB
Date: 13 September 2017
Time: 2225 UTC +

SIO 111 really weak copy but I am hearing what sounds like one side of a QSO on 6717 USB.  At 2227 UTC, hearing a second station talking.  Sounds like freebanders to me but very hard to tell due to weak signals.  New frequency logged for me. 

939

Peskies / 6929 kHz LSB vs. 6930 kHz LSB Peskies QRM 13 Sept 2017 2217 UTC+

« on: September 13, 2017, 2221 UTC »

The band is somewhat active this evening, listening to pescadore traffic (in Portuguese) on 6929 kHz LSB and Spanish language freebanders on 6930 kHz LSB just clobbering the hell out of each other's signals.  At 2219 UTC or 2220 UTC the Spanish speakers QSYed or went QRT while the Portuguese speaking stations on 6929 LSB just kept chatting away.

It's always possible that these different groups were skipping over each other and were not suffering from the same QRM it seemed like they were making for themselves.  I have noticed that the "real peskies" (Portuguese speakers, likely from fishing fleets or boats or something like that) use odd frequencies, often with easy-to-remember numerical combinations (6777.7 kHz, 6919 kHz, 6929 kHz, etc) and the freebanders (or most of the Spanish speakers) seem to use 5 kHz CB radio like channel steps.  Of course, there are exceptions to both of these as they're really using any frequency they want but that pattern does appear in this log.

940

Peskies / UNID Portuguese Language 6925 kHz LSB 2200 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2219 UTC »

Started monitoring Spanish language traffic on 6920 USB and noticed strong Portuguese language chatter on 6925 kHz LSB mode.  Sometimes causing major QRM to the somewhat wide banded USB audio signal on 6920 kHz.  

941

Peskies / UNID Radio Checks in Spanish 6920 kHz USB 2215 UTC 13 Sept 2017

« on: September 13, 2017, 2217 UTC »

Spanish language log, radio checks (counting station, OM operator)
6920 kHz 6.920 MHz
USB Mode

Very strong station counting up and down from 0 to 50 and higher/lower numbers each time, followed by "hola! hola! hola!" - then counting up to 100 and then stopping.  Sounds like an operator doing radio checks of some kind.  

SIO 434 or so due to QRM from 6925 kHz LSB and 6922 kHz LSB

942

The RF Workbench / Beacon Project - 26-27 MHz 11 Meter Band Export Radio + Keyer

« on: September 13, 2017, 1806 UTC »

So I found myself thinking about the 11 meter band beacon project again, only this time I'm looking at it at a different angle.  Instead of building a transmitter around a set of crystals or using an old pager transmitter, I'm going to use an export radio.  The radio does have a regular 4-pin microphone connector and a CW key jack on the back.  

I have the following equipment:

*Superstar 3900 transceiver (made in Taiwan, EPT360011Z or EPT3600-11Z main board, built by Ranger/RCI)
frequency coverage 25615-28305 kHz 25.615-28.305 MHz continuously (channelized into 6 bands of 40 channels but has +10 kHz switch and +/- 5 kHz and +/- 1 kHz transmit/receive clairifers
*Antron-99 CB vertical CB antenna (currently in storage but in good condition)
*11 meter dipole antenna kit
*Possible transmit location located on top of an industrial fabrication shop in the downtown area of a medium sized city on the East Coast of the USA, with access to mains (120 Volt AC, 60Hz) power.

My plan is to drop the transmit power of the Superstar 3900 down to 3-4 watts or so to reduce strain on the transmitter.  

The missing piece is the CW generator.  I'm looking for something that doesn't draw a lot of power but will key the radio continuously, without the need for operator intervention.    Does anybody have an experience building a beacon of this type?  I plan on putting the radio on a frequency like 27500 kHz or 27510 kHz (as 27.500 MHz is the commonly accepted frequency for CW activity on 11 meters).  

Anybody have any recommendations or experience putting together a project like this?  I admire the Common and Precious III beacon operating in Europe and want to have a similar beacon operating in my part of the world.  

943

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 AM 1430 UTC 12 SEP 2017

« on: September 12, 2017, 1430 UTC »

UNID pirate station
6925 kHz 6.925 MHz
AM mode

Usually starts around 1430 UTC or 1500 UTC and finishes at 2100 UTC or 2200 UTC


Tuned in to find a carrier on 6925 kHz AM at 1430 UTC.  No modulation or audio noted on the waterfall at 1430 UTC.  Decently strong carrier on NY remote receiver with some fading.  S4 signal with some fades down to S3.  Nice looking carrier on the waterfall, appears to be on exactly 6925.00 kHz or 6925.0 kHz.  Checked a handful of other remote receivers and some have it on 6925.01 kHz, so very much dead-on frequency.  

1432 UTC - still nothing on the carrier :/
1434 UTC - signal down slightly, now closer to S2 with low noise at the moment
1440 UTC - unmodulated carrier still sitting right on 6925 kHz, maybe somebody tuning up (signal is strength is fading up and down rapidly)
1446 UTC - either somebody is doing tests or there's a lot of selective fading, signal up and down - peaking at S5-S6
1456 UTC - big signal increase, went from S3 to S7, still no audio/modulation
1457 UTC - music starts - nice wide signal with strong modulation, around 10 kHz wide
1458 UTC - more selective fading, but can hear OM singing - looks like the daytime powerhouse AM station on 6925 kHz AM
1549 UTC - hearing an OM and a YL talking..."try and find this person" lots of noise now "that means nothing" "you're not a happy person"
1550 UTC - bits and pieces of audio heard, then music started back up again
1551 UTC - checked one of the VA SDRs, showing S6-S7 on VA SDR, S5-S6 on NY SDR, hearing Elvis at 1551 UTC
1552 UTC - Elvis track, can't make out song due to noise
1555 UTC - hearing more music but heavier QRN now making copy harder
1601 UTC - audio from the film "Taxi Driver"
1602 UTC - "when I walked in I could sense it" "did you feel that way?" - voice audio lower than music
1603 UTC - Golden Earring - Twilight Zone
1610 UTC - signal now nearly S9 really strong audio
1611 UTC - "why thank you Travis" - more clips from Taxi Driver, then back to music somewhat abruptly
1619 UTC - faint talking, possibly another audio clip from "Taxi Driver" but hard to tell for sure

944

Shortwave Broadcast / WRMI Off The Air - Hurricane Irma 11 Sept 2017

« on: September 11, 2017, 1848 UTC »

Hearing nothing on the usual 31 meter and 25 meter WRMI frequencies (checked several Internet receivers and my local receivers).

945

Utility / SHARES Region 4 Hurricane Net 4458 kHz USB

« on: September 07, 2017, 0302 UTC »

SHARES HF SSB radio system Hurricane Net - SHARES Region 4. 
Log start: 0255 UTC - 7 SEPT 2017
Frequency: 4458 kHz 4.458 MHz
Mode: USB - SSB voice with tone bursts followed by data transmissions


Possible nighttime frequency for SHARES?  I know they have several 5 and 6 MHz frequencies but this is the first time I've heard them on 4MHz.  4458 kHz USB is also apparently a USAF frequency per Internet searches.  Its also in the same area as several Civil Air Patrol 4 MHz band frequencies used by their regional HF nets. 

AFA4LR (net control) NCS962 and several other stations passing traffic and checking in to SHARES Region 4 Hurricane Net at 0255 UTC Sept 7th, 2017.

Tone + data burst at 0258 UTC, followed by another (different) tone burst and data transmission.  Net control station appears to be sending digital traffic with some sort of selective calling prefix?

AFA4LR calling for additional stations at 0259 UTC.  Nothing heard afterwords.  CODAR or another sort of "swoop swoop swoop" QRM is pretty annoying, peaking at S5.