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976

Peskies / 6900 kHz USB 6.900 MHz USB Spanish Language Net 29 August 2017

« on: August 29, 2017, 1414 UTC »

Lots of two-way voice traffic in the 6800-7000 kHz range this morning (US east coast time) 1330 UTC+ (making this post and listening to 6900 kHz USB at 1408 UTC).  Hearing several stations talking on 6900 USB (not unusual any time of the day or night, although they seem to like using 6900 LSB).  Station tuning up or whistling into microphone at 1409 UTC.  Mention of "el Yagi" which points to freebanders chatting away instead of a more organized net (PEMEX, etc) although its hard to tell.  I can see that 6950 kHz USB is still active along with the MARS guys going strong on 6968.5 USB.  

6900 USB seems to continue to be freebanders, lots of ham radio like idle banter about radio topics, stations "checking in" and getting signal reports at 1411 UTC.  Another whistle-into-the-microphone tune up at 1411 UTC followed by more chatter.

Right now my vote is for regular old amateurs operating out of band or somebody in a village somewhere with an HF radio setup...the line could easily be blurred...in the remote regions of Mexico, who really cares if the taxicab company operating on 11 meters has a license or if the guy chatting on 6900 USB is a ham or not.  I suppose it also blurs the line between professional nets operating in this range and straight up pirates.  Discussion about family issues and housing was occurring at tune-in.  Who's to say the radio operator on the PEMEX rig doesn't have a list of when and on which frequencies he can contact his village radio operator and talk to his wife?

977

Utility / 6996 kHz USB English Language xxx40 partial UNID 1403 UTC 29 Aug 2017

« on: August 29, 2017, 1407 UTC »

UNID possible military traffic
6996 kHz USB 6.996 MHz USB
August 29th, 2017

Heard a partial callsign "xxxx xxxx 40" o or perhaps ending in 040 calling another station on 6996 kHz USB. I think the second part of the callsign was "flight" but I'm not 100% sure on that.   At 1403 UTC, heard "nothing heard, out".  Sounded very much like an aircraft calling a ground station or maybe another aircraft, reminded me of USAF communications heard on 6739 USB, 11175 USB, etc.  Very professional radio operating procedures...unfortunately I missed most of the callsign.

978

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6950 kHz USB 1355 UTC 29 August 2017

« on: August 29, 2017, 1401 UTC »

As Pigmeat has suggested, some of these nets may be related to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico or other users in that area (Mexican fishing fleets, military, US interests there, etc). 

There has been a noticeable increase in Spanish language voice traffic happening during the daytime since Hurricane Harvey arrived on the scene.  Lots of 5 kHz step frequencies in use both USB and LSB mode.  6950 kHz USB has been logged several times.  Hearing an active net on 6950 USB at 1359 UTC August 29th, 2017.  Lots of QRM from some sort of data burst whooshing sound but the stations on the net don't seem to mind.  Big drop in activity at 1400 UTC so perhaps they closed the net or changed frequencies.

I didn't get enough time to monitor these guys to really get an idea of what they were talking about, hopefully they'll pop back up so I can figure out more of what I'm listening to, after reading Pigmeat's posts on my log for 6900 LSB, 6930 USB and 6935 USB, I think they may be at least somewhat related to the hurricane (even if they're just fishing fleets).

979

North American Shortwave Pirate / Old Time Radio OTR 6770 kHz AM 0010 UTC 25 Aug 2017

« on: August 25, 2017, 0014 UTC »

Old Time Radio 6770 kHz 6.770 MHz, have a faint carrier on 6770.0 kHz and some very very faint bits and pieces of audio coming through.  Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of QRM tonight...in the form of Spanish language traffic on 6765 kHz USB, Portuguese traffic on 6769 LSB, and a strong CW signal that seems to be repeating the same message over and over again on 6767 kHz.  

The carrier and tell-tale bits and pieces of AM audio means its OTR though!  The CW and sporadic SSB QRM are making any copy of the weak audio basically impossible, especially in regular old AM mode.  Switching to 6770 kHz USB makes things a bit easier.  

980

Peskies / 6765 kHz USB Voice and CW vs 6769 kHz LSB 25 August 2017

« on: August 25, 2017, 0011 UTC »

This frequency is used for all sorts of stuff.  I've heard SHARES nets here before, Bangkok marine weather traffic and pescadores/freebanders.  Now I'm hearing CW on 6767 kHz mixing in with Spanish language traffic (and Portuguese on 6769 LSB!)

981

Peskies / Spanish Language Activity 6900 kHz LSB, 6930 kHz LSB, 6935 kHz USB 25 AUG 2017

« on: August 25, 2017, 0006 UTC »

Spanish voices,

6900 kHz 6.900 MHz LSB
6930 kHz 6.930 MHz LSB
6935 kHz 6.935 MHz USB



Hearing lots of activity on the 43 meter band tonight, all after 0000 UTC 25 August 2017 and all in Spanish.  All seem to be freebander nets. Good signals punching through the summer static and noise QRN nicely.

982

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6925 AM 1430 UTC 24 Aug 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 1439 UTC »

Bits and pieces of audio heard on a S3 carrier, OM talking

1443 UTC - audio came up a bit, sounds like an old Dragnet episode (I recognize Joe Friday's / Jack Webb's voice)
1445 UTC - phone heard ringing in background
1450 UTC - typical police procedural voiceover with dramatic music
1454 UTC - more music, signal coming up a bit, now pushing S5-S6 on the peaks
1455 UTC - gunfire, more dramatic music
1458 UTC - now getting completely obliterated by a stronger (and much wider) signal
1501 UTC - strong music now, is this another station?
1502 UTC - Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
1510 UTC - music mixing in with Dragnet audio...not sure if this is two stations or one station with two audio feeds
1516 UTC - weak music now, OM and YL talking in the background
1518 UTC - signal jumped back up, hearing more Depeche Mode
1523 UTC - dead air, still S6-S7 carrier
1524 UTC - VFO swoosh, then back to music
1600 UTC - music, weaker now (S4-S5) with more noise, some minor fading
1601 UTC - Journey - Any Way You Want It (mashup)
1615 UTC - signal up a bit with "The Power of Love" (another mashup with another, currently UNID due to fading, track)
1617 UTC - faint techno/dance music beats heard...noise is getting worse
1820 UTC - still going strong, with Duran Duran - Rio (signal is back up, now a nice S7 with less noise)
1822 UTC - The Clash - Should I Say or Should I Go? (some minor fading down to S5 - but still good signal and good copy)
1830 UTC - Berlin - The Metro
1841 UTC - Duran Duran - The Reflex
1846 UTC - U2 - I Will Follow
1849 UTC - Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself (heavy fades now, dipping down into the noise at the worst points)
1905 UTC - Nena - 99 Luftballons (German Version) - still suffering from fading but sounding good on the peaks
1909 UTC - Alphaville - Forever Young
1910 UTC - signal jumped up to S7, really nice modulation for a few seconds, then back down to S4, rapid fades now
1924 UTC - Talking Heads - Burning Down The House
1928 UTC - U2 - Desire

983

Peskies / UNID Italian Language 4620 kHz USB 0300 UTC 24 August 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 0311 UTC »

After doing some scanning of the 6-7 MHz region, I decided to go down to 3-6 MHz and see what I could find.  The 6 MHz aeronautical band and the 6 MHz marine frequencies were relatively active but only with legit traffic. 

I've noted Italian traffic on 4630 kHz USB in the past, but I don't think I've logged 4620 before.  These guys sound like the group previously heard on 4630 kHz USB...lots and lots of radar SWOOP SWOOP SWOOP SWOOP (I think its radar) QRM making copy really painful at points.  OTH radar (or whatever this QRM is) is all over the 4-5 MHz region. 

SIO 211 considering the heavy QRM

984

North American Shortwave Pirate / Old Time Radio OTR 6770 kHz AM 0255 UTC 24 Aug 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 0258 UTC »

Late night logging of OTR - Old Time Radio on 6770 AM

Frequency: 6770 kHz 6.770 MHz
Mode: AM
Time: 0255 UTC+


Hearing bits and pieces of audio (and seeing a very faint carrier!) on 6770 kHz this evening.  The Spanish-speaking traffic that was on 6770 USB is long gone and there's no sign of other nearby "peskies".  SIO 111 due to heavy thunderstorm static crash QRN and general summertime noise going on right now, but there is certainly something there.  I am getting bits and pieces of audio at 0258 UTC

985

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6770 kHz USB 0230 UTC 24 August 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 0248 UTC »

Date:  August 24, 2017
Time: 0230 UTC - 0242 UTC (signals disappeared after this time, likely due to fading vs. the QSO ending...hard to say for certain though, especially with the summertime static).
Frequency:  6770 kHz 6.770 MHz - same as the famous Old Time Radio or OTR pirate station often logged on this frequency.  See below for discussion regarding phone patch or radiotelephone links heard on nearby frequencies (always in Spanish).
Mode: USB
Language: Spanish, South American or Central American accents, possibly actually fishing fleets or other business or commercial land mobile users instead of freebanding ham operators or amateurs operating out of band.

Two stations chatting away, sounds like a YL talking to an OM, possibly husband and wife, a radiotelephone-like QSO (both sides are taking turns talking though, its simplex as far as I can tell, not semi-duplex or split frequency).

I know, another pirate using 6770 kHz??  This time its another phone patch-like QSO between an OM and a YL.  These types of communications have been noted on several frequencies, including 6723.5 kHz USB, 6771.5 kHz USB and 6772.5 kHz USB as well as several of the more commonly active 6800 kHz to 7000 kHz range frequencies (mainly talking about 69xx kHz here, i.e., the classic pirate frequencies).  QSO faded down into noise just before 0245 UTC (10:45pm local time).  Accents were not Mexican Spanish like, sounded more like South American or possibly Central American in origin. 

Another mystery pescadore log

986

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6950 kHz LSB 0230 UTC 24 August 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 0239 UTC »

Lots of Over-The-Horizon Radar OTHR OTH-R interference buzz radar QRM on the band tonight.  These guys are right at the top edge of the roughly 40-50 kHz wide radar signal (starts at around 6900 kHz, another popular Spanish language freebanding frequency).

Mention of "Venezuela" at 0236 UTC and "Argentina" at 0237 UTC.  Lots of fading, there's a stronger station talking to a JBA station, and another, third station is also active on this frequency, sounds like a YL.  Possible ID as actual fishing fleet net (which would explain the YL talking to her husband while he's out on the boat?)  Hard to say for sure as the heavy fading mixed with OTH radar QRM means I'm getting maybe 25% of what the strongest station is saying. 

987

Peskies / 6905 kHz LSB Spanish Speaking Freebander Net 0100+ UTC 24 August 2017

« on: August 24, 2017, 0116 UTC »

Both 6900 kHz LSB and 6905 kHz LSB are busy with Spanish voices this evening, similar sounding traffic...but since there's already a thread for 6900 kHz, I figured I'd make one for 6905 LSB. 

Casual Spanish language radio amateurs / freebanders roundtable HF ragchew

988

Peskies / UNID Unknown Language 6747.5 kHz USB 2325 UTC 23 August 2017

« on: August 23, 2017, 2327 UTC »

Pretty sure this is Portuguese but its sandwiched between the super powerful Canadian military volmet weather transmission on 6754 kHz USB and some sort of data link on 6745 kHz USB that its hard to really narrow it on in.  Sounds like Portuguese to me though.  Lots of static crashes making language confirmation impossible at this time so I'm leaving it as "unknown"

989

Peskies / 6900 kHz LSB 6.900 MHz LSB Spanish Speaking Freebanders 23 August 2017

« on: August 23, 2017, 2308 UTC »

6.900 MHz 6900 kHz

Mode: LSB

Spanish language freebander net active at 2300 UTC tune in August 23rd, 2017.  Several stations heard going at once with some static crash QRN, likely from thunderstorms.  Stations "checking in" to net and giving signal reports, the usual informal "hello frequency!" and "hola!" transmissions with light banter, sometimes stations talking over each other but general professional-sounding operating procedures.  Like many times before, these transmissions remind me of 11 meter freeband operations coming out of Latin America.  

990

Peskies / UNID Spanish Language 6950 kHz USB 1445 UTC 23 August 2017

« on: August 23, 2017, 1450 UTC »

Frequency: 6.950 MHz 6950 kHz
Mode: USB
Language: Spanish

Unknown source traffic this morning (tuned in at 1445 UTC, 1045 local time), not sure what's up with the uptick in morning pescadore or 43 meter freebander logs lately...maybe I'm just paying more attention than I used to? 

Anyway, I am hearing some weak Spanish voices on 6950 USB.  This frequency and mode has been heavily used by pescadores (fishing fleets, marine mobile radio, HF marine, etc) using non-marine radio frequencies, as the 6765-7000 kHz portion is allocated to fixed mobile (the marine band is lower on 6 MHz, but we know these guys don't care).  That is, assuming they are coming from fishing boats in the first place.  This traffic may be freebanders (land based transmissions) but again, due to the frequency and mode choice, its difficult to make that call.  The conversation is casual and ham radio like, leading me to think they're just freebanders operating below 7 MHz, which is quite common.  Freebanding operators also seem to stick with the 5 kHz steps (at least the Spanish speaking ones do) and operate much like they do on 11 meters / 27 MHz. 

Now (1449 UTC) hearing another station checking into the "net", asking for signal reports (I think, more like "hey what's up everybody?!") followed by silence. Not sure if conditions are changing or if he's working a station that I can't hear.