Messages

2161

Peskies / Re: 3.053 AM

« on: July 08, 2017, 2008 UTC »

3053 kHz AM?  What language?

3104 kHz, 3127, 3158 kHz all AM? 

2850 kHz to 3150 kHz / 2.850 MHz to 3.150 MHz is an aeronautical / aircraft band, with voice communications supposed to be in USB mode.  Since you were hearing traffic in AM...I bet it wasn't aircraft comms you were hearing.

Could you give any more info about what you heard?

2162

Peskies / Re: 6.990MHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

« on: July 08, 2017, 2003 UTC »

I'll check out those SDRs,  I'm on the other side of the world (almost literally, I'm located on the East Coast of the USA) - so maybe grayline I'd be able to reach all the way around to Indonesia    The GMRS/FRS service at 462 MHz and 467 MHz here is the functional equivalent of UHF CB, and most everywhere has repeaters (which have to be licensed - as do the users of the repeaters).  The FCC is in the process of deregulating simplex FRS/GMRS use - since the vast majority of traffic on these frequencies is simplex.  Lots of adoption by businesses, I hear everything from bar/nightclub security to schools to road flaggers to drug dealers using the channels, with heavy use of CTCSS/DCS.

2163

10/11 meters / Re: CW 27.385 LSB 1709 UTC July 6th, 2017

« on: July 08, 2017, 1957 UTC »

Gotta love it.  Sounds like another ham operator operating on 11 meters.  "I've been licensed 8 years".  I have a ham license therefore I'm better than you - but I'm going to transmit on CB channels anyway.

Several years ago I recorded somebody calling CQ DX through the voice traffic on 27385 LSB / channel 38 LSB / 27.385 LSB.  I initially thought they were just trying to jam the frequency since they kept repeating it over and over again but apparently they actually were calling CQ DX.

2164

10/11 meters / Re: Spanish language 11 meter net 27.695 MHz LSB 27695 kHz LSB 30 June 2017

« on: July 05, 2017, 2246 UTC »

There's a taxi lady dispatcher with a distinctive roger beep that uses 27.515 MHz AM and I often hear her during band openings.

The 25.615 to 26.505 MHz range also seems to be a favorite for taxi radio communications. I've heard them on 27.195 MHz as well as legal CB channels 24 and 25 - 27.235 MHz and 27.245 MHz, all in AM mode with roger beeps.  Sometimes I can hear the mobile units replying, other times it's just a woman reading numbers in Spanish.

2165

Peskies / Re: 6.990MHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

« on: July 05, 2017, 1927 UTC »

Sounds like the Portuguese speaking stations often heard on 6925 kHz LSB and dozens of other frequencies....the chanting may be just them messing around and not realizing that they're "getting out" (reminds me of local freehand CB nets that I've logged hundreds of miles away) - lots of inside jokes, etc. I have a feeling "The Leader" station knows he's getting out but probably doesn't care - another CB-like characteristic (see: people having long-winded QSOs on 27.385 LSB / channel 38 LSB, etc).  If they're in remote areas and, like you say, there's an endless stream of these stations all over the bands...chances are they're not going to get busted.

If the stations talking on the 8MHz aircraft HF-SSB frequencies can operate with impunity, I know stations using 6990 kHz don't have anything to worry about.

In a way, this reminds me of the European "Echo Charlie" freebanders that use the 6 MHz aircraft channels in LSB mode.

They're all over the place, I would like to set up a SDR or a scanner in one of the bigger Asian cities and see how crazy the VHF/UHF and FM broadcast spectrum is.

I know Thailand has a VHF CB allocation at 245.0000 to 245.9875 MHz, and Indonesia has a VHF CB allocation at 142 MHz IIRC...then there's places that use the same band plan as 476 / 477 MHz Australian UHF CB. I bet the frequencies around those bands are heavily used too. Apparently the 245MHz VHF CB band is extremely popular with heavy use of repeaters, high power radios, etc.

2166

Peskies / Re: 6.990MHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

« on: July 04, 2017, 1858 UTC »

Somebody needs to call them back when they're on frequency and give them a signal report, especially if this Ring Leader station is putting such a powerful signal out there.  10db over S9 consistently is impressive by anybody's standard.

Wouldn't surprise me if these guys were running re-purposed military gear - that, or just higher-end amateur radio equipment and The Ring Leader has a good antenna setup. 

2167

10/11 meters / Re: WYTZ STL 26350 FM 1442 UTC 29 Jun 2017

« on: July 03, 2017, 2054 UTC »

Makes sense.  The usual suspects on 25.910 FM, 25.950 FM and 25.990 FM are licensed as base stations and I'm pretty sure they function as permanent studio-to-transmitter links, which would explain the fact that they pop up very often during band openings.  There's a lot of these IFB/STL frequencies in the 25 and 26 MHz band but it does seem like 25910 FM, 25950 FM and 25990 FM are the ones that anybody really logs on a regular basis.

2168

10/11 meters / Re: WYTZ STL 26350 FM 1442 UTC 29 Jun 2017

« on: July 03, 2017, 0811 UTC »

Just out of curiosity I did a FCC ULS license database search for active licenses on 26.35 MHz and it crashed the FCC DB search page.  So I searched for active licenses in Michigan on 26.350 MHz and it came back with one result - license KD4576, LAKE HURON BROADCASTING CORP - active since 02/17/1965 for 1 mobile unit at 40 watts output on 26350 kHz / 26.350 MHz 20K0F3E FM emission for the SAGINAW, MI area.

Not entirely sure if this is the same thing you heard or not.  It's possible the license is licensed in another state, I'll have to try the FCC ULS search later for nationwide USA licenses on that 26350 frequency.

2169

Peskies / Re: 6.990MHz LSB Indonesian Chanters

« on: July 03, 2017, 0618 UTC »

^Seconded (on both points).

KPL (Kilo Papa Lima) and AIM / AIMR (Australia, Indonesia and Mr. Robert) - well, the KPL part sounds like a callsign, or maybe part of a callsign...but who would use "Mr. Robert" as part of a phonetic alphabet?  I know using place names is popular but yeah, what?

Hopefully further monitoring of these guys on 6990 kHz LSB / 6.990 MHz LSB will clear at let some of this stuff up.  Have you heard anything else in English on this frequency? 

2170

10/11 meters / Re: Spanish language 11 meter net 27.695 MHz LSB 27695 kHz LSB 30 June 2017

« on: July 03, 2017, 0613 UTC »

Interesting.  27.455 MHz LSB, 27.695 MHz LSB and 27.705 MHz LSB are often heard when 11 meters is open (I usually hear activity on 27695 LSB and 27455 USB before the others).  I've only logged 27.955 MHz USB a couple times in years past if my memory serves me right, I haven't heard too much on it lately (at least not compared to the other three frequencies).

It would be awesome if you could provide other Southern California / Los Angeles 11 meter Spanish language frequencies.  I also wonder about the following:

26.225 USB - Seems to be popular with stations in Mexico, but I've also heard Caribbean sounding traffic here.  
26.555 LSB - Often just as busy as 27.455 USB, I've always considered it the "low channel" counterpart to 27455 USB
26.585 AM - I know this one is active with Mexican accented Spanish traffic - and often stations will start on 26585 AM and move up or down to avoid QRM.  QSY frequencies include 26.575 AM, 26.595 AM, 26.605 AM and 26.615 AM.  The same thing applies for 26225 USB (when 26.225 MHz is busy, I'll check 26230 USB, 26235 USB, 26240 USB and 26245 USB) and 26.555 LSB.  The pattern here is that SSB operators seem to use 5 kHz steps and the AM operators just use the regular old 10 kHz channelized steps found in exports.

Videos I've found online of operators using 26.225 USB feature stations with modified 100 watt 160m-10m HF ham gear and high power Galaxy export radios, specifically the Galaxy DX 98VHP (the "VHP" standing for "Very High Power" - apparently rated at 200w PEP on SSB and 250w or so peak AM power) and directional antennas of various types.  The stations seemed to be located in Mexico or Southern California.  Of course, they could be working DX with stations in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and various other parts of Latin America, as is the case with dozens of other frequencies on 11 meters.

I remember finding a frequency list on a Mexico-based 11 meter freeband DX radio club and they listed 26225 USB, 26555 LSB, 26705 AM, 26715 AM, 27065 AM, 27455 USB and 27555 USB as "official" calling frequencies. 

2171

10/11 meters / UK Remote SDR - European Europe 26 MHz 27 MHz 11 Meter Logs 1 July 2017

« on: July 01, 2017, 1646 UTC »

Pretty quiet band right now.  Usually this SDR is very busy.  Sometimes European openings are preludes to openings in North America 

26200 FM - Paging - POCSAG Pager 26 MHz Paging On-Site system
26350 FM - Paging - POCSAG Pager 26 MHz Paging On-Site system
26405 USB - Russian language
26445 USB - Russian language
26835 FM - Paging - POCSAG Pager 26 MHz Paging On-Site system
27100 FM - Possibly Polish, weak but there's a signal there...maybe Russian
27135 FM - Spanish language, strong
27150 FM - Russian language
27235 FM - Data bursts, with weak voice traffic underneath
27255 FM - English language, with some QRM
27275 FM - English language
27280 FM - Russian language
27345 LSB - Italian language, very strong signal with several other stations underneath
27395 FM - Several signals heard here
27430 USB - Spanish language
27515 USB - Spanish language, mention of Sirio antenna
27525 USB - Spanish language
27555 USB - International 11 meter calling frequency, several stations calling CQ and requesting QSY
27565 USB - Spanish and Italian language both heard on this frequency
27570 FM - Radio checks, or somebody tuning up
27575 USB - Spanish language, very strong
27585 USB - Spanish language, "Alpha Tango 0055" and "Echo Tango 145" heard
27601 FM - English language / UK 27/81 FM CB
27655 USB - Spanish language
27691 FM - English language / UK 27/81 FM CB
27720 USB - Italian language, station calling CQ in Italian
27845 FM - Paging signal - Pager transmitter
27921 FM - English language / UK 27/81 FM CB

2172

10/11 meters / CB Channel 19 Broadcasts 27185 kHz 27.185 MHz 1 July 2017

« on: July 01, 2017, 1619 UTC »

Broadcast transmissions or recorded transmissions have often been logged CB radio channel 19 - 27.185 MHz AM or 27185 kHz AM.  However, most of the time I hear YLs doing these broadcasts.  The rest of the band seems somewhat quiet, save for channel 6 - 27.025 MHz AM (of course), channel 15 (27.135 MHz AM) and some local traffic on channel 22 (27.225 MHz AM).  Since CH 22 is often used for "shooting skip" and the locals here run power...they often shoot skip on the local channel.  Channel 19 is a different story though, due to the sheer number of transmissions going at once. 

The 11 meter band seems to be opening up a bit early this afternoon (eastern US time).  I'm hearing a OM voice advertising a truck wash and polish service "switch to 23 for full service" which may or may not be actually an advertisement for truckstop whores (as these ads usually are, but they usually feature a YL with a sexy-sounding voice, as female voices over the radio tend to grab a lot more attention).  This is, of course, on top of the usual heterodyne heard on channel 19 during band openings.  Bits and pieces of voice, a number here, a roger beep there, and lots of heterodynes. 

Started listening to 27.185 MHz / CB 19 at 1600 UTC on July 1, 2017.  Fingers crossed the band conditions will continue to get better.  I don't hear anything above channel 40 or below channel 1 (the freeband CB radio frequencies) just yet.

2173

10/11 meters / Re: Spanish language 11 meter net 27.695 MHz LSB 27695 kHz LSB 30 June 2017

« on: July 01, 2017, 0707 UTC »

It seems to be one of many.  26.555 LSB and 27.455 USB are usually just as busy. 

Are there any other active Spanish language freeband frequencies out in the Southern California area? 

2174

Peskies / 6905 kHz LSB Spanish Speaking Freebander Net 0200+ UTC 1 July 2017

« on: July 01, 2017, 0212 UTC »

Two stations QSY'ed from 6900 kHz LSB on to this frequency.  It appears that, at least right now (0211 UTC), 6900 kHz LSB is quiet, so I decided to make a thread for 6905 LSB as it is possible that everybody moved up to the new frequency instead of just some of the stations in the net as originally thought.  That, or I'm just not hearing the stations on 6900 kHz LSB right now.  

2175

Peskies / 6900 kHz LSB Spanish Speaking Freebander Net 0200+ UTC 1 July 2017

« on: July 01, 2017, 0210 UTC »

6.900 MHz LSB 6900 kHz LSB 6.900 LSB 6900 LSB Spanish language Spanish voices Spanish pirates 6900 LSB 30 June 2017 - 1 July 2017

These guys have probably been going since before 0000 UTC on 1 July, but since I first turned in at 0200 UTC, that's the time I'm putting.  Hearing several good-sounding stations having a roundtable QSO, pretty standard operating procedure for this frequency.  At 0208, one of the operator requested a change / QSY to "6 9 0 5" and he and another station moved up to 6905 kHz LSB and continued chatting.  This also matches up with the operating procedures previously heard, as 6900 kHz LSB is used as the "calling" or "primary" frequency, and then stations QSY, usually in 5 kHz steps, just like on 11 meters, for more long-winded or personal QSOs.