Messages

631

General Radio Discussion / Re: Pirating in the 11-meter broadcast band?

« on: August 09, 2019, 1351 UTC »

Since most export radios start at 25.615 MHz that gives you the majority of the 11m broadcast band to work with.   I've heard the guys playing music inside the CB band and just above or below the CB band...but as far as 25/26 MHz goes, the only traffic I've heard has been hunters, truckers outside the CB band and Latin American taxi dispatchers.  When the band is open, the 25615 + range is full of ladies speaking Spanish (generally reading numbers) to taxi drivers in AM mode.  The dispatchers often have a distinctive roger beep, maybe to serve as a form of identification for a certain taxi company's drivers.  The A and B bands (25615-26055 and 26065-26505 respectively) seemed to be the busiest areas.  I've heard them inside the CB band before too and on 27515 AM as well as several other freqs above channel 40.

With sporadic-E I don't think you'd have to worry about too much taxi dispatcher QRM in the 25.615 to 26.105 MHz (or 26.100 MHz) region as far as using that for broadcasting goes.  26105 AM / 26.105 MHz is a popular freebander trucker frequency though, so maybe avoid that one.  The "A" channels 25645, 25695, 25745, 25795, 25845 and 26095 might be better bets.   I still like the idea of using 26925 though

I like the idea of broadcasting on 11 meters, especially when the band is open, you have the possibility of freebanders becoming "accidental listeners" by coming across your broadcast while tuning around the 11 meter band. 

632

10/11 meters / Re: Local trucking company Ch 5 27015 AM 1202 UTC 9 Aug 2019

« on: August 09, 2019, 1322 UTC »

There's a quarry about 30 miles to the west of me (right off Interstate 64) that uses CB channel 23 / 27255 AM to talk to the various dump trucks coming in and out of the quarry.  The dispatcher or guard shack either has a really nice antenna and/or some power because they're nice and loud for several miles in each direction before you're right next to the quarry.  Various trucks could be heard talking to the dispatcher about loads and places in line with other trucks. 

You might have stumbled upon something similar. 

633

FM Free Radio / Re: 107.7 FM Virginia House Radio - Richmond VA 8 August 2019

« on: August 09, 2019, 1305 UTC »

They were still going strong with some Johnny Cash "One Piece At A Time" this morning at 1050 UTC / 0650 local time tune in.  No call letters heard at TOH or BOH.  I listened to them for a bit on my PL-606 portable in the backyard last night and they are transmitting in mono.  Overall a good sounding signal, pretty wide though.   There was a translator for WLES-AM on 107.9 that recently changed frequencies, so the closest in-market station is now WBBT-FM on 107.3 MHz.   Tuning around this morning revealed a dead carrier on 107.9 MHz, or the 107.7 station is wide enough to quiet the receiver on 107.9 MHz (this is on the car AM/FM radio).  On the PL-606, 107.8 and 107.9 are quiet like there's a dead carrier there.

634

FM Free Radio / 107.7 FM Virginia House Radio - Richmond VA 8 August 2019

« on: August 08, 2019, 2147 UTC »

NOAA Weather Radio audio loop from tune-in (at 2015 UTC) until 2130ish UTC, OM DJ came on with Happy House Radio Richmond Virginny ID, a couple false starts, banjo music, then more DJ talk about good ol’ mountain music...music continuing at 2138 UTC.

Received on the car radio.  “Patty On The Turnpike” at 2139 UTC. 

Driving around downtown and the signal is jumping up and down but it’s still sounding quite nice at 2146 UTC. 

SIO 555 downtown!

ID as “Commercial Free Virginia House Radio...relics from the past, country and non-country” at 2148 UTC.
107.7 FM downtown Richmond.

“That Knotty Old Cane” at 2153 UTC.

more old style country/bluegrass to 2203 UTC.

Checked again at 2300 UTC and bluegrass was still going strong.

635

Utility / Re: Aviation logs.

« on: August 07, 2019, 1919 UTC »

Nice logs, Looking-Glass. 

Shannon Radio on 5505 kHz USB / 5.505 MHz USB is an exception catch via long-path. 

636

Peskies / Re: Angry and not so angry fishermen 5178.25 USB 1200 UTC 1 Aug 2019

« on: August 07, 2019, 1758 UTC »

I had to tune to the .25 kHz offset to hear both stations correctly, so it does not seem to be a case of one radio being off?

Nothing heard today at all, I was recording both 60m and 49m. Maybe they took the day off. Or there are some other frequencies we don't know about.

I have a suspicion about how they get in touch with each other. I *think* each guy listens to a particular frequency, and if anyone wants to talk to him, they call him there. Not 100% sure yet, but it seems that way.

That makes sense...especially if they’re running more than one HF radio in the wheelhouse, with the secondary radio standing by on “their” channel...probably with the squelch turned up just a little bit.  Wanna talk to Captain X? Tune to channel/frequency X at a certain time and whistle into the mic / call the guy’s name etc. 

There are probably dozens of these “side channels” or “sidebands” in use, if this is the operating procedure.  Considering the memory capacity of modern HF SSB marine radios, it could be easily done.

I still think at least some of these guys are using HF for quasi-NVIS types of communications.  The VHF marine band is busy in all of these coastal New England towns too.  I imagine the idea of having a “private channel” for general chit chat is quite appealing to these ship captains.

When I was in Portland, Maine and Gloucester, Mass. last month it was readily apparent that the vast majority of fishing vessels had multiple MF/HF antennas and often 4-5 VHF antennas.  The nicer looking ones had what appeared to be SATCOM antennas as well.  Fishery company buildings on both the Portland and Gloucester waterfronts sported VHF base station antennas and HF dipoles on their roofs.  I bet the captains like being able to talk to each other without too much risk of the boss-man or other boats listening to their QSO.

Considering how active the regular VHF marine channels were in Portland, and the lobsterboat captain’s remarks about captains scanning the VHF channels to listen to their competitors’ radio chatter....Chris’ theory makes even more sense.

Practical VHF marine range is limited by antenna height, but it seems like most captains use a practical limit of 15-20 miles for most applications.   A 100-150 watt HF radio should provide better ground wave range than a 25 watt VHF marine radio, and the use of out-of-band frequencies means your boss/competition would have to do some serious signals intelligence work (own a SDR, general coverage receiver, shortwave receiver with SSB, etc.) to find your “secret channel” or “sideband”. 

I do love the mystery of these quasi-legal or straight up freebanding two-way SSB HF users.

637

General Radio Discussion / Re: Pirating in the 11-meter broadcast band?

« on: August 07, 2019, 1540 UTC »

With the recent band openings on 11m it could certainly be done.  I'd stick with frequencies closer to the CB band simply because its easier to get gear/antennas for 25.615 MHz and up.   26.925 MHz / 26925 kHz comes to mind as a frequency to use, simply because its 6925 + 20 MHz (easy to remember).  It is also, however, right next to the often-busy freeband AM DX frequency of 26.915 MHz.  I've heard music within the CB bands during band openings and have found videos online of other DXers hearing music carriers on various 11m frequencies. 

A clearer frequency in the lower 26 MHz area might also be doable. 

11 meter equipment is cheap and readily available and good antennas are considerably smaller than the same performing antenna on 43 meters or 49 meters. 

638

10/11 meters / 11 meter / CB opening 6 August 2019

« on: August 07, 2019, 1032 UTC »

Recorded yesterday afternoon around 6:30pm local time (2230 UTC)

Lots of AM activity on in-band legal 40 CB channels on several online SDRs, and the usual freeband frequencies, 26.665 MHz, 26.685 MHz, 26.716 MHz, 26.735 MHz, 26.775 MHz, 26.785 MHz, 26.805 MHz, 26.815 MHz, 26.835 MHz, 26.885 MHz, 26.915 MHz, 26.925 MHz, 27.425 MHz LSB, 27.435 MHz LSB, 27.465 MHz LSB, 27.505 MHz AM, 27.525 MHz AM, 27.605 MHz LSB, 27.615 MHz AM, 27.665 AM, 27.745 MHz AM and 27.775 MHz AM.

In-band the usual suspects in AM mode: channel 6 (27.025 MHz), channel 11 (27.085 MHz), channel 12 (27.105 MHz), channel 15 (27.135 MHz), channel 19 (27.185 MHz), channel 20 (27.205 MHz), channel 22 (27.225 MHz), channel 26 (27.265 MHz), channel 28 (27.285 MHz), etc.  SSB DX on channel 37 (27.375 MHz LSB), channel 39 (27.395 MHz LSB), channel 40 (27.405 MHz LSB, with AM mixing in, of course)...and, naturally, channel 38 (27.385 MHz LSB) was very busy.

Locally there was a lot of activity on 11 meters...including channel 38 LSB booming in at points.  I got three videos, with three different radios!

Galaxy DX 959

https://youtu.be/H_IlQxhXEiU

CRE 8900 (aka DR-135CB)

https://youtu.be/ruQDlonQjCM

Superstar 3900 (aka a dozen other names and models)

https://youtu.be/7xVMULZG4DY

Note the activity on 27.435 MHz LSB, midwestern accents on 27.435 LSB and several other SSB frequencies/channels, including channel 38 LSB / 27.385 MHz LSB.  On the second video (the CRE 8900) I caught some CB operators using R/C channel 19A - 27.195 MHz - for AM voice communications.  Channel 19 was messy, which explains use of the +10 kHz switch.  27.195 is pretty popular.

I actually make a point of dropping the RF gain down while monitoring 27.025 AM on the Galaxy 959.  I had to adjust the RF gain on the CRE 8900 just a bit to reduce some of the background noise...sometimes that radio (it’s an early production version) does better with the RF gain at 75% or 80% instead of 100%.  I was able to drop the RF gain all the way down and still hear the stations on channel 6. 

639

VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US

« on: August 05, 2019, 2157 UTC »

Was there mention of what they're doing on hf?

I haven't come across any logs of activity on their HF frequencies, only the 138 MHz frequencies, the 267 MHz/277 MHz milair freqs and their Part 90 land mobile UHF business radio frequency at their Maryland base of operations (464.6125 MHz).

640

VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US

« on: August 05, 2019, 2149 UTC »

Sierra Nevada Corporation apparently uses several frequencies in the VHF and UHF military bands, including 138.075 MHz, 139.075 MHz, 139.850 MHz, 267.350 MHz and 277.350 MHz.  The 138 MHz frequencies have been logged with encrypted P25 voice traffic mixed with "clear" P25 voice and AM/FM modes heard on 267.35 and 277.35, including secure voice on 267.35 MHz / 277.35 MHz. 

They also have a couple licenses on various HF frequencies (namely WQRI680 and WQRI681)

2851 kHz (center frequency 2852.4 kHz) - USB dial frequency = center frequency - 1.4 kHz
3443 kHz (center frequency 3444.4 kHz)
5451 kHz (center frequency 5452.4 kHz)
5721 kHz (center frequency 5722.4 kHz)
6550 kHz (center frequency 6551.4 kHz)
8822 kHz (center frequency 8823.4 kHz)
10065 kHz (center frequency 10066.4 kHz)
11306 kHz (center frequency 11307.4 kHz)
13312 kHz (center frequency 13313.4 kHz)
17964 kHz (center frequency 17965.4 kHz)
21931 kHz (center frequency 21932.4 kHz)

123.3583 MHz - an interesting allocation, within the VHF air band, but using the 8.33 kHz offset..

emissions permitted on HF frequencies:
2K80J3E
2K80J9W
2K80H2B
5K00A3E
5K60A3E

emissions permitted on VHF frequency:

5K00A3E and 5K60A3E

641

Peskies / Re: Angry and not so angry fishermen 5178.25 USB 1200 UTC 1 Aug 2019

« on: August 02, 2019, 1905 UTC »

Another New England fisheries net!  Well, I guess this gets filed under 5178 kHz.  Maybe showing up as 5178.2 kHz or 5178.3 kHz depending on what sort of radios are being used.  That, or somebody is making use of their fine tune control - or, CLARIFY/CLARIFIER control, I should say.

So we've got:

5178 kHz USB - active
6095 kHz USB - active
6212 kHz USB - active
6221 kHz USB
6363.5 kHz USB
6516 kHz USB
6870 kHz USB - active
6953 kHz USB
6958 kHz USB

For these New English fisheries....am I forgetting anything?  I know there was a log not so long ago in this same subforum for English language peskies using 5555 kHz LSB, not sure if it was the same group or "type" of user, but perhaps worth mentioning.  The 6516 USB log is one I heard that sounded like New England fishing fleet chatter, no idea if its the same area as the other logs.

642

General Radio Discussion / Re: Estonian electronic warfare

« on: August 01, 2019, 1820 UTC »

Yep. 

The US bought thousands of VHF-FM handheld and mobile radios to supply to the Afghan National Army (ANA). 

https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/686477.pdf

Read the whole document if you have the time, but check out page 9 of the PDF. [Key U.S.-Funded Communications Equipment for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF)]

It lists the models of the radios purchased as well as the frequency bands.  The Motorola GM360 is known as the Motorola CDM1250 in the US.  VHF high band (136-174 MHz) use for police and government services. 

The radios purchased include the Datron PRC-1070 VHF handheld tactical radio (30.000-87.975 MHz in 25 kHz steps), Datron HH7700 VHF handheld tactical radio (30.000 MHz to 87.975 MHz in 25 kHz steps), the Datron PRC-1077 manpack/mobile vehicle mounted tactical radio (basically an improved PRC-77, same size and uses same accessories/antenna, also 30-88 MHz in 25 kHz steps).  All three of these radios use the standard 150 Hz CTCSS tone squelch system.  A total of 75,256 of those radios were purchased.  All three of them are the standard VHF-FM combat net radio.  No frequency hopping or encryption.  Yes, they did also purchase multiband VHF/UHF radios and HF radios, but the vast majority of them are basically upgraded PRC-77s. 

PRC-1070:  https://jds-productions.com/Video/Datron/assets/DataSheets/DTR_PRC1070-5-hres.pdf

PRC-1077: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a5fc6241f318d2cee774450/t/5aa71bb1c83025cc85f86cb1/1520901043047/Datron_PRC1077.pdf

HH-7700: https://jds-productions.com/Video/Datron/assets/DataSheets/DTR_HH7700ds5-10.pdf

The AR-8200 Mark III is the AOR AR8200MkIII scanner/communications receiver for signals intelligence/low-level voice intercept work.  Looks like they just bought them from Universal Radio.  The AR8200 is a handheld radio that does 500 kHz to 3 GHz without any gaps, custom frequency/channel steps, and has tons of other features.  It's ideal for listening to the bad guys' radio comms in Afghanistan - which include various HF radios for long-range comms but for tactical use they favor VHF high band handhelds (read: 2 meter HTs).  My understanding is that there's at least some limited use of 26-28 MHz/11 meter equipment as well. 

I also believe that the US know that at least some of the radio gear provided to the Afghans will somehow or another end up in the hands of the bad guys so its probably a good thing they're not equipped with frequency hopping or voice encryption. 

I've seen images of US military signals intelligence guys using the AR8200 scanner/receiver in Afghanistan. 

https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/0083.html

643

General Radio Discussion / Re: Estonian electronic warfare

« on: August 01, 2019, 1618 UTC »

Awesome link, Chris.  I’m still browsing through all the gear these guys used.  I wonder how much equipment like this is currently being used in the conflict in Ukraine.

The R-123 HF/VHF FM military land mobile / combat net radio 20-51.5 MHz in 25 kHz steps seems to be their version of the VRC-12 and similar systems (30-76 MHz in 50 kHz steps and then 30-88 MHz in 25 kHz steps)

-

The R-148 manpack portable transceiver seems like a cross between the PRC-25/PRC-77 and PRC-68 series...37 MHz to 51.95 MHz / 37-52 MHz in 50 kHz steps, but the R-158 seems like it would be used closer to modern day - almost exactly like the improved PRC-77 clones like the PRC-1077.  30.000 MHz to 79.975 MHz in 25 kHz steps is legit.  I wonder if the Russian combat net FM radios use the 150 Hz CTCSS tone as well.

644

VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: NOAA Weather Radio Tropo Ducting VHF DX Propagation July 2019

« on: August 01, 2019, 1434 UTC »

More of the same this morning, August 1st, 2019 08/01/2019 - 

https://youtu.be/1ks55zS_BLE

VHF DX NOAA Weather Radio 1 August 2019 Part 1 of 2

and

https://youtu.be/PRjN01AoM5s

VHF DX NOAA Weather Radio 1 August 2019 Part 2 of 2

645

VHF/UHF Logs, including satellites and radiosondes / Re: NOAA Weather Radio Tropo Ducting VHF DX Propagation July 2019

« on: July 31, 2019, 1217 UTC »

More nice catches, especially the VHF marine channel 14 traffic on 156.700 MHz.  I imagine there is some serious marine coast VHF (and MF/HF!) stations in your area.  There are plenty of licensed MC stations on the 156.050 MHz - 157.425 MHz band, but I'm sure there are also plenty of folks with VHF marine radios installed in their homes/businesses/marinas as base stations with high gain antennas.

Here are the videos for this morning's commute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9oFIOHQU1I

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciy07PSeCGk



This morning yielded the usual mess on 162.450 MHz and 162.550 MHz, but I did get positive IDs for WNG586 out of Henderson, NC on 162.500 MHz and KJY86 on 162.525 MHz out of Halifax, VA as well.  162.450 was really messy, usually KZZ28 wins.  Yesterday evening KZZ28 was having technical difficulties [see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpea6S3t8M] but this morning they appeared to be back in service.