Messages

781

10/11 meters / 11 meter activity 1745 UTC 24 Jan 2019 (via ΣSDR KiwiSDR)

« on: January 24, 2019, 1748 UTC »

AM activity on the 11 meter band.

26985 - CB channel 3 - hearing two OMs talking, possibly locals
27025 - CB channel 6 - The Superbowl, lots of stations, but rapid fading, possibly indicating a sporadic-E opening
27085 - CB channel 11 - hearing a couple stations from the southern US working DX
27115 - CB channel 13 - OMs talking about traffic conditions, presumed truckers (weak)
27185 - CB channel 19 - near constant carrier(s) on frequency, several conversations at once
27255 - CB channel 23 - FSK data bursts, various signal strengths
27285 - CB channel 28 - hearing stations with southern accents, lots of fading

782

Peskies / Re: 6999 and 6998 kHz USB Intruders vs. Hams 40 meters Jamming 2140 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 24, 2019, 1624 UTC »

The Indonesian changers on 7000 kHz, 7045 kHz and other frequencies are world famous as far as intruders on 40 meters go.  They’re right up there with Asian fishing fleets, Mexican truckers and Russian taxi cab dispatchers using frequencies in 10 meters, especially the lower part of 28 MHz.  The vast majority of export radios used by these intruders go up to at least 28.305 MHz.  Some of them go up to 28.755 MHz and the modern generation of Chinese export radios cover 25.615 MHz to 30.105 MHz instead of the old de facto standard 6 band 25.615 MHz to 28.305 MHz coverage.  But who needs an export radio or 10 meter radio when you have a regular HF amateur radio and can simply use 40 meters? 

CW is a pretty bad jamming mode.  These hams were sending CQ over and over again, the one on 7000.1 kHz was doing it nonstop.

783

General Radio Discussion / Re: New to CB radio, Need help.

« on: January 24, 2019, 1504 UTC »

Having a tower to mount a vertical antenna on and room for a dipole means you've got options.  You could very well install a dipole and a base station vertical.  Many of the CB base station verticals on the market today come with ground plane kits so you could install one without having to worry about the counterpoise.

In regards to the dipole, another option is to buy an antenna tuner and simply tune your 24 MHz dipole for 27 MHz.  Most antenna tuners on the market today have SWR and power meters built in.

If you want to buy a base station antenna to install on the tower in your backyard I recommend a 5/8 wave vertical.  Sirio makes some quality base station antennas.

Look up the following:

Sirio Gain-Master CB base station antenna
Sirio GPS27 CB base station antenna
Sirio GPE27 CB base station antenna
Sirio 2016 5/8 wave CB base station antenna
Sirio 827 CB base station antenna

There are many other options available to you besides Sirio.  A 5/8 wave vertical will give you a good radiation pattern for long-range communications and good local communications as well. 

Personally I have had excellent results with dipoles cut for 27 MHz, wire antennas + antenna tuners tuned for 27 MHz and various vertical CB antennas including the Antron-99 (or A-99) series of verticals and the IMAX 2000 vertical base station antenna.  I even experimented with a 108" whip (9 foot whip, which is a 1/4 wave at 26.0 MHz) mounted as a base antenna with a counterpoise.  Not ideal for base station operation but it worked.  A 5/8 wave antenna will give you better DX capability.

Depending on your budget and if you have any height restrictions I encourage you to install a vertical antenna on your tower, and if possible, also install a dipole (or buy an antenna tuner and tune your existing dipole).  You have lots of options, good luck and keep us posted.

784

10/11 meters / Re: 27255 kHz 27.255 MHz FSK Data Link ΣSDR COMMSIGMA SDR KiwiSDR 1720 UTC 14 Dec 18

« on: January 23, 2019, 2330 UTC »

FSK data burst of various strengths coming in on the ΣSDR COMMSIGMA SDR KiwiSDR on the CT/MA border frequency 27255 kHz 27.255 MHz, bandwidth seems to be around 6 kHz.  One of them is local or semi-local (going by signal strength) but there are several other bursts that are just above the noise or marginally readable.  Going by the relative lack of activity on the other CB frequencies this early evening, I'd say these are distant (but not DX) transmitters that may or may not be part of the same system that the strong FSK signal is part of. 

The signals all have very similar characteristics and the transmitters almost seem to be answering each other.  The signals are very similar to the FSK signals logged previously on the various New York state SDRs.

785

Latin American Pirate / AD149 Radio 6934.9 AM 2309 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 2311 UTC »

Carrier and weak music heard on 6934.9 kHz presumed AD149 radio out of South America

786

Peskies / 6985 kHz USB UNID Spanish Language Net, Freebanders? 2145 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 2148 UTC »

Very strong Link-11 (DSB) centered on 6982 kHz (covering 6979 kHz to 6985 kHz).  Luckily the UNID net on 6985 kHz is on 6985 USB.  Spanish language.  There's another wobbling data signal on 6987.3 kHz or 6987.2 kHz (6987 kHz if you're tuned in USB mode).

Lots of QRM in the little chunk of spectrum just below the bottom edge of 40 meters 7 MHz band. 

787

Peskies / 6999 and 6998 kHz USB Intruders vs. Hams 40 meters Jamming 2140 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 2145 UTC »

6999 kHz USB, 6998 kHz USB and 7000 kHz LSB are all active at once.  Not to mention the amateur radio operators transmitting CQ on 7000.1 kHz and 7000.2 kHz, going by the signal strength, these ham operators are at least attempting to jam these intruders off of 40 meters.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working. 

6999 kHz USB 6.999 MHz USB - YL and OM talking, can't really make out the language because there's so much QRM.  6998 USB is also active and there's some weak signals on 7000 kHz LSB on top of that.  Naturally, the CW signals are owning the frequency, making it impossible for me to make anything out.  The 6999 USB stations don't seem to mind though.

Heard via the Westminster, MD KiwiSDR. 

788

General Radio Discussion / Re: New to CB radio, Need help.

« on: January 23, 2019, 2138 UTC »

Hello all,

I just got my hands on a new CB radio from a local store. I never had a CB radio in my life so I have a few questions in my mind.

1) I use a PSU from a PC for the 12V to power it on. Is this a safe solution?

2) I have no antenna that I can screw up on the back of the transceiver, Currently I have a long wire in the middle of the coaxial plug. It works, but again is it safe? (I heard stories about antenna's and when not using the right antenna it can blow up the radio's back end.)

3) Since there are no grounding screws on it, Does a grounded wall socket do the job for the radio?

I hope I can get it going without worrying each time I push the PTT button. It's a Midland ALAN 121.

Thanks for any response.

Kind regards,
Telegrapher.

The antenna is the most important part of your radio installation. Do not simply plug something into the antenna socket and press the microphone button hoping for the best.  Do not transmit without an antenna designed for CB radio connected.  As Josh said, transmitting into a mistuned antenna will damage your radio.  A poor antenna will also severely reduce your receive capabilities.

You want an outdoor antenna designed for the frequencies you're using (in this case, 27 MHz). CB antennas indoors will give you pretty unsatisfactory results.   There are a multitude of types of CB antennas available.  Do not buy a mobile antenna and use it as a base station antenna without a proper ground plane.  I recommend using a vertical antenna or a dipole for 27 MHz / 11 meters. 

Regardless of which antenna you use, you need to check your SWR before transmitting longer than a couple seconds.  Even if the radio you're using has a built-in SWR meter I strongly recommend getting a SWR meter/power meter for tuning your antenna.

How much room do you have to play with?  Are you able to mount the antenna on a building or do you have a backyard where a dipole (wire) antenna could be installed? 

I also want to echo Josh's point about buying a purpose-built 12 volt DC power supply for ham radio/CB radio purposes.  If you're running a basic 40 channel 4 watt radio, a 10 amp supply is more than enough.  A 3 amp supply might do the trick but I would recommend 10 amps if possible. 

CB radio is quite fun once you have a good antenna setup. 

789

Utility / SHARES West Weekly Net 14402 USB 1800 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 1805 UTC »

SHARES West 14402 kHz USB 14.402 USB

NF11CH, AAR0FR, NCS012 several other stations checking into net, good signals on the COMMSIGMA KiwiSDR. 

790

Peskies / 12250 kHz USB Spanish Language 1755 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 1758 UTC »

12250 kHz 12.250 MHz Spanish language 12250 UTC SS OMs - two OMs talking about general topics, at 1757, mentioned "another frequency" - talking about alternate frequency or frequency for nighttime use.  Likely the same pescadores heard on the 4-7 MHz bands during the evening and at night are using the higher frequencies during the day.  Good signals early afternoon US East Coast time via COMMSIGMA KiwiSDR on the CT/MA border. 

791

Utility / SHARES Weekly Nets 6765 USB and 6845 USB 1735 UTC 23 Jan 2019

« on: January 23, 2019, 1743 UTC »

SHARES North on 6765 kHz USB 6.765 MHz USB
SHARES Northeast on 6845 kHz USB 6.845 MHz USB

FEMA emergency management coordination weekly net

Freestate 40 asking NCS964 for readback confirmation at 1740 UTC - "net count is now figures one seven (17) - assume net control and pass it to NCS327 at 1750 (SHARES Regional Coordination Net Northeast frequency ID for 6845 USB at 1741 UTC).  Good copy locally, on the Westminster, MD SDR and the CT/MA border SDR.


Standard weekly net operating procedures, check-ins to the net, net control transferred to another station, process repeated, relays requested, etc.  Nets active on 6765 USB and 6845 USB.  Better signals on 6845 USB but 6765 USB traffic is completely readable.

NNO5RJ net control for SHARES North (6765 USB) at 1745 UTC - general call for any station, any region, any area, then request for relays.  NNE5PY and NCSxxx stations heard on frequency. 

792

Peskies / 9373 kHz LSB - Pescadores Hiding In 31 meters! 2145 UTC 22 Jan 2019

« on: January 22, 2019, 2149 UTC »

9373 kHz 9.373 MHz LSB (previously logged in USB mode on this same frequency earlier this month.

Weak Spanish language chatter heard within the internationally allocated 31 meter shortwave broadcast band, this practice is actually more common than some people would think.  8-10 MHz is littered with Spanish language chatter (presumed fishing boats, fishing fleets, the infamous pescadores), 8000 kHz to 8815 kHz is a legal maritime band but above that...well, you've heard the story before.

9373 LSB SS OMs presumed pescadores fishing boats HF-SSB out of band operations within the SWBC

793

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Old Time Radio 6770 AM 2136 UTC 22 January 2019

« on: January 22, 2019, 2141 UTC »

Old Time Radio OTR 6770 kHz 6.770 MHz pirate station 43 meters January 22nd, 2019.

I have them nice and strong on the COMMSIGMA KiwiSDR on the CT/MA border, on the Westminster, MD SDR (duh) and locally.  Good reception, especially for Old Time Radio. 

794

Peskies / 6950 kHz USB Spanish Language Net?? Numbers 2130 UTC 22 Jan 2019

« on: January 22, 2019, 2136 UTC »

6950 kHz 6.950 MHz - OM talking

88! 88! 22! several two digit numbers heard 2134 UTC and 2135 UTC.  "In the truck there's [unintelligible]" - several stations talking at once.  Not sure if these are marine stations (pescadores or traffickers) or land-based stations.  One OM is talking very fast (same guy that's reading the numbers rapidly). 

795

Peskies / Re: 7000 kHz LSB Spanish Language 2243 UTC 19 Jan. 2019

« on: January 22, 2019, 2133 UTC »

I have them on 7000 kHz LSB again this afternoon 22 Jan 2019 at 2133 UTC.  They sure do love 7000 kHz.