1516
North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: YHWH reported on 6150
« on: November 25, 2013, 0151 UTC »
Freq is 6150.0 kHz. Audio is much improved over what it used to be (months past). A bit over S9 here, as normal.
T!
T!
Shortwave Pirate Radio In North America And Around The World, And Other Signals That Go Bump In The Night
We seek to understand and document all radio transmissions, legal and otherwise, as part of the radio listening hobby. We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations.
Always consult with the appropriate authorities if you have questions concerning what is permissable in your locale.
Even if they are not at fault for why the discrepancy exists, if they know it exist or should reasonably know it exist, then yes, they are still responsible (in the eyes of the FCC).
The chipped paint was a bit tongue in cheek I suspect, but not far off. Your ducks have to be in a row, or it will cost you, regardless of if the issue is important or not.
T!
Either commercial or private, governmental activities use different encryption methods.
All of the above. The fact that I am hearing Sailor Cry on that freq when I am argues either Pacific or Gulf of Mexico. However it is used world wide.
To make it so you cannot copy what they are saying.
Maritime communications have historically been HF centric, although today sat comms are being used more and more. These HF comms have always been easy to monitor. And be it a vessel master contacting the company or a sailor calling his wife, none of them are really happy knowing anyone with a radio can listen in to their conversations. So, various forms of voice encryption have been used over the years, Sailor Cry is just one of them, although probably the most common.
Without a recording I can only guess. I can say when I am tuned to that frequency (actual proper tuned freq is 6880 kHz) I often hear Sailor Cry here. You will find it in use all across the bands, as I write this a quick tune shows it in use on 6305, 6320, and 6650 kHz also.
T!
I rather doubt you are using WMP or VLC to playback SDR I/Q data recordings. He is not talking about audio recordings made when using an SDR (that is no different from any audio recording made with any radio), but rather the recorded I/Q data that SDRs output when recording RF to the HD. This ability to record the RF to the hard drive is one of the things that set SDRs apart from traditional radios. Most remote SDRs (such as WebSDR) do not include this capability.
T!
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
1517
HF Beacons / Possible new 4096.55 kHz Pirate Beacon, 24 Nov, 2013, 1500 UTC
« on: November 25, 2013, 0058 UTC »
I have been on travel for a while, and away from the radios, so not sure when this beacon might have started. Also, while I did not log it so I don’t remember the exact date, I did tune to the Inyo-Whooper (very close to the same frequency) a couple of weeks ago, and the Whooper was there, but not this “new” beacon.
Might be of interest to note that this morning the Inyo-Whooper is not present, could this new beacon be a Whooper replacement? The rough bearing I have to it is consistent with the area the Whooper was in, but the bearing is just that, rough, at best. Then again, there was snow in the area of the Whooper for the last couple days/nights, it might just be waiting for the sun to do its thing. Call this tentatively a replacement for the Inyo-Whooper. Hexie (4096.3 kHz) and Coxie (4095.9 kHz) are both present, although Coxie is pretty drifty, moving from 4095.8 to 4096.1 in 10 minutes. Later it shifted more than 1 kHz in a few seconds.
The “new” beacon sends two dashes. The group is sent every ~6.5 seconds. The first dash is slightly shorter than the second, first dash ~0.59 sec, second dash ~0.74 sec. The pause between the two dashes is ~0.55 sec. This might be the letter “M”, but since the dash and gap times are pretty close it also might be a slow “I”.
The frequency is 4096.55 kHz.
Signal level in here is good at S4 to S8 through the day.
T!
Might be of interest to note that this morning the Inyo-Whooper is not present, could this new beacon be a Whooper replacement? The rough bearing I have to it is consistent with the area the Whooper was in, but the bearing is just that, rough, at best. Then again, there was snow in the area of the Whooper for the last couple days/nights, it might just be waiting for the sun to do its thing. Call this tentatively a replacement for the Inyo-Whooper. Hexie (4096.3 kHz) and Coxie (4095.9 kHz) are both present, although Coxie is pretty drifty, moving from 4095.8 to 4096.1 in 10 minutes. Later it shifted more than 1 kHz in a few seconds.
The “new” beacon sends two dashes. The group is sent every ~6.5 seconds. The first dash is slightly shorter than the second, first dash ~0.59 sec, second dash ~0.74 sec. The pause between the two dashes is ~0.55 sec. This might be the letter “M”, but since the dash and gap times are pretty close it also might be a slow “I”.
The frequency is 4096.55 kHz.
Signal level in here is good at S4 to S8 through the day.
T!
1518
North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: Red Mercury Labs, 6925usb, 0038utc 11-24-13
« on: November 24, 2013, 0103 UTC »
Sounds good here in the Mojave Desert, as normal. Hiyas RML.
T!
T!
1519
Other / Re: EAM? Or numbers station talking on 15016 USB
« on: November 23, 2013, 1510 UTC »
Military. This is a frequency in the US Airforce maintained HF-GCS network. 4724, 6739, 8992, 11175, 13200, and 15016 are the most commonly used frequencies. It is quite common, normal even, for the same message to be sent across multiple or even all of those frequencies at the same time. If you hear phonetics on one freq try the others and see how many you hear.
There are two basic forms of voice encrypted, phonetics based, messages, "EAM"s and "Skykings". The message you heard is probably what hobbyist have come to call an "EAM". It should be noted that not all encoded traffic like that are actually EAM's, but since it is essentially impossible for a hobbyist to tell one form of message from the other they all get called "EAM". When you hear a Skyking it will be obvious.
T!
There are two basic forms of voice encrypted, phonetics based, messages, "EAM"s and "Skykings". The message you heard is probably what hobbyist have come to call an "EAM". It should be noted that not all encoded traffic like that are actually EAM's, but since it is essentially impossible for a hobbyist to tell one form of message from the other they all get called "EAM". When you hear a Skyking it will be obvious.
T!
1520
Other / Re: Fast ditter 16110khz @ 1633UTC
« on: November 20, 2013, 2348 UTC »
Look here:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,13891.0.html
This "fast ditter" is pulsing at 10 Hz, and when it sued a shorter dit people were calling it the "new Russian Woodpecker". It did sound a bit like the old WP, but never had a short enough pulse to be a contender.
I would post a vid of it, but I am a few miles from my radio gear or my recordings
Maybe when I get back from travel, on the other hand, the beer is good
T!
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,13891.0.html
This "fast ditter" is pulsing at 10 Hz, and when it sued a shorter dit people were calling it the "new Russian Woodpecker". It did sound a bit like the old WP, but never had a short enough pulse to be a contender.
I would post a vid of it, but I am a few miles from my radio gear or my recordings
Maybe when I get back from travel, on the other hand, the beer is good T!
1521
Other / Re: Fast Ditter 7735 2241 UTC 18 Nov 2013
« on: November 19, 2013, 0351 UTC »
Chris, this is the mystery pulsed signal that showed up last year and again a month ago.
It hits 4 freqs through the day, 7735, 8050, 12105, and 16110. It comes up at about 29 minutes after the hour and goes off at the top of the hour plus about 8 seconds.
Right now, a rough sched (not complete so not 100% correct, still working on it):
0000 – 0200 7735 kHz
0200 – 0800 8050 kHz
0800 – 1400 12105 kHz
1400 – 2000 16110 kHz
2000 – 2200 Off?
2200 – 0000 7735 kHz
In the past it has used a 10 to 30 millisec pulse 10 times per second. Tonight I see it is using a 50 millisec pulse 10 times per second.
T!
It hits 4 freqs through the day, 7735, 8050, 12105, and 16110. It comes up at about 29 minutes after the hour and goes off at the top of the hour plus about 8 seconds.
Right now, a rough sched (not complete so not 100% correct, still working on it):
0000 – 0200 7735 kHz
0200 – 0800 8050 kHz
0800 – 1400 12105 kHz
1400 – 2000 16110 kHz
2000 – 2200 Off?
2200 – 0000 7735 kHz
In the past it has used a 10 to 30 millisec pulse 10 times per second. Tonight I see it is using a 50 millisec pulse 10 times per second.
T!
1522
General Radio Discussion / Re: KHAQ FM running at 50% power due to bullet holes in the transmission line
« on: November 18, 2013, 2034 UTC »They're lucky none of the bullets chipped the paint on the antenna tower, or the FCC would have fined them.
Even if the station was not to fault for the holes?
Even if they are not at fault for why the discrepancy exists, if they know it exist or should reasonably know it exist, then yes, they are still responsible (in the eyes of the FCC).
The chipped paint was a bit tongue in cheek I suspect, but not far off. Your ducks have to be in a row, or it will cost you, regardless of if the issue is important or not.
T!
1523
Utility / Re: Possible milcomm 15.016 USB 17 Nov 2013
« on: November 18, 2013, 0050 UTC »
This is one frequency in the US Air Force maintained HF-GCS network. More than jsut the US Air Force uses this network, but they op / maintain it. Many, many, messages a day will be heard on the common freqs, 4724, 6739, 8992, 11175, 13200, and 15016 kHz. Often messages are simulcast on more than one frequency at a time, so that all freqs might be carrying the same traffic.
T!
T!
1524
Spy Numbers / Re: V07 18074 USB 0100 UTC 17 Nov 2013
« on: November 18, 2013, 0046 UTC »
Sealord, you got almost the whole thing. The "zero" that is the last thing heard in your recording is the first of 6 total zeros, sent 000 000. And that was the end of the message. 14374 was also the strongest here, but the 850 Hz FSK on 14375 messed it up, so the best I heard was on 15874 kHz, although all three freqs, 18074 (0100z), 15874 (0120z), and 14374 kHz (0140z), were copiable.
T!
T!
1525
Software / Re: Software to demodulate RDFT
« on: November 17, 2013, 1727 UTC »
The short answer is no, nothing but DIGTRX. The longer answer is you could build custom plug-ins for a couple of the high end software packages out there, but unless you want to spend several thousand dollars and then build the custom plug-in, I refer to the short answer
T!
T!
1526
Other / Re: UNID 6881 USB? 0051 UTC 11 Nov 2013
« on: November 15, 2013, 1714 UTC »Token,
Thanks much for passing info along on what appears to be what I am hearing! I must say, I've never heard of SailorCry voice encryption. From the name, it obviously appears that I'm hearing maritime activity.
Which leads to further questions...
Commercial or governmental activity?
Either commercial or private, governmental activities use different encryption methods.
Where is the possible origin of transmissions... Atlantic, Pacific, (name another body of water)?
All of the above. The fact that I am hearing Sailor Cry on that freq when I am argues either Pacific or Gulf of Mexico. However it is used world wide.
Possible motives for using encryption?
To make it so you cannot copy what they are saying.
Maritime communications have historically been HF centric, although today sat comms are being used more and more. These HF comms have always been easy to monitor. And be it a vessel master contacting the company or a sailor calling his wife, none of them are really happy knowing anyone with a radio can listen in to their conversations. So, various forms of voice encryption have been used over the years, Sailor Cry is just one of them, although probably the most common.
There are numerous unsolved mysteries in the realm of radio communications. Maybe the above questions can be answered by you or others on the forum, maybe not.
I will "stay tuned" for further developments.
Thanks again Token!
p.s. Signals received at my Indiana location are marginal, at best. A recording would be difficult unless I could pick a night that propagation was more favorable.
Without a recording I can only guess. I can say when I am tuned to that frequency (actual proper tuned freq is 6880 kHz) I often hear Sailor Cry here. You will find it in use all across the bands, as I write this a quick tune shows it in use on 6305, 6320, and 6650 kHz also.
T!
1527
Other / Re: UNID 6881 USB? 0051 UTC 11 Nov 2013
« on: November 14, 2013, 2244 UTC »
A recording really would help to ID the signal. Preferably one online and not on a wire real
Without a recording the best one can do is guess. On that frequency in the past I have heard SailorCry voice encryption, and that can sound something like inverted audio. In fact, right now I am hearing SailorCry on that freq.
T!
Without a recording the best one can do is guess. On that frequency in the past I have heard SailorCry voice encryption, and that can sound something like inverted audio. In fact, right now I am hearing SailorCry on that freq.
T!
1528
SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: Playback of Recordings made with SDR Software
« on: November 14, 2013, 1724 UTC »
On the subject of SDR recordings, and I/Q vs Audio, K5KNT, you do know you can select in HDSDR what kind of recording to make, yes? Either a simple audio recording of the demodulated audio (can be played back in almost any audio play application), or an “SDR” or I/Q recording of the sample bandwidth?
On the note of I/Q recordings, not sure how many realize it but these recordings are handled much like standard audio wav files. This means you can often use your favorite audio editing program (I use Goldwave) to edit the I/Q files. You cannot look at the data, or play back the signal, but you can trim off excess and edit length. This means if you have a one hour, 800 MB, I/Q file, but only want to keep three minutes of the file, you can trim off the stuff around the nugget you want to keep, and end up with your 12 MB 3 minute file.
Example: I have a 60 minute, 50 kHz width, SDR recording of a pirate on 6925 kHz. The voice ID occurs 27 minutes into the recording, and the voice ID plus 2 minutes either side is all I want to keep for my files. I open Goldwave, use the File / Open menu, select the SDR file I want. Once open I sue the edit tool to delete the first 25 minutes and last 31 minutes of the recording. I select “Save”. This leaves a 4 minute recording with the voice ID in the middle of that 4 minutes. This 4 minute file is a lot smaller than the 60 minute file, and easier to keep on the “keepers” hard drive.
Try it first on a copy of the file you want, just to make sure you get the timing down right
T!
On the note of I/Q recordings, not sure how many realize it but these recordings are handled much like standard audio wav files. This means you can often use your favorite audio editing program (I use Goldwave) to edit the I/Q files. You cannot look at the data, or play back the signal, but you can trim off excess and edit length. This means if you have a one hour, 800 MB, I/Q file, but only want to keep three minutes of the file, you can trim off the stuff around the nugget you want to keep, and end up with your 12 MB 3 minute file.
Example: I have a 60 minute, 50 kHz width, SDR recording of a pirate on 6925 kHz. The voice ID occurs 27 minutes into the recording, and the voice ID plus 2 minutes either side is all I want to keep for my files. I open Goldwave, use the File / Open menu, select the SDR file I want. Once open I sue the edit tool to delete the first 25 minutes and last 31 minutes of the recording. I select “Save”. This leaves a 4 minute recording with the voice ID in the middle of that 4 minutes. This 4 minute file is a lot smaller than the 60 minute file, and easier to keep on the “keepers” hard drive.
Try it first on a copy of the file you want, just to make sure you get the timing down right
T!
1529
SDR - Software Defined Radio / Re: Playback of Recordings made with SDR Software
« on: November 13, 2013, 2317 UTC »I listen either in WMP or VLC.
I rather doubt you are using WMP or VLC to playback SDR I/Q data recordings. He is not talking about audio recordings made when using an SDR (that is no different from any audio recording made with any radio), but rather the recorded I/Q data that SDRs output when recording RF to the HD. This ability to record the RF to the hard drive is one of the things that set SDRs apart from traditional radios. Most remote SDRs (such as WebSDR) do not include this capability.
T!
1530
Spy Numbers / Re: HM01 (?) 6 Nov 2013
« on: November 11, 2013, 2243 UTC »
K5KNT, yes, this is HM01.
ff - HM01 does not send a message the old fashioned way, however unless you write the numbers down and look at them and the cycles they make you might not realize it.
HM01 starts up with 5 figure groups for several minutes. However, there are only 6 different five figure groups sent, repeated over and over. This part can sound something like a V02a message, but it is not. Once the data starts then the same 6 five figure groups are used again, but one at a time, between the data groups.
Example below:
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
(repeated for several minutes)
57929 data burst (notice this is the first 5 figure group used above)
29787 data burst (notice this is the second 5 figure group used above)
65498 data burst (notice this is the third 5 figure group used above)
63442 data burst (notice this is the forth 5 figure group used above)
87124 data burst (notice this is the fifth 5 figure group used above)
07821 data burst (notice this is the sixth 5 figure group used above)
57929 data burst
29787 data burst
65498 data burst
63442 data burst
87124 data burst
07821 data burst
(repeated 5 figure / data for about 20 minutes)
It then starts over with several minutes of sending 6 different five figure groups over an over before transitioning into the alternating 5 figures / data.
What can confuse some people, make them think there are a couple different formats, is the way HM01 changes frequency. As I said, the HM01 messages are pretty much always like I have described above. However, sometimes when the top of the hour comes around and it is time to change frequencies HM01 does not go back to the beginning, but rather just shifts frequency without stopping or changing what it is doing. This means it can come up on a new freq and be in the middle of the 5 figure / data cycle. This leads some people to think HM01 starts out with the alternating pattern sometimes. This habit has caused more than one person to claim finding a “new” mode of HM01.
T!
ff - HM01 does not send a message the old fashioned way, however unless you write the numbers down and look at them and the cycles they make you might not realize it.
HM01 starts up with 5 figure groups for several minutes. However, there are only 6 different five figure groups sent, repeated over and over. This part can sound something like a V02a message, but it is not. Once the data starts then the same 6 five figure groups are used again, but one at a time, between the data groups.
Example below:
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
57929 29787 65498 63442 87124 07821
(repeated for several minutes)
57929 data burst (notice this is the first 5 figure group used above)
29787 data burst (notice this is the second 5 figure group used above)
65498 data burst (notice this is the third 5 figure group used above)
63442 data burst (notice this is the forth 5 figure group used above)
87124 data burst (notice this is the fifth 5 figure group used above)
07821 data burst (notice this is the sixth 5 figure group used above)
57929 data burst
29787 data burst
65498 data burst
63442 data burst
87124 data burst
07821 data burst
(repeated 5 figure / data for about 20 minutes)
It then starts over with several minutes of sending 6 different five figure groups over an over before transitioning into the alternating 5 figures / data.
What can confuse some people, make them think there are a couple different formats, is the way HM01 changes frequency. As I said, the HM01 messages are pretty much always like I have described above. However, sometimes when the top of the hour comes around and it is time to change frequencies HM01 does not go back to the beginning, but rather just shifts frequency without stopping or changing what it is doing. This means it can come up on a new freq and be in the middle of the 5 figure / data cycle. This leads some people to think HM01 starts out with the alternating pattern sometimes. This habit has caused more than one person to claim finding a “new” mode of HM01.
T!
