Topics

16

Spy Numbers / UVB-76 "The Buzzer" mixed with odd digital signal

« on: December 14, 2018, 2237 UTC »

I tuned into 4625 kHz this morning to listen to The Buzzer and noticed what appears and sounds like a strange digital signal mixed in between the intervals of the normal buzzing sounds. I have no idea what this is, but it is certainly odd behavior for this signal, as it typically just generates a continuous buzz every second, with nothing transmitted in between.

Video recording of the anomaly signal.

Anybody have any ideas what this might be?

It started a few days ago and yesterday, a person on Reddit posted recordings of voice transmissions on the signal that can be heard here and here.

17

Utility / What's up with WLO Marine?

« on: September 30, 2018, 1710 UTC »

I've been a fan of demodulating the RTTY/SITOR-B weather and anti-piracy transmissions from WLO Marine for years. However, it appears that they are no longer active.

I just checked the WLO Marine / Shipcom website and the page is now mostly blank, except for a post dated September 30, 2018 that says "Coming Back Soon."

Anyone know what the story is with this?

Thanks,

Curt / W9SPY

18

General Radio Discussion / H.R.5709 - Pirate Radio Act

« on: July 24, 2018, 0238 UTC »

Posted on my Twitter feed today: Full text of the Pirate Radio Act.

(To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced penalties for pirate radio, and for other purposes).

W9SPY/Curt

Edit: Fixed broken link

19

Other / Chinese Over-the-Horizon Radar Appears on 40 meters

« on: March 13, 2018, 1555 UTC »

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that one of China’s over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) installations has been causing interference in the Amateur Radio 7 MHz band. The IARUMS February newsletter reports on that intruder and others.

Other top 5 intruders include a “single-letter beacon” transmitting either the letter “K” or the letter “T” on 7039.3 kHz. The source is believed to be the Russian Pacific in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A Russian F1B teleprinter signal (RDL) has appeared on 7193 kHz, with an encrypted frequency-shift-keyed (50-baud) signal, originating in Kaliningrad. Authorities in Germany and Switzerland have filed official complaints.

A Russian orthogonal frequency-division multiplex OFDM 60 signal has been showing up on 14.235 MHz, covering 2.76 kHz. It’s said to be located in Moscow. Three Russian OFDM 60 signals were active at the same time on February 13. A Russian F1B signal has been observed on 14.308 MHz, 50 baud, 500 Hz shift, also reported to be in Moscow.

In the “miscellaneous or bad news” category, IARUMS Region 1 Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, reports Spanish-speaking “fishermen” on 3560 kHz (USB), heard daily at 1600 UTC or later. These signals have been heard on other 80-meter frequencies. Broadcaster Radio Hargeisa in Somaliland continued to be reported on 7.120 MHz (AM) daily. On 7.175 MHz, Radio Eritrea continues to be jammed daily with white noise transmissions attributed to Radio Ethiopia. The third harmonic of Radio Tajik on 4765 kHz is still being heard on 14.295 MHz.

Full story HERE.

20

HF Beacons / Possible pirate beacon at 8656 kHz

« on: February 17, 2018, 1624 UTC »

While scanning for HF commercial aircraft voice traffic on Token's SDR, I spotted this signal in the SDR's waterfall. It has a one-second interval transmitted tone or dash, operating well outside of the amateur radio bands. Pirate beacon?

Curt / W9SPY

21

Equipment / Question re placing an audio capacitor on a small speaker

« on: January 07, 2018, 0137 UTC »

I have built a DTMF tone generator following this guide that I found online.

In the construction section of the guide, the author recommends soldering a 4.7mF capacitor to both of the speaker's negative and positive terminals.

Can anyone explain to me what the purpose is of having that capacitor in place? Does it improve the sound quality? Or does it do something else? (I've got the tone generator built and it works great, but the sound quality is slightly tinny).

And my apologies if this post is placed in the wrong section of the board. I looked and didn't see an area that was less about radios in general and specifically for electronics.

Thanks,

Curt / W9SPY

22

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / DSRT01 beacon at 13561.5 kHz

« on: January 06, 2018, 0433 UTC »

DSRT01 beacon transmitting slow Morse code (approximately 5 WPM) at 13561.5 kHz, identifying location as Mojave Desert (a real hotbed for Part 15 beacons, or so it seems).

UTC time and date can be seen in the widget running at the top right of the screen in the video.

Curt / W9SPY

Edit: Decode text of one full cycle:  "T T T T T DSRT01 DSRT01 T T T T T DSRT01 DSRT01 T T T T T DSRT01 DSRT01 T T T T T DSRT01 DSRT01 T T T T T DSRT01 DSRT01 DSRT01 DSRT01 MOJAVE DESERT." Note that the "T" is decoded as such by FLDIGI but is actually a one second tone.

23

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / DNR beacon at 13562 kHz

« on: December 20, 2017, 1545 UTC »

While searching for signals, I discovered a new (for me, at least) pirate beacon transmitting in the ISM band. The pattern is slow CW (approximately 5-7 wpm), transmitting a series of eleven "T"s, then the letters "DSR," then followed by "DE DSR MOJAVE DESERT."

I've been checking this area of the band for over a week in order to monitor another signal that I've discovered and this one has only just appeared this evening (0430 UTC, Tuesday, 12/19/2017).

Video recording of the beacon HERE.

Curt / W9SPY

24

General Radio Discussion / S.C. preacher (Brother Stair) arrested following sexual assault allegations

« on: December 19, 2017, 0119 UTC »

Story Link Here .

25

Spy Numbers / Chasing VC01 "The Chinese robot"

« on: October 30, 2017, 1937 UTC »

Lately, I have been trying to find and record a transmission of VC01 "The Chinese Robot" number station, but without any luck. I'm hoping that someone might offer some tips on how to find this station.

From everything that I've read, VC01 varies its transmission frequencies. I have a list of frequencies that I've been checking, but it is tedious and time-consuming going through the list. Does this station operate on any kind of schedule?

I'm using a WebSDR located in China for my search: http://szsdr.ddns.net:8073

Here is a list of the frequencies I've been monitoring:

3036, 3749, 3837, 4075, 4165, 4175, 4180, 4258, 4343, 4410, 4422, 4427, 4480, 4530, 4580, 4726.5, 5114,
5195, 5232, 5288, 5303, 5328, 5330, 5343, 5393, 5592, 5700, 5742, 5799, 5802, 5820, 5832, 5892, 6209, 6479,
6771, 6840, 6858, 6860, 6949, 6960, 7090, 7351, 7608, 7684, 7726, 7739, 7744, 7756, 7770, 7792, 7864, 7865,
7880, 7890, 7924, 7938, 8000, 8025, 8170, 8779, 9000, 9129, 9169, 9192, 9290, 9340, 10508, 17392 kHz.

(Above list is from the 2014 Numbers & Oddities newsletter)

Thanks,

Curt / W9SPY

26

FM Free Radio / FM Pirates in Seattle, WA

« on: August 01, 2017, 1600 UTC »

Thanks to this message board, I have taken an interest in monitoring the FM band here in Seattle for any pirate activity, especially as I am driving around the city from place to place. (I have the most commonly-used FM pirate frequencies programmed into my car radio and I scroll through them as I'm driving).

So far, I have identified three pirates, one on 87.7 FM and two operating on 101.9 FM:

One is broadcasting modern music on 101.9 FM, interspersed with announcements about street crime and local events taking place in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The second one is transmitting long spoken word segments on 101.9 FM, in what sounds like Mandarin Chinese, along with "New Age" type music, from my own neighborhood near Shoreline, WA.

The third is broadcasting on 87.7 in the West Seattle area. This broadcast is sporadic and typically only transmits when local community events are taking place.

W9SPY

Almost forgot to add this: With the exception of the pirate in my own neighborhood, the other two are fairly well-known locally, as our local news have done stories on them both.

27

Utility / USAF Test Counts & EAM at 8992 kHz

« on: June 27, 2017, 2253 UTC »

Video of USAF test counts & EAM at 8992 kHz HERE.

Four test counts were sent prior to the transmission of the Emergency Action Message. I missed the first one, caught only a portion of the second one,  but managed to get all of the third and fourth counts. The test counts were sent roughly every ten minutes prior to transmission of the EAM. Time and date are visible in the UTC widget running at the top right of the screen.

W9SPY

28

Spy Numbers / Russian E07a "English Man" number station at 9133 kHz (long message)

« on: May 25, 2017, 0511 UTC »

Russian E07a "English Man" number station at 9133 kHz (long message). As with other Russian spy stations that I've logged and recorded lately, this broadcast was preceded by the transmission of a strong signal on frequency a few minutes prior to the actual numbers broadcast. I suspect that this is being done as an attempt to control the frequency and keep other signals off. Quite clever, actually.

Video recording HERE.

29

Spy Numbers / Polish F11 number station FSK decode at 7837 kHz (two transmissions)

« on: May 15, 2017, 0530 UTC »

Polish F11 number station FSK decode at 7837 kHz (two transmissions).

Both transmissions occurred at the same frequency, 10 minutes apart. This was decoded using the Rivet b88 decoder, set on the FSK raw mode at 100 baud with a shift of 625 kHz.

Video HERE.

30

Spy Numbers / Russian G06 "German Lady" number station at 6887 kHz (long message)

« on: May 11, 2017, 1858 UTC »

Russian G06 "German Lady" number station at 6887 kHz (long message).

I have noticed that this station tends to start anywhere from 20-30 seconds, and even up to a minute earlier than the time that is listed in the Priyom schedule, hence the reason why I missed the first couple of seconds of the transmission start. (I won't get fooled again...).

This was a much longer transmission than what I have heard and recorded since I began monitoring this station.

Another difference noted is that near the end of the transmission, the number sequence drops from the standard five-number groups and signals the end with one three-letter group, then a two-letter group, then signs off with, "null, null."

Full recording HERE