Messages

121

HF Beacons / Re: 4 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 11, 2018, 2229 UTC »

Highlight of this report: Relative signal strength of 4096 kHz beacons.

Report
2150 UTC 2018 NOV 11

4095.93 kHz CW, "Viking", dasher beacon, -109 dBm good readable
4096.04 kHz CW, "Coxie", dasher beacon, -118 dBm weak readable
4096.38 kHz CW, "Haystack", dasher beacon, -114 dBm good readable
4096.87 kHz CW, "MarinDit", ditter beacon, -125 dBm, weak readable with fading below noise
4102.83 kHz CW, "Windy", Morse telemetry beacon, -100 dBm good readable

PLAY AUDIO Four 4096 kHz beacons 4095.5 kHz USB 2150UTC 2018NOV11 29 second MP3 audio clip

Waterfall image below shows a sample of signal strength and frequency of four 4096 kHz beacons:




Ionogram below shows Pt. Arguello ionosonde data for the logged time interval indicating NVIS propagation single hop F2 around the California and western Nevada area with foF2=5.375 MHz.

122

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: Dasher? 13558.9 1550 UTC 10 Nov 2018

« on: November 11, 2018, 0143 UTC »

Looks like a beacon sending mostly a pair of dashes, although I also am seeing occasional dots. I think this is a beacon vs ISM junk.

That is such a tough frequency to tell the beacons apart from the intermittent repetitive CW ISMs.
It is a good place to hide a squirrelly ditter-dasher beacon in plain sight, though

Notice the chirpy repetitive signal on 13558.7 captured on the waterfall image (above the words ISM CARRIERS) in one of yesterday's 22 meter reports , see image below.

123

HF Beacons / Re: 6 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 09, 2018, 2155 UTC »

Highlight of this report: 6626 kHz UNID beacon or possibly a different mode of "Rainy" beacon

Report
2123UTC 2018 NOV 09

6626.26 kHz, CW, UNID, beacon, 1.53 sec repetition, variable 0.1 sec to 0.38 sec duration, weak readable

• Note: this is not the normal repetition or duration recently logged for "Rainy" beacon, however it has been reported on approximately this frequency in the past.
• Note: usually, "Rainy" beacon is logged whenever "Rocky" beacon is logged, but the normal mode of "Rainy" is absent and not copied today in this logging.

6626.47 kHz, AM, "Rocky", beacon, 640 Hz modulation, good readable

PLAY AUDIO 6626.26 kHz CW UNID beacon 2123UTC 2018NOV09

Waterfall image below shows 6626 kHz beacons UNID and "Rocky" 2123UTC 2018 NOV 09:

124

HF Beacons / Re: 6 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 09, 2018, 2111 UTC »

Report
2254UTC 2018 NOV 09, local high noon in California

6700.47kHz, CW, "HexY2k", dasher beacon, 0.88 sec repetition, 0.44 sec duration, 50% duty cycle, strong signal, readable

Waterfall image below shows 6700.47 kHz CW "HexY2k" dasher beacon 2254UTC 2018 NOV 09:



Local Pt. Arguello ionogram below, at 2100 UTC 2018 NOV 09, shows foF2 at 6.788 MHz.

125

Propagation / Re: Historical Ionosonde Data?

« on: November 08, 2018, 1859 UTC »

Image ionosonde data:
https://lgdc.uml.edu/common/DIDBFastStationList

Numerical ionosonde data:
http://umlcar.uml.edu/SAO-X/SAO-X.html

126

22 Meter Band HiFER Beacons / Re: 13 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 07, 2018, 2102 UTC »

Highlight of this report: an UNID dasher beacon at 13556.8 kHz

Report
2018NOV07 2020UTC

13554.11 kHz, CW, "AZ", beacon, very weak audible, fading, with constant pulsating HF radar interference
13556.81 kHz, CW, UNID, dasher beacon, distinctive chirp signature, 2.5 sec duration, variable repetition rate ~10 sec, weak but audible, fading, with constant pulsating HF radar interference

PLAY AUDIO 13556.81 kHz CW UNID dasher beacon 2018NOV07 2020UTC, note pulsing HF radar in background

Waterfall image below: 13556.81 kHz CW UNID dasher beacon 2018NOV07 2020UTC, with HF radar horizontal interference showing as dashed horizontal lines, and ISM noise and carriers around 13560 kHz.




Waterfall image below: 13554.11 kHz CW "AZ" beacon and 13556.81 kHz CW UNID dasher beacon, 2018NOV07 2030UTC, with HF radar horizontal interference showing as dashed horizontal lines, and ISM noise and carriers around 13560 kHz.

127

HF Beacons / Re: 8 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 06, 2018, 2015 UTC »

Report
2001 UTC 2018 NOV 06, local high noon.

8191.86 kHz, CW, "Viking", dasher beacon, harmonic of 4095.93 kHz fundamental, audible weak readable
8192.76 kHz, CW, "Haystack", dasher beacon, harmonic of 4096.38 kHz fundamental, inaudible very weak, faintly visible on waterfall

Waterfall image below: 8192 kHz Viking and Haystack dasher beacon harmonics 2018NOV06 2001UTC:

128

HF Beacons / Re: 6 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 06, 2018, 1923 UTC »

Highlight of this report: the "Rocky" buzzer beacon's audio modulation frequency is drifting, and the audio modulation frequency has changed since previous reports. The bandwidth is about 1 kHz.

Report
1804UTC, 1830UTC, 1937UTC. 2018 NOV 06, local mid-morning in California

6700.51kHz, CW, "HexY2k", dasher beacon, 0.9 sec repetition, good readable
6625.98 kHz, "Rainy" ditter beacon, 0.37 sec repetition, 0.02 sec dit duration, good readable
6626.43 kHz, "Rocky" buzzer beacon, main carrier, with 505 Hz Amplitude Modulation, good readable
6626.94 kHz, "Rocky", +505 Hz drifting to +450 Hz, USB 1st sideband, stronger than main carrier, good readable
6627.44 kHz, "Rocky", + 1010 Hz drifting to +900 Hz, USB 2nd sideband, weak readable
6625.93 kHz, "Rocky, -505 Hz drifting to -450 Hz, LSB 1st sideband, stronger than main carrier, good readable
6625.42 kHz, "Rocky", -1010 Hz drifting to -900 Hz, LSB 2nd sideband, weak readable

PLAY AUDIO 6700.51kHz CW HexY2K dasher beacon 2018NOV06 1804UTC

Waterfall image below: 6700.51kHz CW HexY2K dasher beacon 2018NOV06 1804UTC:


PLAY AUDIO 6625.98 kHz CW Rainy ditter beacon 2018NOV06 1830UTC

Waterfall image below: 6626 kHz Rainy and Rocky beacons 2018NOV06 1830UTC. Note the 505 Hz audio modulation sidebands on Rocky beacon:





PLAY AUDIO 6625 kHz USB Rocky and Rainy beacons 2018NOV06 1937UTC with emphasis on Rocky stronger at this time, with sun at about high noon local time in the region

Waterfall image below: 6626 kHz Rainy and Rocky beacons 2018NOV06 1937UTC. Note the drifting 450 Hz audio modulation sidebands on Rocky beacon:

129

Peskies / Re: 7000 kHz USB freebanders 40 meter intruders vs. hams 2344 UTC 5 Nov 2018

« on: November 06, 2018, 0603 UTC »

While frequencies below 7000 kHz 7.0 MHz are a lot more active (as far as Spanish and Portuguese language chatter goes, naturally the 40 meter amateur band has a lot more activity), the frequency of 7000 kHz itself is another popular spot for unlicensed intruders and other unknown stations that go bump in the night.

Anyway, earlier tonight I logged two groups of Spanish speaking stations using 7000 kHz (both USB and LSB mode).  The stations using USB got a little lesson taught to them by some ham operator either tuning up or just dropping the Morse key on 7001 kHz for several seconds at 2344 UTC.

7000 kHz is an interesting situation.
It is a very very popular chaos channel for pirates in all areas of south america, central america, and Indonesia.
It would be difficult to change that.

7000 kHz USB conflicts with ham radio 40 meters where a lot of high speed morse and DX ham CW happens (7000.5 to 7003.0)

7000 kHz LSB conflicts with an important International Committee Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) frequency:
6998.5 kHz USB.

The 6998.5 kHz channel is one of the few Red Cross neutrality frequencies in the spectrum that were allocated under Geneva Convention and ITU in the mid-20th century by international treaties and ICRC diplomatic memorandums of understanding (MOU). The channel is programmed into Red Cross HF radios, and can often be logged during active humanitarian disaster and relief operations in areas of widespread communication outages. Voice SSB (initiated by HF Selcall or ALE) and digital file transfer (PACTOR and WINMOR) on both LSB and USB are utilized by ICRC.

See http://www.udxf.nl/Red-Cross.pdf
for Ary Boender's paper on the ICRC HF operations.

130

European MW Pirate Radio / Re: UNID 1629 AM 0856MEZ 24 Oct 18

« on: November 04, 2018, 2037 UTC »

It would help to know your QTH in the world a bit, as this freq. once had a couple of Aussie "RPH" stations (500 watts each) on 1629 kHz, often in the clear, and they were often audible almost North America-continent-wide!  Possibly that still? MB

Most likely Germany, because MEZ is how Middle European Time is abbreviated in German language.
Mitteieuropaische Zeit

131

HF Beacons / Re: 4 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 03, 2018, 0202 UTC »

Exo,
BTW if you do hear a weak signal ditting on 4096.85 or so it is the faint 5 mW fundamental of "MarinDit" hrd only 3x in the Moj desrt...  MB

Hi MB,

Yes, MarinDit was there today on its 4 MHz fundamental, precisely where you said it would be, just above Viking, Coxie, and Haystack

It was received around local noon during good NVIS propagation conditions here in Northern California.

Report 2005 UTC 2018 NOV 02
4096.86 kHz CW, MarinDit, beacon, very weak, fading, 0.9 second repetition rate


PLAY AUDIO  4096.86 kHz CW MarinDit beacon 2005 UTC 2018 NOV 02 with Haystack dasher below it


Waterfall image of 4096 kHz CW beacons Viking, Coxie, Haystack, MarinDit at 2005 UTC 2018 NOV 02:



Nearby Pt. Arguello ionogram at the time of logging. (the FoF2=5.488 MHz at this time)

132

HF Beacons / Re: 4 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 02, 2018, 0944 UTC »

Report 1900 UTC 2018 NOV 01

4102.8 kHz CW "Windy", erratic frequency drift to 4102.9 kHz, strong readable

Windy CW telemetry wild beacon has been erratic lately during sunlight hours.
Windy normally has a fairly stable CW frequency, but it has been logged drifting up +100 Hz and back down.
When the voltage is that high, the frequency seems to vary quite a lot during the transmission.

During high noon and afternoon daylight hours, (if the telemetry is actually calibrated) a much higher than normal battery voltage has been transmitted by Windy.
Voltages as high as 16.0 VDC (B=160 decivolts) have been copied.
Maybe it is suffering from too much sun

PLAY AUDIO Drifty 4102 kHz Windy CW telemetry wild beacon 2018 NOV 01 - 1918UTC

Waterfall image of Windy drifting with Battery at 14.7 VDC

133

HF Beacons / Re: 4 MHz Western USA Beacons

« on: November 02, 2018, 0920 UTC »

Exo,

ABSOLUTLY FABULOUS reporting and waterfalls!  The stable 24/7 bcn. is HAYSTACK on 4096.37 or so (xtal/temp drift) and with only about 150 mW output to an inverted-vee - the center is atop a big rock-pile. COXIE is a strong 1-watt output drifting day-timer hovering around 4096.0 but variable  +/- 150 Hz.

VIKING is on 4095.87 and is weak and drifty by a tad halfway between the Owens Valley and the Panamint Valley, and sometimes mid-day develops a weird trill in the noon Sun. 

COXIE is about 1 watt but long ago lost its battery so it runs day only and so varies a lot (cloud passages are neat to see).

The other ner 4 MHz stuff I do not know about... except a friend and I long ago in 2001 DFed Windy...

BTW if you do hear a weak signal ditting on 4096.85 or so it is the faint 5 mW fundamental of "MarinDit" hrd only 3x in the Moj desrt...  MB

Thanks, @MB, for all the great details on these wild beacons in the Mojave!
They seem to have quite a fascinating backstory.
The Mojave is a harsh place for solar powered electronics in the wild.
The extremes of temperature, weather, and sunlight have broken down many remote sites.
It is really amazing that these wild beacons keep on ticking
 

134

ID and Translation Requests / Re: 4101 kHz CW What Kind of Code Is This? Wabun? SKATS?

« on: October 18, 2018, 0850 UTC »

Thanks for these posts - I believe I have received this CW when monitoring the Windy beacon on 4102.8 kHz. In fact I heard some just now (1120z). Also some weak voice noted on 4100 USB.

You are doing extremely well to receive these ships in mid-Pacific and western-Pacific from your location.

At other time slots, the "Sajo Oryong" Sajo Industries fishing fleet has also been logged on:
4111 kHz USB voice / 4112.3 kHz CW,
4189.kHz CW
6868 kHz USB voice

S. Kor ea seems to be one of the few nations with a fully functional and active commercial marine HF CW enterprise.

It seems that we've just scratched the surface on logging the Sajo Oryong huge fleet HF operation.
Perhaps they have been somewhat overlooked up until now, possibly because of the few western ops who understand their language, and even fewer who can copy their CW code.

An educated guess is that their CW code is a specific S. Kor ean language code that is utilized for direct writing of Kor ean characters.
It seems somehow different from SKATS code, which is a standard way to send Kor ean Han gul (characters) writing.
Perhaps the mystery CW characters are run-together CW jamo SKATS Han gul characters.

SKATS = Standard Kore an Alphabet Transliteration System, which is an adaptation of English Morse characters for sending/receiving Hang ul.

SKATS
Consonants   Vowels
Han gul SKATS Han gul   SKATS
ㄱ   L   ㅏ   E
ㄴ   F   ㅑ   I
ㄷ   B   ㅓ   T
ㄹ   V   ㅕ   S
ㅁ   M   ㅗ   A
ㅂ   W   ㅛ   N
ㅅ   G   ㅜ   H
ㅇ   K   ㅠ   R
ㅈ   P   ㅡ   D
ㅊ   C   ㅣ   U
ㅋ   X   ㅔ   TU
ㅌ   Z   ㅐ   EU
ㅍ   O   ㅖ   SU
ㅎ   J   ㅒ   IU


SKATS Hang ul dash-dot Table


SKATS Han gul to English Letters Table


Mystery S. Kore an CW characters

Some of the mystery CW characters may be in this chart below:


A comparison of kore an transliteration systems

135

Pirate Radio History / Re: Radio Caroline

« on: October 18, 2018, 0032 UTC »

Nice WRNO sticker too. I have a couple of them unused.

The WRNO-Worldwide sticker on that toolbox was a promotional item, obtained directly from WRNO-FM staff, at least a year prior to WRNO going on the air.
At that time, it was still uncertain whether the license for WRNO would actually be granted.
One of my engineering colleagues at the time was also a part-time freelance promoter for a record label, and he obtained the sticker when we visited New Orleans on another project.
He went to WRNO-FM studio to try to push a new album to them.
My colleague knew that I was working in shortwave, so he gave me the WRNO brochure, asking if it was "really true that they could get a license for commercial shortwave broadcasting".
The stickers fell out of the WRNO brochure package when I opened it, so I stuck one on my toolbox, which happened to be sitting next to where the stickers fell on the floor