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Author Topic: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones  (Read 2283 times)

Offline ka1iic

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17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« on: March 17, 2014, 1753 UTC »
17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones

Very weak & just at the noise level, I had to use noise removal software to hear what I thought I was hearing...

Sounds a lot like slow playing of bagpipes....  I remember hearing things like this as far back as the 70's to date... but back then they were just channel markers to keep the frequency clear of other stations.

73 Vince KA1IIC
73 Vince
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2014, 1840 UTC »
Sounds like some sort of an MFSK system?
Chris Smolinski
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Offline ka1iic

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2014, 2031 UTC »
Yes it does Chris and it seems to be on the air quite a long time.  Long period of time on the tones... and the best I can call it is bagpipes... I do have audio but it is weak even with major audio modification.  If there is interest I will post it to my domain...

73 Vince KA1IIC
73 Vince
KA1IIC

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Troy, Ohio. 20m Vertical & low long wire E/W, Yaesu FT-187ND, SDRplay 2, Ratt Shack 2 meter rig, and other little bits of electronics I'm not talking about, homebrewed and otherwise... so there bleech!

Offline glimmer twin

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2014, 0113 UTC »
It might have been firedrake. Heard poorly sometimes only the higher frequencies come through & the drums get lost in the muck. FD has been logged on this frequency for 20 or so hours a day.
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Offline Token

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2014, 1457 UTC »
Vince, this is associated with the “swisher” signal you asked about last year on 22820 kHz.

Not data tones.  Well, probably not.  So far no one (who is talking about it) has been able to find any data in the transmissions, although it does indeed sound like a 32 tone MFSK transmission of some kind.  The leading theory is it is some kind of test or link signal for WLO / WPG / HEB.

This signal has been around for a while now.  It has come up several times on these and other forums, I call it “drifty MFSK” in my logs, Hugh Stegman called it the “snake charmer” in one of the last Monitoring Times issues to be published.

A couple of past threads here:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,12608.msg40446.html#msg40446
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,11112.0.html  (your thread from last year)
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,10617.0.html

Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM4qpa82OpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzpz8LWrjA

It is on multiple frequencies, sometimes synchronized across multiple frequencies, sometimes different on each.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline ka1iic

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2014, 1630 UTC »
Thanks Token et al...

I've heard it yesterday too... In fact I am hearing it right now 1621 utc 03/19/2014. Yesterday the tones were at a faster rate but today they are at the slower rate.

Not sure if this is on 24/7 but it does seem to be quite regular for me early in the day.  I wouldn't say the transmitter was close to me because of the deep selective fades from time to time.

I've put it on my watch list to see if certain propagation conditions might make the signal stronger than just at the noise level or above.

73 Vince KA1IIC
73 Vince
KA1IIC

"If you can't be anything, you can at least be annoying"

Troy, Ohio. 20m Vertical & low long wire E/W, Yaesu FT-187ND, SDRplay 2, Ratt Shack 2 meter rig, and other little bits of electronics I'm not talking about, homebrewed and otherwise... so there bleech!

Offline Token

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Re: 17300khz 1625utc 03/17/2014 dat tones
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2014, 1734 UTC »
Generally this signal is not on 24/7.  The times vary a bit, but most often it comes on after 1200 UTC and goes off about 2000 UTC (or maybe 2200 UTC, am at work and don’t have my logs here).  Be sure to check the other frequencies mentioned in those other threads, often (almost always) it is on more than one freq and sometimes it is not on the 17299 kHz freq at all.

By the way, the frequencies I list in those other threads are all tuned freqs vs center freqs.  All selected to keep the FSK inside the audio pass band and to give about the same audio excursion on each freq.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

 

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