6914 Oddity RTTY 0105 UTC 6 May 2016

[ChrisSmolinski]

Heard periodically from 0105 to 0309 sending RTTY with 1000 Hz shift, 50 baud.
6914 Oddity is my nickname for this station that sends RTTY, CW (MCW actually) and cryptic voice messages, all in AM mode.

Some of the messages:

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC04 DE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNHQ. ROGER OUT

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNHQ EE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC05. FOR NB13 XXX ONE SHIP - GHD03 - UNDERWAY
RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC05 DE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNHQ. ROGER OUT

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGCRC2 DE RYRYRYRYGAB2. XXX DEFPAT CHARLIE RTB XXX AFTER ACTION REPORT XXX 45650 98798 78678 87687 56456 45654 23123 45435 XXX BT
RYRYRYRYGAB2 DE RYGYRFYWYRYRYRYRYGCRC2. ROGER OUT

RYRYRYRYGCRC4A DE RYRYRYRYGAB11. XXX DEFPAT NOVEMBER X2 DEPAXOURE XXXL5RYXX
RYRYRYRYGAB11 DE RYRYRYRYGCRC4A. ROGER XXX PROVIDE AFTER ACTION REPORT AND MISSION SUMMARY UPON MISSION COMPLETION

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNHQ DE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC04. FOR NB02 XXX TWO SHIPS - GMC49 / GHD22 - UNDERWAY BT
RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC04 DE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNHQ. ROGER OUT

RYRYRYRYRYGNHQ DE RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYGNOC06. FOR NB14 XXX NO SHIPS UNDERWAY

[MDK2]

Sounds rather military in nature. Do MARS transmissions typically conform to this format? I haven't spent any time listening in on them.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I have heard rumors it is some sort of SIGINT training. The curious part is.. why the use of AM? Unless they're training agents who will then be sent back in time to WWII. 

[redhat]

Perhaps because it begs the question "why AM?".  My money is on MARS as well.

+-RH

[Token]

Since this is unidentified I can't say it is not MARS, but I really doubt it.  The callsigns are not typical of what might be heard on MARS freqs, and the traffic there has never appeared to be a MARS net of any kind.  Indeed this example is unlike any MARS traffic I have ever seen, and the use of AM for data, voice, and CW would be unique to only this freq if it was MARS, pretty unlikely.

The SIGINT training thing gets thrown around whenever there is an odd signal like this.  Again I am skeptical, but less so than this being MARS.

With all that skepticism out in the open, and working against a couple of options, I have no strong ideas as to what it could be.  I am inclined to think training, but not specifically SIGINT training.

T!

[ChrisSmolinski]

One thing I have noticed, activity comes it bursts. I won't hear the station for weeks or months, then it will be busy for a few days, with lots of transmissions, often a few an hour, sometimes throughout the day, I just checked my SDR recordings and some weak transmissions, such as around 1250z this morning, and another at 1413, both rather weak. Based on propagation I suspect it is a few hundred miles away. Maybe in Canada? But that is pure speculation. Based on an foF2 of 4 MHz (the current value) the skip zone is about 440 miles.

I agree that I do not think it is MARS related - I recall one time hearing the MARS guys on 6913 complaining about QRM from it.

Oh and just now another transmission, at 1439z. It seems to be getting a little stronger.