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Author Topic: UNID QSO 6948 kHz USB 2210 - 2220? UTC 7 DEC 2016  (Read 1549 times)

Offline R4002

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UNID QSO 6948 kHz USB 2210 - 2220? UTC 7 DEC 2016
« on: December 07, 2016, 2234 UTC »
Heard two stations talking on 6948.0 kHz USB, which is odd as most of the "pescadore" and "freebander" crowd seems to favor LSB for two-way communications in the 6800-7000 kHz range.  Heavy Caribbean accents (likely Jamaican) switching freely back and forth between English and Spanish.  Informal comms but was mostly in Spanish (one station was S9++ the other was barely above the noise floor).

Not sure what to make of this but since it was in USB mode and switched between two languages I figured I would post it here.  Lots of two-way activity on the band this evening on the usual 6900 kHz, 6919 kHz, 6925 kHz, 6930 kHz, 6935 kHz, etc, frequencies, but everything else was in LSB (and in Spanish only).

The communications heard on 6948 kHz USB reminded me a lot of traffic I've heard on the 27515 kHz LSB Caribbean 11 meter calling frequency.
U.S. East Coast, various HF/VHF/UHF radios/transceivers/scanners/receivers - land mobile system operator - focus on VHF/UHF and 11m

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: UNID QSO 6948 kHz USB 2210 - 2220? UTC 7 DEC 2016
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2017, 1158 UTC »
They could be Garifuna conch and octopus divers off of Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They're the descendants of escaped slaves from the Islands that beat it to parts of the Cen. American coast who intermarried with the local Natives and later free arrivals from the islands brought by the British from Jamaica to work the dyewood industry on the long stretch of the mainland coast the Brits had defacto control over in the late 19th cen.

Those folks speak a mainly English patois enunciated in a manner to what's spoken in the islands, but with a lot of Spanish, African, and local Native terms thrown into the mix. Add in the factor that most speak fluent Spanish and especially in Belize, the Queen's English, and it can be quite a mix of languages on the listening end. They're also some of the greatest free divers in the world.

You find the Garifuna from Panama to the far eastern Yucatan of Mexico and all the offshore islands in the eastern Caribbean. You'll hear them yapping with the Nicaraguan Coast Guard from time to time in the funny band. When the fishing isn't great, they rob the drug boats coming up from Colombia. They call cocaine "The White Fish".

Offline R4002

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Re: UNID QSO 6948 kHz USB 2210 - 2220? UTC 7 DEC 2016
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2017, 0304 UTC »
Very interesting information Pigmeat!

I remember reading about Boston fishermen chatting away on 6951 kHz USB or 6953 kHz USB or something like that...but this is much more interesting.  The fact that they're using a mixture of several languages and able to move back and forth between them fluidly always fascinates me.  6765-7000 kHz really is "the funny band".  The fact that the Nicaraguan Coast Guard chats to these guys on these technically "illegal" bands further testifies the heavy usage of these frequencies.

Just like 25615-30105 kHz (or, for simplicity's sake, 12, 11 and 10 meters) is more or less "the funny band", heavily used by stations in that part of the world.  Next time the band is open, park a radio on 26555 LSB and 27515 LSB.  You'll hear very similar communications, especially on 27515 kHz LSB.
U.S. East Coast, various HF/VHF/UHF radios/transceivers/scanners/receivers - land mobile system operator - focus on VHF/UHF and 11m

 

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