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Author Topic: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017  (Read 2275 times)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« on: October 12, 2017, 2132 UTC »
Caught in progress at 1310 on 11512 kHz, then at 1315 they moved to 11518 kHz, off at 1330z. About an SIO 333.
Chris Smolinski
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Offline fpeconsultant

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Re: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2017, 0020 UTC »
Sweet!
Nice work Mr. Smolinski
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2017, 1222 UTC »
Thanks.  I assume they move around to evade the Chinese jammers? (which were not propagating here, if they were on)

p.s. They are on 11507 right now, 1218z, again with fair reception, SIO 322. Obviously I don't understand what they're saying, but the musical interludes sound Tibetan.

15533 at 1230z.
15547 at 1245z.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2017, 1250 UTC by ChrisSmolinski »
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
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Offline MDK2

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Re: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2017, 1427 UTC »
Thanks.  I assume they move around to evade the Chinese jammers? (which were not propagating here, if they were on)

p.s. They are on 11507 right now, 1218z, again with fair reception, SIO 322. Obviously I don't understand what they're saying, but the musical interludes sound Tibetan.

15533 at 1230z.
15547 at 1245z.

That's one of those things that is always cause for concern, when it comes to logging stations China might be jamming. In my experience, their jamming is so overwhelming that usually that's what we're copying. CNR1 is their main jammer. They don't use the Firedrake nearly as often.

I figured this out over the summer trying to listen to Radio Taiwan International. They have an English broadcast 1100-1200 UTC on 7445 kHz, followed by a Mandarin one starting at 1200. I got some decent copies of the English broadcast, which isn't jammed, but once 1200 rolled around, all of a sudden this huge signal came on. Did they boost their signal? Not according to any online schedule I could see, which all report that they maintain the same signal strength and azimuth. (Unfortunately not in the HFCC schedule, since they don't participate.) I tuned over to a scheduled CNR1 broadcast and found out that CNR1 was now jamming RTI. It's kind of fun to watch on the waterfall when it happens. (This time of year, Asia is getting harder to copy in the morning, at least where I am, and that RTI English broadcast is little more than a het now.)

Since then, any time I come across something reported as being jammed (the eibi schedule is best for reporting that, as they always list "CNR1 jammer/Firedrake" against any non-PRC broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, or Tibetan aimed at China), I try to find an actual official CNR1 broadcast to compare. I've yet to find that I was copying the other station, although sometimes in the case of those transmitting from Palau, I can hear them along with the jamming.

Tl;dr - without a recognizable interval or station ID, it's safer to assume that you're copying CNR1 than another station.

I'm not saying that you didn't hear Voice of Tibet, btw. I'm posting this primarily because I see a lot of people reporting that they're hearing this or that, without indicating how they determined it aside from checking a schedule.
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2017, 1633 UTC »
It certainly is a problem sorting out the intended broadcast vs the jammer. In this case I think it was Tibet based on the program content, it matched the style I understand the station typically broadcasts, and didn't sound like any of the CNR outlets.

One interesting thing I notice many of the clandestine stations do is use higher frequencies transmitted from a relatively distant site. They propagate fine to the intended target. But it's much more difficult to locally jam a 16 meter band transmission (for example) when your jammer is nearby. NVIS no worky at 16 meters  ;D  Of course the usual suspects can get around this by using more distant transmitter sites themselves, sites they probably use for relay purposes anyway.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
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Offline MDK2

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Re: Voice of Tibet 11512 then 11518 kHz 1310 UTC 12 Oct 2017
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2017, 1854 UTC »
One interesting thing I notice many of the clandestine stations do is use higher frequencies transmitted from a relatively distant site. They propagate fine to the intended target. But it's much more difficult to locally jam a 16 meter band transmission (for example) when your jammer is nearby. NVIS no worky at 16 meters  ;D  Of course the usual suspects can get around this by using more distant transmitter sites themselves, sites they probably use for relay purposes anyway.

That's a very astute observation. One thing that I think China does, however, is use multiple transmitters when they jam. Allegedly they're coordinated by satellite, based on what I've read about the Firedrake, and I think it makes sense given that the CNR1 signal can sound fluttery - perhaps it's because there are multiple signals originating from points all across the third largest nation (by area) in the world. That could address the NVIS issue - you may be in one transmitter's skip zone, but the one that's 3000 km away is hitting you just fine, as is the one that's 5000 km away.

That said, you do get an ear for CNR1 after a while and Mandarin shouldn't sound a whole lot like Tibetan.
Denver, CO.
SDRPlay RSPdx & RSP2pro, Airspy Discovery HF+, Icom IC-7100, Grundig Satellit 750, Realistic DX-300, Tecsun PL-600.
MLA-30 active loop, G5RV dipole.
eQSLs appreciated wickerjennie at gmail

 

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