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Author Topic: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity  (Read 13165 times)

Offline Zoidberg

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7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« on: November 08, 2008, 1008 UTC »
Not sure how to categorize this, whether as pescadore, pirate or CB.

Between 0930-1000 UTC, 11/8/08, on 7000 LSB, I heard voice, music, sound effects, bird calls and general fooling around in language that sounded like German with Spanish accent.  I've heard this before between 6900-7000 kHz on both sidebands during 2008, including what sounded rather like a call-in talk show on 6955 kHz several months ago!

A bit of research indicated it might be coming from Brazilian unlicensed operators.  Brazil has a large population of people with German ancestry and reportedly many people speak German as a primary language or secondary to the more prevalent Portuguese.  One man, who sounded like he was using a speech modifier or synthesizer with echo repeats, repeatedly said what sounded like "bitte", "Larry", "ya, ya", "okay" and, possibly "Yanqui".  While I'm not fluent in Portuguese I've heard the language spoken, including on various Brazilian licensed shortwave broadcasts, and the accents were similar despite the differences in language.  Some of the Portuguese spoken by certain personalities on Brazilian shortwave broadcasts has a guttural quality more akin to German than Latin root languages.

Faded by 1000 UTC but continued at varying signal strength, at least two men heard.  Signal intelligibility was generally good with little drift.  If these were indeed from modified CBs, as the following reference indicates is possible, that could be interesting for folks who want more affordable access to the HF spectrum in the U.S.

(N. Central TX - Palstar R30C with indoor antenna.)

5 minute audio clip (635 KB mp3): http://www.mediafire.com/?i2azjnzhqzn
20 minute audio clip (2.6 MB mp3): http://www.mediafire.com/?44mqonnwmfl

Note: Jon-FL on IRC (#wunclub, #pirateradio) has noted similar activity on 7000 kHz and may have audio clips online.

Per: http://mt-utility.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html:

Tuesday, March 06, 2007
7000 kHz Is Getting Weird (per MT Utility World blog)

For the last several days, there has been a real zoo on 7000 kHz, right at the lower end of the 40 meter band. Some people have heard a STANAG 4285 signal that decodes to the usual French Navy testing loops complete with Voyez le brick and identification as FUV (French Navy, Djibouti). Parameters are 300/L/5N2/ITA2.

It may or may not be coincidental that Djibouti and the African "horn" in general is a world trouble spot you don't hear much about, with several important oil fields, tanker routes, and natural gas pipelines at stake. Military activity is greatly increasing there as of late.

Other signals being heard are hours of conversation in Spanish, using procedures such as "Cambio" for "Over." There is a little of the whistling which seems to be a test tone down there, and a little of the hooty sounding multiband inversion scrambling used by the Mexican Army and/or?

Finally there are at least two ALE signals, one from the Italian Carabinieri phone patch net which passes an AMD string of "DIAL4," another with short alphanumeric IDs which are still unknown.

This is not counting a weird artifact that has been transmitting on a wide range of 40 meter frequencies for years, producing a short beep every minute or so. It is a weird dual-frequency beep resembling a DTMF tone but not one. I suspect it's local to Southern California.

It is not known whether any of this is legal on 40 meters. I personally suspect it is not, but it's a grey area. However, hams who tune up or send CW on 7000.000 in an effort to drive all this stuff off must have a lot of faith in their VFO calibration.



...and a follow up post, with possible confirmation:

Wednesday, March 07, 2007
More 7000 kHz Strangeness (per MT Utility World blog)

This comes from Brazil, describing unlicensed CB-style 40-meter activity in that country:

    Regarding your last post ('7000 kHz Is Getting Weird') I would like to
    say, perhaps, brazilian RF users are helping on this weirdness.

    Unfortunately it is increasingly common to see truck drivers installing
    '27MHz->7MHz' transverters on their CB radios. This would explain the
    use of words 'cambio' and the whistle (a 'roger beep' signalling the end
    of QSO). It is very common to see unlicensed voice traffic between
    6900-7000KHz. Here, they call this space as 'faixinha' ('little band').

    This page:
    (http://www.zamin.com.br/principal.php?id_menu=produtos&categoria=10 )
    has CB transverters for 6, 40 and 80 meters (25-50W) costing
    US$100-US$200. Although the company's objective is to help licensed hams
    operator to start on 6, 40 and 80 meter bands with short budget,
    unlicensed CB owners are using this devices to get better coverage, but,
    sadly, whithout any licensing and control.

    Best regards,

    ZZ3HAG Huelbe Garcia
    member of DX Club of Brazil
« Last Edit: November 08, 2008, 1105 UTC by Lex »
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Offline corq

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2008, 1503 UTC »
Wow, nice catch Lex! Thanks for the audio!
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Offline Zoidberg

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2008, 2258 UTC »
Wee-hour DXing: The unfortunate byproduct of insomnia.  At least it's quiet.   :P

I'm pretty sure Jon-FL has logged similar stuff on 7000 kHz.  I seem to recall him mentioning hearing music, etc.  He may have audio clips too.
That li'l ol' DXer from Texas
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Offline Zoidberg

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2008, 0431 UTC »
More Brazilian Pesque madness on 7000 LSB
11/17/08, 1330-1400 UTC: Several OM voices, two heard strongest, one droning "clack-on-clack-on-clack-on!" while another droned "nunca-nunca-nunca!", similar apparently nonsensical vocalizations.  Lots of chatter in dialects that sometimes sounded like German, sometimes like Spanish or Portuguese, occasionally some English slang.  After 20-30 minutes, a clear OM voice in American accented English gives out call sign that sounded like W654 (the rest partially obscured), with calls to "Charlie" and "George".  Mostly overpowered by the non-English chatter.
(N. Central TX)

Five minute audio clip, condensed from hour-long recording: http://www.mediafire.com/?i1yydumyhzx
That li'l ol' DXer from Texas
Unpleasant Frequencies Crew
Al: Palstar R30C & various antennae
Snoopy: Sony ICF-2010
Roger: Magnavox D2935
(Off-air recordings.)

Offline Zoidberg

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2010, 1216 UTC »
2/17/10, 1200-1215 UTC, 7000 LSB: Same heard again, various OM voices chanting nonsensical vocalizations.  As usual, one voice louder than others, seems to more or less lead others in intermittent chanting vocalizations.  Peaked around 1215z, faded out by 1235z.
(N. Central TX)
« Last Edit: February 17, 2010, 1235 UTC by Lex »
That li'l ol' DXer from Texas
Unpleasant Frequencies Crew
Al: Palstar R30C & various antennae
Snoopy: Sony ICF-2010
Roger: Magnavox D2935
(Off-air recordings.)

Offline MR. SHORTWAVE

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Re: 7000 LSB - 40 meter cb
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2010, 1543 UTC »
15:40 UTC receiving what sounds like portuguese male communicating with another station. Can hear various stations in the background one usually stronger. One has a nice strong audio like using some kind of processor. Another is singing a tune. One other saying Hooola HOOOOla; sounds like 40M cb.
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Offline Zoidberg

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2011, 1024 UTC »
Bumping one of my favorite oldies but goodies, rather than starting a new thread.

3/30/11
7000 LSB
1000z: Hearing our Brazilian chanters again, not quite as enthusiastic a group of call-and-response vocalizations as usual.  Someone adding what sounds like "Toga!  Toga!  Toga!" to the usual chanting.

Not quite as strong as I heard 'em back in 2008, but still stronger here than via any of the global tuners remotes I've tried this morning.  Only other tuner they were audible on was in Colorado.
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Offline Sealord

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2011, 1935 UTC »
Here's ~ 4min recording I made back in March of the 7000 LSB activity.  I usually check here to see how conditions are in the morning.  These guys were in full swing this time!

Audio: https://www.yousendit.com/download/VnBxTG14Z1AyWGRjR0E9PQ

cheers : )
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Offline stevechisox

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2011, 2022 UTC »
Pretty heard I have heard this as well, 2 or 3 nights ago. There is always some weird stuff going on around 7000. I guess I thought it was the usual activity coming from Mexico, but it also could have been these guys

Offline stevechisox

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2011, 0250 UTC »
Some of this going on right now 6999.8 to 7000

Offline BoomboxDX

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #10 on: August 30, 2012, 0800 UTC »
Rather than start a complete new thread, I thought I'd add my comments to this one as I've been hearing this stuff also.

First off, although I'm not a language expert, I think the language, at least in Sealord's recording (and in the stuff I've heard between 6999 - 7020 khz around 1200 utc - 1400 utc), is Tagalog or Malay, and I think a lot of these transmissions are coming from SE Asia, because the transmissions seem to match the propagation.

I've noticed guys chattering away around 6999 khz since 2002, when I first heard it.  

It would always start up around 1200 - 1300 utc or so, depending on whenever propagation to Asia really opened up on the 40 meter ham band.  The transmissions would last until the Asian broadcast stations just above the 40 meter ham band started fading out, and they generally faded out around the same time.

I didn't hear the heavy duty chanting until a few days ago when I heard a racket going on at 7019 khz, and it went on for at least 20 minutes or more.  The signals spread across a couple khz of spectrum, and there was just one ham trying to call CQ in that portion of the 40 meter CW band before he just gave up.

The chanting sounded like 5-10 guys all shouting into their mikes at once.  Nga Nga Nga, DaNam DaNam DaNam DaNam, etc.  It struck me as if they were trying to drive CW hams off the frequency.  But maybe they do it for some other reason.

I have just listened to the recording that Sealord posted, and the chanting I heard sounded a lot like that, and the speech during the non-chanting portions of the recording is similar to the speech I have heard.  And it sounds to me like Tagalog or Malay.  If it is coming from SE Asia, the inclusion of some English words would be natural, because English is taught in Philippine and Malaysian schools.

I have heard transmissions in Mexican Spanish on these frequencies, but it's usually around 0000 utc - 0500 utc or later.  Around 1200 utc or later I usually just hear the Asian-sounding stuff.

It's a bit curious that I never see much reference to these transmissions on any of the publicly viewable ham radio forums.

PS -- Thanks for posting that mp3, Sealord.  It's a good recording of one of the strangest things I've heard on the shortwaves....

[Edit: Woops. The clip I was referring to was the "7000LSB, 11/17/08, 1330-1400 UTC" one posted by Lex.  Got the links confused.]


« Last Edit: August 31, 2012, 1401 UTC by BoomboxDX »
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Offline Sealord

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #11 on: August 30, 2012, 1558 UTC »
Hiya BoomboxDX - you must've grabbed that mp3 awhile back

I'm not very good on languages unless it's really obvious.  I've also heard activity (all in LSB mode) around 6933, 6940, 6943 & lately 6970.  There's one particular fella that's easy to spot - he has a lower range voice with good sideband audio, usually speaking in a calm manner with whoever.  I get the best reception from these guys when my array is pointed SE.

Here's an updated link for the 'gang tx' :)

http://archive.org/download/ShortwaveOddsSodsTransmissions/BrazillianPirates7000Lsb1130z-1143z03-04-11.mp3

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Offline Kai

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2012, 2226 UTC »
This is really interesting!

I checked the IARU Region 3 Monitoring System Newsletter (http://www.iaru-r3.org/ms/r3msnl.htm), and it turns out these stations are indeed Asian – or Indonesian to be precise (I see on Wikipedia that they speak Malay in Indonesia). The newsletter calls it 'village radio'. Fascinating!

Offline Zoidberg

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #13 on: August 30, 2012, 2343 UTC »
I'm wondering whether we're hearing different regions on the same frequency, depending on our own locations?  A fellow who speaks Portuguese listened to my recordings from 2008 or 2009 and confirmed those did sound like Brazilian radio operators.  Here in Texas I can often pick up Central and South America very well but rarely hear any Asian stations.  The last time I heard any 40m Asian amateur stations clearly was around 2007-2008 when propagation was still very good.
That li'l ol' DXer from Texas
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Al: Palstar R30C & various antennae
Snoopy: Sony ICF-2010
Roger: Magnavox D2935
(Off-air recordings.)

Offline BoomboxDX

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Re: 7000 LSB - possible Brazilian pescadore activity
« Reply #14 on: August 31, 2012, 1125 UTC »
This is really interesting!

I checked the IARU Region 3 Monitoring System Newsletter (http://www.iaru-r3.org/ms/r3msnl.htm), and it turns out these stations are indeed Asian – or Indonesian to be precise (I see on Wikipedia that they speak Malay in Indonesia). The newsletter calls it 'village radio'. Fascinating!

Thanks for that link.  After doing some web research on the Indonesian chanting last night I found the IARU region 1 site, wasn't aware of the Region 3. The Region 1 monitors in Europe heard this also, but didn't call it "village radio", they just said it was Indonesian pirates, and one monitor referred to it as "whining?"

I also noticed, looking over some of those Region 3 logs, most of the loggings of the 'village radio' transmissions were done by VK4TJ.  And he was hearing them around 0900.  The weird stuff we're hearing is around 1200-1300, maybe it's a different thing, maybe the same thing and it's after his monitoring period...

I wonder what "village radio" is.

[edited -- got region #'s wrong]
« Last Edit: August 31, 2012, 1140 UTC by BoomboxDX »
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