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Author Topic: New BUZZ sound on HF bands  (Read 2593 times)

Offline Crellitor

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New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« on: February 28, 2021, 1121 UTC »
This seems to be everywhere. Anyone know what it is?
listen near the end of file.
https://ws4bs.com/MYFILES/buzz.wav
YAESU FT-DX10 or SDR Dongle using a wire antenna at 40 ft. in grid FM03ah

Offline Token

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2021, 1802 UTC »
Frequency, mode of the receiver, time of day, and general (region is fine) location of reception would help a bit.  It would be easy to assume SC is the area (based on your profile), but with the widespread use of remotes these days such an assumption might be incorrect.

At first blush this sounds like a digisonde.  Digisondes are a specific kind of ionosonde.  And if you see it shifting up in frequency, in small steps a bit under 1 second long each, that pretty much nails it as a digisonde.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Crellitor

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2021, 2320 UTC »
Frequency, mode of the receiver, time of day, and general (region is fine) location of reception would help a bit.  It would be easy to assume SC is the area (based on your profile), but with the widespread use of remotes these days such an assumption might be incorrect.

At first blush this sounds like a digisonde.  Digisondes are a specific kind of ionosonde.  And if you see it shifting up in frequency, in small steps a bit under 1 second long each, that pretty much nails it as a digisonde.

T!

It does not seem to matter what band you are on, but is is stronger below 15 meters and others are hearing it all over the east coast as far as i have heard so far.
YAESU FT-DX10 or SDR Dongle using a wire antenna at 40 ft. in grid FM03ah

Offline ion_op

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2021, 0414 UTC »
I'm hearing from 15m down to 80m in NJ day and night. Interval seems to be every 4 minutes with 4 bursts, 3 one after each other then there is a delay before the 4th burst. Bursts vary in strength. Listening to 40m now and the last burst is the strongest. I'm wondering if it's radar thats being steered electronically. It's definitely new and doesn't appear to be frequency agile but very broadbanded. It's actually causing QRM. I also hear this scratchy sounding signal all across 40m for a while now at night. 04:35 listening to ZS6CCY on 7156 and the last burst is covering him up.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2021, 0436 UTC by ion_op »

Offline Token

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2021, 1732 UTC »
It does not seem to matter what band you are on, but is is stronger below 15 meters and others are hearing it all over the east coast as far as i have heard so far.

The type of sounder I was referencing sweeps across a wide frequency range, and so it is heard on many frequencies.  Unless you are looking at a waterfall display, and if you are going strictly by audio, it can be tough to tell that it is stepped / swept upwards.

The sound in your recording is almost certainly a digisonde.

The following image shows two different digisondes moving up in frequency.  You can see them moving to the right in frequency and upwards on the waterfall as they move right.  You can also see they walk right through 40 meters ;)  The one marked in green sounds very similar to your recording.


While I said the one in green sounds similar to your recording, keep in mind these sounders, even the same types of sounders, can have different step sizes and dwell times, so the same type can sound different depending on the settings.  In fact it is probable the two shown in that image are the same types of sounder, just in different modes / settings, and they did, in fact, sound very different on the recording.

T!
« Last Edit: March 05, 2021, 1814 UTC by Token »
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Crellitor

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2021, 1742 UTC »
Found out it was a military experiment and it was shut down yesterday. I do not know what it was about or if they will start it back again.
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Offline Token

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Re: New BUZZ sound on HF bands
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2021, 1904 UTC »
Found out it was a military experiment and it was shut down yesterday. I do not know what it was about or if they will start it back again.

How did you find out it was a mil exp?  I mean, where did the information come from.

Your recording is identical to a digisonde, same data rate, same histogram.  Digisondes are often found associated with military installations, for example the one in the picture I showed is from Vandenberg AFB.  It is not unreasonable to expect a digisonde to be associated with an HF military experiment.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA