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OT: Digital Signals on 20M

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Kenneth Moorman

OT: Digital Signals on 20M

For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work through
them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center of
their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for the
fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter using a
Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software monitoring
my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I get on 20M
and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I have not
seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes, but I
just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone let me
know what this might be?

Ken, NU4I

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w7aqk

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

Ken,

I don't know what they are, but I hear them too--on all radios.

Dave W7AQK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Moorman" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 8:44 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

> For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
> signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
> or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
> 2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work through
> them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center of
> their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
> slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for the
> fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter using a
> Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software
> monitoring
> my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I get on
> 20M
> and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I have
> not
> seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes, but I
> just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone let me
> know what this might be?
>
> Ken, NU4I
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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Dave Larson-2

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Kenneth Moorman

It's peaking at 10 over here at a heading of 130 degrees from SE Michigan.

Dave, K8AA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Moorman" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

Iain MacDonnell - N6ML-2

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

I've heard, in the last couple of days, that the ARRL Intruder Watch is
looking into this.

~Iain / N6ML

Dave Larson wrote:

> It's peaking at 10 over here at a heading of 130 degrees from SE Michigan.
>
> Dave, K8AA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kenneth Moorman" <[hidden email]>
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:44 AM
> Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M
>
>
>> For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
>> signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
>> or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
>> 2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work through
>> them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center of
>> their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
>> slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for the
>> fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter using a
>> Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software
>> monitoring
>> my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I get on
>> 20M
>> and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I have
>> not
>> seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes, but I
>> just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone let me
>> know what this might be?
>>
>> Ken, NU4I
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.285 / Virus Database: 270.11.30/2026 - Release Date: 03/27/09
> 07:13:00
>
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alsopb

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

I've heard these signals for years on 18080 kHz and up.
Perhaps 17M prop is so poor they moved to 20M.
There are at times now three distinct stations on 20M CW.
They are wider than my 2.7KHz filter. Spectrogram shows they are
composed of more than 8 tones, spaced about 200 Hz apart.
I seem to hear two stations on each frequency, one strong and one weak
-- indicating some kind of linked communications.
Turning the beam shows peaks on EU and SA from NC.

The K3 noise blanketer (DSP only t3-7) and narrow filters do a really
good job of digging out CW signals under them.

73 de Brian/K3KO

Iain MacDonnell - N6ML wrote:

>I've heard, in the last couple of days, that the ARRL Intruder Watch is
>looking into this.
>
> ~Iain / N6ML
>
>
>Dave Larson wrote:
>
>
>>It's peaking at 10 over here at a heading of 130 degrees from SE Michigan.
>>
>>Dave, K8AA
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Kenneth Moorman" <[hidden email]>
>>To: <[hidden email]>
>>Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:44 AM
>>Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
>>>signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
>>>or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
>>>2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work through
>>>them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center of
>>>their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
>>>slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for the
>>>fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter using a
>>>Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software
>>>monitoring
>>>my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I get on
>>>20M
>>>and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I have
>>>not
>>>seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes, but I
>>>just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone let me
>>>know what this might be?
>>>
>>>Ken, NU4I
>>>
>>>______________________________________________________________
>>>Elecraft mailing list
>>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>>Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>>
>>>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>>
>>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>>Version: 8.5.285 / Virus Database: 270.11.30/2026 - Release Date: 03/27/09
>>07:13:00
>>
>>______________________________________________________________
>>Elecraft mailing list
>>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>
>>
>______________________________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
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>Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
>

Joe Planisky

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Kenneth Moorman

I've been monitoring these signals for a few days now. They seem to
run for long periods without a break, although I have heard a few
times when they stopped for a few seconds.

I've always seen them in pairs spaced about 15kHz apart. I don't have
the bandwidth to be able to tell if the pairs are related but I kind
of suspect they are. Each signal seems to consist of two groups of
tones with the groups spaced about 1.5kHz apart. Each group consists
of 8 tones, each about 100Hz apart. The tones alternate between the
groups (i.e. one tone from group A, followed by one tone from group
B). Each tone seems to be on for about 10mS with a gap of about 34mS
between tones.

They're never extremely strong here in southern Oregon, maybe S5 or
S7. I've also heard them on 40m.

73
--
Joe KB8AP

On Mar 27, 2009, at 8:44 AM, Kenneth Moorman wrote:

> For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful
> digital
> signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be
> comprised of 4
> or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of
> about
> 2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work
> through
> them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center
> of
> their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
> slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for
> the
> fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter
> using a
> Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software
> monitoring
> my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I
> get on 20M
> and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I
> have not
> seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes,
> but I
> just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone
> let me
> know what this might be?
>
> Ken, NU4I
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

N3XPD

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Dave Larson-2

I hear them S9+ at 270 degrees from South Central PA.
Although I'm not sure how directional my beam (Force 12/C3) is.
Interesting.....
Mike, N3XPD

Dave Larson-2 wrote

It's peaking at 10 over here at a heading of 130 degrees from SE Michigan.

Dave, K8AA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Moorman" <nu4i@cox.net>
To: <Elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

> For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
> signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
> or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
> 2Khz. When working with a narrow filter it is possible to work through
> them, with difficulty. With a wide filter, 2.8KHz set to the center of
> their bandwidth it sounds like a group of castanets clicking away with
> slightly different tones. I might have just discounted them but for the
> fact that I have just recently gotten a "poor man's" panadapter using a
> Rockmite and Z10000 amp from Clifton Labs with the Rocky software
> monitoring
> my K3's IF output. These two signals have been here every time I get on
> 20M
> and are quite impressive in the amount of bandwidth they occupy. I have
> not
> seen this on any other band. Forgive my ignorance of digital modes, but I
> just don't recall hearing this sort of signal before. Can anyone let me
> know what this might be?
>
> Ken, NU4I
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.285 / Virus Database: 270.11.30/2026 - Release Date: 03/27/09
07:13:00

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Kenneth Moorman

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Kenneth Moorman

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Moorman [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 1:59 PM
To: 'N3XPD'
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

I don't have a beam, but it looks like it could possibly be coming from
eastern part of Ohio based on these two bits of data....and it is not so
strong in Oregon as it seems to be here in coastal Virginia, which seems to
be consistent.

Ken, NU4I

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of N3XPD
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 12:48 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

I hear them S9+ at 270 degrees from South Central PA.
Although I'm not sure how directional my beam (Force 12/C3) is.
Interesting.....
Mike, N3XPD

It's peaking at 10 over here at a heading of 130 degrees from SE Michigan.

Dave, K8AA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Moorman" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Digital Signals on 20M

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.285 / Virus Database: 270.11.30/2026 - Release Date: 03/27/09
07:13:00

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hb9brj

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Kenneth Moorman

Kenneth Moorman wrote

For the past several days I have been seeing a couple of powerful digital
signals, S9+, between 14.018 to 14.032MHz. They seem to be comprised of 4
or 5 discrete frequencies rapidly moving around in a bandwidth of about
2Khz. Can anyone let me know what this might be?

The latest IARU Region 1 Monitoring System report published yesterday mentions it as a Chinese FSK8 ALE net.

73, Markus

K7TV

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by Kenneth Moorman

My beam pattern may not be as good as usual because the tower is cranked
down (storm last night), but from my QTH in Arizona the beam heading right
now seems to be about 120 degrees, which might put the location in the West
Indies, Venezuela or Brazil.

73,
Erik K7TV

>
> I don't have a beam, but it looks like it could possibly be coming from
> eastern part of Ohio based on these two bits of data....and it is not so
> strong in Oregon as it seems to be here in coastal Virginia, which seems
> to
> be consistent.
>
> Ken, NU4I
>

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K7TV

Re: OT: Digital Signals on 20M

In reply to this post by hb9brj

That is consistent with my beam heading of 120, assuming I am receiving
China long path.
73,
Erik K7TV

>
> The latest IARU Region 1 Monitoring System report published yesterday
> mentions it as a Chinese FSK8 ALE net.
>
> 73, Markus
>

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