FCC Denies Miller Digital Bandwidth Petition

In a Report and Order in the matter of RM-11392, the FCC has denied a rule making petition by amateur Mark Miller regarding bandwidth and frequencies used for digital modes, especially by automatically controlled stations.

Miller's argument was that the adoption of wideband data and image transmission by new generations of computer-oriented hams would clog the subbands now being used for such older modes as RTTY. He asked for tighter limits on these, more or less rolling back the FCC rules to before 2006. He noted his awareness that this would also effectively ban Pactor-III and ALE, but that was the price of good spectrum management.

Most of the 650 comments were negative, and Miller's filing had been widely derogated as the "digital stone age petition." The FCC agreed that he had not made a good case that rule changes were necessary.

Armed Forces Day SECDEF Message This Saturday

From Army MARS:

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MESSAGE TEST VIA DIGITAL MODES.
The Secretary of Defense message will be transmitted via digital modes including RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 from the stations listed below, including frequencies, mode, and date/time in Zulu (UTC). All frequencies are listed for center of intelligence. Offset as appropriate for your TNC. (Note: Not all stations may necessarily operate on all the frequencies listed, depending on propagation and available equipment.)

Army Stations

STATION: AAZ (HQ Army MARS Gateway, Fort Huachuca, Arizona)

6988.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May 0110Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May 0130Z
MT63 11 May 0220Z
PSK-31 11 May 0250Z
14402.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May 0110Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May 0130Z
MT63 11 May 0220Z
PSK-31 11 May 0250Z

STATION: WAR (Pentagon ARC/MARS Station, Arlington, Virginia)

6988.0 kHz
RTTY 10 May 1700Z
RTTY 10 May 2300Z
MT63 10 May 1715Z
MT63 10 May 2315Z
14440.0 kHz
PACTOR FEC 10 May 1730Z
PACTOR FEC 10 May 2330Z
Olivia 10 May 1745Z
Olivia 10 May 2345Z
Stations copying the Secretary of Defense message transmitted from AAZ/WAR should send their entries to Armed Forces Day Celebration, Commander NETCOM/9th ASC, Attn: NETC-OPE-MA (MARS) (31), Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613-5000.

Air Force Stations

STATION: AIR-2 (Scott Air Force Base)

7831.1 kHz
RTTY 10 May/1930Z
PACTOR 10 May/2000Z
MT63 10 May/2030Z
MFSK 10 May/2100Z
14877.1 kHz
RTTY 10 May/2130Z
PACTOR 10 May/2200Z
MT63 10 May/2230Z
MFSK 10 May/2300Z

Navy/Marine Corps Stations

STATION: NAV (HQ NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, WILLIAMSBURG, VA)

7346.5 kHz
RTTY 75 baud 10 May/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
MT63 11 May/0040Z
14480.0 kHz
RTTY 75 baud 10 May/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
MT63 11 May/0040Z

STATION: NAV3 (NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, CORPUS CHRISTI, TX)

7393.0 kHz
RTTY 10 May/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
MT63 11 May/0040Z
13975.5 kHz
RTTY 10 May/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
MT63 11 May/0040Z

STATION: NAV4 (NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, GREAT LAKES, IL)

7375.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May/0240Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0310Z
MT63 11 May/0340Z
14468.5 kHz
RTTY 11 May/0240Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0310Z
MT63 11 May/0340Z

STATION: NBL (NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, GROTON, CT)

7370.0 kHz
RTTY 10 May/2340Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0040Z
14393.0 kHz
RTTY 10 May/2340Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0010Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0040Z

STATION: NPL (NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, SAN DIEGO, CA)

7350.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0340Z
14465.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May/0410Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0440Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0510Z

STATION: NUW (NAVMARCORMARS Radio Station, NAS WHIDBEY
ISLAND, WA)

7380.0 kHz
RTTY 11 May/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0340Z
13530.0 kHz RTTY 11 May/0410Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May/0440Z
AMTOR FEC 11 May/0510Z

SUBMISSION OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TEST MESSAGE ENTRIES.

Transcripts of the RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 receiving test should be submitted "as received". No attempt should be made to correct possible transmission errors. Provide time, frequency and call sign of the military station copied, including name, call sign, and address (including ZIP code) of individual submitting the entry. Ensure this information is placed on the paper containing the test message. Each year a large number of acceptable entries are received with insufficient information, or necessary information was not attached to the transcriptions and was separated, thereby precluding issuance of a certificate. Entries must be sent to the appropriate military address as follows:

a. Stations copying Secretary of Defense message transmitted from AAZ send entries to:
Armed Forces Day Celebration
Commander NETCOM/9th ASC
Armed Forces Day Celebration
Attn: NETC-OPE-MA (MARS) (31)
Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613-5000
b. Stations copying Secretary of Defense message transmitted from NAV, NAV-3, NAV-
4, NBL, NPL or NUW send entries to:
Armed Forces Day Celebration
Chief, Navy-Marine Corps MARS
Cheatham Annex Bldg 117
108 Sanda Ave
Williamsburg, VA 23185-5830
c. Stations copying Secretary of Defense message transmitted from AIR-2 send entries
to:
Armed Forces Day Celebration
AFCA / Chief, AF MARS
203W Losey St
Scott AFB, IL 62225

Details of the amateur crossband transmitting test are here.

US Army Corps of Engineers QSL Opportunity

From Jim Pogue:

Once again, station WUG-231 will offer a special QSL card for SWLs only who hear our station during the ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CROSSBAND MILITARY/AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TEST this Saturday, 10/11 MAY 2008.

Any SWL worldwide who hears us is invited to send a reception report and receive our special commemorative QSL card. This will be different than the one amateurs receive for any contacts they make with us.

You may send your report directly to me at the address below. No return postage is necessary. Frequencies are also listed below. Good luck and I hope to hear from you.

STATION: WUG-231 (10 May 1300Z - 11 May 0200Z)

Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4032.9 kHz LSB 80M
7.360.0 kHz LSB 40M
6.826.0 kHz LSB 40M
14486.0 kHz USB 20M
14663.5 kHz USB 20M
20973.5 kHz USB 15M

Location: Memphis, TN
Address:
USACE Memphis District Office
ATTN: Jim Pogue
Public Affairs Office Room B-202
167 N. Main St.
Memphis, TN 38103-1894

POC: Mr. Jim Pogue
Commercial: (901) 544-4109

[Editor's note: the annual Armed Forces Day crossband tests are done a week before AFD, so as not to conflict with the Dayton Hamvention.]

Digital Mode of the "Week:" HF Packet

This is early because I'm going on vacation.

---

"Packet Radio" is an amateur mode used to send data between terminals attached to radios. It really took off in the 80s after the authorization of ASCII on amateur bands. It gets its name from "packet switching," a networking protocol in which data is divided into small blocks (packets) with the address and sequence numbers attached. This allows a station to act as a "node," and connect to multiple users on the same frequency. Incidentally, you're using packet-switching and routing right now, since these are also used in the TCP/IP protocol suite which makes the Internet go.

HF packet, which is what we're interested in, is an adaptation of the VHF packet you might be more used to. It transmits at 300 baud, with a 200-Hz shift, using audio frequency-shift keying (AFSK) of standard single-sideband ham transceivers. Various tone centers have been used by different hardware Terminal Node Controllers (TNCs), with the most common being 2210 and 1700.

The AX.25 link-layer protocol used by amateur packet radio uses a special polarity (or lack therof) called NRZI (Non-Return to Zero Inverted). In this, any bit state transition is a one, and no transition is a zero. Since it's the transitions that matter, mark and space are in practice not relevant. This means that packet can be tuned in USB or LSB with no need to change polarity at the receiver. However, as in RTTY, the receiver dial frequencies are usually (though not always) closer to the listed ones in LSB mode.

Today, software TNCs have pretty much replaced hardware ones, but the underlying link-layer scheme is the same. It's just better hidden. AX.25 uses connections, meaning that one station will connect with the other before exchanging information. However an "unproto" mode is provided for CQs, and a "beacon" mode for all-station-this-net broadcasts. There's also a "monitor" mode, which is what we will use, because it decodes all the packets.

Packets are labeled for type of data, which for our purposes means that they are either control packets or data packets. A lot of control packets are sent, giving the mode a rather high overhead.

The receiving connected station will error-check packets and ask for retries of missed ones. Therefore packet radio, like SITOR-A, slows down as channel noise increases. Even at 300 baud, the need for retries can make real information throughput absolutely glacial, and HF packet just isn't used much for long messages. In extensive monitoring, I've seen a few BBS (Bulletin Board System) connections, a few compressed file transfers (which print as gibberish), and a lot of automatic forwarding of packets (aka "digipeating").

Plain text is 7-bit ASCII. TNCs can switch to 8-bit mode for binary transfers or extended characters, but the one at the other end has to do same.

HF packet sounds like a series of short buzzes. These are much shorter and chirpier sounding than other modes used for e-mail and such. Given the greater chance that long packets will be rejected, it's best to keep the bursts very short.

One interesting mode that is run as an application on top of packet is Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS). This automatically sends the GPS position of the station, or even such data as the weather. It allows hams to track vehicles out in the boonies, or participate in weather observing networks. These are then forwarded to multiple stations, and plotted using slick map software. Obviously, HF has considerable potential here due to its coverage of areas where VHF is unheard of.

The best HF frequency for APRS is listed as 10147.6 USB. This is the worldwide APRS gateway. My receiver gives a 1700-Hz tone center when tuned in this mode. I have it on right now, and an HF station just reported a position in California. This is cool stuff.

Digital Mode of the Week: ASCII

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It was developed in the United States as a standard means of encoding text readable by people as bits readable by digital computers. It gradually replaced other such American codes as IBM's EBCDIC and Commodore's PETSCII. US ASCII is something of a de facto standard worldwide.

You're using ASCII right now. It's still the basis for most of the text characters used by computers, although as a subset of several much larger character sets that are now used. Plain text files are still usually straight ASCII. It's still fundamental to most of our digital modes.

ASCII was originally developed at Bell Labs for use with wireline TWX machines (an AT&T version of the Teletype). It is essentially an expansion and reordering of ITA2 to make it more useful to computers or "dumb" terminals with modems attached. Today's ASCII is a 7-bit asynchronous code with 128 characters (starting at zero). The first 33 characters (0-32) are non-printing, consisting of null (all zeroes) plus a number of control codes, and the space/blank character (decimal 32).

ASCII can, of course, be sent by frequency-shift keying, and in fact it wasn't long before hams investigated its use as an improvement to radioteletype (RTTY). However, its greater complexity and speed made results on noisy HF circuits disappointing at best when just using straight ASCII. Instead, it's usually sent by packet radio or other error-checking teleprinting schemes.

ASCII characters are sent with "framing" consisting of one start bit and one or two stop bits (remember Baudot's use of a longer stop). Characters usually map to bytes, and since these have 8 bits in modern computers, there's a bit left over. Various things are done with this extra bit.

Many modems have the option to use this 8th bit as a parity bit. This gives a rudimentary error check. If parity is used, the 8th bit will be set or unset so that every character has an even number of ones (even parity) or an odd number (odd parity). If parity is turned off on 7-bit ASCII, the receiver will (hopefully) ignore the 8th bit.

The 8th bit is also used to expand the character set to the full 255. Although SHIFT IN and SHIFT OUT are provided, setting this bit can also send the expanded characters, essentially treating ASCII as an 8-bit code with no parity check.

Unfortunately, there's no international standard for this, and technically it's something of a misnomer to apply the name ASCII to all 8 bits. The high-bit characters are often dependent on application. They can contain accented letters and symbols used in a particular language, or little pieces of lines and corners useful for drawing boxes on old text based terminals.

All of this leads to those infamous ASCII receiver setup parameters that are used in most of our digital modes. These are character length (7 or 8 data bits), stop bits (one or two), and parity (odd, even, or none). While some straight ASCII software can autobaud, it's usually also necessary to set the baud rate by hand. Common HF rates are 100, 110, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, and 2400.

Usually getting all this right in a short wave listening situation is by trial and error. It helps that there are really only two settings in common use. These are 7E1 (7 data bits, even parity, one stop bit), and 8N1 (eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit). It is also possible to emulate the old ITA2 alphabet by simply transmitting the appropriate character set in 5N1 or 5N2 (5 data bits, no parity, one or two stop bits). You see this done by the French Navy when sending data in newer modes such as STANAG 4285.

Here's the 7-bit ASCII in a compact table found on Wikipedia:



An expanded listing of this code is at this column's web site.

KSM Encrypted Broadcast WILL Take Place May 3

KSM's intrepid transmitter engineer has recovered sufficiently to come to the station and make the encrypted RTTY and SITOR-B broadcasts using a classic US military crypto machine from World War II. Details are as follows:

Times: Approximately 1900 and 2100 UTC on May 3.

Assigned frequencies: 8433.0 and 12631.0.

Modes: RTTY and FEC. Baudot transmissions are at 170cps shift, 45 baud. FEC transmissions are at 170cps shift, 100 baud (SITOR-B).

Text will start with a plaintext preamble and will include the settings for the M-209 as well as the key. That will be followed by the encrypted text in five letter groups. Since hardly anyone has an M-209, a software emulator is available here. I have been playing with this, and it's a very slick program.

K6KPH will guard its usual CW frequencies of 7050, 14050, 21050 (3550 on request). Since these frequencies are in the scan with the ship calling frequencies the best bet is to use commercial calling procedure: repeat "K6KPH" (within the limits of FCC identification requirements of course) until the K6KPH operator responds with "DE", then send your call and traffic.

QSL, as always, is to Denice Stoops, PO Box 381, Bolinas, California 94926 USA.

Maritime Radio Historical Society web site

IARU Simulated Emergency Test Is May 3

For us, the most interesting feature of this event is the use of Automatic Link Establishment on amateur frequencies. From International Amateur Radio Union:

Operators participate in the Global Simulated Emergency Test by sending ALE text messages to the central IARU GlobalSET European headquarters relayed via the network of ALE Global HFN Pilot Stations. Hams activate their ALE stations, start scanning and sounding before the event, and send messages during the day of the event. In addition to the emergency practice, this provides valuable
knowledge of the resources that can be mobilized in the event of a real emergency.

HFN is the amateur Global High Frequency Network. The network frequencies and pilot stations are:

3596.0
7102.0
10145.5
14109.0
18106.0
21096.0
24926.0
28146.0

ALE Net: HFN
SLOT
1 [ User's callsign ]
2 KM4BA
3 KQ6XA
4 WA3MEZ
5 K7EK
6 VE2FXL
7 NJ7C
8 WD8ARZ
9 KN0CK
10 N0PWZ

Amateurs will attempt to link up with these stations and pass their emergency power capability in an AMD (Automatic Message of the Day).

While it is not clear, presumably May 3 begins at 0000 UTC, which is on the 2nd in the US. In fact, it is about an hour from this posting.

A "qrg" (frequency) file is available at hflink.com. If you join their Yahoo! group, you can also get the latest version of PC-ALE, which will scan (MultiPSK and SkySweeper won't). I've got it going here, and it seems much more sensitive than previous versions. Thanks to the hflink administrators for making it available to me.

It is important NOT to attempt to transmit ALE with amateur equipment unless you know what you are doing. It's not designed to change bands this fast unless you are using a good autotuner and antenna(s) for all bands. In addition, the amateur rules impose certain technical issues. Read the materials out on the Internet before trying this mode!!!!!!

US/NATO Joint Exercise On Until May 14

From Combinedendeavor.net

Welcome to Combined Endeavor 2008!

This annual, United States European Command (USEUCOM)-sponsored exercise is “in the spirit of” the Partnership for Peace (PfP) C4 Integration and Interoperability Exercise. CE enables interoperability between U.S. and NATO / PfP military C4 equipment by documenting and exercising technical and procedural solutions.

What this means in standard English is that this annual communication/ interoperability exercise always brings out some good (often unencrypted) digital military exercise traffic in Europe.

Charles Brain's Web Site Vanishes

Those looking for Charles Brain's web site with the "official" distributions of PC-ALE and PC-HFDL got a rude surprise today when it vanished. Those taking the link got a blank white page with the cryptic, "I am sorry but my website got deleted."

The last "official" stable release of PC-HFDL, version 2.031, is still available on this column's web site. It was put there originally by request of Charles to help with his bandwidth issues, and it is a copy of the official msi file in a zip folder.

Since the beta 2.04 was never "officially" released, I won't put it up unless asked to, even though I have the distribution zip archive, and the program has always worked just fine here.

The latest stable, non-MARS version of PC-ALE is 1.062G. There's a beta of 1.062H available here. This one is really intended for amateur radio use, though I have gotten it to work for utilities simply by changing the frequencies and group names in the QRG file. There has been some grumbling about this program by those who preferred the old, terse, rather inscrutable user interface. However, it's the one in use here.

While checking all this, I notice that the frequency 14109.0 is now the amateur ALE "pilot channel," though 14109.5 will be scanned until July of 2008.

Pacific Air Route Map

This was made by plotting several hundred aircraft position reports with PC-HFDL and Posfix, then layering the resulting maps with Photoshop. The result was a clear indication of the routes taken by airplanes between the US mainland and Hawaii. These were traced over on a new layer. Then the Posfix plots were dropped out, and the original map was combined with the new darkened lines, and saved as a new Posfix map. Subsequent plots have all been right on.

Digital Mode of the Week: SITOR

SITOR stands for Simplex Telex Over Radio or Simplex Teleprinting Over Radio. It uses the same type of frequency-shift keying (FSK) as RTTY. Mark and space are used. The shift is always 170 Hz, and speed is always 100 baud.

SITOR was developed in the 1960s for use in the radiotelex and maritime narrowband direct printing services, as an improvement on RTTY. It adds error checking, reducing garble over noisy and fading HF circuits. The trade-off is that timing is far more important than in RTTY. Much tighter technical standards are needed for acceptable communication.

SITOR has two modes, A and B. SITOR-A is a fully synchronous two-way mode for traffic handling. Two stations alternate half-second transmit intervals with half-seconds for listening, exchanging short bursts which give the system its distinctive chirp-chirp-chirp sound. You can't mistake this one.

Mode A uses an error checking protocol named ARQ, for Automatic Repeat reQuest. Messages are broken up into 3-character blocks. The station sending these is the Information Sending Station (ISS). The other station is the Information Receiving Station (IRS). The IRS replies with a signal that the received block passed an error check (ACK for acknowledgement), or that it did not (NAK for negative acknowledgement).

Bad blocks are resent as many times as needed, within reason. The effect is that SITOR-A handles degraded circuits not by garbling the message but by slowing down, to a maddening snail's pace if necessary.

To copy SITOR-A, you need to be tuned to the ISS. Its bursts are a little longer than those of the IRS. With some experience, you can tell the difference. It is tricky for the casual listener to properly phase with the ISS. When you do, most decoders will simply print repeated blocks over and over again.

That incredible screech you hear on maritime telex channels is the SITOR-A tuning marker sent by the coast station. It consists of pulses at the baud rate sent in several bursts a couple of seconds long, usually followed by the station callsign in Morse code keyed with the mark tone.

SITOR mode B is a continuous broadcast system using Forward Error Correction (FEC). It sounds like a sped-up, less chattery version of standard RTTY. Being a broadcast, the only station transmitting is the sender. Everyone else listens. Characters are sent in a stream, but with a built-in redundancy in which each character is sent again three characters later. Such combined repetition sequences are called interleave in the jargon.

The concepts of ARQ, FEC, and interleave come up again and again in different digital modes. Many systems use different interleaves. In this one, ABCDE [end of message] would be sent ABCADBEC D E [end of message]. Characters not received twice are dropped, with the idea being that a missing character is better than a wrong one. Therefore, SITOR-B does not slow down on degraded circuits. If everything works right (a big if), it just stops printing.

SITOR-B is easier to receive than A, but it is still necessary to achieve sync for the error check. The special characters ALPHA and BETA are provided for phasing. This is especially evident in the NAVTEX service, which sends these phasing pairs between each of its short messages.

SITOR also uses a different transmission alphabet, called CCIR 476. The scheme is called 4/7. Each character is 7 bits long, but as an additional error check, there are always a total of 4 ones and 3 zeroes in the character. While a larger number of bits would usually mean a larger character set, this requirement means that most bit patterns are in fact error characters, and the character set is actually smaller. Again, there are LTRS and FIGS cases, selected by the appropriate shift characters. Again, optional USOS (UnShift On Space) is usually provided to partially deal with missed shift-outs.

A ham radio version of SITOR is called AMTOR. The differences between the two are slight, and for us, AMTOR can be considered the same thing. The same software usually works for both. ARRL headquarters station W1AW in CT transmits daily bulletins in AMTOR mode B on the same frequencies as RTTY. AMTOR mode A imposes timing and transmit/receive switching demands that amateur gear is rarely designed for, and it is not widely used.

No KSM RTTY Today

As you might have noticed, there was no RTTY or FEC SITOR from KSM on Point Reyes, CA today. Your radio is fine. They didn't transmit it. This means the encrypted text was not sent, and those of us who were waiting with virtual cipher machines at the ready will just have to wait another week.

The broadcast had to be cancelled due to illness of the engineer who does the RTTY. They will try again next Saturday, May 3. Times and frequencies are still the same as the ones mentioned below.

KSM Encryption/ Decryption Exercise 4/26 and 5/3

KSM, a licensed commercial station using vintage equipment and antennas at historic KPH on Pt. Reyes, CA, will be doing a very interesting broadcast in World War II M-209 encryption. It's at 1900 and 2100 UTC on April 26 (also International Marconi Day) and a week later on May 3. The key will be broadcast, and listeners are invited to attempt decryption of the message with readily available freeware.

M-209, for those of us who weren't born yet, is a US military mechanical code machine slightly resembling a 6-rotor, patch board-less version of the better known German ENIGMA.

Here's the full release from Richard Dillman of MRHS:

KSM will broadcast messages encrypted with the military M-209 crypto machine via RTTY on 26 April and 3 May.

The idea for the broadcast came up in conversations between myself and Dave Ross as a way for the MRHS to support the Military Radio Collectors Group meet taking place in San Luis Obispo, CA on 2-3 May. We thought it would be fun to give the attendees something to copy on their vintage military RTTY gear and then exercise their M-209 skills by decoding the message. But we thought other listeners may enjoy trying their hand at decoding the message as well, thus this announcement (see below for information about a M-209 emulator in case you don't have access to the genuine article).

MRHS transmitter engineer Steve Hawes, who manages our RTTY broadcasts, was keen for the idea and Dave provided the text so all the pieces are in place. Here are the details:

Dates: 26 April and 3 May

Times: Approximately 1200pdt and 1400pdt

Modes: RTTY and FEC. Baudot transmissions are at 170cps shift, 45 baud. FEC transmissions are at 170cps shift, 100 baud

Frequencies: 8433.0kc, 12631.0kc

Text: Dave's text will start with a plaintext preamble and will include the settings for the M-209 as well as the key. That will be followed by the encrypted text in five letter groups.

Additional information:

MRCG - http://syzen.com/milradio/

M-209 emulator for those who wish to participate but don't have a M-209 -
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/m209sim.htm

MRHS - http://www.radiomarine.org

International Marconi Day is April 26

International Marconi Day is a yearly amateur operating event also of some interest to utility listeners. This year, it lasts from 0000 UTC on 26 April 2008 (afternoon of the 25th in the US) to 2359 UTC, 26 April 2008.

It is organized by an amateur radio club near where Marconi transmitted his historic transatlantic signals. The home page is at http://www.gb4imd.org.uk/
.

K6KPH, the amateur radio station of the Maritime Radio Historical Society at the historic KPH "Power House" on Pt. Reyes, CA, will be active starting at noon Pacific time, 1900 UTC, on Saturday, the 26th. Frequencies are 3550, 7050, 14050 and 21050 kHz.

As always, QSL to:

Denice Stoops
PO Box 381
Bolinas, California 94926
USA

Firedrake Jammer Revealed (CD Available)

Every so often, I run across a web page that just makes my jaw drop off. The latest Oh My God is this Satdirectory article on the source of the Firedrake (Firedragon) jamming signal used by China to cover Falun Gong's "Sound of Hope" broadcast from Taiwan.

One can make a case that this item pertains to world broadcasting, not utilities. However, the signal pops up on or near utility frequencies regularly, as it chases SOH around the bands. Lately, it's been heard daily in the fertile ute hunting ground just above 20 meters, on 14410 kHz around 2300 UTC.

It's actually rather good music, when conditions permit clear reception. It has some real nice drumming. It certainly beats all the other noise blasted into the HF bands by governments that can't handle freedom of opinion.

Well, here's what Satdirectory has to say on Firedrake:

Shortwave Radio Enthusiasts and Ham Radio operators have been watching China's Firedrake with interest. They believe that the primary Firedrake transmitter location is on Hainan Island off the coast of Southern China, however it is believed that there may be other transmitter sites also in use. It has also been noted that the Firedrake audio is a one hour loop with no announcements. This got us thinking at Satdirectory; how does the Firedrake programming get to the transmitter site? Is it delivered by a tape or CD on repeat, or is it like most other Chinese radio, delivered by a satellite link to the transmitter?

Well, a search with our 3 meter dish has found Firedrake! The audio is transmitted on Chinasat 6B within the China National Radio (CNR) satellite feed circuits. Many of the China National Radio feeds are in stereo, however one channel that is solely mono is CNR 8 - The Voice of the Minorities broadcast which features programs in the Kazakh, Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan and Uighur languages. The CNR 8 audio feed to the Chinese transmitter sites can be found on the left audio channel of a feed circuit labelled "Lzh8Rdjy". On the right audio channel of this feed is the audio for the Firedrake transmitters.

Following our discovery we tuned up a shortwave receiver to 17780 kHz which at the time also had the jammer running. The audio from the satellite feed and the shortwave radio were synchronised with no delay. This confirmed that the Firedrake shortwave transmitter site was also being fed by the same satellite feed, otherwise we would have expected a delay of a second or so due to the satellite uplink and downlink path delay when compared to the shortwave broadcast.

Satdirectory has actually made a CD with the full, 60-minute cycle. Since the copyright status is unknown, this one is available for non-commercial use only, from support(at)satdirectory.com. The only costs are to cover shipping and duplicating.

There's also a 4-minute sample of the high-fidelity audio right off the downlink, in Windows .wma format. Yes, there's some of the cool drumming.

Get it right here. But do go to the site and check out the whole story, with technical paramaters for those with a shot at Chinasat 6B, and some hilarious propaganda art.

Digital Mode of the Week: RTTY (Part 2: Teleprinting over radio)

Having discussed the origins of the 5-bit teleprinting ("Baudot") code, now we can talk about one of the oldest digital modes. This is RTTY, for radioteletype. It has undergone several incarnations, from wire teleprinting (like news wires), through various types of hardware-based radio modems, and finally to just another digital option in multimode computer sound card packages.

RTTY is sent over the radio by keying a transmitter between two tone frequencies corresponding to binary states. These are called mark and space. The process is called frequency-shift keying (FSK, F1B emission).

Direct FSK is still used in some dedicated RTTY equipment, but audio frequency-shift keying (AFSK) is far more common today. It is done by generating the proper modulation of an audio tone, which is then sent to the audio input of a standard single-sideband voice radio. (Note that power is lowered due to RTTY having a continuous duty cycle.)

Either method produces the same signal in the receiver. To the ear, RTTY sounds like a continuous warbling tone with rather clicky bit transitions, and often kind of a busy, chattery pulsation to it.

The difference between mark and space frequencies is the shift (in Hz), and the number of bit transitions sent in a second is the speed (in baud). Sometimes you also see speed in words per minute.

Common speeds are 45 (actually 45.45), 50, and 75. Common shifts are 170, 450, and 850. Characters are sent asynchronously, as they are generated. The five data bits are preceded by a single start bit and then followed by 1, 1.5, or two stop bits. (In practice, a long stop bit just sounds like a brief pause on the tone, making RTTY sound even more chattery.)

RTTY's standard tone center (halfway between mark and space) varies a bit. For the most part, it's around 2210 Hz. RTTY used to require careful tuning to center the tones on their respective filters, but today's decoders are more forgiving. Usually, one simply clicks on or between the two peaks on a display, or the software jumps to the loudest signals. The tone center is sometimes relevant for frequency logging, however.

RTTY dial vs listed frequencies can get pretty ambiguous. One can easily be 2 or more kHz off, and not even be sure which way. If you hear nothing on the listed frequency, tune around.

The third important parameter is signal polarity, which can be "normal" or "reverse." This refers to whether mark or space is the lower of the two tones, preferably when tuned in LSB. Unknown signals require some trial and error to find the speed and polarity which print readable text. Shift is usually more evident.

RTTY has no error check, meaning that any problems with the signal will create gibberish, or no print at all. Missed characters on fades are just something we live with.

The good news is that RTTY may be primitive, but it's still heard all over the HF bands. The bad news is that most of this is encrypted, often in a secure military/ government mode called KG-84. There is absolutely no way to get meaningful copy from it. A few navies, particularly the French, still run RTTY test loops and an occasional real message in the clear. Remaining weather stations in Germany and Canada have regular RTTY schedules.

RTTY in the military can also be referred to as RATT.

Old time RTTY stations stored messages on long reels of perforated paper tape, a character at a time. A procedure named "tape relay" existed for the storage and forwarding of traffic. Tapes were punched by perforating devices attached to Teletype machines, for transmission later. Received traffic could be punched directly onto this tape by a reperforator, and relayed by sending the tape to a reader. Much of RTTY's operating nomenclature such as "brag tapes," "test slips," and "loops," is a holdover from this era.


1950s US Navy tape position

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) headquarters station W1AW sends long RTTY bulletins daily, on time/frequency schedules listed all over the Internet. Shorter transmissions, by hams shooting the breeze or in operating contests, can be heard up or down maybe 10-15 kHz from 14080.

Acarsd Pre-Release 1.7 Now Available for Testing

We finally got to see the new version 1.7 of acarsd, the free ACARS decoding and logging program that also does HFDL via data transfer from PC-HFDL. Beta versions of this new version have been hard to come by, after some users apparently misunderstood the meaning of the term "beta," as in "help us find the bugs."

This download is a "Release Candidate," something more than a beta but still not the official stable release. You can get it here. Right now the newest versions are Public 1.70 Release Candidate 3 30.03.2008 for Windows, and Public 1.70 Release Candidate 2 29.01.2008 for Linux.

I grabbed RC3 and installed it. The "Quick Install," a DOS program, was hard for me to understand, so I did the full install. There is now a setup screen in acarsd that runs the first time, and lets you set a lot of options that used to be deeply buried in the self-documenting acarsd.ini file. The graphic user interface now has its own .ini file, which I haven't looked at yet.

Several nice new features are apparent. The parsing of messages is a little better. What I was really interested in, however, was the expanded use of the ICAO24 airplane address to help identify aircraft making HF position reports. Basically, the idea is that instead of just logging all these planes as .NO-REG, the program uses this hex ID to look up the registration. This is a big improvement for HF users.

Since this is a pre-release, and since the acarsd documentation has never been especially detailed anyway, it took some digging in the .ini file before I found the option that would enable this search. Once I did that, the ICAO lookup worked as advertised.

So far I've had no major problems with version 1.7 RC. In fact, the only issue of substance I can think of is that so far I've been unable to change UP from Bahamasair to United Parcel Service. This issue is caused by the fact that UPS used to use a different IATA prefix.

It took a while to test all this out, since band conditions have been absolutely putrid. When you can't hear San Francisco on 6 or 8 MHz in Los Angeles, you know it's bad.

Digital Mode of the Week: RTTY (Part 1: ITA2 Telegraphic Alphabet)

We begin a new Utility World series of basic descriptions of digital modes you hear on the air.

First up is one of the oldest modes, but it is still used widely. It's usually called RTTY, for Radioteletype. In the military, you'll also see references to RATT, also Radioteletype.

RTTY's earliest precursor is the Baudot telegraphy code developed in the 1870s by two people working for Jean-Maurice-Émile Baudot, a French engineer. (Yes, that's where we get the transmission speed unit "baud.") This was a 5-bit code, that became known as International Telegraph Alphabet #1 (ITA1, no longer used).

The Baudot code was improved by Donald Murray and others in the early 20th century, leading to an originally Western Union wireline standard called ITA2. This is still the one used for basic English-language Baudot teleprinting. It is still a 5-bit, 32-state, 58-character code, with longer pauses marking start and stop of characters. The name "Baudot" for ITA2 is not technically correct, but in practice the two names are interchangeable. Several ITA alphabets with higher numbers exist for use in other languages, and of course we don't even have time to talk about "third shift" modes for such non-Latin character set languages as Russian.

ITA2 has no lower case. The cases are LTRS (Letters; all upper case) and FIGS (Figures; numbers and punctuation). The case is changed by transmission of control characters corresponding to each. Since the normal mode is letters case, they can also be regarded as shift in (to figures) and shift out. A missed shift character leads to gibberish, and most RTTY systems have the option USOS (Unshift On Space) as a partial (and only partial) solution.

ITA2 bit states are based on timing, and they do not correspond to the base-2 places used in binary numerical notation, which was not used in mechanical teleprinting. Since a bit is technically a "binary digit," we should probably be calling them something else, but we won't. However, note how many of the ITA2 control characters carried over, with bit changes, into later binary computer codes such as American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII).

The 5 bits were typically stored by punching holes in paper tape run through a perforator machine from reels resembling 16-mm movie film. These were read by tape keyers, which controlled a "current loop" connected to a "terminal unit" that interfaced with mechanical teleprinting machines. Many of these were made by the Teletype Corporation, and so "Teletype" is actually an old business trade name, though it has become somewhat generic.

Messages could be relayed by "reperforating" at the receive site. Note that the character pair RY is sent with alternating 01010 and 10101, testing all possible bit states in the code. Even in this electronic age, the test "slip" RYRYRY..., sometimes accompanied by THE QUICK BROWN FOX... is still common.

Here is the ITA2 code (click for bigger image):

New Cycle 24 Spot Emerges

After a couple of days with no visible sunspots whatsoever, a tiny Cycle 24 spot has just emerged.

Currently, there is something of a controversy over the precise nature of Cycle 24. While the mainstream prediction is for a fairly energetic cycle, there is an alternate theory. Its proponents argue that the length of Cycle 23 (longest ever recorded) is evidence that Cycle 24 will be late and weak, and in fact will begin a long term decline in solar activity leading to a sort of mini Maunder Minimum (the period in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of no sunspots at all, and a mini ice age in Europe). This, of course, would pretty much spell the end of consistent F-region skip propagation above 21 MHz.

Note that recent fading on HF was the result of a coronal hole, not sunspots or solar flares.

We shall see what we shall see.

HF-GCS Goes Crazy

For two days now, activity on the US Air Force High Frequency Global Communications System has been far busier than normal. Right now (0110 UTC) 11175.0 kHz USB is going crazy.

The activity resembles the Nightwatch net (a TACAMO airborne CP and supporting units), but there are way too many players. Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) are going out far more frequently than usual.

At 0110, "Aircraft 113" is working "Aircraft 115" for a radio check.

At 0122 FOUL LINE is passing multiple EAMs, and at 0124 he is "standing by for traffic."

Most other players are also using joint tactical callwords, though there is also a unit with a CHARLIE WHISKEY prefix (US Navy) simultaneously patching to Duty Office. Yes, I have QRM here, though they all seem able to hear each other where they are.

Highly experienced military monitor Jeff Haverlah heard one of the "for" format EAMs, sent to something like six units at once. According to Jeff, this hasn't happened in years.

Best guess is an exercise, and a big one. Anyone who knows what's up can e-mail this column at the usual drops.

Lockheed Martin Wins Huge JTRS Contract

Washington Post:

Lockheed Secures Bid for Military Radio System

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 29, 2008; Page D02

Lockheed Martin of Bethesda yesterday landed two major contracts worth a total of $1.3 billion, including one to overhaul the military's radio system so that all the service branches can communicate with each other.

The world's largest defense company beat out Boeing to get the $766.2 million Pentagon contract to design and build a new radio system that will connect aircraft, ships, submarines and ground stations.

The Defense Department's program, called the Joint Tactical Radio System , is a major step toward replacing the older radio systems the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine troops now use, allowing them to have one system that can transmit video, conversations and other data.

...

JTRS accomplishes the above goals through highly flexible, mostly software based, radios. Obviously developing a single, interoperable, full-featured communications system for the entire US military is a rather ambitious undertaking, and this program has been around for quite some time. In 2005, there were serious doubts about its feasability. Obviously, many meetings took place, and in 2007 a Request for Proposals was made for an early phase called the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System.

Today, the announcement was made that Lockheed won. This contract is worth $766.1 million. Depending on what happens, it could ultimately be a lot more. Presumably the usual defense radio vendors will supply equipment and expertise.

Shuttle Landing is GO

Just a few seconds ago, the decision was made to land at KSC tonight. The de-orbit burn is in 8 minutes. The landing is still scheduled for 8:39 Eastern time (0039 UTC). Ground track is over Mexico, out into the Gulf right over the Yucatan, and northeastward toward Florida.

Space Shuttle May Land Tonight

Just as I was posting this, the Endeavour landing opportunity at 7:05 PM (2305 UTC) was waved off due to poor weather.

This leaves a second opportunity at 8:39 PM Eastern (0039 Thursday UTC). The shuttle's backup sites for landing, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M., were not activated Wednesday.

Weather seems to be improving, but if this second one waves off, they'll try again Thursday.

Two hours after landing, NASA officials will hold a media briefing to discuss the mission.

Solar Activity Picks Up

Cycle 23 active regions #987 and 988 have appeared from behind the sun's east limb, already with very large sunspots and one M-class flare. A third region is currently appearing. As this complex rotates more toward the center of the sun (as seen from Earth), there's a possibility for more activity. At a minimum, solar flux should go above 80 for the first time in quite a while (it's 79 right now), and with a southward Bz at present one can't discount the possibility of aurora should the solar wind increase.

Ice Season Is Here!

North Atlantic icebergs are worst in the spring months. The Titanic hit an iceberg on April 15.

At present, the Boston ice chart is being updated once a week, but this will shift to daily before long. Note the distinctive callsign "NIK" used for the ice broadcasts. Here is the schedule for these (times UTC, frequencies kHz):

0438 FAX 4235, 6340.5, 9110
1218 SITOR 8416.5, 12579, 16806.5
1600 FAX 6340.5,9110
1810 FAX 6340.5, 9110.

And here's a typical chart copied a couple of days ago:

STS-123 Count Continues

Launch is on schedule for 0628 UTC, one hour from now.

Booster Recovery Director (BRD) at Cape Canaveral, FL is on 6897.0 USB working Booster Recovery Vessels Freedom Star and Liberty Star. Good signals in California.

Weather, though cloudier than expected, is still only a 10% probability of preventing launch.

US Loran-C Will Stay On Air

Following an investigation and comment period, the US Coast Guard has decided to continue funding the LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) network on 100 kHz. It was decided (accurately, IMHO) that a modernized version of Loran-C provides a reliable backup to the GPS system in case of an outage or disruption.

The eLoran system mentioned in the release adds another pulse to the existing burst. This can provide additional user data. This has been tested in the field, and the extra pulse displays on triggered scopes tuned to the particular chain's Group Repetition Interval. Loran-C transmitter chains use very high pulsed power levels, and they are audible just about anywhere on this low frequency.

Also, more modern transmitters are being installed. These are completely solid state, and essentially high-powered strobes for RF instead of light waves. Controlled by atomic clocks, they dump a huge capacitor across a circuit, producing the precisely timed short pulses that make the system work.

Here's the release from the Department of Homeland Security:

February 7, 2008
Contact: (202) 282-8010

STATEMENT FROM DHS PRESS SECRETARY LAURA KEEHHNER ON THE ADOPTION OF NATIONAL BACKUP SYSTEM TO GPS

Today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin implementing an independent national positioning, navigation and timing system that complements the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the event of an outage or disruption in service.

The enhanced Loran, or eLoran, system will be a land-based, independent system and will mitigate any safety, security, or economic effects of a GPS outage or disruption. GPS is a satellite-based system widely used for positioning, navigation, and timing. The eLoran system will be an enhanced and modernized version of Loran-C, long used by mariners and aviators and originally developed for civil marine use in coastal areas.

In addition to providing backup coverage, the signal strength and penetration capability of eLoran will provide support to first responders and other operators in environments that GPS cannot support, such as under heavy foliage, in some underground areas, and in dense high-rise structures. The system will use modernized transmitting stations and an upgraded network.

###

STS-123 Launch Tonight

Countdown continues for the launch of space shuttle mission STS-123 at 2:28 AM Eastern time. (That's 0628 UTC.) Yes, that's the middle of the night, but that's when the window opens. Night owls in the southeast should get a rather spectacular light show. It's really amazing how bright it is.

NASA TV schedule (All times UTC):

NASA TV coverage begins ----------- 0130
Launch (middle of 10 min window) -- 0628
Launch video replay --------------- 0641
Additional camera replays --------- 0713
Post-launch news conference ------- 0730
Ascent team video replay ---------- 1200
Launch engineering replays -------- 1228

At present, weather has only a 10% chance of preventing launch.

PEMEX Adds ALE Frequencies

PEMEX, Petroleos Mexicanos, the Mexican national oil company, has finally put up more Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) frequencies to go with the original three. Three freqs isn't much of an ALE net, but now it starts to look like the real thing.

These are the frequencies that various people have reported. The ones I can verify personally have a * :

2182.0 * (1)
3700.0 *
4078.8 *
4487.5
4900.0 * (2)
7450.0 *
8291.1
8242.9
9265.0
11095.0 *

Notes:
(1) This is an international maritime calling and distress frequency, and it is doubtful if Pemex is allowed to sound there for any length of time.

(2) 4900 has so far only had Mexican military here, but I'm keeping it in the scan because others have heard Pemex.

USCG NMN (Norfolk) to Drop On-Call Sitor-A

And it is probably only a matter of time before other CG stations do similar.

ZCZC GA82
USCG CAMSLANT HF ON CALL SITOR TERMINATION ADVISORY
1. USCG CAMSLANT CHESAPEAKE VA (NMN, SELCALL NR 1097)
WILL TERMINATE ALL HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) RADIOTELEX (ON CALL
SITOR) SERVICES EFF 2359Z MAR 31, 2008. SHORE
RECEIVE FREQUENCIES 6262.8, 8386.3, 12488.3, 16694.8,
AND 22298.8 WILL NO LONGER BE ACTIVE AFTER THIS DATE.
2. AMVER AND NOAA METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS WILL CONT TO
BE RECEIVED AT NO CHARGE THRU SHIPCOM HF RADIOTELEX
(NBDP) SERVICE VIA WLO NEAR MOBILE, AL OR NOAAS SEAS
(SHIPBOARD ENVIRONMENTAL (DATA) ACQUISITION SYSTEM)
PROGRAM OVER INMARSAT C. AMVER REPORTS MAY ALSO BE
SENT AT NO CHARGE THRU GLOBE WIRELESS.
3. BROADCASTS OF MARITIME SAFETY INFORMATION FROM
CAMSLANT CHESAPEAKE VA BY HF SITOR (HF NAVTEX) ON
FREQUENCIES 6312.3, 8414.8 12577.3 AND 16804.8 WILL
NOT BE AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION.
4. CANCEL AT TIME//040001Z APR 08//

NNNN

New PC-HFDL Data File

The new pchfdl.dat file for HFDL system table #33 has been installed to the config directory of PC-HFDL, and it works. The frequencies now show in kHz again, instead of just the numbers.

The file has been copied to the Utility World web site. As always, shut down PC-HFDL first. Go to the config directory, and rename the existing pchfdl.dat something like oldpchfdl.dat or pchfdl32.dat. Copy the new file to this directory, make sure it is still named pchfdl.dat, then restart PC-HFDL. If you're lucky, the system table will show as #33, and the frequencies will appear in kHz.

This doesn't always work for everybody, but this file as usual is the one on the Yahoo HFDL group, and works for most users there. As always, don't worry that a text listing of the file looks like gibberish, with binary data and fragments of ACARS messages. The system table is in there somewhere.

Once again, I thank this group for getting the data up in such a timely manner. I might get a system table live on the air here in The Land That Short Wave Forgot, and I might not.

New HFDL System Table

About 24 hours ago, ARINC put out a new system table for its HFDL system.

The new table is number 33, or 21 in hexadecimal.

The only changes are to the Molokai ground station (number 02). The old frequencies of 5538, 5529, 5508, 3001, and 2878 kHz have been deleted. They are replaced by 13324, 13312, 6565, 5514, and 4687 kHz.

The new pchfdl.dat file will be uploaded to the Utility World web site as soon as it is tested and verified working here.

Sunspots Hit Absolute Bottom

Recent pictures of the solar disk often show something we don't see often. This is a solar disk completely free of sunspots. In fact, the daily sunspot numbers have as often as not been zero in the past couple of weeks (a condition reported as SPOTNIL by people who are into these things). These numbers are not obtained by counting visible spots, but by counting visible active regions as 10, and individual spots as 1. Therefore there can't be any active regions either for 0 to be reached.

Today there's one active region, I think. It's a pretty weenie one. The recent fluctuations in the A and K index are due not to sunspots but to a coronal hole and southward interplanetary magnetic field (Bz).

Daily solar uncorrected solar radio fluxes from the observatory used by WWV have been running in the 68 range. Folks, it just doesn't get very much lower than this. It can't, with these laws of physics.

Today was the first time in a while that HF propagation was absolutely putrid. Let's face it. It sucked the big one.

All this is further evidence, as if we needed any, that Cycle 23 is ending. Yes, there's no where to go from here but up.

NASA Gives "Go" For Space Shuttle Launch On March 11

Feb. 29, 2008

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4715
michael.curie@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-072

NASA GIVES "GO" FOR SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH ON MARCH 11

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA senior managers completed a review Friday of space shuttle Endeavour's readiness for flight and selected March 11 as the official launch date for the STS-123 mission. Commander Dominic Gorie and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off to the International Space Station at 2:28 a.m. EDT.

During the 16-day mission, the crew will deliver and install the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Five spacewalks will be conducted during the flight.

Endeavour's launch date was announced after the conclusion of Friday's Flight Readiness Review. During the two-day meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.
Gorie will be joined on STS-123 by Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi. Reisman will remain on the station as a resident crew member, replacing station flight engineer Leopold Eyharts of the European Space Agency, who will return home on Endeavour.

For more information about the STS-123 mission, including images and interviews with the crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

-end-

VP6DX: Not Really Ute, But Interesting

The last couple of nights, the gray line has really been blasting in here. For example, the first major ham radio DXpedition of 2008, VP6DX, is right now S6 on 10106 kHz CW into L.A. for the second evening in a row. (Never understimate gray line... It's how I nailed Clipperton on 100 watts to a simple inverted vee...)

VP6DX is on Ducie Island. It's an uninhabited piece of land to the east of Pitcairn Island, the place the Bounty ended up. Any time a place makes Pitcairn look like civilization, you KNOW you are nowhere. He'd actually worked 30 meters out for a time, but now he's running stations again, and actually getting stronger. Come on you guys in SoCal, you've got to have a signal, here's a new one.

More at ARRL.

UPDATE 0321 UTC: VP6DX is also on RTTY, 10148.9 kHz, taking calls down 10. You have to love ham radio.

First STS-122 Landing Opportunity on Wednesday

From NASA Public Office:

NASA managers will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting Atlantis to return to Earth. Wednesday landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 9:07 a.m. and 10:42 a.m. EST. There are additional opportunities at 12:12 p.m. and 1:47 p.m. at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., a backup landing site. The shuttle's other backup site for landing, White Sands Space Harbor, N.M., will not be activated Wednesday.

Press Release: US Coast Guard Continues HF Weather Broadcasts

Press Release
DATE: February 07, 2008 14:39:41 EST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Contact: (202) 475-3555


US Coast Guard Continues HF Weather Broadcasts

WASHINGTON - Last April the Coast Guard asked for public comment on the need to continue broadcasting high frequency (HF) high seas weather forecasts for single sideband voice, facsimile charts and text messages over radiotelex (e.g. HF NAVTEX). The Coast Guard required public comment because the infrastructure necessary to provide these services had exceeded its life expectancy and significant costs were involved to continue these services.

After reviewing and analyzing the substantial public response that overwhelmingly urged the continuation of these services, the Coast Guard's "business case study" concluded that it was necessary to continue HF weather broadcasts. The business case study, "An Impact Assessment of Discontinuing USCG High-Frequency Radio Broadcasts of NWS Marine Weather Forecasts" is posted at:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/high_frequency/HF-WX_notice.htm

The study concluded:

"The responding public collectively perceives that the USCG HF broadcasts are essential to their safety. There is no viable alternative to the USCG HF broadcasts because present alternatives are perceived by the public to be out of financial reach. Also, marine weather forecasts available through these alternative sources may not guarantee the same level of accuracy, timeliness, and/or sufficiency as provided by the USCG HF broadcasts."

While the Coast Guard does not have funds necessary to replace all of its HF transmitters, funds are available to replace the 20 transmitters used for weather broadcasts.

###

The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.

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

The full report is here. It is very comprehensive and informative, and worth the time to get and read it.

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

Here's more from USCG Navcen:


The Coast Guard's HF infrastructure

The Coast Guard's HF infrastructure consisting of 123 10KW transmitters are no longer supportable. Repair parts are increasingly difficult to find, more expensive, and take can months to obtain. Funds should be available to replace many, but not all of these transmitters. Consequently all but the most essential HF services are or will be terminated. However, due to responsive received from the public and the conclusions of the business case report, the Coast Guard has decided to continue HF broadcasts of high seas weather forecasts and warnings without interruption. Transmitters used for this purpose will be included among those recapitalized.

The Coast Guard uses 20 high power transmitters to broadcast HF weather facsimile, voice and text (SITOR) high seas weather forecasts to mariners. Three additional Navy transmitters are used to broadcast weather information from Guam. The cost to replace one of these transmitters is ~$200K with installation ($4M total for those used for weather broadcasts).

Reliable, high power transmitters are needed to ensure mariners can reliably receive weather information anywhere within the National Weather Service’s area of responsibility.

[Presumably the services to be affected by the phase-out of the other transmitters include those on this list that are not required by GMDSS or other treaties. More when it happens. -Hugh]

USCG Will Not Drop HF!

This news item has been up for over a week on the Mscan Meteo homepage, though I just ran across it today. It's the first news I've seen of the Coast Guard's decision on its HF services. The news, apparently, is good:

7 February 2008

I just received word that thanks to the feedback of the cruising community around the world, the future of HF radio services is saved! The Coast Guard concludes The responding public collectively perceives that the USCG HF broadcasts are essential to their safety. There is no viable alternative to the USCG HF broadcasts because present alternatives are perceived by the public to be out of financial reach. Also, marine weather forecasts available through these alternative sources may not guarantee the same level of accuracy, timeliness, and/or sufficiency as provided by the USCG HF broadcasts.

More to come......

NASA Updates 2008 Shuttle Target Launch Dates

Feb. 14, 2008

Allard Beutel
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 allard.beutel@nasa.gov
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kyle.j.herring@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-056

NASA UPDATES SHUTTLE TARGET LAUNCH DATES

HOUSTON - NASA officials on Thursday revised the target launch dates for space shuttle flights during the second half of 2008. The space shuttle and International Space Station programs agreed to the changes during a meeting at NASA's Johnson Space Center to evaluate options following the STS-122 mission delay.

The next two shuttle flights, STS-123 on Endeavour targeted for March 11 and STS-124 on Discovery targeted for April 24, are being assessed and coordinated with NASA's international partners. Any decision on those launch dates will take place after the current STS-122 mission lands.

Late 2008 shuttle mission target launch dates are: Aug. 28 - Atlantis (STS-125) to service the Hubble Space Telescope Oct. 16 - Endeavour (STS-126) to deliver equipment to the International Space Station Dec. 4 - Discovery (STS-119) to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the station.

Flights beyond 2008 have not been assessed. Both shuttle and station program officials are considering options for scheduling the remainder of the shuttle flights.

The shuttle launch manifest is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html
For details on upcoming shuttle missions and their crews, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

-end-

STS-122 Update 1725 UTC

The crew has suited up and boarded Atlantis, which has no technical issues that would prevent launch. However, weather is now up to a 70% of violating launch criteria due to a persistent cold front.

Larry Van Horn has updated MT's NASA content. See his posting to his MT Milcom Blog.

STS-122 Will Try Again Tomorrow

The oft-postponed launch of the STS-122 shuttle mission to the International Space Station is on for Thursday, February 7, at 2:45 PM Eastern (1945 UTC). An issue with a bent radiator hose has been sufficiently resolved to allow a safe flight.

Booster Recovery Vessels are currently deploying downrange.

Weather at Cape Canaveral has a 40% chance of preventing launch.

SAQ To Transmit on 17.2 kHz Wednesday

SAQ, Grimeton Radio in Sweden, is planning a test transmission at 1000 UTC on Wednesday, February 6. The 1-hour broadcast will be made with a 200 kW Alexanderson alternator, basically a large electric generator which produces RF instead of low frequency AC. The frequency is 17.2 kilohertz. Not megahertz, kilohertz. That's low.

This is a radio museum with an original, Marconi-era, maritime coastal station in operating condition. The antenna is enormous. This transmitter is audible worldwide with the right equipment and low noise conditions.

Review: Two ACARS Log Analyzers for Windows

(This was originally part 1 of the post below, but I split it off to make the posts shorter.)

Along with the Dynamic Data Exchange path described in the post just below, some listeners are adding ACARS log analyzers to crunch the data from acarsd.

What you do here is run acarsd with yet another DDE server active, and add yet another client application! That's five simultaneously running programs, for those with the courage to keep count, and yes, you still have to start them in order of the data flow. It all works, at least on my hot dual-core XP Professional system with 2 gig of RAM. All these ones and zeroes churn around inside the machine. Messages appear on screens at various intervals, and ultimately get written to the analyzer database.

I'm not sure these analyzers are worth it for HF, though. I tried two of them. Some people love each of them, so they obviously work well enough to fill their needs. Once again, the price is right, as in free. However, I'm more oriented to DXing and finding new catches than plane spotting, and I'm not sure either program added that much more to acarsd to justify the increased level of complexity.

For a start, neither program seemed to contain an easy way to display the ICAO 24-bit hex addresses, though I understand from various Internet chatter that this may be added soon. My real problems seemed to come from both programs' heavy reliance on various data handling features in the Windows operating system itself. Those of us who have spent years fighting with these know what a mess THAT can create!

After the glowing review that another MT column gave the first one I tried, known as ACARS Log Analyser (British spelling), I couldn't wait to get it going. For whatever reason, though, my results weren't as good as his.

It's possible that my problems were caused by Windows DLL conflicts. It's fine for radio freeware to want to replace multiple shared DLLs with older ones. However, it's also my policy not to let these installers do so, because the resulting unpredictable problems with other, more important (or expensive!) apps can really be a mess.

Perhaps this is why the Log Analyser was so fussy, not to mention prone to all manner of arcane error messages, some of which crashed the program. After working through several truly bizarre logic bombs, I finally got the DDE working, sort of.

I never did get my older logs to import. Only one format worked at all, and this one corrupted all the records to have dates 20 years from now. Since I doubt even the NRD-545 can hear into the future, I finally put this program out of its misery with a full uninstall. Since this is Windows, there were a few harmless dregs left in the Registry, but nothing too critical.

Next up, I tried Acars Analyser (Australian spelling). It's right here. This one is a bit slicker, with pretty little icons and an interface generally more to my personal liking. Even better, its installer didn't ask to change any DLLs at all.

I also like the way the software is structured into two parts. One of these is a DDE client, which (like acarsds) connects to any number of programs and then sits happily in the background. The setup screen for this client is accessible, and comprehensive. The other part is the actual analyzer. It works with an external database using Jet (the MS data engine, not an aircraft type). Many items are stored, and these can be massaged in a truly impressive number of ways.

Unfortunately, that's all I can really say about this program. It never got a fair trial on my machine. It, too, seemed fussy. I never got past the initial stages of file not found errors and an occasional hang when I tried to access the database.

This might have been my fault. I became confused during the installation, and later I was able to find multiple database file paths in the Registry. It's possible the code became confused too. Also, according to the programmer, the public databases that make several of the better features work suddenly stopped being maintained, crippling these until an alternative is found.

At this point, I decided that I really wasn't going to use this program very much for what I was doing, and I uninstalled it. The end of this project is at hand, with Posfix and acarsd doing the job just fine. I've come to like these a lot.

Happy buzzing on HF!

Review: Several Windows ACARS Programs

It all started when the hard core HFDL enthusiasts on the Yahoo! group told me that you could connect Charles Brain's great PC-HFDL program to other data processing applications via Windows DDE.

If this last sentence is total gobbledygook to you, well it would also have been to me about three months ago. I would imagine one of the fancy (and pricey) high-end ACARS packages would do all this stuff with a fraction of the geeking, but fortunately I like to geek. After all, this is amateur radio.

Acarsd and PC-HFDL

I'd read good things about a free program suite called acarsd. You can download it at acarsd.org. It's a rather comprehensive ACARS package, with all the features that the hard core aviation geeks have come to expect, such as real-time fetching of aircraft data, including photos, from plane spotting sites.

Acarsd contains a decoder, but for HF I really wanted to continue using PC-HFDL for the transport layer. You need the commercial PC-HFDL version to do DDE. It's a nice little program, especially in its newest 2.041 beta, which adds some features and generally improves the decode.

Unfortunately, Vista broke it, along with most other shareware/freeware sound card radio decoders. This is a problem since Charles, as of last year at least, didn't have access to a Vista box to develop the fixes. Users of GOOD operating systems, such as Windows XP Pro, will have no problems, though it definitely likes some sound cards more than others.

Getting back to acarsd, it's a remarkable package for the price (free, though donations are encouraged). It also has a Linux version. It is configurable to do just about anything, mostly by manually tweaking the self-documenting .ini file. Other documentation is pretty minimal.

In order to send PC-HFDL decodes to Acarsd, you need the "SkySpy Socket Collector," an accompanying DDE server application which is called acarsds. This program, which is bundled with newer versions of acarsd, works like a charm. Its documentation, though, is extremely out of date.

For example, you are told to download acarsds separately, and install it to its own directory. You don't have to. You are told that you need a specific Visual Basic runtime library. Unless your Windows is ME or older, you almost certainly don't. Finally, you are told not to even bother downloading it if you have Windows XP, because this OS isn't supported by SkySpy. Even if, years later, this is still the case, it's irrelevant for us.

The DDE setup is a complete no-brainer. Soon, you have this neat little server happily passing your ACARS messages to the cool acarsd graphic user interface. Not long after, you notice that many of the interesting HFDL downlinks don't display, because technically they are HFNPDU PERFORMANCE messages, not ACARS. Too bad, because most of these have the position of the aircraft.

POSFIX

Fear not. This is where POSFIX comes in. It's also free, and you get it right here. The latest version in January 2008 is 2.34, though a newer version that adds SBS and some other features is in beta. Posfix is also minimally documented at best, though the help does tell you how to make the program work.

What Posfix does is to reformat the HFDL positions into pseudo-ACARS messages which get sent to acarsd and displayed. Acarsd gets a lot more interesting, and your logs get bigger faster, though you also get a lot of NO-REG for missing registration numbers.

What you do is to set Posfix as a DDE client for PC-HFDL, and then set acarsds as a client for Posfix. This results in the following DDE path:

PC-HFDL > Posfix > acarsds > acarsd.

Also, things crash if you don't start servers first and clients second. This means you start PC-HFDL, get it going on a frequency, then work left to right along the path shown above. Posfix connects to PC-HFDL, and messages start appearing in its window. Acarsds connects to Posfix, and messages appear there. Acarsd connects to acarsds, and messages appear there, in its slick formatting, and including the position checks. Also you can plot with Posfix, though unless you're monitoring the North Atlantic run you'll want to make some more maps. Fortunately, this is stupidly easy.

This took me a couple hours of tweaking to get right, but the results are worth it.

UPDATE: This post has been split into two parts to decrease its length. The second part should be above.

V2x Is Again Nine-Less

Haven't heard any at all since that one transmission.

Oh, well.

Meanwhile the digital SK01 transmissions continue.

HAARP HF Earth-Moon-Earth Echoes!

The HAARP project in Alaska has been transmitting 3.9 megawatt carrier in the direction of the moon, so that a receiving site in another location can take data on the lunar surface (and just below) by analyzing the echoes received.

HF lunar echoes are not the kind of thing one hears every day. THIS is DX.

On the second night of the test, January 20 UTC, echoes were received here in California on the second frequency (7407.5 kHz CW) for a considerable period around 0740-0800 UTC. Here is a typical spectrogram as received on a PAR End-Fedz wire and plotted with Spectrum Lab:



The HAARP carrier is being keyed down for 2 seconds (and received here via the ionosphere) and then a 3-second silence is provided to listen for the delayed (and slightly Doppler shifted, apparently) lunar echoes. The HAARP (ionosphere) reception is at 40, 45, 50, 55, and 00 sec. The echoes are clearly seen in between, down about 10-15 dB.


More on this EME experiment is here.

V02a Has 9's!

Yesterday I noted that the Cuban voice numbers transmissions (V02a, V02c) have recently had very few, if any, appearances of the figure "9" (nueve) in the Spanish messages.

This was true until this morning.

17435 is as loud as ever at 1700, and has plenty of 9's, as if a software issue had been addressed.

Do they read this stuff?

The Woodpecker Is Dead, But Enter the Dragon

China's HF "Dragon" over-the-horizon backscatter (OTH-B) radar may be getting more troublesome for other radio services as that country continues to modernize and build out its military capability. This radar system transmits complex tone bursts spread out over several kilohertz. It has caused an enormous problem for Asian weak signal CW operations in the 40 meter amateur band, though I've never heard it here.

Developing...

SK01 Has 9's

As many people have noticed, the number "9" is rarely (if ever) heard in the V2a Cuban voice numbers broadcasts. If the encryption is random, it seems odd that there wouldn't be any 9s. Why would this figure be excluded? Why is it present in filenames/headers for SK01 (the digital file transfers)?

One more mystery wrapped in a riddle shrouded in an enigma, no pun intended. (After all the German ENIGMA code had 9s.)

Is Cuba Going RDFT?

Probably not, but it's sure increasing, in a manner suggesting it may now be operational. From Jon in FL, as posted to Spooks, ENIGMA, and everywhere else:

2008-01-08 at 1800z on 8097 kHz AM SK01 RDFT
1800z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1808z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1812z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1817z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1819z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1822z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1827z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1832z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1838z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1842z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1847z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1852z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1856z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes

2008-01-08 at 1900z on 8097 kHz AM SK01 RDFT
1900z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1905z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1910z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1915z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1916z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1920z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1925z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1930z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1935z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1940z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
1945z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
1946z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
1950z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes

2008-01-08 at 2000z on 7887 kHZ AM SK01 RDFT
2000z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2005z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
2011z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
2015z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2021z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
2025z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
2032z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2036z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
2040z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
2045z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes

2008-01-08 at 2100z on 6855 kHz AM SK01 RDFT
2100z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2106z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2111z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2115z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2120z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes
2125z 48762671.TXT 190 Bytes
2130z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2137z 42645902.TXT 790 Bytes
2140z 45973423.TXT 461 Bytes

Shuttle Launch Now On/After February 7

Jan. 11, 2008

Allard Beutel
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
allard.beutel@nasa.gov

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4715
michael.curie@nasa.gov

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
james.a.hartsfield@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-06

NASA ANNOUNCES SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH TARGETS

HOUSTON - NASA Friday announced Feb. 7 as the target launch date for shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station and mid-March for the launch of Endeavour on STS-123. Liftoff of Atlantis from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., will be at 2:47 p.m. EST.

A decision by the Russian Federal Space Agency to move up its Progress launch from Feb. 7 to Feb. 5 enables both STS-122 and STS-123 to launch before the next Russian Soyuz mission in early April. This allows astronauts assigned to the space station's Expedition 16 crew to complete the tasks they have trained for, including support of the launch and docking of Jules Verne, the first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle. Targeting Feb. 7 also allows time to complete modifications to the engine cutoff sensor system that postponed two shuttle launch attempts in December.

Atlantis' main objective during its STS-122 mission to the station is to install and activate the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, which will provide scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in life, physical, and materials science, Earth observation and solar physics.

Shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission will deliver Kibo, the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's laboratory module, and Dextre, Canada's new robotics system to the space station.

NASA managers will meet in the coming weeks to address the schedule of remaining shuttle flights beyond STS-123.

For the latest shuttle information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


-end-

San Francisco HFDL Back On-Air

If you heard nothing yesterday on any of San Francisco ARINC ground station 01's frequencies, well no one else did either. The timing suggests problems connected to the storm which hit the Sacramento area with flooding and hurricane-force wind gusts.

10081 is operating at full power at present.

Another storm connected situation exists in a small Nevada town east of Reno, where a breach in the levee of a water canal has flooded 600 homes, requiring boat and helicopter rescues.

HFDL System Table 32/ 20 Hex Now In Use

Just when we thought maybe table #31/1F might get us all the way through the winter, ARINC has updated its ground stations to frequency table number 32, or 20 in the hexadecimal notation the HFDL system uses.

According to several posts to the HFDL group on Yahoo, the only change is to fix a frequency error in version 31/1F that had aircraft looking for Shannon on 2988 kHz, while the ground station squittered away all alone on 2998. It seems awfully coincidental that the mistake was corrected right after the frequency anomaly was discovered and discussed on this same group. It would be very cool if this hobby, and not just a coincidence, was indeed the reason ARINC fixed it. Always glad to be of service.

Let's hope that Shannon now gets more activity on those long winter nights.

The new pchfdl.dat file has been posted to this column's web site. It should be the same one as posted to the Yahoo group, and successfully installed here. Rename your old pchfdl.dat and copy this one in its place, then start PC-HFDL and it should show the frequencies instead of just numbers.

We thank the Yahoo group people for being so on top of things.

-= ADDED 0531 UTC =-

Here is the full system table, as just transmitted by San Francisco:

[LPDU UNNUMBERED DATA FM GND TO AIR BRD]
[SYSTEM TABLE]
Number of Packets in Table 6
Version 020

Ground Station ID 1 SAN FRANCISCO - CALIFORNIA UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 121 45 34 W Latitude 38 22 48 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 10
Frequency 21934000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 17919000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 13276000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 11327000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 10081000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 8927000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 6559000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 5508000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 4672000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 2947000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12

Ground Station ID 2 MOLOKAI - HAWAII UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 157 10 46 W Latitude 21 10 47 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 20
Frequency 21937000 Hz Master Frame Slot 0
Frequency 21928000 Hz Master Frame Slot 0
Frequency 17934000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 17919000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 13276000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 11348000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 11312000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 10081000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 8936000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 8912000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 6559000 Hz Master Frame Slot 0
Frequency 5538000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 5529000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 5508000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 5463000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 3434000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 3019000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 3001000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 2947000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 2878000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3

Ground Station ID 3 REYKJAVIK - ICELAND UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 21 50 59 W Latitude 64 4 47 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 8
Frequency 17985000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 15025000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 11184000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 8977000 Hz Master Frame Slot 0
Frequency 6712000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 5720000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 3900000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 3116000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3

Ground Station ID 4 RIVERHEAD - NEW YORK UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 72 38 22 W Latitude 40 52 47 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 20
Frequency 21934000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 21931000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 17952000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 17934000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 17919000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 13276000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 11387000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 11354000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 11315000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 10027000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 8912000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 8885000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 8831000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 6661000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 6652000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 6646000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 5652000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 5523000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 3428000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 3410000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9

Ground Station ID 5 AUCKLAND - NEW ZEALAND UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 174 48 35 E Latitude 37 1 10 S
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 10
Frequency 21949000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 17916000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 13351000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 11327000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 10084000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 8921000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 6535000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 5583000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 3404000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 3016000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12

Ground Station ID 6 HAT YAI - THAILAND UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 100 23 24 E Latitude 6 56 23 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 9
Frequency 21949000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 17928000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 13270000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 10066000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 8825000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 6535000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 5655000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 4687000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 3470000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6

Ground Station ID 7 SHANNON - IRELAND UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 8 55 46 W Latitude 52 43 48 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 8
Frequency 11384000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 10081000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 8942000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 8843000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 6532000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 5547000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 3455000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 2998000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6

Ground Station ID 8 JOHANNESBURG - SOUTH AFRICA UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 28 12 35 E Latitude 26 7 46 S
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 5
Frequency 21949000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 13321000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 8834000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 4681000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 3016000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2

Ground Station ID 9 BARROW - ALASKA UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 156 46 46 W Latitude 71 18 0 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 19
Frequency 21937000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 21928000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 17934000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 17919000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 11354000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 10093000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 10027000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 8936000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 8927000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 6646000 Hz Master Frame Slot 6
Frequency 5544000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 5538000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 5529000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 4687000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 4654000 Hz Master Frame Slot 2
Frequency 3497000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 3007000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 2992000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10
Frequency 2944000 Hz Master Frame Slot 10

Ground Station ID 14 KRASNOYARSK - RUSSIA UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 92 18 0 E Latitude 56 6 0 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 10
Frequency 21990000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 17912000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 13321000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 10087000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 8886000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 6596000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 5622000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 4679000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 2905000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 2878000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12

Ground Station ID 13 SANTA CRUZ - BOLIVIA UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 63 7 46 W Latitude 17 40 11 S
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 12
Frequency 21997000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 21988000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 21973000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 21946000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 17916000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 13315000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 11318000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 8957000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 6628000 Hz Master Frame Slot 7
Frequency 4660000 Hz Master Frame Slot 3
Frequency 3467000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11
Frequency 2983000 Hz Master Frame Slot 11

Ground Station ID 16 AGANA - GUAM UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 144 48 0 E Latitude 13 28 11 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 7
Frequency 17919000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 13312000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 11306000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 11288000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 8927000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 6652000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 5451000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9

Ground Station ID 15 AL MUHARRAQ - BAHRAIN UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 50 39 0 E Latitude 26 16 12 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 8
Frequency 21982000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 17967000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 13354000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 11312000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 10075000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1
Frequency 8885000 Hz Master Frame Slot 9
Frequency 5544000 Hz Master Frame Slot 5
Frequency 2986000 Hz Master Frame Slot 1

Ground Station ID 17 CANARIAS - SPAIN UTC UNLOCKED
Longitude 15 23 23 W Latitude 27 56 59 N
Squitter Version 0
Number of frequencies 8
Frequency 21955000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 17928000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 13303000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 11348000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 8948000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12
Frequency 6529000 Hz Master Frame Slot 8
Frequency 5589000 Hz Master Frame Slot 4
Frequency 2905000 Hz Master Frame Slot 12

New HFDL System Table?

The Molokai HFDL ground station is reporting that system table #32 (20 hex) is now current. Users of PC-HFDL will need to update their data file, and everyone else will need the new freqs, though there shouldn't be a huge change.

More details when this blog gets them.