Mysterious Russian 'buzzer' (Enigma S28) radio broadcast changes

From our sister blog, Shortwave Central,(http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/) the following posted on the increase in Enigma S28 Russian Buzzer station activity:

The output of Russian number station UVB-76 has increased dramatically over the past week or so. The station, which broadcasts from near Povarovo [on 4625 kHz AM with suppressed lower sideband], is known as “The Buzzer” by its listeners because of the short, monotonous buzz tone that it normally plays 21 to 34 times per minute. It’s only deviated from that signal three times previously - briefly in 1997, 2002 and 2006.

In early August, a garbled recording of a voice speaking Russian was heard by listeners. A few days later, on 23 August at 13:35 UTC, a clearer voice read out the following message twice: “UVB-76, UVB-76 — 93 882 naimina 74 14 35 74 — 9 3 8 8 2 nikolai, anna, ivan, michail, ivan, nikolai, anna, 7, 4, 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, 4″, before returning to its normal broadcasting.

Since then, a number of other distorted voices have appeared over the normal buzzing transmission, as well as knocks and shuffles, as if someone were moving things around inside the broadcasting room. It’s believed that the transmission site has an open microphone, which occasionally picks up sounds from technicians working within the broadcast site.

Additional story at: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/25/russian-numbers-station-broadcast-changes (R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

And from the SCAN-DC newsgroup:

UVB-76 is the callsign of a shortwave radio station that usually broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). It is known among radio listeners by the nickname The Buzzer. It features a short, monotonous buzz tone, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per day. The station has been observed since around 1982. On rare occasions, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. Only four to five such events have been noted. Despite much speculation, the actual purpose of this station remains unknown to the public, but is probably used for relaying military orders. There has been a spike in activity as of late August, 2010. More details on the spike below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76#August_2010

Here is the latest intercepts from the Wikipeda link above:

August 2010
There has been a spike in activity on UVB-76 in August 2010. Following messages have been detected by listeners:

On August 20, 2010 at 05:11 UTC, a garbled voice speaking Russian, was detected by amateur listeners. It made a short message with 56° 5'8.23"N little interference and then repeated itself with noticeably more static. This followed recent activity on the station tha little interference and then repeated itself with noticeably more static. This followed recent activity on the station that included more static than usual and several instances of objects being moved/dropped. All of this was detected by amateur listeners and is unconfirmed at the moment.

On August 23, 2010 at 13:35 UTC, a voice speaking in Russian was detected. The voice read out a single, short transmission several times before the line went dead, then returned to its normal broadcast. As the message was transmitted on upper side-band, reception with ordinary AM receivers was weak and distorted.
The message, repeated twice, was: UVB-76, UVB-76 — 93 882 naimina 74 14 35 74 — 9 3 8 8 2 nikolai, anna, ivan, michail, ivan, nikolai, anna, 7, 4, 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, 4[11] (recording of the August 23 2010 voice transmission)

On August 24, 2010 at approximately 04:00 UTC, a heavily distorted voice was heard by amateur listeners.

On August 24, 2010 at 13:25 UTC, another heavily distorted voice was detected by several amateur listeners.

On August 24, 2010 at 17:43 UTC, Hard to hear voices were heard over the transmission.

On August 24, 2010 at around 03:30 UTC, distorted voices in addition to fast beeps and pulses were heard.

On August 25, 2010 around 06:13 UTC, Random knocks or shuffles as if someone is in the room, changes in tone randomly.

On August 25, 2010 at 11:53 GMT the following message was detected: "August 3 5 2 7 Accretion 3 6 0 9 5 6 7 3". A recording is available here mirror Said message is a Google Translate of 3 8 5 2 7 ???????? 3 6 0 9 5 6 7 3. This is identical to the August 25, 2010 06:54 UTC message mentioned below.

On August 25, 2010 at 06:45 UTC, A grumble or garbled sound appeared out of nowhere for 389 ms.

On August 25, 2010 at 06:54 UTC, Another transmission occurred. (Recording of the fifth voice transmission) A new sequence/pattern with a chirping/crank noise occured on top of the previous buzzer. At times this new noise made the old buzzing noise barely audible.The message content was: "UVB-76. UVB-76. 38, 527. ????????. 36, 09, 55, 73.".

On August 25, 2010 at 18:07 UTC, Morse code could be heard behind the buzzer signal. It lasted until approximately 18:20 UTC. At approximately 18:08 UTC A tone was heard in the background followed by a short message.

There is a lot of very interesting additional details at the Wikipedia website above.

Also courtesy of the Spooks list and Jakon Hays, the following associated links:

Saw a post on MeFi this morning about it.
http://www.metafilter.com/95091/4625-kHz

Which cites this site.
http://uvb-76.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-23-2010-935am-pst-voice.html

The wiki page has been updated quite a bit though the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76

And there is a live stream here.
http://www.justin.tv/rampageturke#/w/340896016/4

Current status of the ROS digital mode use in the US

Earlier this year there was quite a bit of buzz on the amateur radio newsgroups about a new digital mode known as ROS developed by a non-ham, José Alberto Nieto Ros.
The new mode uses spread spectrum technology at 1 or 16 Baud signalling rates, and is designed to cope with disturbances, low level signals, meteor scatter and moon bounce says José. José claims that receiving signals down to -35 dB (!) with 1 Bd signalling rate and -30 dB (!) with 16 Bd are possible.

But we have a problem here in the US. ROS is a spread spectrum mode and US hams are not allowed to use SS modes below 222 MHz by FCC regulation. Another problem is that hams in other portions of the world are using this 2.2 kHz bandwidth mode in the portion of the ham bands reserved for narrowband comms. Again not a good thing.

On March 4, 2010 the following was posted to the ARRL website:

In mid-February, European amateurs first used a new, experimental digital mode known as ROS. On February 23, 2010 -- after FCC review of the original documents provided from the developer's Web site -- the FCC made the following statements on ROS:

"Section 97.305 is the rule that specifies where different emission types are allowed to be transmitted on different bands. 'ROS' is viewed as 'spread spectrum,' and the creator of the system describes it as that. We assume that he knows what he created. [Section] 97.305 authorizes spread spectrum emission types (defined in Section 97.3) to be transmitted by FCC licensed amateur stations at places we regulate communications only on 222-225 MHz and higher frequency amateur bands. European telecommunication regulatory authorities may authorize amateur stations in Europe to use SS on the HF bands, but this is of no concern to us. The Commission does not determine if a particular mode 'truly' represents spread spectrum as it is defined in the rules. The licensee of the station transmitting the emission is responsible for determining that the operation of the station complies with the rules. This would include determining the type of emission the station is transmitting and that the frequencies being used are authorized for that type of emission."

Since that initial FCC review, several Internet sites have reported a claim -- attributed to the FCC -- that the original statements made had been reconsidered and that the FCC view was now that "ROS cannot be viewed as Spread Spectrum and it would be encompassed within Section 97.309 (RTTY and data emissions codes)."

When queried about this new statement, the FCC's Consumer Assistance Office stated that "[T]he information contained on the ROS Web site was not provided by the FCC." They then reaffirmed the original statements that originated from the FCC's Wireless Bureau, which handles Amateur Radio rules for the US.

The ARRL supports -- as one of the basic purposes of Amateur Radio -- the experimentation and advancing the technical skills of operators. The development and use of any new mode is exciting to many amateurs, and the League encourage amateurs to experiment within the parameters of the rules; however, the ARRL also reminds US licensees that according to Section 97.307, spread spectrum communications are only permissible in the US on frequencies above 222 MHz.

Of course, the debate raged on the various newsgroups about the pros and cons, but soon the conversation slowly died off, until this week. Earlier in the week the conversation cranked up in earnest again about the legally of using ROS in the US on the 30MDG newsgroup. This was due to this post by José on his ROS website:
http://rosmodem.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/the-fcc-allows-ros-to-be-used-in-the-usa/

Instead of investigating the details of the post, a flame war erupted, and is still raging strong even this morning. So now I'm now waiting for the aluminum foil hats (or hard kats with rubber ducks in the middle) to come out and aliens to land in BTown.

Yes, José's choice of a headline was poor "The FCC allows ROS to be used in the USA," since it makes it sound like the FCC has cleared and approved the mode for general hams ops in the US. But the details are in the body of the post:

”The FCC allows ROS to be used in the USA” (only for WE9XLQ)

Instead of taking a pause and looking into the callsign on the FCC website which would have been the prudent thing to do, some gents blew up the situation into a full blown flame war. Theese folks should have their keyboards disabled and given a time out in one corner of their shacks. ;-)))

Now the real truth, WE8XLQ is a newly issued FCC experimental license issued to Reindert A Smit in Alta Loma, CA, to test the ROS mode in the HF spectrum. The license is valid from 8/1/2010 to 1/31/2011.

In the "Explanation" section of the license it states:
Like to use ROS Modem digital mode in Amateur Radio Service. Questions exist about the legality of this mode on frequencies below 225 MHz.

In the "Purpose of Operation" section of the license it states:
Experiment with this mode and research capabilities of this mode under weak signal conditions and make comparisons against other digital modes such as WSJT and PSK31

Complete details are available at the link below: https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=initial&application_seq=45235

So it will be interesting to see how all of this washes out. Personally other than the wideband nature of ROS being used in the narrowband section of the various bands, I don't see why the ARRL and FCC should have opposed the mode in the first place. There is a mode called Chip64/128 which is also described as spread spectrum (full details at http://xoomer.virgilio.it/aporcino/Chip64/index.htm) being used in the HF spectrum. I haven't seen anything being done to ban this mode on the HF spectrum by the FCC. It has been around since 2007.

Not sure why all the fuss over ROS and not CHIP64/128 by the FCC. I look forward to seeing the test results of the ROS mode from WE9XLQ early next year.

In the meantime, here is your caveat. Using the ROS mode on HF by US hams other than Reindert A Smit, WE9XLQ, is illegal. If you use it, you may lose it (your license that is).

Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere--flash!--there is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August 12th, and Friday, August 13th. You can see Perseids flitting across the sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn. http://spaceweather.com

Time to dust off my meteor scatter software and head up to 6 meters for some ping time from EM85.

Solar Tsunami to Strike Earth

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory snapped this X-ray photo of the Sun early in the morning of Sunday, August 1st. The dark arc near the top right edge of the image is a filament of plasma blasting off the surface -- part of the coronal mass ejection. The bright region is an unassociated solar flare. NASA

From FoxNews:

Earth is bracing for a cosmic tsunami Tuesday night as tons of plasma from a massive solar flare head directly toward the planet.

The Sun's surface erupted early Sunday morning, shooting a wall of ionized atoms directly at Earth, scientists say. It is expected to create a geomagnetic storm and a spectacular light show -- and it could pose a threat to satellites in orbit, as well.

"This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4," said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."

The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths. SDO was launched in February and peers deep into the layers of the sun, investigating the mysteries of its inner workings.

"We got a beautiful view of this eruption," Golub said. "And there might be more beautiful views to come if it triggers aurorae."

Views of aurorae are usually associated with Canada and Alaska, but even skywatchers in the northern U.S. mainland are being told they can look toward the north Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for rippling "curtains" of green and red light.

When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, solar particles stream down our planet's magnetic field lines toward the poles. In the process, the particles collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere, which then glow, creating an effect similar to miniature neon signs.

The interaction of the solar particles with our planet's magnetic field has the potential to create geomagnetic storms, or disturbances, in Earth's magnetosphere. And while aurorae are normally visible only at high latitudes, they can light up the sky even at lower latitudes during a geomagnetic storm.

Fortunately for Earth-bound observers, the atmosphere filters out nearly all of the radiation from the solar blast. The flare shouldn't pose a health hazard, Golub told FoxNews.com.

"It's because of our atmosphere," he explained, "which absorbs the radiation, as well as the magnetic field of the Earth, which deflects any magnetic particles produced."

The radiation "almost never" makes it to ground, he noted, though pilots and passengers in airplanes may experience increased radiation levels akin to getting an X-ray.

The solar particles also could affect satellites, though scientists think that possibility is remote. Orbital Sciences Corp. believe a similar blast may have knocked its Galaxy 15 satellite permanently out of action this year.

This type of solar event has both government officials and satellite manufacturers worrying.

NASA scientists warned recently that high-energy electric pulses from the sun could cripple our electrical grid for years, causing billions in damages. In fact, the House is so concerned that the Energy and Commerce committee voted unanimously to approve a bill allocating $100 million to protect the energy grid from this rare but potentially devastating occurrence.

The sun's activity usually ebbs and flows on a fairly predictable cycle. Typically, a cycle lasts about 11 years, taking roughly 5.5 years to move from a solar minimum, a period of time when there are few sunspots, to peak at the solar maximum, during which sunspot activity is amplified.

The last solar maximum occurred in 2001. The latest minimum was particularly weak and long- lasting.

The most recent solar eruption is one of the first signs that the sun is waking up -- and heading toward another maximum.

Space.com contributed to this report.

Propagation Alert: Will it hit Earth?

On August 1, 2010, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed a beautiful prominence eruption that may hit Earth and cause a geomagnetic storm. As the solar cycle progresses and the Sun becomes more active there will be many more opportunities to observe the causes of space weather. Want to see what happens? Follow the event at spaceweather.com.

And from the Spaceweather website:

On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more.

High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras tonight. One and possibly two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are heading toward Earth, propelled by the solar eruptions of August 1st (see below). NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of major geomagnetic storms and a 45% chance of at least some geomagnetic activity when the clouds arrive on August 3rd and 4th.

And finally this report from our good friend Tomas Hood

At approximately 0855 UTC on August 1, 2010, a C3.2 magnitude soft X-ray flare erupted from NOAA Active Sunspot Region 11092 (1092).

At nearly the same time, a massive filament eruption occurred. Prior to the filament's eruption, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instruments revealed an enormous plasma filament stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere. When the solar shock wave triggered by the C3.2-class X-ray explosion plowed through this filament, it appears to have caused the filament to erupt, sending out a huge plasma cloud (a coronal mass ejection, or CME).

A shock wave can be seen emerging from the origin of the X-ray flare and sweeping across the sun's northern hemisphere into the filament field. The impact of this shock wave may well have propelled the filament into space. The movies (see links, below) seem to support the conclusion that both eruptions, occurring together, are linked, despite the approximately 400,000 kilometer distance between the flare and the filament eruption. How can this be? While we cannot always see the magnetic field lines between solar features (magnetic field lines are not visible unless there is plasma trapped along these field lines), we can assume from this event
that huge connecting field lines existed between the sunspot region and the filament in the sun's northern hemisphere.

This is an amazing event. A complex series of eruptions involving most of the visible surface of the sun has occurred, ejecting plasma toward the Earth. This coronal mass ejection (CME) rides the solar wind. Depending on the speed of the solar wind and the ejected plasma, this cloud will reach Earth's magnetosphere sometime between August 3 and August 5. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Radio communications by way of the ionosphere may become degraded soon after the CME arrives, and the degraded conditions may last for up to three days.

First view at the 304-Angstrom wavelength by SDO/AIA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyaqxKkSCpU

Second view at the 171-Angstrom wavelength by SDO/AIA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW_-yQY6YlA

Source: SDO/AIA

73 de NW7US, Tomas David Hood ( http://tomas-david-hood.com/ )

Facebook:

Main NW7US Page: http://hfradio.org/
Twitter Space WX : @hfradiospacewx
Twitter NW7US : @NW7US

Podcast: http://podcast.hfradio.org/ (restarting Summer 2010)

Linux User #32405 - Since 1996

Complex Eruption on the Sun

Space Weather News for August 1, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

GLOBAL ERUPTION: During the early hours of August 1st, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a complex global disturbance on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Most of the sun's northern hemisphere was involved in the event, which included a long-duration C3-class solar flare, a "solar tsunami," and a massive filament eruption. As a result of these blasts, a coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading toward Earth. High-latitude geomagnetic storms and auroras are possible when the cloud arrives a few days hence.

On August 1st around 0855 UT, Earth orbiting satellites detected a C3-class solar flare. The origin of the blast was sunspot 1092. At about the same time, an enormous magnetic filament stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere erupted. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action.



The timing of these events suggest they are connected, and a review of SDO movies strengthens that conclusion. Despite the ~400,000 km distance between them, the sunspot and filament seem to erupt together; they are probably connected by long-range magnetic fields.

In short, we have just witnessed a complex global eruption involving almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun.

A coronal mass ejection (CME) produced by the event is heading directly for Earth. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when it arrives on or about August 3rd. See forecast below.

3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast issued Aug 01 22:00 UTC
Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be very low. However, there is a chance for an isolated C-class flare from Region 1092.

Geophysical Activity Forecast: Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels during most of day 1 (02 August). An increase to unsettled to active levels is expected late on day 1 due to the arrival of the full-halo CME observed on 01 August. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels with a chance for minor storm levels on day 2 (03 August) as CME effects persist. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet to unsettled levels with a chance for active levels on day 3 (04 August) as CME effects subside.

HomePatrol-1 - What can it monitor?

I have had several questions regarding what HomePatrol will and will not monitor from the Radioref database. Paul Opitz from Uniden recently wrote the following:

HomePatrol-1 includes all systems and channels in Radio Reference database with the following exceptions:

-- Channels function tagged as Data
-- Channels that are not function tagged
-- Channels function tagged as Deprecated
-- Channels with a mode of "E" (encrypted)
-- Digital channels on system types that cannot be monitored (i.e. ProVoice)
-- Channels in deprecated systems
-- Unmonitorable Systems (i.e. OpenSky / Nextel / etc)

HomePatrol-1 can automatically select for scanning any channel that is properly geotagged. Channels not geotagged can be manually selected (easiest by using the included Sentinel PC software). The geographic selection process is unique to Uniden (and patented, to boot).

At some point, Joes (scanner geeks), will have the ability through the Uniden software to program the HomePatrol-1 with their own frequency list, but this won't happen with the initial release of the unit.

Uniden HomePatrol Update

Recently some question on the Scan-DC newsgroup came up on the new Uniden HomePatrol scanner. here is a portion of my comments regarding this new scanner.

My initial testing of the unit is pretty cool. The manuals aren't done yet, but if you have every programmed any scanner you don't need one, it is that simple. So folks who do not want to become radio engineers (Uniden calls them Bob and Mabel) will want to purchase this scanner. There will be additional features for advanced users that will be activated in the near future so that power users (Uniden calls them Joe) will have some interesting features they will like in HomePatrol. On the Friday before the Uniden Open House during our formal intro of the product, I had the scanner in my hands about one hour and during that time I master the basica operations and menuing system (actually it took about 20 minutes).

Saturday during the Uniden Open House in Dallas, an 8 year old grandson of one of the hobbyists at my table (I was a table host), programmed the HP scanner for DFW in literally seconds. Yes, Bob and Mabel, it is really that easy.

You can read some of my additional thoughts on my personal blog at
http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/2010/06/revolution-in-scanning-is-coming.html

You can get my exclusive HP spec sheet (based on the testing of the unit we
have in hand) on the Grove Ent website at http://www.grove-ent.com/homepatrol.html

More to come including a full review in Monitoring Times magazine soon.

This Week on the Radio July 15, 2010

From the ARRL : This week, the North American QSO Party (RTTY), the DMC RTTY Contest and the CQ Worldwide VHF Contest are July 17-18. The Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is July 19. Next week, there is another running of the NCCC Sprint Ladder on July 23. The RSGB Islands on the Air (IOTA) Contest is July 24-25 and the SKCC Sprint July 28. All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest Branch page, the ARRL Contest Update and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar for more info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the ARRL Special Events Station Web page.

SSTV from ISS on 145.800 MHz FM during July 15-16

ISS Amateur Radio Status: July 13, 2010

SpaceCam planed for July 15-16 By Miles Mann WF1F
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment

Notes from the Ariss blog http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/

MAI-75 activation planned for July 15-16 (updated)

An activity to support SSTV activation (MAI-75) has been schedule on July 15 and 16. Times fall between 12:00-15:00 UTC on the 15th and 10:00-12:00 UTC on the 16th . The system will be operating space cam in slide show mode and is expected to use the Martin 1 format. The times are just over 1 orbit each day (two passes over Moscow) so opportunities will be very limited.

Tips for Working Slow Scan TV:

Will I be able to receive images from SpaceCam1?

Yes! SpaceCam1 will transmit and receive images on amateur radio frequencies, using standard SSTV formats. Although SpaceCam1 is capable of operating in several modes, the recommended format while in Slide Show mode is Robot 36. This format offers the best standard compromise between image quality and transmission time and heat stress.

In addition to two-way "interactive" operation, SpaceCam1 provides the following fully automatic functions:

-- Transmission from a live camera or disk at specified intervals
-- “Slide Show" operation from a set of images stored on the system
-- SSTV Repeater

What equipment will I need to receive the images?

Radio receiver with an outdoor antenna. The radio receive will need to be able to receive FM signals on 145.800 MHz radio band. A PC with SSTV software or a dedicated SSTV scan converter.

For information on how to receive SSTV images from the International Space station, check out the MAREX link: http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html

Over the next few weeks we maybe receiving images from the International Space station via Slow Scan TV (SSTV). The MAREX team will be collecting these images from the amateur Radio and SWL community and we will post the best.

We would like to collect all images received. However in order to properly catalog the images we request you use the following image naming format. After you receive you images; please rename the images using the following format, All Lower case letters

Year 06, Month 07, Day 31, (UTC time), Call sign, Short text description, .JPG

Example:

New format: 0607311905wf1f.jpg

I removed the first two numbers of the year and the “Z” for UTC time. All dates are assumed to be in UTC dates. The images coming down from ISS will also have a time stamp embedded into the image. You can also use these numbers to generate you file names. If you are a Short Wave listener and do not have a call sign, just place your Initials after the time (0607311905abc.jpg)

If we break this down
Year =06
Month = 07
Day = 31
Time = 1905 UTC
Call sign = wf1f
Description (optional) = Windows shot
Image format = jpg

Image Quality
Please do not put any text over lays on the images, Example, do not put web page or advertisements in the image. Your own call sign and date are acceptable.

Send all images directly to MAREX at Marexmg@comcast.net

We would also like to know the following information in your email.

Name or Call sign
Country / State
Receiver
Software decoding tool
Elevation or range of ISS when you decoded the image.

Slide Show Mode:
The MAREX SpaceCam1 software contains a feature called “Slide Show” mode. It allows the crew to preload a directory full of images that will be automatically transmitted to Earth. The crew will not need to keep pushing a button to send images. In theory the system can run for weeks at a time without crew involvement. The SpaceCam project will be able to transmit over 200 SSTV images per day (Robot 36 format).

Ariss has not announced any plans for a SSTV Uplink frequency.

SSTV Decoding Software http://www.barberdsp.com/

There are many choices in SSTV software, some Free, others with more features cost a few bucks. http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html

So have fun, find your best setup and start practicing (on Earth) how to decode SSTV on 2-meters.

Marexmg Web page
http://www.marexmg.org/

ARISS Web page and other great Space projects
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/

73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG

Amateur satellite to investigate power line interference

Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV will be giving a presentation on South Africa's first CubeSat at the AMSAT-UK Colloquium in Guildford, England, July 31- Aug 1

The world has experienced a long solar minimum which means that ionospheric communication had been very limited and for a few years was almost exclusively the domain of the commercial broadcasters running Megawatts.

HF radio communication is very susceptible to noise levels that are created by power lines, electrical installations and overhead lines used by trains and busses and power line telecommunication systems. If fact today there are many installation that do not necessarily comply with internationally agreed emission standards. With increasing solar activity interference signals are propagated over large areas and will interfere with HF communication.

The important mission of the SA AMSAT CubeSat is to measure the High Frequency noise levels over South Africa and report these measurement back to a ground station for analysis and action to reduce these unwanted signals. The information from the tiny satellite will identify the areas where the HF frequency polluters are situated and will help in reducing or eliminating the source.

It is also hoped to include a 30 kHz linear transponder and an Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) in the CubeSat.

I want one. After the South Africans have done their mapping maybe they can swing it up here to help locate our local power line interference.

Mississippi Deploys Wireless Radio System To Aid Oil Spill Cleanup

From the Gov Monitor website:

Governor Haley Barbour announced today the distribution of more than 200 radios capable of operating through the Mississippi Wireless Integrated Network to help in the oil spill cleanup along Mississippi’s shoreline and barrier islands.

The MSWIN system, which provides interoperable communication for emergency responders, was created under the direction of Governor Barbour after Hurricane Katrina exposed a critical need.

“Immediately after the storm, we were unable to exchange critical information between various law enforcement agencies and other emergency personnel,” Governor Barbour said. “The ability to communicate can make a huge difference in our ability to fight the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill now, and in the future, it could mean the difference in our ability to save lives in an emergency.”

The MSWIN system allows users to speak through a secure digital radio system operating under the Mississippi Wireless Communications Commission. The Mississippi National Guard, United States Coast Guard and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency will use the hand-held radios to guide cleanup vessels to oil in the water sighted by aircraft.

“This will help streamline response time to any reports of oil from Mississippi National Guard air operations,” said MEMA Director and WCC Vice Chairman Mike Womack. “The vessels assigned to a particular area will now have the capability to communicate directly with the resources in the air.”

“Interoperability is about breaking down communication barriers,” said WCC Chairman Chris Epps. “This is what the system is designed for, and we are proud that we can assist with and improve the response efforts in the oil disaster.”

The MSWIN system was established with $157 million in federal funds and $57 million in state bond funds. The MSWIN system is currently fully operational in the southern third of the state and is scheduled to be complete throughout the entire state of Mississippi by December of 2011.

Governor Barbour has asked for nearly $84 million more in federal funding to expand the MSWIN system’s broadband capacity beyond voice-only communications. The upgraded system could include photo and ambulance-to-hospital data transmission abilities.

Col. Lee Smithson, who oversees the Mississippi National Guard’s response to the oil spill as commander of Task Force Vigilant Horizon, said the radios will enable National Guard personnel to guide crews to the oil and allow ground crews to document the sightings.

“The radios enable us to fully leverage the capabilities of all supporting agencies. We tie in air, marine and shore activities using one system. It is a game changer in our favor.”

New Monitoring Times Staff Blog Newsfeeds Now Available

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When you need to know what is happening now in the monitoring world, MT's staff blog news streams will keep you informed on the latest news in the radio spectrum.

So point that browser at and bookmark the new spot on the net for radio news at
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/blogs.html.

10 Russian Spies Arrested in US - Used Shortwave for Spy Comms

Blog Note: These suspects were allegedly highly trained in shortwave radio operation and the use of codes and ciphers, including the use of encrypted Morse code messages. These were probably Enigma M8A spy number station broadcasts.

Here is a link to the actual criminal complaints:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/28/world/main6627393.shtml?tag=topnews

* * * * * * * * * *
Ten alleged Russian spies have been arrested in the United States, the result of a multi-year investigation in four states, the FBI said Monday.

Eight of the 10 arrested were "carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments" the FBI said, while two had lesser roles in the Russian intelligence program. The arrests took place Sunday in Montclair, N.J., Yonkers, N.Y., Manhattan, Boston, and Arlington, Va.

The New York and New Jersey defendants were expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan Monday. The Virginia defendants were to make court appearances in Alexandria.

One additional defendant has been charged but remains at large.

Their job, according to the court papers in the case, was "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles" in the United States.

Criminal complaints state that the defendants had an overarching goal of becoming highly "Americanized" so as to be able to freely gather intelligence in the U.S. and to "recruit sources who are I, or are able to infiltrate United States policy-making circles."

The U.S. government intercepted a message from Russian intelligence headquarters in Moscow to two of the defendants, Richard and Cynthia Murphy.

"You were sent to USA for long-term service trip," the message from Moscow. "Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc. - all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e. to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and sent intels," the message added.

The complaint states that such agents - known as "illegals" - are highly trained in "foreign languages; agent-to-agent communications, including the use of brush-passes; short-wave radio operation and invisible writing; the use of codes and ciphers, including the use of encrypted Morse code messages; the creation and use of a cover profession; counter-surveillance measures" and more.

A "brush pass" is a covert hand-off of secret information, made as two agents brush past one another in public.

All of the defendants are charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. All but two of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The charges are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.


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A Revolution in Scanning is Coming

A Revolution in Scanning is Coming
Uniden Releases a New Revolutionary Scanner
by Larry Van Horn, MT Assistant Editor

Fort Worth, Texas -- A major revolution in our hobby is on the way and it will forever change the very nature of the scanner radio hobby. Today, June 26, 2010, Uniden America held an open house here at their corporate offices in Fort Worth, Texas, for the public and the media. At this open house they unveiled a new revolutionary scanner called the "HomePatrol."



So what is so revolutionary about this new scanner? Simply put, it is simplicity! There has never been one like it before. To say that it will be easy to program by the user is to totally understate the facts.

The only thing you will need to know to program a "HomePatrol" scanner is – wait for it – the Zip Code where you are currently located. Yes, you punch in your zip code on the LCD touch screen, press enter, and you will instantly start hearing local scanner communications (conventional and trunked, analog and digital). No other operator interface is needed and it is truly just that simple.

Maybe you don't want to monitor civilian or military air comms that got loaded when you punched in your zip code, just police, fire and EMS. No problem: touch the screen to set up what you want to hear and it is done. No banks, no systems, no groups, no programming of frequencies: your location is all you need to get you started. And did I mention that all the controls for this scanner is via a full color touch screen?

If you are traveling and you have a GPS, plug that puppy into the "HomePatrol" scanner and it will ensure that your unit has up-to-date frequencies for the area you are traveling in. You don't have to do anything except to make sure that the GPS is working and plugged into the "HomePatrol." Of course you will have to supply the GPS unit since it is not included with the "HomePatrol" scanner.

That is why I think that the Uniden "HomePatrol" has the potential to create a major revolution in the scanner world.

Since the unveiling is still taking place as this is being posted, the full details and specs are not yet available. I will be bringing a test unit home from Fort Worth and will be conducting a full blown MT First Look review of the "HomePatrol." I will also post some of my first impressions on the "HomePatrol" scanner on the Monitoring Times website at http://www.monitoringtimes.com or on my personal blog, the BTown Monitoring Post at http://monitor-post.blogspot.com. You can also check out a new website that Uniden has setup for their new unit at http://www.homepatrol.com/ for everything "HomePatrol."

We will have a full detailed First Look review of this revolutionary new scanner in the October issue of Monitoring Times magazine, but check back here for future updates.

Enroute to Big D

Well tomorrow morning I will be enroute to a very special radio hobby event in the DFW Metroplex. Uniden America will be holding an Open House on Saturday, June 26, 2010, from 10 am to 2 pm CDT at their corporate headquarters in Fort Worth. Uniden will be unveiling their new revolutionary scanner at this Open House.

I will have a full report on this blog and on the Monitoring Times website upon my return from the event. in the meantime if you are attending this event, I look forward to meeting you on Saturday. I will be making some brief remarks during the open house and you may hear something about Milcom monitoring you haven't heard before.

Until Saturday, 73 and good hunting. CU on the flip side.

New National CAP Command Net Freq Found

Jon in Florida discovered last weekend a new CAP National Command ALE Net frequency:- 29.894 MHz. The frequency was also confirmed by Monitoring Times magazine Utility World columnist Hugh Stegman out in California.

The nationwide set of CAP ALE freqs for the "National CAP Command Net" are as follows:

2011.0 3204.0 4477.0 4585.0 5006.0 5447.0 6773.0 6806.0 7602.0 7665.0 8012.0 9047.0 10162.0 11402.0 12081.0 13415.0 14357.0 15602.0 17412.0 19814.0 29894.0 kHz (all USB/ALE)

Here is some background information I have on the current state of the CAP HF network(s). Any additional information on frequencies is sincerely appreciate and you can contact me offlist via the email address published in the header of my blogs" http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/ or http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/.

The National Command Net operates in the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) mode. It is composed of stations specifically approved by the NTC using equipment provided for this purpose. Most of these stations are “message center” stations which relay message traffic between the national and region levels of the CAP net structure.

The National Command level of the HF-ALE system, the "top level" of the CAP radio system, uses Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) radios to which a "suite" of frequencies is assigned, each with different radio propagation characteristics, and the radios automatically monitor which frequency is best to communicate with each other station in the net. Each region operates two ALE radios, serving as "message center" stations (see below), plus additional radios for Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska. The ALE stations at the National Technology Center (NTC) and the National Operations Center (NOC) serve as the net control stations for the National Command level of the HF-ALE system. There are no scheduled formal National Command net meetings. Rather, ALE station operators are expected to attend their radios regularly and be ready for messages, as they may be received.

The mission of the National Command level of the HF-ALE system is to provide a survivable, commercial infrastructure-independent command and control communication (C3) link among regions and between regions and higher headquarters.

The specific functions of National Command level stations are:

• Provide a strategic communications tier of the communications network available for adaptive communications during high-level missions.

• Provide decentralized contact points to relay traffic between incident command posts and the NOC or other national CAP office.

• Conduct and report regular confidence checks, in accordance with the current CAP Communications Alert Level, and no less than once per week.

• Be available, as needed, for training.

Pending activation of region ALE frequency suites (see below) the following guidance applies to all stations operating on the National Command frequency suite (ALE Net #1):

1. Other than the two region stations and nationally designated stations, any CAP station may monitor the ALE suite, but should not sound in routine operations.

2. Pending release of region ALE channels, wings may use the national ALE suite (ALE NET #1) for actual missions and specific training events with the understanding that this use and active sounding will be for relatively limited periods of time. For ALE use during a training exercise, place a request several days in advance, but for actual missions, coordinate with the NOC.

3. Only NTIA compliant equipment with Joint Interoperability Test Center (JITC) certification may transmit on National and Region ALE suites of frequencies.

4. The NTC and National Headquarters determines and standardizes all ALE parameter settings, such as sounding interval.

To Jon and Hugh, nice job. Now if we can find the missing freqs I belive are there around 18 MHz and from 20 to 28 MHz.

New Release of MultiPSK (4.18) Now Available

Multipsk is my absolute favorite digital decoder for the computer soundcard and the author, Patrick, F6CTE, just keeps making it better. This morning he has just announced the release of a new verson of MultiPSK (v4.18). His announcement is present below in its entirety

Hello to all Ham and SWL,

The new release of MultiPSK (4.18) is on my Web site (http://f6cte.free.fr/). It is not yet on Earl's and Terry's WEB sites.

The main modifications of MULTIPSK 4.18 are the following:

1) Decoding of the NWR SAME mode

NWR (National Weather Radio) SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) is simply a method of identifying the local area to which an alert message applies. It utilizes a digital data stream that contains the alert message with information about the type of event expected, its timing, duration, and location. The NWR SAME system is used in USA and Canada, in VHF (162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, 162.550 MHz).

To listen NWR SAME messages: the NWS tests the NWR and SAME alerting technology weekly. These tests normally occur on Wednesday between 10 AM and Noon with some variations to accomodate local requirements.

This mode is available for licencied copies, only (otherwise, the decoding is stopped after 5 minutes). See specifications further on.

2) Transmission/reception of ARQ FAE QSP (indirect) mails through a "mails Server"

Differences between a direct mail and a QSP mail (indirect). A mail is direct if you can transmit it directly to the final addressee: A -->B.

If you can't transmit the mail directly because the final addressee can't be directly reached due to the link conditions, the mail can be forwarded by the connected station, which acts as a "mails Server": A-->C (mails Server)-->B.

For this, you must use a QSP mail.

A paper based on snapshots presents this new system:

http://f6cte.free.fr/QSP_mails_forwarding_easy_with_Multipsk_in_ALE_and_ALE400.doc

3) New macros:

- permits to ask to the other Ham or to the SWL monitoring your QSO to send you a reception report by e-mail. Your address must be specified in the "WEB ADDRESS" of your personal data ("Personal" button). It will be transmitted the following command "RPRT@LENemail addressCRC" which is the report demand. If correctly decoded, a reception report will be transmitted to the e-mail address that you specified, through Internet.

Examples of use of this macro

1) The main objective is to ask the other Ham with whom you are in QSO to send you a reception report by e-mail.

2) But it can be also done by a SWL monitoring your QSO.

3) This macro can be used in conjuction with a Multipsk beacon which mode can be controlled by a RS ID. For example, you can switch the beacon in BPSK31 and asks the beacon for a reception report. Afterwards, the beacon can be switched in Olivia by a new RS ID and a new reception report can be asked...

Note: this macro can be used for all digital modes (except JT65), CW included.

A paper based on snapshots presents this new system:

http://f6cte.free.fr/How_to_use_thehttp://f6cte.free.fr/How_to_use_the_«RPRT@»_email_reception_report_with_Multipsk.doc
The source code (in Pascal/Delphi and in English) to code/decode this command is available for the coding/decoding software developpers, by making the demand to F6CTE by e-mail.

- permits to send a Tune (non modulated carrier) with the command: . For example: (5% of power at 4000 Hz for 1 sec)

This function can be used for transmission tests or, perhaps, to create his/her personal "jingle" (short musical sequence).

- 's' gives the Signal to Noise ratio (in dB) obtained about 4 seconds before the switching to transmission.

- 'quality' for PSK modes only, gives the signal quality from 1/5 to 5/5 obtained about 4 seconds before the switching to transmission.

4) Improvements

Addition of a filter possibility in the SELCAL mode. Addition of 6 new memories of frequency and mode in the Transceiver window, for a total of 10 memories.

Some improvements for contesters: addition of a manual control of the QSO number, proposition of standard HF QRGs for the "Freq MHz" field, possibility to double the size of the "QSO->log" or "DXKeeper" buttons (in the "Logbook" window).

Note about translation of Multipsk.exe and Clock .exe: the 4.17 version of Multipsk/Clock has been completly translated to Spanish by Joachin (EA4ZB), from French. The translation file is on my Web site (http://f6cte.free.fr/Translation_files.htm).

NWR SAME (VHF)

The NWR (National Weather Radio) SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) is a digital system for transmission in USA and Canada, in VHF, of warning messages. There are, in fact, other agencies that NWS (National Weather Service) which use the SAME system. There are also many other messages that warning or watch messages.

Description :

Baud rate: 580.83.
Modulation : Logic 0 at 1562.5 Hz and logic 1 at 2083.3 Hz
Reception mode: FM
Character set : ASCII characters (8 bits)
Shape of pulse : rectangular
Bandwidth : about 1 KHz
Demodulation : non coherent
Bit synchronization : automatic using the signal
Character synchronization : automatic using predefined strings of characters (« ZCZC » and « NNNN »)
Lowest S/N: +4 dB

Each NWR/SAME message contains:

* 3 same digital messages containing (on a coded form) the event, the concerned areas, duration and broadcast station (for example: ZCZC-WXR-TOW-039173-039051-139069+0030-1591829-KCLE/NWS-). These messages are decoded by Multipsk.
* possibly a 1050 Hz warning alarm tone for 8 to 10 seconds,
* possibly a verbal spoken oral text of message,
* 3 digital messages « NNNN » for end of message.

If you don't already have MultiPSK, it is a most have program in any radio hobbyist shack. The registered version opens up a whole new world of radio listening and worth every penny of the inexpensive registration fee. If you pick up Patrick's program, be sure to tell him that The BTown MP sent you.

Mystery Canadian HF ALE Net

Time for our friends up north to have a mystery ALE network to work on. If you would like to have some of ours, I will be happy to share a few.

As posted to this website yesterday, Jack monitored a new Canadian HF ALE net on 9295.0 and 12115.0 kHz (ALE/USB) with the following stations:

EDMONTOEXLONGW Edmonton AB, Canada
OTTAWAEXLONGW Ottawa, PQ, Canada
STJOHNSEXLONGW St. Johns, NF, Canada
YELLOWKEXLONGW Yellowknife, NWT, Canada

So who do you folks up north think we have here. One guess is a CanForce net. I'm not convinced. Email me at the address above if you have any ideas.

MT Annual Airshow Guide Released Online

The 2010 Monitoring Times Airshow Guide has been released in Adobe Acrobat PDF format this afternoon on the MT website. Now in its 11th year, the Airshow Guide is one of the most anticipated references published each year in Monitoring Times. As a way to give back to the monitoring community, whose field reports help produce the guide, the editorial staff of MT post it to the Internet each Spring to help scanner monitors from all over the country enjoy monitoring their favorite flight demo team.

In return we do ask that if you attend an airshow and use the guide, please file a report of what you heard or didn't hear with the author, MT assistant editor Larry Van Horn. It is these on site reports that help us produce the next edition of the guide that will appear in the March 2011 Monitoring Times. Even if the frequency is listed in our guide, we use that information to keep active frequencies on our list.

You can download your free copy from the MT website at the link below.

http://monitoringtimes.com/MT_Air_Show_Guide_2010.pdf