Does anyone know what mode is being used in the following transmission? The center frequency seems to be 14.078 Mhz, but it gets switched slightly up and down at random (not drifting), causing steady beat tones of various pitches in either CW or USB mode. It's not RTTY, because there are perhaps five or six different tones occurring at random, and the switching is quite slow. Sometimes it sounds like a tone-deaf individual trying to play a tune on a cheap music keyboard. The transmission stops briefly as if waiting for a reply, then returns.
It's always there when the propagation is good for the 20 meter band. Later in the day, when 40 meters is good, I hear it on 7.078, as well.
When I started writing this post on Feb. 5 at 17:22 UTC the 20-meter version was audible here in Western Canada.
I had always assumed that this was a mode used by hams, until I also ran across it yesterday evening somewhere between 5.3 and 5.4 Mhz. Can't recall the exact frequency, because I tuned away from it for a few minutes, and couldn't find it again, so it must have been a very short transmission.
It's always there when the propagation is good for the 20 meter band. Later in the day, when 40 meters is good, I hear it on 7.078, as well.
When I started writing this post on Feb. 5 at 17:22 UTC the 20-meter version was audible here in Western Canada.
I had always assumed that this was a mode used by hams, until I also ran across it yesterday evening somewhere between 5.3 and 5.4 Mhz. Can't recall the exact frequency, because I tuned away from it for a few minutes, and couldn't find it again, so it must have been a very short transmission.