stern warning from New York Radio

[brandon]

New York Radio on 8843 with a very stern warning to some bootleggers using the frequency.

"this frequency is assigned only for the use of aircraft and land stations in the aeronautical mobile service. You are in violation of international law causing serious interference to the safety of flight communications. Please shift to authorized working frequency."

Audio clip: HDSDR_20110809_045952Z_8843kHz_AF.mp3

Special thanks to Token for the heads up about it.

 

[zl2taw]

good stuff, did they move on ?

 

[brandon]

still yacking away as of 0600z

 

[KE7IZL]

Sounds like some morons. If a plane crashed because it couldn't communicate to avoid hitting another airplane, then those people would be sorry (and also in VERY BIG legal trouble).

 

[CommJunkie]

What's 8843? 8.843Mhz?

 

[ka3jjz]

yep, in most any list I belong to frequencies are always referred to in khz (kilocycles for those that go back long enough, hi).....73 Mike

 

[K9WG]

Sounds like some morons. If a plane crashed because it couldn't communicate to avoid hitting another airplane, then those people would be sorry (and also in VERY BIG legal trouble).

They already are in big trouble. They just haven't been caught.... yet.

 

[k9rzz]

They'll just move over to WWV for a while.

 

[Token]

They sent this warning twice that I know of, once just before 0500 and once a few minutes after 0500. For at least the next hour the Spanish language conversation continued, but the warning never repeated again.

T!

 

[KE7IZL]

They already are in big trouble. They just haven't been caught.... yet.

Where's the FCC's RDF units when you need them to find the signal eh?

 

[majoco]

The loss of HF comms to an aircraft wouldn't result in a crash!

That's why they always have a secondary frequency - on first contact you always hear " primary this frequency, secondary 5643" or similar - so if the pilot loses comms on the primary, he'll call on the secondary. There's no chance of a mistaken order from the ATC - the order has to be repeated back and confirmed - so the order 'descend to flight level 340' would be repeated and confirmed before any action was taken.

We have the same problem here with Korean and Japanese fishing boats who seem to just jabber on for hours right next to Auckland on 8867. We don't have the big CG cutters like you have in the US, but I did hear on the grapevine that the Navy were having 'HF DF exercises' over by the fishing grounds....

 

[rdale]

If a plane crashed because it couldn't communicate to avoid hitting another airplane

That's not the outcome of the loss of HF comms on this frequency.

 

[gary123]

I would think a air to ground missle fitted with a RDF head would fix the boot leg problem in a hurry. It would also send a message to all bootleggers (those that survive) that operating on unauthorised freq may have severe concequences.

 

[Token]

I would think a air to ground missle fitted with a RDF head would fix the boot leg problem in a hurry. It would also send a message to all bootleggers (those that survive) that operating on unauthorised freq may have severe concequences.

While I believe you are probably being facetious I will comment that such a missile is not possible with the current state of the art. The basic problem is that the frequency is too low for the size constraints of a missile that could be realistically carried by a tactical aircraft.

However, you may be right, if you could get out the word that such a thing does indeed happen, it might curtail some bootleg activities.

Of course, then there is the problem of popping a foreign vessel in international waters (many of these bootleggers likely being ships or fishing vessels at sea). And since the idea is for the bootleggers to know what is happening to their associates it is not like you can cover it up and still get the same affect.

T!

 

[Rick1959]

Nice catch Brandon. Always appreciate your posts you add a helluva lot to the board and even came up with a link to teach this old guy how to make mp3 recordings.

Anyway, a few nights ago some outbanders were all over 5598 forcing both Shannon and Shanwick to secondary frequencies.

 

[majoco]

Pssst....Shannon and Shanwick are one and the same. A good few years ago Prestwick, Glasgow was the first trans-Atlantic landfall so there was an HF radio station there. However, it's propogation was not too good, so another was set up in Ireland - Shannon. For a while the two ran in conjunction, Shannon handing over to Prestwick. Just as I left the UK CAA, they were putting in VHF coverage right from Northern Ireland feeding into the National system, so Prestwick HF became redundant and closed down.

 

[Rick1959]

Pssst....Shannon and Shanwick are one and the same. A good few years ago Prestwick, Glasgow was the first trans-Atlantic landfall so there was an HF radio station there. However, it's propogation was not too good, so another was set up in Ireland - Shannon. For a while the two ran in conjunction, Shannon handing over to Prestwick. Just as I left the UK CAA, they were putting in VHF coverage right from Northern Ireland feeding into the National system, so Prestwick HF became redundant and closed down.

Thanks for the heads up. I have to ask why the 2 different call signs? My guess is the traffic is split based on route of flight hence the two different call signs, correct?

 

[autovon]

Probably meant Gander and Shanwick. We usually talk to Shannon on VHF and then switch to Shanwick HF at the FIR boundary going West. I'm always surprised at the range of the VHF out over the ocean though.

 

[majoco]

From FL350 VHF goes a long way.....


Even at 10,000ft the theoretical radio horizon is about 140nm away.

 

[brandon]

the Spanish males have returned to 8843.