2011 VHF Low Band Logs

[enosjones]

not heard anything today.. the 2 days i did was after that cold frnt and cloud cover went through. i hope i hear more this winter its been a while since ive heard 26-40 mhz open and especially 10 meters...
what kind of conditions should i look for? just cold fronts and cloudy days?

 

[mancow]

Local weather is not the factor. Space weather is. Check out VHFDX.INFO, by Gabriel - EA6VQ and SOLARCYCLE 24.com / SolarHam.com / Solar Cycle 24 / Spaceweather / Amateur Radio VHF Aurora Website / Sunspots / Solar Flares for info on whats poppin.

 

[enosjones]

last I heard from these bands was 2004-2006 time from and logged what i could from 26.500 - 26.700 and 27.900 - 39.980, before i had a scanner that search pl tones.. now that i do i can do more if the band stays open for the next 6 months or so...

 

[enosjones]

Local weather is not the factor. Space weather is. Check out VHFDX.INFO, by Gabriel - EA6VQ and SOLARCYCLE 24.com / SolarHam.com / Solar Cycle 24 / Spaceweather / Amateur Radio VHF Aurora Website / Sunspots / Solar Flares for info on whats poppin.

what kind of things on this site do i look for?

 

[mancow]

The vhfdx site will literally map out the activity level for you. Today the map was totally green with lines indicating contacts on 28 Mhz all across the US and over to Europe and Australia. The long haul 10 meter skip has been active lately more than local state to state skip.

what kind of things on this site do i look for?

 

[k9rzz]

Read this thread about the possibility of E skip being connected to thunderstorms:

E-Skip and Sprites from T-Storms

There is no 'proof', but they sure appear to be connected and I agree. I also agree that E skip seems to appear when thunderstorms are approaching. Not to say that you HAVE to have thunderstorms to generate E skip, but it seems to be one possibility.

Quite an interesting topic!

 

[GKolo]

29.605mhz just picked up a guy who said he was in Pocatello Idaho ? Guy was talking to someone else and said his signal held up good.
Sounded like he was next door to me then he faded out.
I love lowband !

 

[kkn50]

VHF Low Band Log for 2011/10/09

VHF Low Band Log for 2011/10/09
San Antonio, Texas, EL09. Uniden BCD996XT with Dipole Antenna

Very good opening to the northeast US today with full scale signals from some of the NY taxi dispatchers. Logged several new stations.

I have replaced the BCD396T with a Uniden BCD996XT dedicated to VHF Low Band 24/7. It seems to be just as hot as the BCD396T on VHF Low Band.


FREQ....SQ....DESCRIPTION
27.6200 88.5 11 meter repeater - Dominican Republic
29.7700 162.2 Possibly WQAP986, Bushwick Car Service, Brooklyn NY
30.2200 131.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
30.5800 114.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.6000 91.5 WPKM358 - Central Car Svc, East Elmhurst, Queens NY
30.6600 77.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.6800 100.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.7400 107.2 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.8000 88.5 Taxi dispatch <band open to northeast US>
30.8800 225.7 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.9400 82.5 Taxi dispatch in English w/ heavy accent <band open to northeast US>
31.0200 179.9 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.0400 17.8 Taxi dispatch <band open to northeast US>
31.0600 91.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.0800 74.4 WPXA428 - Myrtle Ave Car Svc, Brooklyn, NY
31.1400 123.0 Unidentified US business
31.2000 D025 Unidentified US business
31.2000 203.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
31.2400 136.5 WPYF511 - Luis Palaguache Taxi, Brooklyn, NY
31.3200 131.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.4400 100.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.5200 114.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.7200 103.2 WQAB377 - Puebla Express Corp. Taxi, Brooklyn, NY
31.9200 192.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.9400 131.8 Unidentified US business
31.9600 82.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
32.1800 77.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
32.3400 127.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
33.2200 110.9 Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
33.7200 141.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
34.0400 127.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
38.9600 91.5 Portuguese - Brazil?

 

[Hooligan]

My mobile loggings, using a Uniden BC-996XT & Austin Spectra mobile antenna while mobile in Washington County, Utah (DM-37) between 2245 - 2330UTC

30.220/131.8 Spanish
30.580/114.8 Spanish, with occasional MDC1200
30.600/91.4 Spanish
30.640
30.660/77.0
30.685 STL/IFB? open carrier, with weak audio-level Spanish broadcast station audio
30.740/107.2 Spanish
30.800/88.5Hz Taxi Service in NY
30.800/107.2 "OK, see ya when you get here"
30.880/225.7 Spanish
30.940/82.5 English, taxi service
31.080/74.4Hz English language
31.040
31.060/91.5 Spanish
31.240/136.5 Spanish
31.320/131.8 Spanish
31.440/100 Spanish
31.460/131.8Hz Law Enforcement comms
31.520/114.8 Spanish
31.720/103.5 (WQAB377 - Puebla Express Corp. Taxi, Brooklyn, NY) & 107.2Hz Spanish
31.850 Digital comms, maybe SCADA, maybe SINCGARS Single Channel secure mode
32.420 Open carrier, no audio heard
33.240/107.2 Spanish
33.280
33.420 WQGC703, City of Orlando Office of Emergency Management, with mention of broadcasting on 1650kHz AM. Rebroadcast of local Orlando area NWS broadcast, interrupted every minute or two with the WQGC703/Orlando OEM ID.
34.30 Japanese? Based on cadence/inflection, two stations were BS'ing. Now that I write this, I'm self-doubting the language & hope to hear them again & spend more time listening to confirm/deny it.
33.475 Spanish, with occasional DTMFs
33.520
33.580 Fire Dept in Eastern Time Zone
33.640 Fire Dept/EMS
34.175 Japanese?
38.40/77.0 Spanish

Most of the Spanish stuff sounded like it was probably taxi related, so I paid little attention to it. I'm very curious about the 33.420 broadcasts out of Orlando, and the possibly Japanese language stuff.

I realize that VHF-low band skip/ducting is skip/ducting, but can anyone confirm or deny that going to high ground (like a mountain peak) during a VHF-Low band opening will improve DX?


This is encouraging me to finally put my military-surplus 30-88MHz rotatable log periodic array up at home!

Thanks to KKN50 for also logging some of the stations I heard, & ID'ing them.

 

[mancow]

Going to high ground will help. Just like anything else, being away from obstructions will help to receive weak signals.

 

[kkn50]

That was likely 29.600, a ten meter simplex frequency and a good indicator of band openings.

29.605mhz just picked up a guy

 

[kkn50]

There is good information on that station in prior posts in this forum.

curious about the 33.420 broadcasts out of Orlando

 

[kkn50]

Try AM mode on 30.690 - this is an image of 15.345, RAE Argentina. I confirmed this by listening to 30.690 and 15.345 at the same time on two radios.

30.685 STL/IFB? open carrier, with weak audio-level Spanish broadcast station audio

 

[kkn50]

A 30-88 log periodic - wow! I would LOVE to have one of those!

This is encouraging me to finally put my military-surplus 30-88MHz rotatable log periodic array up at home!

 

[kkn50]

This is a great radio. I have one dedicated to VHF Low Band 24/7 running ARC software for auto logging and recording. I bought a 396XT for mobile use and dedicated the old 396T to 24/7 monitoring of the military air VHF and UHF bands which are very active around San Antonio.

using a Uniden BC-996XT

 

[kkn50]

Been hearing this one for years. It is a taxi dispatcher in Central or South America.

30.220/131.8 Spanish

 

[enosjones]

My mobile loggings, using a Uniden BC-996XT & Austin Spectra mobile antenna while mobile in Washington County, Utah (DM-37) between 2245 - 2330UTC

30.220/131.8 Spanish
30.580/114.8 Spanish, with occasional MDC1200
30.600/91.4 Spanish
30.640
30.660/77.0
30.685 STL/IFB? open carrier, with weak audio-level Spanish broadcast station audio
30.740/107.2 Spanish
30.800/88.5Hz Taxi Service in NY
30.800/107.2 "OK, see ya when you get here"
30.880/225.7 Spanish
30.940/82.5 English, taxi service
31.080/74.4Hz English language
31.040
31.060/91.5 Spanish
31.240/136.5 Spanish
31.320/131.8 Spanish
31.440/100 Spanish
31.460/131.8Hz Law Enforcement comms
31.520/114.8 Spanish
31.720/103.5 (WQAB377 - Puebla Express Corp. Taxi, Brooklyn, NY) & 107.2Hz Spanish
31.850 Digital comms, maybe SCADA, maybe SINCGARS Single Channel secure mode
32.420 Open carrier, no audio heard
33.240/107.2 Spanish
33.280
33.420 WQGC703, City of Orlando Office of Emergency Management, with mention of broadcasting on 1650kHz AM. Rebroadcast of local Orlando area NWS broadcast, interrupted every minute or two with the WQGC703/Orlando OEM ID.
34.30 Japanese? Based on cadence/inflection, two stations were BS'ing. Now that I write this, I'm self-doubting the language & hope to hear them again & spend more time listening to confirm/deny it.
33.475 Spanish, with occasional DTMFs
33.520
33.580 Fire Dept in Eastern Time Zone
33.640 Fire Dept/EMS
34.175 Japanese?
38.40/77.0 Spanish

Most of the Spanish stuff sounded like it was probably taxi related, so I paid little attention to it. I'm very curious about the 33.420 broadcasts out of Orlando, and the possibly Japanese language stuff.

I realize that VHF-low band skip/ducting is skip/ducting, but can anyone confirm or deny that going to high ground (like a mountain peak) during a VHF-Low band opening will improve DX?


This is encouraging me to finally put my military-surplus 30-88MHz rotatable log periodic array up at home!

Thanks to KKN50 for also logging some of the stations I heard, & ID'ing them.

i hear the same stuff u are hearing and a little more below 30mhz clear down to 26mhz. CB is wide open as well as 10 meters but there is some stuff slightly below and slightly above CB i also hear as well as 29.62, 29.64 etc.. like 26.905 26.915 26.925 and 26.635 26.645 and so on like that... its makng CB really busy and people talking over each other.

 

[Hooligan]

I have no real desire to tune in CB'ers or hams (other than using a 10 meter beacon as a DX flag), but I do need to change my BC-996XTs VHF-Low Band search parameters to 25-88MHz instead of 30-88, so I can pick up some of the FM STLs & other utilities in the upper part of the HF band.

Anyway, here's what I caught this morning around 1200UTC while mobile in Nye County Nevada:

31.040/107.2Hz Eastern time zone
31.400/127.3 Trucks
31.360/173.8 Cement truck co? "They called for a different mix"
31.400/91.5 Unknown, English language
33.660/114.8 Fire Dept, Eastern time zone
33.780/114.8 Sound like an FD repeater
33.900/179.9 Eastern time zone

& on my way home, in Clark County NV & Washington County UT around 2300UTC:

33.480 FD toning-out for work-detail volunteers to respond to the station. Dispatch gave the time (Eastern time zone) & then signed-off with what sounded like "228" -- abbreviated version of FCC callsign?
33.620 English language, fire dept.
33.740 English language, Eastern time zone

I'm not paying attention to the Spanish-language chatter anymore, as it gives me unpleasant flashbacks of living in California.

Finally, here's the antenna I hope to put up at my house this week. It was made for mobile SIGINT units so it actually folds-up quickly & easily & one day I hope to take it up to a mountaintop with me. The longest elements are about 8' long apiece, and the shortest are about 3' long each. I forget the nomenclature for it.

 

[enosjones]

i picked up on 33.42 that orlando station u was talking about, about 5 or 6pm just before the band quit.. its orlandos noaa that they probably rebroadcast on info channel on that 1650 am or 1610 whichever.. i got some stuff on 35 mhz too that was talkin spanish and english both... i will post some more stuff when i get time...

 

[kkn50]

VHF Low Band Log for 2011/10/10

VHF Low Band Log for 2011/10/10
San Antonio, Texas, EL09. Uniden BCD996XT with Dipole Antenna

Very good opening to the northeast US today with full scale signals from some of the NY taxi dispatchers. Logged several new stations in MA and CT. Great signal from Canada also.


FREQ....SQ....DESCRIPTION
29.7500 CSQ Brief transmission - unidentified
29.7700 162.2 Possibly WQAP986, Bushwick Car Service, Brooklyn NY
30.2200 131.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
30.4800 110.9 Wendigo Lake Expeditions, South River, ONT Canada. Repeater w/ great signal!
30.5800 114.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.6000 91.5 WPKM358 - Central Car Svc, East Elmhurst, Queens NY
30.6000 103.5 Unidentified US business - talk of mowing and tractor
30.6000 107.2 Unidentified US business
30.6400 162.2 Unidentified US business
30.6600 77.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.6800 100.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.7400 107.2 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.8800 225.7 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
30.9400 82.5 Taxi dispatch in English w/ heavy accent <band open to northeast US>
31.0200 179.9 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.0400 146.2 Unidentified US business
31.0400 173.8 Taxi dispatch <band open to northeast US>
31.0600 91.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.0800 74.4 WPXA428 - Myrtle Ave Car Svc, Brooklyn, NY
31.0800 94.8 Partial Morse ID "JK923". Possibly KNJK923, Blooming Glen Contractors Inc, Blooming Glen, PA
31.0800 100.0 Unidentified US business
31.2000 203.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
31.2400 136.5 WPYF511 - Luis Palaguache Taxi, Brooklyn, NY
31.3200 131.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.4400 100.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.5000 Sounded like DVP
31.6000 173.8 Unidentified US business
31.6000 179.9 Unidentified US business
31.6200 162.2 Gravel trucks
31.7200 103.2 WQAB377 - Puebla Express Corp. Taxi, Brooklyn, NY
31.9200 192.8 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
31.9400 131.8 Medics to "4 Princess Pass". Any ideas on this one?
31.9600 82.5 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
32.1800 77.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
32.3400 127.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
32.5000 150.0 US MIL Convoy
33.0400 114.8 Unidentified US business
33.0400 179.9 Medics - possibly WPMG350, Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, New London CT
33.1600 77.0 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to NY>
33.1600 110.9 Unidentified US business
33.2400 107.2 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to northeast US>
33.4600 CSQ "This is only a test. The duty officer for tonight is excellent."
33.4800 114.8 KCB781 - FD, Barnstable MA
33.5800 131.8 EMS Dispatch - Possible Holden, Worcester MA
33.6000 114.8 EMS Dispatch - Possible Sandwich Fire Department, Barnstable MA
33.6400 114.8 KNAW393 Bourne Fire Department, Barnstable County, MA
33.6400 203.5 FD Dispatch - Possible KCB778 - Berlin, Worcester MA
33.6600 186.2 Unidentified FD dispatch
33.6800 114.8 FD Dispatch - Possible WNWQ580 - Mashpee, Barnstable MA
33.7200 141.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
33.7400 114.8 FD Dispatch - Possible KCD566 - Orleans, Barnstable MA
33.7800 77.0 Announcements for Sparford?, Dublin, Swansey, Antrum. "Across from the Reedsboro Fire Station on School St"
33.8200 179.9 FD Dispatch - Possible KAV469 - Colchester, New London, CT
33.8400 114.8 FD Dispatch - Possible KCD760 - Centerville/Osterville/Marstons Mills, Barnstable MA
33.8400 131.8 FD Dispatch - Possible KCF918 - Uxbridge, Worcester MA
33.9400 179.9 FD Dispatch - Possible KJL703 - Waterford, New London CT
33.9600 179.9 WQF238 - Fire Dispatch - Lyme/Old Lyme, Middlesex County CT w/ voice ID
33.9800 D051 Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
34.0400 127.3 Taxi dispatch in Spanish <band open to Central/South America>
34.8200 CSQ Portuguese - Brazil?
35.0600 D413 Unidentified US business