Hey VA, plug in 267.35 FM

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freqhopping

freqhopping

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Particularly northern VA. I was searching the MilAir band I thought I had a really weak signal. Turns out it's FM. I can only hear one side of the conversation. It sounds like it could be HAM related. But why this freq? Whoever he is calling is "Indian Hole". There have been references to TM-255A radios, moving freqs, towers (3, 6 and 7) and antennas; 'yellow door signal'.
 
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mike_s104

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freqhopping said:
Particularly northern VA. I was searching the MilAir band I thought I had a really weak signal. Turns out it's FM. I can only hear one side of the conversation. It sounds like it could be HAM related. But why this freq? Whoever he is calling is "Indian Hole". There have been references to TM-255A radios, moving freqs, towers (3, 6 and 7) and antennas; 'yellow door signal'.
Click to expand...

VERY ODD!!! just heard them mention the freq of 435.1 in FM. I'm getting one side at 2-3 bars here in Berkeley Co. WV.
 
kc4jgc

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Listening to the recording, He's definitely ID'ing as "Monkey 1". Don't know if you noticed it or not (or even care); he's also transmitting a CTCSS, 131.8 hz maybe?

267 MHz is in the government band.

The 420-450 band is government primary/ham secondary, so the 435.1 makes sense.

Sounds like you guys in NOVA have a mystery to sniff out. Happy foxhunting :)
 
mike_s104

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kc4jgc said:
Listening to the recording, He's definitely ID'ing as "Monkey 1". Don't know if you noticed it or not (or even care); he's also transmitting a CTCSS, 131.8 hz maybe?

267 MHz is in the government band.

The 420-450 band is government primary/ham secondary, so the 435.1 makes sense.

Sounds like you guys in NOVA have a mystery to sniff out. Happy foxhunting :)
Click to expand...

I didn't set my 996T to search for a tone.

there is a lot of weird stuff up here. fortunately I live not too far away to hear some of this stuff at home.
 
freqhopping

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I just caught them finishing up. I don't know why I'm just now hearing something. The CTCSS tone is 151.4. Monkey-1 mentioned they would probably be doing it again on Thursday.
 
mancow

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It kind of sounds as if they were playing on UHF satcom. They sounded like they were trying to immitate the the way traffic is handled on there.

Were both signals the same strength?
 
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I got it to work, clicked on the download here link and it finally came down. Sounds to me like they are trying to establish a link on another freq, and like somebody said, maybe this is a satcom link and you're actually hearing the uplink therefore only one side. If they hadn't said 435.1, I would guess it would be a microwave or satellite link. They also mentioned CW, that is what our engineers do when they test coverage from a new cell site location because digital modulation is too wide and hard to get a reading on. Maybe they are trying to get a spread spectrum system going on 435.1 (back to DC?) which could share the ham band with little interference.

I vote for "Monkey 1"

Louden, Berkley counties --- could it be Mt Weather?

At least they didn't have a middle eastern accent...
 
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W4UVV

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267.350 mhz.

gcgrotz said:
I got it to work, clicked on the download here link and it finally came down. Sounds to me like they are trying to establish a link on another freq, and like somebody said, maybe this is a satcom link and you're actually hearing the uplink therefore only one side. If they hadn't said 435.1, I would guess it would be a microwave or satellite link. They also mentioned CW, that is what our engineers do when they test coverage from a new cell site location because digital modulation is too wide and hard to get a reading on. Maybe they are trying to get a spread spectrum system going on 435.1 (back to DC?) which could share the ham band with little interference.

I vote for "Monkey 1"

Louden, Berkley counties --- could it be Mt Weather?

At least they didn't have a middle eastern accent...
Click to expand...

The inordinate waste of time repeating callsigns ad infinitum is characteristic of Army comms. 151.4 hz. is a commonly used pl tone by the Army and is so poorly filtered on this radio transmitter it easily can be heard with the audio. 435-438 mhz. is reserved for international amateur satellite downlinks. With certain portions of the 70cm amateur band shared with the government, it is possible 435.1 mhz. is being used for an Army PTP link, not a satcom downlink or uplink. As you stated using a CW analog tone for signal peak tuning at PTP locations (towers) is a common practice and makes sense. "Resources" probably refers to a spectrum analyzer display, signal strength meter, receiver, etc. at a tower location. "Resources running low" may indicate that one or more of his "resources" is battery powered and approaching threshold operation.

Now the weird part. TM255 and TM455 are Kenwood two meter and 70cm multi-mode transceivers respectively using 5 watts low power and 40 watts high power output. Both are 101 memory channels and support 1200/9600 baud. If it is a point to point operation using UHF frequencies in the 435-438 mhz. range, perhaps they will be used for control linking purposes for other Army radios. I doubt it would be a voice PTP link. More likely it will be a data link using several 435-438 mhz. frequencies. But anything is possible. The tower antennas would be yagis, not microwave dishes for this UHF configuration. If they pop again this info should aid in iding more in detail as to what they are attempting to do and get an idea of where the tower locations are. Ft. Belvoir, Ft. Meade, Ft. Detrick, Ft. Myer and Ft. Richie(if it has not been deactivated) are viable source locations in NOVA/Md. I would focus first on Ft. Detrick. I get the impression their 70 cm. ham band operation has not been coordinated with IRAC and they sure haven't coordinated it with SERA.
 
freqhopping

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I think Station B in Warrenton is a possibility. It has a long history of government communications activity and there is a lot construction going on there now.

I should also add that I doubt it's coming from north of me. I'm pretty much deaf to everything from the north short of aircraft 15 miles out at 10,000ft or higher and farther.
 
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kc4jgc

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w4uvv said:
....they sure haven't coordinated it with SERA.
Click to expand...

First, anything coordination as far as amateur repeaters are concerned, that's not SERA terrritory. Anything in Virginia north of the 38th parallel from the ocean to US33 and from there north of US 33 to the WV line is in TMARC territory.

Second, why would IRAC have to check with a civilian secondary user's group such as TMARC or SERA? The secondary user would have to avoid QRM to the primary. That being said I would think that IRAC would consider ham apps to particular band segments before establishing any permanent network, but wouldn't be required to do that.
 
freqhopping

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Sounds like they're getting ready to do whatever it is they're doing. I'm hearing a different guy this time. Mentioned bringing up L-band 1.
 
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