HF Beacon on 4095.65 KHz

[Teotwaki]

In 2010 I saw that Token posted some links to his great HF monitoring videos from his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngNWNsSJ2ErnIdObY8Luzw

Back in November I ran across on HF a new HF "pirate" (unlicensed) beacon on 4095.65 KHz and it continues to capture my interest. Initially it was not too strong and seemed to be in development because the format evolved over the next 3 months. Then on February 21st it seemed to be deployed somewhere in the desert as it's signal jumped up in strength and the telemetry seemed more real-world. As part of it's format it sends the identification of "DW" and due to the sound I nicknamed it the "desert whooper" since I have no idea what DW really stands for.

The transmit format is as follows

Six cycles of DW identification in Morse followed by 29-30 "whoops" then after the 7th ID of DW the telemetry is sent.

Telemetry is as follows:

BAT is in volts DC
oTMP is in degrees F
iTMP is in degrees F
PV is solar panel current in milliAmps

Signal strength in in SoCal can vary with time of day but some of the kiwi SDRs seem to always have a good HF signals due to having directional antennas with gain.

Token posted videos about this beacon at:

Nov 15

Nov 28

Dec 2
Pirate Beacon, Desert Whooper, changes after my first video, 4095.65 kHz 30 November, 2020 2339 UTC

 

[vagrant]

Interesting, I hear the tone descending (whoop) and CW ID. I then also hear the tone ascending (whoop) and the CW ID. I'm using an inverted V OCF with a N/S favored directivity and I am in Fresno county. It is 2156 UTC 2021/08/19. Still, I am unsure if it simply fading, or if the beacon is changing TX power level as sometimes it is really weak and sometimes I don't hear it. Three differences all within in a 15 minute period. At this point I am unsure if it is QSB or switching TX power by design. Right now I'm thinking the latter as it is a beacon. If I get a chance I'll dial it up again later after dark in about six hours and see if it acts the same. I'll have more time on Friday to give it a long listen.

 

[Teotwaki]

Interesting, I hear the tone descending (whoop) and CW ID. I then also hear the tone ascending (whoop) and the CW ID. I'm using an inverted V OCF with a N/S favored directivity and I am in Fresno county. It is 2156 UTC 2021/08/19. Still, I am unsure if it simply fading, or if the beacon is changing TX power level as sometimes it is really weak and sometimes I don't hear it. Three differences all within in a 15 minute period. At this point I am unsure if it is QSB or switching TX power by design. Right now I'm thinking the latter as it is a beacon. If I get a chance I'll dial it up again later after dark in about six hours and see if it acts the same. I'll have more time on Friday to give it a long listen.

I've never heard it change the whoop direction while broadcasting. The builder/owner of DW has published some basic specs on another forum and made no mention of switching power levels so I assume it is propagation in your signal path. Try the Radio Ranch SDR http://74.82.153.108:8073/?f=4095.73cwz12&pbw=1152 and compare it to your home signal.

The Pt. Arguello sounder is showing a lot of variability with the F2 layer https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/IONO/rt-iono/realtime/PA836_foF2.png

 

[vagrant]

Whoop tone is definitely ascending at times and descending others. Right now at 00:41 UTC it is ascending and I'm listing via the RadioRanch SDR Link. The video you linked earlier is descending. I have not listened long enough to observe when it changes, like at the top of the hour or what not, but based on when I was listening earlier that might be when it switches.

Also, yes on QSB. It must've just worked out on the timing earlier to make me think it was power adjustment after each CW ID.

 

[Teotwaki]

Whoop tone is definitely ascending at times and descending others. Right now at 00:41 UTC it is ascending and I'm listing via the RadioRanch SDR Link. The video you linked earlier is descending. I have not listened long enough to observe when it changes, like at the top of the hour or what not, but based on when I was listening earlier that might be when it switches.

Also, yes on QSB. It must've just worked out on the timing earlier to make me think it was power adjustment after each CW ID.

If you look at all three videos I linked it will show that the tone was descending only when it first came on the air in November of 2020. In one of the videos Token even comments that DW's whoop changed direction and stayed that way. DW also added in an ID and telemetry but that format has been the same since before it deployed in February. Listen to any kiwi SDR for a while and you'll see DW never switches. Watch the waterfall display too and nothing changes. I would check your receiver there at home for instability and share an audio recording of what you are hearing so we can figure out what is wrong with it.

 

[vagrant]

Thank you for the offer to help. The issue is resolved. I initially used a Yaesu 897D I had hooked up to dial up the frequency. The mode was set to CW. Thus, while listening the tone is descending. Switching to CWR, the tone is now ascending. After I initially used the 897D set to CW, I turned it off and used an SDRPlay device which is when I noticed and thought there was a difference.

 

[prcguy]

This is interesting, a case where a pirate beacon is operating properly and a radio monitoring was was not.

 

[Teotwaki]

Thank you for the offer to help. The issue is resolved. I initially used a Yaesu 897D I had hooked up to dial up the frequency. The mode was set to CW. Thus, while listening the tone is descending. Switching to CWR, the tone is now ascending. After I initially used the 897D set to CW, I turned it off and used an SDRPlay device which is when I noticed and thought there was a difference.

Good technical sleuthing! Glad you easily sorted it out. My old JRC NRD-525 is what I use to check audio from online SDRs or my Elecraft KX3.

On another forum a guy 1500 miles away in Canada reported hearing the beacon too.

 

[Teotwaki]

Glenn Hauser WOR published this

Saturday, August 21 2021

​ Hard-Core-DX.com - Probably the best DX site in the world ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Desert_Whooper <desert_whooper@protonmail.com> To: wghauser@yahoo.com <wghauser@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2021, 06:37:05 PM GMT+1 Subject: The Desert Whooper Beacon 4095.65 KHz - Corrections Hello Glenn! In your August 4th logs a person offered some incorrect information about DW's transmit format. For your readers' interest, here are some technical details of the one watt beacon that provides fascinating propagation performance. The beacon started development in November of 2020. It was built from scratch and has a hybrid controller consisting of two 555 CMOS timers to key the transmitter along with an Arduino Nano controller to generate Morse code and collect data for performance telemetry. The 555 timers will independently key the transmitter if the Nano fails for any reason. (Fortunately the Nano has functioned for 10 months without issue.) The 4.09565 MHz transmitter is crystal controlled and features a MV1403 varactor diode circuit for the upward frequency sweeps of 150 Hertz. The sweeps provide distinctive audio for the SWL'er as well as an easy to spot visual pattern on the waterfall display of Kiwi SDRs. The transmitter has 4 transistors and the final amplifier is a IRF510 MosFet followed by a low pass filter, all inside a shielded box. The beacon is powered by a sealed lead acid battery which is kept charged with a solar panel. The battery is protected from over discharge by a low voltage disconnect (LVD) circuit that is independent of the Nano. Time has shown that the solar panel size provides good charge current even in cloudy weather and the beacon does not draw much battery power overnight. The antenna is a 111 foot long, 1/2 wave dipole oriented North/South and it's about 0.1 wavelength above the dry desert soil to create a more vertical but omni-like pattern. The 1:1 balun is home made and the antenna's measured VSWR is close to 1.1 to 1 There are six cycles of DW in Morse along with 29-30 "whoops"; then the DW identification is sent along with four different telemetry numbers. Telemetry is in slow Morse code as follows: BAT is the battery's voltage to tenths of a volt using a precision resistor divider and the Nano's A2D function. Normal values range from 12.8 to 14.4 volts OTMP is in degrees F with a calibrated 10k NTC thermistor located outdoors, about 100' from the beacon. ITMP is in degrees F provided by a digital one-wire DS18B20 microLAN sensor located within the weathertight equipment box. The reading runs 5 to 10 deg warmer than OTMP. PV is given in milliAmps to monitor solar panel performance and battery charge current. Measurements are based on an INA219 current sensor board. The values of the current can range from 0 to 2000. Note that a value of 4 or 5 is just the idle current consumed by the solar controller because the battery is fully charged. In case the Nano fails, the number of whoops can decrease from 30 down to 29 as a crude measure of rising temperatures. On some recent days the internal temperature has peaked at 120 degrees F when outside air temperature was measured at 112 degrees! The box is in shade but the electronic circuitry generates waste heat that causes the temperature rise. Monitoring the temperatures during night and day provides for some interesting deltas.. DW was officially deployed to the Western desert on February 21, 2021. It has been heard in Canada, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Utah, Arizona and many other locations. Some SWL logs can be seen here: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php?board=9.0 and eQSLs are being provided. Best regards, The DW Team logo attached

 

[vagrant]

Thank for the power and antenna details as I was curious about that. I found that other forum and read the Canadian reception post as well as others.

 

[prcguy]

I find it interesting that the builders of this beacon are willing to share all its technical info, that's very nice.

 

[jwt873]

I've heard it for the last two mornings up here in Manitoba Canada.. Around 0530 CDT (1030 UTC). Using an IC-7600 and a full size 80 meter Inverted Vee. It's just above the noise, but the CW and whoops are unmistakable.

 

[vagrant]

I find it interesting that the builders of this beacon are willing to share all its technical info, that's very nice.

Arrgghhh! There be obliging landlocked pirates sharing their marine band beacon details. Now if they could test a Eyring antenna on the ground that would be interesting.

 

[prcguy]

I've used my 150 watt and 500 watt rated Eyring antennas on the ground and they are very interesting.

Arrgghhh! There be obliging landlocked pirates sharing their marine band beacon details. Now if they could test a Eyring antenna on the ground that would be interesting.

 

[prcguy]

I've used my 150 watt and 500 watt rated Eyring antennas on the ground and they are very interesting. Not the best choice for a 1w beacon though.

 

[k7ng]

I hear the Whooper regularly at my location, sometimes quite strongly. I have a vague idea where it is, so I use it as a propagation beacon.

 

[Teotwaki]

Here is a copy of a beacon list that I maintain on HF Underground. I've not personally heard all of them but with the online kiwi SDRs I have heard quite a few.

Recently Reported Beacons updated 08/23/21, frequencies in kiloHertz:

4086.7 dasher sends about 8.7 dashes / min, each about 1.7 sec long

4094.0 id's UFO TMP three times, after TMP two numbers are sent then back to dashes. On the air around Nov 2020

4095.65 "Desert Whooper". Discovered Nov. 16, 2020. Sends "DW" in Morse, then 30 upward frequency sweeps or "whoops" at 1/sec. Repeats five times. Next sends 5 slow whoops, BAT & 3 digit voltage, O TMP then 2 digit temperature, I TMP then 2 digit temperature, PV and solar panel current with values ranging from 0 to over 2000, possibly milliAmps.

4096.0 "Coxie" Slow dasher, about 4.5 seconds, 700 mW, Joshua Tree NP, daytime only with dead battery

4096.2 Slow dasher called Buddha, was "Phallaxy" was "Viking". About 30 mW, daytime only. On for 3 seconds, off for 3 seconds

4096.85 "Marin Dit", 24/7 5-10 mW, harmonic of 8193.77 radiates better

4097.08 Slow Dasher, 2secs on and 2 secs off. Discovered Nov. 2020, it does appear to be related to 7997.2 kHz. The two dashers appear to be in sync.

4097.1 Fast Ditter. New in 2021

4097.23 Fast Dasher called Madonna, 1/3 watt

4100.05 H, repetition 3 seconds

4102.85 Windy. When it is functioning properly, Windy sends W followed by dits for the wind speed. Every so often it sends TMP and the temperature, then B and the battery voltage. Speculation: When the battery voltage is low (below 11.3v ?) it will send "H" and as the voltage trends lower it will send "S"

4106.86 About a 2 sec dash followed by a 5 sec space

4109.43 Popup Beacon. Western Desert location. Temporarily off the air.

4175 Z

5644 Y and 2 second dash

6626.2 "Rainy" - Mojave NP, CA - daytime ditter/chirper in Mojave NP, 1.5 watts, first on-air March 2003

6627.0 Gendarme - a whooping beacon, quick-falling in-freq. deliberately the result via a 100 uF cap. on the voltage rail from the 2w panel and the freq. falls during cap. discharges on key-on. 50% duty-cycle/0.5 watts. OTA 10th May 2021 - 10.45 PDT. Somewhere in the southern Great Basin... sun-only

6668.0 "L" beacon, about 9.3 secs apart, or 6.5 times / min, hearing extra leading dit

6700.5 "HexY2k" Joshua Tree NP, daytime only, 100 mW to inv. vee, 150 mW first on-air 29 Dec. 1999

6998.73 Archer Beacon 2W. 64' end fed 1/2 wave sloper antenna. Sends "ABK" once every ~55 seconds in slow CW. N/W U.S.
Off the air

7000.65 "Stumpy" Ditter, about 0.17 seconds long, sent every 22 seconds.

7039.4 "T" beacon OK0EPB sends a marker each second, a longer one at the minute, and callsign.

7956 kHz Cry Baby 1/second dasher with chirp, 10 mW solar powered daytime only. Located East of The Continental Divide somewhere high in the Rockies. On the air May 19, 2021

7997.0 kHz dasher appears to be a 2 second on, 2 second off, dash. may be related to 4997.08 dasher

7998.3 "Shorty" sends 18 dashes starting every minute.

7998.9 Ditter, dits about 0.15 secs long, about every 0.6 secs, or about 100 dits / min

7998.9 KHz, dashes of roughly two seconds long with about five seconds inbetween dashes

8000.35 Very long period dasher, 40 or 50 seconds. Sometimes sends a broken dash that sounds more like an A or AE.

8001.2 New beacon as of Dec 20, 2015, 5 second period, frequency 8001.2 - 8001.6

8005 "Hiker", Dit rate is 60 per min. 500 mW into whip antenna.

8006.7 V5 sent 39 seconds apart

8193.7 "MarinDit" - 24/7 in Marin County, CA - about 80 dits/min. 10-15 mW only - on-air since spring 2000 (an "attic beacon"), this is the second harmonic

8200.15 D, repetition 3 seconds

8498.5 Fast Dasher dits are about 0.14 sec long, and about 0.6 sec apart, or about 100 dits / min

8500.3 Slow Dasher

 

[Teotwaki]

I've heard it for the last two mornings up here in Manitoba Canada.. Around 0530 CDT (1030 UTC). Using an IC-7600 and a full size 80 meter Inverted Vee. It's just above the noise, but the CW and whoops are unmistakable.

That really cool! There was another guy on Graham Island on your west coast who also caught the DW beacon but I think your location may be a few hundred miles further.

 

[majoco]

I got fooled.....Intrigued by Teotwaki's posts, I started looking for some of those beacons late afternoon local time 1630-ish/0430 UTC. Didn't find anything of note - plenty of broadcast power there though! Parked by accident on 7508kHz I heard a tweet of CW. Narrowed down the filter to 500Hz of my Winradio G33DDC there were actually two stations - one was send ing "D" in morse and the other "S" - hang on, there's another one sencing "A" and a long dash......scroll down the EiBi listing.... it's those Russian channel markers!
Just as an interesting find, where are those transmitters - they all seem to give the same signal strength so I guess they're all in the same place, any idea what power? Very small signal here, can only hear them on a narrow filter, not visible on the waterfall or spectrum scope.

 

[Teotwaki]

I got fooled.....Intrigued by Teotwaki's posts, I started looking for some of those beacons 7508kHz I heard a tweet of CW. Narrowed down the filter to 500Hz of my Winradio G33DDC there were actually two stations - one was send ing "D" in morse and the other "S" - hang on, there's another one sencing "A" and a long dash......scroll down the EiBi listing.... it's those Russian channel markers!
Just as an interesting find, where are those transmitters - they all seem to give the same

See these for more info

Russian MX beacons log.

Russian MX beacons log.

www.hfunderground.com

Scroll down to Russian single letter beacon

Letter beacon - HFUnderground

www.hfunderground.com