MARS Net on 4021 kHz

[sparklehorse]

4021 kHz MARS net heard @ 8:40 to 9:00 am PST (16:40 to 17:00z) on 12/2/21. Received in Portland, Oregon. Fairly good copy on seemingly every participant, as though they’re all in the same general area. California would be my guess, but could be Washington or Idaho. About a dozen stations heard. Occasionally one station would transmit a message to another in a brief digital signal. Signal sounded like perhaps a PSK type such as MIL-STD-188-110 Serial. I don’t see this 4021 frequency listed for MARS in the list I have. It was mentioned during the net that it’s a new frequency for them as of 2021.
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[GB46]

4021 kHz MARS net heard @ 8:40 to 9:00 am PST (16:40 to 17:00z) on 12/2/21. Received in Portland, Oregon. Fairly good copy on seemingly every participant, as though they’re all in the same general area. California would be my guess, but could be Washington or Idaho. About a dozen stations heard. Occasionally one station would transmit a message to another in a brief digital signal. Signal sounded like perhaps a PSK type such as MIL-STD-188-110 Serial. I don’t see this 4021 frequency listed for MARS in the list I have. It was mentioned during the net that it’s a new frequency for them as of 2021.

Thanks for the tip! I'm hearing them right now at 16:41 UTC on 12/04/21. A few of them have good, strong signals, although the others that I can hear aren't quite strong enough to be readable over my local noise level.

I can also hear the digital messages being sent, but cannot decode them. Years ago I used to hear MARS participants handling ordinary analog phone patches, but security is a lot tighter these days.

 

[RadioRelay]

I can also hear the digital messages being sent, but cannot decode them. Years ago I used to hear MARS participants handling ordinary analog phone patches, but security is a lot tighter these days.

---
That's MIL-STD 188-110A, but it's encrypted.

 

[GB46]

That's MIL-STD 188-110A, but it's encrypted.

So I gathered. The voice portions of the QSOs make interesting listening, however. I even monitor GHFS transmissions on 8992 and 11175, etc., despite the coded messages, as well as Cuban spy number transmissions on various frequencies. Aside from decoding weather maps and NavTex, that's how I spend most of my HF time these days.

 

[devicelab]

That's MIL-STD 188-110A, but it's encrypted.

Not full-time though... it's hit or miss... a lot of time they spend practicing how to encrypt stuff -- but some transmissions are in the clear.