Satisfaction In Utility Monitoring?

[n6hgg]

I'm an aviation listener. ACARS data on HF, Airinc on voice on HF. Airinc runs both services and it's very active. It's not uncommon to log airplane data transmissions all over China and other locations in Asia in the early morning hours at my West Coast location. If you decide to go the HF route, you need to locate and isolate by unplugging or turning off every single phone charger wall wart device that makes noise and every LED light in the house that makes noise.

You also need to learn to recognize what is harmful noise on hf. When you figure out what the band sounds like with absolutely no man-made device noises, you'll be able to figure out when they are occurring and where they are coming from using a portable radio. Hopefully neighbors don't have a bunch of noisy stuff but they probably will.

Those two devices, wall warts and LED lights, are the most common and are diabolical to the extreme for HF and the only way to really enjoy shortwave HF is to be able to get rid of all of the noise. You can do it by either unplugging every device one by one or turning everything off and plugging them in one by one to figure out which ones are the offenders. If you have neighbors with really noisy devices, you're going to have to go mobile and get away from the house. Noises like this are so much worse now than they were 30 years ago before all of the digital switchings power supplies and LEDs came on the scene. Noise will be your number one problem issue with HF and if you can get it under control you will be rewarded.

I put a little 44 KB section of a log of an HF ACARS session and it looks rather cryptic, but if you spend a bunch of time with it and learn what it's all about a lot of it is human readable and understandable. It's amazing how error or free it is at 300 baud. You'll see the frequencies on the logs and you'll figure it out if you're curious enough.

 

[n6hgg]

I'm an aviation listener. ACARS data on HF, Airinc on voice on HF. Airinc runs both services and it's very active. It's not uncommon to log airplane data transmissions all over China and other locations in Asia in the early morning hours at my West Coast location. If you decide to go the HF route, you need to locate and isolate by unplugging or turning off every single phone charger wall wart device that makes noise and every LED light in the house that makes noise.

You also need to learn to recognize what is harmful noise on hf. When you figure out what the band sounds like with absolutely no man-made device noises, you'll be able to figure out when they are occurring and where they are coming from using a portable radio. Hopefully neighbors don't have a bunch of noisy stuff but they probably will.

Those two devices, wall warts and LED lights, are the most common and are diabolical to the extreme for HF and the only way to really enjoy shortwave HF is to be able to get rid of all of the noise. You can do it by either unplugging every device one by one or turning everything off and plugging them in one by one to figure out which ones are the offenders. If you have neighbors with really noisy devices, you're going to have to go mobile and get away from the house. Noises like this are so much worse now than they were 30 years ago before all of the digital switchings power supplies and LEDs came on the scene. Noise will be your number one problem issue with HF and if you can get it under control you will be rewarded.

I put a little 44 KB section of a log of an HF ACARS session and it looks rather cryptic, but if you spend a bunch of time with it and learn what it's all about a lot of it is human readable and understandable. It's amazing how error or free it is at 300 baud. You'll see the frequencies on the logs and you'll figure it out if you're curious enough.

The decoding program is PC-HFDL that I paid $35 for a license which was totally worth it, and the receiver is a Tecsun PL-330 the audio of which goes straight from the ear plug Jack to the sound card microphone input on the computer. It can be set up to plot all the positions on Google Earth which I use. The xh data D-808 works great for HF ACARS also. The program also decodes VHF ACARS very well. For that I have a 1984 vintage realistic scanner dialed to 131.55 MHz. The older scanner seems to work better than a bearcat BC125at for some reason to copy the digital stuff.

HF shortwave is not dead at all. It's just used a differently these days and there's a lot of unused Spectrum there nowadays. I've been listening to shortwave since 1955 and it still is fascinating to me as it was then.

 

[Hooligan]

I wanna cry when I tune-around HF now & think-back to what I was catching 40 years ago. If you're dissatisfied with what you hear on VHF/UHF now compared to 40 years ago (I assume you're lamenting the migration to cellphones/texting/internet, digital, trunking...), HF is even worse. I used to love monitoring GIANT TALK, MYSTIC STAR, et al. and now I find myself back doing MW DX'ing for an occasional challenge.

We can't overcome, but we can adapt -- it's still important to have HF capability, and as others have said, even a $15 SDR (with antenna & computer...) opens-up new worlds, though 40 years ago the LF/MF/HF noise-floor was a lot lower, so don't spend a lot on HF capability unless you're sure your noise floor is acceptable. A lot of fixed-site & mobile platforms that used to rely on HF as their Primary & Alternate mission comms have moved to UHF/SHF/EHF SATCOM (including some commercial systems) & HF is now relegated to Contingency or Emergency (look up PACE Plan), and that HF may be secure digital voice & data, but HF still has varying value to governments & the military due to the relative ease for many SATCOM systems to be jammed or physically destroyed. Plenty of radio geeks who miss the good old HF/SSB daze now get their fix by monitoring some SATCOM systems that carry interesting non-secure voice/data.

 

[Hooligan]

HF shortwave is not dead at all. It's just used a differently these days and there's a lot of unused Spectrum there nowadays. I've been listening to shortwave since 1955 and it still is fascinating to me as it was then.

I'm happy for you, but you're being subjective, not objective.

 

[kc2asb]

I wanna cry when I tune-around HF now & think-back to what I was catching 40 years ago. If you're dissatisfied with what you hear on VHF/UHF now compared to 40 years ago (I assume you're lamenting the migration to cellphones/texting/internet, digital, trunking...), HF is even worse. I used to love monitoring GIANT TALK, MYSTIC STAR, et al. and now I find myself back doing MW DX'ing for an occasional challenge.

We can't overcome, but we can adapt -- it's still important to have HF capability, and as others have said, even a $15 SDR (with antenna & computer...) opens-up new worlds, though 40 years ago the LF/MF/HF noise-floor was a lot lower, so don't spend a lot on HF capability unless you're sure your noise floor is acceptable. A lot of fixed-site & mobile platforms that used to rely on HF as their Primary & Alternate mission comms have moved to UHF/SHF/EHF SATCOM (including some commercial systems) & HF is now relegated to Contingency or Emergency (look up PACE Plan), and that HF may be secure digital voice & data, but HF still has varying value to governments & the military due to the relative ease for many SATCOM systems to be jammed or physically destroyed. Plenty of radio geeks who miss the good old HF/SSB daze now get their fix by monitoring some SATCOM systems that carry interesting non-secure voice/data.

Agreed. I've been listening to HF since I was in grade school in the mid/late 80's. It's definitely a far cry from what it was then, or even 25 years ago for that matter. Many broadcasters have left the air, and the number of SSB utility stations seems to be a shadow of what it once was. There was a post in the Aircraft forum recently re: Gander VOLMET discontinuing its broadcasts sometime this year.

There is nothing we can do to bring back the old days, but you are right that HF will always serve a purpose.

MW DX'ing can still be fun, but it's not as interesting as it once was since the stations have largely lost their regional distinctiveness.

 

[W8WCA]

I wanna cry when I tune-around HF now & think-back to what I was catching 40 years ago. If you're dissatisfied with what you hear on VHF/UHF now compared to 40 years ago (I assume you're lamenting the migration to cellphones/texting/internet, digital, trunking...), HF is even worse. I used to love monitoring GIANT TALK, MYSTIC STAR, et al. and now I find myself back doing MW DX'ing for an occasional challenge.

oh yea! Blue Star Net was another fun one

 

[MisterK33]

I recently got back into HF listening after losing interest years ago. My previous go-to radio was a RS DX390 that I stupidly gave away on Craigslist maybe 17 years ago. I used a Sony ICFSW7600GR that I tried several times to use, but I really disliked the muting when just scanning the bands, and it was unnecessarily complex to program/use the presents.

Fast-forward to last December, and I read about the Belka-DX. It's relative simplicity, size, and raving reviews convinced me to pick one up. So far, I use it almost every night! I mostly listen to HF aircraft comms, but have also caught a pirate on New Year's Day, found utility stations broadcasting weather data from the Canadian coast (I'm in RI), etc.

While there certainly isn't as many stations to listed to as when I first got into SWL in the early 90's (RIP BBC, Radio Moscow, Deutsche Welle, et al), I've really enjoyed just sitting back and scanning the bands. It's a nice way to end the day, and makes me happy.

 

[kc2asb]

While there certainly isn't as many stations to listed to as when I first got into SWL in the early 90's (RIP BBC, Radio Moscow, Deutsche Welle, et al), I've really enjoyed just sitting back and scanning the bands. It's a nice way to end the day, and makes me happy.

BBC is still broadcasting on SW, unless something changed recently.

 

[EAFrizzle]

With very little English programming, and no transmissions aimed at NA, the BBC has become a rare treat. RNZI is much easier for me to pick up.

 

[kc2asb]

With very little English programming, and no transmissions aimed at NA, the BBC has become a rare treat. RNZI is much easier for me to pick up.

Radio New Zealand Inter'l is a reliable catch. The BBC uses the Wooferton transmitter site, but I believe its power is "only" 100kw. No more 500kw flame throwers.

 

[MisterK33]

BBC is still broadcasting on SW, unless something changed recently.

I haven't been able to catch them in southern New England as of late

 

[UTE-GE]

HFU HF Underground - Index

HFU HF Underground - Index

www.hfunderground.com

 

[Boombox]

Utility DXing isn't much fun as it used to be, as the ship-to-shore stuff mostly disappeared, and most other utility transmissions are digital in nature. There still are ARINC / Aeronautical transmissions, but the maritime stuff is few and far between.

Military transmissions used to be interesting, even if they were mostly coded, but there seems to be less military HF comms than there were during the Cold War.

I think, just as all other SW uses have gone -- i.e. less transmissions to hear, whether it's SWBC or HF ham comms -- the biggest difference between today and the 1990's (the DX-390's heyday -- and I've still got my DX-390 and still use it) is that you have to really hunt for signals more, and a DSP radio probably helps, although the older rigs like the DX-390 still can get the job done. You have to know where to listen, be patient, and tune around more.

So either joining a utility DX group, or finding a Utility DX frequency guide online are probably the best bet for success in utility DXing.

I don't DX the ute bands anymore, myself. Lost interest in it during the last Solar minimum, and the upturn in solar conditions didn't bring it back. Personally I stick to the HF ham bands and SWBC bands. If a ute shows up (like NAU -- which sends out FSK transmissions I can't read, but I use them sort of like prop beacons), I'll note it down, but I'm not into hunting down the utes like I may have been in 2002 or the 1990's.

There still is stuff to hear, it's just harder to find it.

 

[ka3jjz]

That's why belonging to a reflector like the Utility DXers Forum (UDXF) is a big help. It's on the groups.io server

Mike

 

[kc2asb]

HF has definitely changed from what it was 25+ years ago. Listening in the late 80's/ early 90's, the 49m broadcast band was crowded with stations every 5kHz every evening. It was about the same for 41m. Many of those broadcasters have since gone off the air. It's a fraction of what it once was.

As for utility stations at that time, there was still a good amount of SSB on the maritime bands, as well as aviation and military. I'll never forget being able to listen to our military during the first Gulf War in 1991, all with a DX-440 and a longwire in the attic. (parents wouldn't allow an outdoor antenna!). There were also numbers stations and other oddities like pirate broadcasters.

But even in the late 80's/early 90's, reading the utility and RTTY columns in Popular Communications, there were regular mentions of various stations going off HF in favor of satellite. The writing was on the wall even 35 years ago.

It's still fun to tune around. There is more out there to hear than many people realize. Plus, you never know what might pop up on the HF bands

 

[ka3jjz]

Numbers stations are still quite popular and the UDXF has an official sub section for them. We've already mentioned pirates so no need to cover them again

MIke

 

[UTE-GE]

isn't much fun as it used to be

Lots of things aren't as fun as they used to be. But they ARE more expensive.

 

[ka3jjz]

SDRs aren't all that expensive, and they are quite useful with utility DX

Mike

 

[UTE-GE]

SDRs aren't all that expensive, and they are quite useful with utility DX

Mike

Very true. RTL-SDR $39+/- can't beat that! I got a couple of the silver v3's a couple years ago. Liked them so much I bought SDRplay RSP 2 used then a RSPdxR2.

Took me sometime to store the R71 away. Love that old thing!

But no comparison between spinning a knob and seeing the spectrum on your screen.

Kind of spoils ya......

 

[kc2asb]

Took me sometime to store the R71 away. Love that old thing!

But no comparison between spinning a knob and seeing the spectrum on your screen.

Kind of spoils ya......

Having used online SDRs. the waterfall is very easy to get used to. When using my NRD-525 or any of my old HF receivers, I feel lost without the waterfall for a while. However, clicking a mouse to tune is no substitute for spinning a weighted, silky smooth VFO.