Strange broadcast on 27264 kHz

[alsuhr]

Hi, I'm new to shortwave listening and have discovered some pretty cool things along the way (numbers stations, weather faxes I've decoded, morse conversations I've eavesdropped in on) but have never encountered anything like this. At first it sounded like a police scanner (strange repeated phrases which don't make much sense and various numbers) but honestly I'm not sure at all; it just seems awfully weird.

I'm in western Pennsylvania and found this broadcast on 27264 kHz with a Tecsun PL-660 at about 2355-0010 UTC July 1-2. Unfortunately it didn't last much past 0020. Recordings are here (sorry they aren't that good; I don't have anything to record directly from my radio):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FPve2qREIxekJZZWVHSjRQZWc/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FPve2qREIxUkJPdDlLVXRIRjQ/edit?usp=sharing

(Also not sure if sharing files on Google Drive is okay here; if not I'll try putting them somewhere else, and if the links don't work, let me know!)

For reference, there seem to be at least four people talking. One is harder to hear in the recording, but the rest are pretty clear. The man in the first recording keeps mentioning two numbers (22 and 696), and repeats the phrase "welcome to the state of Maine (main?)", "chicago", "pennsylvania", and "smooth talking" and refers to the numbers as "out" ("22's out"). The other man in that recording is harder to hear. At the end you can hear the woman beginning to speak; she is saying "bat man".

Between the first and second recordings her phrases were about the "batmobile": "leave the batmobile alone" and "bye bye bye" as if she were leaving. Unfortunately I didn't get a recording of that. However, you can hear in the second recording (same woman) she is repeating "bat man" more quickly and loudly. There is a third man in the second recording; he was mostly saying numbers.

Any clues as to what this could be?

 

[prcguy]

Welcome to the wacky world of CB radio. Looks like you may have tuned in CB channel 26, which is 27265KHz but being 1KHz off will still receive ok.
prcradio

 

[alsuhr]

Welcome to the wacky world of CB radio. Looks like you may have tuned in CB channel 26, which is 27265KHz but being 1KHz off will still receive ok.
prcradio

Sweet. Yeah, it was probably 27265 kHz but it was easier to listen 1 kHz off. All I know about CB radio is that it is used by truck drivers... that doesn't really seem like what I was listening to, though!

Thanks!

 

[seagullplayer]

I can't hear the recordings but sounds like you head people talking "skip". Mostly they are just yelling there made-up call signs and handles at one another.
Its kind of a game to see how far you can reach during peek skip times.

Its pretty crazy, but it can be fun. There are times you can talk from one end of the country to the other.

 

[alsuhr]

Very cool. Didn't realize that was a thing! Yet another thing to look out for on my radio, then!

 

[robertmac]

Today, most truck drivers only use CB in the movies or TV shows. This is 2014 not 1980s. CB can be used by anyone and anyone basically does anything anyone wants to. Or says anything anyone want to say.

 

[Boombox]

Also, if skip's in, the frequencies above the CB band can be interesting listening -- a lot of foreign 'outband' CBers can be heard between 27415 - 27700 or so (the CB 'outband'). I hear a lot of Caribbean and South American stations in Spanish on 27445. You can also hear guys working other countries in English also.

In the outband you'll hear them transmitting in USB or LSB.

 

[fleef]

Huh?

Today, most truck drivers only use CB in the movies or TV shows. This is 2014 not 1980s. CB can be used by anyone and anyone basically does anything anyone wants to. Or says anything anyone want to say.

Whatchu talkin' about Willis? Truckers do TOO use CB. How else do you think they alert each other to the Smokey comin' up on the back side? They don't have each others mobile phone numbers. They are used all the time- they need to talk to each other out on the road for safety concerns such as a broke down car on the highway blocking traffic, black ice, and cops etc.

The biggest thing I noticed the truckers have now that they didnt in the 80s (except for mobile phones of course) is I think they are the biggest consumers of XM/Sirius radio consoles. They must make up the majority of the subscribers I think.

 

[KB9IN]

CB channels are from.26.965, Channel 1, to 27.405, channel 40. Most are in 10 KHz steps. Many "outbanders" can be found on frequencies lower & higher than what the official band covers. Most transmissions are in AM, but there are quite a few using single sideband. For some reason lower sideband is the choice there. Most amateur radio uses USB for frequencies above 14 MHz & LSB on the lower bands.

During band openings many Spanish speaking stations can be heard, some originating in the US to talk to family & friends in their home countries.

When CB is experiencing a band opening you can often hear many stations on the same channel. They may or may not hear each other.

Many CBers & Outbanders use ham equipment & are sometimes running the legal Amateur Radio power limits along with large beam antennas.

I use CB to let me know of band openings higher in the spectrum. Many times when CB is open that means 10 meters & 24 MHz as well as SW broadcast & utility bands in that area of the spectrum are either open or will possibly be open soon.