Can this be identified and decoded

[dragon48]

I'm getting this on 8423 kHz, coming in better in LSB mode than CW. I have some iPhone utilities to decode packets, but there is so much noise they just show gibberish when I hold the iPhone near the speaker.

I've never studied morse code, but it appears to me that that the transmitted pattern keeps repeating itself,

What have I found?

https://soundcloud.com/user-437184959/8432a


Thanks

 

[ridgescan]

That is the CW (morse code) call of station WLO, ship traffic comm for weather on the high seas. I don't know exact frequency offhand.

 

[dragon48]

Cool - I found this after your post:

HF SSB Radiotelephone, Telex and Email Frequencies and Channels

It is showing a frequency of 8421 kHz, which must be the signal that I picked up. Either the digital readout on my AOR is a drop off or I mis-guessed the correct clearest sound for the morse, as in spite of the heavy static, it came in a few clicks up and down from the 8423 that I posted.

This it. fun—I wonder where the broadcast originated from.

Ty.

 

[Token]

Cool - I found this after your post:

HF SSB Radiotelephone, Telex and Email Frequencies and Channels

It is showing a frequency of 8421 kHz, which must be the signal that I picked up. Either the digital readout on my AOR is a drop off or I mis-guessed the correct clearest sound for the morse, as in spite of the heavy static, it came in a few clicks up and down from the 8423 that I posted.

This it. fun—I wonder where the broadcast originated from.

Ty.

WLO transmits from Mobile, Alabama.

The center frequency for the data is 8421 kHz, the CW is center frequency of 8420.9 kHz The more correct way to tune this signal would be in USB, and tuned to 8420 kHz. This would result in the data having a center audio frequency of about 1 kHz and the CW having an audio tone of about 900 Hz. Most Utility type transmissions, like this, are actually transmitted in USB mode.

If you were tuned to 8423 kHz in LSB mode the data should be centered on an audio frequency of 2000 Hz, and the CW on an audio freq of 2100 Hz. In your recording the data is centered on about 2725 Hz and the CW on about 2800 Hz. In this case your radio appears to be about 700 Hz high in frequency, but there is no way to tell if this is a BFO error or if it is a tuning error.

T!

 

[dragon48]

WLO transmits from Mobile, Alabama.

The center frequency for the data is 8421 kHz, the CW is center frequency of 8420.9 kHz The more correct way to tune this signal would be in USB, and tuned to 8420 kHz. This would result in the data having a center audio frequency of about 1 kHz and the CW having an audio tone of about 900 Hz. Most Utility type transmissions, like this, are actually transmitted in USB mode.

If you were tuned to 8423 kHz in LSB mode the data should be centered on an audio frequency of 2000 Hz, and the CW on an audio freq of 2100 Hz. In your recording the data is centered on about 2725 Hz and the CW on about 2800 Hz. In this case your radio appears to be about 700 Hz high in frequency, but there is no way to tell if this is a BFO error or if it is a tuning error.

T!

Thanks for the detailed technical explanation. My radio is actually preset to CW mode for this frequency, but the unit appears to pick up signals better when I change to LSB mode. In other situations where it was preset to USB mode, it picked up signals better in LSB mode. For this transmission, at and around 8423 kHz, the signal was recognizable in both USB and CW mode, but the audio was less clear.