Hundredth edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

(Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 19:22:07 +0100)

Unid stations

The first comes from Fritz. He heard the station for months in a row.

It used the same call and time as last month.

6914 kHz, 1530 UTC, 5-10: "VRB7" repeated for 2 minutes, then off.

XX7 Oddity

Do you remember the mysterious xx7 oddity? The propagation logger that popped up back in December 2000? The one that only used frequencies that ended on "7"? (see N&O #31). Well...... IT'S BACK. Logged by both Klaus and Igor. Klaus discovered the net in 2000 and immediately started a band scan when it was re-discovered. Here are the results. Thanks Klaus.

Great job!

Schedule 9 October 2005:

Net A
3807	xx:07:10	xx:17:10	xx:27:10	xx:37:10	xx:47:10	xx:57:10
3807	xx:07:20	xx:17:20	xx:27:20	xx:37:20	xx:47:20	xx:57:20
4807	no transmission
5807	xx:07:30	xx:17:30	xx:27:30	xx:37:30	xx:47:30	xx:57:30
6807	xx:07:40	xx:17:40	xx:27:40	xx:37:40	xx:47:40	xx:57:40
7807	xx:07:50	xx:17:50	xx:27:50	xx:37:50	xx:47:50	xx:57:50
8807	xx:08:00	xx:18:00	xx:28:00	xx:38:00	xx:48:00	xx:58:00
8807	xx:08:10	xx:18:10	xx:28:10	xx:38:10	xx:48:10	xx:58:10
9807	no transmission
10807	xx:08:20	xx:18:20	xx:28:20	xx:38:20	xx:48:20	xx:58:20
11807	xx:08:30	xx:18:30	xx:28:30	xx:38:30	xx:48:30	xx:58:30
12807	xx:08:40	xx:18:40	xx:28:40	xx:38:40	xx:48:40	xx:58:40
13807	xx:08:50	xx:18:50	xx:28:50	xx:38:50	xx:48:50	xx:58:50
14807	xx:09:00	xx:19:00	xx:29:00	xx:39:00	xx:49:00	xx:59:00
15807	xx:09:10	xx:19:10	xx:29:10	xx:39:10	xx:49:10	xx:59:10
16807	xx:09:20	xx:19:20	xx:29:20	xx:39:20	xx:49:20	xx:59:20
17807	xx:09:30	xx:19:30	xx:29:30	xx:39:30	xx:49:30	xx:59:30
18807	xx:09:40	xx:19:40	xx:29:40	xx:39:40	xx:49:40	xx:59:40

Notes:

Transmission content: Single 330 ms FSK bursts, about 100 bit/s
At times there is a second station about 3 s later. Sometimes only this station B is heard. Seems that B does not respond to station A, but transmits anyway.
Operating hours: Uncertain, not daily

Net B
3007	hh:07:00	hh:17:00	hh:27:00	hh:37:00	hh:47:00	hh:57:00
4007	hh:07:10	hh:17:10	hh:27:10	hh:37:10	hh:47:10	hh:57:10
5007	hh:07:20	hh:17:20	hh:27:20	hh:37:20	hh:47:20	hh:57:20
6007	hh:07:30	hh:17:30	hh:27:30	hh:37:30	hh:47:30	hh:57:30
7007	hh:07:40	hh:17:40	hh:27:40	hh:37:40	hh:47:40	hh:57:40
8007	hh:07:50	hh:17:50	hh:27:50	hh:37:50	hh:47:50	hh:57:50
9007	hh:08:00	hh:18:00	hh:28:00	hh:38:00	hh:48:00	hh:58:00
10007	hh:08:10	hh:18:10	hh:28:10	hh:38:10	hh:48:10	hh:58:10
11007	hh:08:20	hh:18:20	hh:28:20	hh:38:20	hh:48:20	hh:58:20
12007	hh:08:30	hh:18:30	hh:28:30	hh:38:30	hh:48:30	hh:58:30
13007	hh:08:40	hh:18:40	hh:28:40	hh:38:40	hh:48:40	hh:58:40
14007	hh:08:50	hh:18:50	hh:28:50	hh:38:50	hh:48:50	hh:58:50

Above 14007 nothing heard so far, maybe due to propagation conditions.

Remarks:

Each transmission of the "xx7 oddity" consists of a single 330 ms long FSK burst with about 100 bit/s. The general scheme is that the frequency is increased by exactly 1 MHz every 10 seconds.
There are two "nets": Net A on xx807 kHz net b on xx007 kHz. Some transmissions in net A are not within the pattern "1 MHz up every 10 s", see schedule.
Times given in the schedule denote the beginning of each 10 s time slot. The exact transmission time may be 2 - 5 s later, in particular in "net B".
At times there is a second station about 2 s after the first one. Sometimes only this station 2 is heard. It seems that it does not respond to station 1, but transmits anyway. Or maybe the recently reactivated net B is station 2...
Operating hours: Uncertain, apparently not daily. The system has been off air for months (net A) or several years (net B).

Unid on 5500 from Igor in N&O 99

Last month I published an unid that was supplied by Igor.

for 98434 fm 97667 r ? k
= 84t3t r ? k
= 84t53 77587 3t4t4 9394t 51337 21t32 25173 7t341 72t36 3633t
t3t76 64835 57254 82542 31887 4t152 22315 69424 496t4 56528
64739 5241t 32145 67961 t6185 64t19 t78t5 967t1 253t3 t4345 r ? k
cfm =
for 98434 fm 97669 r ? k

Fritz sent me a note about this log and comments:

"I logged this network many times since late 2003. The format is very inconsistent, it may be a family of related stations or just one network. The structure is unknown.

Frequencies : low 4040, high 14376

Mode : Duplex, never heard both stations together.

Messages : 4FGs or 5FGs. Sometimes closes traffic with ....QTR 1700 (UTC!) Is this not a CIS network??

Message format changed from:

"for 3FG 3FG fm 3FG 3FG" to: "for 5FG fm 5FG"

Recently the "xxx" groups were observed. Flash msgs?

All is hand sent, sometimes in bad quality. Few CIS military Q codes are used (QQT = repeat msg of ...). Looking at Igor's log, it seems that several messages are sent to the same addressee, which is unusual."

Thanks for the comments, Fritz.

Frequencies	:	low 4040, high 14376
Mode	:	Duplex, never heard both stations together.
Messages	:	4FGs or 5FGs. Sometimes closes traffic with ....QTR 1700 (UTC!) Is this not a CIS network??