| December 2009 | Peter Young VK3MV |
Reports for December have been received from, NZART, JARL, HARTS and WIA.
In this report the data files have been edited removing duplicate entries on the same frequency and intruder. A full data report is available upon request to myself
The LaTrobe University's ionspheric research HF radar: This month I am pleased to report that through the combined efforts of NZART and the WIA working with their respective national communications regulators, and additional direct contact to the licensee from a number of amateurs and the Region 1 MS Coordinator, the interfering radar subsequently ceased operation in the 30 meter amateur band in accordance with its licence conditions. These licence conditions requires that the radar not cause interference to other radio services including the Amateur Service. The interfering emissions were found to be caused by a software fault that has now been rectified. An additional outcome of discussions has been the offer by the licensee for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) staff to have direct access to the frequency control software in the event of any further problems. More information on this research radar can be found on the University's website:
http://www.tiger.latrobe.edu.au/
The basic specifications of the TIGER radar are listed in the table below;
JARL has provided a comprehensive report of over 1000 intruder observations. There a numerous broadcasting intruders in 80 and 40 meters believed to be coming from Korea, China and Russia. The data fields have been edited as noted above.
From the WIA report Karl, VK6WX reports that propagation has declined more during December 2009. The only persistent intruders are on 14277.7 kHz from Indonesia, who are always there, but hard to track down. Off late, users from CLN have finally used 14000 kHz and they are now just below 14000 kHz with LSB modulation.
In the NZART report, 14 MHz signals notated with an * in the comments field, indicate that this is the same source and direction. Signal strength varies and so does the amount of bandwidth used. Bandwidth taken on average across 20 meters is approximately +/- 39 kHz but total bandwidth taken is on average +/- 390 kHz from 13 MHz through to 16 MHz.
ZL1BAD reports that there are two types of pulse signal appearing, at times, on 20 meters. One seems to be a form of OTHR and sending continuous pulses at the rate of 2 pulses per sec. The other signal is a form of communication and the replying station can some times be heard. This station sends bursts of varying length of 10-20 seconds, with a 10 second pause between each burst.
From MARTS, Rashid, 9M2RS reports that confirmation came from the Senior Director, Resources Assignment and Management Division, Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission, that Malaysia has cleared all broadcasting services from 7.100 to 7.200 kHz. All Malaysian amateurs are allowed to use this segment. MARTS has been working their regulator to achieve this good outcome.
In last months report I mentioned that an offer of assistance from Wolf, the Coordinator IARUMS Region 1 with those observers who need help in identify digital signals. Unfortunately I misprinted his call sign; it is DK2OM. Wolf suggests audio wav files with a sample rate of 44 kHz, can be sent to him for analysis. Thank you again Wolf.
Thank you to all this months observers.