Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
The direction finder is also remarkably sophisticated. tnx Mike On Jun 12, 2012, at 2:37 AM, "Robin" wrote: > an experiment to see if a couple of photos will make it through- I shrunk > them to be small enough that they might be tolerated - but I suspect they > will be stripped off > > these are two of the fish beacons we found washed up on shore at VP6DX. you > can read the freq on one of them 2202 KHz. the smaller one we found actually > has a small micro and 3 boards.. in another shot you can read the ID on the > PROM- EK92. the bigger one with the D cell stack intact shows Z5 for the > callsign. What is amazing is that these two were virtually intact- and were > not the corroded pile of electronics you would have expected > > a pile of D cells for ballast, a buoy with a whip, and a simple CW ID timer, > and thousands of miles of sea water and you have QRP heard round the world > > 73 > > robin, WA6CDR > > I tried to find a better link, but here is one on a commercial fishing > supplies site > http://www.commercial-fishing.net/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&category_id=15&product_id=27&Itemid=179 > > if that doesn't make it through try > http://www.commercial-fishing.net/ > and marine electronics > Radio Beacon > > > I know nothing about these people, its just the first useful example I found > for a source for the beacons we hear > > Robin > > > > ----- Original Message - From: "GeorgeWallner" > To: ; > Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 19:20 > Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages > > >> On Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:37:26 -0400 >> Herb Schoenbohm wrote: >>> These fish beacons are sometimes very strong and >>> normally out in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I could >replicate the QRP >>> transmitter and antennaor is it >just the saltwater ground? >>> >> Herb, >> >> It is simple: 2 W output, 10 foot whip wiht loading coil, >> and a 3000 mile wide perfect ground plane. Easy. :-) >> >> 73, >> >> George >> ___ >> UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
I seriously doubt it - check the links - they all seem to be crystal based. There are "smart" beacons that respond only when interrogated by the owning vessel. Nowhere is there any indication that these things have any smarts at all beyond that, and the vast majority are set and forget until you come back to collect the net - and their purpose is short range - relatively. The fishing trawler gets within maybe 50 miles and uses ordinary DF to find the beacons... your on freq transmissions are unlikely to bother them. It DOES feel good, tho - once. Most likely is that they went into sunlight and you were hearing them on greyline... Robin, WA6CDR > I thought someone once mentioned on the Topband list that if you call CQ or > hold a QSO on top of one, they will move frequency, sometimes completely > outside 160m. If my memory serves me, the frequency can be remotely > controlled by the fishermen who use them. > > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
http://www.radiobuoy.com/proimages/ktr.doc is a doc file in somewhat cryptic English translation with specs on their beacons 10 watts, 500 hours on one pile of D cells Robin - Original Message - From: "GeorgeWallner" To: ; Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 19:20 Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages > On Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:37:26 -0400 > Herb Schoenbohm wrote: >> These fish beacons are sometimes very strong and >>normally out in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I could >replicate the QRP >>transmitter >>and antennaor is it >just the saltwater ground? >> > Herb, > > It is simple: 2 W output, 10 foot whip wiht loading coil, > and a 3000 mile wide perfect ground plane. Easy. :-) > > 73, > > George > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
an experiment to see if a couple of photos will make it through- I shrunk them to be small enough that they might be tolerated - but I suspect they will be stripped off these are two of the fish beacons we found washed up on shore at VP6DX. you can read the freq on one of them 2202 KHz. the smaller one we found actually has a small micro and 3 boards.. in another shot you can read the ID on the PROM- EK92. the bigger one with the D cell stack intact shows Z5 for the callsign. What is amazing is that these two were virtually intact- and were not the corroded pile of electronics you would have expected a pile of D cells for ballast, a buoy with a whip, and a simple CW ID timer, and thousands of miles of sea water and you have QRP heard round the world 73 robin, WA6CDR I tried to find a better link, but here is one on a commercial fishing supplies site http://www.commercial-fishing.net/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&category_id=15&product_id=27&Itemid=179 if that doesn't make it through try http://www.commercial-fishing.net/ and marine electronics Radio Beacon I know nothing about these people, its just the first useful example I found for a source for the beacons we hear Robin - Original Message - From: "GeorgeWallner" To: ; Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 19:20 Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages On Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:37:26 -0400 Herb Schoenbohm wrote: These fish beacons are sometimes very strong and normally out in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I could >replicate the QRP transmitter and antennaor is it >just the saltwater ground? Herb, It is simple: 2 W output, 10 foot whip wiht loading coil, and a 3000 mile wide perfect ground plane. Easy. :-) 73, George ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
On Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:37:26 -0400 Herb Schoenbohm wrote: > These fish beacons are sometimes very strong and >normally out in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I could >replicate the QRP >transmitter and antennaor is it >just the saltwater ground? > Herb, It is simple: 2 W output, 10 foot whip wiht loading coil, and a 3000 mile wide perfect ground plane. Easy. :-) 73, George ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
These fish beacons are sometimes very strong and normally out in the Gulf of Mexico. I just wish I could replicate the QRP transmitter and antennaor is it just the saltwater ground? Herb On 6/11/2012 6:01 PM, Sam Harner wrote: > > These kind of beacons are common for use at the starting end of long lines > set by commercial fisherman so they can locate and retrieve the long lines > sometimes as long as 50 miles commonly set for sword fish and tuna he off > the east coast and surely everywhere else FYI also one that is commonly > hear on 1850 ssb is one that ID's "AD3" Sam > > > > > -Original Message- > From: topband-boun...@contesting.com > [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Milt -- N5IA > Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 4:50 PM > To: Mike Waters; gali...@comcast.net; topband > Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages > > > For those that are interested in what one of these units looks like you can > go to https://bmoran.onehub.com/fishing-beacon-pictures/pages/files > > There is a group of my photos, taken on Ducie Atoll, of the fishing beacon > which Robin, WA6CDR and I found while installing the Beverage antennas at > VP6DX. > > de Milt, N5IA > > > -Original Message- > From: Mike Waters > Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 1:02 PM > To: gali...@comcast.net ; topband > Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages > > Those blasted illegal fishnet buoy transmitters are in use all over the > world. I haven't spent much time on 160 in over a year, and I almost forgot > about them till you mentioned them. I could usually only hear them on a > Beverage. > > I thought someone once mentioned on the Topband list that if you call CQ or > hold a QSO on top of one, they will move frequency, sometimes completely > outside 160m. If my memory serves me, the frequency can be remotely > controlled by the fishermen who use them. > > One ham (somewhere) was compiling a list of fishnet beacon callsigns and > their locations. > > On another subject, you may be able to hear RI1ANF (South Shetland Islands) > after dark. I've heard him to the SSE the past two nights on 1826.5 through > the lightning QRN. K3JJG in PA was copying him better than I was. > > 73, Mike > www.w0btu.com > > On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM, joe wrote: > >> I could hear them fine on the L so they probably weren't too far away. >> > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK > > > - > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.2180 / Virus Database: 2433/5062 - Release Date: 06/11/12 > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK > > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
These kind of beacons are common for use at the starting end of long lines set by commercial fisherman so they can locate and retrieve the long lines sometimes as long as 50 miles commonly set for sword fish and tuna he off the east coast and surely everywhere else FYI also one that is commonly hear on 1850 ssb is one that ID's "AD3" Sam -Original Message- From: topband-boun...@contesting.com [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Milt -- N5IA Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 4:50 PM To: Mike Waters; gali...@comcast.net; topband Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages For those that are interested in what one of these units looks like you can go to https://bmoran.onehub.com/fishing-beacon-pictures/pages/files There is a group of my photos, taken on Ducie Atoll, of the fishing beacon which Robin, WA6CDR and I found while installing the Beverage antennas at VP6DX. de Milt, N5IA -Original Message- From: Mike Waters Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 1:02 PM To: gali...@comcast.net ; topband Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages Those blasted illegal fishnet buoy transmitters are in use all over the world. I haven't spent much time on 160 in over a year, and I almost forgot about them till you mentioned them. I could usually only hear them on a Beverage. I thought someone once mentioned on the Topband list that if you call CQ or hold a QSO on top of one, they will move frequency, sometimes completely outside 160m. If my memory serves me, the frequency can be remotely controlled by the fishermen who use them. One ham (somewhere) was compiling a list of fishnet beacon callsigns and their locations. On another subject, you may be able to hear RI1ANF (South Shetland Islands) after dark. I've heard him to the SSE the past two nights on 1826.5 through the lightning QRN. K3JJG in PA was copying him better than I was. 73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM, joe wrote: > I could hear them fine on the L so they probably weren't too far away. > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.2180 / Virus Database: 2433/5062 - Release Date: 06/11/12 ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
For those that are interested in what one of these units looks like you can go to https://bmoran.onehub.com/fishing-beacon-pictures/pages/files There is a group of my photos, taken on Ducie Atoll, of the fishing beacon which Robin, WA6CDR and I found while installing the Beverage antennas at VP6DX. de Milt, N5IA -Original Message- From: Mike Waters Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 1:02 PM To: gali...@comcast.net ; topband Subject: Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages Those blasted illegal fishnet buoy transmitters are in use all over the world. I haven't spent much time on 160 in over a year, and I almost forgot about them till you mentioned them. I could usually only hear them on a Beverage. I thought someone once mentioned on the Topband list that if you call CQ or hold a QSO on top of one, they will move frequency, sometimes completely outside 160m. If my memory serves me, the frequency can be remotely controlled by the fishermen who use them. One ham (somewhere) was compiling a list of fishnet beacon callsigns and their locations. On another subject, you may be able to hear RI1ANF (South Shetland Islands) after dark. I've heard him to the SSE the past two nights on 1826.5 through the lightning QRN. K3JJG in PA was copying him better than I was. 73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM, joe wrote: > I could hear them fine on the L so they probably weren't too far away. > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.2180 / Virus Database: 2433/5062 - Release Date: 06/11/12 ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
Those blasted illegal fishnet buoy transmitters are in use all over the world. I haven't spent much time on 160 in over a year, and I almost forgot about them till you mentioned them. I could usually only hear them on a Beverage. I thought someone once mentioned on the Topband list that if you call CQ or hold a QSO on top of one, they will move frequency, sometimes completely outside 160m. If my memory serves me, the frequency can be remotely controlled by the fishermen who use them. One ham (somewhere) was compiling a list of fishnet beacon callsigns and their locations. On another subject, you may be able to hear RI1ANF (South Shetland Islands) after dark. I've heard him to the SSE the past two nights on 1826.5 through the lightning QRN. K3JJG in PA was copying him better than I was. 73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM, joe wrote: > I could hear them fine on the L so they probably weren't too far away. > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
Hi Joe, There was quite a bit of discussion about fishnet beacons here a year or two ago. If you search back through the Topband archives, you might find your answer. http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/Topband/ A couple of web sites had a list of them. What antenna did you hear them on? Your 140' BOG or your inverted-L? 73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 10:22 AM, joe wrote: > Yep, indeed it is! Now to figure out where they are coming from? Hi > Hi. Thanks Mike. > > On Mon, 2012-06-11 at 08:38 -0500, Mike Waters wrote: > > Sounds like fishing net beacons, Joe. > > > > http://www.genesisradio.com.au/VK2DX/fishnet.html > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
Yep, indeed it is! Now to figure out where they are coming from? Hi Hi. Thanks Mike. On Mon, 2012-06-11 at 08:38 -0500, Mike Waters wrote: > Sounds like fishing net beacons, Joe. > > http://www.genesisradio.com.au/VK2DX/fishnet.html > http://www.w8ji.com/ndb%20beacon%20fish%20buoy%20net%20beacons.htm > > 73, Mike > www.w0btu.com > > On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 3:58 AM, joe wrote: > > > I've been copying strange 4 character cw messages between 1.975 - 1.985 at > > approx. 0835Z for the past few days. Characters groups include 4HAE, PEA2, > > AJL2, 4EKI, AHD9. Signals are fairly weak. Anyone else copying these > > signals or know what they are? -Joe > > > ___ > UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Re: Topband: Strange CW Coded Messages
Sounds like fishing net beacons, Joe. http://www.genesisradio.com.au/VK2DX/fishnet.html http://www.w8ji.com/ndb%20beacon%20fish%20buoy%20net%20beacons.htm 73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 3:58 AM, joe wrote: > I've been copying strange 4 character cw messages between 1.975 - 1.985 at > approx. 0835Z for the past few days. Characters groups include 4HAE, PEA2, > AJL2, 4EKI, AHD9. Signals are fairly weak. Anyone else copying these > signals or know what they are? -Joe > ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
