Just When You Thought It Was Safe: Chinese Over-the-Horizon Radar Appears on 40 Meters

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that one of China’s over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) installations has been causing interference in the Amateur Radio 7 MHz band. The IARUMS February newsletter reports on that intruder and others.

Other top 5 intruders include a “single-letter beacon” transmitting either the letter “K” or the letter “T” on 7039.3 kHz. The source is believed to be the Russian Pacific in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A Russian F1B teleprinter signal (RDL) has appeared on 7193 kHz, with an encrypted frequency-shift-keyed (50-baud) signal, originating in Kaliningrad. Authorities in Germany and Switzerland have filed official complaints.

A Russian orthogonal frequency-division multiplex OFDM 60 signal has been showing up on 14.235 MHz, covering 2.76 kHz. It’s said to be located in Moscow. Three Russian OFDM 60 signals were active at the same time on February 13. A Russian F1B signal has been observed on 14.308 MHz, 50 baud, 500 Hz shift, also reported to be in Moscow.

In the “miscellaneous or bad news” category, IARUMS Region 1 Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, reports Spanish-speaking “fishermen” on 3560 kHz (USB), heard daily at 1600 UTC or later. These signals have been heard on other 80-meter frequencies. Broadcaster Radio Hargeisa in Somaliland continued to be reported on 7.120 MHz (AM) daily. On 7.175 MHz, Radio Eritrea continues to be jammed daily with white noise transmissions attributed to Radio Ethiopia. The third harmonic of Radio Tajik on 4765 kHz is still being heard on 14.295 MHz.

Source:ARRL