CW from Catalonia, Stanag-4285 from Turkey Make IARU Monitoring System Intruder List

An unknown station transmitted “Freedom for Catalonia” in a CW loop on September 26 (1710 UTC) at 14.001 MHz, the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System said, in its September newsletter.

Topping the intruder list, however, was a Stanag-4285 digital mode signal that appeared on 7.001.8 MHz for several days. The transmitting station was believed to be in Turkey. IARUMS Region 1 Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, noted that a Danish Navy Stanag-4285 signal from Aarhus on 5.361.8 MHz RF is not an intruder, since the military is primary. Hadel reported that a radio blackout on September 6 prevented monitoring. Two solar flares occurred that day, and the X-ray radiation caused increased ionospheric absorption on the daylight side of Earth.

Elsewhere, Spanish-speaking fishing crews are illegally using the 5-MHz band, however, with signals heard at 5.356 MHz USB with a voice scrambler on September 19. Spanish-speaking fishers also were reported every evening on 3.550 MHz USB every evening UTC. On 15 meters, monitors spotted Brazilian “pirates,” probably fishing crews, transmitting on 21.000 MHz USB in the evenings. A Russian military OFDM-60 signal has been appearing on 14.260.9 MHz, transmitting from the Moscow area.

Source:ARRL