N1BUG: 6 Meter Sounds and Stuff |
This page is a collection of 6 meter DX sound clips and 48/49 MHz TV video carrier sound clips/spectrograms. It is a mess that has been thrown together on the fly. Someday I may get around to cleaning up and organizing this mess. Or not.
Norway, Sweden, and some Russian TV video
The band opened late in the afternoon, with LA8AJA, SM7FJE, SM5AQD, SM2A, SM5EDX in my log. Late in the opening SM2A was much louder and was the last station to eventually fade away.
I also had Russion video carriers on 49.747 (Moscow), 49.750 (St. Petersburg), and 49.757 (Murmansk). I caught the video as it was fading, especially Murmansk which had been much stronger just moments earlier.
Europe on aurora!
MM0AMW on aurora. This may have been an aurora to auroral Es link but on my end at least it sounded like pure aurora. I was thrilled to make the transatlantic QSO during an aurora event - a first for me.
49.750 video from somewhere in Russia was in and out several times on this evening via auroral Es. Sample #1, Sample #2, Sample #3. Toward the end of the event, it was coming in short bursts. I wonder if there could have been a meteor scatter link involved in this path.
49.757 video from Murmansk was also in that evening. At first it came in waves of a few minutes each. Later is was in short burts.
A first for me! 49.740 video, presumed from Ukraine was roaring in via auroral Es.
This was a rather typical weak to moderate aurora.
WZ8D working WA2FGK on aurora with meteor scatter enhancements
Surprise! Africa on F2! Again I am presuming F2 but possibly an F2-Es link due to what would appear to be an awkward distance for pure F2 at the current level of solar activity - in between one and two 'long' hops. C5YK.
On this date we had a big opening to South America. CX1AA/b, CX1CCC/b, LU6EE/b, CX2TQ, CX7TT, CX8DS, CX9AU, LU9AEA, LU9DO, LW3EX, FM8DY, PY1RO, YV1DIG, PV8ADI.
Since some signals were very strong and there was no evidence of flutter, I am assuming this was F2 and not a TEP-Es link up. CE3AA/b, CE Muzak 47.900, CE Muzak 48.300, CE4WJK, LU4FW, LU5FF, LU8EEM. For those not familiar with it, CE Muzak are FM broadcast stations in Chile, often used as a propagation indicator.
I had very high noise levels all season but still managed to work some good DX indluding four new DXCC entities. Unfortunately I don't have sound files for all of them but here are a few: GB3LER beacon (8 June, first time ever at my station), 4O4A (10 June, difficult copy at times), EI2II (10 June, very strong), MW0ZZK (10 June, very strong), LU7YS and LU7YS/b (12 June), JL8GFB (12 June with brief clip of 49.750 UA0 video at beginning of file), CP6UA (13 July).
We had an aurora in the middle of Es season. TF2JB via auroral Es on July 16.
One of my more quiet directions! in SSB mode. Multiple sources, noise is S9+ at all times.
Same as above showing difference between SSB (first half) and AM mode (second half).
Same direction after cleaning up several sources. One remaining source, still S9+, in SSB and then AM mode.
Today was the third day in a row with transcontinental F2. Possibly the fourth but I missed the first day. In the morning 48.242 video from Portugal was pinning the S meter for for a long time but no DX was heard. As that was fading, 48.250 video from Kenya peaked S5 or better for a short time. In the afternoon, beacons OY6BEC, TF1SIX, and JW7SIX were in but still no DX staions heard at my station. While those beacons were still pounding in, the transcontinental path opened with many strong signals indluding W7ID (rare stuff! N1BUG working SSB!?) and N6ML. I heard NL7Z very weak and briefly. Finally I had weak video from New Zealand on 45.250 and 45.260 for a few minutes.
I did it! I lived long enough to experience F2 propagation on 6 meters! But for a while I thought I very well might die of excitement during the opening! Here are just a few samples of the stationd worked.
VE6TA - my very first F2 QSO! (sound clip)
I don't propose to say exactly what type of propagation this was... some from of F layer stuff I suppose, but not pure F2 as far as I know. I am certain it would not have occurred without the geomagnetic storm.
OK, so there is nothing unusual about aurora in Maine, even if they have been very scarce, weak, and short lived in recent years due to low solar activity. Although of short duration this was the most intense aurora in several years so I thought I would just put a couple of sound clips here. The last one, VE3EN with MS burst, is actually from 04 July. I was hearing Kevin rather weak on SSB aurora when a meteor burst caused his signal to become perfectly clear for an instant, at about 22 seconds into the clip.
NW0W in EM47 - my best aurora DX of the opening (sound clip)
VE3EN calling CQ on CW, then SSB (sound clip)
49.750 video via Auroral-E (sound clip)
Spectrogram of 49.750 video via Auroral-E
VE3EN aurora with short MS burst (sound clip)
This video is pretty weak. To be honest, one of them is barely audible but clearly there. What makes it unusual is that this is seldom seen stuff. On this morning a video carrier came out of the noise on 48.249.99 Mhz. I am reasonably confident this is video from Kenya. In any case I have never heard this one before. Later, as that video was fading out, another carrier slowly appeared on 48.249.67. That one is from Cameroon. I was hoping to get a good recording of the Cameroon video this summer, but this was about the best I heard all season! Sometimes it does get fairly strong here.
Kenya? and Cameroon video sound clip
Kenya? and Cameroon video Spectrogram
Although I saw very little of it this year, usually there are a numberr of days during Es season this video from Hungary on 49.739.60 MHz just rolls in here, sometimes for hours. I have seen it much stronger than this. I have been informed this station will cease operation later this year, so this may very likely be the last time I hear it. The weak, steady traces at 430, 950, and 1500 Hz are birdies. The video carrier is at 620 Hz and the first 50 Hz "sidebands" above and below can be seen throughout most of the spectrogram. Occasonally, during QSB peaks, you can see some of the sidebands further out. This has always been one of the "cleaner" videos, with minimal 50 Hz components. It has to get pretty strong before they show up, unlike some of the others.
Out of nowhere, suddenly a rare opening to the Middle East around 1400z.
48.239.62 MHz Video from Iran
spectrogram (+/- 120 Hz "sidebands" created by my noise blanker)
48.250.20 MHz Video carrier from Syria or United Arab Emirates (probably UAE)
spectrogram (+/- 120 Hz "sidebands" created by my noise blanker)
49.739.50 MHz Ukraine warbler
49.739.61 MHz video, two carriers 10 Hz separation
49.744.80 MHz Video from Hungary - very growly, note the strong sidebands at +/- multiples of 50 Hz
49.760.42 MHz video
I finally managed to work St. Pierre & Miquelon on this day. FP/VA2WA
On this afternoon there was a very weak, spotty opening to the Mediterranean area. Then suddenly JW7QIA popped in around 2030 UTC. Es propagation to such high latitudes is very rare from here. What made this all the more unusual was hearing OH, SM, LA, PA, ON, and CT at approximately the same time or soon thereafter. Several JA sations were also heard a bit later.
The first "unusual" event of the day was seeing two different video carriers on 49.760. One is very common, but two on this frequency is very rare for me. If you have well trained weak signal ears you will be able to hear two weak carriers in the sound clip, both fading in and out. One is at 370 Hz, the other 450 Hz. The actual video carrier frequencies, to the best of my ability to measure, were 49.760.35 (rare) and 49.760.43 (common).
The scond "unusual" event of the day was seeing "something" pop up on 49.740.90 MHz. This is not video. From the sound and appearance in Spectran it seems to be some sort of digital signal. But, it had QSB typical of Es, it was heard only during a time when video was in from the north and northeast (this peaked at 15 degrees), and it has 50 Hz "sidebands" which are typical of carriers from outside North America. It is a curiosity. I have no idea what it was or where it was coming from.
During this opening to Japan, 49.747.43 MHz video (Moscow) and two different 49.750 video carriers (49.750.00 and 49.750.02 MHz) were heard on a norhteast heading.
While not exactly rare, OA4TT is the farthest south I have ever worked (or heard) on pure summer Es. I have heard/worked Jack a few times, but it is definitely not an everyday event.
18 June 2011 - Video carrier from Iran. In the sound clip you will hear the carrier at 640 Hz pitch and a lot of buzzing. The buzzing does not belong to this video carrier, but to the 48.242 video carrier from Portugal, which was very strong at the time. In the spectrogram you can clearly see the carrier at about 640 Hz. My receiver was tuned to 48.239.00 USB mode.
18 June 2011 - Video carrier from Portugal. In the sound clip you will hear the carrier at 1240 Hz and some video buzz. There are two spectrograms. In the first one it was moderately strong. In the second it was stronger. My receiver was tuned to 48.241.00 USB mode.
Spectrogram (moderately strong signal)
Spectrogram (very strong signal)
18 June 2011 - Video carriers from Ukraine and Hungary. There are two sound clips. You will hear two distinctly different video carries in both clips, fading up and down. One is at approximately 520 Hz and has a distinct "warble" as it wanders around in frequency. Notice how the "warbler" appears in the spectrogram! The other is at 610 Hz and stable. Usually only one of these will be heard at any giventime due to the selective nature of Es propagation. Occasionally in the better openings both will be heard at the same time as on this day. My receiver was tuned to 49.739.00 USB mode.
18 June 2011 - Video carriers from eastern Europe. In the sound clip you should hear two distinct carriers, both fading somewhat. One is at 700 Hz, the other at 1000 Hz. My receiver was tuned to 49.749.00 USB mode.
18 June 2011 - Video carrier from eastern Europe. In the sound clip you will hear the carrier at 430 Hz and in the spectrogram the carrier is clearly visible. My receiver was tuned to 49.760.00 USB mode.
On this evening, I suddenly started hearing 49.750 video on a north and later north-northwest heading. Shortly thereafter, JA signals were heard on 6 meters. By the time it was over I had logged 10 JA QSOs. Some stations were close to S9 on the meter, and it's not a particularly generous meter! I was too busy and too excited to do much recording, but I do have two interesting sound clips from that opening. The first is JE1BMJ recorded at my station; the second is my signal recorded at JE1BMJ.
JE1BMJ as heard at N1BUG station
N1BUG as heard at JE1BMJ station
On this afternoon / evening, I had strong video carriers from Eastern Europe. One was an unusual warbler on 49.760.43 MHz. Usually the video carriers I get on that frequency are stable, but this one was definitely not. I don't know whether one of hte "usual" transmitters heard on this frequency was having a technical problem that day or perhaps I was hearing one I have not heard before (or since). The other interesting video of that day was multiple carriers on 49.750. I cannot say for certain how many I was hearing, but it was at least four and maybe as many as eight. Two or three at a time is not uncommon on this particular frequency but anything more than three is a rare event. It is difficult to count carriers in the spectrogram because some of them were warblers (producing a wide, "fuzzy" trace which might obscure weaker carriers), because I have some weak birdies very near that freqeuncy, and because I might be seeing 50 Hz "sidebands" on some of the stronger carriers. The thin line at 1450 Hz is a known birdie. I have another very weak birdie that sometimes shows up at 1020 Hz with this recevier setting but if it was present at this time it would be obscured by the strong warbler centered at 1020 Hz. The weak traces at 840 and 1430 Hz are questionable. I have not to my knowledge ever seen birdies at those fequencies, but I do not believe I have ever seen videio carriers there either. Both seem to exhibit some fading and I lean toward them being never-before-seen video carriers. The fat traces at 970 and 1020 Hz are definitely two different video carriers. The fat trace at 1170 appears to be another. The thin trace at 1060 Hz is almost certainly another video carrier.The weak trace at appriximately 1040 Hz also has characteristics of a distinct carrier. If I had to make an educated guess, based on my experience, I would guess that there are seven different video carriers here! That is incredible and unprecedented. A longer recording would have probably removed some ambiguity and allowed a more confident count. I regret that I did not get a longer recording, but I was very busy trying to capture this stuff and work DX at the same time!
Last update January 4, 2022
