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HF Communications
Hugh Stegman
hughstegman@monitoringtimes.com
www.ominous-valve.com/uteworld.html
New York VOLMET Returns to Air
The automated aviation weather broadcasts
from WSY70, New York Radio,
suddenly resumed around October 6,
2004. There was no formal announcement or
explanation given, just like when the station
vanished a year or so before. Services, schedules
and frequencies are unchanged, as if nothing had
happened.
Presumably, whatever budget issues had put
the broadcast on hold have been resolved. The
station sounds great. It’s being heard worldwide
on its traditional frequencies of 3485 (local night),
6604, 10051, and 13270 (local day). These are in
kilohertz (kHz), and all upper sideband (USB).
Duration is 20 minutes, starting on the hour and
half hour, with Gander Radio, Newfoundland,
Canada, filling the other ten.
Content is also unchanged. It is the North
Atlantic VOLMET (“flying weather,” loosely
from French). It’s intended for pilots on oceanic
air routes. This consists of three parts. First is
airport weather observations in a slightly modified
METAR (Routine Aviation Meteorological)
format. Second is Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts
(TAF), and the third is Atlantic and Caribbean
SIGMETs (SIGnificant METeorological
reports).
The lower frequency uses a doublet antenna,
and the others use a rhombic, 3000 watts each.
Their location is near Barnegat, New Jersey, as
fed from the Federal Aviation Administration on
Long Island.
It sounds as if the same well-trained announcer
is always on-mike, but it’s really an
unusually natural-sounding “Voice Concatenation
System” called StarCaster. Unlike the Coast
Guard’s “Perfect Paul” and other voice synthesizers,
it turns text files into a convincing stream of
digitized human speech, from a database of words
with various intonations.
Nice to have this great old station back on
the air.
28 MONITORING TIMES January 2005
❖ Bern Radio Joins Kiel Mail
Last month, we erroneously reported that
Bern Radio in Switzerland was owned by Globe
Wireless. It is not! Since January 1, 2004, it’s been
managed by RUAG Aerospace, a Swiss corporation
better known for aircraft subassemblies and
military drones.
What is true is that all voice and teleprinting
services closed on September 27, 2004. The station
is being modernized and refitted for digital
maritime e-mail and network services using
PACTOR-III (Packet Teleprinting Over Radio,
version III).
Bern will be networked with Kiel Radio, a
German station that has been offering a turnkey
mail system for some time. Like a lot of these, it
uses a PACTOR modem with proprietary firmware.
This is connected to any approved uppersideband
(USB) maritime radio with an antenna
tuner, and to a standard Windows computer.
Along with an Internet-like e-mail system, it offers
a weather server, GPS position reporting, and
access to MarineNet in Florida via WKS, Jupiter
Radio.
As of early November 2004, active
MarineNet WKS channels were 5258.5 and 9158.5
kilohertz (kHz), USB simplex. Kiel Radio, DAO,
Germany, is using the ship/shore duplex pairs of
2628.5/2550.0, 4242.5/4164.5, 6434.0/6257.5,
6434.0/6257.5, 8510.4/8328.5, 8637.0/8336.5,
12762.0/12412.5, and 17046.5/16609.5 kHz
USB, again all dial/window. All shore transmitters
are 150 watts.
A complete list of frequencies used and
planned by Kiel Mail is at their web site, http://
www.kielradio.de/.
❖ Canadian Sub Fire
In October 2004, the recently purchased
Canadian submarine Chicoutimi left the United
Kingdom on its maiden voyage to its new home.
Soon afterward, a serious electrical fire left the
boat dead in the water 100 miles off Scotland.
All circuits were dead, many were damaged, and
there was no power. At least nine in the crew of
57 were injured, three seriously.
For the next two days, much of the rescue
drama was on shortwave radio. 5680 kHz USB,
an international aircraft safety frequency, was primary
for Kinloss Rescue, in Scotland, working a
number of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force assets
enroute to the drifting sub. Secondary was 3023
kHz USB, another safety-of-flight channel.
When a “numbers” station started up on
5680, the net moved to 5699, then to 3945, before
finally going back to 5680. At one point, someone
said on-air that the “numbers” would be over in
five minutes. Did they know something, or was
that just the station’s normal schedule? Either
way, it’s extremely interesting.
Meanwhile, 3023’s less busy operation
moved temporarily to 3939 when a military digital
station interfered. While 3945 and 3939 kHz
are in the 75-meter amateur band, non-amateur
utilities are legal in the Eastern Hemisphere. 6697
kHz USB was also used.
A detailed log of both days, as kept by “a
short-wave radio operator,” was posted to the web
site of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
While I never recommend that anyone in our
hobby run to the media without first understanding
the laws in their country regarding secrecy
of communications, this log is out there, and it’s
amazing reading, if a bit scary. A text version has
been posted to this column’s web site.
❖ US Coast Guard ALE
Most US Coast Guard aircraft, and especially
helicopters on patrols or anti-smuggling
missions, are now using the Automatic Link
Establishment network. Some ALE callups lead
to clear and secure voice contacts on the same
frequencies.
The older safety-of-flight net that we’ve all
come to know and love on 5696, 8983, and 11202
kHz USB, survives for search-and-rescue and
certain fixed-wing operations with CAMSLANT
Chesapeake and CAMSPAC Point Reyes. These
stand for Communication Area Master Station,
Atlantic and Pacific respectively. They’re on
ALE, too, as LNT and PAC.
The ALE net uses an upgrade of the older US
Customs Service COTHEN (Customs Over-The-
Horizon Enforcement Network). Other known
players include joint drug task forces, and ICE
(Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under
the Department of Homeland Security).
ALE frequencies for COTHEN, or “Scan”
as some Coast Guard operators call it, are 5732,
7527, 8912, 10242, 11494, 13907, 15867, 18594,
20890, 23214, and 25350.0 kHz, all USB. Others
may exist.
The old US Coast Guard GANTSEC (Greater
Antilles Section) has been merged into a new
Sector San Juan, out of Puerto Rico. Similarly,
Group Key West is now part of Sector Key West.
More such changes are inevitable.
May a good new year be inevitable for you,
and enjoy the winter skip.