[time-nuts] !0 MHz standard frequency intruder

[David McGaw]

Others are hearing it too:

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/article.php?story=20120617111532649&mode=print

73,

David N1HAC

On 6/28/12 7:33 PM, EB4APL wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm receiving, maybe from less than a  month, a new station on 10 MHz 
> which claims it is an "experimental time signals station".
> The weird thing is that they transmit music between the minute time 
> marks, heavily interfering with the other standard stations which 
> share this frequency.  Currently I receive there WWV, the Italian 
> official standard frequency and time station IBF and its Brazilian 
> counterpart PPR (BTW PPR broadcasts local time instead of UTC). They 
> transmit continuously 24 hours a day.
> Every 15 minutes a female voice says that this is an experimental time 
> station, gives a web page and its locator.  While I agree that anybody 
> could run an standard frequency and time station, given official 
> license from their local authorities (and after international 
> coordination, I suppose), I think this is a truly "pirate" station 
> because among their weird "programming" , I also notice:
>
> - Their carrier is currently - 4 Hz off.
> - The second ticks are offset enough to be perceived by ear with 
> respect to known standards.
>
> The transmission is in USB with full carrier (I don't have the 
> designation on hand).  The format is:
> - The whole sequence begins at multiples of 15 minutes.
> - At second 52 they transmit something like a 2 second burst in FSK 
> (It can be a fake signal without any useful information).
> - At second 54 begins 1 sec ticks.
> - Tick at second 59 is omitted, then only the tick for sec 0 is 
> transmitted.
> - After the 0 sec tick a male voice announces the hour and minute. The 
> voice has an intonation like a news or sports speaker.
> - A female voice makes an announcement about being an experimental 
> time station, gives a web page and its locator.
> . The ticks are discontinued and replace by music.
> - The first music in a 15 minute cycle is from Peer Gynt, it is 
> replaced with other music the next minutes.
> - The next minutes lack the female voice announcement until next cycle 
> begins.
>
> All speaking is done in Italian language.
> If I copied the locator correctly, the transmitter location is near 
> Pisa, Italy.
>
> Did anybody noticed this transmission?  I receive it in Madrid, Spain.
>
> Regards,
> Ignacio, EB4APL
>
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