Cooperation partner of the German Federal Network Agency

May 7th 2023

Spanish fishermen are observed on 21.000 kHz in USB on many afternoons in Central Europe.

Our translation service found that in European Spanish they were talking about cod, ships, an ice cream machine and going back to a port.

The DARC intruder watch has sent a notification to the Federal Network Agency (BNEtzA).

Sumit reception report

Daniel Möller, DL3RTL

September 8th 2022

In our exclusive shortwave bands, there are always foreign radio services that really have no business being there. Sometimes they are difficult to be recognise.

Like in the case with the evening transmissions on 7080 kHz. At first glance, it seems to be RTTY and a legal amateur radio signal. But far from it. If you take a closer look at the parameters of the transmission, you will notice that it is a non-amateur radio FSK procedure. The step rate is 50 baud with a shift of 200 Hz. This method, called CIS-50-50, is mainly used by the Russian Navy.

We are preparing a new report to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) and ask for reception reports from the ranks of radio amateurs and SWLs.

Sumit reception report

Daniel Möller, DL3RTL

August 4th 2022
update August 15th 2022

Algerian Radio has made a frequency change and is now broadcasting with its lower sideband of its A3E signal the 40m band in the early morning hours on 7200 kHz.

The German intruder watch has already involved the Federal Network Agency BNetzA to obtain the withdrawal of the frequency change.

Since 15.08.2022, the station has attracted attention with its Arabic programme on 21450 kHz. In the period from 1600 to 1800 h UTC, it interferes with its lower sideband in the 15m band. further transmission took place on 26th and 30th of August 2022.

Daniel Möller, DL3RTL

Report intruders to the intruder watch of DARC

https://meldung.bandwacht.de

Any radio amateur or shortwave listener can report intruders - i.e. non-amateur radio stations, no electromagnetic interference - to the band watch at any time using the report form. This is independent of a membership in the DARC e.V..

In the report form there is also the possibility to upload a screenshot of a waterfall diagram. Unfortunately, entries by e-mail cannot be processed.

Your data will be transmitted electronically to the band watch and managed there in a digital system. This system automatically triggers an alarm and notifies all service staff of the band watch by e-mail and directly as a message on your smartphone.

It only takes a few minutes from the time you submit your report to the time the service team is informed. As a submitter, you will receive an email from our system immediately after submitting the form, with a link where you can view the progress of the processing or make additions online at any time.

According to availability and time of day, the staff will begin to condense the information, compare it with other reports and, if necessary, ask the submitter questions. Experts in foreign languages and digimodes are also involved if necessary.

If all the information is available and it is a new intruder (foreign band intruder/radio service), the data set is transmitted to the BNetzA via a coordinated procedure, which in turn creates an observation case to confirm the foreign signal.

If the new intruder is confirmed, a so-called international complaint is usually sent to the corresponding country of origin.

The DARC intruder watch also reports its most important observations to IARU R1, where they are published in a monthly newsletter together with reports from other amateur radio associations in IARU Region 1.

Latest IARU MS R1 report

Monitoring service

Analyses service

Radio direction finding

Project management
System administration

Data privacy

Language translation

The monitoring service is used to observe and log the HF bands for intruders. We make use of different sources for this.

We have technical possibilities for automated band monitoring. In addition, we receive reports from the ranks of radio amateurs, which reach us via the band watch reporting form. We call such reports community reports. They are processed in a modern electronic system.

It doesn't matter from which source the information comes: It is collected and condensed to create a profile of the intruder.

In monitoring, we are not always successful in classifying a signal right away. Sometimes there can be deviations or even new procedures. We have the relevant experience and resources to analyse such signals and assign them to a specific procedure.

It is important to know where the foreign signal comes from. Only then it can be assigned to a specific radio service or originator with a high degree of probability. The DARC band watch uses the KiWi network with the TDoA function for this purpose.

In order to be able to achieve a consistently high DF quality, the band watch is currently setting up its own KiWi at locations far apart from each other. These are equipped with very sensitive antennas and are exclusively available to the intruder watch.

Not all foreign signals can be assigned to digital operating modes. Occasionally, they are also transmissions in phonics. The intruder watch maintains a network of translators, including for Eastern European and Asian languages.

To operate our systems and design concepts for a wide range of tasks, the intruder monitoring unit has its own project management, developers and a contact person for data protection. We work in a structured way according to modern, semi-agile processes and with systems that are state of the art.

The Intruder Monitoring Unit of DARC is the operator of its own measuring and receiving station. It is equipped with the most modern, software-supported systems and allows the automated monitoring and analysis of emissions on the shortwave bands.

At the software level, we work with e.g.

• Procitec go2monitor^®

• W-Code von Wavecom^®

The core of our system is the Procitec go2monitor^® software. It allows us to scan shortwave frequency ranges for emissions in real time. The system simultaneously records all signals and classifies them. The parameters of the emissions are written into a database and stored there for further evaluation.

The following video shows part of our facility in operation, using the 40-metre band as an example:

The Intruder Monitoring team is also QRV on the bands under the call DL0IMO.

IMO stands for Intruder Monitoring.

Radio contact will be exclusively with intruder watch staff.

We look forward to contacting you and confirm QSL cards via the office.

Errors and typos excluded.

IARU Monitoring System Region 1

Landing page of the higher-level monitoring system of IARU Region 1.

intervalsignals.net

Website with sound samples of radio identification melodies.

schoechi.de

Website of Martin Schöch with information on Clandestine Stations.

fading.de

Introduction to Utility DX.

Ionosonde Juliusruh, Insel Rügen

Plot of the current ionogram*.

*Ionograms are graphical representations of the current state of the ionosphere in relation to a specific location or area.
We see the ionosphere with reflective layers (D layer, Es = Sporadic E, F1 and F2 layer, MUF = maximum usable frequency). N/A = not available = not available. The ionograms are updated continuously.

Explanation of the ionogram (PDF)

Ionosonde Dourbes, Belgien

Plot of the current ionogram.

Ionosonde Pruhonice, Tschechien

Plot of the current ionogram.

AKM Polarlicht Vorhersage

Link to the warning list.

DR2W DX-Propagation

Map of the current propagation behaviour.

dxinfocentre.com

Tropospheric overreach.

Überhorizontradar Wikipedia

Ausführliche Erklärungen zum Themengebiet Überhorizontradar.

In order to communicate with the Intruder Monitoring Service in an encrypted way please follow these

instructions