Welcome
Radio Monitoring Station by DARC
The Intruder Monitoring Unit is the Intruder Watch of DARC e.V. and an important part of the IARU Monitoring System (IARU MS) in Region 1.
To fulfil our tasks, we have our own measuring and receiving station in a rural environment. It is equipped with state-of-the-art, software-supported systems and allows the automated recording and analysis of emissions in the range up to 30 MHz (shortwave, HF). The station is structurally assigned to the Monitoring Service within the Intruder Monitoring Unit.
Our measuring and receiving station is unique in the field of private, non-commercial services in terms of equipment, structure and processes beyond the boundaries of amateur radio.
The initial procurement of the equipment was made possible by a grant from the DARC Plus membership.
Equipment and design
The measuring and receiving station of the DARC e.V. uses two antennas: A dipole with a span of 30 metres for continuous observation of a single shortwave band and a broadband magnetic antenna for the range from 1.8 to 30 MHz.
The spectra from the antennas are routed to a remotely controllable antenna splitter, where they are distributed to three professional SDRs (Software Defined Receivers).
The receivers are connected to a server. Different softwares control the receivers according to a defined scheme to examine selected amateur radio shortwave bands in real time. The main focus is on emissions that cannot be assigned to amateur radio traffic. The system can be operated completely remotely.
A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) as well as various safety systems ensure trouble-free, continuous operation throughout the year.
Automated Radio Monitoring (ARM)
Antennas
Dipol, 30m span
Wideband loop antenna HF
Receivers
3 Winradio® G33DDC, G31DDC
Antenna splitter Elad® ASA-62
Software
Monitoring
Analyses
- WAVECOM W-Code®
- sowie weitere Softwares für die Signalanalyse und Fernsteuerung und -Wartung der Station.
Infrastructure
- Server with RAID 10 SSD-Cluster
- UPS providing all systems
- Connection to fire alarm system
- Security technology
The core of our system is the Procitec go2monitor® software. It enables 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:
Procitec go2monitor® in use at the measuring and receiving station of DARC e.V.
The staff of our unit's monitoring service access this database remotely and evaluate the results as a team. This way, we can create profiles of emissions and derive the need for action at a very early stage if there is unauthorised use of our amateur radio bands.
Signal analysis
In deeper analysis of unknown signals, we use various software tools. With their help, we can determine the modulation, the exact method, the bandwidth and a number of other system-specific parameters, such as baud rate and shift or SPS (spikes per second) for radar systems.
Intruder Watch by DARC
Find out more about our unit. We have provided a wealth of information at www.bandwacht.de and www.intruder-monitoring.de. You can also find our contact details there. There you will also find our contact details.
The intruder watch of the DARC e.V. is a partner of the Federal Network Agency.