40m Jamming is Back

[k4kyv]

Tuned across 40m about 0500 GMT.  Strong jamming signals, each about 15 kc/s wide,  centred on 7120, 7165 and 7175.  Jamming hiss was about the loudest thing on the entire band, wiping out a huge portion.  Tuned by later, just after 0600 and it was gone, along with the broadcast signals it was trying to jam.

[WA1GFZ]

sounds worse than the commie airplane sound of the '60s

[W4AAB]

Lot of jamming last night on 3885. Heard lots of stations on AM running Yaesu FT101B's, etc. @30 watts out from Midwest. Sad that the slopbuckets have to become jammers. I am still trying to get my "REAL' AM stuff working, but enjoyed listening on the R-390A.

[Steve - K4HX]

Yes, it is sad. Unfortunately, it's nothing new. AMers have been jammed on 3885 (and elsewhere) since I first tuned in during the early 1970's. Those around before then will tell you that it happened in the 60's.

The happy news is that despite this jamming, the amount of AM activity has grown over the years and continues to grow. Let 'em jam. It's like AM fertilizer!

Lot of jamming last night on 3885. Heard lots of stations on AM running Yaesu FT101B's, etc. @30 watts out from Midwest. Sad that the slopbuckets have to become jammers. I am still trying to get my "REAL' AM stuff working, but enjoyed listening on the R-390A.

[W2PFY]

Sad to think that it may be one of our own perhaps unhappy with ones treatment due to ones own actions may be causing this. If you think you may know who is doing this, a trip to their neighborhood may confirm the source. If the station has a very strong signal, a car AM radio may spot the source when cruising the street where they live?

Now that I have my R390A repaired, I could go mobile if I can find someone to help me load it in the car

[k4kyv]

Yes, it is sad. Unfortunately, it's nothing new. AMers have been jammed on 3885 (and elsewhere) since I first tuned in during the early 1970's. Those around before then will tell you that it happened in the 60's.

I believe the widespread phenomenon of jamming that is so commonplace on the ham bands to-day originated during the AM-SSB wars during the 60's, when slopbuckets began to make it a point to deliberately interfere with those who had refused to sheepishly change change over to SSB whether they wanted to or not, but defiantly continued to operate AM. Before the warfare erupted, deliberate jamming was relatively rare on the ham bands and was considered an anomaly, not mainstream like it is now.

Of course, there was jamming from the other direction as well.  Slopbuckets would moan through the mic over the air or transmit blower noise.  AMers tended to drop carriers on top of the slopbuckets. A tactic used by both sides was to swish a carrier over the transmitting station.  After the war more or less died down, with the slopbuckets triumphantly claiming victory and proclaiming the death of AM, the jamming and deliberate interference genie was out of the bottle, where it remains to this day.

I'm pretty sure the jamming I heard on 40m last night was coming from Ethiopia.

[WA1GFZ]

The birth place of civilization seems to have soiled its pants this past week or so..

[Steve - K4HX]

The birth place of civilization wasn't. The history you were taught was/is wrong. Civilizations sprung up in many places in the world, often independently.

[KX5JT]

Yeah but the genetically modified monkeys that the ancient aliens experimented on around Mesopotamia are the ones that seem to catch on the quickest! 

[k4kyv]

The jamming came on again this evening.  Wiped out the AM-to-AM QSO I was  having on 7160 with Roberto, YS1RS in San Salvador.  Strong and broad rushing noise on 7120, 7165, 7175 and 7185, therefore wiping out most of the band. The only phone spectrum below 7200 completely clear of the noise was approximately 7130-7150.

[W2VW]

Ever been to MLK blvd in Newark?

The birth place of civilization wasn't. The history you were taught was/is wrong. Civilizations sprung up in many places in the world, often independently.

[W3SLK]

Dave said:

Ever been to MLK blvd in Newark?

Yeah, at 2AM. A scary place indeed!

[W2VW]

Dave said:

Ever been to MLK blvd in Newark?

Yeah, at 2AM. A scary place indeed!

The food isn't half bad though.

[KA2QFX]

Yo, yo, yo!  Be chill man!  Don't you be diss'in' 'bout no Gibson City home boy.

[Steve - K4HX]

LOL.

The Chinese would beg to differ.

Yeah but the genetically modified monkeys that the ancient aliens experimented on around Mesopotamia are the ones that seem to catch on the quickest! 

[k4kyv]

LOL.

The Chinese would beg to differ. 

Reportedly, it was the Chinese who furnished the jamming transmitters, four of them, to Ethiopia. They were using all four last night.

Dave said:

Ever been to MLK blvd in Newark?

Yeah, at 2AM. A scary place indeed!

The food isn't half bad though.

I love Ethiopian/Eritrean food.  I developed a taste for it during the 3 years I spent there in the late 60s.  With all the refugees in this country due to recent political events in that part of the world, Ethiopian restaurants and grocery stores are popping up everywhere.  There are at least three restaurants and one grocery in Nashville.

[flintstone mop]

The jamming came on again this evening.  Wiped out the AM-to-AM QSO I was  having on 7160 with Roberto, YS1RS in San Salvador.  Strong and broad rushing noise on 7120, 7165, 7175 and 7185, therefore wiping out most of the band. The only phone spectrum below 7200 completely clear of the noise was approximately 7130-7150.

I am guessing that this may be the same thing that has been plaguing Asian operators for 40M. Wide swaths of 40M unusable coz of a wide band wipe out. It might be propagating here. China Air defense system

fred

[Steve - K4HX]

I heard an Italian station working Philippine stations yesterday afternoon at 3PM local. I guess there are times when the jamming is not a problem.

[kf4qkr]

  The jaming on 3885 is probably coming from the 3892 crowd. They have recently picked up a jammer who has been very persistant. Even though the jammer is jamming them on SSB they are blaming it on the AMers and have vowed to retaliate. Just the other night they got jammed and they all moved to about 3884 while they were having a good old boy net on 3885. The jammer followed them to 3884 and then back to 3992 when they were through. I dont even think its an AMer thats jamming them. Go figgure same old story different time.

[k4kyv]

The jamming came on again this evening.  Wiped out the AM-to-AM QSO I was  having on 7160 with Roberto, YS1RS in San Salvador.  Strong and broad rushing noise on 7120, 7165, 7175 and 7185, therefore wiping out most of the band. The only phone spectrum below 7200 completely clear of the noise was approximately 7130-7150.

I am guessing that this may be the same thing that has been plaguing Asian operators for 40M. Wide swaths of 40M unusable coz of a wide band wipe out. It might be propagating here. China Air defense system

fred

It's coming from Ethiopia, not from China or the Philippines.  The BC stations that are targets of the jamming have been clearly identified as the Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, and the jamming signal follows them around if they QSY to try  to  dodge the jamming.  It was also reported that China sold or donated 4 jamming transmitters to Ethiopia for the purpose. Ethiopia and Eritrea have been at war with each other for years.

The BC stations start up at 0400Z, which is 7 AM local time in Ethiopia and Eritrea.  The past two nights the jamming has started at 0500Z, or 8 AM local time.  Before, it would fade out after 0600Z due to propagation (9 AM local time), but they may shut down at that time.

[KF1Z]

Dave said:

Ever been to MLK blvd in Newark?

Yeah, at 2AM. A scary place indeed!

I'm not sure WHERE in Newark we were, out one Saturday night real late,( a weekend off during basic training from Ft Dix....)

But we found out REAL quick, we were NOT in the right place!!

The bars we found, would have been a regular riot to be at, IF we were from the neighborhood.

No wonder the taxi driver said " You SURE this is where ya wanna be?.."

 

[Blaine N1GTU]

my guess is there is probably some jamming coming from Egypt due to all the stuff going on over there, they have already blocked internet access.

[k4kyv]

my guess is there is probably some jamming coming from Egypt due to all the stuff going on over there, they have already blocked internet access.

Hopefully not in the middle of the 40m "broadcast free" portion of the band.  OTOH, Eritrea never pulled its broadcast stations out of the 7.1-7.2 segment.  I understand that neither Eth nor Eri ever signed on to the ITU treaty, so they are not technically in violation.

I doubt if any outside country is going to send in troops any time soon to shut the jamming stations down.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

There was still a fair amount of intentional 'hate AM' crap going on from the 70s up into the 90s. Getting on in the ghetto at night with the 100w 32V was always a challenge as it was often more like hand-to-hand combat if there wasn't a big signal on the air to sweep things clean.

I hear some jamming down this way which is clearly from this area, but it's pretty lightweight stuff. One night last fall some SSBers were trying to jam a few of us down around 3715 as we talked. Since everyone had a potent signal, we just continued on as if they weren't there, since their impact was equivalent to a gnat buzzing in your ear. I later heard them whining that they needed to get bigger amps because we didn't hear them. There's a group around 3712 who send pictures back and forth, I suspect it was them as they feel they own the 'channel'.

There will always be a few. Best approach is the K4KYV method of turn up the wick and strap. Whatever you do, don't acknowledge them. Even if you need a fill, say that your wife turned on the mixer, neighbor is using his welder, kid needed help with his homework, whatever. These types tend to move along if they don't get the attention and satisfaction they crave. They seek it elsewhere. If you give it to them by acknowledgment, you'll make their day.

sounds worse than the commie airplane sound of the '60s

I remember that commie airplane jammer sound from the 70s. Nobody was talking through that mess. It's strange how those of us who came along back then just took things like the woodpecker for granted and resigned ourselves to having to deal with it.

Then it was gone. Now we have plasma TVs and other consumer junk throughout the neighborhoods.

[k4kyv]

There's a group around 3712 who send pictures back and forth, I suspect it was them as they feel they own the 'channel'.

Kinda like what some AMers feel about the 'window'.