08/15/2017

It was a now-familiar story in the July edition of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU R1[1]) Monitoring System (IARUMS[2]) newsletter[3], which reports that Radio Eritrea and Radio Ethiopia are still slugging it out i the 40-meter phone band. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia.

"The hostile brothers were daily active on 7,150 and 7,175 kHz," said IARUMS Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM. "Earlier complaints were not regarded. No change." Radio Ethiopia has been deliberately interfering with Radio Eritrea on both frequencies by transmitting white noise, Hadel said.

Elsewhere on 40 meters, Radio Hargaysa in Somalia has been transmitting on 7,120 kHz, and is audible daily in Australia and Japan. On 7,200 kHz, the "Firedrake Jammer" in the People's Republic of China has been transmitting on top of a broadcaster in the Republic of China (Taiwan). The PRC considers Taiwan a province. The Firedrake (or Fire Dragon) jammer, which has been interfering with Amateur Radio signals on 40 and 20 meters over the past decade or longer, also disrupts broadcasts from the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and the BBC. The jammer's designation derives from the name of a lengthy Chinese folk tune that the jammer transmits.

So-called "cluster beacons" from Russia have become another issue reported on the 80- and 40-meter CW/digital segments. These CW signals are showing up on several frequencies above 3,590 kHz and in the vicinity of 7,039 kHz and identify with three-letter, R-prefix call signs. They're operated by the Russian Navy, according to IARUMS.

Over the Horizon (OTH) radar signals also continue to intrude on the exclusive Amateur Radio 40, 20, 15, and 10-meter allocations.

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[1] http://www.iaru-r1.org/
[2] http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/
[3] http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/news2017/news1707.pdf

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