Had some interesting Spanish language satcom traffic last week on 265.250 between several stations including Moldavia 10, Mérida, and Rangún 10. Lots of test counts and making attempts to establish communication. The station identifying as Mérida mentions being located in the Bellavista sector.
Additional comms regarding a maneuver and discussion about initiating movement towards a specific point based on OP-0010. Mérida mentioned being with Rangún 15 at the location.
During all of this activity, I also logged Mako 93 calling JIATF South.
8843 USB 0154Z: San Francisco Radio wkg NASA 817 with ATC clearance to destination PMD. McDonnell Douglas DC-8-70 operated by NASA out of Palmdale.
8843 USB 0248Z: Lan Chile 603 wkg San Francisco Radio reporting FL370, estimating 20N 110W at 0306 and next 15N 106W. Boeing 787-8 en route from LAX to Santiago de Chile.
8843 USB 0310Z: Western Global 7002 wkg San Francisco Radio with position ELOYI at 0308, FL370, estimates ERROT at 0354 and ETNIC next. Aircraft is a Boeing MD-11F en route from Honolulu to LAX.
Last week, I observed unusual radio traffic on the 260.475MHz frequency. The transmissions were likely from a Colombian military or law enforcement operation. The callsigns used were Copán, Pulpo, Mammoth, Aquiles, and Jerónimo. The operators were active for several days and mentioned carrying out police searches, taking photos and videos, and operating a drone. They also provided latitude and longitude coordinates that placed them in the remote jungles of the Darién Gap, along the border between Colombia and Panama. One of the units sounded digital, suggesting that some of the radio traffic may have been patched through a terrestrial radio system. Another clue was dropped when one of the operators said, “Copán, le confirmo la salida en el Black Hawk, en el UH-60 PNC 0625.” This translates to, “Copán, I confirm the departure of the Black Hawk, UH-60 PNC-0625.” A check of the tail number confirmed that this particular Black Hawk belongs to the Colombian National Police.
17946 USB 0340Z: Air India 173D wkg San Francisco for selcal check on DMCJ. This is ferry flight operated by Air India after the original flight (AI173) had to divert to Magadan, Russia due to a technical issue with one of the plane’s engines. This is the rescue flight, AI173D taking the stranded passengers to San Francisco.
9007 USB 0244Z: Rebel 40 clg Trenton Military and requesting a selcal check on GHAE. Self identified as a C-130 Hercules “130340” on test flight from Abbotsford.
Welcome fellow radio monitors and enthusiasts! Here you will find my reception logs and audio recordings for HF and SATCOM (with a focus on aviation and military) along with other interesting and odd things that have been monitored over the airwaves from my location in Southern California.
My primary HF setup includes the WinRadio G31DDC paired with magnetic loop antennas like the Wellbrook ALA1530. For UHF SATCOM, I use antennas such as the Trivec Avant AV-2011, AV-2055, and AV-2095.