Sounds of HF Radio - Digital Modes and other Unusual Sounds

As a follow on from my previous video introducing the SDR, here is a collection of various digital modes used by utilities, mariners and amateur radio users. There are various modes such as XSL, TADIL, HFDL, Pactor, CW, HF Fax, Packet, JT, ALE, DRM, RTTY and various OFDM schemes.

[@redradiodog]

When I was a kid back in the sixties, I would listen to my dads old multi band tube radio for hours at a time, searching the dial constantly, finding all kinds of strange sounds to listen too!

[@rayvan23]

Were you another '60's kid smokin' pot next to your dads tube radio?

[@asiyaheibhlin]

Listening to this stuff for 10 hours a day was once my job. It can make you go insaine. This brings back some bad times. OFDM was death. It would drag on for upwards of a few minutes. Any time we saw the OFDM on the screen we would have 10 minutes to report the time stamp because that was a signal of highly encrypted communications being made that another team had to crack and decrypt.

[@nightrunner9375]

Ha! When you got to the last one I was like "Awwwww WEFAX, you should have put it on a decod... YAYYYYY, decoding!!" I used to be so nuts over HF-FAX and SSTV when I was younger. When I was a kid I would sit for hours with my grandpa's Juliette multiband radio (which I still have), daydreaming about all these mysterious sounds and what they could possibly be. When I got a little older and the PC and Internet finally came along, I found my first decoder programs and blew days on end decoding EVERYTHING. NOAA sats on VHF, SSTV and WEFAX on HF, then the amazing sounding MFSK (I used to call it the "flock of geese" sound before I knew what it was actually called), the super mysterious MT63, and then finally I fell totally in love with PSK31 for a while. Never could get enough of it, collected hundreds of pictures from NOAA 11 & 13, SSTV and HF-FAX, logged countless conversations in the digital text modes. It's faded a little bit for me over the years but radio will still always have that magical, mysterious spark, love it. :-)

[@gcopter1963]

When I was a teenager, I’m 57 now, I was gifted a multi and radio. I don’t remember the brand but, at that time Juliette was a brand familiar to me. If you still have that radio, could you take a picture of it. I’m dying to find out, if the radio I had, in effect, a Juliette radio.

[@l.a.2646]

During the cold war there were lots of mysterious sounds for us to listen to, I got my first HF radio a Heathkit HW101 my dad was a WW2 combat veteran, he was 50 years old when I was born, but he and I would listen to that old tube set whenever we could , I got the rig at the age of 9. I studied for my ham ticket soon after. I've always had mic fright so I became a digital operator with CW first and once I got a computer, I started with packet using Baycom modems and the soundcard modes opened up a whole myriad of new / old modes for example Hellschriber and new modes by Joe Taylor - JT65 , psk31. Worked the world with these wonderful modes. ( The demented ice cream truck sound is EME ( moon bounce - earth moon earth) works in terrestrial modes too. Sounds creepy when you hear it. lol. Wonder if kids listen to the shortwave bands now, I doubt it. But when we were kids hearing a creepy numbers station or a faded mysterious CW ( Morse) signal was enough to get ones mind racing.

[@flightsimalaska3393]

There is so much interference nowadays with all the wall warts and led lights, grow lights at the neighbors, it’s tough. Every time the power goes off I fire up my laptop and start up SDR while the sound level is so low!

[@Guitarfollower22]

0:59 Someone playing Pacman?

[@tamerursavas3828]

Guitarfollower22 hahahahahhahahahahahahaha

[@SirWussiePants]

I was thinking it was the Tardis

[@thebakerman1]

Pacman at 0:55 On a serious note, I've been looking for a sample for some of these modes because I hear them all over the HF bands and can identify some of them but many I have no idea and you need samples to help show you what is what. I certainly appreciate these samples :)

[@aramach1335]

Merzbow's really going in a new direction here.

[@bsguy96]

its 0130 hours here, i'm pretty sleepy, and now all those noises are deffenatley keeping me awake all night

[@TheLaFolletteChronicles]

Makes me homesick for radio central on some of the navy ships I rode in the 60s, 70s, 80s. LOL

[@wolvesone]

when i first got in to SWL i started usign an SDR and that same decoding program to do wefax its always so cool for me to do since i am land locked and thousands of miles from the ocean and transmitter sites

[@zubuxstein]

the audiologist asked me what type of sounds affected your hearing... I played this video, and told him hear it for 12hrs every other day for five yrs!

[@jeanJenner]

First sound is over the horizon radar, the system used to protect us from "incoming". Yes, 3:30 is JT65, a digital mode I use frequently. WSJTX is one of the few software used to transmit and decode. Transmit last 47 sec, decoding 12 sec. FT8 sounds similar but transmissions last 15 sec. 5:20, military radar.

[@HarryHydro]

I use to listen to that Stanag on an AM shortwave radio. Always thought it sounded like a ship blowing its horns.

[@dadaya5792]

When I was young, I thought that it is microfon near transmitters fan. And simetimes it sounds like our old gas waterheater in grannys bathroom.

[@ItsMeKelso]

These sounds would make a great rave song

[@Lunar_Capital]

The first signal is the mysterious "16x64" ionospheric research sounder. I have never found any official name of this sounder, maker of it, nor where the transmitters are.

[@gabrielv.4358]

wow!

[@adelarsen9776]

Rules for determining weird signals on HF : a) Is it on an amateur band ? If so, It's an amateur signal. b) Is it a listed frequency known to listeners ? If so, it's just commercial. c) Does it sound like a HF radar ? If so, it's HF Radar. Google FLDIGI

[@DanDart]

If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck...

[@adelarsen9776]

Kathie Dart A duck sound could be a HF radar or a close by washing machine in your apartment building.

[@joebloggs4845]

Sir, I am fluent in six million forms of communication, This signal is not used by the Alliance. It could be an imperial code

[@barneymm2204]

It isn't friendly, whatever it is.

[@charleshunziker7416]

When I was a kid in a 60 I used to hear strong signals that sounds like aircraft roaring

[@alexramos2568]

What's the decoding software you are using

[@hamnoob3766]

Would be interesting to know what JHd reciever you are using or SDR. Might be worth putting in the description box. Many thanks for this informative video!

[@The_McFortner]

3:43 is JT65 mode.

[@BadassWeldingVideos]

I know a radio show on wrmi that has an ALE at the beginning of every show. I happen to know the sound is not part of the mp3 file being broadcast. Do you have any idea why or how it would be used?

[@JezzMan]

Calling... Calling.... Calling... I'm glad to see everything here is calling... Calling...

[@lui_gough]

Thanks for the comment and thanks for the info, I'll give 4285 a go with Skysweeper and see if it turns anything up. I'm using one called PC-HFDL from a while back. Seems to do the job just fine for me, I've had no trouble decoding 300bps - 1200bps long-slot (4.2sec) even with the Icom IC-R75 piped through a sound card, or the SDR. We don't get many 1800bps transmissions down here.

[@JeremyMcCracken]

I think you picked up a couple of the odd-sounding numbers stations (ENIGMA IDs beginning with 'X'). 3:25 sounds like the Russian Polytones, and 5:18 sounds like the Faders.

[@DanDart]

3:30 is indeed JT65 decodable using wsjtx

[@fellowWanderer1420]

What is that last piece of software you are using?

[@zannadootothetenth]

whats the program ur using an do u need anything or just the computer

[@skinnyflea2628]

Also you can use signal identification wiki, it doesn’t have everything though

[@SWLDXBulgaria]

It's clearly a STANAG 4285, used by the NATO military bases! Excellent video! 5 stars from me!

[@user-cg7uw9uh6n]

Excellent

[@AtomkeySinclair]

Hey - that's a neat compilation - thanks for the content...

[@M6GOF]

3m26s into the video is definitely JT65

[@MiiaFoxx]

5:40 Those are NATO STANAG broadcasts. You see a lot of those in various HF Bands. Never cared to decode them, but there are ways to go about doing it.

[@ivan69420.]

Its STANAG 4285?

[@porkiedev7]

@@RobertGeordieGibb Yes. although there are a few signals that have some informational preambles that aren't encrypted. Sometimes just repeated words or numbers, and no real information. Tbh, even if we could decrypt it, ignoring the fact that it would be highly illegal, we probably wouldn't be able to understand a single bit of the data that's streamed over there for a long time.

[@juliedejonge3931]

Non-directional beacons also send out ther sign using Morse code.

[@randybaumery5090]

I need to buy another portable shortwave radio.

[@gabrielv.4358]

So interesting... And kinda scary to hear at night wth all lights off

[@kalayaskitchen]

been off HF bands for 10 years (actually my company wrote the code for the UK RN radiofacsimile bcst on a linux box to stop them closing the service) - amazing kiwi open access sdrs, qrp modes like WSPR so now billeted in Thailand and started thinking "all I can get is loud chinese stations" I was wrong, lots of interesting HF stuff. I need new socks tho they keep getting blown off.

[@Antonio30ir103]

Hi great video.The sounds on 5:19 is Stanag 4285,a military digital mode.Greetings

[@SWLDXBulgaria]

@Antonio30ir103 I can hear this on multiple frequencies all over the shortwave bands with very, very clear and strong signal, is this really the NATO stanag military communications or just local QRM?

[@K1y0GSL]

What do you use to record the video of your screen?

[@note.swiper-main]

5:19 is STANAG if there is 3 points of constant signal, that was WinDRM Or EasyDRF or EasyPal

[@vkanth2]

Hello, @4:45 is the DRM signal direct IF recording or is it AF (Audio output from your receiver/dongle)? I was playing your video on my iPad and then took the headphone output and plugged it in to my Laptop's mic input and started the Dream DRM software. It started decoding the few seconds and played the snippet from RNZI you recorded. I've tried with other online samples, but unless it's a dump of the IF signal, a regular audio output never worked for me. Hence the question. Thanks!

[@DanDart]

Actually you can do it straight from audio I'm told but you have to have an incredible 10kHz bandwidth in USB

[@IAmCyklus.]

Good vid!

[@bbecker2273]

What would something at 1.6 Ghz sound like?

[@svinjamaria]

1:40 that's what that sound is! I would get so creeped out when hearing that low pitched radar.

[@adelarsen9776]

Just remember : It was a Russian missile test that went wrong. The Gyro in the missile made it spin around.

[@remon255]

5.19 you captured Stanag, its a military digital mode. 73 OZ5RS

[@ivan69420.]

And how to decode it? 73 de DY1NGZ

[@davidgray2969]

Thanks..... useful.

[@robertcrawford4202]

At around 3:27 on your video, that signal is clearly JT-65.

[@Elfnetdesigns]

@5:21 That is STANAG and is used by the US military and Nato forces. Most all of their comms are encrypted also. STANAG is not hard to decode but the messages within may prove challenging as they are meant to be next to impossible to decrypt for obvious reasons.

[@MarkPentler]

FUE French Navy is the only open station with clear content. Just a test loop. Also some of that RTTY may be Stanag 4481 if it’s 850 hz shift

[@skinnyflea2628]

The first one is JORN OTHR I love the sound it makes I studied it becuase I couldn’t figure out what it was and ya then I found that it’s JORN

[@WickManDoo]

The sound at 3:29-3:53 is JT65A, a weak signal mode for HF and VHF communications. WSJT is just a program; the mode is JT65A and free decoders exists to eavesdrop on it.

[@yutakasuguimoto8909]

Nice!

[@powerstuffup]

Plot twist- Actually Aliens communicating

[@philiphobia]

3:40 this is "HF pager" signal. There's an app for Android

[@DaddyDoobs]

I belive the mode being heard at 3:26 is called "Olivia"

[@murrij]

I hear the sound at 5:31 all over here on the gulf coast. Maybe a marine mode?

[@helipilot727]

Me too, 1.880 it's going on right now, has been running for hours now..some wide band digital mode.

[@misurollo]

helipilot727 Stanag 4285

[@CrankyEmu]

The one you have listed as WSJT is Olivia.

[@eugenweissbart]

+Cranky Emu wrong, that's jt65a

[@OH8EFI]

0:23 TIGER-Radar?

[@jimwimberly2752]

Wrote a tune and plugged some sounds (including your speaking) from this video. (I used to use Link 11.) (Sorry....downer tune about depression) The tune: soundcloud.com/dammit-eugene/hold-the-spoon

[@LU5YUS]

3:25 It's JT65.

[@detaart]

1:16-1:36 is an ionosonde, i think. I'm not sure, but it sounds like it. Although that would be quite a narrow sweep for an ionosonde.

[@davidmartin123]

Is probably CODAR

[@deltoid77-nick]

no VLF?

[@handlesrtwitterdontbelivethem]

that pactor /// is a dial up

[@joepatroni8777]

0:53 Mrs Pacman!

[@daniell8387]

Oh snap it's logic 242

[@bocatablanco]

The most used is PSK or BPSK... ;)

[@SamCyanide]

Should have DMR and P25

[@nindieboy4194]

0:59 ist super sayian mode :D

[@TRIARII117]

5:25 sounds like STANAG 4285, or something related. could br wrong/

[@Yinetteification]

the 'car alarm' I think is JORN

[@jay6817]

0:20

[@MUHAMMADFARHANNAUFALMahasiswaP]

WEBSDR