I don't think that they analyze it that deeply.
As long as the broadcasts are religious and not political, they likely will be ignored.
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Weird Stuff Heard on the Radio\TV.
- Thread starter Route66Fan
- Start date
I don't think that they analyze it that deeply.
As long as the broadcasts are religious and not political, they likely will be ignored.
As younger DXers, high-schoolers back on Long Island and Queens, we were always puzzled by some 1440 station that tested with a 1,000 cycle tone at night but never IDed.
8:30 ... 9:00 .... 10:00. No ID.
(Side note : Also licensed to 1440 was WHHH, Warren-Youngstown OH. Word had it that WHHH had never verified a reception report since they originally were licensed.
No card. No letter. Not even a sneer. They hoarded all the return postage stamps. But that's an ancillary story)
Anyway, one of us lads joined the National Radio Club, and learned that the never-IDed 1000 cycle test tone on 1440 was -- duh -- the mixing result / difference of the US stations on 1,440,000 cycles and the huge signal of Radio Luxembourg on 1,439,000 kHz.
* * * * * * *
On a good radio, I eventually caught some actual audio off R. Lux one eve. So I'm COUNTING it as a 'heard'!
8:30 ... 9:00 .... 10:00. No ID.
(Side note : Also licensed to 1440 was WHHH, Warren-Youngstown OH. Word had it that WHHH had never verified a reception report since they originally were licensed.
No card. No letter. Not even a sneer. They hoarded all the return postage stamps. But that's an ancillary story)
Anyway, one of us lads joined the National Radio Club, and learned that the never-IDed 1000 cycle test tone on 1440 was -- duh -- the mixing result / difference of the US stations on 1,440,000 cycles and the huge signal of Radio Luxembourg on 1,439,000 kHz.
* * * * * * *
On a good radio, I eventually caught some actual audio off R. Lux one eve. So I'm COUNTING it as a 'heard'!
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Nice going Steve. Although I tried many times I never heard Radio Lux in the midwest.
Weirdest thing I heard on TV...definitely TV.
I was visiting family in Meadville, PA. That town is somewhat terrain blocked to a lot of Erie TV/radio, so if you don't have cable, you got a translator from the local PBS affiliate, and a religious translator on a very high UHF number.
Anyway, being a pre-teen who was used to having at least a few channels back home, and considering Meadville is...well, pretty boring for a 12 year old, I started flipping the dial on the guest bedroom TV. Around channel 70-something, I started getting cordless phone conversations. Not just my family's, but everybody's on the surrounding hill!
Told my similarly-aged cousin this evesdropping trick and he quickly swapped out his color set for the old B&W one that had the extra channels...
I was visiting family in Meadville, PA. That town is somewhat terrain blocked to a lot of Erie TV/radio, so if you don't have cable, you got a translator from the local PBS affiliate, and a religious translator on a very high UHF number.
Anyway, being a pre-teen who was used to having at least a few channels back home, and considering Meadville is...well, pretty boring for a 12 year old, I started flipping the dial on the guest bedroom TV. Around channel 70-something, I started getting cordless phone conversations. Not just my family's, but everybody's on the surrounding hill!
Told my similarly-aged cousin this evesdropping trick and he quickly swapped out his color set for the old B&W one that had the extra channels...
Channels 70-83 were reallocated to the original cellphone and air-to-ground telephone services back in the 1980s. Before changing to digital, they were FM, and easily heard by tuning through those channels.
I just remembered this again.
Back in the late 60's in New Jersey, my older brother often listened to shortwave radio and there was this station that we called the "Bagpipes".
It was a non stop repeat of the same thing that sounded like music but was probably some code for something or other.
My brother seemed to think it was coming from Cuba.
Then a few years ago, I found that someone else was familiar with this too.
They made a YouTube video that's a simulation of the same bagpipe sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TzPx2_Q7n0
Anyone have any idea as to what that was?
Back in the late 60's in New Jersey, my older brother often listened to shortwave radio and there was this station that we called the "Bagpipes".
It was a non stop repeat of the same thing that sounded like music but was probably some code for something or other.
My brother seemed to think it was coming from Cuba.
Then a few years ago, I found that someone else was familiar with this too.
They made a YouTube video that's a simulation of the same bagpipe sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TzPx2_Q7n0
Anyone have any idea as to what that was?
The "bagpipes" used to be common, and in the dark recesses of my mind I seem to recall it having to do with international telephone circuits....the "bagpipes" kept the circuit open.
I don't remember bagpipe-type tones, but I do remember a female voice keeping a shortwave telecom frequency open with the taped announcement "This is a transmission from a station of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. This station is located in New York City." This was from 1964 through most of the '70s, and probably earlier. I remember first hearing it just below the 20 meter ham band as I was tuning around on my folks' Sears AM/FM/SW portable radio -- my first exposure to such things beginning in 1964.
The transmission was reduced-carrier AM. It was highly distorted but intelligible on a receiver without a BFO (true SSB or DSB would not have been readable). Once I "graduated" to a Hallicrafters S-120A in 1969, it was clear as a bell with the BFO on. I have no idea why I remember so much about this station, but it's one of my earliest shortwave memories. I think I heard actual international phone calls being made only a handful of times (no privacy was expected on international calls in those days, apparently).
International phone calls were done by radio. RCA had a bevy of transmitters just off in Jersey, and they handled calls with some parts of Europe that did not have cables, as well as Africa and Latin America.
Where I was in the 60's... Ecuador... RCA worked with All America Cables and Radio. A call to my family in Ohio had to be reserved a day or two in advance and if the conditions were not right, it could not go through. And it was horribly expensive.
Today, I can chat for free with my Daughter or grand-kids in Ecuador for "free" on Skype or FaceTime. It makes me feel absolutely ancient.
That happened in our house in Pittsburgh a lot. You could pick-up wireless phone calls and even some of the pre-digital
cell phones on the upper end of the original UHF TV band.
A regular catch came from the studio of a nearby radio station. We could hear a well-known local air personality
chatting up chicks over his cell phone. No, I'm not going to say who he was.
Three more instances come to mind ....
No doubt for reasons that made sense to us at the time, guys and gals from various radio stations -- three of those competing ones -- would gather at maybe 2 AM at a friend's house on Long Island to have some fun. Short wave radios, walkie-talkies, CB base sets, mini-loop antennae .... the usual .... coffee, beer, some pot, Doritoes, subs.
A few of us would drive to a 7-11 for some additional sustinence and haul along the walkie-talkies to determine their range. You know -- just goofing around.
Back at the house, Alan and his wife, who'd INVITED us all to do this on a regular basis, somehow put up with this stuff.
Well, for a while. One night, after some mumbling guy started talking on the CB channels, Alan clicked on the CB base unit and told the guy, 'Either get the (expletive) bowling balls out of your mouth or go back to Radio Shack for a refund'.
That was the last civilized exchange that early morning on 'the citizen's band'.
When we were less mature (in our early 20's) we once made it a habit to drive to a Nathan's in Westchester County. (Wow -- that place had a terrific array of pinball machines).
On one trip back home, we saw a blinking broadcast tower. We knew it wasn't WFAS White Plains or WVOX New Rochelle. But we had to drive in close up to it and tune around to see what it was.
We found the tower. And after about a minute, our car was surrounded by cop cars. It seems that, inexplicably, we had driven through the woods of a prison grounds. We were given until sunrise to get out of town.
Our usual porkchop DXers once dropped by BEautiful Music WRCH 910 New Britain CT one eve. If memory serves, they had five towers ... four in a straight line and one off to the side. Our car got arranged so that its aerial was lined up with the four sticks.
WRCH COVERED the entire car radio dial.
Except for 910!. 910 was blank!
Perhaps we were parked in their null away from Richmond VA, eh?
* * * * * * *
Great post, Ford Ranger!
And, excepr for mine, wonderful memories from you posters.
Happy New Year and good DX!
No doubt for reasons that made sense to us at the time, guys and gals from various radio stations -- three of those competing ones -- would gather at maybe 2 AM at a friend's house on Long Island to have some fun. Short wave radios, walkie-talkies, CB base sets, mini-loop antennae .... the usual .... coffee, beer, some pot, Doritoes, subs.
A few of us would drive to a 7-11 for some additional sustinence and haul along the walkie-talkies to determine their range. You know -- just goofing around.
Back at the house, Alan and his wife, who'd INVITED us all to do this on a regular basis, somehow put up with this stuff.
Well, for a while. One night, after some mumbling guy started talking on the CB channels, Alan clicked on the CB base unit and told the guy, 'Either get the (expletive) bowling balls out of your mouth or go back to Radio Shack for a refund'.
That was the last civilized exchange that early morning on 'the citizen's band'.
When we were less mature (in our early 20's) we once made it a habit to drive to a Nathan's in Westchester County. (Wow -- that place had a terrific array of pinball machines).
On one trip back home, we saw a blinking broadcast tower. We knew it wasn't WFAS White Plains or WVOX New Rochelle. But we had to drive in close up to it and tune around to see what it was.
We found the tower. And after about a minute, our car was surrounded by cop cars. It seems that, inexplicably, we had driven through the woods of a prison grounds. We were given until sunrise to get out of town.
Our usual porkchop DXers once dropped by BEautiful Music WRCH 910 New Britain CT one eve. If memory serves, they had five towers ... four in a straight line and one off to the side. Our car got arranged so that its aerial was lined up with the four sticks.
WRCH COVERED the entire car radio dial.
Except for 910!. 910 was blank!
Perhaps we were parked in their null away from Richmond VA, eh?
* * * * * * *
Great post, Ford Ranger!
And, excepr for mine, wonderful memories from you posters.
Happy New Year and good DX!
After a recording of a Newt Gingrich cell call was made public, Congress hastily passed a law in response, banning the sale to the public of scanners that covered these specific frequencies. No doubt out of concern that the public might be listening to them also. Of course it did nothing to stop the reception by TV's...
Once analog ended, this law became irrelevant, but still remains in effect - but it was never expanded to cover the many cell frequency ranges added later.
They used 1665-1770 kHz, but those were outlawed in 1984, although they were still in use for at least a decade afterwards. They were paired with frequencies just below the CB band originally, then with frequencies in the 49 MHz range.
I remember once in the early 70's when my older brother was visiting home from college, he had a new portable multi band radio and he showed us how you could hear car phone conversations in the area.
If I remember correctly, it was somewhere on the VHF band.
Some of those calls were more interesting than any soap opera and I had wondered if the people on those calls were aware that they could so easily be heard over the air by anyone.
If I remember correctly, it was somewhere on the VHF band.
Some of those calls were more interesting than any soap opera and I had wondered if the people on those calls were aware that they could so easily be heard over the air by anyone.
At the hardware store I worked at in the 80's and 90's at one time we had an early cell phone and it picked up calls from a neighboring store about 2 doors down, so we both must have had phones on the same frequency.
I am aware of "FrankenFMs', & used to hear audio from KMOS-TV (They are a semi-local.) on 87.7Mhz frequently. One thing I remember about it was having to turn the volume up louder than normal to hear anything.
I'm pretty sure it was tropospheric ducting. I also remember after hearing WOWT on the radio, that I turned on my TV (Which was hooked up to an outside antenna, that was pointing towards the Kansas City area.) & was seeing a faint image on Ch. 6. Also, I have seen WOWT (& other distant TV stations.) come in several times before & after on both analog & digital.
Back in the day there used to be an LPTV station on Channel 6 in Hartford, Connecticut. At one time they were airing the now defunct Panda America Shopping Network. It was weird hearing home-shopping programming in the radio - 87.7 FM. WLNE ABC 6 from New Bedford, Mass used to come in reguarlly on 87.7 in Bristol, Connecticut when I was growing up. I enjoyed listening to "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show" on the car radio. (Our local ABC station aired that show out of pattern at like 5AM. WLNE ran it in pattern at 10AM or 11AM).
By far the creepiest thing I heard on the radio was after Midnight one night on WRYM 840, which is licensed to New Britain with studios and towers on Willard Ave in Newington. They forgot to power down to 125 watts one night and I was able to pick up their 1000 watt signal and they were airing a Spanish religious program. There was a male voice yelling really loud in Spanish and there was the sound of a female crying in the background. That weirded me out and I had trouble falling asleep after hearing that one.
And this was like pre-internet 1996. Hearing Radio Disney on what was then 740 WGSM out of Huntington, Long Island. 740 is strong and I had picked them up in Connecticut before, but they had been a Country Station. I remember thinking "What the heck is Radio Disney?" Even more interesting is that in spots where commercials were supposed to air they played an announcement something to the effect of "Looking for the Great Country Music that used to be on this station? Well it can now be found on 94.3 FM WMJC." They would also promote another sister station too. Something effect of "Hey kids, we know you enjoy the great music on AM 740 Radio Disney, but now let us tell you about a station your parents will enjoy B-103 Good Times and Great Oldies." Once WGSM Radio Disney was off the air and I picked up 250 watt WJIB 740 from Cambridge, Mass all the way down on the car stereo in Bristol, Connecticut.
By far the creepiest thing I heard on the radio was after Midnight one night on WRYM 840, which is licensed to New Britain with studios and towers on Willard Ave in Newington. They forgot to power down to 125 watts one night and I was able to pick up their 1000 watt signal and they were airing a Spanish religious program. There was a male voice yelling really loud in Spanish and there was the sound of a female crying in the background. That weirded me out and I had trouble falling asleep after hearing that one.
And this was like pre-internet 1996. Hearing Radio Disney on what was then 740 WGSM out of Huntington, Long Island. 740 is strong and I had picked them up in Connecticut before, but they had been a Country Station. I remember thinking "What the heck is Radio Disney?" Even more interesting is that in spots where commercials were supposed to air they played an announcement something to the effect of "Looking for the Great Country Music that used to be on this station? Well it can now be found on 94.3 FM WMJC." They would also promote another sister station too. Something effect of "Hey kids, we know you enjoy the great music on AM 740 Radio Disney, but now let us tell you about a station your parents will enjoy B-103 Good Times and Great Oldies." Once WGSM Radio Disney was off the air and I picked up 250 watt WJIB 740 from Cambridge, Mass all the way down on the car stereo in Bristol, Connecticut.
Now that KDND Sacramento has surrendered its license, 107.9 is free in Sacramento for the first time in decades. Over the past few years, I've heard many cars with microtransmitters playing everything from Arabian Hip Hop to gospel, as I travel up and down Fair Oaks. The most interesting grab came last August, when, at the corner of Fair Oaks & Watt, I was able to pick up KUZZ from Bakersfield, nearly 300 miles away. I'm not sure if that was tropo or just KUZZ's very strong signal, but it certainly got my attention.
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