[RFI] Wide noise on 20 meters, earlier today...

[Frank Donovan]

Gary,

Given the limited amount of information you provided
(a spectrum waterfall shot would be much more revealing),
it seems likely that you heard the 500 KW Pluto II OTH radar
on Cyprus.

It and its predecessor radars have operated in the ham bands
for many decades.  Thankfully it doesn't usually linger on
one frequency for long.  Its frequently heard in the 17
and 15 meter ham bands too.

www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/PLUTO_II_OTH_Radar

73
Frank
W3LPL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Peterson" <kzerocx at rap.midco.net>
To: "rfi" <rfi at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 8:46:37 AM
Subject: [RFI] Wide noise on 20 meters, earlier today...

I happened to be listening to a roundtable QSO on 20 meters, within the last hour.

Suddenly, around 1515 UTC, the QSO was obliterated by an S9 plus ten, roaring noise that spanned 14195 to 14215, according to my K3S and P3 panadapter.

In wondering if the source was local, I brought up the Northern Utah WebSDR.  It was very prominent there.

The noise lasted for several minutes, as I rotated my TA36 beam in order to obtain a rough bearing.  It appeared to be coming from roughly 45 degrees, true from western South Dakota.  I used the nulls off the sides of the beam and the front to back ratio to obtain the bearing.

I wish I had had the presence of mind to do a screen capture from the P3 panadapter.  It lasted several minutes and did a respective job of completely wiping out 20 kilohertz of the band.

Any information regarding this would be most appreciated and I hope this is not an omen of things to come.

Gary

K zero CX
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