Topband: Fishing beacons redux

[Gary Smith]

I can tell you they are a major problem for me on 160 as they are far 
louder than most any DX here except for VE and there are so many of 
them throughout the CW portion I've come to pass over any loud signal 
around sunrise because it's most certainly not DX.

I did listen for them below 1.8 and there are a very few I found and 
I found far more within the CW of 1.8 so I can consider that 
deliberate placement.

As to their using ham calls vis a vis Beacon ID, here's that 
non-exhaustive list I made a couple days ago and what they're using 
for ID (O'course we all know this anyway, I'm just graphing it out).

1.801  OJ7E - Finland
1.806  HV8E - Vatican
1.811  GX3E - England
1.823  ZM4
1.826  GX8E - England
1.828  WK4
1.832  MB1E - England
1.836  NM7E - NORTH MASON AMAT RAD EMERG SERV CLUB, Washington

Gary KA1J

> An observation: There seem to be more LOUD buoys this season than 
> ever in the past. I wasn't on much last season due to local noise 
> but it seemed to me activity on topband was WAY down from the past 
> several years, perhaps due to people going back to higher bands. 
> Could the two be related? Less amateur "QRM" makes 160 a more 
> attractive place for buoys? Just wondering...
> 
> 73,
> Paul N1BUG
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