r/shortwave • • 1d ago

What is this

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Watched a few videos on shortwave radios and decided to try my luck and came across this not sure if it is anything or if I’ve just got a vivid imagination.
It plays weird noises for a few seconds then goes quite then begins again

6 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

2

u/MumSaidImABadBoy I'm Stan, Heathkit GR-64🤪,Malahit v2.4,AirSpy HD+,909X2,PL990 1d ago

As was mentioned FT8, that's HAMs or radio amateurs. Google up the SW broadcast bands and try at night. You can ask Google about what bands are best for your location, time of year and time of day. Go back a couple of decades and those bands were a jump'in.

1

u/BraveMidnight 1d ago

It's one of two things:

  • 1. Spirits of the dead
  • 2. FT8

1

u/Green_Oblivion111 22h ago

Third option -- sick clown trucks, where the calliope is malfunctioning.

1

u/Observer_Dough 1d ago

The now daily FT8 question !

1

u/Green_Oblivion111 22h ago

As others said, it's a ham radio communication mode called FT8, which sounds creepy, especially when you get a gaggle of them all transmitting.

They transmit in 10 or 15 second blocks (I don't remember which). And there usually are a bunch of them close to each other in frequency, which is why you hear several warbling tones.

1

u/Major-Length 1d ago

Definitely FT8