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Cuban Government Jamming 40 meter US HAM BAND

Discussion in 'Videos and Podcasts' started by K4KKC, Jul 14, 2021.

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  1. K8CPA

    K8CPA Ham Member QRZ Page

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  2. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    How do you think they get the information they need to "handle it"? Besides - if marine VHF is being jammed, that can negatively impact maritime comms inside US territorial waters and possibly all the way to land in Florida. The FIRST place that info should flow is to the Coast Guard so they can post a notice to mariners.

    ETA...current marine traffic in the straits:
    https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-78.7/centery:24.2/zoom:6
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2021
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  3. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    If you can't hear them, you can't work them. That's kinda the point of jamming - you don't jam transmitters, you jam receivers.
     
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  4. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    Jammers block receivers, not transmitters. Beam antennas are not 100% - energy into side lobes or the back of an antenna can make the receiver just as deaf as if the antenna's an omni. As the jamming is in the Extra portion of the 40 meter band, it's pretty clear they're going after voice not the FT8 that's continued from a couple of CO hams.
     
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  5. KN6DWI

    KN6DWI Ham Member QRZ Page

    Something I feel like everyone's missed (though I'm just guessing since I haven't the time to read all 43 pages of this thread), has anyone looked at Cuba's band plan? If the Cuban government is only jamming the voice portion of Cuba's amateur radio bands, then surely it wouldn't be that hard to get through with some teletype mode somewhere else. Additionally, the 40m jamming is strong enough that I can hear clearly over here in California.
     
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  6. KG4RRH

    KG4RRH Platinum Subscriber Platinum Subscriber QRZ Page

    Why do you think that there is currently marine traffic experiencing communications issues due to interference from Cuba within US waters? If it is happening, why do think the USCG doesn't already know? They have (or had...been a couple years for us) a tight network of stations in the Gulf/East coast as well as Cutters and aircraft on scheduled patrols Then there is the question of if there is an effective "NOTAM" type service for smaller, privately owned, craft leaving from unregulated harbors...but that's a different issue all together. I don't mean to say you should tell them but you shouldn't depend on them to take action outside the US.

    From an world perspective, the task of dealing with interference is relegated to the ITU by the same international Maritime treaties that gives them the authority to grant specific frequencies international marine traffic can use in the HF and VHF segments. The way it's should work is that member nations "must" support the agreed to actions and provide enforcement within their own countries. When a country choses to violate the treaties, most just receive a slap however. For example, I've been in the Black Sea and areas of the far Eastern Med when marine VHF (and GPS) was completely useless due to (what was thought to be) Russian jammer testing. The Turkish folks at the Dardanelles casually warned us that "occasionally strange things happen"...and that was it. Totally different from when the US military does jammer testing.
     
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  7. K4KKC

    K4KKC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Since 7/11/21 the Cuban government is deliberately jamming the SSB portion of the US Extra portion on 40 Meters.
    Historically this is where the South Florida Hams and Cuban Hams hang out so 40 is a local band for these contacts.
    SSB happens to be the preferred mode to talk to the Island where RTTY and CW are not modes which one's voice tone and demeanor can be expressed. We know the source of the jamming and please help us by reporting it to the FCC so that maybe we can have the band back.
     
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  8. KO4ESA

    KO4ESA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yes please do. All reports must be documented so that they at least are recognized and collected.
     
  9. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    No people - we don't report to the FCC - the FCC can't do anything about intrusion on the ham bands from outside our borders. Our reporting path for intrusion on the ham bands is to the ARRL (in the US) and to the IARU. THEY go to the FCC, the State Department, the ITU, et al as they follow their established process. Please - follow the amateur radio reporting process.

     
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  10. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    There's so much here to address. Starting...I'm retired military (with half my career out of the US and most of that working in environments where an 'additional duty' was monitoring maritime distress frequencies and properly reporting problems in order to save lives), a private pilot that's flown in and out of the US, and have spent plenty of time afloat in the Gulf of Mexico (crew for a friend's charter fishing boat) and Great Lakes - both with 'international interfaces'.

    - I'm not the one reporting interference on maritime frequencies. Check up thread to find that. My response to them was to remind that person to report that intrusion as it can literally save a life.
    - There is an effective notice to mariners (NOTMAR) system, and just as with notices to airmen (NOTAM), the captain is responsible for checking them and staying abreast of them at sea. It doesn't matter what sort of port they depart from.
    - I'm not depending on the USCG to take action to stop the jamming - I'm simply wanting to make sure the USCG knows so they can get the word out to captains, same as the notices in the NOTMAR system for GPS outages.

    I don't have a problem with the rest of what you wrote, FWIW.

    73
     
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  11. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yes, it's been addressed a number of times. The Cuban ham bands are the same as ours in the US. Propagation is such that 40 works to connect Cuban hams with families in the US, while the higher bands don't. While some hams have commercial gear, many others have homebuilt gear. People bringing home very little money each month don't have the luxury of some of the equipment many of us have. US hams that regularly talk with family and friends in Cuba have reported that the jamming is following them around the band. Every time they QSY, a new line of jamming shows up the next day and shuts that down. Finally - jamming is used to deafen receivers, not block transmitters. The problem isn't getting signals out of Cuba - it's being able to reply and have them hear 'us'. (Yes, the 'rest of the problem' is that the jamming is disrupting comms inside the US, but I don't expect that to be the primary mission of the jammers.)
     
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  12. K2CD

    K2CD Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

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  13. KG5RKP

    KG5RKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    Has anyone filed reports with ARRL and IARU?
     
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  14. W7RPK

    W7RPK Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did you try to do politics over the ham band? Is that why they are jamming now?
     
  15. K4KKC

    K4KKC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Peder,
    Please watch the following video and hopefully your questions might be answered.
     
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