Utility World

the official web site

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ENIGMA Control List #23
Latest revision, November, 2007
(As always, posted by permission-
ENIGMA2000 retains full copyright)

Charles Brain's PC-HFDL (version 2.031, app. 450K)
(Same file as on his site, mirrored here for bandwidth)

New pchfdl.dat For ARINC system table #33/0x21
Differential GPS Spectrograms
CBC HMCS Chicoutimi Rescue Transcript
2001 Antarctica Frequency Coordination List
    (Official; should still be quite timely)
Our War Information Policy

 

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Monitoring Times

 

 

 This web site supports, but does not duplicate, information in the Utility World column of Monitoring Times. All information is intended to serve the nation's defense, and to allow individuals to maintain personal safety. All use is being tracked in detail, and any suspicious activity will be reported to law enforcement authorities. In no way does this change the overall privacy policy anywhere else at this domain.

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What's a Utility?   News   Reference   Spies   Sounds   Links

 

UTILITY NEWS

Utility World has a Blog!

(18 Aug 06)

The Utility World Column has joined other Monitoring Times features on Blogger by starting its own blog. It is good for quick updates to fast-changing situations that would not be timely in a print edition with a 2 month lead time. It's also good for longer features or things that didn't make it into the column's limited space.

Users of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) can also get notice of the latest blog entries right to their computers by means of news aggregator programs, or even active bookmarks on Firefox.

Link to the blog is http://mt-utility.blogspot.com/.

 

 

Special Utility World Reference

 

Answers: Solar-terrestrial/propagation numbers: Essential Info:

US Coast Guard:

Other References:

 

Spook Radio - Numbers/Oddities

 

Utility Signal Plots & Sounds

These are way cool. They really show what goes on in the different utility modes. Many have links to the brief sound files which made them, so you can listen too.

 

 

Other Utility World Links
Like all hotlists, this one suffers from the entropy that is Internet. It gets checked monthly, but there'll still probably be some no-joy.

 

 

We Are At War!

(11 Sep 01, slightly revised 20 Dec 02)

This hobby must at all times show which side it is on, or eventually it will become a target of overzealous government people looking for something to stir up for the benefit of their own careers. While such measures as registration of radios, or even their confiscation, no longer come automatically with formal declarations of war, neither are they impossible.

However, don't go overboard and report every strange transmission as a terrorist. Beware of fake communications, exercises, misinterpretation of code words or accents, and hoaxes perpetrated to whip up panic or xenophobia: it has happened before, and it will happen again. Don't clog up law enforcement with useless speculation. But if a VERY carefully considered and documented analysis tells you this one's for real, report it to the FCC at fcc.gov. The FBI also has a terrorist activity reporting form somewhere on their web site.

People looking for security holes will find none here. All frequencies have been previously published in Federal documents such as the Flight Information Handbook. They must therefore be regarded as public information, even if these documents become classified at a later time.

Note that this policy is limited to editorial choices made on this site and in the column, and has no relevance whatsoever to anything done by Monitoring Times.

 

 

What's a Shortwave Utility?

A utility is the jargon for any radio station on the short wave band that is not for the public's entertainment or hobby. All those huge gaps on your shortwave radio, the ones between broadcast and amateur bands, are utility bands allocated by international treaties.

The word "utility" comes more or less from the original Latin for "usefulness." With very few exceptions, these radio communications are most certainly being used as part of some mission or task, known or unknown.

Utilities are harder to hear than broadcasts, but they're way more fun. You'll find all the world's militaries, ships, aircraft, spies, bootleggers, embassies, and anyone else who needs to communicate over the horizon. While satellites are often primary, the recent failure of Galaxy IV shows once again why many people want a shortwave backup. If your radio has a "USB" or "CW" setting, you're ready to give utilities a try.

The Utility World column and its web site are intended as friendly, jargon-free clearinghouses for utility information, so you'll hear more signals and fewer odd noises. In other words, you folks write both of them.

CU on the bands!

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mt@grove-ent.com
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Voice: +1.828.837.9200
Fax:    +1.828.837.2216

Bob and Judy Grove are nice people.

 

Utility World
P.O. Box 4765
Culver City, CA 90231-4765
utilityworld@ominous-valve.com