[Lowfer] Whatever happened to our old Lowfer band?

[Bill de Carle]

It must be at least a year now since I've done any listening on the 
160-190 Khz Lowfer band.  Yesterday I set up two loops to favor a 
NE-SW line and tuned a preamp for 188.83 Khz, which produced good 
copy of EAR's QRSS30 beacon for most of the day.  When nightfall came 
however, all hell broke loose!

First thing I noticed: a high power pulsed signal appeared spreading 
RF all over the place.  This was not accidental radiation, it was a 
deliberate transmission right in the band.  Shortly afterwards I 
observed someone sending sequential tones - very strong signal 
appearing out of nowhere.  Guess it could have been WSPR or fast 
Jason, something like that, but definitely much too loud for 1 watt 
DC input to the final and a 50-foot antenna.  All the while having to 
contend with the broadcast station on 189 Khz (Iceland?) obliterating 
the top of the band with its music.  My S-meter climbed up, up until 
the AGC suppressed EAR's signal below visibility.  Admittedly I had 
too much gain before the Rx for those conditions but I didn't feel 
like going out in the dark with a flashlight to change the 
configuration at the antenna so I gave up.

I don't remember things being that bad in years past.  In particular, 
those pulsed and tone transmissions don't seem to be coming from any 
amateur station - they're way too strong and obviously designed to 
punch a message through on a crowded channel.  Like when 11 meters 
degenerated into a shouting match where the game was to see who could 
run the most power without getting into trouble.  I've seen 
similar  pulsed and tone signals on the hifer bands: 13.553-13.567 
Mhz and especially around 6.777 Mhz in the Canadian unlicensed 
band.  I'm wondering if some company is selling uncertified 
transmitters to the general public or what else might have 
happened.  There was no significant static (QRN) last evening, it was all QRM.

My rant for the day.

Bill VE2IQ