[MilCom] MIL: 11175.0 - DARK KNIGHT; HAND BALL; ABSTAINER; DEER SIGN; and new Fiscal Year activity

[Jeff Haverlah]

1911z  18 Oct 24

     11175.0 USB was (very) active 17 Oct 24 with HANDBALL (HFGCS
broadcasting 10 EAMs over a two hour window (1333z-1525z); and 8 EAMs over
a 3 hour window (1833z-2138z). They were busy. The first session began with
a C6 string followed 4 minutes later by a 30-character P5 string, with the
rest of the traffic in the window being C6 strings. The second session
began with an "interesting" FJ (40-characters) string followed by C6
strings until 2138z. The 2100-2200z window is often the point of concluding
these sessions (with occasional exceptions.)

     11175.0 was active UTC 17 Oct 24 at 1931z with HANDBALL (HFGCS;
weak/fair) calling and raising DARK KNIGHT (weak/fair; readable; male
operator) for a brief signal check and gone. Static call word, heard in the
recent past; presumed ground CP.

     11175.0 was active 18 Oct 24 at 1440z with ABSTAINER (ok to good
levels on various SDRs) calling MAINSAIL; raises for a signal check; and,
gone.  Yet another callword station not relatable to any visible ASDB
airborne asset (assuming they are airborne at all.)  The HFGCS operator
kept calling him "ABSTRAINER."

     The HFGCS had been active at H+00/H+30 since 1500z with DEER SIGN
standing by for traffic through 1730z (their apparent concluding point as
nothing heard at 1800z).  Unlike yesterday UTC, today's HFGCS is very quiet.

The eagle flies for the U.S. government/military on 01 Oct. Sometimes
"things obviously change" at that point; often not.  October is half
over, and an apparent pattern so far holds. As a factoid only, and somewhat
unusual (over a long time), this year every prefix for every class of HF
EAM traffic changed on 01 Oct 24. (Rhetorically, what is the logistics for
that sort of thing? Does it take 1.5 to 2 years to plan?)

     And, the series currently represented by the FJ strings, with
characteristics similar to the P5 strings and the long, highly structured
variable count strings, has suddenly been very active since 02 Oct 24. That
series of message traffic was much less noticeable in the past.  The FJ
strings have characteristics shared with the P5 strings (the home of the
"FOR" EAMs) in that the FJ strings are often 30-characters, and have
slightly longer variable character counts sessions as well; but, the FJ
strings also have character counts less than 30 characters. The FJ strings
also share a certain noticeable characteristic with the long variable count
strings (currently BV) - they are often obviously highly structured
(repeated groups within the string). You don't see those (obvious)
structures in C6 and P5 strings. This even though the FJ strings are very
much shorter than the BV variable series.

     The C6, P5, and BV strings have been logged from E6Bs during their
orbiting restoral sessions, with the observation that only TACAMO PAC
missions over the Pacific have been reported with the highly structured BV
strings; and, those sessions were apparently part of quarterly 7 to 8 hour
orbiting missions. When other E6Bs were over the Atlantic and Gulf at the
same time they didn't broadcast those BV strings, just their 2-hour window
CJ traffic. It's not clear if the FJ series strings have been part of these
HF restorals; or, for that matter if the HFGCS use them at the h+00/h+30
restoral window. I've seen no examples of them.

Jeff
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Jeff Haverlah               Coastal Texas
 Various CONUS SDRs
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