Tag Archives: Ken Hansen N2VIP

Reuters: Cyber threats prompt return of radio for ship navigation

eLoran (Image Source: UrsaNav)

(Source: Reuters via Ken Hansen and Dan Hawkins)

LONDON (Reuters) – The risk of cyber attacks targeting ships’ satellite navigation is pushing nations to delve back through history and develop back-up systems with roots in World War Two radio technology.

Ships use GPS (Global Positioning System) and other similar devices that rely on sending and receiving satellite signals, which many experts say are vulnerable to jamming by hackers.

About 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea and the stakes are high in increasingly crowded shipping lanes. Unlike aircraft, ships lack a back-up navigation system and if their GPS ceases to function, they risk running aground or colliding with other vessels.

South Korea is developing an alternative system using an earth-based navigation technology known as eLoran, while the United States is planning to follow suit. Britain and Russia have also explored adopting versions of the technology, which works on radio signals.

Continue reading at Reuters online…

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SDRplay RSP2 Pro now shipping from HRO

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), who notes:

Ham Radio Outlet has the SDRplay RSP2pro in-stock for $192.95.

As a reminder, the SDRplay RSP2pro is the version enclosed in a full-metal case for maximum RF shielding. Like the SDRplay RSP2 it has three software selectable antenna connections (long wire and two SMA), whereas the original SDRplay RSP1 has just the one SMA connector.

http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015447

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New Grundig Edition Field BT and Eton FRX5-BT at HRO

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The Grundig Edition Field BT

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), who writes:

At HRO we’ve just taken delivery on two new SW radios from Eton, the Field BT ($129.95) and the FRX5-BT ($79.95)

Field BT – http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014067

FRX5-BT http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014593

Eton FRX5-BT

Thought you might be interested.

Thank you for the tip, Ken!

I’m very curious if anyone has compared the Grundig Edition Field BT with the previous version of the Grundig Edition Field. Please comment!

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Holiday Deals: SDRplay RSP1 and RSP2 availability and Cyber Monday at HRO

China’s campaign to eliminate pirate radio

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SX-99-Dial-Nar

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), who shares a link to the following news item on BGR India:

China to crackdown on unauthorised radio broadcasts

Reportedly, in a national campaign aided by more than 30,000 airwave monitors, in over past six months, more than 500 sets of equipment for making unauthorised radio broadcasts were seized in China.[…]

“The broadcast power of pirate radio stations can be 2,500 to 5,000 watts, which is several hundred of times that of commercial radio, and the signal can be received 300 km away,” the China Daily reported citing the department as saying. Pirate radios may also pose a threat to communication between aircraft pilots and ground controllers as their frequency band neighbours that of flight navigation signals and can create interference, the department said.
Under Chinese law, the unauthorised use of radio frequency bands can attract up to seven years in prison.

Click here to read the full story…

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Propaganda from the air

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen, who (several weeks ago) shared a link to this article from The Daily Beast:

China Now Has A Flying Propaganda Machine

The Chinese military has a new warplane with an unusual purpose: to beam propaganda and disinformation into hostile territory.

In that way, the new, four-engine Y-8GX7 psychological operations plane—also known by its Chinese name, Gaoxin-7—is analogous to the U.S. Air Force’s EC-130J, which it says“conducts military information support operations and civil affairs broadcasts in F.M. radio, television and military communications bands.”

A flying radio outpost might seem rather retro, even quaint, in the internet era. But in many of the world’s worst conflict zones, internet access is limited—and people still get much of their information from radio and television.

EC-130s—which has its own nickname, “Commando Solo”—and similar U.S. aircraft like it have broadcast propaganda in nearly all U.S. conflicts since the Vietnam War. Perhaps most famously, EC-130s flew over Libya during the 2011 international intervention in that country, in one case advising Libyan navy sailors to stop resisting and remain in port.

“If you attempt to leave port, you will be attacked and destroyed immediately,” the EC-130J crew warned via radio in English, French, and Arabic. A Dutch ham radio operator overheard and recorded the broadcast.

According to the Air Force, the EC-130Js deployed to the Middle East in 2015. While the flying branch didn’t specify exactly where the psyops planes went or why, it’s likely they supported the U.S.-led war on ISIS, perhaps bombarding militant fighters with warnings similar to those the EC-130J crews broadcast over Libya five years ago.[…]

Click here to read the full article on The Daily Beast.

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