A memory from my youth, never fully explained?
 

About ten years ago, when I was living in Seattle, I had a clock radio
with rather crap reception, so finding a station I was both
interested in and capable of listening to when I woke up was a bit of
a task. One day, though, as I began slowly and carefully tuning the
dial to try to find something worth listening to, I stumbled across
clear, strong, and repeating Morse code. It wasn't an SOS, which was
about the only Morse I knew, but it was a good strong signal, better
than the alarm clock's built in buzzer, so I shrugged mentally and
left the tuner there. As a result, the pattern got burnt into my
brain.

Some years later, I decided to look up what this dot and dash pattern
might mean, in hopes of determining what I'd been listening to. I'd
heard of CQ, so I thought it might turn out to be that, but no...

-... ..-.

That's 'BF', isn't it? Why would someone be sending 'BF BF BF' out on
a radio frequency? Or was my radio so crap as to be picking up
something else entirely? Please shed some light my way; I'm feeling
lost...

Fred M. Sloniker wrote:

Some years later, I decided to look up what this dot and dash pattern
might mean, in hopes of determining what I'd been listening to. I'd
heard of CQ, so I thought it might turn out to be that, but no...

-... ..-.

That's 'BF', isn't it? Why would someone be sending 'BF BF BF' out on
a radio frequency? Or was my radio so crap as to be picking up
something else entirely? Please shed some light my way; I'm feeling
lost...

Most likely you heard a low frequency aeronautical beacon. These operate
below the am broadcast band.

I did a quick check and found a few beacons that ID as BF.

They are in Seattle, WA; Bakersfield, CA; Bradford, PA; Cleveland, OH;
and Scottsbluff, NE.

Were you near any of those cities?

Art Harris N2AH

Fred M. Sloniker wrote:

About ten years ago, when I was living in Seattle, I had a clock radio
with rather crap reception, so finding a station I was both
interested in and capable of listening to when I woke up was a bit of
a task. One day, though, as I began slowly and carefully tuning the
dial to try to find something worth listening to, I stumbled across
clear, strong, and repeating Morse code. It wasn't an SOS, which was
about the only Morse I knew, but it was a good strong signal, better
than the alarm clock's built in buzzer, so I shrugged mentally and
left the tuner there. As a result, the pattern got burnt into my
brain.

Some years later, I decided to look up what this dot and dash pattern
might mean, in hopes of determining what I'd been listening to. I'd
heard of CQ, so I thought it might turn out to be that, but no...

-... ..-.

That's 'BF', isn't it? Why would someone be sending 'BF BF BF' out on
a radio frequency? Or was my radio so crap as to be picking up
something else entirely? Please shed some light my way; I'm feeling
lost...


My guess is, you may have been picking up an NDB (Non-Directional
Beacon), used by aviation. Perhaps you were close enough that it picked
it up, or perhaps you had tuned to the second harmonic of the signal, or
there were some unintentional signal mixing products in the receiver
that allowed you to hear it. Hard to say. But that would be my guess.

Andy
WD4KDN


--
Hydrogen & Stupidity...the two most common elements in the universe.

"Harris" wrote in message
...
Fred M. Sloniker wrote:

Some years later, I decided to look up what this dot and dash pattern
might mean, in hopes of determining what I'd been listening to. I'd
heard of CQ, so I thought it might turn out to be that, but no...

-... ..-.

That's 'BF', isn't it? Why would someone be sending 'BF BF BF' out on
a radio frequency? Or was my radio so crap as to be picking up
something else entirely? Please shed some light my way; I'm feeling
lost...

Most likely you heard a low frequency aeronautical beacon. These operate
below the am broadcast band.

I did a quick check and found a few beacons that ID as BF.

They are in Seattle, WA; Bakersfield, CA; Bradford, PA; Cleveland, OH;
and Scottsbluff, NE.
Were you near any of those cities?
Art Harris N2AH

Art,
Where did you get this info. On the Web? I've been listening for them
with my IC 706.
Airnav, the only one I had found, didn't have any "BF".:
http://www.airnav.com/info/contact.html

Click "Navaids" tab.

--
Steve N, K,9;d, c. i My email has no u's.

Steve Nosko wrote:
Art,
Where did you get this info. On the Web? I've been listening for them
with my IC 706...

The IC-706 is deaf as a post below 500 KC.
If you're interested in the low freqs,
pick up an old Icom R-70; they are
outstanding for LF work. The only thing
better would be an old TRF, since they
have a better noise floor, but they're hard
to calibrate for frequency.

73 Dave S.

Fred M. Sloniker wrote:
About ten years ago, when I was living in Seattle, I had a clock radio
with rather crap reception, so finding a station I was both
interested in and capable of listening to when I woke up was a bit of
a task. One day, though, as I began slowly and carefully tuning the
dial to try to find something worth listening to, I stumbled across
clear, strong, and repeating Morse code. It wasn't an SOS, which was
about the only Morse I knew, but it was a good strong signal, better
than the alarm clock's built in buzzer, so I shrugged mentally and
left the tuner there. As a result, the pattern got burnt into my
brain.

Fred,

Upon re-reading your post, I note that you were living in Seattle at the
time. I think that clinches it.

The beacon you heard was at Boeing Field (hence the "BF"). It operates on
362 kHz (perhaps you heard the 2nd harmonic at 724 kHz). This is an "outer
marker" beacon and is named "Nolla."

See:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/BFI/ils/13R

Scroll down to "Outer Marker Informatio."

Also see:
http://www.mwenda.com/flyer.htm

Look under "other frequencies on the right.

Art Harris N2AH

Thank you to everyone that answered my question! I appreciate the
prompt, thorough, and no doubt correct answers. n_n