Monday, August 12, 2013

The 11159 kHz RAF Volmet Mystery Last Update 8/12-2200 UTC

 

It has been the buzz of the utility side of our hobby since it was first reported to UDXF on 9 Aug. There is a new tactical RAF VOLMET transmission that has popped up on 11159 kHz and this transmission  definitely doesn't originate from Europe.

You will hear this station transmit this identifier, "This is Military 1 Time Slot # Information Broadcast."

The number represents a specific loop of stations weather is being given for. I have been able to pick out weather has been given for the following stations  (Pretty sure I have the weather station obs list now although a couple might still be out of whack).

Time Slot 1 H+00/+30 - Brize Norton, Waddington, Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester, Cardiff, Prestwick, Marham, Lossiemouth, Leening, Coningsby, Benson, Odiham

Time Slot 2 H+07/+37 - Northolt, Belfast, Culdrose, Hanover, Geilenkirchen, Adana, Budapest, Bucharest, Bardufoss, Trondheim, Keflavik, Bodo

Time Slot 3 H+13/+43 - Gilbraltar, Porto, Tenerife South, Dakar, Ascension Island, Recife, Mombasa, Nairobi, Brize Norton, Bamako, Algiers, Abidjan

Time Slot 4 H+19/+49 - Bari, Sigonella, Souda Bay, Akrotiri, Larnaca Intl, Cairo Intl, Istres, Evereux, Nice, Lajes, Faro, Bahrain Intl

Time Slot 5 H+24/+54- Muscat Intl, Kandahar, Bastion, Al Minhad, Baghdad Intl, Kabul, Trabzon, Ashgabat, Tbilisi, Al Udeid, Thumrait, Salalah, Al-Maktoum, Fujaiiah Intl

The more I work the props on this the more I think we are dealing with a CanForce CFB base either central or western Canada. Given the history of the RAF and their use of tactical VOLMETs on various frequencies for certain RAF operations, they must be conducting something big on this side of the pond. Looking at my database this is the first time I have seen them use this frequency for VOLMET activity.

If you have anything to add please email me. Thanks to GG for his updates. It will be interesting if the Ute crowd can track down the exact location of this latest RAF VOLMET station, and no it isn't from Ascension or the Falkland Islands.