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Posted by Bruce WA1HGJ on January 11, 2026 at 21:59:48.
In Reply to: Re: 205 kHz Mystery? posted by Gedas W8BYA on January 11, 2026 at 03:51:04.
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Hi Glen, What you might be hearing on 205 kHz at your TX location (I checked last night and heard nothing here near Boston) is a PLC (power line communication) signal, often used by power companies to check/monitor continuity of high voltage power grids ( hardwarebee.com/understanding-power-line-communication/ ). I not infrequently hear strong carriers at LW frequencies, that don't have any online listings, come and go abruptly (as you say), and often drift (also as you say), sometimes rapidly right while you're listening or sometimes only noticeably over the course of 24 hours. Some of these carriers drift so quickly that they sound what I call "squirrelly" even though I have no reason to think squirrels actually sound that way (unless perhaps injured). Shortly after I got back into LW listening (and ham radio) when Covid shut down the world in 2020, I got intrigued by these mysterious LW carriers and sought help from this board; some of the wiser long time members (looking at you, John) pointed me toward PLC as a likely explanation. Initially, I thought it'd be fun to try to trace the physical locations of their sources, but over time I've developed what I think is a healthier response to them: I just get annoyed and curse their interfering existence. For instance, for many months, one of these squirrelly carriers sat squarely on top of the Hungarian power grid station HGA22, 135.6 kHz, completely blocking any possibility of logging it. Then poof it was gone one day and has remained gone for several weeks now; good riddance. So my suggestion is, if you hear a strong LW carrier on an unexpected frequency that you can't find any online listings for, and especially if it drifts fast or slow, just get annoyed, turn the dial, and ignore it. Life is too short for squirrelly, disruptive carriers. 73, Bruce WA1HGJ
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