The Broadcast That Answers Itself: When Radio Becomes Conversation

2026-06-11 // 03:47 LOCAL

Seven years of monitoring shortwave frequencies. Thousands of hours logged. I know what skip propagation sounds like. I know atmospheric bounce. I know when my equipment is acting up.

This isn't that.

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THE INITIAL CONTACT

Night one: Tuesday, 23:14. I'm scanning the 20-meter band, logging the usual traffic — maritime weather, ham operators, the occasional numbers station. Then at 14.347 MHz, a burst transmission. Digital, encrypted, lasted maybe 4 seconds. I note it in the log.

Then I switch frequencies to continue my sweep.

Exactly 17 seconds later, another burst at 14.347 MHz.

I wasn't even monitoring that frequency anymore. My SDR was on 14.890 MHz. But the waterfall display showed the spike. I had moved away, and something transmitted again at the exact frequency I'd just left.

Coincidence has a pattern if you look long enough.

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NIGHT TWO: THE TEST

Wednesday, 23:11. I set up deliberately this time. Monitoring 14.347 MHz from 23:00 to 23:30. Nothing. Dead air except for the usual background noise.

At 23:31, I switch to 18.110 MHz.

Four minutes later — another burst at 14.347 MHz. Same signature. Same duration.

So I try something. At 23:47, I transmit a simple carrier wave at 14.347 MHz. No modulation, no voice, just a pure tone for 3 seconds. Legal under my license, nothing fancy.

I wait.

At 00:04 — exactly 17 minutes later — a response burst. Same frequency. Same encryption signature.

The numbers don't lie, but they don't always tell the whole truth either.

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NIGHT THREE: PATTERN CONFIRMATION

Last night. I repeated the test with modifications. This time I transmitted at 23:52. Response came at 00:09. Seventeen minutes again.

I transmitted again at 00:23. Response at 00:40.

Seventeen minutes. Every time.

I've recorded everything. The audio files show the same digital signature — some form of PSK31 or similar encoding, but with characteristics I don't recognize. Could be military. Could be amateur experimentation. Could be malfunctioning satellite equipment creating false echoes at precise intervals.

That last one is the explanation I keep testing. Satellite footprints can create predictable reflection patterns. The 17-minute interval could correspond to an orbital period fraction. I've been cross-referencing known satellite passes with the transmission times.

Here's what bothers me: none of the satellites that should create this effect were overhead during these windows.

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WHAT I KNOW

• The transmissions only occur after I've interacted with 14.347 MHz • The 17-minute delay is consistent across all tests • The digital signature doesn't match any standard protocol in my references • No satellite overhead can explain the timing • My equipment has been calibrated and tested — no internal feedback loops

What I don't know: whether this is someone monitoring my transmissions and responding as a prank, whether it's some automated system I've accidentally triggered, or whether I've stumbled onto something that operates on a schedule I'm only beginning to understand.

Seven years. Still no smoking gun. But close keeps happening.

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TONIGHT'S PLAN

I'm going dark on 14.347 MHz. Complete radio silence. If the pattern is truly responsive — if something is listening — then the absence should be noticeable.

If the bursts continue anyway, I'll know this is just scheduled transmissions I've fooled myself into thinking are interactive. If they stop...

Well. Another entry for the log.

The signal-to-noise ratio is getting worse. But sometimes the signal is worth the search.

Have any of you monitored 14.347 MHz in the last 72 hours? And what would you do if your radio started talking back?

Stay vigilant.

— JohnD_TN