Monitoring the Algerian Air Force ALE Network

It has taken a long time to get the software and hardware set-up correctly, but after a lot of help from Sam on the UDXF Yahoo Group and a lot of patience on my behalf, I am now successfully monitoring a whole host of interesting military HF networks using ALE. Although the software is easy enough to download (PC-ALE & MultiPSK) and I have used it before for single channel monitoring, getting it hooked up to my Yaesu FRG100 and then successfully scanning was a little trickier. I think the different versions of PC-ALE work better with some radios than others. Finally, the new Beta test version v1.08 was installed and it works like a dream, stopping on active channels even at the fast scan rate of 5 channels per second. Previous versions would scan but not stop properly. I still find MultiPSK a lot more sensitive to weak signals, but it is really not so well set up to monitoring large numbers of frequencies (The Algerian AF have over 50!) for SWLers like myself. Here are some of my latest decodes from the last few days:

[19:17:20][FRQ 11156000][TO ][CM3            ][TIS][CNC            ][AL0] BER 20 SN 05
[19:17:18][FRQ 11156000][TO ][CNC            ][TIS][CM3            ][AL0] BER 20 SN 04
[19:17:16][FRQ 11156000][TO ][CM3            ][TIS][CNC            ][AL0] BER 21 SN 04

[19:24:07][FRQ 11114000][TO ][COF            ][TIS][CM2            ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07

[06:23:41][FRQ 13377000][TO ][CM3 CLR        ][TIS][CNC            ][AL0] BER 18 SN 04

CM3 3rd Regional Command Centre Bechar AFB
CNC Algerian Air Force HQ, Cheraga
COF Algerian Air Force HQ, Cheraga
CM2 2nd Regional Command Centre, Oran AFB

Interestingly, I have hooked up MultiPSK with DX Labs free "Commander" software using the setting for the Yaesu FT757. I nned to disable the "continuous interrogation" button, and then it all works fine.

In addition to the Algerian Air Force, I have had decodes from the Brazilian Navy in Fortaleza contacting its vessels in the South Atlantic; the USAF air bases and AWACS aircraft; the UK AWACS aircraft on the UK DHFCS network; FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency in the USA; The Civil Air Patrol in the USA; .... there is so much to hear and what's more, you can leave the set-up decoding while you walk the dog or prepare dinner and come back to interesting transmissions on the screen!

I have also experimented with Sorcerer multimode decoder and although more sensitive than PC-ALE it won't hook up to my radio and in fact the facilities for scanning and radio hook up seem far too limited to be of much practical help.

Anyway, just wanted to update the blog with these latest ALE musings. Next project is to build a broadband HF loop for the back garden. The commercial offering are way out of my financial league for the moment and I suffer a lot of local QRM from a house full of youngsters next door! My single-freq tuned loops out in the garden offer total noise elimination, but being tuned devices are quite useless for scanning multiple frequencies. I have seen a design by Des (M0AYF) and with the help of an Mo friend in the radio club here in Torquay, I hope to build it myself.

73 for now. Adam