Church Frequencies

billy the squid

Anyone know if there is a list of church frequencies out there, been hearing a number of them in the 27 mhz range, and wanting to identify them.

Also, how does haveing church broadcasts here affect CB band users, (if there are any left) have comreg moved CB users to another frequency?.

watty

No..

It's Licenced Community Radio, basically the the UK FM part of band just under 28MHz. The Euro CB channels are lower
Community Radio Licence (Used by Churches or anyone that buys one) http://www.irishwattystuff.com/wireless/communitycb.htm

Irish Legal CB
http://www.irishwattystuff.com/wireless/irishcb.htm
Irish Euro CB 26.965 .. 27.405MHz (4W peak SSB, FM 4W carrier or 1W carrier AM)

Channel Numbers with UK frequecy and Irish/Euro Frequency side by side
http://www.irishwattystuff.com/wireless/ukcb.htm

darkmaster2

Those church broadcasts seem to be all over the 27Mhz frequencies. It gets crazy on saturday eves and sunday morns, or when someone croaks it.

There are even churches on 27.555 and 27.185 (the calling frequencies)
Proper madness.

billy the squid

There was one on 27.185 this morning down where I am. think it was transmitting in FM though as while listening to it on AM it sounded rubbish, but better on FM mode.

watty

Any outside 27.605 to 27.995 are breaking the law and should be reported to Comreg. All must pay annual Licence (about €100).

darkmaster2

watty wrote: »

Any outside 27.605 to 27.995 are breaking the law and should be reported to Comreg. All must pay annual Licence (about €100).

I didnt know that they were restricted between those two frequencies.

Report them, Just don`t mention that they are interfering with your DXing on 27.555 which unfortunately is just as illegal.

watty

We can only talk about Listening on 27.555MHz. It's not Legal for Transmission here on a CB.

Irish/Euro CB 26.965 .. 27.405MHz (4W peak SSB, FM 4W carrier or 1W carrier AM)

(I fixed wrong link above).

The Tesco "Tecknica" Wireless Mouse uses 27MHz band also. No Doubt under CE mark SRD licence. Anyone know exact channel?

Fuzzy Clam

watty wrote: »

Any outside 27.605 to 27.995 are breaking the law and should be reported to Comreg. All must pay annual Licence (about €100).

Keep that in mind when your house is destroyed by an act of God...:eek:

humaxf1

All this started about 6 years now? when Church broadcasts were allegedly interfering with airband...

Cue Comreg and create a €100 license and all of a sudden it's OK to keep transmitting as normal and the interference "magically" disappears :rolleyes:

Sounds fishy to me and money for the boys!!!

watty

However the "interfering" transmissions were supposedly some of the ones on Band II. You can see quite a few Churches with BandII dipoles. I'm not sure how a 87.5MHz to 108MHz transmission creates interference in the 110MHz to 137MHz band.

humaxf1

ah, either way, it's just a scam to make handy money.

I didn't realise that some churches were transmitting on broadcast band. Unless their setup was a very poor installation <cheap coax, high SWR, cheap & nasty transmitter> If there was interference, 2FM, 98 and all the rest would be out of business by now.

Typical Irish attitude.

Mike 1972

I'm not sure how a 87.5MHz to 108MHz transmission creates interference in the 110MHz to 137MHz band

Heres one way

bmw316

have got these over the last few months
316over and out


7.035 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City
27.065 MHz......8pm..........S 5 to 7 near Cork City (FM, . Grenagh?
27.325 MHz......7:30pm......S 5 near Cork City (FM)
27.345 MHz......7:30pm......Castlelyons near Rathcormac
27.475 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City. suggests G
27.467 MHz......7:30pm......S 8 near Cork City, bad echo (FM).
27.471 MHz......7:00pm......S 7 near Cork City (FM)
27.515 MHz......7:00pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM).

27.597 MHz......7:30pm......S 7 near Cork City.
27.605 MHz......7:30pm...... Berrings near Inniscarra
27.615 MHz......6:30pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM)
27.625 MHz......7:30pm......Blarney
27.655 MHz......7:00pm.....Very weak near Cork City. ......Glounthaune
27.681 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM)
27.725 MHz......7:30pm......S 6 near Cork (FM)
27.745 MHz......7:00pm......Very weak near Cork City, MHz...Sundays, very weak
27.791 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM)
27.801 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM)
27.815 MHz......7:00pm..... Boherbue, weak near Cork City (FM)
27.865 MHz......6:30pm......Probably St.Mary's Church in Mallow
27.865 MHz......8:00pm......Very weak near Cork City (FM)

_________________

ajhalpin

Who would the churches typically be targeting with these broadcasts. Poor sinners obviously , but who would realistically pick up these transmissions apart from a few Hams. Will CB'ers get this?

AJ

Mike 1972

The idea was that old/ill people who couldnt travel to church could buy recievers (scanners or those cheap "multiband" recievers) .

Given that it takes a certain level of technical knowledge to operate such a reciever (and that church services are broadcast on RTE and various local stations anyway) though Im not sure what takeup was like.

Antenna

Renewed reports (October 2010) of apparent Church Broadcasts in Ireland within the amateur 10 metre band (28-29.7MHz):

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/showarchive.cgi?101003.txt
http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1041.txt + other sites too

** IRELAND. HELP NEEDED IN FINDING CHURCHES ON 10 METER FM

Illegal broadcast transmitters in churches are again being heard
across the great Atlantic pond, and your help is needed to find them.

Ger McNamara, EI4GXB, is the Irish Radio Transmitters Society's IARU
Intruder Watch coordinator. He is asking hams and SWLs to again keep
an ear on 28265kHz FM. This, based on incursions by churches on this
frequency heard throughout Europe with signals equaling S9 +20db.

In addition, McNamara days that there have also been reports of a
Church in the Dublin area transmitting on 28030kHz. This is in the CW
portion of the 10 meter band.

etc


One has to wonder if one, if not both of the above mentioned frequencies is someone (or more than one) 'messing' rather than genuinely from a church ?

i.e. some clown (either with an amateur licence or not) deliberately transmitting a recording of a church service on the ham 10metre band, rather than the offending transmission actually coming from a church!

"throughout Europe with signals equaling S9 +20db"

How much power into a omnidirectional vertical (which a church would be using) would be likely for such 'very strong signals' reports during skip? Again maybe its actually some 'joker'/troublemaker maybe with a few hundred watts into a 'beam' aimed a mainland Europe, retransmitting/transmitting a recording of a church!
It would hardly be the first time that there has been 'messing' on amateur bands.

After years and years of churches using '11 metres' with no interference to legal amateur radio it genuinely happened in 2007 that one church in Dublin somehow moved from '11 metres' into the ham 10 metre band (and inaudible to intended listeners, as the cheap multiband receivers do not tune up as far as the start of the 10 metre band anyway!) . But strange other similar reception reports follow shortly afterwards

brownmini

watty wrote: »

However the "interfering" transmissions were supposedly some of the ones on Band II. You can see quite a few Churches with BandII dipoles. I'm not sure how a 87.5MHz to 108MHz transmission creates interference in the 110MHz to 137MHz band.

Because some of the transmitters they used produced other signals.
Some of these transmitters produced other signals that would wander
along the band and would become a nuisance at 108 MHz and
eventually would end up passing through 144 MHz a few hours later.

brownmini

watty wrote: »

Any outside 27.605 to 27.995 are breaking the law and should be reported to Comreg. All must pay annual Licence (about €100).

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/SI304of2006.pdf
Article 4 says 5 years unless revoked.

brownmini

Antenna wrote: »

Renewed reports (October 2010) of apparent

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/showarchive.cgi?101003.txt

The wheels on this are turning.

Antenna

According to this
http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/latest.pdf

28265.000 0930 24.10.10 IRL F3E Irish Church divine service still active

28265kHz heard 09:30 UTC last Sunday in Germany? due to skip

Whatever it is (accidental or deliberate) though why is this 28265kHz attributed to the Republic of Ireland only?

It could be from Northern Ireland - there too there have been many Catholic churches using radio equipment to broadcast mass to listeners at home who cannot attend etc.

Did they recognise particular accents or places mentioned?

Mike 1972

The UK also allows church broadcasting on (some) 27 MHz frequencies. There are quite a few churches (mainly but not exclusively RC) here in NI using this band. Im at a bit of a loss as to the point of it though. If the transmitters are being operated at the legal power level (4w) without the use of "burner" amplifiers your average £30 "multiband" radio is not going to be of much use unless one lives very near the church anyway ? And without some form of audio compression/AGC (at the TX) its going to be very difficult to follow whats being said given the typical audio quality on such setups.

There are still Churches in parts of the Republic of Ireland using the 87.6-107.9 MHz broadcast band :mad:

humaxf1 wrote: »

ah, either way, it's just a scam to make handy money.

You mean religion or the issuing of licences ? :pac:

brownmini

Antenna wrote: »

According to this
http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/latest.pdf

28265kHz heard 09:30 UTC last Sunday in Germany? due to skip

Has anyone heard the 28265 signal themselves and if so,
what is the signal strength and locality/general-area ?

Mike 1972

If there are radio amateurs in the vicinity of the church in question what is there to stop them firing up their rigs 1 or 2 KHz either side of the offending transmission and sending a bit of high speed morse CW or somesuch.

Obviously deliberate jamming would be even more illegal than the transmission being jammed but surely nothing wrong with sending out some CQ calls or doing some "TVI testing" on frequencies one is licensed to use ?

pixbyjohn

Haha, at least it gives you lot something to listen to.

Felim_Doyle

watty wrote: »

We can only talk about Listening on 27.555MHz. It's not Legal for Transmission here on a CB.

Irish/Euro CB 26.965 .. 27.405MHz (4W peak SSB, FM 4W carrier or 1W carrier AM)

(I fixed wrong link above).

The Tesco "Tecknica" Wireless Mouse uses 27MHz band also. No Doubt under CE mark SRD licence. Anyone know exact channel?

I have a wireless keyboard and mouse that I think operate in the 27MHz range but I have not determined the exact frequency yet. Unfortunately, I'm away from home at the moment but I'll try to get on it as soon as I am back.

Félim M3HIM
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

manna452121

Mine is a Logitech Mouse and i have similiar probs on 27Mhz

Felim_Doyle

manna452121 wrote: »

Mine is a Logitech Mouse and i have similiar probs on 27Mhz

What kind of problems?

BTW, if you determine that your mouse is operating in the 27.6MHz - 27.99MHz WPAS band, it's most likely a church mouse!

fm_radio

bmw316 wrote: »

have got these over the last few months
316over and out


7.035 MHz......7:30pm......Very weak near Cork City
27.065 MHz......8pm..........S 5 to 7 near Cork City (FM, . Grenagh?

It's amazing how you heard exactly the same as what I posted on another forum....complete with mistakes! :rolleyes:

So just to bump an old post, can anyone ID these churches? Most likely somewhere in Munster (...or add on any others that are local to you)

27.065 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency
27.161 MHz (FM)..........??
27.205 MHz (FM)..........??
27.285 MHz (FM)..........??
27.315 MHz (FM).........Blarney, Cork? or near it?
27.335 MHz (FM).........? (Week day 9:30am mass)
27.355 MHz (FM)..........??
27.365 MHz (FM)..........??
27.395 MHz (FM)..........??
27.505 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency
27.605 MHz (FM)..........??
27.615 MHz (FM)..........??
27.618 MHz (FM)..........??
27.681 MHz (FM)..........??
27.731 MHz (FM)..........??
27.735 MHz (FM)..........??
27.775 MHz (FM)..........??
27.791 MHz (FM)..........? (Sat 10am, 6:30pm mass)
27.815 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency. Carrigtwohill near Cork City & ??

brownmini

fm_radio wrote: »

28.815 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency. Carrigtwohill near Cork City & ??

I hope you meant 27.815 ?

fm_radio

brownmini wrote: »

I hope you meant 27.815 ?

Now corrected

brownmini

fm_radio wrote: »

Now corrected

Phew!..that was close.
A DF-hunt for another religious-transmission source narrowly avoided.:D

sensormatic

fm_radio wrote: »

It's amazing how you heard exactly the same as what I posted on another forum....complete with mistakes! :rolleyes:


how interesting that your posting what i am hearing.
god does work in many ways my son, now bless you:D

Antenna

A couple from the Cork area, all narrowband FM

MHz
27.665 - Glounthaune Parish Church radio (used to be 27.675 but moved down 10kHz for some reason?)

27.981 Mayfield Church Cork city

brownmini

fm_radio wrote: »

27.065 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency
27.161 MHz (FM)..........??
27.205 MHz (FM)..........??
27.285 MHz (FM)..........??
27.315 MHz (FM).........Blarney, Cork? or near it?
27.335 MHz (FM).........? (Week day 9:30am mass)
27.355 MHz (FM)..........??
27.365 MHz (FM)..........??
27.395 MHz (FM)..........??
27.505 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency
27.605 MHz (FM)..........??
27.615 MHz (FM)..........??
27.618 MHz (FM)..........??
27.681 MHz (FM)..........??
27.731 MHz (FM)..........??
27.735 MHz (FM)..........??
27.775 MHz (FM)..........??
27.791 MHz (FM)..........? (Sat 10am, 6:30pm mass)
27.815 MHz (FM)..........2 on this frequency. Carrigtwohill near Cork City & ??

Is it just me or does anyone else notice a gap 50kHz either side of 27.555 MHz ?

What are the odds of that happening ?
(the gap that is...not me noticing it )

Snowbat

brownmini wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone else notice a gap 50kHz either side of 27.555 MHz ?

What are the odds of that happening ?
(the gap that is...not me noticing it )

I'd guess most of the transmissions are from UK-spec CB radios as they're inexpensive and quite easy to source. Legal CB radio bands in the UK are 26.965-27.405 MHz and 27.60125-27.99125 MHz, both FM only.

mordka

brownmini wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone else notice a gap 50kHz either side of 27.555 MHz ?

What are the odds of that happening ?
(the gap that is...not me noticing it )

When good propagation will come on 27.555 and around they will get good QRM during the mass (for listeners) and vice versa for DXers.

brownmini

mordka wrote: »

When good propagation will come on 27.555 and around they will get good QRM during the mass (for listeners) and vice versa for DXers.

It turns out that according to the document at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/pub...omReg0626a.pdf (page 6)
The WPAS system only starts at 27.605 MHz - didn't know that.

The official CB channels stop at 27.410 MHz.
REF: http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/Of...f/Dec9811e.pdf

Which then changed to 26.965 to 27.405 MHz
REF: http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_i_e...33e01p_a1o.pdf


And according to the presentation document at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/CP42.pdf
the gap between 27.405 and 27.605 is supposed to be a guard band.

I think that unless the QRM is coming from inside EI and close-by,
WPAS won't suffer given that FM is used.

Felim_Doyle

Antenna wrote: »

It could be from Northern Ireland - there too there have been many Catholic churches using radio equipment to broadcast mass to listeners at home who cannot attend etc.

Did they recognise particular accents or places mentioned?

Indeed, did they listen long enough to determine if it was a Catholic mass and not some other similar sounding Christian service?

Are Catholic churches the only ones who use WPAS or are other religious services transmitted this way?

Does the Imam broadcast the call to prayer on a dedicated UHF system or are Mosques also making use of WPAS?

Tim Bucknall

re: Mosques In England.
both, 454mhz and both uk cb bands.

i never realised what a mishmash of channel spacings those church broadcasts use, would push up the price of a receiver for the old folks
27.161 for instance!

watty

Anyone can get 1 channel Community Broadcast 27MHz annual licence here.

Felim_Doyle

Are specific channels / frequencies allocated to each licensee or is it a free-for-all within the WPAS band?

Felim_Doyle

brownmini wrote: »

It turns out that according to the document at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/pub...omReg0626a.pdf (page 6)
The WPAS system only starts at 27.605 MHz - didn't know that.

The official CB channels stop at 27.410 MHz.
REF: http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/Of...f/Dec9811e.pdf

Which then changed to 26.965 to 27.405 MHz
REF: http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_i_e...33e01p_a1o.pdf


And according to the presentation document at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/CP42.pdf
the gap between 27.405 and 27.605 is supposed to be a guard band.

I think that unless the QRM is coming from inside EI and close-by,
WPAS won't suffer given that FM is used.

It appears that the URLs for the external links that you have supplied are incomplete. Any chance you could post them again without the '...' abbreviations? Ta!

brownmini

Felim_Doyle wrote: »

It appears that the URLs for the external links
that you have supplied are incomplete. Any chance you could post them
again without the '...' abbreviations? Ta!

Whoops! and Roger!

WPAS INFO is at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0626a.pdf

Middle two are documents about the official CB band and the standards of
CB equipment.

As luck would have it the document "Dec9811e.pdf " has gone from being
downloadable to 'file not found' since my original posting or the place where
I thought I had accessed it.

The other document is located at
http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_i_ets/300400_300499/300433/01_60/ets_300433e01p.pdf
Page 9 of the document gives the band 26.960 to 27.410 and states on
page 12 of the document, channel 40 to be 27.405.


And according to the presentation document at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/CP42.pdf
The gap between 27.41(correction of 5khz by me) and 26.6 is a guard band.


And for info, the exemption info on CB in Ireland is given at
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/SI436of1998.pdf