What would generate a Morse code ident on channel 6?

[WSCB609]

My radio can scan all gmrs frequencies..  some times I get a morse code Ident on channel 6...max 5 watts.... what could it be?

"

06

462.6875

2 W

12.5 kHz

5 W

 

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, WSCB609 said:

To fast for me to ident...

You can get a smartphone app to decode CW.  Not sure if leaving it running for hours would be a problem.  I don't know if mine eats up storage space or just overwrites the same small amount of memory so I only let it run for a few minutes.  Works better in a quiet room.

[nokones]

4 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

It would have had to be channel 7 since channels 7-14 are the interstitial channels at 467 MHz.

Channels 1-7 are the 462 MHz Interstitial channels and channels 8-14 are the 467 MHz Interstitial channels.

[WRUE951]

Make an audio recording of the CW and upload here to decode. https://morsecode.world/international/decoder/audio-decoder-adaptive.html

[WRXB215]

CW is a mode. Morse Code is the most common code use with CW.

[dosw]

What do you mean by "max 5 watts"? You're receiving a signal from unidentified source. You would have no way of knowing its power output without the message you're receiving telling you.

 

I know in amateur radio there are beacons set up that continually emit a morse code (cw) message that tells a call sign, a location, and power level. This is used by others to determine if a band is propagating. But you just get this "sometimes", so it's more likely that someone has equipment that is outputting morse to identify their station. However, if you're really curious, you can record the signal, and use an online morse decoder (or decode it yourself manually) to read what the message is saying. That will probably tell you who owns it.

 

...- ...- ...- is usually the beginning of a beacon's signal. The "vvv" symbols are easily identifiable as a beacon preamble.

[WSCB609]

29 minutes ago, dosw said:

What do you mean by "max 5 watts"? You're receiving a signal from unidentified source. You would have no way of knowing its power output without the message you're receiving telling you.

...- ...- ...- is usually the beginning of a beacon's signal. The "vvv" symbols are easily identifiable as a beacon preamble.

Channel 6 in GMRS is limited to 5 watts Max.   462.6875

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WSCB609 said:

My radio can scan all gmrs frequencies..  some times I get a morse code Ident on channel 6...max 5 watts.... what could it be?

"

06

462.6875

2 W

12.5 kHz

5 W

 

It could be anything. What does the Morse code say?

[nokones]

I have heard a Station ID on one of the Interstitial channels before. I believe the channel was either 6 or 7.

[WSCB609]

54 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

It could be anything. What does the Morse code say?

To fast for me to ident... maybe 4 numbers/letters.  Only happens every few hours.

[SteveShannon]

54 minutes ago, WSCB609 said:

To fast for me to ident... maybe 4 numbers/letters.  Only happens every few hours.

Record it and post it here. Someone will decipher it. (Still not me )

[GrouserPad]

We have a channel 1 gmrs CW identifier that seems to be super common. I think it’s bleed over from another channel or band  but I’m not certain, it is very loud and clear. Sounds like a repeater on ID every so often. 
 

You could be close to someone who is using CW id that is on a different frequency (dunno) using a radio that transmits “unclean” power

[WSCB609]

16 hours ago, WRUE951 said:

Make an audio recording of the CW and upload here to decode. https://morsecode.world/international/decoder/audio-decoder-adaptive.html

Can't, it's arbitrary, never at a set time and lasts about 3 seconds . 

[WSCB609]

10 hours ago, GrouserPad said:

We have a channel 1 gmrs CW identifier that seems to be super common. I think it’s bleed over from another channel or band  but I’m not certain, it is very loud and clear. Sounds like a repeater on ID every so often. 
 

You could be close to someone who is using CW id that is on a different frequency (dunno) using a radio that transmits “unclean” power

Yep, same thing, that could be it.     (What is CW?) 

[OffRoaderX]

2 minutes ago, WSCB609 said:

What is CW?

Radio-Dork term for Morse-Code.

[Davichko5650]

19 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Radio-Dork term for Morse-Code.

Or....  Both kinds of Music, Country and Western.

[MarkInTampa]

1 hour ago, WSCB609 said:

Yep, same thing, that could be it.     (What is CW?) 

You are around 4 miles from one of the strongest repeaters in the area on 462.675Mhz with a 50 mile radius. I used to be able to hit it from Pensacola on occasion. Channel 6 is only 12.5kHz away (462.6875Mhz). If the repeater is running wide band, running slightly off frequency, your receive is off or sensitivity/selectivity sucks, etc.. it could sneak through. Is the id the same as the repeater on 462.675?

[WRUE951]

3 hours ago, WSCB609 said:

Can't, it's arbitrary, never at a set time and lasts about 3 seconds . 

Well, you can always get you one of these..  

[TrikeRadio]

4 hours ago, WSCB609 said:

Yep, same thing, that could be it.     (What is CW?) 

CW - "Continuous Wave" - Basically... Morse code

[Raybestos]

On 6/5/2025 at 6:17 AM, GrouserPad said:

We have a channel 1 gmrs CW identifier that seems to be super common. I think it’s bleed over from another channel or band  but I’m not certain, it is very loud and clear. Sounds like a repeater on ID every so often. 
 

You could be close to someone who is using CW id that is on a different frequency (dunno) using a radio that transmits “unclean” power

^^^^This!^^^^    Most CCJ radios have direct conversion receivers and are susceptible to bleedover, intermod, and other stuff from within and outside of the GMRS band.  What you are hearing may not even be on GMRS.  Several excellent suggestions on this thread about using Morse decoder apps or posting the audio on here for one of us who can copy Morse, should help ID the source.

[WRTC928]

On 6/4/2025 at 5:42 PM, WSCB609 said:

Channel 6 in GMRS is limited to 5 watts Max.   462.6875

By regulation, channel 6 is limited to a maximum of 5 watts. That doesn't necessarily mean someone isn't transmitting with more power than that. 

[SteveShannon]

On 6/5/2025 at 2:27 PM, WSCB609 said:

Yep, same thing, that could be it.     (What is CW?) 

Many people equate Morse Code and CW.  Some of us protest that they are different when people use the terms interchangeably, sometimes because we are being pedantic.  I’m guilty of that, but because you asked I hope you’ll forgive me for trying to explain it in a way that is hopefully interesting. I’m on the road, woke up early, and I think the difference is interesting. 

A radio signal, at its most basic form is just an electromagnetic wave at a particular frequency, with almost no bandwidth.  The simplest transmitter is an oscillator driving electrical power of a single frequency into a wire. That single frequency of RF contains absolutely no information. It’s just there when it’s on and not there when it’s off.  But because it concentrates all that RF power into a single frequency, it’s easily transmitted by a very simple device and easily received with yet another simple device. That is the “Continuous Wave” or CW, a pure frequency of a single frequency that can travel far with very little power. And although you hear tones at the transmitter and receiver ends, there is no actual audible tone being transmitted. The audible tone is created just for the convenience of the operators at the transmitter and receiver.

Samuel F. B. Morse had already developed a way to use DC electricity to transmit messages on the telegraph by turning current on and off in the familiar pattern that’s now called Morse Code.  By applying that same code to turn on and off the continuous wave the earliest actual form of radio communications was implemented.  

So to pedantic purists like myself there truly is a distinct difference between CW and Morse Code.  One is the medium.  The other is the encoding that allows us to communicate the message.  But because CW is almost never used for anything other than conveying Morse Code, the two terms have become interchangeable for most people. 
 

[WRYZ926]

15 minutes ago, nokones said:

I have heard a Station ID on one of the Interstitial channels before. I believe the channel was either 6 or 7.

It would have had to be channel 7 since channels 7-14 are the interstitial channels at 467 MHz.