Monday, June 14, 2021

SuperDARN Radars Identified as QRM Source on HF

SuperDARN radar site in Saskatchewan
(Photo by Daryl Mitchell via
Wikimedia Commons)
The ARRL Letter reports that the SuperDARN ionospheric research radar network has been identified by the International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 Monitoring Service as a source of interference on 14.210 MHz and possibly other frequencies. This is in addition to over-the-horizon radars, mostly based in Russia and China, that have long been sources of QRM on the HF ham bands.

SuperDARN stands for Super Dual Auroral Radar Network, which operates 35 HF radars in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They operate continuously to track the motion of charged particles in the ionosphere and help scientists better predict space weather hazards, such as geomagnetic storms.