Exploring Russian and International Analog TV From Leaky Cable TV Networks via the Airspy Server Network

Thank you to RTL-SDR.COM reader Micha for submitting a story about how he has been able to use SDR# and the Airspy Server Network to explore cable TV stations across the globe via cable TV signal interference.

If you were unaware, the SDR# software from Airspy.com has access to the Airspy Server Network, which is a collection of public Airspy SDRs available all over the world that can be accessed freely over the internet. To access these SDRs simply select "Airspy Server Network" as the source in SDR#, and click on the "..." button next to the server address entry. A map will pop up where you can select from SDRs all over the world.

Using Airspy SDRs in Russia, and in other countries (Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam, Micha found that there were several analog TV signals found at frequencies that should not have terrestrial TV signals there. Upon further investigation, he realized that these are actually cable TV signals that are leaking and causing interference across the RF bands. Micha notes that he's also observed how the leaking signals often change in frequency and intensity too, making it difficult to keep track of them.

Combined with the TVSharp SDR# plugin, Micha was able to recover some (very rough) images from these interfering signals. Micha has provided several images shown below that demonstrate Russian cable leakage, as well as for Mexico and Argentina.

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Micha
#261904
The next, terrestrial TV channel from Novosibirsk, has now been clearly identified. 
The channel broadcasts on Channel 25/ 503.25 Mhz/ Video and 509.75 Mhz/ Audio 
“Суббота!” = “Saturday!”.

An online program newspaper can be found here, for example:

//tv.starhit.ru

For comparison, you can find the program online here, among others:

//smotret.tv/subbota

There are different information about the switch-off dates of analogue television in Novosibirsk. Today is obviously not one of them. It could definitely go on for a few more years. It remains exciting.

Micha

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Micha
#261870
“R9OOM TEST” with its SDR has been online again in Novosibirsk for a few days. You can still receive 3 terrestrial TV channels here. In all lists the Disney Channel is listed on channel 33/567.25 MHz. However, that cannot be true, as Disney Channel has no longer been active in Russia since summer 2022. An indication of which station is broadcasting instead can be found at:
telepedia.fandom.com/ru/wiki/Канал_Disney.

The successor is the station “the Sun”/ “Солнце”

A direct program comparison between the SDR and the online live channel is not possible! There is a time difference of at least 2 hours between the two programs.
Micha
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Micha
#261502
I've been watching CTV from Canada/British Colombia since October. The online SDR was marked on the spy server map on Graham Island. This fits perfectly with the received TV Channel 6
(Video 83.25 Mhz/Audio 87.75), broadcast from Prince Rupert, approximately 120 km away. That's a long way away, but a look at the channel map shows that Graham Island is still at the reception limit.
The signal is severely disturbed and only a few images can be recognized with a few tricks.
There was a total failure for a short period of time, but after a short time the signal was back in the old quality. Because the sound signal is already in the FM broadcast range, it is broadcast much weaker in accordance with standards. Unfortunately, the audio signal cannot be received.
At first I assumed it was CTV news. But that doesn't seem to be true. It must be CTV-2. A comparison with TV Guide agrees. To make matters worse, the broadcast location is called Prince Rupert, CFTK-TV1. At times, program content from CTV-News and CTV News-Regional is taken from the CTV-News continuous loop program. 
By the way, this is the only program that can be received live online here. The regional news from CTV-Windsor can only be seen shortened in the online media library 1-2 days later. The live program is blocked.
According to the guide, CTV1 and CTV 2 broadcast identical programs at times.
A new online SDR with a different address in Fort St. John has been registered for a few days. What's strange here is that the signals (TV and radio) are completely identical to the SDR in Graham Island. In addition, there is no option to receive Channel 6 here. The distances to both Channel 6 stations (Prince Rupert/Kamloops) are far too great. Since then, the SDR in Graham Iskland has no longer been accessible. It is likely that the location in the map is entered incorrectly.
The sequences of images show how the disturbances change every second.

Micha

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