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Number Stations

Started by area51drone, March 19, 2014, 12:03:52 AM

area51drone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

Why the fuck are these so creepy, and yet strangely addicting at the same time?  I can only imagine the crazy shit someone out there is doing right now on the government dime.   

Yankee.  Hotel.   Foxtrot.

Juan

I remember hearing the Morse code ones back in the 60s.  They make no more sense now.  Maybe "they" are using the signals as a false flag to distract us from what "they" are really doing.

bigchucka

You are aware that Clyde Lewis did a Ground Zero show about these recently, aren't ya?

albrecht

Quote from: area51drone on March 19, 2014, 12:03:52 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

Why the fuck are these so creepy, and yet strangely addicting at the same time?  I can only imagine the crazy shit someone out there is doing right now on the government dime.   

Yankee.  Hotel.   Foxtrot.

If you are into Numbers Station check out this site:
http://www.irdial.com/conet.htm

With my CC Radio I get the Spanish, I guess Cuban, ones every so often. They are creepy.

Uncle Duke

Used to hear these in the early 70s on shortwave on a Zenith multi-band table radio my parents got me for my birthday.  English and Spanish were the most common for voice transmissions, but did on ocassion hear some other languages.  My favorite station to listen to back in the day on SW was Radio Albania.  At the time the Albanians were the ultimate closed country, and they hated everybody.  Their news broadcasts were beyond bizarre, but quite entertaining.  They were usually followed by an Albanian folk music show that was equally bizarre.

There was a horror movie released recently dealing with numbers stations, "The Banshee Chapter." 

zeebo

I've heard of these before but never actually checked out any clips - whoa they really are creepy.  Now I wish I still had my old trusty Grundig SW radio.

Anyway that Conet project mentioned earlier has lots of clips posted to archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/ird059

(Beware though, someone in the comments said they experienced negative effects by listening too much.)



area51drone

Quote from: zeebo on April 25, 2014, 09:40:31 PM
The Buzzer

That is pretty interesting.  I like the end:

"In 2011 a group of urban explorers explored the abandoned buildings at Povarovo.[30][dead link] They claim that it is an abandoned military base. A radio log record was found, confirming the operation of a transmitter at 4625 kHz."

Of course this shit is military, why else would anyone bother?  Makes you wonder if its for subs or something, but I know nothing about communications frequencies.  The buzzing sound probably has to do with some kind device that will only turn on when the buzzing turns off.    Also makes me wonder if the NSA knows exactly what these are for, and if they have ever cracked any of the numbers stations themselves.

Jeff

I used to work in USAF command and control, and, from time to time, EAM messages would come over HF. I knew the people on the other end of the mic were people airmen just like me, but through all the static, and given the messages being relayed, it still seemed very "end of the world."

bigchucka

Quote from: area51drone on April 26, 2014, 03:46:30 AM
That is pretty interesting.  I like the end:

"In 2011 a group of urban explorers explored the abandoned buildings at Povarovo.[30][dead link] They claim that it is an abandoned military base. A radio log record was found, confirming the operation of a transmitter at 4625 kHz."

Of course this shit is military, why else would anyone bother?  Makes you wonder if its for subs or something, but I know nothing about communications frequencies.  The buzzing sound probably has to do with some kind device that will only turn on when the buzzing turns off.    Also makes me wonder if the NSA knows exactly what these are for, and if they have ever cracked any of the numbers stations themselves.

There was a case of spies receiving messages from Cuba that got rounded up in the past...

zeebo

Quote from: Jeff on May 10, 2014, 09:17:47 PM
I used to work in USAF command and control, and, from time to time, EAM messages would come over HF. I knew the people on the other end of the mic were people airmen just like me, but through all the static, and given the messages being relayed, it still seemed very "end of the world."

The other nite I was fiddling with an old SW radio I've got out in the garage.  I could swear I heard one of the coded stations, which instead of numbers uses blips and bleeps that sound like morse code.  No idea where it was coming from, but it sounded real creepy. 

I remember as a kid hearing stuff like that but I always assumed it was some weird radio interference, but now I wonder how many were actually messages.


zeebo

Quote from: paladin1991 on May 11, 2014, 01:26:50 AM
Can you read Morse?

Nope, just what I picked up on old tv spy shows.   :D

area51drone

My 88 year old grandfather can still remember morse from his old days in the Navy.   I play aiport morse codes to him with my aviation radio and it's pretty amazing how quickly it comes to him.

albrecht

Doubt anyone here could catch these? Terribly written article but apparently N.Korea has been broadcasting some stuff recently.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3697192/Mystery-numbers-N-Korea-broadcasts-carry-Cold-War-echoes.html

pate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qc8jJ0TjSY

I have attempted to use numerology to decipher these strange signals.

No Dice

Robert

Quote from: zeebo on May 11, 2014, 01:20:30 AMThe other nite I was fiddling with an old SW radio I've got out in the garage.  I could swear I heard one of the coded stations, which instead of numbers uses blips and bleeps that sound like morse code.  No idea where it was coming from, but it sounded real creepy. 

I remember as a kid hearing stuff like that but I always assumed it was some weird radio interference, but now I wonder how many were actually messages.
I don't recall your frequently posting irony here, so maybe you don't know that's how hams communicate.  Some use voice.

To me "code" (c.w., dit-dah) never sounded creepy.  What did sound creepy to me were the numbers stations because they were using voice, and in various languages.  I couldn't figure out why they weren't using Morse, or preferably some private c.w. code, which would've sounded normal.  But it sounded creepy to me only after I ascertained that numbers were all they said, with no intro for general audiences to explain what the numbers were for, like lottery drawings or some such data.

But maybe you're describing some telemetry or similar data stream much faster than than Morse.  Was it all one note in any given xmission?  If it's really c.w. (i.c.w. interrupted continuous wave, if you want to be both pedantic & oxymoric), then it'll just sound like "pah, pah, pah" at irregular intervals.  Some will send code as long or short audio tones instead (modulated wave).  Or you can listen to c.w. with a local oscillator that'll supply the tone.  Sometimes a c.w. signal will be on the edge of some other carrier from elsewhere that'll fortuitously give it a tone.

albrecht

Quote from: Robert on August 06, 2016, 08:55:11 PM
I don't recall your frequently posting irony here, so maybe you don't know that's how hams communicate.  Some use voice.

To me "code" (c.w., dit-dah) never sounded creepy.  What did sound creepy to me were the numbers stations because they were using voice, and in various languages.  I couldn't figure out why they weren't using Morse, or preferably some private c.w. code, which would've sounded normal.  But it sounded creepy to me only after I ascertained that numbers were all they said, with no intro for general audiences to explain what the numbers were for, like lottery drawings or some such data.

But maybe you're describing some telemetry or similar data stream much faster than than Morse.  Was it all one note in any given xmission?
From what I understand the theory was for 'number stations' and repeater broadcasts on various, usually SW, frequencies were:
1) for use for one-time pads (impossible to break unless one gains hold of the pad)
2) for use to stations for nukes with basic "all ok" but if disrupted would take things online (disruption of service means contact someone or launch.)
3) some supposed attempt at sonic warfare, psychological disruption ("woodpecker signal") or that was the inadvertent hearing/interference of Soviet radar systems
some links:
http://www.wired.com/2011/09/ff_uvb76/
https://archive.org/details/ird059
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/cubas-mysterious-numbers-station-is-still-on-the-air
ps: our military ones sometimes caught are likely similar stuff with regard to status, flight plans, etc?
http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/p/what-is-emergency-action-message-or-eam.html


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zeebo

Quote from: Robert on August 06, 2016, 08:55:11 PM
I don't recall your frequently posting irony here, so maybe you don't know that's how hams communicate.  Some use voice.

I wouldn't put irony past me but no I didn't know that.  I didn't even know you could pick up ham freqs. on SW.  Also don't understand why they'd ever not just use voice.

Quote from: Robert on August 06, 2016, 08:55:11 PM
But maybe you're describing some telemetry or similar data stream much faster than than Morse.  Was it all one note in any given xmission? ...

Sorry I don't remember much now, it was over two years ago.   ;)

zeebo

Quote from: albrecht on August 06, 2016, 09:12:51 PM
From what I understand the theory was for 'number stations' and repeater broadcasts on various, usually SW, frequencies were:
1) for use for one-time pads (impossible to break unless one gains hold of the pad)
2) for use to stations for nukes with basic "all ok" but if disrupted would take things online (disruption of service means contact someone or launch.) ....

I've heard it's 1.  The pads were supposedly shrunk down so small as to be e.g. just a period in an otherwise innocuous book, then revealed by magnifying glass.  ... But 2 is almost more creepy, if you don't hear them.   :-\

albrecht

Quote from: zeebo on August 07, 2016, 02:55:22 PM
I've heard it's 1.  The pads were supposedly shrunk down so small as to be e.g. just a period in an otherwise innocuous book, then revealed by magnifying glass.  ... But 2 is almost more creepy, if you don't hear them.   :-\
I think that famously "hot" Russian spy that was caught a few years ago was, at least partially, controlled via numbers station and one-time pad.
Re: #2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war)

HM01 is easy to hear . Its a cuban #s station that alternates between numbers and data bursts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQo4Jgbrgc
The data bursts are a text file. I've heard it on 10345 and 9155kHz


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