Loggings > North American Shortwave Pirate

Two presumed parody numbers stations logged

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DavidB:

--- Quote from: ChrisSmolinski on November 15, 2011, 1550 UTC ---Years ago, there was a SS/OM station that we nicknamed "The Bored Man", presumably from Cuba. He read off numbers, in a rather laid back fashion. Presumably he was not sufficiently dedicated to the revolution. He'd often make errors, and there would be background sounds, other people talking, etc.

--- End quote ---

I remember back in the 1980s running across a numbers station (AM mode, female voice, Spanish language) that had weak audio from Radio Havana Cuba's English language service in the background. That probably is a dead giveaway as to its origin and to who's transmitter was being used, though there is always the off chance it could have been a "black" station trying to pose as Cuban.

Token:

--- Quote from: Swede P on November 15, 2011, 1612 UTC ---I listened to the recording of the numbers broadcast. I don't think I have heard this before, but beyond that, why is it presumed to be a parody? Perhaps if you could decode a funny message out of the numbers, that would be a give away, but as far as I could hear it seemed rather representative of real broadcasts.

--- End quote ---

My main reason for leaning towards spoof is the fact that it kind of includes too many features of a numbers station, like it was built from a check list.

- Odd, distinctive, music for lead in?  Check.  Digital readouts on receivers and digital watches/phones, the need for such distinctive music is long past.

- Some kind of identifier at the start, for recipient and source?  Check.  The music itself did not identify the source?  Sure, maybe the recipient needs to be IDed assuming more than one possible recipient.

- None-English/American accent but message in English?  Check.  If this voice is synthesized why not just use an English/American accent voice if the message is in English.  If the recipient is not a native English speaker then why not send it in his native tongue?

- 5 figure groups?  Check.  Well, this one is kind of standard and hard to argue.

- Including something to define the group edges?  Check.  Most stations just allow a pause to identify group edges, this one goes overboard with a stroke between each.  Sure, the stroke (or “oblique”) is used in other stations, but not between each 5f, it seems overkill.

- Repeat the numbers group as a body twice?  Check.  Smart, but again VERY numbers stationy.

- Saying "I'll repeat" or something like that between the two message bodies?  Check.  Again, smart, but very “exemplary” of how a numbers station might sound.

- Include a group size someplace in the message?  Check.

- End message by saying end?  Check.

It just seems like too much for one station in my opinion.  I can think of no other station today that combines all of these features so glaringly.  Most have several, maybe even most in some form, but not all of them exactly like this.  I guess they could have added one more just to make sure, zero’s after the “ende” or something like that.

Yeah, I am not 100% sure either, but I did log it as “probable spoof”.  I also, however, put a copy of the recording in my unidentified numbers station storage folder.

For that matter, did we ever decide for sure that the AH7 station from last year was a spoof?  I don’t remember ever hearing about anyone owning up to it, and there was half a dozen or more messages total sent.  That one could have been real I suppose, but again it just did not feel right.

T!

Swede P:
Ah, I see. So in short, ironically it gives itself away by trying to be too convincing.

I could buy that.

Beerus Maximus:

--- Quote from: Swede P on November 15, 2011, 1612 UTC ---I can't quite make out the accent. Perhaps it is from Venezuela - not sure really.

--- End quote ---

The accent sounded "German" to me.

UNID QRP:

--- Quote from: Beerus Maximus on November 22, 2011, 0226 UTC ---
--- Quote from: Swede P on November 15, 2011, 1612 UTC ---I can't quite make out the accent. Perhaps it is from Venezuela - not sure really.

--- End quote ---

The accent sounded "German" to me.

--- End quote ---

Possibly German, though it also struck me as similar to the type of English accent that a good deal of people who grew up first learning a Southeast Asian language often have.  It does seem very 'cut & paste', however - almost like it's too good at fitting the format of a numbers station.

FWIW, if it is a fake, it looks as though there may be a spate of that going on - though this time they're numbers stations run (once again) from phone lines rather than over the airwaves.  More on that here.

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