2941
Shortwave Broadcast / The Mighty KBC 7375 kHz AM 2 March 2014 0000Z
« on: March 02, 2014, 0024 UTC »
0000Z 45444 S9+ The Mighty KBC has a mighty great signal tonight.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
Shortwave Pirate Radio In North America And Around The World, And Other Signals That Go Bump In The Night
We seek to understand and document all radio transmissions, legal and otherwise, as part of the radio listening hobby. We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations.
Always consult with the appropriate authorities if you have questions concerning what is permissible in your locale.
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2942
General Radio Discussion / Shortwave Committee Request For Comment
« on: March 01, 2014, 2013 UTC »
http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2014/02/28/shortwave-committee-request-for-comment/
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Shortwave radio has been a mainstay of U.S. international media since the 1940s. Over time, however, the number of countries in which shortwave is the medium of choice for audiences overseas has been shrinking. In many places, people are increasingly turning to other means to get news and information – including but not limited to FM radio, satellite television, web sites, social media, and their mobile phones.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the independent federal government agency that oversees U.S. civilian international media, has been adjusting to these changes over the years and now delivers news and information programs on a wider variety of platforms in more languages than any other media organization. To support its commitment of reaching audiences on their preferred media, the Board recently established a Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Radio Broadcasting, which has been conducting a thorough review of the agency’s use of shortwave radio as a distribution platform, the associated costs, and the likely reliance on it by next-generation audiences.
This Committee is now seeking feedback from external experts and stakeholders on their perspectives on the role of shortwave radio broadcasting as a BBG distribution platform. We are particularly interested to hear views that consider the evolving media consumption of target audiences, changing access to shortwave and other platforms, and the need to prioritize in an austere federal budget environment.
The BBG is committed to sustaining shortwave broadcasting to regions where a critical need for the platform remains.
The Shortwave Committee has held two meetings focused on the shortwave audience’s listening experience, the BBG networks’ success in reaching target audiences, the role of shortwave in the networks’ engagement strategies in various markets, the cost of operating shortwave transmitting facilities, and the BBG’s research into how shortwave is being used and its impact on audiences.
Your input will better inform the Committee’s recommendations and could help shape its comprehensive report to the plenary Board.
Please contribute questions, comments or suggestions via e-mail to ShortwaveCommittee@bbg.gov by March 14, 2014. To facilitate the review process, please limit your submission to 1200 words or fewer. All comments may be reprinted as part of the Committee’s proceedings and may be made public.
The news and information provided by our networks helps bring the light of truth to some of the darkest corners of the world. By supporting the free flow of news and information, including combatting Internet censorship and providing news and information tailored for specific audiences, developing local media, and creating access to global media, we purposefully support the freedom to speak, the freedom to listen, and the freedom of expression.
If you are aware of anyone with special interest in this topic, I encourage you to share this request with them.
Thank you for your interest in taking part in this process to help the BBG become more efficient and effective in supporting U.S. national security and foreign policy.
Sincerely,
Matthew C Armstrong
Chairman
BBG Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Shortwave radio has been a mainstay of U.S. international media since the 1940s. Over time, however, the number of countries in which shortwave is the medium of choice for audiences overseas has been shrinking. In many places, people are increasingly turning to other means to get news and information – including but not limited to FM radio, satellite television, web sites, social media, and their mobile phones.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the independent federal government agency that oversees U.S. civilian international media, has been adjusting to these changes over the years and now delivers news and information programs on a wider variety of platforms in more languages than any other media organization. To support its commitment of reaching audiences on their preferred media, the Board recently established a Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Radio Broadcasting, which has been conducting a thorough review of the agency’s use of shortwave radio as a distribution platform, the associated costs, and the likely reliance on it by next-generation audiences.
This Committee is now seeking feedback from external experts and stakeholders on their perspectives on the role of shortwave radio broadcasting as a BBG distribution platform. We are particularly interested to hear views that consider the evolving media consumption of target audiences, changing access to shortwave and other platforms, and the need to prioritize in an austere federal budget environment.
The BBG is committed to sustaining shortwave broadcasting to regions where a critical need for the platform remains.
The Shortwave Committee has held two meetings focused on the shortwave audience’s listening experience, the BBG networks’ success in reaching target audiences, the role of shortwave in the networks’ engagement strategies in various markets, the cost of operating shortwave transmitting facilities, and the BBG’s research into how shortwave is being used and its impact on audiences.
Your input will better inform the Committee’s recommendations and could help shape its comprehensive report to the plenary Board.
Please contribute questions, comments or suggestions via e-mail to ShortwaveCommittee@bbg.gov by March 14, 2014. To facilitate the review process, please limit your submission to 1200 words or fewer. All comments may be reprinted as part of the Committee’s proceedings and may be made public.
The news and information provided by our networks helps bring the light of truth to some of the darkest corners of the world. By supporting the free flow of news and information, including combatting Internet censorship and providing news and information tailored for specific audiences, developing local media, and creating access to global media, we purposefully support the freedom to speak, the freedom to listen, and the freedom of expression.
If you are aware of anyone with special interest in this topic, I encourage you to share this request with them.
Thank you for your interest in taking part in this process to help the BBG become more efficient and effective in supporting U.S. national security and foreign policy.
Sincerely,
Matthew C Armstrong
Chairman
BBG Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting
2943
General Radio Discussion / The FCC Wades Into the Newsroom
« on: February 21, 2014, 0025 UTC »
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579366903828260732
The FCC Wades Into the Newsroom
Why is the agency studying 'perceived station bias' and asking about coverage choices?
By AJIT PAI
Feb. 10, 2014 7:26 p.m. ET
News organizations often disagree about what Americans need to know. MSNBC, for example, apparently believes that traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., is the crisis of our time. Fox News, on the other hand, chooses to cover the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi more heavily than other networks. The American people, for their part, disagree about what they want to watch.
But everyone should agree on this: The government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.
Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission, where I am a commissioner, does not agree. Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.
The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about "the process by which stories are selected" and how often stations cover "critical information needs," along with "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to underserved populations."
How does the FCC plan to dig up all that information? First, the agency selected eight categories of "critical information" such as the "environment" and "economic opportunities," that it believes local newscasters should cover. It plans to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their "news philosophy" and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information.
The FCC also wants to wade into office politics. One question for reporters is: "Have you ever suggested coverage of what you consider a story with critical information for your customers that was rejected by management?" Follow-up questions ask for specifics about how editorial discretion is exercised, as well as the reasoning behind the decisions.
Participation in the Critical Information Needs study is voluntary—in theory. Unlike the opinion surveys that Americans see on a daily basis and either answer or not, as they wish, the FCC's queries may be hard for the broadcasters to ignore. They would be out of business without an FCC license, which must be renewed every eight years.
This is not the first time the agency has meddled in news coverage. Before Critical Information Needs, there was the FCC's now-defunct Fairness Doctrine, which began in 1949 and required equal time for contrasting viewpoints on controversial issues. Though the Fairness Doctrine ostensibly aimed to increase the diversity of thought on the airwaves, many stations simply chose to ignore controversial topics altogether, rather than air unwanted content that might cause listeners to change the channel.
The Fairness Doctrine was controversial and led to lawsuits throughout the 1960s and '70s that argued it infringed upon the freedom of the press. The FCC finally stopped enforcing the policy in 1987, acknowledging that it did not serve the public interest. In 2011 the agency officially took it off the books. But the demise of the Fairness Doctrine has not deterred proponents of newsroom policing, and the CIN study is a first step down the same dangerous path.
The FCC says the study is merely an objective fact-finding mission. The results will inform a report that the FCC must submit to Congress every three years on eliminating barriers to entry for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the communications industry.
This claim is peculiar. How can the news judgments made by editors and station managers impede small businesses from entering the broadcast industry? And why does the CIN study include newspapers when the FCC has no authority to regulate print media?
Should all stations follow MSNBC's example and cut away from a discussion with a former congresswoman about the National Security Agency's collection of phone records to offer live coverage of Justin Bieber's bond hearing? As a consumer of news, I have an opinion. But my opinion shouldn't matter more than anyone else's merely because I happen to work at the FCC.
Mr. Pai is a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
Copyright 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The FCC Wades Into the Newsroom
Why is the agency studying 'perceived station bias' and asking about coverage choices?
By AJIT PAI
Feb. 10, 2014 7:26 p.m. ET
News organizations often disagree about what Americans need to know. MSNBC, for example, apparently believes that traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., is the crisis of our time. Fox News, on the other hand, chooses to cover the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi more heavily than other networks. The American people, for their part, disagree about what they want to watch.
But everyone should agree on this: The government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.
Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission, where I am a commissioner, does not agree. Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.
The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about "the process by which stories are selected" and how often stations cover "critical information needs," along with "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to underserved populations."
How does the FCC plan to dig up all that information? First, the agency selected eight categories of "critical information" such as the "environment" and "economic opportunities," that it believes local newscasters should cover. It plans to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their "news philosophy" and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information.
The FCC also wants to wade into office politics. One question for reporters is: "Have you ever suggested coverage of what you consider a story with critical information for your customers that was rejected by management?" Follow-up questions ask for specifics about how editorial discretion is exercised, as well as the reasoning behind the decisions.
Participation in the Critical Information Needs study is voluntary—in theory. Unlike the opinion surveys that Americans see on a daily basis and either answer or not, as they wish, the FCC's queries may be hard for the broadcasters to ignore. They would be out of business without an FCC license, which must be renewed every eight years.
This is not the first time the agency has meddled in news coverage. Before Critical Information Needs, there was the FCC's now-defunct Fairness Doctrine, which began in 1949 and required equal time for contrasting viewpoints on controversial issues. Though the Fairness Doctrine ostensibly aimed to increase the diversity of thought on the airwaves, many stations simply chose to ignore controversial topics altogether, rather than air unwanted content that might cause listeners to change the channel.
The Fairness Doctrine was controversial and led to lawsuits throughout the 1960s and '70s that argued it infringed upon the freedom of the press. The FCC finally stopped enforcing the policy in 1987, acknowledging that it did not serve the public interest. In 2011 the agency officially took it off the books. But the demise of the Fairness Doctrine has not deterred proponents of newsroom policing, and the CIN study is a first step down the same dangerous path.
The FCC says the study is merely an objective fact-finding mission. The results will inform a report that the FCC must submit to Congress every three years on eliminating barriers to entry for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the communications industry.
This claim is peculiar. How can the news judgments made by editors and station managers impede small businesses from entering the broadcast industry? And why does the CIN study include newspapers when the FCC has no authority to regulate print media?
Should all stations follow MSNBC's example and cut away from a discussion with a former congresswoman about the National Security Agency's collection of phone records to offer live coverage of Justin Bieber's bond hearing? As a consumer of news, I have an opinion. But my opinion shouldn't matter more than anyone else's merely because I happen to work at the FCC.
Mr. Pai is a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
Copyright 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
2944
General Radio Discussion / Annual Radio Öömrang broadcast, 1600-1659 UTC on Feb 21, 2014 15215 kHz
« on: February 20, 2014, 0223 UTC »
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bdxcuk/diary.html
Friday 21 February 2014: Annual SW broadcast of Radio Öömrang from Amrum Island, German North Frisian Islands. 1600-1659 UTC on 15215 kHz via Nauen in Frisian dialect, German and English. QSLs via transmitter operator Media Broadcast: qsl-shortwave [at] media-broadcast.com
Friday 21 February 2014: Annual SW broadcast of Radio Öömrang from Amrum Island, German North Frisian Islands. 1600-1659 UTC on 15215 kHz via Nauen in Frisian dialect, German and English. QSLs via transmitter operator Media Broadcast: qsl-shortwave [at] media-broadcast.com
2945
General Radio Discussion / Spy ‘Numbers Stations’ Still Baffle, Enthrall
« on: February 01, 2014, 1622 UTC »
http://www.rwonline.com/article/spy-‘numbers-stations-still-baffle-enthrall/223402
Christopher Friesen,01/27/2014
In the early 1990s, at the end of the Cold War and before the onset of the Internet Age, you could tune across the shortwave bands and hear the monotonous drone of an automated woman’s voice calling out long strings of numbers in Spanish. “Siete — Quatro — Cinqo — Cinqo — Cinqo,” the voice would say, pause, and then switch to a new set of numbers.
These transmissions, which had started at the end of the Second World War, weren’t always in Spanish, nor were they always female. Other languages were used to broadcast entire strings of numbers, which many believed made up a coded message that could be heard by anyone with a shortwave radio. The consensus view at the time was they were meant for secret agents operating in foreign countries.
“We don’t know for sure what types of agents these messages are being sent to,” veteran numbers monitor Chris Smolinski told Radio World via email. ”We also don’t know for sure how the messages are encoded, although we have some theories.”
Those theories include the use of “one-time pad” encryption. The one-time pad system is almost impossible to crack. It uses a random key or “pad” to create a cipher text and, once encrypted, the resulting numbers, letters or bits can be transmitted through virtually any media and only deciphered by someone with a matching key pad. Destruction of the key after each use ensures total secrecy.
THE DEDICATED LISTENERS
Today, with the Internet Age fully mature and the Cold War buried under 20 years of modern history, the numbers are still being transmitted.
“The number of stations decreased rapidly after 1990. The British stopped in 2009 and the Israeli’s in 2011. At least they stopped using voice transmissions,” Ary Boender writes.
Boender, who lives in the Netherlands, has monitored and documented shortwave numbers stations since 1982. An avid member of the monitoring community, Boender publishes “Numbers and Oddities,” a monthly newsletter that lists loggings of shortwave utility stations. He says the reason the numbers are still broadcast might have a simple answer.
“The best thing about high frequency (HF) transmissions is that you cannot trace them and you can hear them with a simple portable radio.”
Since the numbers are still being transmitted, dedicated radio hobbyists continue to monitor and report on them.
Fig. 2: A one-time-pad discovered by Detlev Vreisleben after the end of the Cold War. These pads were used to encrypt and decipher numbers station messages.
Credit: Courtesy Detlev Vreisleben Chris Smolinski has been listening to shortwave radio and monitoring numbers stations since the late 1970s. He maintains www.spynumbers.com and an e-mail list known as “Spooks,” both of which track and report loggings of numbers stations. He says he doesn’t know exactly how many people are listening.
“I suspect it is in the low thousands at best, with probably very low hundreds for the number of dedicated listeners versus those who just occasionally tune in.”
THE STATIONS
During the spy numbers heyday there were dozens of stations operating from various parts of the world. Many were based in Europe, but there were also stations suspected to be based in Asia, Cuba and even in the United States of America.
Many of these stations had developed nicknames within official military or intelligence organizations and those names often made their way into the hobby lexicon of the day.
“Names were invented by individual listeners, or the military,” Boender said. “Bulgarian Betty, for example, was the nickname that was used by the U.S. military in Germany.”
Other nicknames for stations derived from pieces of music that played prior to the actual message or from characteristics of the audio that was transmitted. These included the “The Lincolnshire Poacher,” “Swedish Rhapsody” or “The Babbler.”
To help sort through the different stations and to bring some level of coordination to the listening community, a group of European listeners started naming and classifying each station.
“The original ENIGMA group invented the classifications,” Boender said. “The current group ENIGMA 2000 continues this process.”
Fig. 3: A communication tower at the Warrenton Training Center facility in Virginia.
Credit: Courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists The results were published in the “ENIGMA Control List” which is still the primary defining document for tracking and reporting these stations among hobbyists. ENIGMA’s classification system divided the languages into four rough groups: E for English, G for German, S for Slavic and V for Various.
Then they assigned a sequential number for each unique style of transmission.
The Spanish-language female voice station became known as “Attenćion,” due to its repeated use of that phrase at the beginning of each transmission. Using their classification system, they identified it officially as station V02.
Boender, who was a member of ENIGMA, says the listening community has had a big influence on understanding the origin and intent of these stations.
“Most of what we know comes from listening, sharing details of the transmission and schedules, direction finding activities and analyzing all the stuff that is available,” he said.
The V02 “Attenćion” station is believed to be Cuban in origin. Smolinski says this conclusion is based on careful observation by hobbyists who occasionally catch stations broadcasting anomalies, “which the Cuban spy numbers stations are infamous for,” Smolinski said. “Such as accidentally playing Radio Havana audio mixed in with the spy numbers transmissions.”
Hobbyists say the phenomenon of numbers stations isn’t limited to foreign intelligence agencies. ENIGMA designate E05, for example, a station that used to broadcast a female voice reciting groups of numbers in English, was last heard in 2003 and was believed to be a CIA funded and operated station.
Dubbed “Cynthia,” this station, hobbyists suspect, operated out of the Warrenton Training Center in Virgina.
MESSAGE RECEIVED
While the hobbyists who monitor these transmissions have always suspected that they were listening to coded spy messages, to date, no government has officially acknowledged their existence — something Boender and Smolinsky would both like to see.
Fig. 5: Google Earth view of the supposed antennas for V02a/HM01, the Cuban numbers station that is still active.
Credit: Courtesy Ary Boender
“A confirmation would be nice. The fact is that several Russian and Cuban spies were caught red-handed while listening to the numbers transmissions,” Boender said, referring to the cases of Ana Belan Montes and Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag.
Montes, a Cuban spy who worked for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, was convicted of espionage in 2002. She had been passing secrets to Cuba for more than 20 years when she was caught. When agents searched her apartment, they found a small shortwave radio and a piece of paper containing a matrix of numbers and letters that they believe was used as a deciphering pad.
The Anschlag case is more recent. In 2011 Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, who had been living in West Germany for more than 20 years under assumed identities, were arrested. According to media reports, when a Special Forces commando stormed the Anschlag’s house he caught Heidrun in the act of receiving a coded message on a shortwave radio.
NASB NOT CONCERNED
The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters is not concerned about the ongoing use of the shortwave radio spectrum for these transmissions. Jeff White is the secretary-treasurer for NASB and general manager of Radio Miami International, WRMI.
Fig. 6: An East German cypher machine discovered by Detlev Vreisleben after the end of the Cold War. These machines are believed to be the voice behind the numbers.
Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia “The NASB doesn’t have an official position on these transmissions,” White wrote in an email. ”I’m sure we don’t appreciate unofficial, unlicensed stations encroaching into the out-of-band shortwave spectrum, but we have not been adversely affected by the stations so far. As a practical matter, if these are government-run spy operations, I sincerely doubt that we as the NASB could do anything about them.”
STILL ACTIVE
Boender says there are still several stations that are very active. Most, he says, are based in Europe — in Poland, Russia and France — which gives him some advantage in monitoring. The active stations still use English, German, Slavic and various other languages including Spanish, but the formats are changing.
“The Cubans are also active but switched to Redundant Digital File Transfer (RDFT),” he said.
The Cuban station still uses a female voice to call out strings of numbers, but the hour-long broadcasts also include digital data bursts. The change in format also changes the ENIGMA classification and, in this case, the V02 “Attenćion” station has been re-classified as HM01.
Fortunately for listeners in North America, HM01 is easy to hear and, through patient monitoring, a comprehensive schedule of times and frequencies has been determined. The schedule is available in Boender’s “Numbers and Oddities” newsletter.
Thanks to the efforts of these hobbyists, more than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, on just about any day of the week, you can use this schedule to tune in and hear the monotonous drone of a female voice calling out long strings of numbers in Spanish.
“Cinqo — Cinqo — Quatro — Siete — Ocho …”
The author, a technical and freelance writer with a primary interest in radio, has written for Monitoring Times Magazine, Wonka Vision Magazine, The Journal of Commerce, Interlake Spectator, The Winnipeg Free Press and other publications.
Christopher Friesen,01/27/2014
In the early 1990s, at the end of the Cold War and before the onset of the Internet Age, you could tune across the shortwave bands and hear the monotonous drone of an automated woman’s voice calling out long strings of numbers in Spanish. “Siete — Quatro — Cinqo — Cinqo — Cinqo,” the voice would say, pause, and then switch to a new set of numbers.
These transmissions, which had started at the end of the Second World War, weren’t always in Spanish, nor were they always female. Other languages were used to broadcast entire strings of numbers, which many believed made up a coded message that could be heard by anyone with a shortwave radio. The consensus view at the time was they were meant for secret agents operating in foreign countries.
“We don’t know for sure what types of agents these messages are being sent to,” veteran numbers monitor Chris Smolinski told Radio World via email. ”We also don’t know for sure how the messages are encoded, although we have some theories.”
Those theories include the use of “one-time pad” encryption. The one-time pad system is almost impossible to crack. It uses a random key or “pad” to create a cipher text and, once encrypted, the resulting numbers, letters or bits can be transmitted through virtually any media and only deciphered by someone with a matching key pad. Destruction of the key after each use ensures total secrecy.
THE DEDICATED LISTENERS
Today, with the Internet Age fully mature and the Cold War buried under 20 years of modern history, the numbers are still being transmitted.
“The number of stations decreased rapidly after 1990. The British stopped in 2009 and the Israeli’s in 2011. At least they stopped using voice transmissions,” Ary Boender writes.
Boender, who lives in the Netherlands, has monitored and documented shortwave numbers stations since 1982. An avid member of the monitoring community, Boender publishes “Numbers and Oddities,” a monthly newsletter that lists loggings of shortwave utility stations. He says the reason the numbers are still broadcast might have a simple answer.
“The best thing about high frequency (HF) transmissions is that you cannot trace them and you can hear them with a simple portable radio.”
Since the numbers are still being transmitted, dedicated radio hobbyists continue to monitor and report on them.
Fig. 2: A one-time-pad discovered by Detlev Vreisleben after the end of the Cold War. These pads were used to encrypt and decipher numbers station messages.
Credit: Courtesy Detlev Vreisleben Chris Smolinski has been listening to shortwave radio and monitoring numbers stations since the late 1970s. He maintains www.spynumbers.com and an e-mail list known as “Spooks,” both of which track and report loggings of numbers stations. He says he doesn’t know exactly how many people are listening.
“I suspect it is in the low thousands at best, with probably very low hundreds for the number of dedicated listeners versus those who just occasionally tune in.”
THE STATIONS
During the spy numbers heyday there were dozens of stations operating from various parts of the world. Many were based in Europe, but there were also stations suspected to be based in Asia, Cuba and even in the United States of America.
Many of these stations had developed nicknames within official military or intelligence organizations and those names often made their way into the hobby lexicon of the day.
“Names were invented by individual listeners, or the military,” Boender said. “Bulgarian Betty, for example, was the nickname that was used by the U.S. military in Germany.”
Other nicknames for stations derived from pieces of music that played prior to the actual message or from characteristics of the audio that was transmitted. These included the “The Lincolnshire Poacher,” “Swedish Rhapsody” or “The Babbler.”
To help sort through the different stations and to bring some level of coordination to the listening community, a group of European listeners started naming and classifying each station.
“The original ENIGMA group invented the classifications,” Boender said. “The current group ENIGMA 2000 continues this process.”
Fig. 3: A communication tower at the Warrenton Training Center facility in Virginia.
Credit: Courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists The results were published in the “ENIGMA Control List” which is still the primary defining document for tracking and reporting these stations among hobbyists. ENIGMA’s classification system divided the languages into four rough groups: E for English, G for German, S for Slavic and V for Various.
Then they assigned a sequential number for each unique style of transmission.
The Spanish-language female voice station became known as “Attenćion,” due to its repeated use of that phrase at the beginning of each transmission. Using their classification system, they identified it officially as station V02.
Boender, who was a member of ENIGMA, says the listening community has had a big influence on understanding the origin and intent of these stations.
“Most of what we know comes from listening, sharing details of the transmission and schedules, direction finding activities and analyzing all the stuff that is available,” he said.
The V02 “Attenćion” station is believed to be Cuban in origin. Smolinski says this conclusion is based on careful observation by hobbyists who occasionally catch stations broadcasting anomalies, “which the Cuban spy numbers stations are infamous for,” Smolinski said. “Such as accidentally playing Radio Havana audio mixed in with the spy numbers transmissions.”
Hobbyists say the phenomenon of numbers stations isn’t limited to foreign intelligence agencies. ENIGMA designate E05, for example, a station that used to broadcast a female voice reciting groups of numbers in English, was last heard in 2003 and was believed to be a CIA funded and operated station.
Dubbed “Cynthia,” this station, hobbyists suspect, operated out of the Warrenton Training Center in Virgina.
MESSAGE RECEIVED
While the hobbyists who monitor these transmissions have always suspected that they were listening to coded spy messages, to date, no government has officially acknowledged their existence — something Boender and Smolinsky would both like to see.
Fig. 5: Google Earth view of the supposed antennas for V02a/HM01, the Cuban numbers station that is still active.
Credit: Courtesy Ary Boender
“A confirmation would be nice. The fact is that several Russian and Cuban spies were caught red-handed while listening to the numbers transmissions,” Boender said, referring to the cases of Ana Belan Montes and Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag.
Montes, a Cuban spy who worked for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, was convicted of espionage in 2002. She had been passing secrets to Cuba for more than 20 years when she was caught. When agents searched her apartment, they found a small shortwave radio and a piece of paper containing a matrix of numbers and letters that they believe was used as a deciphering pad.
The Anschlag case is more recent. In 2011 Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, who had been living in West Germany for more than 20 years under assumed identities, were arrested. According to media reports, when a Special Forces commando stormed the Anschlag’s house he caught Heidrun in the act of receiving a coded message on a shortwave radio.
NASB NOT CONCERNED
The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters is not concerned about the ongoing use of the shortwave radio spectrum for these transmissions. Jeff White is the secretary-treasurer for NASB and general manager of Radio Miami International, WRMI.
Fig. 6: An East German cypher machine discovered by Detlev Vreisleben after the end of the Cold War. These machines are believed to be the voice behind the numbers.
Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia “The NASB doesn’t have an official position on these transmissions,” White wrote in an email. ”I’m sure we don’t appreciate unofficial, unlicensed stations encroaching into the out-of-band shortwave spectrum, but we have not been adversely affected by the stations so far. As a practical matter, if these are government-run spy operations, I sincerely doubt that we as the NASB could do anything about them.”
STILL ACTIVE
Boender says there are still several stations that are very active. Most, he says, are based in Europe — in Poland, Russia and France — which gives him some advantage in monitoring. The active stations still use English, German, Slavic and various other languages including Spanish, but the formats are changing.
“The Cubans are also active but switched to Redundant Digital File Transfer (RDFT),” he said.
The Cuban station still uses a female voice to call out strings of numbers, but the hour-long broadcasts also include digital data bursts. The change in format also changes the ENIGMA classification and, in this case, the V02 “Attenćion” station has been re-classified as HM01.
Fortunately for listeners in North America, HM01 is easy to hear and, through patient monitoring, a comprehensive schedule of times and frequencies has been determined. The schedule is available in Boender’s “Numbers and Oddities” newsletter.
Thanks to the efforts of these hobbyists, more than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, on just about any day of the week, you can use this schedule to tune in and hear the monotonous drone of a female voice calling out long strings of numbers in Spanish.
“Cinqo — Cinqo — Quatro — Siete — Ocho …”
The author, a technical and freelance writer with a primary interest in radio, has written for Monitoring Times Magazine, Wonka Vision Magazine, The Journal of Commerce, Interlake Spectator, The Winnipeg Free Press and other publications.
2946
Shortwave Broadcast / The Mighty KBC 7375 kHz Jan 18, 2014 0000Z
« on: January 19, 2014, 0024 UTC »
S9+ Uncle Eric and The Giant Jukebox coming in with a giant signal. Sounding good as usual.
National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop
National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop
2947
Shortwave Broadcast / Firedrake 11945 kHz 1501Z 31 Dec 2013
« on: December 31, 2013, 1503 UTC »
1501Z 35423 S7 Firedrake came on. Was listening to the freq since 1458Z and no sign of it.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
2948
Shortwave Broadcast / Firedrake 11945 kHz 1517Z 30 Dec 2013
« on: December 30, 2013, 1518 UTC »
1517Z 35323 Firedrake playing its music. A bit fluttery.
Its now 1612Z and it slowly faded out ~15 minutes ago. Can still faintly hear the drums and can hear the carrier, but its deep in the noise.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
Its now 1612Z and it slowly faded out ~15 minutes ago. Can still faintly hear the drums and can hear the carrier, but its deep in the noise.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
2949
General Radio Discussion / Experimenter to Honor Early Wireless Pioneers with Longwave Transmissions
« on: December 22, 2013, 0023 UTC »
http://www.arrl.org/news/experimenter-to-honor-early-wireless-pioneers-with-longwave-transmissions
As he has over the past several years, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS/4 — an active participant in the ARRL’s WD2XSH 600 meter experimental project — will transmit voice and music on 486 kHz as WG2XFQ on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and again on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Transmissions will begin at 0001 UTC and end at 2359 UTC.
Justin, who may be better known for his microwave exploits on ham radio, will use an AM audio loop modulating his vintage-style, homebrew transmitter to honor Reginald Fessenden’s Christmas Eve 1906 AM voice transmission.
“While his original transmissions used a set of carbon microphones in the antenna lead to modulate the signal,” Justin explained, “WG2XFQ will be utilizing true Heising modulation in honor of Raymond Heising, who developed this early form of amplitude modulation during World War I. Justin constructed his 5 W master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) transmitter using 1920s vintage components. He said a modern 500 W FET linear amplifier allows him to meet his WG2XFQ ERP limit of 20 W.
An RF engineer, Justin collects pre-1920 wireless gear and has a World War I Heising-modulated aircraft transmitter he’s planning to restore.
A Word on Heising Modulation
Raymond Heising developed the first form of AM voice modulation during World War I. The goal was to find a way to take an existing aircraft CW transmitter, used to send air reconnaissance information to the ground with few as possible parts or tubes required.
Since the CW rigs of the day were a simple keyed power oscillator, Heising figured that, if one could control the plate current of the CW tube at an audio rate, amplitude modulation (AM) would result. The same crystal detectors used to receive spark transmissions could demodulate the AM without any modification.
His design was very simple. If you add a large iron choke to the output of the B+ supply, it will become a constant-current supply. You then only need to feed that B+ to both the CW power oscillator and to an identical power tube that is grid modulated. The two tubes compete for the constant current from the B+ supply, and if the audio tube is driven hard, less current flows in the CW tube and vise-versa. Thus, his design is sometimes referred to as constant current modulation from a technical perspective.
A limitation is the need for identical and perfect matching of the two tubes. One is running at RF, the other at AF. The typical result is only about 50 percent modulation. — Brian Justin, WA1ZMS
As he has over the past several years, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS/4 — an active participant in the ARRL’s WD2XSH 600 meter experimental project — will transmit voice and music on 486 kHz as WG2XFQ on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and again on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Transmissions will begin at 0001 UTC and end at 2359 UTC.
Justin, who may be better known for his microwave exploits on ham radio, will use an AM audio loop modulating his vintage-style, homebrew transmitter to honor Reginald Fessenden’s Christmas Eve 1906 AM voice transmission.
“While his original transmissions used a set of carbon microphones in the antenna lead to modulate the signal,” Justin explained, “WG2XFQ will be utilizing true Heising modulation in honor of Raymond Heising, who developed this early form of amplitude modulation during World War I. Justin constructed his 5 W master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) transmitter using 1920s vintage components. He said a modern 500 W FET linear amplifier allows him to meet his WG2XFQ ERP limit of 20 W.
An RF engineer, Justin collects pre-1920 wireless gear and has a World War I Heising-modulated aircraft transmitter he’s planning to restore.
A Word on Heising Modulation
Raymond Heising developed the first form of AM voice modulation during World War I. The goal was to find a way to take an existing aircraft CW transmitter, used to send air reconnaissance information to the ground with few as possible parts or tubes required.
Since the CW rigs of the day were a simple keyed power oscillator, Heising figured that, if one could control the plate current of the CW tube at an audio rate, amplitude modulation (AM) would result. The same crystal detectors used to receive spark transmissions could demodulate the AM without any modification.
His design was very simple. If you add a large iron choke to the output of the B+ supply, it will become a constant-current supply. You then only need to feed that B+ to both the CW power oscillator and to an identical power tube that is grid modulated. The two tubes compete for the constant current from the B+ supply, and if the audio tube is driven hard, less current flows in the CW tube and vise-versa. Thus, his design is sometimes referred to as constant current modulation from a technical perspective.
A limitation is the need for identical and perfect matching of the two tubes. One is running at RF, the other at AF. The typical result is only about 50 percent modulation. — Brian Justin, WA1ZMS
2950
General Radio Discussion / SAQ Transmission On Christmas Eve
« on: December 17, 2013, 0030 UTC »
From: Lars Kålland
Subject: Re: SAQ transmissions
Date sent: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 09:41:44 +0100
SAQ TRANSMISSION ON CHRISTMAS EVE
DECEMBER 24, 2013
There will be a transmission with the Alexanderson 200 kW alternator
on VLF 17.2 kHz from Grimeton Radio/SAQ on Christmas Eve, Tuesday,
December 24th, 2013.
The message transmission will take place at 08:00 UTC. The transmitter
will be tuned up from around 07:30 UTC.
There will be no activity on amateur radio frequencies with the call
SK6SAQ this time.
The radio station is open to visitors.
QSL-reports are kindly received:
- E-mail to: info@alexander.n.se
- or via: SM bureau
- or direct by mail to:
Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner,
Radiostationen, Grimeton 72
S-432 98 GRIMETON
S W E D E N
Also read our web site: www.alexander.n.se
Yours
Lars Kalland
Subject: Re: SAQ transmissions
Date sent: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 09:41:44 +0100
SAQ TRANSMISSION ON CHRISTMAS EVE
DECEMBER 24, 2013
There will be a transmission with the Alexanderson 200 kW alternator
on VLF 17.2 kHz from Grimeton Radio/SAQ on Christmas Eve, Tuesday,
December 24th, 2013.
The message transmission will take place at 08:00 UTC. The transmitter
will be tuned up from around 07:30 UTC.
There will be no activity on amateur radio frequencies with the call
SK6SAQ this time.
The radio station is open to visitors.
QSL-reports are kindly received:
- E-mail to: info@alexander.n.se
- or via: SM bureau
- or direct by mail to:
Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner,
Radiostationen, Grimeton 72
S-432 98 GRIMETON
S W E D E N
Also read our web site: www.alexander.n.se
Yours
Lars Kalland
2951
General Radio Discussion / FCC Proposes AM Radio Changes To Give The Band A Boost
« on: December 07, 2013, 1910 UTC »
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/03/248362533/fcc-proposes-changes-to-give-am-radio-a-boost
AM radio once played a central role in American life. The family would gather around the Philco to hear the latest Western or detective drama. The transistor radio was where baby boomers first heard the Beatles and other Top 40 hits. And, of course, there's no better way to take in a ballgame.
But the AM band is not what it used to be. Now, it's mostly a mix of talk shows and infomercials. According to the Federal Communications Commission, in the mid-1980s, AM radio still claimed 30 percent of the nation's radio listening hours. By 2010, that had dwindled to 17 percent. And among younger listeners, the number is just 4 percent. Part of the problem, says FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, is that the AM signal is getting increasingly hard to hear.
"Whether you're outside and you're getting interference from a power line, or you're inside and everything from the bulbs in your house to the cable box on top of your TV send out signals that conflict with the AM radio signal, and so for broadcasters trying to reach an audience, it's more and more difficult for them to do that," Pai says.
Pai and other commissioners are proposing a number of fixes for the interference problem, including making it easier for AM stations to move their signal to the FM band. They've also proposed modifying the rules that require many AM stations to power down at night.
Pai says AM radio is an important source of information, especially during an emergency like a natural disaster. Keeping the medium thriving is also important for minority broadcasters, two-thirds of whom broadcast on AM.
Pai also admits to some nostalgia of his own.
"I still remember almost 25 years ago listening to the KLKC 1540 broadcast of my high school basketball championship game in 1987, when my mom wouldn't allow me to go to the game in person so I had to go into my room, sulking a little bit, and tune it to 1540, and I listened to the broadcast that way," Pai says.
That station, KLKC, in Parsons, Kan., still broadcasts high school sports, says Brandon Nivens, the general manager. He says his station is taking other steps to increase its listening audience, including streaming its signal on the Internet.
"Getting into the online aspect of it really helps a lot. We actually stream our AM station online, so that kind of helps reach into the digital realm and kind of get a younger demographic that way," he says.
KLKC, like many in rural America, is tied to its community through local news. The station provides services that includes a swap show called The Trading Post, where on a recent day listeners offered everything from fresh-picked pecans to a used guitar amplifier for sale.
It's this kind of intimate connection AM broadcasters have with their listeners, Pai says, that makes revitalizing the AM band important.
"Whether it's the long-haul trucker who got used to listening to a station as he or she drove across the country to kids who listen to baseball games on warm summer nights, there is something about AM radio that's really embedded in our national culture, and so long as I have a perch here at the FCC I hope to advocate for that to continue," Pai says.
Not all of AM radio is struggling. In fact, five of the top 10 revenue-producing stations are on the AM dial. That's one reason Dennis Wharton of the National Association of Broadcasters is optimistic and supportive of the FCC's proposals.
"There's a lot to be said for AM radio, and the challenges are purely related to interference, and [if] we get those resolved, the industry is going to boom," Wharton says.
The FCC is gathering public comments on the proposed rule changes and may vote on them by next spring.
AM radio once played a central role in American life. The family would gather around the Philco to hear the latest Western or detective drama. The transistor radio was where baby boomers first heard the Beatles and other Top 40 hits. And, of course, there's no better way to take in a ballgame.
But the AM band is not what it used to be. Now, it's mostly a mix of talk shows and infomercials. According to the Federal Communications Commission, in the mid-1980s, AM radio still claimed 30 percent of the nation's radio listening hours. By 2010, that had dwindled to 17 percent. And among younger listeners, the number is just 4 percent. Part of the problem, says FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, is that the AM signal is getting increasingly hard to hear.
"Whether you're outside and you're getting interference from a power line, or you're inside and everything from the bulbs in your house to the cable box on top of your TV send out signals that conflict with the AM radio signal, and so for broadcasters trying to reach an audience, it's more and more difficult for them to do that," Pai says.
Pai and other commissioners are proposing a number of fixes for the interference problem, including making it easier for AM stations to move their signal to the FM band. They've also proposed modifying the rules that require many AM stations to power down at night.
Pai says AM radio is an important source of information, especially during an emergency like a natural disaster. Keeping the medium thriving is also important for minority broadcasters, two-thirds of whom broadcast on AM.
Pai also admits to some nostalgia of his own.
"I still remember almost 25 years ago listening to the KLKC 1540 broadcast of my high school basketball championship game in 1987, when my mom wouldn't allow me to go to the game in person so I had to go into my room, sulking a little bit, and tune it to 1540, and I listened to the broadcast that way," Pai says.
That station, KLKC, in Parsons, Kan., still broadcasts high school sports, says Brandon Nivens, the general manager. He says his station is taking other steps to increase its listening audience, including streaming its signal on the Internet.
"Getting into the online aspect of it really helps a lot. We actually stream our AM station online, so that kind of helps reach into the digital realm and kind of get a younger demographic that way," he says.
KLKC, like many in rural America, is tied to its community through local news. The station provides services that includes a swap show called The Trading Post, where on a recent day listeners offered everything from fresh-picked pecans to a used guitar amplifier for sale.
It's this kind of intimate connection AM broadcasters have with their listeners, Pai says, that makes revitalizing the AM band important.
"Whether it's the long-haul trucker who got used to listening to a station as he or she drove across the country to kids who listen to baseball games on warm summer nights, there is something about AM radio that's really embedded in our national culture, and so long as I have a perch here at the FCC I hope to advocate for that to continue," Pai says.
Not all of AM radio is struggling. In fact, five of the top 10 revenue-producing stations are on the AM dial. That's one reason Dennis Wharton of the National Association of Broadcasters is optimistic and supportive of the FCC's proposals.
"There's a lot to be said for AM radio, and the challenges are purely related to interference, and [if] we get those resolved, the industry is going to boom," Wharton says.
The FCC is gathering public comments on the proposed rule changes and may vote on them by next spring.
2952
General Radio Discussion / AM DX Test: WCIT 940 0659-0759 UTC 16 December 2013
« on: December 06, 2013, 0041 UTC »
From IRCA & NRC:
Last minute DX TEST:
WCIT 940 KHz Lima OH will be conducting a DX test at 250 watts, directional, Monday morning, December 16th, from 01:59 to 02:59 EASTERN time.
The test will consist of CW IDs, Sweep Tones, March Music, and other audio novelties.
Reception reports with pre-paid return postage can be sent to
Mark D. Gierhart (W8MDG)
Engineering & IT
Childers Media Group
57 Town Square
Lima, OH 45801
E-mail reports to mark [at] cmgroup [dot] co. (Note, there is NO "m" on the end of the e-mail address).
No phone calls before, during, or after the test.
This test was arranged by the DX Audio Service magazine for members of the National Radio Club and DX community. Station can not operate ND.
Last minute DX TEST:
WCIT 940 KHz Lima OH will be conducting a DX test at 250 watts, directional, Monday morning, December 16th, from 01:59 to 02:59 EASTERN time.
The test will consist of CW IDs, Sweep Tones, March Music, and other audio novelties.
Reception reports with pre-paid return postage can be sent to
Mark D. Gierhart (W8MDG)
Engineering & IT
Childers Media Group
57 Town Square
Lima, OH 45801
E-mail reports to mark [at] cmgroup [dot] co. (Note, there is NO "m" on the end of the e-mail address).
No phone calls before, during, or after the test.
This test was arranged by the DX Audio Service magazine for members of the National Radio Club and DX community. Station can not operate ND.
2953
Shortwave Broadcast / Firedrake 9455 kHz AM 1715Z 1 Dec 2013
« on: December 01, 2013, 1716 UTC »
Firedrake on 9455. SINPO=25432
Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop
Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop
2954
Shortwave Broadcast / The Mighty KBC 7375 AM 0107 UTC 01 Dec 2013
« on: December 01, 2013, 0146 UTC »
The Mighty KBC sounding good here playing music.
Off at 0200Z.
Sony CDX-GT570S car stereo with 31" whip
Off at 0200Z.
Sony CDX-GT570S car stereo with 31" whip
2955
Shortwave Broadcast / Firedrake 11945 kHz AM 1529 UTC 30 Nov 2013
« on: November 30, 2013, 1551 UTC »
Firedrake is back and a lot more fluttery today. SINPO=35423
Off at 1630Z.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire
Off at 1630Z.
Yaesu FT-847 with 100' wire