Number Stations

[Jolly Swagman]

 

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

Number stations are weird shortwave radio broadcasts consisting of indecipherable combinations of number/letters (usually read by a synthesised voice) or tones, bleeps, gongs and other unusual noises. They are also the creepiest sh*t have ever listened too. They are thought to be used by intelligence agencies to pass on information or orders to spies operating in foreign countries, who then decipher their meaning using a one time pad. You might seen something similar watching Lost or playing Fallout. They can be picked up by anyone using a normal shortwave radio and despite them sounding like a relic from the days before the Internet and mobile phones there are plenty of number stations still active today.

 

Some of the more well known number stations:-

 

UVB-76: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76- A continuous broadcast of a droning buzz that's been playing since the 1970's. Very occasionally the buzzing is interrupted by voice messages in read live in Russian. You can listen to it live online.

 

The Lincolnshire Poacher: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincolnshire_Poacher_(numbers_station)

Several times a day from the mid 70's to 2008 a synthesised female voice would read a set of numbers with intervals broken up with bars from the English folk song "Lincolnshire Poacher". It had a sister station "Cherry Ripe" that broadcast from Guam and later Australia

 

Atencion: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/cubas-mysterious-numbers-station-is-still-on-the-airUsed as evidence in a U.S espionage case in the 2000's, successors of this Cuban number station still broadcast daily. Recent broadcasts have been series of five numbers spoken by a synth used voice in Spanish followed by a tone then a noise like a dial up modem or fax handshaking.

 

There's a database of active number stations at http://priyom.orgsorted by language

 

This kind of weird sh*t is right up my alley but I'd never heard of number stations until today when someone asked about one in the Have a Question thread. I can't imagine how much you'd sh*t yourself fiddling around with your radio in the early 80's then hearing some computer voice reading Russian numbers with bells and stuff playing for twenty minutes then stopping. You'd be thinking the nukes were gonna start flying any second.

 

Secret orders getting delivered to James Bond motherf*ckers via radio broadcasts that sound like they are coming from after the apocalypse - what's not to love? I'm getting myself a shortwave for sure.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by Jolly Swagman

[AlienTwo]

So I skimmed past your post about this, then thought "I like that Jolly, let me take a look at this crazy sh*t." Listened... thought "weird" then read about it. WTF??? This is crazy, but I mean the crazy-interesting-crazy-good kind of way. Why isn't this taught in schools??

[Voodoo]

I find this kind of thing fascinating, too. When I was a kid, I had a shortwave receiver that picked up all kinds of creepy sh*t that skipped off the atmosphere from other parts of the planet.

[GTA_stu]

They have that eerie, mysterious, almost paranormally feel about them, but it's more real and down to Earth than aliens or ghosts. That's why it's so fascinating I think.

[Jolly Swagman]

@Alien: I can understand why its not taught in schools formally cause it's not really the kind of thing the curriculum covers but why wasn't that slightly acid fried ex-hippie English teacher that every school seemed to have telling us about this? Why have I never heard of it?

 

@Voodoo: kinda like the Internet before the internet

 

@ Stu: that's exactly it. I get chills up my spine listening to some of them

Edited March 22, 2016 by Jolly Swagman

[Eram]

@Alien - I followed the same procedure this morning lol

 

@Voodoo - Those memories, fine tuning the SW all the time, kinda surgeon's precision was needed. I still have the sony that I used and still full operational.

 

@Stu - Couldn't agree more.

 

@Jolly - Thanks for sharing your search, you just made me have another WTF moment.

[universetwisters]

Number stations are f*cking boring. They're nothing more than six, four, seven, nine, and two.

Edited March 22, 2016 by universetwisters

[Voodoo]

It's not just the numbers that are interesting, it's the purpose and manner of the broadcast. I suppose some imagination is required, though.

[El Dildo]

yeah Universe.

 

come down off that high horse and IMAGINE with the rest of us.

[sivispacem]

UVB76 is probably the most interesting. It was originally speculated to not be a numbers station at all but part of the Soviet/Russian "Perimeter" fail-deadly nuclear deterrent more commonly known as "Dead Hand". Similar to Duga-3, which was part of the Soviet anti-ballistic missile defences and commonly known as the Russian Woodpecker. More recent analysis suggests it might be something to do with ionospheric research, or some kind of calibration testing for military hardware. It's still most likely not a " true" numbers stations because it lacks the range to cover much outside of Russia.

 

Some people did work geolocating certain numbers stations to try and work out who might be running them. The Poacher was thought to be based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, which is conveniently also a UK SIGINT centre. Cherry Ripe was Australia based, Northern Territories I think. You can sort of infer areas of operation for the two- Poacher Middle East, Ripe the Far East.

 

Really interesting stuff.

[Zyo]

It is really interesting. I can't get the bloody Lincolnshire Poacher tune out of my head now....

 

I just texted a friend who was in RAF intelligence for seven years to see if he has any insights. He's not being very helpful though. Its a tricky subject to have a "chat" about.

[Pete4000uk]

Never expected to see this thread brought up here!

 

I've never come across one myself. The Lincolnshire Poacher was quite famous years ago, that broadcast from Gilbrltar I believed.

 

The Woodpecker over the horizon radar from Duga 2 was a famous signal back in the day.

 

Still lots on HF.

BTW, the guy who took me through my amateur radio licence worked most of his life at a certain government establishment in Cheltenham..

[sivispacem]

I've never come across one myself. The Lincolnshire Poacher was quite famous years ago, that broadcast from Gilbrltar I believed.

 

The Woodpecker over the horizon radar from Duga 2 was a famous signal back in the day.

Poacher emibated from RAF Akrotiri, and Woodpecker Duga-3. Duga-1 and 2 were prototype radar systems never used operationally.

[PhillBellic]

This is something that I haven't really thought of. Sounds intriguing.

[9i OTD]

Anyone else thought that this would be the lead-in to a milestone thread?

[Max]

In the age of the internet and mobile phones could someone tell me what purpose these number stations may still serve?

 

I would imagine there are far more secure and effective ways of disseminating information to agents in this day and age.

[El Dildo]

In the age of the internet and mobile phones could someone tell me what purpose these number stations may still serve?

[Pete4000uk]

In the age of the internet and mobile phones could someone tell me what purpose these number stations may still serve?

 

I would imagine there are far more secure and effective ways of disseminating information to agents in this day and age.

Shortwave broadcasts can be received anywhere with no infrastructure between the transmitter and the receiver.

[Voodoo]

Yeah, you can't trace the location of the recipient from the origin of the broadcast, either. Sometimes low tech and a code book are better.

[Shmoopy]

UVB-76: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76- A continuous broadcast of a droning buzz that's been playing since the 1970's. Very occasionally the buzzing is interrupted by voice messages in read live in Russian. You can listen to it live online.

 

I can hear a similiar buzz which reminds me of the sound emitted by a morse code if I tune to 102.2 Mhz on my FM radio, I;ll try to record it and post a sample here later.

[Sombra]