'Number Stations' and the Conet Project
 

NEW links, fresh for 2007, or something:

Really good blog, regularly updated with good recordings: http://hfsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/03/e25.html

A good site, with info and recordings: http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/sw_underground1/

Lots of good download stuff here: http://home.luna.nl/~ary/



The original post:

Is anyone picking any of these stations up lately? I've had a couple, I'd like to hear of others.

For more than 30 years the Shortwave radio spectrum has been used by the worlds intelligence agencies to transmit secret messages. These messages are transmitted by hundreds of “Numbers Stations"...

...Why is it that in over 30 years, the phenomenon of Numbers Stations has gone almost totally unreported? What are the agencies behind the Numbers Stations, and why are the eastern European stations still on the air? Why does the Czech republic operate a Numbers Station 24 hours a day? How is it that Numbers Stations are allowed to interfere with essential radio services like air traffic control and shipping without having to answer to anybody? Why does the “Swedish Rhapsody” Numbers Station use a small girls voice?

Have some links, free of charge.

this is a ten minute film that introduces short wave radio and number stations.

There's a wealth of info here: Number Stations

The Conet Project is sa compilation of these broadcasts available on CD.

Here's a Radio 4 documentary from 2005 about these things. It's called 'Tracking The Lincolnshire Poacher', which is one of the more well-known Number Stations. It's a bit worrying, to be honest, but well worth a listen, so click here.

And here's photos of the Lincolnshire Poacher's transmission site

This site is a database of what's going on with number stations, and it even has a facility to show what stations should be active both now or in the next hour, which is very cool. Lots of US references, so suitable for many board members, I think.

Spy Numbers Station Database

I've not got a shortwave radio any more, but that Conet set is excellent listening.

wow, thanks hip priest for even more number stations stuff.

GREAT!

This is great, I know nothing about this, and I call myself a Shortwave enthusiaist!!

Пятхъдесят Шест, the more you read the more you'll be fascinated.

As I understand it, it's actually illegal to listen to these stations in the UK (but not recorded material)!

It may be illegal, but how are they going to know you're listening? The best part about shortwave is it can't be traced....or do you know something I don't?

No no, I don't think they can get you, but that makes the law al the more sinister in a way; our government won't own up to mainaining Number Stations (even though they do), the BBC denies any involvement (wrongly) and they can't tell if you're listening. yet they move to ban it anyway - bizarre!

Very intriguing. The plot thickens....

On the subject of Number Stations being used in music, recordings (all can be heard at the 'Number Stations' link I posted earlier in the thread):

British group The Porcupine Tree's song "Even Less" ends with E14 CIA 4F

Stereolab's "Pause" from the "Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements" album uses "Swedish Rhapsody" clip.

Boards of Canada use a heavily modified E5 "Counting station" clip in their track "Gyroscope"

Pere Ubu's track "Coming Home" from the album "The Story Of My Life" uses modified E5 "Counting Station"

German electro pop band OK with their track "OKAY" ends with S5 OLX

Danny Eskanazi recorded the track "21.252" which was featured on the 1980's album "Seattle Syndrome". The so called "British YL" E21 counting station is included in the piece.

Italian group Madwork have just released the album "Overflow". The first track "Null" contains a sound clip from this very site.

The group "Chroma Key" uses the Swedish Rhapsody German YL on the track "Even the Waves" from the album "Dead Air for Radios".

The group "Tree Helicopter" have released an album called "Moon Calf", which includes several tracks inspired by number stations.

thanks for starting this new thread. it reminds me i have to save the links from the last thread before the old board closes down!


edit: wait, i think you already posted the same links here? if so, thanks again.

After going through many of the links, I now know what that annoying counting is that always interferes with Radio Habana Cuba! Many times that I've tuned into Radio Habana Cuba, the faint sound of a woman counting in Spanish can be heard.

Very creepy.

Excellent, a mystery solved. Of course, the Number Station thing appears to be included in the TV series Lost, but I don't know how it will be dealt with.

Reviving this old thread with a new twist.
A phone number was posted to craigslist that, when called, gave an automated message in the same form as the number stations.

Original discussion
Second craigslist message (the first was deleted)
Story with first mp3
Story with second mp3
Slashdot thread

I was just thinking of bumping this, because I had a dream the other night of the 'nervous lady'. She is by far the creepiest sounding.

'6 8 9 4...........2 2 5 7...........1 5 6 6'

More like a nightmare.

You must wonder why she sounds so rushed.

Radio Tashkent is playing right now.

This is the neatest post, Hip Priest.

I've always wanted to be a spy just so I could use number stations as part of my ultra-cool job.

Yes, this is a great thread. Hipster deserves more rep for this, even though I'm pretty sure I gave him rep when it was first posted.

EDIT: Ah, shit.
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Hip Priest again.

This is great. I wasn't aware of this. Appropriately esoteric. :)

Bumpy for Tokolosh.

I've not picked up any recently. Anyone else?

Oops! I didn't know this thread already existed.
It sucks that I can't throw the thread I started away.

Well, The COnet PRoject deserves a thread in the Sonics section. This was more of a Conet/Number STations joint thing really. There's a shortwave radio thread too, not started by me:

http://216.70.73.169/gossip/showthread.php?t=87

Nah, it's fascinating stuff. Always well worth a reminder.

i only just found out about this thread, and shall thusly bump it.

You should pick up a radio and pick them up yourself. They are much creepier in real time. Of course finding them is a bit tougher.

There are some other Shortwave links in this beauty of a thread too:
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...ight=shortwave

cheers. it's been bookmarked.

Bumperbumpybumpbump.

I've been listening to this today. It's easily my favourite record that I've bought this year, the Fall Peel sessions excepted. The latter doesn't really count though, because I suspect it'll be my favourite record for every year that it's still in print.

So it should be, Mr G.

IN a rather nice piece of synchronicity, I was just considering resurrecting this myself.

The reason is that I'm desperately scanning shortwave, as at about this time last Sunday I'm pretty certain I picked up the very tail-end of a number broadcast.

No luck so far, though.

Should have said:

I've lost the piece of paper on which the details were scrawled, but I know it was somewhere on the 31m band.

Despite repeated attempts, I'm having a hard time finding any number stations. Radio Habana Cuba used to be interrupted with one frequently, but its been a while since I've heard that.

Did you try looking here for guidance:

Spy Numbers Station Database

In the past I have, with no results.

I've put a couple of very good links at the top of the first post. I've heard a few stations lately myself, but mostly with appalling reception. Apart from..

...for some years I've been listening to an on-off buzz, wondering what it was. This week I found out, and it turns out to be a Russian military station that has, in 20+ years, ceased the buzz only three times to give out numbers-style messages. There's even a wikipedia page about it: UVB-76 is the callsign of a shortwave radio station that usually broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz (AM full carrier). It features one of the most unusual, mysterious, and widely discussed broadcast contents on the shortwave dial: a short, monotonous (E-natural) buzz tone, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute (Sample Sound), for 23 hours and 10 minutes per day (transmitter maintenance apparently takes place between 7:00 and 7:50 GMT). One minute before the hour, the repeating tone is replaced by a continuous tone, which continues for one minute until the short repeating buzz resumes. Notably, the buzzer has ceased for a voice transmission exactly three times in the station's (20+ year) history. Its purpose, however, remains unknown.

Here's the noise I've been listening to for years:
http://www.geocities.com/uvb76/buzzer-1.mp3!!!

And here's the details of the station: http://www.geocities.com/uvb76/

I looked up the co-ordinates on that site and looked at Google Earth. Here's the broadcasting station: .

'Mazing. You have to wonder if these are just things that someone turned on sometime in the second world war, and no-one's bothered to turn them off.

The internet number station community is agog with excitement tonight.

Alerted by emails that are doing the rounds, I can confirm that ther 4.625 'buzzer' frequency (see above) is currently carrying additional sounds best described as metallic clangs. They are sounding at approximately five and a half second intervals. The reports are coming in from many locations, so it's not a localised thing.

The clang is not in time with the buzzer, so may be an overlaid/superimposed signal emanating from elsewhere. It's a fascinating development, nonetheless.

Bump. Planning on grabbing my dads shortwave and see what I can find. Doubt i'll have any luck though.

bumpity bump

http://www.yousendit.com/download/TT...V3I5RlpMWEE9PQ

^

some random shortwave stuff I've recorded over the last few nights, squished into 4 minutes, basically:

russian polytones (i think)>cuban numbers>russian morse numbers>some usaf communication that i couldn't get tuned properly before it died

edit: relatively sure the polytones are from the x06 station

Oh, why doesn't Hip Priest post ever? :(

He's too cool for us these days, isn't he? That bloody second-hand-book-selling, fall-listening-to tosser.

Please read into the above statement as a show of nostalgic fondness for Hip Priest. It is in no way the bitter critique it appears to be.

I was quite flattered, actually. I would sort of prefer 'nerd' to 'tosser', but it's pretty much how I would describe myself.

I'm often around, I just...oh, I don't know. I should make more effort, shouldn't I?

Most of this year has been dedicated to photography, with the purchase of a new camera plus zoom and macro lenses, taking many photographs and trying to recoup the money by selling photographs. It's going OK; I sell them at work and anyone who wants to sort something out via flickr is welcome. I have a very mini exhibition (about half a dozen images) happenig somewhere in Liverpoool (something to do with the university or something; its being organised by someone else), and there a couple of proper galleries interested, if I can get things together to be bothered. I'm not sure about that. Immediate plans are to enter competitions and stuff to see how things go.

There's a lot of varying quality at my flickr page (check out the 'My (Current) Top Ten' set at the top right of my photostream, if you care): http://www.flickr.com/photos/outsidethecamp/.

Let us know if those exhibitions come into fruition! I wouldn't mind having a look, as I'm never out of the Liverpool metropolitan area and I get quite bored.