More on E10 jamming

This morning I decided to check 6840 and 7690 for any jamming over EZI. Interestingly, the jammer started at 6840 kHz and then decided to jam 7690 kHz, even if there was an EZI2 message.

The recording is from 0627z this morning, on 6840 and 7690 kHz, USB mode.
The first 1min 58 sec is on 6840 kHz. You can hear the YL calling EZI2 just before 0630z. Then at 1min 33sec the jammer stops. I'm still on 6840 kHz. At 1min 53sec you can hear some code and then at ~1min 59sec I switched to 7690 kHz. Hey! The jammer is here now! At 3m 18sec or ~0630z EZI2 starts normally. I switched back to 6840 at 4min 24sec but no jammer there, just CW. Then I switched back to 7690 kHz, till the end of EZI2 transmission, The jammer stopped just few seconds before the YL.

...and EZI being jammed by E10!

I continued monitoring EZI for this jammer game. But something else happened during the EZI transmission 0n 7690 kHz, Sunday 21 September 0830z. At 0840z another E10 message transmitted in parallel to EZI g31 HCEZY message! The second YL had a slower pace! If you take a closer look at the recording, you'll notice there is a small frequency difference between the original and the "culprit" E10 transmission.

E10 EZI being jammed

Last weekend I was able to do some monitoring other than E25. What caught my attention was a "bubble" jammer on E10 EZI frequencies 9130 kHz and 7690 kHz.

This was recorded on Saturday 20 September at 1002z on 7690 kHz, USB mode. EZI carrier is slightly off, and while I was playing with mode settings, the jammer appeared!

I continued monitoring EZI and the Jammer. It seems they don't jam all the messages. Also sometimes the Jammer is present before E10 lady starts. They also avoid jamming EZI2 transmissions.

E25 switched to winter time

Since August 28-29, Egypt switched back to winter time. E25 also shifted its schedules +1 hour. So someone can except a transmission on 6140 kHz at 0800 UTC - 1200 UTC and on 9450 kHz at 1200 UTC - 1400 UTC. Good luck!

Anothe mix of music and voice

Last Saturday, 16 August, E25 had a 35-minute long music session (and some brief voice but no real traffic) on 6140 kHz, starting at 0936z.

Here is the entire transmission (a bit cleaned-up using the usual software techniques) recorded in USB mode. An initial carrier offset is apparent in the beginning of the transmission. If you're going to listen the sample with good-quality speakers (good bass response), please keep the volume down (not to scare your siblings!)

Mr. DXer also logged the transmission and identified one more song from Kalthoum, "What can I say about missing you." at ~0954z, and songs of Chris Be Burgh.

E25 rocks on 6140, then on 9450!

E25 on 9450 kHz playing "Don't pay the ferryman"!



And this one shows my scanner (Icom R20) with its stock antenna (ok, ok, I'm cheating... placed near the window for better reception) also tuned to 9450!



A lot of odd things happened today... music started on 6140 at 0918z and ended at 1003z. Then at 1006z a carrier appeared on 9450 kHz and a mix of music and E25 transmissions occurred till 1147z!!!

If you still don't think there's a connection between the music heard on 6140, 9450 and E25, just listen to this! It starts as a normal E25 transmission (well... wrong frequency! 9450 instead of 6140!) but then... Please be patient and listen the whole file. What do you think now? You can verify that it's not something edited, since there's a BC station audible in the background (which should be WYFR Family Radio).

ENJOY!

ART2 and EZI together

This morning as I was browsing Icom's memories and I stumbled on a noisy (buzz) E10 carrier on 6840 kHz and decided to record it. Suddenly ART2 and EZI appeared on air at the same time (~0526 UTC) for some moments, then the buzz stopped and EZI continued with an S9 signal. Sound sample!

E25 -1 h shift confirmed

Egypt switched to DST and the expected -1 hour shift of E25 slots happened. The problem is I have a few logs confirming this phenomenon (only 3):

1. 29 April 2008 a message sent to "111" at 0800z instead of 0900z.
2. 30 April 2008 a "control" message sent to "200" (200 9) at 0800z instead of 0900z.
   
3. 04 May 2008 a message sent to "128" and a "control" message sent to "126" (126 6) at 0945z (well 0952z actually but you know E25's punctuality!) instead of 1045z.

It is a quiet period for E25, I hope they are ok and didn't chance anything regarding their frequencies! BTW the mechanical YL still tries her best :-)

New non-oriental song from E25

The new mechanical YL delivered this message today at 0914z and after that, two minutes later, a different kind of music appeared! It started at 0921z and finished at 0928z. Both transmissions (message & song) were in AM mode having an average of S9 with some QSB, esp. during the message (S5-S9). During the song, the signal reached 10 dB over S9.

Attention:

Egypt switches to DST soon! A -1 hour slot shift is expected! Let's see what will happen!

Local time	DST?	UTC offset	Zone
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:57 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:58 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Thursday, April 24 at 11:59:59 PM	No	+2 hours	EET
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:00 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:01 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST
Friday, April 25 at 1:00:02 AM	1 hour	+3 hours	EEST

The first steps towards E25 automation are always difficult...

We were glad to hear again a YL behind the microphones of E25, during live transmissions, some time ago. Now the operators seems to start using an automated system for message broadcast, using voice samples from a YL.

Specifically, they recorded the YL saying each number, 0-9, "Rebeat", "EOM EOT" and use some sort of machine to convert text-to-voice samples. It is interesting that they have separate ending numbers, like E10 and some more Enigmas who wants to have a more realistic voice. A nice touch, but the whole project seems to be problematic.

Listen what happened yesterday, Tuesday 11 March on 6140 USB at 1028z. The usual hum, but then, some more noise and a staggering mecha voice with a strange noise after each gap. The transmission ended abruptly at 1033z so they replayed it a few moments later.

The same problems occurred in the next transmission at 1113z, again on 6140 USB, as you can hear here! Again the TX starts with some hum noise, then again YL's voice is broken.

Things were better on 9450, where 2 YL mecha transmissions occurred. Both of them were "control" messages. This one recorded at 1213z, and the next one at 1243z. Note that my tuner was set in USB mode.

Any ideas regarding the failures? What about the noises? I wonder what kind of system they use (mechanical/analog or a PC playing the samples)...

Ahh! I forgot to mention that a typical live transmission happened at 1044z, featuring an OM, sending a message to 128 (initially read as "182" another reversal!) and the "control" message "4" to 126.

Today I managed to forget connecting my antenna to the RX and set my PC record 6 hours of nothing... It is a good precaution to unhook your antenna when a storm is coming but you must remember to hook it back again :-) So I'm waiting your logs for today!

E25 young (automated?) lady

"557 6 557 6..."

This is a "control" message sent by a young lady voice on 9450 AM, today at 1225z. The song "Arouh Le Min" played as an introduction. Excellent signal in my QTH, peaking at S9+30 db. The audio S/(S+N) ratio exceeded 40 db!

The voice has a constant tempo so I suspect it is not a live transmission, but somehow created from pre-recorded voice samples.

Enjoy it here!

ABC and ULX together

Yesterday ABC spotted on the same frequency as ULX.
At 1038z on 6270 kHz ULX was repeating the g23 IWLXY message and ABC was in the same frequency! At 1040z ULX ended but ABC was still there. It suddenly stopped at 1042z.

Clip!

One of the longest E25 messages: 36 groups!

Agent 315 got a 36-group message on 9450 kHz today at 1115z, S9+10 signal on the Icom!

Here's the message:
g36
6808 0921 3063 1954 0199 9166 5385 9671 9142 5440
3378 4022 3531 4014 8553 6385 7442 1377 2985 0340
0351 2201 7807 9140 9024 2969 6240 6138 2506 5311
7286 2065 1714 2522 0921 1234

Note that the 3rd group gives the gc and 3 as a serial.

And here's the clip!

At 1222z another strong carrier appeared and at 1230z sent the control message "557 5".

Except from the large message logged today, E25 traffic is lower than usual.

New Year's Eve gift from E10

Happy 2008 to everybody! I wish health and prosperity to you, your families and your friends!

A couple of hours before 2008, E10 gave as a little gift! In the numbers scene, where things should run with mathematical accuracy, there is always a weak link: the human factor. And humans do mistakes. People like myself who enjoys the "numbers game" wishes for such mistakes hoping to reveal something about the true identity of the numbers stations. I am an amateur of course; my friends who are more experienced can learn a lot more from these mistakes.

I did a short scan to my E10 memories of my RX just for fun, hours before the New Year. At ~1809z I stumbled on 4270 kHz, PCD's place and noticed a kind of "pops" and audio breaks. The YL had real trouble this time. On the other hand, things were fine on 5170 kHz. This is what happened on 4270.

My friends were anxious for delaying them by listening to my RX when usually people are making preparations for the New Year's Eve party (but I was the driver for the party anyway hihi!). I was lucky enough to listen the next 2 scheduled slots of PCD. And yes, the same problem occurred at 1830z, on 4270 kHz and also on 3150 kHz. Both freqs had breaks (not at the same time) during the TX.

And another nice gift later: This time one of the usual mixes, specifically ULX2 and PCD. That happened on 3150 kHz at 1900z. Here's the clip!

But unfortunately I was unlucky at Simon Mason's Appeal2007. Congrats to Phil from Wales! A clever move on his side to choose his own 5f ID. Very Clever!

Cheers!!!

Long E10 message

A large message sent today by E10 YHF on 7918 kHz at 1130z. It was an 147-group long message starting with IBEIA. Listen it here (it's a bit processed to remove some of the noise). Who knows what this message is; maybe a long, last-moment shopping list for New Year's Eve :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Double transmissions... twice!

At 1000z a message for 570 (a relatively rare call) was sent from two transmitters (?) in AM and USB mode nearly at the same time! Listen what happened, as recorded in USB mode. Three persons were involved! The OM with the deep voice, then the OM in USB and his companion who read the message.

At 1029z the same thing happened for Agent 995. Here's the clip, recorded in AM mode this time.

On both cases the OM with the deeper voice started earlier, in AM mode and with the annoying 1000 Hz "test" tone.

E25 over Polish Radio

E25 appeared over Polish Radio with a massive S9+10 while PR alone was only S5-S7. Here's a clip of the transmission, recorded at 1347z using the Icom using USB mode to avoid QRM. Note the slight echo. The message was:

g14
4121 4041 9811 5592 8876 1949 8148 7233 0693 0321
1043 9173 6024 9811

They QRT at 1354z.

I wonder: Should I QSL Polish Radio asking about the "strange man" disturbing their English Program? Or more precisely their Listener's Letters program? Yes they do have one, every Sunday!

Let's try... videoblogging!

Hello guys,

I know a lot of time passed since my last Numbers-related post, so I have a small surprise for you!

This is my new radio, an Icom IC-R75:


And of course is tuned on my favorite station... And it's morning, and you can see the signal strength meter...

So now you can see E25 hihihi!

V07 loud and clear this morning

Another brilliant Enigma2000 newsletter is out and I thought to give a try to Gert's Prediction List (which is a handy tool for newcomers and experienced listeners). I tried V07 on 13552 kHz, at 0620z. An excellent signal in AM mode; just a bit low audio. Signal had some QSB but it's clarity was excellent. Here is a short clip, unfortunately no message transmitted (as usual).


So you guys over Europe (and elsewhere), consult the Newsletter for schedules and give a try to V07! Who knows, you may catch a message! No one is excused, the latest NL contains everything a spooks DXer wants!

E25 YL also on 9450 kHz

At 1245z a carrier appeared on 9450 kHz and at ~1250z the YL delivered the control message "785 12, 788 4, 13". At 1254z a brief pause occurred and as this stereo soundfile proves, E25 operators played back the session for a couple of minutes past 1254z.

The Right channel is the beginning of the transmission at 1250z and the Left channel is the playback at 1254z. There are no obvious timing differences (echoes) so the 1250z and 1254z transmissions are the same.