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!

New edition of rfax.pdf available

Check out http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/rfax.pdf for an updated HF-Fax schedule compilation from NOAA, as of 30 May 2008.

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

New Orleans HF-Fax service: New frequency found

Nairam send me a tip that New Orleans may be using a new frequency, 8763.96 kHz USB. And indeed, there was a fax signal there, and luckily I managed to get the schedule transmission which indeed is from New Orleans, but it does not mention the new frequency:

8763.96 kHz USB, 2045z

The above was received a couple of days ago; 17 March 2008. Note that this image is different from the schedule I logged last year. You can find the source image at the NOAA site:


Thanks Nairam for the tip!

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.

Is this the beginning of a new Solar Cycle?

Sun's activity is low, but there are signs of a new cycle starting, as solar physicists say. The source of the excitement is a modest knot of magnetism that popped over the sun's eastern limb on 11th December. Read more here. We're in the bottom of the solar activity for a long time now... so just cross your fingers and hope the scientists are correct!

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!

New edition of rfax is available

A new edition of rfax.pdf, the well-known radiofacsimile schedule issued by NOAA can be downloaded from here. Happy hunting!

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.

Utility comms on 6140 kHz

My recorder got a QSO on 6140 kHz USB. These are two processed samples recorded at 0806z and 0807z. There is also a weak digital stream, 1000 Hz to <4000 Hz (tone, PSK(?) streams, tone). Any ideas?

E10 FDU along with Voice of Greece

The usual spot of FDU, a presumably test-callsign of E10, is 6210 kHz. As always I was looking for E25 and I was tuning around 6140 kHz. So I stumbled upon E10 on 6210 kHz, calling FDU at 0928z. On the same frequency was Voice of Greece playing music related to the National Holiday of 28th October. E10 was calling "FDU" sporadically so I manage to record only one instance. No message followed. At 0946z E10 was calling FDUK (again with VoG QRM) and at 0951z FDU again. Finally, at 1015z I logged FDU8 without QRM this time!

E25 has a young lady

E25 has a YL operator!

I always was curious if the info in the Enigma Control List regarding E25 and its female counterpart is accurate. Indeed, experienced Enigmans are accurate! I was lucky enough to record her twice yesterday (Thursday 18/10) on 6140 kHz:

At 0855z a blank carrier appeared and at 0859z a YL started calling "200 3"! This ended at ~0902z. Listen!

Her second and most interesting appearance occurred at 0929z. The characteristic noise was heard when the transmitter turned on and after a couple of seconds the YL started calling "323"! Three minutes later she said "Message" trice and she handed the microphone to the well-known OM for the message:

"8001 5311 7129 4736 8505 3482 0671 3495 3546 5311",

then "Rebeat" x 3 as usual, and EOM EOT at ~0935z. Here is the whole session!

Note that the 2nd and last group are the same, and the 1st group gives the group count (10) and 8 as a serial number.

So that's how E25 sounds in my QTH without RAI. And that's how the long-awaited YL sounds!

E25 loud(?) and CLEAR on 6140 kHz

E25 now can be heard without interference from RAI International. The station ceased shortwave transmissions since 30 September 2007. While this is too bad for RAI, an excellent opportunity now opens for everyone who has the curiosity, will and time available to monitor for E25 transmissions on 6140 kHz.

Now I have a good and clean signal nowadays, but not as strong as 9450 kHz. You can check at any quarter of hour from 0800z to 1100z on 6140 kHz, and of course 1200z to 1300z on 9450 kHz. The mode is usually AM or USB in some cases. Happy hunting, and please report your findings here or to the Enigma 2000 group!

The end of summer for E10 YHF agents

E10 YHF sends very large messages at 0900z/1230z/1900z slots. So YHF agents are back from their summer vacations; having a lot work to do :-)

This is the complete E10 YHF 4-message sent today on 7918 kHz USB, 1230z. It is processed to remove some QRM above 4kHz and lots of crackles probably originating from my neighborhood!

Enjoy! (Especially my good friend Kopf!)

Lots of E25 specials

6140 kHz is active but interesting things still happen on 9450 kHz, like this. For less than a minute, a carrier appeared on Sunday 15/07 at 1143z and some background chat was heard. The audio was weak; some DSP processing boost it a little.

Then a transmission followed: 780 788 52 53 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 71 74 then 780 repeated and a 14 group message followed. After the "EOM EOT" another voice said "15 3...", "3...", some bg noises and mouse clicks (?) "...1" and finally they QRT. Here is a sample; be patient to listen till the end of the clip!

Second special: The same day at 1200z again on 9450 kHz calling 275 then "Message" x3 2001 280 x9. An odd message consisting of nine "280". The fact that we can get a correct group count from the first group and 02 as a serial is also interesting. Sample! Note the long gaps.

Third and best special! Two messages for two agents in the same transmission! that happened on 6140 kHz today (Monday 16/07) at 0716z. Enjoy!