Cuban Number Stations

[4405486]

Here San Luis Obispo, California I have:

V2  5115kHz  June 6, 2011  04:06 - 04:43 UTC  (PST 9:06 - 9:43 Sunday Evening) Poor to Fair through noise and static crashes

M8a  5900 kHz  04:59 - 05:33 UTC  good through noise and ocassional static crashes  Recipients: AGTNN  AADTA  NDTUN

M8a  5800 kHz  05:59 - 06:33  REPEAT Transmission  NDTUN  AGTNN  AADTA  Good Signal through noise

V2  5880 kHZ in progress  07:03 - 07:41  Good signal  Recipient #2  86761  Recipient #3  71702

V2  5900 kHZ  08:00 - 08:41 UTC  Solid through slight noise:  ATTENCION 73431  86761  71702 repeated 10 times...
73431  repeated 5 times followed by message body, I assume 150 5 Number Goups...Pause  86761 repeated 5 times, then 150 group message body...Pause 71702 repeated 5 times, then message body...08:41 " Final Final Final"

Sk01 (?)  7680 kHz  09:18 - 09:46 UTC  Short Digital Transmissions at 4 - 5 Minute intervals.  Audible through noise and turbulence.
Best of my knowledge is SK01

For good measure: V24  South Korean  in Progress  13:01 - 13:05 UTC  Solid  3:2/2:3 format

All Frequencies are aproximate, I have stepped incremental tuning.

I found it interesting to do an anecdotal comparison/contrast of V2 and M8a. Formats appear to be somewhat similar. V2 transmitts about 41 minutes and typical M8a is about 33 minutes. My Spanish is about as good as my Morse Code. I had to copy behind both modes in order to keep up at all. Cheers.

[Token]

Notes for your own information, I know you say your radio, like many radios, only shows frequency in 5 kHz steps so everything looks like it ends in a 5 or a 0.  Even so, with modern digital freq readouts you are light years ahead of old school boat anchors and portables that were sometimes lucky to show the freq within 25 kHz.

Your V02 at 0406, this should probably be 5117 kHz instead of 5115 kHz.

The actual frequency of your 5880 kHz V02 is most probably 5883 kHz.

Your 5900 kHz M08 and V02 were most likely 5898 kHz.

Your 7680 kHz SK01 is most likely 7681 kHz.

“V26  South Korean  in Progress  13:01 - 13:05 UTC  Solid  3:2/2:3 format” is a bit of a problem without a frequency.  V26 is Chinese, not Korean.  V24 is Korean.  However, both V26 and V24 were up between 1300 and 1305 on June 6, 2011.  My assumption is that you mean V24 in Korean, on 6730 kHz in the AM mode.  V26 would have been up on 7553 kHz or 9153 kHz (as well as a 4 MHz freq) but it would have been in USB.

T!

[4405486]

Thank you so much for the information, especially about SK01. It was a long night...I do stand corrected, it should be V24 instead of V26.
TNX.

[stevechisox]

I am sorry, am I reading this wrong? You say that 4:00 = 9:00 PM PST?

Thanks for the information, I will be checking around those frequencies. It has been awhile since I have heard a numbers station and would like to log one.

[4405486]

I try to be as accurate and as helpfull as possible. When I get a chance, I will go through this with a fine tooth comb. It was a long evening, hours of Morse Code and ...ocho cinco dos dos catorce... I use a $ 69.00 15 year old Radio Shack DX-396 Receiver... thats it.
Last Sunday evening, I just happened to stumble upon the transmission on 5115 kHz; most likely, a repeat transmission... good exercise for someone to find the first transmission. If you are equiped with Waterfall display, you should not have any problem finding this. Also Frequencies, schedules etc. are available in Enigma Newsletter and google search. These Folks have far more expertise and are better equiped than I am. In addition, I believe there are several Designations and subtle differences in the Cuban Voice Transmissions, I need to get up to speed on this. Voice transmission on 5900 kHz 08:00 - 08:41 UTC was the most Solid...able to listen to the complete format. This is the most activity, I have ever monitored in one evening, and I'm sure I missed quite a bit. Someone with a Crystal Radio would not have had a problem stumbling upon this. Allthough, it has been stated that much of this is "Dummy" (I spent quite a bit of time copying "DUMMY")...some of this had the air of authenticity; at least that was my subjective impression. I am presently a tad under the weather and have limited computer access, I would appreciate your patience. String out some wire, fire it up, and search out those open carriers. It is my impression that these people (last estimate I have seen, states about 250 of them) seem to coordinate frequencies: tune in one direction, run into barrier i.e. Broadcast Band or wideband interference, try tuning in the opposite direction. TNX.

[4405486]

Maybe this is as good a time as any to shed some light on these formats.

Courtesy of: SpyNumbers.com

V2A Atencion Station
ATENCION  XXXXX  YYYYY  ZZZZZ      (The Three Recipients- Alleged)
repeats several times

XXXXX repeats several times
150 5FG groups

YYYYY repeats several times
150 5FG groups

ZZZZZ repeats several times
150 5FG groups
Final  Final (sometimes three times)


V2 ATENCION Station  (This is the first Number station I ever heard. Not quite clear about this format; however, is very interesting)

ATENCION XXX  YY  repeats several times               * XXX Agent ID/Callsign...YY identifies specific One-time Pad (often is contained
                                                                          in first group of numbers in message body)...ZZ Group Count. Sounds reasonable
                                                                          to me.

YY  ZZ  repeats several times

ZZ  5FG  groups

Final  Final (sometimes three times)


M8  Morse Code Station

Same format as V2A except groups consisting of 5 Letters are sent in Morse Code using "Cut Numbers" Morse Code Numbers are rather long, for the sake of economy the following Letters are sent and represent corresponding Numbers:
T=0  D=3  R=6  M=9  A=1  U=4  I=7  N=2  W=5  G=8

SK01 is a Digital Mode used to send files such as PDF Files over the Radio.

Hope this helps.

[stevechisox]

Here is a good link that will help you with the current UTC times:

http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_UTC.aspx

Just click on it and it will give you the current time. Hope it helps.

[4405486]

Evidently, I'm beyond help...I'm in the twilight zone...what can I say? I am at Cal Poly University WWV says 02:25 UTC.. Radio and Clock on the wall says 7:25...04:25 UTC would = 9:25 local Pacific Standard Time, or so I thought? I got along just fine without all this PST...excuse me while I adjust my med's!

[4405486]

In the interests of Validation and reafirmation- I need it...I'm still here waiting for UTC 04:00 ...clock has just struck 04:00 UTC and I assure you every clock in sight says 9:00 PM: computer Monitor, Radio, two clocks on the wall of a University library...what the deal is; or, who neglected to spring forward or whatever? I don't know. At any rate, I'm going home...thank you and good night.

[4405486]

I just noticed that the Book: "Uno, Dos, Cuatro- A guide to the Number Stations" by: Havana Moon can be downloaded; I was unable to do so in the past. It is older and this is yesterday's News for many; however, is helpful in understanding formats etc. for those new to this. See: Main Page...Spy Number Stations...See Also (at bottom of page)

Briefly listened to: M8 in progress last night  5900 kHz  05:30 UTC then went to bed.

I am saving myself for: V2a try: 5880 kHz 07:00 - 07:41 UTC with a repeat: 5900 kHz 08:00 - 08:41 UTC Daily schedule I don't know; however Solid reception was noted here on West Coast, and may be good oportunity to monitor. These UTC Times for these particular Transmissions may vary throughout the Country, I can't say for sure; however, would be interested in getting a sense for the coverage of these transmissions.

[Token]

Here San Luis Obispo, California I have:

hehe....I drove through SLO yesterday morning (June 9) on my way to Palo Alto for a review on a new TWT my company is having built  (I grabbed one of the convertibles and drove over from the High Desert to the coast, so I could drive up the 1, and then found out the 1 was closed north of San Simeon...DOH!).  Thinking of your conditions and knowing that the approximate time I was going to be traveling through there was good for V24, V26, V13, and VTN I took a portable.  I stopped on the coast just north of Morro Bay and did a little tuning around for a while.  I got V26 (7553 kHz USB), V13 (9725 kHz AM/USB), and VC01 (7684 kHz LSB), but did not hear anything from V24 or VTN.

T!

[stevechisox]

I just noticed that the Book: "Uno, Dos, Cuatro- A guide to the Number Stations" by: Havana Moon can be downloaded; I was unable to do so in the past. It is older and this is yesterday's News for many; however, is helpful in understanding formats etc. for those new to this. See: Main Page...Spy Number Stations...See Also (at bottom of page)

Briefly listened to: M8 in progress last night  5900 kHz  05:30 UTC then went to bed.

I am saving myself for: V2a try: 5880 kHz 07:00 - 07:41 UTC with a repeat: 5900 kHz 08:00 - 08:41 UTC Daily schedule I don't know; however Solid reception was noted here on West Coast, and may be good oportunity to monitor. These UTC Times for these particular Transmissions may vary throughout the Country, I can't say for sure; however, would be interested in getting a sense for the coverage of these transmissions.

UTC doesn't vary, I know what mistake I made. I apologize for that!

[4405486]

Token: Thanks for the frequencies. You may have gone right by Morse Beacon RWE, I listed in MW Loggings- described as wire strung between two poles. Two of these Beacons provide old fashion triangulation for Airplanes. It occurs to me that Russian Letter Beacons as well as other fixed transmissions on HF Bands could be used for the same purpose.

This is a lush, green, beautiful part of the Country. You may not know, those Non-conforming Peaks you may have noticed around
here such as, Morro Bay Rock are Volcanic in origen. TNX

[4405486]

Here San Luis Obispo, California I have:

V2  5115 kHz  03:59 - 04:41  June 13 2011 UTC  Unusable

M8a and SK01  5900 kHz  05:00 - 05:37 usual format than SK01 transmitted 05:05 - 05:06 followed by header change.
was not expecting this, and my copying was poor; hence, I hesitate to publish what I did get...hope it shows up on YouTube.

M8a  5800 kHz  commenced: 06:00 typical format for the length of time I listened.

Cheers.

P.S. I have found: Dirk Rijmenants' "Cipher Machines & Cryptology" Site invaluable for learning about One-Time Encryption.
Mr. Rijmenant just e-mailed me. Seems we both started off as Teletype and KW-7 "Orestes" Crypto Machine Technicians. I worked on
the KW-7 and KG-13 "Pontus" in the late 70's. Mr. Rijmenant in the 80's. I value Mr. Rijmenants expertise and insights...stay tuned.

* I tried, Mr. Rijmenant may not have understood my question about this format change during this transmission. It should be noted that Radio is just a pass-time to me and I  do not have any: coffee cups, caps, websites or anything to promote.

Am I not expressing myself well these days? Did I say that Time (itself) varyed across the fruited plain?

In that spirit, my article: "Morse Code Copying Practice the 'Spooky' way" has just shown up on eham.net...mistakes and all. It's on the main page, enjoy.

[4405486]

Here San Luis Obispo, California I have:

V2a  5115 kHz  03:59 - 04:41  June 27 2011 UTC   unusable to poor through noise

Noticed intermittent Digital Mode and Voice Encryption signals on this frequency prior to V2a transmission...from the Orient maybe?
As V2a commenced, I did observe Digital Mode from time to time. Sounded like either Digital Bursts or possible ALE system, I can't keep all these Digital Modes straight best I can do. Transmissions of this sort are common on 5115 kHz... one of the older V24 frequencies.