ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 3

March 2001
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest : e2k_news@hotmail.com

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Notes on jamming
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Morse stations notes

Unless there are a lot more logs sent in, these will probably be the last Morse Station notes. There has been very little apparent interest shown in them, and only 1 log has been sent in. The writer of these notes seems to be one of the very few logging morse stations. It seems very strange, as when the Morse Station Notes are updated on a web site, there have been at least 170 visitors to that page. A lot of listeners want information, but no one is willing to send in logs or information.

Is the NL read by any listeners in the USA. If so do any of them have a record facility? It would seem possible that some of the transmissions heard in the mornings in the UK, might be heard over in the USA. We are asking this, as New York, and Gander Radio on 6605 are usually at about S7 at 0800 UTC. If anyone is interested information can be supplied as to possible stations on at that time.

Divided into 4 parts this issue.

Profile of M3

M3

Modes usually ICW a few use MCW

(R5)* rarely are (R10)  Morse is sent at about 17 WPM except for 503 which is very slow at 5 WPM. That transmission is normally on 10620 Monday at 0800 and 10720 0900 on Tuesday Some transmissions sent in MCW. Has been since August 2000, sending shorter messages of 30 to 36 groups. These are strange as both the first and last 2 groups are 77777.

There are 2 regular null transmissions. One is daily at 1630 on the following frequencies.

Saturday at 0800
7256 8187 9272

M3A

It is not sent very often and the meaning of it is not known could possibly be confirmation of receipt of message. Only triplets of 111 and 333 have been noted.

When M3 send a message after the 54x5F groups the ID is sent again 6 times then the message is repeated as 54x5f groups. 54 single groups

Is Usually on between 0700 and 1200 on the hour and the half hour. Messages are usually between 50 and 59 groups, possibly so they fit in the 30 minutes transmission time. There have recently this year (2000) been some strange messages sent, with group counts 30 to 35. These messages always start and end with the groups 77777 77777.  Repeat transmissions are usual. Frequencies that have been used are. Those in brackets in use at present. These frequencies do change from time to time, so it is worth listening through all of them.
3060  3250  3392  3450  3823  3923  4015  4090  4465  4610  (4722) 4750 (4780) (4870) 4900  5050  5090 (5120) 5150 (5180) 5220 (5360) 5365  5409  5550 (5520) 5610  5625  5670 (5830) 5860  5870 (6330) 6334 (6430) 6540  6640  6750  6810 6840  6850  6905  6950  7208  7255  7276  7444  7540  7580  7620  7649  7670  7710 7820  7830  7840  8033  8037  8100  9030  9272  9180  9950  (10250) 10270 10540 (10620)(10720)

IDs heard to date
010  011  012  013  014  015  016  017  018  019  035  038  040  041  042  043  044  045  047  048  121  182  183  211  214  216  282  284  287  312  317  493  496  501  503  507  508  552  553  554  558  581  584  621  624  629  741  742  743  857  971  976

As you can see, this was a very large organisation, but during the last year activity has been reduced. The only IDs being active at present are 011 015 017 040 041 186 211 287 552 624 743. The regular daily sked at 1630 to 287, will move to 5830 in March. The regular Saturday sked at 0800 to 624 will move to 8187. Any logs of other IDs active would be appreciated. They are still repeating messages on an annual basis. It seems very strange to send the same message once a year for several years. They are also still sending the same odd messages, with 77777 77777 as the first and last groups. These messages are usually 30 to 35 groups long. Soon after these messages have been sent, the ID is no longer heard. Possibly they are closing down messages.

Stations not heard recently.

Some of these are very erratic and may not be heard for many months at a time. It is quite possible that they may appear again.

M26

98 station. Has been heard on 4106 with // 2961. Is a very erratic station, can go for months without being heard, then will be on continuously for a week. Format is similar to following, heard on 22 October

1740 99 10508Repeated until
1800 99 10672
1830 99 10614 99 40618
1920 99 20512
2000 92 32
2010 99 10514
2012 34 34 348x5f Groups

Has not been logged for some considerable time

M34

11 12345 2 Fig IDs, No ending, only log on 2 March 1998 at 0820 on 5040

Format is

Call 11 27R5
11 11 11  13x5f single group message
11 11 11  Same message repeated

27 27 27  13x5f single group message
27 27 27  same message repeated  No ending

Machine sent at 15 WPM, using long zeros. Note that the second and last group in the message are the same. Not been heard since then. Seems to have no regular skeds.

M50

This has not been heard for some considerable time. It is thought that the frequency was being used for training purposes, as the messages were all 50 groups, and the hand sending was very bad.

M52

2Figure 6 Figure. Another station that may be on at any time.Again when it is on can be on for days continuously. Thought to originate from Norway. Heard on 5 November 1998 on 4802. Format is

2000 11 II 253257 253257 253257 AR
2015 12 II 254987 254987 254987 II 99 AR

Log of Friday 19 February 1999 1900 to 2100 on 4801 sending
24 II 854957 854957 894957 AR

Logged again on 28 July 1999 on 5694
36 II 511919 511919 511919 II 29 II 222 AR

We have been asked to include the following information on M16 and M51.

M16 8BY

Mode ICW. Uses long zeros.

The IDs can be any number up to 12, they can remain the same for several transmissions, or change by having one ID go and leave the rest, such as 432/679/236.IDs are always in the same sequence. Transmission is at each hour+40 for 20 minutes. Up to 3 frequencies in parallel. It is thought that it is just a list of IDs that there is a message waiting for and the ID collects the message possibly on another frequency or by other means.

Can also use Q and Z codes

If no IDs sends QRU

Example of ZKY= 142 825 047 ZKY/759

Example of ZCC= 142 047 ZCC 11 18/439 ZCC 10 16/306/146

Frequencies in use are :
7668 10248 12075 12170 12283 14433 14925 14931 18415 20946

Recent Logs.

M51

100 Letter group station. Can be on at any time on any frequency. The the start of it has never been logged, so it is not known if there is a call. It has been heard starting on a new frequency during the day, but as expected, started in the middle of a message. Sends messages of 100 5 letter groups, can be on air for up to 5 hours. A message sent one day for example NR 89 if sent the next day is a different message. serial numbers run from 1 to 90 and then starts 1 again.

Message header is Serial Number of message, First letter of the Month, Date, Time, which is always 1 hour ahead of UTC
= NR 54 J 9 10:42:37 =

Has been heard to end with 579 sent 60 times

Recent logs, 2 January 0904 4030, 3 January 1830 5280, 8 January 0900 5220, 9 January 0800 5480,  10 January 1300 5220,  11 January 0820 5220, 18 January 6925.

Formats of most covered stations

To help you identify stations, here are the formats of most covered in these notes.

Short list of formats. See morse station profile list for longer description

Notes

• R4= Repeat for 4 minutes  
• 5F= 5 Figure paired groups 
• 5f 5 Figure single groups.
• Short 0  
• Long 0
• 197x3= Repeated 3 times
• // Parallel Frequency.
• Figures in calls and preambles are only examples

M1

M1A

M3

M3

M3A

M4

M7

M8

Mode ICW.  Uses Cut Numbers

T 0, A 1,  N 2,  D 3,  U 4,  W 5,  R 6,  I 7,  G 8,  M 9,

After first message sends AR AR AR MDUUAx5 = = = 150f Cut same after second message

Ends AR AR AR SK SK SK

M10

M12

M13

261 R5 = 189 22 =

22x5f

ID sent x12 = 189 22 =

3 long dashes

M13A

Format is the same only the ID is sent as

M14

560 R4 245 245 161 161 = = 161x5F = = 245 245 161 161 00000

M14A

Sends 2 messages, after first message repeats ID for 2 minutes

M16

M23

Call can also be 2 or 3 figures or letter I for 45 seconds

M24

same format as M14 but sent at high speed 30 to 40 WPM

M29

M39

458 458 458 76621 76621 Repeated 4 times

Period of dashes

458 458 458 73309 73309 Repeated 4 times

M40

M45

Similar format to M1 but is sent much slower at 12 WPM  

M51

100 Letter group station. Call not known

Message header is Serial Number of message, First letter of the Month, Date, Time, which is always 1 hour ahead of UTC
= NR 54 J 9 10:42:37 =

Has been heard to end with 579sent 60 times 

M76

Call, 4 Digit callsign De 4 Digit callsign. They can be a mixture of letters and figures. It does use accented letters in the callsign. So far noted U ..-- and A .-.-

Only sends the callsign 3 times, then QTC 96 23 = 23x5f Ends AR Long zero

M83

XXXX DE XXXX QTC AR
XXXX DE XXXX QTC 220020907  220 the serial number 02 the date and 0907 the time UTC+2

Callsigns can be a mixture of letters and figures, often changed

Variations

• XXXX 4 digit callsign sent continuously
• XXXX 4 digit callsign + number of Vs sent every 15 minutes

Further information can be obtained from Cherry Ripe

Station notes

M1

Will change to ID 463 on 1 March. Sunday 0700 6508, Tuesday and Thursday 1800 5474, 2000 5017. Saturday 1500 6261. Message group counts, at present mostly in the low 30s, has gone as low as 28, with the occasional 40 groups.

M1A

As well as the usual M1A end of Month transmissions, on the last Thursday and Saturday of each month, there have been other logs at strange times.

Logged on Monday 18 December at 1000 on 8187, ID 636 and Tuesday 19 December on 5220, ID 994. Both of these were using ICW as the mode and Bug Keys as opposed to the usual pump handle key. Were these possibly training exercises. It is not at all easy to find these transmissions, as they come up on any frequency, and there are long pauses between the components of the transmission.

M1B

A new sked has been found, on Tuesday and Thursday at 0805 on 4866. A new record group count for M1B started on 1 January, 79 groups.

M3

Most activity seems to be on a Tuesday.

M4

Still no signs of this one, although there is a carrier put on the sked frequencies for the length of time the transmission takes. Possibly they are going to use those frequencies at some time. Most likely to be another voice transmission.

M7

None of these heard since the last NL, needs someone to monitor these transmissions. This could be quite a job as they can start at any 10 minute period during the hour. Although they use the same frequencies, there are a large number to listen through, that have been used in the past. These are listed in the Morse Stations profile list Another problem is that the call up is only 1 minute, with the ID being sent 3 times.

M8

Can be heard at the start of each hour in the mornings. Has recently started sending 2 transmissions at the same time. Frequencies in use are :
7582 8010 8079 8137 8187 9064 9154 9239 9333 10127 10236 10447 10874 11433.

M10

Still plenty of activity. Information on skeds can be supplied to anyone interested. The usual 1630 transmission on Saturday Sunday Monday and Wednesday still uses the same 4 IDs 571 275 049 435, Other IDs are 619 071 127 447 801 968 and 652.

M12

The additional M12 information in the last NL was very much out of date. Most of the IDs shown are not active. The special ID 749 now transmits a message on Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Friday. No transmission on Thursday, Null transmission on Saturday and Sunday,
1700 6782, 1720 7657, 1740 8173.

Friday has seen a recent increase in activity, transmissions being heard at 1940, 2050, 2110, and 2 at 2140. Some of these only appear for a few weeks, so it is hard to keep track of them. Remember that when a message is sent, it is on 3 frequencies, 20 minutes apart, going from higher to lower in the evening. The null transmission is only sent on 2 frequencies. They are starting transmissions at any 10 minute period during the hour, as the call up is only 2 minutes they are not easy to find. Frequencies used are normally in the fixed service part of the band, but can be anywhere from 3200 to 19000. Another problem is that many of them change frequency each month.

M13

Still very active, they can be heard most evenings. There are also probably many repeat transmissions in the early hours of the morning. There is a large list of loggings for M13, also a prediction sheet for the next month is available on request. Another interesting thing has been found out about M13B, when it uses a type A call, with the 3 zeros, then the message is always 20 groups. Possibly indicates a null message.

M14

Only 1 log, Tuesday 23 January 1820 on 4638.

M14A

Still continues with the 1 regular transmission on Friday at 1900, frequency changes but is usually plus or minus 4620.

M23

Still continues to send the same messages, one was started on 27 September 1999. Sked is 1030 and 1600 on 7795. Does not always appear every day, and also can be late starting. The 1030 sked has been logged as late as 1057 start. Has started on January 15 sending new messages after sending the previous ones for 15 months. Some new IDs 020 202 462 466 828. Some of the old IDs are still being used. 482 logged on 29 January, with a message of 47 groups that was first sent on 29 September 1999. Some of these old messages can be several weeks before they are repeated again.

The other sked at 1058 on 7800, is another erratic one. Can have a period of frantic activity and then not appear for several weeks. Last week in January, came up with some new IDs 66666 and 88888.

The usual sked at 0800 and 1400 on 3807 // 9285 continue. ID 579. There have not been any logs of other 3 figure IDs, since the last NL

M24

Some of these are being logged in the USA, as they cannot be heard in Europe it is suspected the transmission either comes from the USA or a ship near the coast.

M24A

2 Regular transmissions still, Monday 1900 on 4490 ID 263, Wednesday 1900 on 4970 ID 362. Both send 2 messages, group count of both are between 140 and 150.

M29

The Monday and Tuesday morning transmissions now seem to be using the same frequency as last year. This will make it easier to find them. The also can be on at other times during the day with one off transmissions. On Tuesday 9 January at 0700 there were 2 transmissions art the same time. One on 5310 and the other on 5610, one sending faster. It is quite possible that these 2 transmissions will be on in February. There was a recent log on Spooks of one at 1500. These can only really be found by chance.

M39

1 Logged on 24 January at 2000 on 4108, 357 357 357 99283 Repeated 9 times pause 357 357 357 99623 99623 Repeated 9 times. These are difficult to find as they may be on at any time and on any frequency

M40

Still some being heard. Some logs at 1030 on 10620 of 747. The 515 ID has not been heard since the last NL.

M45

Will change frequency on 1 March. Will be 4555 and //4955 ID 555. Will remain on those frequencies until 1 May.

M51

Still quite active with its endless 100 group messages. See the information included in this newsletter.

M76

Still audible at present. May possibly change frequency to 3280 on 1 March.

It lost its chirp on January 5 , but it was back again on 6 January.

M83

Not active daily but is still around. Keeps on changing frequency. Logged on 25 January, 2 on at same time. 0832 on 5050 TR2F DE CH8N QTC 225 30 30 25 0932.

0836 on 5520 PV6R DE ADQZ QTC 6 20 25 0936

See also 'STOP PRESS' for up to date morse news

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Notes on jamming
Covert loop antenna | Book review : Between Silk & Cyanide | News Items
Web sites | Requests | Stop press | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home