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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Selected voice stations

Firstly unidentified transmissions from IB in Chita; the first sent on 27/12, the second on 04/01:

[Had E15a assigned provisionally but on investigation it bore no resemblance to E15 classification. Now provisionally E25, which may change when station habits fully known].

222 222 222 ... ... ... .rptd for 2mins
message 1 message 1 message 1
5431 0013 5210 7610... ... ... .QRM... ... ... .9535 4370 5210
end of message
message 2 message 2 message 2
4314 1191 1610 0841 3767 3160 6189 8396 1376 1502 0635 8076 9323 7150 1183 7675 1247 7154 1610
repeat repeat repeat
4314 1191 1610 0841 3767 3160 6189 8396 1376 1502 0635 8076 9323 7150 1183 7675 1247 7154 1610
end of message
end of transmission

OM sent 4F in English with strong Arabic (?) accent:

I heard only:

...10 0572 8492 6769 0944 7612
end of message
end of transmission

[Very weak signal].

Simon Mason has posted MP3 files of the station on his site and informs us that the station can also be heard at 1245Z as well.

[SM-tnx for info].http://www.btinternet.com/~simon.mason/page410.htm

Various successful attempts were made to catch this one on 16/01. The signal was poor and apparently jammed at 1355Z when a hetrodyne tone came up on freq obviating the entire transmission.

ENIGMA 2000's South West monitor made this remark:

"E25, The 4 reports on yesterdays TX all indicate a poor signal (N Russia, UK, S Italy, Eastern Germany). Somebody must be getting this as a clean signal."

For further information on this new station, and the way in which its transmissions have evolved, see E25 listing.

Yet another apparent unknown was heard, this time by Ary [N&O] 2309kHz 25/01 2045Z to 2100Z

He reported, via the Spooks reflector: "I have put a sound sample on the N&O website of the station that I mentioned last night. It transmitted on 2309 kHz from ca 2045 UTC and closed down at 2100

UTC. Every minute a new message in an unid language."

See http://home.luna.nl/~ary/to hear the .wav sample

However the station is probably Polish, Ary informs us later, with the call-up UWAGA [attention].

Nonetheless, would any Polish speaker reading this please listen to the .wav and share with the others what they hear. See also N&O33

Another possible unknown has been heard on 4760kHz 2134Z 16/02 by Gary Sawyer who describes it as: "adeep male slightly robotic voice. It's on the BC frequency for ELWA Monrovia." Could it be E07?

On 1^stFeb BBC1 showed the film 'Mission Impossible'. Apart from D of Kent did anyone else notice in the scene involving the lift, the label with the word POZOR clearly marked upon it?

Onto the listings:

E03a

Had not been producing very good results in Great Britain over the past December. On 15/12 at 1300Z barely managed to reach S3[start-up missed] whilst the previous 1300Z transmission on 08/12 was barely audible at all.

However on 28/12 reception was markedly better and allowed almost a full observation of the entire transmissions between 1000Z to 1300Z. The start up of the first parallel transmission was missed but at least confirmation of the missing frequencies [not actually missing at all] was gained. It was noticed that the transmissions 1100Z to 1300Z inclusive started at H+02 and finished at H+44mins.

The barometer showed a depression of some 0.5" to 29.3" at this time. On 29/12 the barometer had risen 0.25" and only the 1000Z transmission on 20474 was barely recognised, the tune occasionally breaking through. Rest of the transmissions for 20/12 remained 'Nil Required Heard.'

The full 1000Z to 1300Z transmissions were heard on 01/01 and although the 20474//23461 transmission were weak [around S1] 18866 had risen to S8 for the 1200 & 1300Z transmission.

The 1300Z transmission on 18864 04/01 was particularly good in South London at S9 whilst it was reported from Sweden as being weak.

Schedule: Sun to Fri, [0000Z transmission first, ends 2300Z]

the rest of the schedule [not usually audible in GB] is:

[All freqs 2200Z to 0100Z heard by JM in US]

Previously scheduled freqs: 17499 & 22108kHz apparently silent.

On 17/01 SD in Australia posted the schedule, confirming the above.

E05

On numerous freqs at scheduled times. Note clash with E03 [6959kHz] on 08/01 2200Z on freq of 6960kHz. Call 634 Count 146 925/47

E06

E07

E10 - Frequency usage - update

Widely reported to transmit from Israel (and possibly other locations) these are one of the easiest and busiest voice set ups around. With continuing problems in the Middle East I thought it might be worth updating the call sign and frequency information. Most stations can be heard in Europe between 17.00 and 02.00 UTC on a vast range of frequencies but do operate around the clock.

Using the article in ENIGMA Issue 17, and logs from the 'Spooks' database plus my own logs I will attempt to produce an up to date snapshot.

High traffic Stations

High traffic stations commence on the hour & half-hour, only calls assigned to these frequencies are used and none are interchangeable with any other call.

Comments:

• PCD 8805 is quite new, 6500 (another PCD freq) is home to a very strong wide band 'jet' signal in Western Europe and anything under it is inaudible in the UK. 8805 may be a supplementary frequency.

• YHF 9402 seems to have moved to 9202 - according to my own recent logs, probably due to Radio Bulgaria now using 9400 in the UK evenings.

• FTJ 7322 seems to have been replaced by 7358.

Low-traffic stations

Comments:

• I did think 15016 was now defunct? [Due to complaints by USAF]

• 14000 appears on the 'Spooks' list as SYN & ZWL, all in all 14000 is an interesting frequency. I did log ZWL on 7000 one evening in the Summer and now wonder if 14000 was an 'image' of the 7000 outlet caused by mixing at the transmitter site? this might also explain SYN getting involved too. 14000 therefore may not be the 'intended' frequency in use at all ?

Non traffic Stations

These calls do not have fixed start or end times.

Comments:

• It is probable that each call has at least two frequencies. Once again it is worth stressing that no low - traffic Stations or Non - traffic Stations share a frequency used by the High - traffic Stations which have absolutely unique frequencies.

• Loose Ends? Clearly with such a large and complex operation things can go wrong, the most probable is that of sending the wrong call/frequency match. This may result in the odd log of a particular call appearing out of context.

• The Spy Numbers Database contains over 8,500 + logs and again an occasional keying 'in' error as resulted in a few spurious frequencies e.g. 5880 ? is likely to be 4880 and 15533 is likely to be 13533 EZI. I have endeavoured to try and make a positive identification on all of these and placed them on the above lists back in their correct places! I am however left with just a few that remain unresolved -

• ABC was reported on 6428? This would seem to break the rules as 'A' is ART and no two network stations start with the same 'initial' call letter. CIO as also been reported on 8206 and 10400? Finally EZI is reported on 23740 & 23750 although I have personally never heard it go above 21930.

I hope this update will be useful. Comments and feedback on any aspects of E10 are welcome.

[Thank you for the contribution of this article].

E11

E15

Bad sigs with CW QRM

E17

E18

E23

See previous issue2. May need use of Single Sideband to resolve. [Tnx M].

E25

See start of this section. Try narrow AM to assist with harsh BC QRM

9450kHz 1345Z 16/01 poor copy; for 447?

Log for 17/01:
1343Z Music up.
1350Z Station heard, 222etc
1354Z message message
[In part: 70 7517 5701 5751 1198 0978 0316
1359Z 227 227......end of message.
1359:30Z Music off.

'A better attempt today [18/01], I put the set onto usb which made a considerable difference 1.25kHz up. I also tried nfm, an improvement but of course the qrm from the nearby BC station [9455kHz] did cause some problems.'

On 18/01 E25a is heard on at 1240Z:
Music intro 5 minutes then:-
440 220 67 70 69 70
440 749 67 63 69 70
440 639 67 63 69 70
appeared to be alternate repeats, for 5 mins.
Then E25, new voice
440 R5,
Message Message Message, first 4f gp then music restarts and voice cuts out.
Restarts over music.
440 message
23 x 4f gps
repeat
23 x 4f gps
end of message
440-11???, 442-19, 449-20, 440-20, 442-19, 442-20, 442-19, 449-20, 442-19, 449-20, 442-19, 449-40, 447-17???
end of transmission
music stops 1259z

Then at 1340Z [18/01]:
It started up again at 13.40z, different music - this time with vocals and had a different voice to the 2 in the 12.40 TX, and a slower delivery.
13.40 music
13.45 222R27, TX stopped
restarted 13.47 222R17
13.49 Messagex 3
19 x 4f gps
repeat
19 x 4f gps
at gp 6 of repeat the music restarted and another weak unid numbers TX appeared in the background.
end of message
227-20R9
end of transmission
13.56.

Other weak TX still going, unidentifiable, at 13.58 a strong Bubble Jammer fired up for 30 seconds. 'This little beastie is going to be interesting.'

Further observations disclosed a variation in transmissions as:

E25a transmission Friday 19/01/01.
1240 Carrier, no music, 1244 to 1249 745 71 72 repeated, no ending.
1340 to 1355 Nothing heard.

E25 transmissions Saturday 20/01/01
1245Z 9450kHz S5
440 x 33
1774 0124 2410 5140 0541 7457 9215 3140 4632 4413 1443 3543 1907 5194 4944 6976 9214 3602 2545 2302 7450 0140
Repeat, repeat, repeat
0124 0124 2410 5140 0541 7457 9215 3140 4632 4413 1443 3543 1907 5194 4944 6976 9214 3602 2545 2302 7450 0140
End of message
442 19 449 20x 4
1256Z end of transmission

E25a 1332Z 9450kHz S7
905 19x 33
1337Z transmission ends.
1340Z to 1400Z Nil required heard.

E25 transmissions Sunday 21/01/01
1245Z 9450kHz S5
As 20/01/01 1245Z transmission. [440]
1330Z 9450kHz S9
As 20/01/01 1332Z transmission. [905 19 different voice, live transmission]
1334Z end of transmission.
1340Z to 1400Z Nil required heard.

With exception 1534Z Chirpsounder on 9450kHz, nil required heard until close down 1600Z.

No transmissions heard on 23/24/25/01, heard again on to 1330Z to 1333Z, 905 21, 27/01 1245Z to 1250Z sending 725nn 73 74 75 76

10/02 at 1245Z to 1250Z very poor sigs OM repeating 745 47 744 94 11/01 Nil required heard in South London. Still heard to date, if not a little intermittent. Times to check are 1230Z, 1245Z, 1330Z and 1345Z for around 15 mins. A carrier can sometimes be heard for 30s prior to transmission.

Observations on 17/02 revealed E25 transmitting at 1230Z to 1236Z.
274x 22, 475 x 4 followed by 4f groupings x 20.

E25a followed from 1246Z to 1251Z 17/02
745 95 96x 22

In both cases the signals were atrocious.

Reports on this one please. See 'STOP PRESS' for additional 9450kHz useage news.

G04

4110kHz/2105Z & 4210/2135Z Dec [42668 24/12 S9]

On 28/12 this transmission was heard on 4890 and 4990. The 28 group message remained the same from 03/12. On 31/12 the groups were heard on 4110 & 4210 [S London].

On 04/01 freqs were found to be 4880 and 4980 at 2105Z and 2135Z.

HFD noticed that this freq is high for Jan, usually being below 3500kHz. [Jan00 freqs were 3440 & 3340kHz]. On 07/01 HFD reported that G04 was heard at 2105/2135Z on 4120/4220 kHz. "Lousy frequencies. I could hardly understand anything but the message seemed the same as Thursday 04/01 (26735...). On 4220 I could hear an overmodulated M29, too."

4120 and 4220kHz were used on 11/01. Audio was better in LSB and message same as that on 04/01 [reports AF in Eastern Germany - tnx]. Data and CW QRM from OST maritime on 4220kHz. 14/01 only 4120kHz at 2105Z heard GB. HFD reported 2135Z from Germany.

Feb freqs: 4280kHz/2105Z & 4380kHz/2135Z, 25 groups "60321 53271 77516 ..." no "9", reports Axel Kruse.[Anybody catch the E10/G04 clash on 4276kHz at 2105Z 04/02]?

G07

May have changed day/freq/time since last year. Reported as not being heard in 2001 to date.

S06

S6A

S10E

A good strong signal readily monitored in Great Britain on 10642kHz at 1300Z USB.

The transmission at 1300Z on 19/12 was an excellent signal. Transmission on 11/01 at 1300Z was also an excellent signal. The 6 day transmission cycles are expected to start 08/02, 08/03, 05/04.[Thursdays]. Logs required of this one please [and M10E the Morse equivalent].

S17C

Continues daily at 1250Z for seven minutes on 8190//9385 with a strong, steady signal although around 07/01 the signals have been only fair with some background.

S21

Parallel frequency required.

V02

Can any one confirm 8186kHz [0700Z 18/02 Mark Slaten US] as a further V02 tx?

V02A [DGI Cuba]

Once again the debate about V02a headers has appeared on the Internet. There is no doubt that the last figure of V02a is a repeat indicator - as I have always claimed, and not a priority indicator. The examples given over the Internet do not relate to the term "repeat indicator", for they merely illustrate the standard scheduled repeat sequence, i.e. messages are routinelyrepeated one hour after the primary transmission, but on a different frequency -a characteristic found in certain other Families - so such indication is unnecessary.

There would be no logic in changing headers under such circumstances, not to mention changing the tape within 15 minutes ! The header suffix increases incrementally each time the message is carried over, for example, on the following day. In such cases the same message is very often accompanied by one or two quite different messages to those which accompanied it on its first day. (These in turn, may or may not be carried over). It is correct to assume that the three messages are identical, but only in so far as the standard repeat sequence is concerned, i.e. as given in the examples chosen.

e.g. In the example: 0300 - "14011 70963 07761" means that message 1401 and 0776 are being sent for the first time, and message 7096 is now being carried over for a second time. All three messages are, of course, routinely repeated at 04.00.

This profile has remained consistent over at least 8 years, and I have 1000s of intercepts which prove this. However, a mere week's systematic monitoring should be sufficient for verification. Note M08 follows the same pattern, but V02 does not. Incidentally, header suffixes rarely exceed 3, even in this vast sample; none exceed 7. Further analysis is need to determine their frequency levels, but this would be very time-consuming.

If you would like examples or further clarification, please contact me via ENIGMA 2000. Hope this clears up the confusion. M.G.

V02A

V07

All V07 transmissions were preceded by a blank carrier and in the cases of the 0730 & 0750 transmissions part of the traffic. 0724Z/10355kHz 'Uno, uno, uno'; and 0744Z/11420kHz Uno, uno , uno' also.

V13

XPH

XPH freqs courtesy of VM and GD, thanks.

Re XPn freq 6865Hz 2100/2300Z Tuesday, mentioned in issue 2 resulted in 'nil required heard'. Would appreciate new freqs and/or times used for February/March 01.

Thanks to all those for their logs including Rob of Essex, GD, Mick of Strathclyde, D of Kent, AF, AK & HFD of Germany, Gerald of Sussex, K of Kent, S, C and M, SD in Au, also spy numbers robot.

Please send your voice logs to either enigma.box@centrenet.co.ukor e2k_news@hotmail.com

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