ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 8

January 2002
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest : e2k_news@hotmail.com

Enigma 2000 article

Before we start with this issues splendid article, an update from 'C':

Number Plate Recognition Systems (update)

In Issue 4 I wrote a short article on the use of Number Plate Recognition Systems. Recently a news article on BBC Radio 4 caught my attention. It concerned a new twist to the old theme - a system that can read your Tax Disc (road fund licence). According to the report new technology situated on motorway bridges and even in mobile vans parked in lay-bys can scan your Tax Disc even if you are travelling at up to speeds of 100 miles per hour. The system then checks with the Driver Vehicle Licensing Centre (DVLC) to see if a valid disc is held. I suspect that what the story really means is that the system checks the 'number plate' to see if a valid Tax disc is held, and not the other way round, and we all know how that works don't we ! So beware. Big brother is watching you.

Onto this issue's article:

XJT 'Jet Signals'

By 'C'

I decided to have a closer look at these from a straight forward monitoring point of view, they have steadily grown in number for some years now. For those of you who are unfamiliar with them then a quick tune to some of the frequencies mentioned will help with identification.

They first started to appear (from my own notes) in the 5 MHz region and have spread over a large part of the 2 to 9 MHz region with a lesser concentration up to about 18 MHz.

The signal consists of a wide loud and heavily phased noise not unlike that of Jet engine running at full thrust, the wide band-width causes the signals to almost merge into each other - particularly in the 6 and 8 MHz regions where there are heavy concentrations.

So what are they ? I have several different pieces of information so you will need to draw your own conclusions at this stage. First back in 1997 I was told that the 'Jet Signals' were Russian in origin - and this may well have been the case at that time, however, more and more began to appear and at very high signal strengths on low frequencies during the day. I guessed that the Russian theory was not 100% correct.

In mid 1998 I was able to visit the Royal Navy Radio Station at Inskip near Preston in Lancashire, sitting outside the perimeter fence it was quite clear that the 'Jet Signals' were coming from transmitters on the site. Inskip is operated by the 'plc' SERCO on behalf of RN, security around the outside of the base seemed non existent.

'Jet Signals' were operating on 3328, 6373, 8623, 14820kHz. Also at the time of the visit nine teleprinters and two VFT transmitters were also operating. Given that many of these signals can be heard as low as 2 MHz it is not unreasonable to assume that many of these signals are coming out of the UK or near continent.

Other possible locations in the UK would include RAF Edlesborough, Chelveston and Milltown, however the Defence Comms. Networks sites may be operated by outside agencies such as SERCO mentioned above. Crimond in Scotland is also another strong contender.

A somewhat different view point appeared on the 'Spooks List' Internet site. A sound sample appeared on the Numbers & Oddities website and reply was posted by Leif which is reproduced below.

"The 'Jet' sample sounds and looks to me like a normal Russian 12 tone PSK (Phase Shift Key) modem (also known as MS5), that was recorded with a narrow filter, thus not covering all the 12 tones. The signal is also slightly mistuned, as the pilot does not show an offset of +3.3 kHz. The signal sounds a bit strange due to some selective fading and some multi-path effects. Nothing really unusual about this signal."

What can monitoring reveal? - I decided to try and work out something about the way these signals operate and I soon concluded that that many of the frequencies are fixed and appear to operate 24 hours per day. I was surprised to find that during the day they do not migrate to higher frequencies (which is what I expected) but stay put. It would also be safe to say that many are fixed links between points which are not far apart. The use of 2, 3, 4, and 5 MHz during the day would prove useless for long distance communications. I would also question why there is a need to operate all the time? I cannot imagine how much information they are passing - does that much useful information exist !

Monitoring Report - I carried out four scans from 2 to 20 MHz - I would err on the side of caution by saying two things, first the signals all sound the same so working out how many agencies are involved is not possible by simply tuning around, and secondly, frequencies given are all +/ - 3 kHz.

SAT 1900 UTC	04/08/01	TX Operating 66	Below 9MHz	5	Above 9MHz	15
SAT 1900 UTC	25/08/01	TX Operating 72	Below 9MHz	56	Above 9MHz	16
SUN 1200 UTC	05/08/01	TX Operating 39	Below 9MHz	27	Above 9MHz	12
SUN 1200 UTC	26/08/01	TX Operating 34	Below 9MHz	28	Above 9MHz	6

The following list of frequencies were found to be operating on all four scans, 2170, 3290, 3330, 3370, 4205, 4265, 5150, 6230, 6498, 6810, 6895, 8410, 8460, 8480, 8505, 8515, 12885, 13412.

If we look at the results of all fours scans and combine the results this is what is shown.

The number of frequencies monitored by MHz from all four scans were:

2MHz	5	3MHz	7	4MHz	12	5MHz	9	6MHz	16	7MHz	2
8MHz	18	9MHz	0	10MHz	10	11MHz	4	12MHz	6	13MHz	1
14MHz	4	15MHz	0	16MHz	1	17MHz	1	18MHz	2	+18MHz	0

Of a total of 98 individual frequencies found during the four scans 71% were noted below 9MHz.

The 2MHz Mystery - For some time now I have been puzzled by the appearance of these signals in the 2 MHz band, the effective use of 2170 at 12.00 UTC in the UK must be very limited, my own location is only 50 miles (in a direct line) from Inskip and I receive the signal at a steady S7 during the day. What this tell us is that it cannot be transmitting information very far. At night the 2MHz band is full of 'Jets' - a separate scan of only the 2MHz band at 2020z revealed 12 frequencies- 2170, 2190, 2210, 2380, 2420, 2580, 2595, 2612, 2640, 2660, 2722, 2805kHz, - I used two receivers to make sure I was not dreaming ! What are they sending, where are they transmitting from, what does it all mean ?

What Else - I know that Radio Studio a broadcast station in Leningrad (I think) used 6235 kHz and had moved up to 6240 kHz to avoid interference from a 'Jet' on 6230. Interestingly the 'Jet' changed in to a Teleprinter and remained so until Radio Studio left the air. I have also seen other reports that 'Jets' can send Radio Teletype on occasions. If you are ever fortunate to hear a 'Jet' coming on air they usually begin with a few bursts of the noise which goes on and off for several minutes until they get going properly ?

What Can We Conclude - Are they up to no good ? Are they all Russian (I think not) ? What are they sending ? Who is receiving all this data ? Why do they operate 24 hours a day ? Where are all those 2 MHz transmitters (in the UK) ? Why do they use fixed frequencies ? Why do they not migrate to higher frequencies during the day ? Answers please anyone ?

©'C'