ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 9

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

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities
Gladio | Review : Sony ICF-SW100E Receiver | News Items
Web sites | Requests | Stop press | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home

Selected voice stations

Frequencies preceded by 'c' have been taken from an analogue receiver.

For interest, Maciej "Miles" Muszalski reports 'Polish military tx using letter groups with Polish phonetics

6257kHz USB, 1115z and 10297kHz LSB 1049z (sometimes 10.270-300 USB/LSB). Maciej makes the comment 'not exactly spooks but... who knows?' Two freqs worth a listen we fancy.

I recently received a phone call circa 2205z 10/02 from our Morse scribe who had heard an LSB transmission on 6650kHz. I immediately dismissed the transmission as one from the 'Echo-Charlie' fraternity. I was informed of the words 'Taliban' and 'target'. I tuned up straight away to this freq and heard "5 5" very strongly. Straightaway a data signal started and continued to do so until 0217z. [EC band: 6530 to 6700kHz, calling 6670kHz, mainly LSB some sstv].

Rumour has it that Radio Free Afghanistan can be heard around 0300z on 7230kHz with some English content at 0337z.

E03 & E03a

All reports on these stations suspended until further notice.

E05

The latest boost in E05 activity , noted on Saturday 12 Jan 02, is the return of the 1400z transmission on 18617 // 19622 kHz, last heard this on 3 Nov 01. There was no trace whatsoever on subsequent Saturdays throughout November and December. This one has vanished and re - appeared on several occasions over the last year or so and I don't think it is just due to the vagaries of propagation. On the down side, the long - standing 2200z Monday and Friday E05 seems to have gone, no trace found since late December.

Also noted is a Monday to Friday schedule of the E05 - related fsk data transmission, first logged on Monday 24 - Dec at 0900z on 6891 // 8125 kHz, the carriers with a background noise typical of E05 being noted as early as 0820z, usually with a minute or so of audio tone round about 0850z before firing up on the hour.

E05 from PofSW

Continues much as before with a couple of observations;- the Monday and Friday 2200  UTC on 9,219 // 10,527 kHz which vanished in December and did not appear in the first few weeks of January turned up again in the last week of January and has adhered to the established schedule since. The Saturday 1400z on 18,617 // 19,622 kHz displays the same erratic behaviour noted for some time now; it turned up on Saturday 9 - Feb -02 having last been heard on 19 - January. There was no sign of it on 26 - Jan or 2 - Feb. The 2100 UTC on 6,970 // 8,110 kHz continues on Tuesdays and Saturdays - the only E05 schedule to use upper sideband suppressed carrier mode, unless someone knows otherwise; I don't know how long this one has been around but I first noted it on Christmas Day.

Remarks per day/log entry :

• 25-Dec-01, Tuesday
  2103z, 6,970 kHz NEW!! while tuning around found a single sideband suppressed carrier on 6,970 which when tuned in (USB) turned out to be Cynthia calling "279" Strong signal, slight QRM from Hebrew language BC station on 6,973 - by the way, this is on every night with Hebrew and English pop music so I suppose it is a relay of an Israeli domestic service .... but why on short wave? - count "59"

• 27-Dec-01, Thursday
  Whilst tuning around at 0735z a strong carrier with audio tone was noted on 12,197 kHz, a frequency used by E05 in the past, but had gone when checked again 0744z.
  
  1600z, 12,197 kHz, NEW!!, 218/64, strong signal, carrier noted 1545z, a minute of audio tone at 1555z. Perhaps the carrier noted on this frequency this morning was the transmitter being tested

• 1-Jan-02, Tuesday
  1600z, 10,423 // 12,197 kHz, same as noted on Thursday, very strong signals on both frequencies, 218/64.

• 7-Jan-02, Monday
  2200z 6,960 kHz, QRM from Lincolnshire Poacher YL, // 9,090 kHz, both very weak signals, difficult copy, 539/128 (?). No sign of the other 2200z Monday ( and Friday ) E05 on 9,219 // 10,527 kHz; looks as if this has gone.

• 12-Jan-02, Saturday
  1403z 18,617 // 19,622 kHz; THE 1400z SATURDAY E05 IS BACK! Last heard on 3 -Nov - 01, there was no trace on subsequent Saturdays in November and the first half of December . Weak, steady signals on both frequencies, QRM from local TV sets with their harmonic - rich timebase circuits making copy difficult, 195/82 (?)

• 14-Jan-02, Monday
  2200 UTC, 6,960 // 9,090 kHz, both weak, usual QRM from E03 on 6,960, 539/128.

• 15-Jan-02, Tuesday
  6,970 // 8,110 kHz, both very weak signals, USB, 016/65.

• 16-Jan-02, Wednesday
  6,960 kHz, no QRM from E03 on a Wednesday, // 9,090 kHz, both weak, 539/128.

• 19-Jan-02, Saturday
  1400 UTC, 18,617 // 19,622 kHz, both weak, 822/72.
  
  1634 UTC, 16,198 kHz, transmission in progress, very weak signal.
  
  2100 UTC, 6,970 // 8,110 kHz, USB, weak signal on both frequencies, Israeli (?) BC station on 6,973 making things awkward for 6,970. 635/92.

• 20-Jan-02, Sunday
  1200 UTC, 13,906 kHz, stronger than usual, up tp strength S8, // 15,372 kHz, usual severe QRM from Radio Norway - in Norwegian - on 15,375; 189/194.
  
  1528 UTC, 14,739 // 16,198 kHz, both stronger than usual, transmission in progress, "Count" after "Repeat" at 1530z;- 215.
  
  1800 UTC, 11,072 // 13,465 kHz, both weak, 147/179.

• 21-Jan-02, Monday
  2200 UTC, 6,960 // 9,090 kHz, both very weak, usual QRM from E03 on 6,960, 539/128.

• 23-Jan-02, Wednesday
  0800 UTC, 10,527 kHz, strong signal, // 13,996 kHz, much weaker, this weekday schedule still running, still the same "Call" and "Count" as heard before Christmas, 210/100.
  
  2200 UTC, 6,960 kHz, much stronger than for some time, // 9,090 kHz, weak as always, 861/ 120.

• 24-Jan-02, Thursday
  2100 UTC, 8,080 // 10,321 kHz, both weak, 202/178.

• 25-Jan-02, Friday
  8,080 // 10,321 kHz, both weak, transmission in progress, "End" a minute or so later.
  
  2207 UTC, 9,219 //10,527 kHz, I thought this one had gone; I had not been able to find any sign of the Friday and Monday 2200z 9,219 // 10,527 E05 for a few weeks; but it was back plain enough tonight, 191/82.

• 26-Jan-02, Saturday
  No sign of the 1400 UTC E05 on 18,617 // 19,622 kHz; this one has a history of vanishing for a few weeks and then turning up again. It appeared on the previous two Saturdays.
  
  1600 UTC, 16,198 kHz, 310/176.
  
  2100 UTC, 6,970 kHz, very strong signal, much stronger than usual, // 8,110 kHz, much weaker, USB, 635/92.

• 28-Jan-02, Monday
  2200 UTC, 9,219 // 10,527 kHz, as on Friday this schedule has returned after not being heard for a few weeks, 191/82.
  
  2211 UTC, 6,960 kHz with E03 QRM, // 9,090 kHz, weak but clear, the other Monday 2200 E05 schedule in progress; this one did not vanish for a few weeks.

• 29-Jan-02, Tuesday
  2100 UTC, 6,970 // 8,110 kHz, USB, 635/92.

• 31-Jan-02, Thursday
  2100 UTC, 8,080 kHz, stronger than usual, // 10,321 kHz, weak as always, 498/67.

• 1-Feb-02, Friday
  2100 UTC, 8,080 kHz, very strong, S9+ signal, // 10,321 kHz, weak - what a contrast!, 498/67.
  
  2200 UTC, 9,219 // 10,527 kHz, both weak but clear, 191/82.

• 2-Feb-02, Saturday
  As last Saturday, no sign of the 1400z E05 on 18,617 // 19,622 kHz.

• 3-Feb-02, Sunday
  1200 UTC, 13,906 kHz, good signal, // 15,732 kHz, usual BC QRM, 662/200.
  
  1521 UTC, 14,739 // 16,198 kHz, good signals on both frequencies, audio seemed to be slightly distorted.
  
  1800 UTC, 11,072 kHz, very strong signal, unusually, // 13,465 kHz, weak as always, "Call" 007!! James Bond?, "Count" 189.

• 4-Feb-02, Monday
  2200 UTC, 6,960 kHz, stronger than usual, seems to be becoming stronger as we head towards spring, usual E03 QRM, // 9,090 kHz, weak but clear, 608/135.
  
  2212 UTC, 9,219 // 10,527 kHz, both weak but clear, transmission in progress.

• 6-Feb-02, Wednesday
  2200 UTC, 6,960 // 9,090 kHz, 608/135.

• 9-Feb-02, Saturday
  1400 UTC, 18,617 // 19,622 kHz, - this Saturday schedule is back, no sign whatsoever for the past two weeks, last heard 19-January. 18,617 up to strength S7, 19,622 weaker, 928/65.
  
  1600 UTC, 16,198 kHz, 147/197.
  
  2100 UTC, 6,970 kHz, // 8,110 kHz, both weak, BC QRM on 6,970, USB, 583/202.

• 13-Feb-02, Wednesday
  2100 UTC, 2100 UTC, 6,970 kHz, good signal, // 9,090 kHz, much weaker, 608/135.

• 14-Feb-02, Thursday
  2100 UTC, 8,080 kHz, very strong, S9+ signal, // 10,321 kHz, weak, what a contrast!, 498/67.

• 15-Feb-02, Friday
  2116 UTC, 8,080 // 10,123 kHz, both weak, surprised to find 8,080 much weaker than last night; transmission in progres. "Count" after "Repeat";- 67.
  2200 UTC, 9,219 // 10,527 kHz, both weak but clear, 191/82.

• 16-Feb-02, Saturday
  No sign of the 1400 UTC E05 on 18,617 // 19,622 kHz; it was on last Saturday but has gone again, not the slightest trace on either frequency!

via Gert we receive

From AnonUK we receive:

Whilst Chris Smolinski, via Spooks, offers:

Other offerings:

C' comments on E05 - Still around - the most notable from my own logs is the regular SUN 18.00 transmission of 11072 // 13465. A possible daily schedule was noted at Christmas, 13450 // 16090 sending to 120, a 100-group message was noted. 13450 was hard to find under a 'Jet' signal. Who chooses these frequencies ?

AnonUK sent his log ending 29/01and Feb 02. His valid comment was 'why do they send so much 210/100

AnonUK mentioning that E05 is interesting as to the number of repeats it makes. The message to 210 has been sent 27 times that he has heard. Surely the agent must have received it by now. Some of the others do not get repeated so much, such as 583, only once in a week.

NH Not heard M Transmission missed

[Tnx AnonUK].

E06

via Gert we receive

Gert's log is reflected in the body of PoSW's logs too, with some additional freqs.

Into the Month of January changes seem apparent and Gert writes, suggesting that the Monday and Tuesday 2010 and 2110z transmissions may have ceased, having been replaced with a thursday/friday 2100z and 2200 slot. Gert's log reflects this possible change as:

and adds, "Not sure if it is a one-off or regular slot. Try next month (freqs may change)."

See after PoSW logs:

• 19-Jan-02, Saturday
  1230 UTC, 13,390 kHz, calling "956", DK/GC "312 312 59 59", good signal with both sidebands.
  
  1330 UTC, 10,660 kHz, second sending of "956" and "312 312 59 59".

• 22-Jan-02, Tuesday
  2000 UTC, 6,790 kHz, "471 471 471 00000", good signal, lower sideband well suppressed, carrier with tone noted approx. 10 minutes earlier.

• 26-Jan-02, Saturday
  1236 UTC, 13,390 kHz, transmission in progress, lower sideband well suppressed, ended just before 1246z. "840 840 66 66 00000".
  
  1330 UTC, call "956", DK/GC "840 840 66 66", lower sideband well suppressed.
  
  2100 UTC, 6,948 kHz, "196 196 196 00000" until 2104z, strong signal, lower sideband well suppressed.

• 2-Feb-02, Saturday
  1233 UTC, 15,820 kHz, new schedule for the Saturday afternoon E06 in February, calling "910", DK/GC "367 367 125 125", somewhat longer than usual message. Not same frequency or call used in Feb. last year; Sat. afternoon 1230z E06 was on 16,310 kHz with call "208".
  
  1330 UTC, 13,390 kHz, second sending of "910" and "367 367 125 125", strong signal with both sidebands.

• 4-Feb-02, Monday
  2314 UTC, 5,760 kHz, transmission in progress - there was an S06 Russian Man on this frequency at 2230z. Very strong signal with lower sideband well suppressed, ended a couple of minutes later with "247 247 81 81 00000".

• 8-Feb-02, Friday
  2136 UTC, 4,760 kHz, E06 in progress, good signal with lower sideband well suppressed, ended 2143z, "695 695 48 48 00000".

• 9-Feb-02, Saturday
  1220 UTC, 12,195 kHz, E06 on at an unusual time, not the usual Saturday transmission, carrier with tone and, surprisingly, the E06 voice with a brief "761" noted just after 1205z; at 1220 fired up with "761 761 761 00000" for four minutes; strong signal, both sidebands about the same amplitude. The carrier stayed on for several minutes afterwards and in the background there were faint but nevertheless distinct female voices in Russian - sounded like both sides of a telephone conversation ; I am sure these voices were on the E06 carrier and not something else on the same frequency.
  
  1230 UTC, 15,820 kHz, regular Saturday early afternoon E06, call "910", DK/GC "285 285 44 44", weaker than usual, with both sidebands, my attention divided between this and the Saturday High - pitched Polytone transmission with its first sending on 20,914 kHz.
  
  1330 UTC, 13,390 kHz, second sending of "910" and "285 285 44 44"
  
  2103 UTC, 8,060 kHz, the last few seconds of an E06, "567 567 567 00000", very strong signal, lower sideband suppressed.

Predicted Freq changes as:

AnonUk wrote to confirm these freqs, adding, "The Saturday E06 was on 1230 15820 1330 13390 910 367 367 125 125. Not the same frequencies as last year." These were also confirmed by Gert.

E07

Gert informed e2k that the freqs for December 01 for the 0610/0630/0650z slots were 6934/ 8103/ 9368kHz.

Gert notes that there is a Monday and Wednesday slot at 2100/2120/2140z as well as the Wednesday and Friday slot 0610/0630/0650z mentioned above.

Noticing that the Monday 0600/0620/0640z slot has yet to be heard, Gert asks if this slot is still in use.

All answers via Group or e2k please.

PoSW sent these observations:

• 6-Feb-02, Wednesday
  2106 UTC, 7,918 kHz, E07 English Man in progress, ended just before 2108z with "000 000" and cut carrier without delay. Still with that strange voice which was first noted in February last year.
  
  2120 UTC, 6,732 kHz, E07, "970 970 970 1", DK/GC "8615 52" x 2
  
  2140 UTC, 5,089 kHz, E07, "970" and "8615 52" for the third time. These frequencies and call "970" were used by E07 in Feb. last year.

• 15-Feb-02, Friday
  0634 UTC, 8,103 kHz, early morning E07 English Man with a transmission in progress, strong signal.

And Anon, Scandinavia posted, via 'Spooks' [listed in time order]:

Confirmed by CD.

E10

BMDartford's ABC success with E10 is followed by further excellent logs for NL9. 'BM' gives Group Schedule [G] and GroupCount[C] info:

BM noted:

* 1722z 24/12 SYN2; This is still ongoing [2030z] repeated c/s no msg as expected. Over 4 hours [2130z] only just readable, but still calling. BM notes, "enough is enough!"

ABC:

**1633z 24/12 ABC; One hour of ABC this time ended around 1740z, still no message. Heavy background interference.

The following is compiled from various reports:

VLB6

Whilst searching for evening XWP transmissions on 19/01 I tuned through 5170kHz to hear the repetitive VLB6. Others emailed, paged, phoned and even wrote a letter to inform e2k about this development.

Ary reported that it could be heard on 6930kHz in parallel with 5170kHz at 2217z 19/01. BMDartford also emailed to report his findings at 2300z.

Reports were also seen on 'Spooks' from US monitors, JS reported that at 0247z 20/01 VLB6 changed to VLB8. [5170kHz]

At 0354z 20/01 5170kHz VLB8 changed again, this time to VLB22 [JS, Virginia].

Previously Jmm had reported, via Spooks:

On Thursday, the 10th of January, E10 sent a message string with call sign VLB. Frequency noted was 5170. Message was 23 groups long

HMHKQ FLOEU XRDTX XTFJE
OKYPX MMBMQ MFCHG IEFNE
DPIPS ZXZDO BHBAR IZBZW
PJZXO YEWWL RPCXF WLDQZ
UJDPO IVICX KMGVU ODJUE
YZDKD GLRWT FOMS

It is interesting to note the number of groups where a letter appears twice, with just one letter in the interval HmHkq mMbMq dPiPs ZxZdo BhBar iZbZw IvIcx yzDkD -> 8 groups

VLB6 was not the only station to suffer change.

Ary posted:

only to follow up with:

'C' offered this analysis:

E10 - Very busy at present with many of the High Traffic Stations ART EZI JSR PCD SYN ULX & YHF sending messages throughout the evening.

JSR is still using 7540, (try 17.00 UTC) this frequency is a real mess with Radio Free Asia, China Radio offset jamming and a Teleprinter battling it out.

WYFR is still using 11565 in the evenings and EZI is almost unreadable on the same frequency.

ABC was noted on FRI 14.12.01 at 19.15 on 6428 sending 'ABC' for several hours. Despite trying every other known E10 frequency and searching the bands I was unable to find the parallel, does anyone know where it is ? [See also BMDartford's findings].

SYN was noted on THU 27.12.01 at 21.36 on 6912 sending 'SYN 10Z2'

HNC was noted on FRI Jan 11 at 19.45 and SAT Jan 12 at 20.00 on new frequency 5265 with 6575 kHz, sending HNC-Z.

CIO 2 with another new freq. 3230 kHz, this was noted at 19.40 with 4360 and 5340 kHz. three transmitters sending CIO2 - it must be important.

BMDartford's analysis reads:

During the month of Jan ABC was noted on 5 occasions on 3 different frequencies but still no group message just ABC. This can put a strain on one's listening as some times the transmission went on for over an hour

VLB Goes Mad

On the 15th VLB on 5.170 burst onto the scene (Has been VLB2 to me from the Nov 26th 01)

Went through the whole sequence of transmission 14 times with the same group

Message (G23) without a break ending at 00:53 Hrs.

This was again repeated on the 16th Jan from 23:54 to 00:54 Hrs, same freq.

C/S changes noted:

Have heard nothing further.

Other Oddities Noted

• 26 Jan 20:25 Hrs FTJ omitted "End of message End of transmission" just stopped on last block

• 29 Jan 22:10 Hrs. JSR, ART and EZI all transmitting at the same time, was unable to determine groups. JSR then went on with a further 3 groups.

• VLB2 heard on freq 6.930 on 31st at 00:50hrs

Nothing Heard of SYN2 since 3rd Jan at 00:23 hrs on 4.015. No SYN period

E11

Oblique from Gert in Holland:

From JofAylesbury:

New freq from January 2002:

Thursday freq courtesy JofAylesbury

Friday freq courtesy of 'CR' from Group.

E15

We print the known schedule [as prev issue 6]:

Those of you with internet access may have read this before. However such an event cannot go without being repeated for our few hard copy readers or those who wish to read it again. Given that ML was operating in the best ENIGMA 2000 traditions he could not have done any better. [Well done ML!]

"I couldn't have made this saga up. They did not have a very good day to say the least, I've heard minor problems in the past but this has to be the best, on the tech side. On the operating side the use of RITA rather than ROBERT, after going "live", followed by frantic op-chat has to be a classic. Downside was that I was in work so had no recorder."

This must be the longest TX ever made by E15, one must applaud their valiant efforts and devotion to duty; tears of laughter were running down my face by the end of this little episode.

The conditions on 5.0 - 6.2mHz from 16.30z to 17.45z were quite remarkable, the RX on DSB, with up to 5 B/C stations on a freq fading in and out as far apart as Japan, S.Am, N.Am and included multi-path, the Grey Line would only have been about 1/3 across the pond at that time. A very interesting day."

'C' s view reinforces the haste demonstrated above as well as giving some reason for noted E15 activity:

E15 - Message Noted - With all the turmoil in the Middle East it is no surprise that E15 is active.

5530 kHz at 20.00 is quite active with messages and the 'no-msg' format QRU.

E16

Apparently a firm recognition of this station was made using a file copy of an earlier transmission. Obviously a good time to tune the receivers to 16085kHz is at 1445z on a Friday but the general consensus is that there may be some confusion with an E03 transmission.

E17z

E18

E23

Best frequency is usually 8188kHz. 4 weekly cycle starting on the first Monday of the Month.

Transmits Monday Wednesday and Thursday:

(Week 4 in AM only.)

AnonUK informs us that the start times are 5 mins earlier at H+52, also remarking that Week 4 in December 2001 was only heard on the Thursday.

AF's comprehensive log confirms E23 as:

Regarding the E23 In English with E05 Voice, according to a report on the 'Spooks' list a listener in Poland (Maciej Muszalski) reported E23 on MON 7th January 8188 kHz at 12.05 at S9. This perhaps goes some way to confirming just where the signal is strong ! But who is it transmitting to - not a great distance I would imagine and almost certainly in an Eastern direction.

G06

German Lady from Gert of Holland

PofSW observes: The G06 German YL has been turning up on Fridays, but not quite following a schedule of alternate weeks. After showing up on 23-Nov -01 she was expected to appear again on 7 - Dec - 01 , but didn't; she did show up on the Friday after that, 14-Dec-01. The first Monday in the month G06 turned up as expected on 7-Jan-02, and with a full message transmission - this in itself was a bit of a novelty because only one full message was sent in the whole of last year. However, I could not find the first sending at 1900z, only the second sending an hour later. Since this was a full message there was a repeat the next day and on this occasion there was no problem in finding both sendings on their expected frequencies. PofSW's log notes:

• 14-Dec-01, Friday
  1930 UTC, 4,792 kHz, the G06 YL which turns up on alternate Fridays, although she has jumped a couple of weeks; last heard on 23-November and was expected to appear next on 7 - December but there was no sign. However, she turned up tonight. Calling "Vier drei sechs", DK/GC "Funef null neun" x 2, "Vier acht" x 2. The voice was higher pitched and more rapid than usual for G06 like a tape recording being played at too high a speed. Strong signal, lower sideband suppressed, ended 1940z.

• 21-Dec-01, Friday
  No G06 tonight, and she was not expected to appear. However I checked 4,792 kHz just after 1900z to make sure and was surprised to find a strong carrier exactly on 4,792 which suggested she might fire up at 1930z; but 1930 came and went and there was no G06. I checked the frequency several times during the evening and the carrier was still there, the last occasion being at 2218z when it had become weak with rapid flutter. I did wonder if this was done deliberately by the owners of G06 just to wind up ENIGMA monitors!

• 28-Dec-01, Friday
  1930z 4,783 kHz, G06 turned up as expected but was not without incident; the carrier was on 4,793 kHz just after 1900z with numbers 1 to 9 in German repeated several times. At 1913z a noise something like "Crowd" data came on and stayed on until 1928z. When it went off there was no sign of the G06 carrier but a quick tweak of the tuning control showed it had moved 10 kHz lower to 4,783. Transmission began as normal at 1930, call "Vier drei sechs", DK/GC "Funef null neun" x 2, "Vier acht" x 2. Voice with normal pitch and speed of delivery, unlike the last time it was heard. Good signal with the lower sideband well suppressed.

• 4-Jan-02, Friday
  A quick check at 1930z on 4,793 kHz, + & - several  kHz, to confirm G06 not on tonight.

• 7-Jan-02, Monday
  2000z 4,040 kHz, first Monday in the month G06, continues in 2002, similar frequency used in Jan last year. This was the second sending; the first sending should have been on 5,090 kHz or thereabouts at 1900z but I could find no trace and I was surprised when the second sending came up on the expected frequency. The only signal I could find active anywhere near 5,090 at 1900z was an E10 YL on 5,091. Call "Drei null acht", DK/GC "Seben neun sechs" x 2, "Eins drei vier" x 2. Strong signal, lower sideband suppressed, carrier with a single "308" in German noted 1954z.

• 8-Jan-02, Tuesday
  1900z 5,084 kHz, the next day repeat - and the first sending DID turn up today. Carrier with audio tone noted 1855 UTC, impossible to miss! I wonder if anyone reported the first sending yesterday? [No! sorry]. "308" and "796 796 134 134", strong signal, lower sideband well suppressed.
  
  2000z 4,035 kHz, "308" and "796 796 134 134" again, carrier was on 4,040 kHz at 1950z, then moved to 4,040kHz.

• 11-Jan-02, Friday :
  1930z 4,792 kHz, the alternate (almost!) Friday G06 YL shows up; carrier with audio tone was up almost an hour earlier at 1833z and stayed on without a break until 1925, then carrier only until start of transmission at 1930z. Call "Vier drei sechs", DK/GC "Neun null acht" x 2, "Vier sechs" x 2. As noted on 14 - December the voice was higher pitched and delivery more rapid than usual, like a tape recording running too fast.

• 25-Jan-02, Friday
  1930UTC, 4,792 kHz, the alternate (Almost!) Friday G06 German YL; last heard 11 - Jan, was not on last Friday, 18 - Jan. Call "Vier drei sechs", DK/GC "Neun null acht" x 2, Vier sechs" x 2. As is often the case with this one the carrier was up nearly an hour earlier at 1834z; spoken numbers for a short while at 1839z, audio tone at 1843 until approx. 1920, then plain carrier until the start of proceedings at 1930z. Delivery of the numbers was at a faster pace than usual, but the pitch of the voice was normal so this was not the result of a tape running fast; this effect has been noted on previous occasions with the Friday night G06.

• 4-Feb-02, Monday
  1903 UTC, 6,915 kHz, the first Monday in the month G06 German YL; usually comes up on a similar frequency to that used in the same month in the previous year; but I did not log this one in February last year so it took me a few minutes to find it today! Calling "Drei null acht" - unusually for this family of stations the "Call" never changes , it is always "308", DK/GC "Eins zwo seben" x 2, "Vier neun" x 2. Good signal, lower sideband suppressed.
  
  2000 UTC, 5,360 kHz, second sending of "308" and "127 127 49 49", QRM from a very strong "Jet". Carrier with audio tone was warming up the frequency at 1947z.

• 5-Feb-02, Tuesday
  1900 UTC, 6,920 kHz, the expected next day repeat of yesterday's G06, "308" and "127 127 49 49", 5KHz higher. [2011 UTC, 5,360 kHz, almost forgot to check out G06 second sending; severe QRM from "Jet", as yesterday].

• 8-Feb-02, Friday
  No sign of the Friday G06 at 1930 UTC on 4,792 kHz; last heard on Friday 25 - Jan - 02.

• 15-Feb-02, Friday
  1930 UTC, 4,792 kHz, Friday G06 turns up after having been absent since the last Friday in January - I thought this one might show up so I parked a receiver on 4,792 with the volume turned down and saw the S - meter kick up at just after 1850z. The YL voice repeated the numbers "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" in German over and over for several minutes; then a long period of plain carrier followed by numbers 0 to 9 repeated again until 1924z - the voice was higher pitched and the delivery more rapid than the usual G06. Plain carrier until 1930z when the transmission started, the voice now was of normal pitch and speed; call "Vier drei sechs", DK/GC "Funef acht acht" x 2, "Vier seben" x 2. Strong signal, lower sideband well suppressed.

G22

Gert of Holland writes, "I switched on my rx and heard a G22 transmission. Thursday December 20st 2001 2300 UTC 4014 kHz (new freq?) msg for 186, nr 221 gr19 = 05726. Audio was much better as last time on 20 Sept 2001 (did they read the newsletter??). I am sure about the group nr 221 so the groupnumber of 20 Sept should probably have been 218 instead of 238 ( EIns and drEI sound similar in bad audio...). That means one msg per month: nr218 for Sept, nr 219 for Oct, nr220 for Nov and nr 221 for this month December."

Please let Gert know of any observations of this lady via Group or e2k, Thanks.

S04

Gert of Holland writes to say the he heard an unusual transmission on Mon 07/01:

Msg details on both: 342-nr221 gc 106 = 33335

S06

Gert sends these logs of the Russian Man

Other logs:

PofSW's Russian Man log :

• 7-Dec-01, Friday
  2238z, 6,785 kHz, a late evening S06 in progress, good signal, lower sideband well suppressed, ended 2243z, "Tri cheteria vosyem" x 2, "Pyat null" x 2 and 5 x "Noll".

• 11-Dec-01, Tuesday
  2132z, 6,840 kHz, transmission in progress, lower sideband well suppressed, ended 2135z with "Syem vosyem cheteria" x 2, "Deviet dva" x 2 and 5 x "Noll".
  
  2226z, 5,445 kHz, transmission in progress, ended 2235z, "784" x 2, "92" x 2 and "00000", repeat of earlier transmission.

• 17-Dec-01, Monday
  2233z, 5,750 kHz, S06 calling "Syem shesht adean", then DK/GC "Dva cheteria tri" x 2, "Pyat null" x 2, strong signal with lower sideband well suppressed.

• 18-Dec-01, Tuesday
  2230z, 5,750 kHz, a next day repeat of yesterday's "761" and "243 243 50 50".

• 22-Dec-01, Saturday
  1702z, 9,120 kHz, S06 calling "Syem tri cheteria", DK/GC "Vosyem dva cheteria" x 2, "Adean null adean" x 2, lower sideband well suppressed.

• 26-Dec-01, Wednesday
  0840z, 6,820 kHz, calling "Tri dva vosyem" x 3, "Noll" x 5 for four minutes, speech somewhat muffled, both sidebands about the same amplitude which is unusual for S06. Carrier with tone noted 0833z.

• 27-Dec-01, Thursday
  1612z, 14,615 kHz, S06 in progress calling "Vosyem shesht syem" x 3, "Noll" x 5, strong signal but speech distorted. Stopped just after 1613z and cut carrier a few seconds later; must have started 1609z if it was the usual four minute "No message" transmission.

• 1-Jan-02, Tuesday
  1630z, 9,190 kHz, "Pyat adean shesht" x 3, "Noll" x 5 for four minutes, lower sideband well suppressed, carrier noted a few minutes earlier.

• 8-Jan-02, Tuesday
  2232z, 5,750 kHz, S06 calling "Shesht vosyem pyat", then DK/GC "Cheteria dva deviet" x 2, "Syem tri" x 2, strength S7 or so, lower sideband suppressed.

• 12-Jan-02, Saturday
  1700z, 10,820 kHz, call "Deviet shesht adean", DK/GC "Tri syem noll" x 2, "Pyat deviet" x 2, good signal, lower sideband well suppressed, carrier with audio tone noted just before 1700z.

• 21-Jan-02, Monday
  2230 UTC, 5,730 kHz, S06 Russian Man, calling "Shesht vosyem pyat", DK/GC "Tri deviet adean" x 2, "Syem cheteria" x 2, good signal, carrier noted approx. 10 minutes earlier, lower sideband well suppressed.

• 22-Jan-02, Tuesday
  2130 UTC, 6,785 kHz, the next day repeat of yesterday's S06 "685" and "391 391 74 74", first sending. Strong signal, lower sideband well suppressed.
  2200 UTC, 5,750 kHz, second sending of S06, 20 kHz higher than yesterday.

• 23-Jan-02, Wednesday
  0841 UTC, 6,820 kHz, S06 Russian Man calling "Tri dva vosyem" x 3, "Noll" x 5 until 0844z. A "No message" transmission, unusual because both sidebands were the same amplitude - S06 usually has the lower sideband suppressed - and speech somewhat distorted. Also another S06 voice could be heard faintly underneath calling "Syem cheteria pyat" x 3, "Noll" x 5; this stopped at 0843z and it was difficult to decide if this was a mixing fault at the transmitter site, i.e. breakthrough from another transmission on at the same time on another frequency, or the effect of the recording or storage medium not being fully erased from previous use.

• 4-Feb-02, Monday
  2230 UTC, 5,760 kHz, S06 Russian Man, calling "Syem cheteria deviet", DK/GC "Adean null dva" x 2, "Pyat vosyem" x 2, strong signal, lower sideband well suppressed. Carrier with tone noted on frequency at 2214z. I left the receiver on 5,760 with the volume turned down; when I returned to it at approx. 2314z there was a very strong E06 English Man in progress on this frequency.

S06C

AnonUK remarks, "All the years I have been monitoring numbers stations, I have never heard an S6C until today".

[Tnx Anon]

S10E

Arrived on its 28 day cycle [as did M10E]

This cycle occurred again on Monday 11/02 with reasonable signals [as was M10E]. Tnx DofKent. Who writes:

"This Slovak Station continues on schedule with its usual strength 4 to 5 [S8/9+]. M10E, its morse sister continues with varying signal strength."

The next expected appearance by S10E [and M10E] is expected to occur 11/03.

S11A

CR via group informs us of plenty of activity by this station in the week commencing 13/01:

S17 [Cz/OM/3+5fig]

Anon UK sent, "New one for me today, never heard it before".

770 770 770 40416 40416 40416 repeated for 5 minutes.

Well done Anon!

DofKent offers:

Tones thought to be a separator. DofKent reports that the signals were weak, metered S1.

To date [26/02] S17 has not been heard on this freq again.

S17C

DofKent rang E2k, 1^st January, 2002, to say that the station had not been heard on all freqs known to him. Searching across the bands Wednesday and Thursday resulted in the replacement frequency remaining elusive. Unfortunate personal circumstance prevented a visit to the Nrs Grp site where AnonUK had posted the active freq of 9165kHz and the message [on 03/01] as 95031. AnonUK heard this 03/01. [Well done AnonUK]. Attempts to find a second freq failed.

DofKent writes "S17C carries on in its usual fashion, the only change of note being its change of frequency to 9165kHz. The signal strength has remained good whilst the only other detail being a much wider divergence in the five figure group, for some time now."

JofA reports:

Spanish language stations:

PofSW writes, ' The V02 Spanish YL is still around in the mornings; this is the only Spanish language number station heard in the UK - unless someone knows otherwise; the V06, "00000" ending, transmission which used to show up in the evening (UK time) of the first Friday in the month seems to have gone; I made a point of searching for this one on Friday 4 - Jan - 02, tuning around 5,820 kHz at 2200z because this was the schedule of V06 in January 2001, but found no trace.'

V02

PofSW writes in with his log , comment and analysis:

• 20-Dec-01, Thursday
  0634z 8,097 kHz, transmission in progress, good signal, up to strength S9.

• 21-Dec-01, Friday
  0637z, 8,010 kHz, transmission in progress, ended just after 0640z with 3 x "Finale". Signal strength up to S8 with QSB.

• 24-Dec-01, Monday
  1008z 10,510 kHz, V02 YL calling "Atencion , siete dos ocho.......cero quatro", then "Cero quatro quatro seis" several times and into 5Fs just after 1010z. Speech became clipped and distorted, difficult to hear. Ended 1014z with 2 x "Finale", short format V02, perhaps like those noted early Sunday mornings (UK time) during the summer months.
  
  1029z after the above transmission had ended the carrier stayed on and just after 1029z V02 started up again with "Atencion", but rapidly became very distorted and unreadable. Became a bit clearer for just a few seconds on several occasions during the transmission but always reverted to clipped and distorted audio. Carrier always a good signal, strength S8 or so, ended 1044z with 2 x "Finale".

• 26-Dec-01, Wednesday
  0727z 9,063 kHz, V02 in progress, weak signal.

• 31-Dec-01, Monday
  1029z 10,510 kHz, the same frequency as noted active last Monday, calling "Atencion, siete dos ocho cero tres, then "Cero tres seis quatro" repeated several times and into 5Fs at 1032z. Ended 1046z with 2 x "Finale". The audio problem noted last week has been fixed!

• 3-Jan-02, Thursday
  0637kHz 8,097 kHz, transmission in progress, good signal but QRM from a FSK signal on a close frequency; reception much improved with the RX mode set to USB Ended 0643z with 3 x "Finale".

• 9-Jan-02, Wednesday
  0634z 8,010 kHz, transmission in progress, strong signal, had gone when checked again at 0642z.

• 11-Jan-02, Friday
  0639z 8,010 kHz, transmission in progress, same frequency as noted on Wednesday.

• 18-Jan-02, Friday
  2205 UTC, 8,492 kHz, V02 Spanish speaking YL, more usually heard in the morning, UK time. Was noted active in Jan 2001, same day of the week, same time and frequency. Good signal, slight QRM from a Single Letter Transmission "S" a couple of  kHz away.

• 25-Jan-02, Friday
  0635 UTC, 8,010 kHz, V02 Spanish YL in progress, weak signal.
  
  2205 UTC, 8,492 kHz, V02 in progress, good signal, QRM from S.L.T. "S", as last Friday.

• 1-Feb-02, Friday
  2212 UTC, 8,492 kHz, V02 continues in Feb., strong signal but audio level low in relation to the strength of the carrier and with a slight background hum.

• 6-Feb-02, Wednesday
  0639 UTC, 9,268 kHz, a V02 Spanish YL in progress, very weak signal.
  
  0642 UTC, 8,010 kHz, another V02, more normal signal, up to strength S9. Both had gone leaving just a carrier by 0648Z. Were they in parallel or was the unusually weak V02 on 9,268 a spurious signal from the one on 8,010?

• 8-Feb-02, Friday
  2206 UTC, 8,492 kHz, V02 Spanish YL, weaker than on previous Fridays, usual QRM from S.L.T. "S".

3^rd Jan saw Gert of Holland leave a message with Group concerning possible V02 useage.

Thanks Gert.

V02A

V02C

and rarely heard two call V02C variant:

V08

The Arabic Music Station was noted on 6647 kHz with a message on SAT 08.12.01 at 19.00, good signal, usual buzz. Note 8th is second SAT of month.

I was most interested in the comments from Mike of Kent that 'Khartoum Radio' was heard on the V8 carrier, this ties in with several important points. I have in the past noted 'Arabic' radio on the V8 carrier and snatches of broadcast material, once something that sound like the end of a news bulletin. It is almost certainly the case that V8 is broadcast from Egypt and via a broadcast site. The nasty 'buzz' on the carrier is identical to that heard on Radio Cairo 9990 kHz (in German) at 19.00 - the same time as V8, this suggests the same site is in use.

Looking at broadcast transmitters in Egypt the SW stations are at Abis, Abu Zabaal and Mokattam

According to the list of Foreign Intelligence Services which I have - Egypt operates four agencies.

• General Intelligence and Security Service

• Military Intelligence Service, Armed Forces and MoD

• General Directorate of State Security Investigations

• Egyptian Intelligence Service - State Security Service

One of these is most likely to be the E15 set up (Nancy Adam Susan) etc, but what is V8 all about. E15 seems to be well established, rather old fashioned in nature and probably the original Egyptian Security Service agent communications station. V08 transmits in Arabic and English using broadcast facilities ?

[PLondon remembers his short stay in Khartoum with no relish whatsoever]!

PoSW offers:

• 2-Feb-02, Saturday
  1904 UTC, 6,647 kHz, the V08 Arabic (?) YL in progress; finished at 1911z with Middle Eastern type music, then carrier with a "High cycle" background hum, i.e. suggesting a power supply with an AC frequency somewhat higher than the usual 50 or 60 Hz, until QRT just after 1914z. I last heard this one on Saturday 8 - Dec -01; did anyone log it in January?

V13

From AF's comprehensive log:

and from Ben Mesander,via spooks:

V21

Ben Mesander wrote to group, "I recently logged V21 for the first time. I am interested in