ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 12

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

CW beginner's corner (Part 2) | Morse stations | Voice stations
Oddities | How to double standard cassette recording time | News Items
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Selected voice stations

Of much interest is the S11A variant discovered by AF which is featured under S11A heading and a must for those with an interest in this family of stations. AnonUK made the comment that this discovery could be a pointer that the Family III stations, the "STRICH" Family E11/G11/S11/S12/M3//G10/S26//M20] may hail from Poland or at least have Polish origin. Of course a different ident may be required and this decision remains sine die for the immediate future.

Next is an explanation of certain German numbers noticed in Number Transmissions and elsewhere.

The numbers in question are;-

• 2 ZWEI pronounced by some TXs, as TSWO .

• 5 FUNF some pronounce it as FUNUF.

• 9 NEUN pronounced by some as NEUGEN.

This is totally in keeping with some German armed forces stations and corresponds to our WUN, FOWER, FIFE, NINER. I would suggest that these are service trained operators, or ex, or even possibly, serving signals personnel.

E2k received the above informative piece from an anonymous source [Thanks Anon source].

"And now for something entirely different:"

Once in while someone hears something that is a mystery or stimulating. Seeing the subject header 'Rodent Revolution' on a number of emails from US I paid some attention to the messages. However it was not until PLondon received the mp3 from Chris of the sending:

and passed on via Group that I took it serious interest. However some good work has been done here and we acknowledge the input from Chris, Brooke and Derek [all via Spooks] that has produced the piece below.

'Rodent Revolution'.

This was the term used by Chris Smolinski to describe transmissions heard in the US. Chris also posted PLondon a 6MB mp3 file which PLondon managed to reduce down to a more meager 1.49MB to post on the e2k group site.

A peculiar transmission and quite possibly a hoax [mention has been made that the sender is a regular at ACE (?) and known to at least one member of the Numbers community] numbers were read out in no particular groupings. The voice is a processed offering sounding like a cartoon chipmunk, but with difficulty was believed to be:

Grp#

The corresponding CT using A=1, B=2 etc is:

LBGLR RNAHD RLFNN IETAL REHUD BBGHH IVNTH LSSEH ROHJD LBJLQ QNSRU HENSG QNAFL RDLSE LSDRL CCKTR RWNTS

One offering for this obvious cypher structure was:

alfassone is a good hun as he will feed you eat the special carrots we hot frongasia that is a bbkussmout

Whilst another offering, where the numbers used were heard differently using audio processing:

Which translates to:
lbglm rnahd rlfnn ietal mehud bbghh iwnth lsseh rohjd lbjlq qnsru hfnsg qnafl mdlse lsdrl bbktm mwnts
after transposition reads:
alfansome is a good human he will feed you eat the special carrots we got from gania that is all bunny out

Chris later sent the following: ' Based on known names in the US pirate community, I would expect the correct text to be [Insert punctuation as necessary]:

(Ganja is the correct spelling. So why the i vs j in the plaintext? An error on the sending side??? J is not used in any other part of the text. 23 was the highest number heard, could this have been 24, not a 4?

I will have to re-listen to the recording. Perhaps the announcer read 4 when they meant to to read 24? )

(Al Fansome and [Captain] Ganja are two personalities in the US pirate radio community, as is [Commander] Bunny)

Quote: "I'm sure the boys in Ft Meade had fun with this one as well (heck, they probably had it decoded 2 seconds after receiving the transmission!)." E2k understands that GCHQ personnel experienced the same ease of decrypt and mirth on seeing the results!

[Tnx all concerned]

As you are aware the mode and sender and hoax nature of the transmission really dictates that there should be no Control List entry or Ident [including 'XRR' or any other suggested] allotted.

A second sending actually stamped the word 'hoax' on it when the message mentioned CS rather formally!

Now onto the listings:

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

E03/E03a

Please Note: ENIGMA 2000 will not be including reports or analysis on E03/E03a.

E05

E06

Gert informs us of the July freqs for Saturdays as:

1230z 13950kHz, 1330z 11140kHz [Tnx Gert].

Gert's logs are:

Whilst these Sunday sendings were reported on Spooks:

E10

From MWAnon we receive this holiday log of monitored E10's from Nissaki, Corfu:

[Tnx MWAnon].

From BMDartford we receive these excellent logs

E10 for June 02 By Frequency

General Comments

• 22May/08June. ABC was heard transmitting for 18 consecutive evenings, with no changes, on 6.428 between 1900-01:00hrs. On the 9th and 10th of June nothing was heard which indicated they have stopped transmitting. During this period there seemed to be less activity from the other networks although CIO2, VLB2 & SYN2 were still in evidence and transmitted on 8 different frequencies at the same time.(See log)

• A pattern emerged with EZI, during the 9th to the 29th of June on 9.130, the group count was on most occasions either G42, G67, or G88.

• Maybe due to the poor reception and the possible lack of traffic this month, I heard nothing on the following frequencies. 3.150, 3.230, 5.437, 6.270 & 6.575

Top 5 For June

VLB2, EZI, CIO2, ABC, and SYN2.

E10 for July 02 By Frequency

General Comments

• 01 July and ABC returns to the air on it's expected frequency of 6.428 at 00:36hrs and the format remains the same no group message just continuous ABC for hours. Previously a rare catch it now seems to transmit most evening (see log) for long periods with the odd break. Must be a good reason why somewhere?

• 02 July HNCS transmitting on 6.575. This callsign was last heard on this same freq on the 24 Mar 02 and as before no group messages.

• 04 July FDU on 6.210 at 21:47hrs. Enters my list for the first time, reception very poor due to back ground noise, but just about confirmed. Had been informed during the week that the network was also working this freq between 1600 & 1800hrs, which I can not access due to work load.

• 06 July YHF was heard with an excellent signal on 7.918 at 19:14hrs, transmitting two group messages G66 & G57. However during the repeat of G66 (first Message) the transmission suddenly ended at 1925hrs. I heard no further activity that evening. ( I last recorded hearing this c/s on the 25 Mar 02.)

• 06 July at 2040hrs on 6.575 I caught the last few moments of HNCX another variation of this call sign. All units of this network seem to make use of this frequency

• 7 July at 23:50 hrs CIO2 added another frequency to its list of 5.230. Looking through the logs this is the 7th change of frequency since last Nov, though it still uses 5.339, 6.912 & 4.360 as its main outlets.

• 8 July at 00:19hrs MIW2 broke silence after a absence of almost 3 months on 5.230. Procedure as normal and no group message.

• 21 July 23:16 MIW2 now sending on 4.165, 6.370 & 7.445. 3x freq's not previously picked up by me, ( Re my 8 July comment, no wonder I didn't hear them, changed frequency)

• 22 / 23 July saw a great deal of activity from many E10 Stations between 20:00hrs 22 July to 01:00 hrs of the 23 July (see log) The main excitement being from the VLB camp on 4.015, 5.170 & 6.930 all frequencies in use at the same time. It started as such.

• 20:00hrs VLBA002Z8M2030 and at 21:28hrs this changed to VLB85. At 22:15hrs it became VLB with a Group 22 message that was repeated. Immediately after it was VLB with a G23 message, this time not repeated.

• At 22:28hrs the C/S changed to VLBA181 and kept repeating this C/S until 00:30hrs when it stopped. At 00:49hrs VLB2 was heard for the normal transmit time then all was quiet.

Top Six Heard

CIO2, ABC, VLB2, EZI, KPA2, ART

New Headers, Variations & New C/S

VLBA002Z8M2030, VLB85, VLB818, HNCX, HNCS, FDU

E10 For August By Frequency

E10 Comments

• 29/30th July. FDU4 and FDU5 were heard during the early hours of the morning on 6.120, with each session lasting approx 5 mins.

• 05 Aug. What a surprise to hear ABC2 0n 6.428 at 20:13 hrs. (This is a first for me) No change to the network format, just continuous ABC2 this time. Exactly the same procedure on the 6th Aug with ABC2.

• 07 Aug. CIO2 now continuous for last 4hrs 10 mins on 5.339 / 7.811. This extended call is a change from the normal. Finally stopped at 00:50hrs 8 Aug

• 8/9/11 Aug. ABC returned on 6.428 replacing ABC2

• 10/11 Aug. HNC S heard again during the late evening (See log ) on 6.575 and on each occasion the transmission lasted 5 mins.

• 13 Aug. A flurry of transmissions between 22:33hrs and 22:45hrs from MIW, ABC, VLB, CIO2, KPA2 & JSR.

• Kept one busy moving between the frequencies used. (See Log). MIW carried on sending the same G37 Message on 6.370 & 4.165 and eventually ended at 00:20hrs 14 Aug. The last time I heard MIW was in March .

• 14 Aug. Once again intense activity from 22:30 to 23:00hrs this time from MIW2, KPA2, ABC, VLB, JSR, ULX, CIO2, SYN2, ART2 & YHF. As normal ABC all evening, its just the case of logging it at what ever stage of the evening / am you tune in.

• 15 Aug. Again plenty of activity from the Call signs as at 13th & 14th above but another first for me this time KPA on 5.230 at 22:50hrs this was rarer than ABC. KPA continued to send the same Group 25 message which ended at 0020hrs the 16 Aug. 1 Hour 30 mins later.

• 21 Aug MIW repeatedly sent a Group 20 message for 65mins on three frequencies from 20:18 to 21:23hrs this seems to be the practice at the moment for a number of call signs. Special Header KPA21ZKIMD was heard transmitting for over an Hour on two freq's 5.230 & 8.025 no other info was passed.

Headers and C/S Variations

FDU4, FDU5, ABC2, HNCS, KPA21ZKIMD

Longest & Shortest Group Message

• FTJ Group 117

• FTJ Group 15

E10 Monitored Networks & Callsigns 2002 [As at 25 Aug 02]

Top Ten Confirmed Most Heard

© BMDartford 25 Aug 02

E11

E15

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

Below reported by Joe T, US via 'spooks':

This is interesting because the 14M transmission is shown as 1400z in the above schedule; is this night encounter an indication of a 24 hour sched? There was no mistaking the time, Joe's report was read at 0550z 17/07.

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.

From AF we read:

G04

Freqs previously reported as follows [Date: 2105z freq 2135z freq]:

July's freqs as anticipated and heard by PLondon and HFD:

August freqs anticipated as 5320kHz and 5420kHz and heard by AF, PLondon, JoA

August 2000z sending was hailed by an intermittent carrier at 1950z followed by a brief 'Achtung Achtung!' Likewise a long tone at 2027z was heard followed by tty . These were thought not to be involved with G04 but the three tones of 375, 250 and 500Hz that started at 2030z easily swamped what qrm the data station was delivering.

5^th September freqs are anticipated as 4760/4860kHz

G06

From Gert [Holland] we receive:

S06

AnonUK noted that another 3 group message was sent 03/07:

AnonUK also sends the following with the observation that SO6 seems to keep to the same yearly schedules:

Heard in part by JoA on 06/08 and ID by AnonUK:

There is an S06 on the Second and Fourth Saturday of the month 1600z on 7610kHz.

Also heard on Tuesday and Wednesday at 1845z on 13934kHz.

One S06 that was on last year, same times and frequencies. Monday 1200z on 10230kHz and 1210z on 12165kHz. The Wednesday 0700z is still on 14580kHz.

Received from Gert these possibly represent a new slot. They occured on first and third tuesdays.

[Tnx Gert].

S10

This rare station was heard by Igor [Chita, Russia]

Message reads:

555 555 555 630 630 630 26 298 298 298 39 630 630 630
88 88 26 26
pozor pozor
22681 01927 57852 28497 16098 47023 14551 62402 64620 06654
71238 26629 74587 10053 76474 71214 69096 38415 47249 58733
86907 27663 87060 74347 00849 34423 [26 groups]
pozor pozor
88 88 26 26
298 298 298
23 23 39 39
pozor pozor
39724 00215 85343 61798 55502 30222 23011 94274 64759 52435
56889 80122 28755 68250 17469 42068 53961 76837 81117 70388
62546 76921 34529 86417 69420 61284 58407 10296 15262 13015
28837 96519 32508 55667 73099 64410 89029 56955 29459 [39 groups]
pozor pozor
23 23 39 39
konec konec

S10E

Arrived on its 28 day cycle [as did M10E]

The next offering, expected on 29/07 appeared at 1300z with fair signals and monitored by DoKent:

The next appearance was scheduled for 26^th August 2002 and arrived as expected, monitored by DofKent [who also confirmed that M10E hailed its approach by coming up in the morning]!

Next appearance expected 23^rd September 2002.

S11A

Heard by Gert:

*Now an interesting and rather intriguing find by "ldo_123":

This obvious S11A variant was heard by "ldo_123" as follows:

AF remarked that it sounded Czech or maybe Polish and asksed for help with identifying the station, which he had not heard before.

A shortened sample was sent and that is now available to be heard on E2k's Number group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enigma2000

AF gave a (shortened) sample with the end of the transmission as "121-00 121-00 konecs

He follows the intriguing mystery with a language explanantion:

• in Russian: "Odinka dwoika odinka cherta null null odinka dwoika odinka cherta null null konec"

• in Polish "jedynka dwójka jedynka kreska zero zero jedynka dwójka jedynka kreska zero zero koniec"

So the magic word word is "kreska" wich means stroke and should be "-". [dash].

AnonUK gives this interesting opinion:

Certainly a variation of S11A, the only thing is that on others I have heard the figure 1 is sent as Adinka, the recording is sent as Yidilca, as far as I can tell.

In the Enigma booklet, it is shown as a Russian station and the ending is Kanyets.

But the recording is very clear as to the ending of Konec. very much for sending it.

I have the figures as, these are as they sound.
1 Adinka, 2 Dvoyka, 3 Troyka, 4 Chetyorka, 5 Petyorka, 6 Shest, 7 Syem, 8 Vosyem, 9 Dyvyet 0 Noll, / Cherta

The ID 121 has been heard on CW, it was a special one that had no skeds and could be heard at any time. I have not heard the Morse one for a very long time.

S17C

Those of us in Great Britain are still troubled by the unwanted occupation of the frequency by a tty station. Monitoring this station is difficult if not impossible from our shores. Luckily HFD and AF sent their logs giving almost complete coverage:

[Tnx AF and HFD].

S21

From AF:

V02

During the V02 message sent at 0600z 25/07, E2k received a telephone message from JoA telling us that Spanish numerals were being sent on 8438kHz starting 0600 to 0620z [25/07]. The signal was strong but JoA missed the ending at 0620z. We were not sure exactly what JoA had heard but Michael Huemann produced the answer with his posting on spooks 15/08. 8436kHz 0600z 15/08 as V02.[We have not managed to hear this one since, sent on the last Thursday of July and obviously intended for US area].

V02a

V07

July freqs per AnonUK:

ID893

August freqs per PLondon who discovered they have remained the same as July:

ID893

Anon UK observes: "Unusual this month as it is repeating the same message since Tuesday 6th August. Very rare for that family to repeat a message more than one week. The only other one I know was an M12 for several months in 1998, repeated the same message.

V08

From ML:
6647kHz 1802z 06/07 ending 1808z usual music

V13

XP

The 2040z sending had remained NRH for the last two months last recorded as being used in April on 9475kHz [ID194]. In the month of July it certainly looked as though this slot was going to remain barren. However an event occurred on the morning of Thursday 18/07 that lead PLondon to listen even more closely that night. Having had his chances of going to work scuppered by London Underground's 'safety strike' he listened, out of sched, to XP. He was surprised to receive a strong 0600z sending on 11083kHz and was even more surprised as he watched his spectral display as the 'space,0,rpt,0,space' [303,335,511,335,303Hz] sequence unfolded in the first 12 seconds of his monitoring indicating a null message. The last NRH of the 0640z sending occurred on Friday 18/06. It was obvious that something was different. At 2000z 18/07 PLondon again monitored XP and watched his spectral display show 463,367,335Hz x3 followed by the sequence 304,352,304Hz twelve seconds into the transmission. That 3 character sequence is 'space,1,space' and indicates a message; in the case of 11075kHz at 2040z 18/07 a 268 group offering. Suspicious of a schedule change PLondon managed to listen from his work QTH and heard a full 3-slot transmission at 0600z et al on 19/07.

July's freqs per JoA, PLondon and AnonUK

ID018

ID820

Upto 29/08 the 2040z sending of the first schedule has yet to be heard. If the intentions of an intended sending were disclosed by a Thursday morning 'out of schedule' null message sending on the 0600z sched it wasn't monitored by PLondon who patiently waited on 10600kHz.[Of course it could have been elsewhere]

Other schedules:

ID782

August's freqs per JoA, PLondon and AnonUK

ID625

ID917

Other schedules:

ID981

PLondon informs us that the 2050z 02/08 sending had a dk/gc of 217/207, the next group being 80832 followed by 7rpt745, then 23128 followed by 26rpt34. We know that the rpt character effectively separates groups so the message [in part] would read: 217 207 80832 7 745 23128 26 34

What are the functions of the numerical groups and those containing the rpt characters?

10736kHz is the elusive 3^rd freq of the first schedule's evening transmission and notified by JoA

XPH

July freqs per AnonUK & HFD

ID383

August's freqs per PLondon, JoA and AnonUK

ID632

Problems were encountered locating the XPH frequencies for August, due mainly to the fact that the first freq is inhabited by a BC station that effectively masked the short transmission from our inquisitive ears. Not so lucky when PLondon located the station managing to isolate the two tones of 875 and 845Hz to point to the 2^nd and 3^rd freqs of 06/08 by using a deft piece of filtering and Spectran. He later demodulated the third sending to find a dk/gc 7857 89 this same dk/gc [and possibly same message] sent on the 10/08 sendings, [TnxP].

A worthy addition to this edition of the Newsletter is a Prediction List for September 2002 penned by Gert of Holland:

©Gert 09/2002 [Tnx Gert].

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