ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 17

July 2003
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities
Enigma control list | Beginners' corner
Numbers predictions | German speaking groups outside Germany (1/3)
Talk at Bexley | News Items
Web sites | Requests | Stop press | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home

Selected voice stations

We start off with an unid from Mike of Kent:

Unid, today [02/05] while preparing for the 12.40z E25.

2 May, 12.33z in prog, 9445(ish)kHz, YL, Eng ??, 5f, ending "000" (as Zero) 12.35z AM (type) sig with FM element, very wide, impossible to clearly resolve in AM,USB,LSB,DSB,FM. Also heavy QRM ??? which went when carrier dropped 12.35.20z.

Mike of Kent further noted that the modulation was very similar to the Unid B/C station, 6640kHz mentioned in Issue 12:

'Unid b'cast station regularly heard on 6640kHz, European evenings (18.00 - 22.00z). It would not appear to be a typical EC band pirate ( as is 6660/70kHz) and a number of monitors have tried to resolve it , in all modes - AM, FM, USB, LSB, ISB, DSB, without success. Our interest is the occasional data burst - is it related??, any info appreciated.'

Thanks MoK! See E11

PoSW offers this interesting find: Unidentified language;- presumably a number station of some kind;-

PoSW also informs us of a couple of "Non - number station " observations;-

[Tnx PoSW]

Now onto the listings:

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

E03/E03a

Apart from the regulations concerning the reception of wireless stations within Great Britain advice on reporting intelligence matters also exists in the form of DA notices.

Whoever the messages, from E03/E03a, are aimed at ENIGMA 2000 has no wish to 'advertise' the existence of these stations to those who may not support the best interests of Great Britain, or its representatives abroad. Although we are unable to stop discussion of E03/E03a, ENIGMA 2000 will remain aloof from any such discussion and will not be including reports or analysis on E03/E03a.

E05

RN GB heard the 6970//8110kHz transmissions on 26&29/04 at 2100z and PoSW summed up E05 by stating, "No change as regards the American accent counting station E05; still just the Tuesday and Saturday 2100z transmission on 6,790 // 8,110 kHz in USB. The call /count has been 111/150 since the last week of April; signals on both frequencies are becoming stronger as we head towards summer. There were test tones up on four E05 frequencies early in the morning on Saturday 10-May; this was at 0607z, 7.07 AM BST on 6,970, 8,110, 9,090 and 11,526 kHz. They were still on when checked an hour later.” [Tnx PoSW].

PLondon heard E05:

[Both freqs gave excellent signal strength, excellent audio].

P stated that this is the same message of 29/04 and given PoSW's thoughts [see NL16] asks if this is just a sending to maintain these frequencies?

Looking for E05 on 03/06 whilst waiting for the late XP's to come up PLondon noted that E05 did not appear on either 6970//8110kHz, PoSW reinforced that by stating, "Still no sign of E05; I have been checking 6,970 and 8,110 on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2100z or soon after but have heard nothing since Saturday 24-May."

E06

[Thanks to AF, Gert, HFD, PoSW and RN GB]

PoSW remarks: "The E06 English Man has been noted again on Saturdays at 1230z + 1330z in June; this long - standing schedule vanished during April and I couldn't find it at all in May."

June from Gert and HFD

June logs from PoSW:

[Tnx PoSW].

E07

The E07 English Man has been noted at the following times in May;-

Monday and Wednesday Schedule;-

Noted on Wednesday 14-May; 2000z, 15,638 kHz; 2020z, 13,872 kHz and 2040z, 12,203 kHz with "682 682 682 1", DK/GC "536 37" x 2. The first sending is almost unreadable due to BC QRM - inside the 19 metre BC band - and the usual low modulation which remains a feature of all E07 transmissions.

Sunday and Wednesday Schedule;-

Noted on Sunday 11-May; 1700z, 14,942 kHz; 1720z, 13,472 kHz and 1740z, 12,127 kHz with "941 941 941 1", DK/GC "321 94" x 2. Modulation on all three sendings was very low making for difficult copy and in addition the third sending is inside the 25 metre BC band with severe broadcast QRM a problem. The same schedule had also been noted on Wednesday 7-May.

[Gert of Holland also informed us of the Sun/Wed schedule].

Thursday Schedule;-

No sign of an E07 schedule starting at 1800z on Thursdays in May - there was such a schedule in March and April - but E07 has been noted at a later time on Thursdays in May. On Thursday 1-May E07 was heard at 2030z, 9.30 PM BST on 12,177 kHz - the carrier with tone having been noted a few minutes earlier - calling "374 374 374 1", then DK/GC "2540 36" x 2. This was unusual as the "Call" of 374 gave no clue as to the frequency, i.e. usually the three figures of the call represent the hundreds of kilohertz part of each of the three frequencies used so for 12,177 one of the figures of the call should have been a 1. No repeat sendings were found. Turned up again on 8-May with "374 374 374 000" and on 15-May two sendings were found, 2010z, 13,368 kHz and 2030z, 12,177 kHz, again with "374 374 374 000"

[Tnx PoSW]

[Tnx AF, Gert, HFD and PoSW]

Several schedules logged in June:

Monday and Wednesday Schedule;-

Sunday and Wednesday Schedule;-

Thursday Schedule,

[PoSW].

For June 03 from Gert, HFD, PoSW and RN GB:

E10

E10 for May and June[From our E10 desk]:

E10 May 03

E10 Comments

On three occasions this month VLB2 & SYN2 have changed over freq's, on the 04/5 at 23:45hrs on the 10th at 21:45 hrs and 22:45hrs The freq's involved were 6.370 & 6.912. Looking through my logs commencing Jan 03 the two freq's have been occupied thus:-

Thanks to a posting in Spooks, concerning the number of times some group messages were being repeated by individual stations, I decided to take this up and concentrated on EZI on frequencies 9.130 & 11.565, being the best at this moment. At the times I was able to listen, EZI was extremely prolific. See log above.

You will note that EZI did not transmit at 20:30 & 22:00hrs on 9.130 but came up on 11.565 at those times as EZI2 or EZI with another group message or another repeated one. Most groups sent were quite large and in some cases two groups were sent together combine this with the slow reading of the sender, a majority of the messages did not complete at the Repeat stage just simply ran out of time and stopped abruptly. In one case at 22:30 on the19/5 EZI sent a G120+G? and never even completed the opening group. It seems silly to send messages knowing that you could not send all of it in the allotted time span, had the important part of the message already been sent in the first few moments? and the rest sheer bluff. What if the receiver did not get it first time round? perhaps that's why so many are being repeated. No, perhaps that's too simple an answer, if an answer at all, it would be nice to hear what others may think.

28 May. Radio China Int. this evening at 23:15hrs, claimed that Israel has cancelled a major army exercise which was planned in responce to the latest terrorist attacks and were also in near agreement with Hamas on the American peace plan initiative. Maybe EZI was sending draft copies? Mmm!

©BMDartford 29 May 2003

E10 June 03

EZI Survey No2

*Bold lettering Denotes repeat of previously sent group message/s.

E10 Comments EZI Survey

What I intended this month was to continue to monitor EZI and its repeated messages and just note who is transmitting on the other frequencies. I will only make one entry to the xxx2 strings, unless there should be a change or if something exotic comes up. Come the end of the month and you see only one entry on that freq, then it is because only that C/S has repeatedly used it during the month and there has been no changes heard to the schedule.

Listening in paid off on the 9/6 at 22:00hrs EZI-1was heard on 11.565. Five mins transmission no groups.

The top number of repeated messages so far, as heard by me are as follows

RN GB noted that some E10 stns on occasion do not come up on the expected freq he noted that ART was on 6.984.3 where it was expected on 6.986. I have also noted this with MIW2, CIO2 and this evening 18/6 that EZI transmitted on 9.125.5 instead of 9.130

RN also sent the following E10 log For April And May which I have abreviated for space reasons and included his June findings in the above log

• 17 June FDU-M at 23:55 hrs on 6.210 5mins transmission heard, no group message. Not recorded this one before though in July/Aug 02 did record FDU/FDU-4 & FDU-5

• 18 June at 23:05 FDU-M again, 5mins trans no groups. ( Note- also heard by RN GB on the 28/5 on 4.418)

It would appear that CIO2 has stopped using, be it temporary 6.930, and the freq is now being used by MIW2

©BMDartford, 28 June 2003

[Tnx Bob]!

E11

Gert found the new freq for 1300z on 13/05 as 9950kHz [Tnx Gert, well done]. This was followed by further revelations from MoK:

12.30z, Fridays, 9448kHz USB, 4min TX. [312 Oblique 00, r4 min, ends "out"] last heard on USB 9450kHz 12.30z 17/7/01 using 312 call.

E15

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

E17z

Nil reports

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 [Note early start]:

E25

Nil Reports.

G04

The May sending did not appear. We wondered if Mayday may have some bearing on this or perhaps a change of schedule and DoK predicted that it may appear a week later. [Selco confirmed G04's Mayday sabbatical] and PoSW contacted us with: "The G04 German YL with the 3 - Note call - up fooled everyone by NOT showing up on the first Thursday in May, the 1st, as was expected but instead appeared on the second Thursday, the 8th. The first sending was noted at 2000z on 4,830 kHz and the second at 2030z on 4,930 - at least the frequencies were those predicted for May - with 35 x 5F groups." [Tnx PoSW]

The expected 5220/5320kHz did not apparently occur, a search being made. It was reported by AnonUK that its Morse sister M29 had not been heard either. It may be that G04 has disappeared as it did after its 2135z sending on 4380kHz Sunday 04/02/01. [It was rediscovered by PLondon on 07/03/02 at 2135z on 4850kHz.]. AF, AnonUK, DoK and PLondon listened for any activity on 12/06. In keeping with AnonUK's suggestion it did not appear and M29 was still absent.

When the G04 transmissions 'disappeared' last time M29 remained active. Its disappearance possibly a problem of finding the station. The absence of M29 this time suggests that G04 may have been closed down permanently [or at least until we hear M29 sending].

[Tnx AF, AnonUK, DoK & PLondon].

G06

The first Monday in the month G06 German YL showed up on 5 - May at 1900 UTC, 11,485 kHz - 5KHz lower than in May last year - and the repeat was an hour later on 9,115 kHz - exactly as in May last year - with four minutes of "308 308 308 00000".

The Friday 1930z G06 has moved from the reasonably clear frequency of 5,442 kHz used in March and April to 5,933 kHz among the broadcast stations in the 49 metre band. This was noted on 9-May calling "218", then DK/GC "563 563 47 47". Reception is difficult with the receiver in AM mode but by selecting USB and tuning the carrier for zero beat most of the BC QRM is removed by the filter in the RX and copy is not too bad. I had always been unable to find the Friday Night Fraulein after the end of April until September in previous years but last year she was noted on the last Friday in June on 5,933 so this - or maybe 5,943, noted on one occasion last summer - will be the frequency to check until the end of August. Turns up on alternate Fridays as a rule but sometimes misses two Fridays; should appear on 23-May or failing that, the 30th.

The Friday 1930z G06 German YL remains inside the 49 metre broadcast band; has been heard on 5,933 kHz in May, last heard on 13-June on 5,943 kHz. A G06 has been noted on Thursdays at 1830z on 6,887 kHz with the same DK/GC as the G06 heard at 1930z the next day. A Sunday G06 was heard on 15-June at 2020z. The first Monday in the month G06 was heard on 2-June with a "Full message" transmission, instead of the "00000 - no message" which has been the norm for this schedule for many months. [Tnx PoSW]

AF accordingly found the sendings as:

PoSW G06 log for June commented on the schedules:

First Monday in the Month Schedule;-

G19[??]

Maciej Sebastian Muszalski (Miles) heard a G19 'sound alike' and produced a .wavfile of his find.

G22

And from Gert for June:

Slavic stations

Before we move onto the Slavic Station logs we hear from our Slavic Desk and PoSW:

From our Slavic Desk, DoK offers his analysis for May/June 2003.

The period covering May/June started out well but changes did occur; some good, some bad and some confusing. Details follow below.

I have decided in this issue to show the routing procedures [which I like to call Broadcast Transmissions] and help to explain the many repeats that are sent. These Broadcast Transmissions may contain details of schedules and any possible changes. Why else are they sent?

The last 10 days of the month have been very busy due to one change on S10D, which was somewhat confusing but was only of a temporary nature, schedules and frequencies since returning to normal. During this period, and leading up to preparation of the latest chart. I have spent many extra hours checking and reconfirming all the times and frequencies to ensure accuracy.

During the whole period May-June inclusive I have logged over 360 transmissions. [S17C is not included in this total due to bad conditions and the heavy tty on 6758kHz. Many fruitless hours have again been spent searching for a parallel frequency, again with no success.

It is good to see the activity returning to the higher frequencies and periodic checks should be made over the next few months on 13936, 14377 and 14565kHz.

[Note: Several schedules have recently been coming up late and allowances should be made. Eg, 4485kHz 2020z 30/06 S10D was three minutes late].

Repeat Message Routine

• New Message Day Friday 0210z Rptd 0410z Rptd 1720z, Seven days each week.

• New Message Day Monday 0400z Rptd 0410z Rptd 2100z, Seven days each week.

• New Message Day 0450z Rptd 1410z Rptd 1720z, Monday and Tuesday only.

1630z New Message Saturday, Rptd Sun, Mon & Wed - always same ID's.

Consecutive day transmissions will invariably be the same message, both M10 and S10D. [There are other instances but not covered in this column this time].

A number of schedules do not operate each week; 1610z operates irregularly.

The separate 1700z operate on alternate weeks.

1820z also every other week and S10D 1820z will also miss weeks.

There have been problems occurring with 1720 and 1740z sendings. On a number of instances the 1720z M10 transmission was swamped by the 1740z S10D carrier some 10 minutes before the end on this transmission. Funnily this only seemed to happen on Mondays! On Tuesdays the S10D carrier came up shortly after the M10 transmission finished.

This was further complicated when the 0210z transmission on Friday 13^th June contained two messages of 39 and 56 groups and the transmission time was 23 minutes. As this is repeated at 1720z it meant that the 1740z S10D had moved to another frequency, returning to normal Monday and Tuesday 23^rd and 24^th June.

The parallel frequency of 13502kHz remained as normal but resulted in other pairings, which have not been charted this time.

Another strange happening on Tuesday 17^th June, the 1640z schedule on 10125kHz also operated on 7745kHz. The transmission started as normal with ID's 680 and 777. The first message to 680 was completed but after 777 and dk 18 was sent the 7745kHz transmission ceased at 1652z. At 1745z, 7745kHz came back up, sent just three figures and ceased again. During this time 10125kHz continued, completing the transmission at 1658z. Tones on 7745kHz were then sent out at 1657z prior to commencing the next schedule at 1700z.

Another thing I noticed during this period is the increase in multi-frequency use and I wonder if there is a routine service programme in operation?

A number of other schedules have come and gone in this period and as they are short term and on well known common frequencies they have not been charted.

With the increase in activity, particularly S10D, I believe some changes may occur from 1^st July.

[PLondon noted a subtle change in the 0410z sending 01/07 of M10. The previous message header -in part-, as sent 0410z 30/06, read 555 228 25 046 22. On 01/07 it had changed to:555 228 25 776 22].

Excellent logs have been received from RN GB and PoSW, my thanks to you both. Thanks also so to PLondon and AnonUK for their contributions.

In closing if anyone would like greater detail or additional information about what I have written please contact me via the usual channels.

Finally, this article is dedicated to those silent listeners from whom we hear little or nothing. == Nazdar. DoK, Slavic Desk.

©ENIGMA2000 30/06/03

Slavic Number stations info from PoSW:

PoSW has heard an interesting station and reports

"Unusual voice transmissions;- short transmissions with the S07 Russian Man "Tinny voice" were logged a few times in May; the regular format S07 ended several years ago but brief sendings consisting of an "000" format followed by a single 5F group have been noted from time to time; several were noted last summer and the following were logged recently;-