ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 18

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

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities
Enigma control list | Polytones debate | Numbers predictions
German speaking groups outside Germany (2/3) | News Items
Web sites | Requests | Stop press | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home

Selected voice stations

Before we move onto the logs here is an interesting explanatory piece from JerseyAnon on the tones we hear prior to transmissions:

Tones on transmission

Prior to the start of transmission it is not uncommon to hear the odd, or a series of tones. The polytones are no stranger as 1200Hz tones of short, medium, long or very long duration are heard at various times whilst the carrier is up prior to the message proper being sent.

Other Number Stations using Single Sideband also regularly send tones prior to transmission, the sendings usually being of good quality unless propagation takes a hand in the unwanted ionospheric effects to the sent signal.

Inter-modulation Distortion [IMD] is a problem with modulated transmission and a two-tone test is carried out using two non-harmonically related audio tones. The result of this test should be a correctly set up signal of good purity. Similarly a single tone test can be used to measure unwanted sideband and carrier suppression of SSB signals.

The quality of what is sent and received is obviously influenced by a properly conducted test and transmitter adjustment but there is another, less obvious, benefit.

Looking at the keying of any particular M10 transmission on a spectrum analyser one recognises the waveforms [the AF envelopes] as against those sent by a different transmission, say M13.

Each transmitter can quite easily have an unwanted signature, allowing it to be distinguished from any apparatus used for sending the same message. If the same message is being sent from a slightly different location [ships would be a good example] then a properly set up transmitter at each location would not aid the identification or direction finding from anyone with an interest to do so. So are these tones we hear random? Probably not! [Tnx JerseyAnon]

In addition to the exciting revelations by JerseyAnon we were also contacted by MB who sent us some thoughts on judging propagation and the state of the HF spectrum. [A very useful article given the state of propagation lately].

This, MB says, is what he uses:

The VOLMET transmissions [all USB] are a useful indicator of propagation conditions as they provide a round the clock transmission:

[TnxMB, Stirling stuff].

Non Number Station items of interest

American Forces Radio in single sideband still noted from time to time on 13,855 kHz, does not seem to be on every day. Also noted on 7,507 kHz, early mornings only UK time with a slight time delay relative to 13,855.

Amateur station in 15 metre band;- noted on Sunday 13-July at 1404z , 21,285 kHz;- callsign DJ3FK/ Aeronautical Mobile, location given as over northern Libya; unusual if genuine. Very strong signal, went QRT shortly afterwards much to the annoyance of the many stations waiting to work him. [Tnx PoSW]

A different view of numbers from CD

"UK band Spunkle has released a set of songs called "Music for DXing" that are inspired by the hunt for signals. There's some XP inspired tunes as well as some more challenging pieces, and they nearly all feature the flotsam of the airwaves. The "artist" figured that fellow listeners might want to hear them, and is interested in how "listenable" the collection is, given that some dxers don't seem to mind listening to the assorted fizzes of HF!"

Download this fine album [E2k has a file copy and it is excellent] from: http://1104.ca/dav

Now onto the logs:

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.

ENIGMA 2000 thanks those who have recently posted logs of E03/E03a [E04] activity via group.

E05

There have been no reports concerning E05 messages but this was received from AnonUK hinting at some 'E05' activities:

Recently PoSW wrote for August, "No sign of any activity at all from the American Accent E05, last heard at the end of May; but on Saturday 12-July at 0706z there were strong carriers modulated by audio tone - measured as 1,022 Hz - on two known E05 frequencies, 8,110 and 9,090 KHz. Nothing has been heard since so perhaps someone was having a last nostalgic play with a couple of the transmitters before the scrap dealers moved in!" [Tnx PoSW]

E06

The E06 English Man seems to have deserted the one time regular Saturday 1230z + 1330z schedule - I couldn't find it at all in August although the second and fourth Saturday in the month 1220z + 1320z schedule turned up as expected. [Tnx PoSW].

E07

E10

From our E10 desk :

E10 July 03

* Bold Lettering denotes Repeated Message

E10 Log Comments

The noise factor has certainly gone up since last month and reception has been poor. I'v had difficulty picking up the stns on various frequencies as you can see by the log.

I'm entering the xxx2 strings only once at the beginning and end of the month as I hear them, unless there is a change of schedule/Stn etc during the month.

I tuned in on the 2/7 at 20:15hrs and found VLB2, COI2 & SYN2 still transmitting, outside the normal time span of H+45 to H+50 this may have started at 1945hrs and continued till 23:15 hrs when all stopped. No group messages sent.

Note that CIO2/SYN2/VLB2/MIW2/KPA2 have all made freq changes at the start and during the month.

EZI Continues to transmit repeat messages, as does ART & ULX.

The most repeated messages from EZI heard during my survey in the three month period May to July were as follows:

HNC-S was twice heard breifly on the 15 & 20th of July again no group messages.

26 July. MIW2 must have been on the "Jeruselem Jollop" making two calls on 4.461at 00:07 hrs just as FTJ had commenced a G119 message on that same freq. MIW2 then came up on an expected freq of 7.605 at 00:10 four calls only, then up again at 00:17hrs with the normal call of 5mins till 00:22hrs

E10 Desk Aug 03

Bold Lettering denotes Repeated Message
<> Denotes From-To. No change to schedule

E10 Log Comments

I'm entering the xxx2 strings only once at the beginning and at the end of the month as I hear them, unless there is a change of schedule/Stn etc on that freq during the month. All freq's are in USB.

• 01 Aug.
  It had to happen, SYN2 & VLB2 have been swopping freq's for a while now, and on freq 4.015 at 00:45hrs both stns were transmitting at the same time. (Jeruselem Jollop strikes again )

• 8 Aug.
  Tuned into SYN2 transmitting at 23:38hrs (outside its normal schedule) on 6.912 ,8.025 & 4.780, it may have commenced at 23:30 hrs but is normally heard at H+45 to H+50hrs. No group message given. This procedure is not rare and seems to occure with a number of xxx2 strings at various times. It is still transmitting at 01:00hrs as I close down.

• 15 Aug.
  You may have noticed that over the last month or so a majority of c/s have been late in opening the transmission at the expected times, 3/4 mins late in a some of cases. At one stage I did think my computer clock was playing up but constant checks proved it not to be the reason. However today the all the transmissions I have heard, have started and ended right on time. One of the main culprits had been EZI whom I have been monitoring. Other minor changes noted has been the up/down tuning of the frequency for the odd transmission by certain c/s ie ART, YHF & EZI this month
  
  At 23:00 hrs ART & JSR were transmitting at the same time on 5.091 very confusing lasted approx 4 mins before ending.

• 20 Aug.
  At 02:15hrs MIW2 was heard for its 5mins transmission on 9.130 a freq normally associated with EZI, may be a one off call, has not been heard since.

Many thanks to RN GB for the following

© BMDartford August 2003

Tnx Bob - excellent stuff.

E11

A message was sent on 15/07 and intercepted by AnonUK. Another was sent 19/08 and intercepted by AF, more follows after the logs.

AF sent in an exhaustive Ell log for August. It was comprehensive enough to confirm these transmissions:

Mixed logs:

AF has looked into the E11 message of 19/08 and notes the usage of "77777" [Remarkable repeats].

• 8544kHz 0830z - 0841z 19/08/2003

184/33 184/33 184/33 184/33 (5 Minutes)
Attention
77777 77777 77777 77777 29009 29009 36883 36883 52648 52648
38682 38682 55976 55976 58568 58568 79619 79619 87632 87632
78145 78145 91169 91169 24735 24735 90467 90467 12104 12104
27363 27363 75093 75093 76206 76206 45599 45599 94136 94136
81903 81903 57317 57317 98075 98075 49233 49233 11525 11505
28563 28563 33657 33657 39820 39820 07426 07426 21026 21026
50013 50013 77777 77777 77777 77777
Attention
77777 77777 29009 36883 52648 38682 55976 58568 79619 87632
78145 91169 24735 90467 12104 27363 75093 76206 45599 94136
81903 57317 98075 49233 11505 28563 33657 39820 07426 21026
50013 77777 77777
Out

That means in in the 33 groups we have 4 times 77777! Could that mean anything special? For 'randomness' that seems to be to often.

I compared this message with the only other E11 message I logged so far:

• 9063kHz 1030 - 1038z 01/09/2002

121/16 121/16 121/16 121/16 121/16 121/16
attention
32173 32173 36130 36130 00405 00405 65097 65097 17243 17243
64304 64304 86869 86869 25703 25703 59540 59540 56932 56932
77777 77777 48348 48348 13663 13663 54530 54530 68760 68760
63099 63099
attention
32173 36130 00405 65097 17243 64304 86869 25703 59540 56932
77777 48348 13663 54530 68760 63099
out

This 16 groups have also 1 times "77777".

So in 49 groups that should look random we have 5 times 77777, thats about 10% of the numbers!

[Thanks AF]

E15

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

E17

From Gert we receive this interesting log

E17Z

Heard by RN GB:

Another heard by Gert:

E18

E23

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

Transmits Monday Wednesday and Thursday:

E25

From Manolis we received an interesting account of his discovery of E25 which reads:

I tuned my radio on 9448kHz USB around 12.29z but a strong carrier was nearby. (9450kHz) A man was reading something like "nine, (?), zero, five, thirty-one" until 12.33z. He had an Arab accent, and the signal strength was like of a BC station! (5-7 out of 7 signal strength indicator bars of my Sangean ATS-909 & 7m longwire.)

Today (Friday 22/8) I got back from my vacation, and I wanted to see if the culprit was still there. At 12.27z I tuned on 9450kHz, but I didn't find anything. I searched the frequencies nearby and I stumbled at a carrier on 9202kHz. At 12.30z started calling "EZI1" until 12.31z. What a surprise! Back on 9448kHz USB, E11 calling "312/00". I kept on searching, and at 12.48z on 9450kHz, I heard Arab music! At 12.53z a man was saying (live) "two-zero, two-one, two-two, two-three, (longer gap), two-two-seven" continuously. He stopped at 12.57z (carrier down)!

Excellent work Manolis - thanks for sharing!

Manolis' finding prompted those of us in Western Europe [includes GB and NI!] to tune our receivers to 9450kHz; without success it might be added.

It was encouraging that Manolis used the Sound Sample posted in the Files section to identify what he had heard. AnonUK emailed to say thet whilst he was unable to hear an entire message he did hear some evidence of E25 activity due to peculiaritries noticed just above the noise level on Sat 30/08 1245z.

G04

Nil Reports

G06

Gert writes in to inform us that for G06 on the first Monday of the month, 1900 and 2000z uses last years frequencies:

Frequencies may vary +/- 20 kHz from last years freqs.

PoSW wrote, " The G06 German YL has been turning up at the expected times; the Friday 1930z transmission is still inside the 49 metre BC band which makes for difficult copy. If this one follows the same pattern as previous years it should move to somewhere in the region of 5,442 kHz in September which is well away from the broadcasters. It will be interesting to see if the Thursday 1830z schedule can be found in September."

First Monday in the Month Schedule

Thursday 1830z Schedule
(Rule of thumb; if G06 shows up at 1830z on a Thursday the same message will be heard on the following day at 1930z on a lower frequency!)

Friday 1930z Schedule

Sunday 2020z Schedule

Other observations:

G22

Slavic stations

Before we move onto the Slavic Staion logs DoK on the Slavic Desk writes:

The past two months have been an eventful period for M10, S10D and S17C with changes commencing on Saturday 5th July.

As a result there has been more activity on the higher frequencies and new frequencies appeared from the end of July into August.

Chart No7 [As at 31/08/03]

©DoK31stAugust2003

Saturday 5^th July saw the beginning of changes to the repeat routines as detailed in NL17 [p15]. These changes have reduced the number of repeats by over 50%, other routines mentioned in NL17 still apply.

These changes affected the 0210, 0400, 0410, 1720 and 2100z schedules and occurred two to three days after the publishing of NL17; like changes have also occurred on three previous occasions. Coincidence or paranoia? [Note correct spelling]!

For early risers, Saturday has rich pickings and on Saturday 21^st July, whilst looking for the parallel to 14565kHz at 0615z, I was very surprised to find weak signals from 15700 to 16077kHz.

The strongest signals were 15976 and 15999kHz. Subsequent days led me to believe the parallel was 15976kHz and has been listed as such. However, these signals were only heard on days of good conditions. I would appreciate other reports of findings.

The spurious emissions lead me to believe that old technology is in use and an old transmitter being pushed beyond its design capabilities and without having the advantages of band-pass filters, some might call it junk! I have come across this problem before in both my amateur and professional life. Incorrect tuning of the power amplifier in order to try to increase the power output should also be considered, the resulting high SWR being more easily tolerated with a valved [tubes to our US cousins] power amplifier.

The S1855 schedule appears to be monthly. The 1900 schedule is not fully understood yet but it repeats the 1700 schedule messages.

The schedules from 1820 to 1940 appear to vary.

The 0535 schedules are repeated at 1630 and one message is repeated all week, 571, 275, 049 and 435 ID's being used.

On Thursday 14^th August at 0615z M10 sent message 033 91 33 . This was repeated five times, by M10, over the next 12 days, culminating with it being repeated on Tuesday 26^th August by S10D at 2050z on 8175kHz.. The was the first 'cross-over' message since earlier in the year and I wonder if this heralds a change at the end of the month.

I am writing this on 29/08 so by the time this is read all the foregoing may well be out of date and therefore should be used for reference purposes.

My thanks to AnonUK, Gert, PoSW and RN GB for their input. Finally Plondon for shaving with one hand and recording the 0400 and 0410z schedules, no doubt on an underwater writing pad!

[A final note to UK listeners: If you consume too much ALE of a certain Australian Bre, are you likely to lose your head]?

Until next time - Dobronotz & nazdar.

©DoK29thAugust2003 [Tnx DoK]

Onto the logs:

S06

PoSW's log included:

[Tnx PoSW].

S10D

PoSW's log for this 'Slavic' station:

Saturday and Thursday 0600z Schedule, 9,385 // 11,416 kHz

Saturday and Thursday 2130z Schedule, 7,475 // 9,165 kHz (same message as the 0600z schedule).

Saturday 1520z Schedule, 7,745 // 9,165 kHz

Monday and Tuesday 0540z Schedule, 9,369 kHz, 2 message variant

Monday and Tuesday 1740z Schedule, 8,190 // 13,502 kHz (same message as the 0540z schedule)

Sunday - also later found on Tuesday - 2050z 8,175 kHz Schedule

H-FD's logs:

S10E

Nil Reports

S11A

The UNID that PoSW had heard [Page 5 'Selected Voice Stations' NL17]:

has been identified as S11A by AF, [Tnx] who informed us of the null message 176 x3 00000.

S17C

It's all change from 1^st September. DoK paged to say 'now on 8190kHz // 5301kHz'
Tnx Slavic Desk

The teleprinter that occludes S17C has been active since the change of frequency on 01/05. DoK has, like others, had problems with hearing the five figure sequence as well as the rest of the sending, except where there were breaks in the to transmission or the tp was sufficiently weak.

6758kHz remains the active frequency for now, the S17C transmission still occurs at 1250 to 1257z.

DoK rang in to report a different number on 17/07 it was 00040, also heard by hfd. [A previous offering that was of this ilk was sent 27/06 when it was 00037]. However, that on 18/07 was 67032, a totally different number! 23/07: 69045

Groups reported by AF, DoK and HFD were:

From AF, DoK and HFD for August:

S21

AF sent in his July log:

For July RNGB offered 4973//5373kHz 1742z 31/07 and remarks '973 with message, bad modulation].

August reports from AF and also heard by RN:

V02

Dave Mosier, Tucson, AZ posted this via 'Spooks' and made the comment that he has not heard this format in years! Distinct pauses every 10th group.

6837kHz 0733z 27/07 [A 132-74. rpt of 0703z]

PoSW also found a V02 station:

V02A

PoSW also sent a log for VO2A, one interesting entry being:

V07

Gert informs us that V07 is also using last years freqs:

From Gert,HFD,MPetrakis & Pat Privat:

hfd offered:

AnonUK found the August freqs and a message

The message: Call 893 235 46 235 46.

[TnxAnonUK]

Polytones

On 10^th June 2003 the 2010, 2030 and 2050z transmissions started at ten minutes earlier [2000, 2020 and 2040z]. This means that on a Tuesday night there are two XP transmissions to monitor and although this poses no problem to the E2k monitors there is a need to recognise the two stations. We shall refer to the original 2000z et al sendings as schedule 1, the other, previous 2010z sending, as schedule 2.

Schedule 1 signals are generally, but not always, stronger than Schedule2. The frequencies used in Schedule2 appear to be one megahertz higher than those of Schedule 1. Finally, Schedule 2 has a tally mark on every 50^th group, the 303Hz tone for that group being correspondingly longer.

Now onto the logs:

XP June 03 morning sendings, courtesy JoA, PLondon:

ID148

XP June 03 evening sendings, courtesy JoA, PLondon ,PoSW:

ID545

ID184

Late XP, June 03 from JoA, PLondon, PoSW:

ID446

XP July 03 morning sendings from AF JoA, PLondon, PoSW

ID018

Splendidly strong signals started the July sending, 00958/00225, following up with 00542/00323. However there was a peculiarity about this sending. It is common for XP transmissions to be preceded by a series of undefined 1200Hz tones and for the carrier to be removed quickly after the end of message, or the 8^th ID + 000 if a null sending. The first two 04/07 transmissions had the carrier removed after the passing of 1200Hz tones: 0607z after the sending of 4 short tones - about 30s after message end. The 0620z sending was a little stranger. It clashed with a Morse transmission at the start, sent its message that ended at 0626:30 and then the carrier stayed up until 0633z. In the seven minutes tones were sent: 2 short 0629z, 3 medium 0632z, 2 long followed by 3 long tones at 0633z, the carrier being removed 30s later. For the 0640z transmission the carrier was removed 30s after message end with no tones having been passed. The 08/07 sending was another 323 group message [or same msg, different dk], 03169/00323. Excellent sigs all sendings on 11/07 produced 00182/00267 some slight fading on 0640z transmission.

Sigs on 15/07 started strong for the first and second transmissions whilst the third was noticeably weaker. Msg was 01037/00255.

That sent on 18/07 was 04526/00195. Excellent sigs 22/07 all sendings. 00302/00183., 25/07 excellent sigs again, 00875/00275. Splendid sigs on 29/07; 00737/00185.

Before we move on to the July and August logs an interesting discovery from PoSW:

Additional XP transmissions were found by PoSW, who wrote :

"XP polytone remains a regular, but the early morning schedule has been noted on days other than the usual Tuesday and Friday slots:

Early Schedule Starting at 0600z ;-

(I thought this schedule only ran on Tuesdays and Fridays but it has shown up on various other days of the week in both July and August).

[Tnx PoSW].

This 'new' schedule is on different frequencies, probably with a different destination to the schedule that we regularly report. We have, in the past, discovered other isolated sendings [obviously parts of other as yet undiscovered schedules] at 0500z and 1720/1740z

XP July 03 Schedule 1 sendings from AF, AnonUK, JoA, PLondon, PoSW

ID820

First message of the month occurred on 17/07, good sigs 00235/00163. JoA noticed that the carrier came up as usual on 2040z tx on 11075k on Th.17/07, but no polytone developed. Carrier went off at the time when the polytone would have finished,if it had occured. JoA queries if this is the first time this has happened. Message sent again 24/07, very good sig strengths in SLondon/Aylesbury. Chris Acuff in US could hear them but not of good strength. Msg: 00431/00241.29/07 was a very weak sending. The 2000z was not heard by PLondon but just copied by AnonUK Good signals 31/07, both JoA and PLondon experiencing metered strengths +35 and +40dBs at times for the 00146/00207 final schedule 1 message for July 2003.

XP July 03 Schedule 2 sendings from AF, JoA, PLondon, PoSW, RN GB

ID782

All the sendings on 08/07 were poor and generally noisy. Message sent was 00116/00149. This message was repeated on 11/07, signals on that day reported as poor by both JoA and PLondon. 22/07 poor sigs for PLondon: 2000/202z +10dBs for 2040z 00367/00077.

RNGB sent in an example of the 15780kHz 2000z sending for 22/07:

782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1
782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1 782 782 782 1
782 782 782 1

MESSAGE
R>>>>>>>>>>>>> _________00367 00077 38265 35950 81102
82371 35728 40458 10199 96854 89114 17755 59196 96981 35793
24374 39686 68621 79243 47578 73496 12497 35631 23041 80096
28485 56440 19029 13636 28968 26231 18618 02405 30132 49347
33318 76732 73580 71920 98676 16998 75317 62736 45429 20528
27766 57242 72328 87140 18559 98958 64388_59028 86287 41490
45736 08478 62222 98011 34168 07699 82914 39125 14573 80889
58604 87224 47135 56171 95363 58593 09816 13077 44224 12446
61043 84877 78324 90447 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Very interesting because PLondon found his reception too poor to allow him to process until 2040z. [Tnx RN].

This message was repeated on 25/07 with signal strengths marginally better, clocking in at S7 to S9 variable at PLondon's QTH.

XP July 03 Late sendings from JoA, PLondon, PoSW, Chris Acuff[US]

ID128

Strong late night signals in opposition to last month's offerings on 01/07 00967/00189 repeated 03/07. 08/07 produced reasonable signals 00423/00171. Excellent signals again 10/07 produced a repeat of 08/07 171 group message. Very poor signals on 15/07, 08141/00231 repeated on 17/07 with equally poor sigs.

Chris Acuff [US] sent in his report for 22/07; it reads "XP at 21:20, Poor/fair signal, fading from S0 - S4 on the S-meter, off at 21:25 15, XP on 16292 at 21:40, Fair/strong signal, fading from S3 - S5 on the S-meter, Off at 21:45 12, XP on 14892 at 22:00, Fair/strong signal, fading from S4 - S6, off at 22:05 12." PLondon heard it S9+10dBs for the first two sendings. 00930/00219, repeated 24/07. [Heard by Chris Acuff in US]. Weaker sigs 29/07 message 00234/00197 sent , The message of 29/07 was repeated 31/07 but the signals were so poor it was almost impossible to process them. The initial 2120z sending was the worst, the best being the 2200z offering.

XP August 03 morning sendings from JoA, PLondon,

ID625

Excellent signals kicked off the August 03 morning schedule. A two message format was sent, 02166/00045 and 00214/00231. Good signals throughout with JoA and PLondon. Having been made aware of the tally mark previously by RN GB, PLondon noticed the long 303Hz tone prior to the '00000 00000' separator. As can be seen here:

'97190 55720 _00000 00000 00124 00231 05131'

The two underlined groups are the dk/gc for the next message, whilst the opening two groups are the 44^th and 45^th groups of the first forty-five group message. The tally mark can be seen before the first separating group of zeroes.

Excellent sigs again on 05/08, this time in PLondon's S London shack prior to a visit to the British Museum's brickyard under glass! 02578/00299 was the dk/gc, also weakly heard in US by BM [reported via 'Spooks']. 08/08 Null messages started badly with fading in the first sending. The 0620z transmission was a stable S9 with PLondon. The 11/08 transmission reflected the same problems noticed on 08/08 - 00456/00239 - also heard by MPetrakis, good sigs. 15/08 produced excellent signals into Plondons work QTH: 00672/00281JoA also monitored the 0600z sending and noted that there was a 1 sec break in the sending 56 secs after the start. PLondon had also noted the gap but understood it to be from local QRM.

19/08 produced 00673/00197, the third sending was od poor strength. NOTE: the dk 00673, previous 15/08 was 0672 with just 10 more groups sent. 22/08 00673/00197, 26/08 00674/00183 and 29/08 08545/00189, again excellent strength.

XP August 03 Schedule 1 sendings from AnonUK, JoA, PLondon, PoSW

ID917

Same freqs as last year, strong sigs 04623/00127 for the kick-off in August repeated 07/08. 12/08 were all good sigs 00678/00251, this message being repeated on 14/08. Strong sigs again on 19/08: 00449/00173. 21/08 started with a poor signal, just audible with PLondon but NRH with JoA, 2020z was NRG with PLondon - the third sending at 2040z was a stronger signals - 00449/00173, a repeat of the previous transmission. 28/08 produced good signals at JoA and Plondon's shacks - 00954/00083.

XP August 03 Schedule 2 sendings from JoA, PLondon,

ID982

The first message for August 03 was 00256/00119, the first sending suffered from QRM from a nearby fax tx. For the 2020z JoA noted ' QRM-digital. re-tuned to 13849.3kHz to cut out QRM.' On 05/08 the first transmission was inaudible even with a bandpass filter. The remaining sendings were variable with last being the best in PLondon's shack - 00256/00119. The 08/08 sendings produced 00476/00185 - PLondon omitted to put sig strength details in his logs [252 and immediate loss of days pay] as he made an unusual foray onto 2M to enjoy reminiscing about his time in Guyana and Aden at the same time he tackled XP[2].

Poor sigs on 12/08 09922/00149. The underlined date of 14/08 indicates a Thursday sending , instead of Friday. Thanks to JoA's vigilance we learnt of this sending which lasted around 4 mins and is possibly a repeat of the 12/08 sending - the duration being similar, also reported by Jochen in Marburg. Friday 15/08 was a Null Msg.

The sendings on 19/08 were of very poor strength, 00963/00035 - birthday greetings? The 2040z 19/08 was very weak and noisy in PLondon's shack. An unexpected sending again on 21/08 and intercepted by JoA. Unfportunately no dk/gc bit its length matched that of the 35 group message sent on 19/08.

The 22/08 sending was another short message, 00843/00041. The expected 26/08 sendings were not heard. Problem with propagation or schedule change? On 28/08 Schedule 2 signals were heard at around S5 in PLondon's shack and produced a two message format: 00524/00053 and 00941/00151. Was this just a 2 msg format or the missing message from 26/08 Null Msg for final sending of August 2003 confirmed by AnonUK.

XP August 03 Schedule 3 [Late sendings] from RN GB freqs from HFD

ID395

PLondon originally posted a request for freqs and had those above sent to him by h-fd. Listening on the night of 07/08 PLondon heard nothing. On 12/08 RN GB mailed e2k to say that he had proved the freqs which had carried a message; 00534/00207. [Tnx HFD and RN GB]. PLondon heard the repeat of the 12/08 message on 14/08 noticing that the first sending was of poor strength.

All the 19/08 sendings were poor, PLondon struggled to pick from the tones: 00681/00141. The last sending, at 2200z, was particularly poor and virtually inaudible. RN GB managed to transcribe the entire message, which he sent to E2k and which confirmed PLondon's analysis of the dk/gc. The 19/08 sendings were also heard by Chris Acuff, US who wrote," 16309 XP 21:20z Good to hear XP again, caught this one while doing homework, fairly strong/mostly readable, message. 14909 XP 21:40z Fair/Strong/Mostly readable, message. 13509 XP 22:00z very weak/barely heard/almost unreadable, lost in static at around 22:02z. Good stuff Chris, Thanks! Note that Chris states the sigs as strong, is the US the target area for this sending? 2120/2140 and 2200z are a more reasonable time with 5 hours removed from the zulu time to correct for time difference. It places the sendings, locally, in late afternoon. 21/03 sendings started badly with the first sending being inaudible the other two sendings also low signal strengths, typically S" with both PLondon and JoA: 00681/00141.

26/08 were extremely weak with PLondon, he heard only the odd snippet of the sendings and was unable to distinguish between a null or full message. Stronger signals were heard on 28/08, albeit a null message.

XPH

The Tuesday and Saturday high pitched polytone XPH was heard in July, 1830z 16,354 kHz and 1850z, 14,873 kHz always with the "No message" type of transmission usually with fairly weak signals. In August the frequencies are 15,629 kHz - maybe plus or minus several kHz - it is in the 19 metre BC band and so badly flattened by a broadcast station that it is difficult to tune in XPH well enough to read the frequency. The second sending is on 14,352 kHz which is clear enough. Again, only "No message" transmissions heard. By the way, since XPH comes up on the frequencies as used in the same month as last year, 1830z 13,368 kHz and 1850z 11,634 kHz might be worth checking in September. [Tnx PoSW]. PLondon adds the third freq: 1910z 10143kHz [from his interception of a two format message on 14/09/02 dk/gc 02367/00043 and 06148/00062].

June's evening XPH:

ID494

July's evening XPH freqs from PoSW, obs AF JoA, PLondon RN GB:

ID383

Good signals, still NRH on 01/07; the warm up was interrupted by a short drop of carrier at 1851:30, its raising heralded by two tones at 1954z. The expected signals of 12/07 were not heard by PLondon and could have been due to poor propagation. However on 15/07 DoK also listened for the 1830z transmission and heard nothing. The second transmission appeared with S5 sig strength for the null message. 19/03 first sending at 1830z was very poor, onlt the odd tone appearing on the spectro display whilst just as poor audibly. The 1850z sending weighed in at S2 in South London.

As the previous 1830z sendings had been poor Jochen Schäfer was requested to listen for this sending on 22/07. Jochen reported from Germany: "XPH was there on 16354 kHz at 18.30, ID: 383, and so a null-msg. The signal strength here was at least 5." [Tnx Jochen]. The signal strength report also matches that from PLondon/RNGB: 22/07 sendings were S5 and S2 respectively with PLondon and RN GB also heard XPH. 1830z sending missed on 26/07, PLondon was recollecting on buying a new bathroom suite but snapped out of his misery to catch the 1850z null message, noting the very noisy background that occluded the like poor signals. Reasonably strong signals heralded the last null message of July 2003.

August's evening XPH freqs:

ID632

The sending of August's first message on 02/08 remained unreported because JoA was unable due to previous arrangements and PLondon was dragged out to watch Terminator 3 [A right load of rubbish, he commented later]!

The selection of the first freq was not a good one - BC station occludes the polytones although display on spectro was possible on 05/08. The 1850z sending strength in S London was S7 to 30dBs. As usual for this station a null message.

The null message was sent 09/08; the first sending was virtually inaudible, the 1850z was better, audible and visible on spectro. Chris Smolinski [Spooks] sent a message to say that he too heard the 1850z offering at S2, in PLondon's it was S3. So if it isn't meant for GB or US where is it meant for? Did anyone receive this station at a better strength?

Better strengths on 12/08 but still null message. The recipients are either not very important, not working or using the phone for their instruction! Of course it could be a 'reserve line' undergoing a weekly scheduled test.

The fact that there is rarely a message could be a statement that all is well, a message may outline a problem, whilst no message may mean something bad has happened - after all you can't interfere with silence!

16/08 was heard by AnonUK who mentioned that the first sending was weak whilst the second, at the end of the 20M ham band, was reasonably strong. PLondon, subject to a four hour journey from Bletchley Park phoned ahead to another member requesting that he listen for the 1850z sending. Unfortunately that member [you know who you are] dozed off whilst on watch and missed the sending. Luckily AnonUK has saved the day!

19/08: a null message again, first sending 1830z 15626kHz not apparent apart from a few tones, 1850z a better sending, Strangely the 1830z signal came up at good strength at 1819z with a series of short tones until 1821z.

23/08 produced reasonable signals, again a null message. S5 sigs for both sendings for 26/08. Good strong sigs for the last sending on 30/08.

Possible Sept freqs: 1830z 13,368 kHz, 1850z 11,634 kHz and 1910z 10143kHz [PoSW and PLondon]

Polytones also reported by HFD.

XPL

The last observations by AF were :

XPM

Last monitored by AnonUK on:

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