ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 25

November 2004
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Polytones
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Voice stations

First an UNID:

ML discovered an Unid EE/OM on 28^th October:

Sig faded away to unreadable although ML was aware of something there until 1215z although no ending heard.

The pronunciation of the word ‘zero’ was enhanced as ‘zeero’ and there was no distinction on the figure 3. At 1235z condx had changed and ML was able to hear its weak, noisy signal over static crashes, for eight minutes: 227?2 112?2 326?3 723?7 387?3. [Note first and last figs in each group appear to be the same] Poss double groups. ML finally went QRT at 1243z with a headache after listening through noise. ML queried if what he had heard was a 1200/1230z pair, the first being a null with a second message or a 45 min message with a 15 min intro! Nothing as yet reported from elsewhere but we are open to reports. [Tnx ML]

As regards the identifying of this station, given the pronunciation of the 3 it is not E06 and the use of 5f gps and the ‘zeero’ obviates E25. The UNID again appeared on 29/10 9450kHz up again at 1200z clg "220" until 1210z no sign-off. Well down into the noise and only just audible using a very narrow audio band and a 4k filter. Up till 1200z there was a very weak, almost unreadable, BC. Mainly a YL announcer with some music, and this one started within seconds of the BC signing off. 1229:30 YL singing for 30 secs?? then nothing but "splash" from BC on 9445, finished monitoring 1250z with NRH.[Tnx ML]

There was mention of this in NL23, under the E15 header. The piece read, “MikeL sent in an UNID that he had heard and this is included because of his ending suggestion. He stated that it was not E25, so worthy of mention:

[TnxML]

Now a brief synopsis from PoSW of the past Voice station performance:

The E07 English Man is following the same frequency schedules as in the same month in previous years with the exception of the Sunday + Wednesday starting at 1700 UTC which uses a different trio of frequencies.

The G06 German YL and S06 Russian Man have been showing up much as expected; the second and fourth Saturday 1700z + 1800z S06 transmissions are repeated twelve hours later at 0500z and 0600z, i.e. early Sunday morning UK time. These transmissions no doubt will remain on  UTC when summertime ends on the last weekend of October which means that they will turn up one hour earlier local time; it will take a great deal of dedication for the UK monitor to be up at 5 AM on a cold, dark Sunday morning to check this one out! The E06 English Man still remains determined to avoid appearing at his once most usual time of Saturday afternoon, UK time.

The S10d Czech YL schedules moved to lower frequencies in the first week of September - except for the Thursday and Saturday 0600z where 9,935 kHz was replaced by the higher frequency of 9,985, - and in general are much the same as in the autumn months in 2003.

The V02 Spanish speaking YL has made something of a recovery in the past few weeks; several of the transmissions heard in the UK morning have returned in October after vanishing completely for several weeks from the second week in August, although signals are often very weak. A V02 transmission in the UK evening has been turning up on several days of the week on 10,715 kHz often heard sometime after 2000 UTC.

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.

E05

The month of October saw a significant anniversary in the Number Station enthusiast's calendar; it has been one year since the final appearance of the American Accent counting station E2K designation E05, AKA "Cynthia".

What would seem to have been the last ever schedule from this once most prolific of all the English language number stations was transmitted in early October 2003 - unless anyone knows otherwise!

The last mention of E05 I can find in my log book was on Thursday 2-October-2003 at 1200 UTC on 8,110 // 10,583 kHz with a call/count of 133/215. Not a lot of people know that!

[Tnx PoSW]

There were of course Nil Reports for E05, but some confusion was experienced on the other side of the Atlantic when the familiar dulcet tones of ‘Cynthia’ were heard transmitting on 8188kHz. The freq was incorrectly noted as 8190kHz but the fact that the 3/2 style of The Counting Station was not being heard was totally missed by those concerned as hopes they had rediscovered Cynthia again rose. See E23 for revised and up to date E23 schedule, courtesy AnonUK [Of course details had already been printed on the previous interception of E23 in Issue 24 – not that it was read across the other side of the Atlantic].

E06

We open with PoSW’s full log, leading onto to other’s findings:

[Tnx PoSW]

September Sunday Freqs were

E07

From PoSW we read:

The usual established schedules are still running;-

Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 2000 UTC; Thursdays starting at 2010 UTC; Sundays and Wednesdays starting at 1700 UTC and those up early enough in the morning (not me, as a rule!) might be able to confirm that the Wednesday and Friday early morning schedule starting at 0510 UTC is still on. Uses frequencies as in the same month in previous years except for the Sunday/Wednesday 1700z which as from June this year has used different frequencies to those used in the same month in 2003. Low modulation continues to be a problem, and can make for difficult copy especially in the presence of QRM which, as some E07 transmissions are inside the broadcast bands, is often the case.

When summer time ends on the last weekend of October, E07 will move by one hour UTC so as to appear at the same local time.

Monday and Wednesday Schedule starting at 2000 UTC;-

Sunday and Wednesday Starting at 1700 UTC;-

Thursday Schedule Starting at 2010 UTC;-

[Tnx Peter]

Now onto the rest of the logs:

E10

We start the E10 column with three loggings from Darrin in New Zealand, DJNZ, as his initial offering to ENIGMA 2000:

[Tnx Darrin, keep up the good work]!

Now onto Bob’s E10 desk:

E10 Desk Sept & Oct 04

Freqencies Used With calls

Sept 04

OCT 04

Comments

September has proven to be a calamity month for me. The computer broke down and I have lost 3yrs of my E10 work. I then bought myself another unit and had difficulty in setting up an ISP, however this is now sorted, but its all from square one, because the old files ran on Windows ME and the new files run on XP Home, so the files I managed to extract are not recognised, I do hope to recover something later. For convenience sake I have altered my normal layout to the above to cover Sept/Oct. Reception where I live (Kent) has been poor during this period, its mostly late night or early morning before I start to hear the calls, mind you my antenna is not well sited which has a lot to do with it. We can only get better!!!

Its difficult to state correctly (without my records) but perhaps worth noting when KPA2/SYN2/CIO2/VLB2 etc go on to extended calls, at some stage one of these will then change to a Special Header as did KPA2 this evening 20/10 at 2215hrs. In all 21 letters and numbers, this beats the previous 20 by KPA heard on the 10 Aug 04.

©BMLongfield E10 Desk[Tnx Bob, hope PC soon better!]

AND NOW from the pen of ML an apparent E2k exclusive [!!] no "flashes" seen in mails by 2030z 31/10 and none by 0800z 01/11.

ML wrote

“ I was not intently listening, just background, but it sounded "odd" so ears into monitor mode as carrier was up before 15.00z

As E10 is not prone to cock ups there are 2 possibilities concerning S7N2 :-

1. It was intended to send it.

2. A typo, look at the positions of Y & 7 on a standard keyboard.

I prefer option ii, the slippy finger syndrome, but very surprised that it was not caught during the first transmission. In anycase, was S7N (SYN) supposed to be TX'd on this freq at all ??”

What makes it all the more exclusive is that PLondon also monitored this apparent faux pas. Whilst readying himself for bed PLondon's telephone rang around 2147z. On answering the voice heard said '4648kHz now'. It was ML who had been further monitoring 'S7N2'. Immediately PLondon removed to his shack, switched on his main RX, connected his antenna and heard S7N2 being spoken by our E10 female. Not an over strong signal and slightly occluded by a nearby XJT it took PLondon a few seconds to realise the reason for ML's excitement. PLondon's auto recorder took the audio and as a result it appears in the Group files. The quality is perhaps a statement of the poor quality signal, no doubt due to XJT and other propagation matters. Interestingly, the XJT did not appear on the signal from ML that PLondon compared with his via the landline.

However, in conversation with BM, our E10 desk, Bob made this very valid comment,

“Interesting pickup your S7N, as you mention it may have been typo error that was missed, and the frequency is normally KPA. Having said that, on Aug 7th I picked up MPA on freq's 4360, 5170, 6912 at 2215 hrs and on 5170 & 6912 at 2315 hrs timings & freq's again associated with KPA (See keyboard positions M & K, a similar case perhaps).”

BM further remarked,

“Maybe it was intended after all.”

ML remarked that 4648 has been predominantly CIO prior to what appears to be a faux pas.

PLondon suggested that E10, whose radio discipline is usually very good, making two similar errors in just three months is a bit more than coincidence as the operatives responsible are too good at their jobs for this sort of ‘silly’ error.

ML further remarked that perhaps his option (i ) is a better explanation and now we ask for comment from our readers, via group or direct to PLondon who will pass to BM and ML [Thanks all].

Sample sound on file posted to Group Files.

E11

Readers should note the frequency changes from 1^st September, 2004 [Tnx AnonUK]:

*Replaced by 9130kHz

E11b

JoA broke the above transmission down as: “21/9 0830-0841:08 (E) "184/34" 77777 x4 5F gps: 91479 81476 29389 04823 33211, etc. (29 groups) 77777 x4 attention 77777 x2 5f gps: as above 77777 x2 Out. Finishing @ 0841:08.” JoA correctly noted that the 29 groups do not quite correspond to the "184/34" and assumed the "34" is made up from the 77777s.

JoA sent in details of the full message along with his intercept notes:

E11b T.19/10/04 8544kHz 0830-0841:43z YL-English: 184/35 rptd. for 5min, following onto "Attention" then msg. in 5F groups, then "Attention" and the msg. repeated in 5f groups, "Out" at 0841:43z. The complete message in 5f format being:

184/35
77777 77777 57972 73776 71286 21611 63817 36155 71513 77208
78065 08547 38344 31313 26381 29207 87731 62110 66740 98342
47346 16125 47677 13090 50220 70214 86939 04551 38648 44811
06494 56557 76778 77777 77777

Counting the groups one can see that the 2 stutter groups at the beginning and end are included in the group count of 35.

The ENIGMA Control List describes shows E11 in Family III

Whilst E11b is indeed shown as:

As an aside; Sal ibn Hari passed to E2k that there was some doubt expressed on the Spooks reflector as to the countries of origin and the operating Agencies. There can never be a 100% accuracy as to the operating agency, any more than to the country of origin. However the ENIGMA Control List was originated and compiled by persons whose interest and knowledge is much greater than those who now attempt to contradict its content. Use of the ENIGMA Control List will lead to a greater understanding of Number Stations and the particular traits and machinations by which they each work. It is obvious by a lot of remarks seen in discussion of the subject that a majority do not use the ENIGMA Control List, made freely available, via E2k, Ary’s N&O and Simon Mason’s site.

Note that the ECL is kept to date and remains the de facto guide to Number Stations.

E15

We print the known schedule [as issue 22]:

E23

Best frequency is usually 8188kHz. 3 weekly cycle starting on the first Monday of the Month. [See E23 entry in NL24].

Transmits Monday Wednesday and Thursday:

*Week 2 Used to be M04 but has not been heard for several years, so therefore no transmission on week 2.

Whilst checking the E23 freqs AnonUK mentioned,

“I checked E23 yesterday[06/10] and could hear it at 0955 on 6507, 1155 on 8188, but no trace of it at 1255 on 5340. Although that frequency is not going to be much good during the day from that distance.”

[Tnx AnonUK].

E25

What is believed to be the FIRST SUNDAY transmission of E25:

G06

Schedules for this station do exist:

First Monday of each month [2004]

[Repeated Tuesday if message]

Thursdays[2004]:

[Thurs freqs are 4519, 5934 or 6887kHz]

Friday[2004]:

[Friday Freqs are 4792, 5442 or 5934kHz and occur alternate weeks].

Saturday [2^nd and 3^rd Sats each month]:

Sundays [2^nd and 3^rd Suns each month]:

[Many Thanks to AnonUK for sharing his analysis used in the above compilation].

PoSW also writes concerning G06 scheduling asnd offers this analysis:

Known schedules are first Monday in the month at 1900 UTC + 2000 UTC and alternate Thursdays - sometimes misses two weeks - at 1830 UTC, repeated on the following day at 1930 UTC although with a different (usually!) call. A "Weekend", i.e Saturday and Sunday schedule ran during June, July and August but not heard in September or October - unless someone knows otherwise!

[Unknown to Peter AnonUK sent details of the Saturday Sched as being only heard on only 18^th September:
8530kHz 2020z 18/09 [178]. It was not heard on 19^th September, 2004] Tnx AnonUK.

First Monday in the Month Schedule;-

Thursday 1830 UTC Schedule;-

Friday 1930 UTC Schedule;-

[Tnx PoSW]

G22

Slavic Stations

Now we move on to the ENIGMA 2000 Slavic Desk, admirably run by DoK:

S17c freq from 1^st November is 9166kHz [1250 – 1257z].

Additions & Amendments to Chart 15 [as posted to Group]

Change activity designation for 1920 schedule to regular [R]

Over the past two months there have been a number of schedules which have not appeared and in the process a number of alternative [ALT] weeks have changed. This has involved extra work in formulating the programme as shewn later, as well as involving some changes to the repeat [R] message procedure.

At the time of writing the 1140 and 1200 schedules are still in a state of flux, for the time being have been reclassified as irregular [I] in Chart 16 below.

On week ending 30/10/04 both sets of schedules were active where previously they only came up on alternative weeks.

Once again DoK offers his definitive chart with updates:

Chart 16

• All frequencies stated ± 2kHz

• Times prefixed ‘S’ designate S10d

[Tnx DoK]

©ENIGMA 2000 28^th October 2004

The alternate [ALT] week programme and repeat message procedure that follows may not be complete due to other pressures on my time. However I will look at it again Mid Winter time.

Repeat Message Procedures

It will normally be found that messages sent at the same time, on the same frequency, on consecutive days will be the same. Looking at the chart below it is possible to predict which other day/time schedules will carry repeat messages. In order for the system to work the schedules must be active in the same week. [Ducks in a row].

Messages may originate from either regular [R] or alternate [ALT] week schedules.

M10

S10d

*Note S1855 has been seen to repeat S0150, although S1855 not heard at present time.

It will be seen that a number of schedules are missing from Chart 16, namely 0450, 0540, 0830 [replaced by 0840], 1840 and 1855. I believe they are still around. As only the 1840 is in ICW I am surprised the S10d schedules have not been reported; probably another case of the silent majority? I find it difficult to understand how anyone interested in Number Stations cannot make the effort to learn the few Morse characters required for Morse number sendings.

The next change should occur on 1^st November as per 2003. The times should be the same, only the frequencies reshuffled.

Others

During the period of this report other findings are as follows:

On one other occasion AnonUK reports
999 not usual 555

DoKs homebrewed DF Antenna. It is based on dual FET combined input to a Transconductance Amplifier. DoK has two loops to give him a decent LF to HF coverage.

©DoK30thOctober2004

On 29/09/04 towards the M10 1630 7745 transmission a carrier appeared twice briefly. At the end of the M10 sending a S9+20dBs modulated carrier [tone] carrier came up. The width of this transmission was 7740 to 7760. The transmission varied and from time to time the tone went off and speech was heard; one or two sentences in Russian. There were two stations but the weaker station may have been retransmitted by the first, much stronger, station, suggesting split frequency working. Other brief bursts of ‘noise’ were heard and followed by speech. [The transmission was taped and sent to PLondon for a further opinion]. During the transmission a bearing was taken which produced a bearing that produced a line over Denmark, Sweden, Finland and into Russia. The line passed through Archangel and beyond. [Tnx Derek, excellent stuff]. ©DoK28/10/04

Now onto others Slavic Logs:

S04

S06

Gert writes of an interesting fact he has noticed, “Some (and possible all) stations ending with fast zero's seem to have a repeat on another day of the week.

For example (freqs are for october):

Another very interesting find is this:

If a S06 or E06 station is ending with fast zero's, there is a repeat one hour later (and possible also on another day of the week).

E06 stations always end with fast zero's.

If a S06 is ending with slow zero's, the repeat is 10 minutes later.”

[Tnx Gert].

A chart, compiled by Gert and utilising results and tabulations offered by AnonUK and RNGB illustrates S06 yearly useage.

[Thanks to all involved]

©Gert26thOct2004

RNGB sent in his October logs showing the level of S06 activity over just two days and followed it with an interesting piece concerning the use by S06 of 5860kHz, an international rescue frequency.

Some Sept logs from RNGB also.

I have noticed that the S06 with slow zeros is normally AM mode, and S06 with fast zeros has lsb suppressed.

The ‘fast’ voice also sounds a little higher in tone.

No repeat of ID 573 found

When ID 624 was calling on 5680 (the international rescue freq) there was a very interesting incident taking place off the west coast of Ireland. There was a fire on a submarine which had surfaced and had several injured crewmen on board (smoke inhalation). A Nimrod aircraft and some helicopters were scrambled to give assistance. When they got there the commander decided he didn’t need any help and wanted all ships to keep well away! It was originally HMS Upholder and was flogged off the Canadians with 3 others of the same class.

They have been hampered with faults, mainly fires and leaks. The sub involved was the HMCS Chicoutimi.

We include PoSW’s full October log for S06, illustrating this stations known activities. [Peter also sent a full September log which we are unable to reproduce here due to space requirements]:

[Tnx PoSW]

S06b

S06c

Nil reports

S10d

After perusaul of DoK’s excellent Slavic Chart we present some logs recently heard for comparison. PoSW also adds his findings in depth. All of which provides the reader with a refreshing view of S10d [and its Morse equivalent M10 for those who might like to try a different and satisfying mode]:

AF’s S10d log for September:

The Czech YL turns up at much as usual but there was a general change of frequencies at the start of September. Many transmissions have become much weaker signals at my QTH as we slide downhill towards winter;-

• Thursday and Saturday Schedule starting at 0600 UTC
  From 2-September heard on 9,985 // 11,416 kHz, 9,985 having replaced 9,385 used in the summer months, a rare example of S10d moving higher in frequency as the hours of darkness increase. Both frequencies have become very weak signals in October, often only just detectable.

• Thursday and Saturday Schedule starting at 2130 UTC
  Has the same 5F groups as heard at 0600 UTC, was on 7,475 // 9,165 kHz in the summer months, as from 2-September is on 5,473 // 6,894 kHz.

• Saturday Schedule starting at 1520 UTC
  Was on 7,745 // 9,165 kHz in the summer, as from 4-September is on 8,175 // 9,985 kHz, usually good signals on both frequencies although 9,985 often suffers from a strong American broadcast station on 9,980 kHz using upper sideband, probably one of several SSB outlets used by AFN.

• Tuesday and Sunday Schedule starting at 2050 UTC
  Was on 8,175 // 9,985 kHz during the summer, as from 5-September is on 6,894 // 7,745 kHz. This schedule has been noted on several occasions in the past for group counts much higher than is usual for an S10d. The latest such long message was logged on Sunday 17-October with A GC of 71 ("Sedum yedena") which did not end until 2108z.

• Monday and Tuesday Schedule starting at 1740 UTC
  Sends two 5F messages, unusually, the same on the Monday and the Tuesday. Was on 8,190 // 13,502 kHz during the summer, moved to 6,945 // 10,582 kHz as from 6-September.

[Tnx PoSW]

S11a Cherta

S17c

S17c freq from 1^st November is 9166kHz [1250 – 1257z].

Using freqs 5301//8190kHz 1250 to 1257z daily:

[Tnx AF & H-FD]

[Tnx DoK & H-FD]

S21

An interesting S21 from RNGB who writes:

“S21 at 1842 on 4854 LSB and 4454 USB in parallel [I’ve not noticed that before] giving 454 381 31 19532 etc [YL]”

Tnx RNGB, seems S21 needed to get the message through this time!

S25

Igor [Cherta region CIS] intercepted this apparently inactive station on 24/09/04. Contacted by E2k Igor kindly sent his recording as well as a past recording of an interception in 2003 (7651kHz 0755z 24/08/2003[ID437]).

The recent interception was:

AnonUK observed that the id previously used in 1998 was 615 and sent a recording for comparison, indeed a good match that S25 is no longer ‘inactive’. The recording sent by AnonUK was of the daily transmission in 1998 on 14890kHz at 0800z. The id’s utilised in the intercepts from Igor were: 437 for 2003 and 245 for 2004.

Both recordings are available from Group. [Tnx Igor and AnonUK].

Gert writes

"In search of E17z (not found) I found a S25 kind of station on 11115 kHz. I know this station has been heard before, there is a sound sample placed in the files section on October 1st.

The station I heard today, thu 7 oct 2004, 8.00 UTC was as follows:

Id 637 is not used by any S06 or E06 stations in the last 13 months.

If I recall correct, the original S25 did have two transmissions, each 20 min long and each divided in two parts.

So, in 40 minutes there are 4 groups given.

Now, there are two groups given and the time of transmission seems shortened to only twice 4 minutes.

I wonder if there is a second transmission somewhere. I searched but found nothing.”

Gert was correct as the station being S25, if there is a second sending E2k would be glad to learn about it.[Tnx Gert, good stuff].

RNGB later offered:

Message as follows:
637 637 637 34392 34392 637 637 637 34392 34392 637 637 637 etc (repeated for 4 mins), then 36912 36912 637 637 637 36912 36912 637 637 637 etc (repeated for 4 mins ) then tx ended.

Gert again offered:

“Heard S25 again, now with a very weird message. 8.00z 26/10 calling 637 637 637 38312 38312 for 4 minutes
Then 22222 once 37052 37052 continuous for for yet another 4 minutes, no 637 in between.
11111 once
Ending with 00000”

Gert’s final words on S25 this time around were,

“Seems S25 is becoming more active indeed, first heard it begin this month on a Thursday, now it’s on a Tuesday. Who knows it will return each day of the week...?”

As a ‘STOP PRESS’ AnonUK may well have supplied the answer as he writes:

“S25 on again this morning [02/11 and just in time for the NL], might be a regular Tuesday sked, 0800z on 11115kHz very strong signal. 637x3 30852x3 44444 37062 for several minutes, 44444 31572 for several minutes, 11111 00000 End 0810z”

[Tnx AnonUK].

V02

The V02 Spanish language station has recovered only slightly since it’s apparent collapse. A few weak sendings were logged by PoSW, Mondays 0530z 9153kHz, Wednesdays at 0600z 9331kHz and Fridays around 0530z [in progress] and at 0600z 9323kHz. PoSW found these transmissions weak and often only just detectable. Despite trying PoSW has been unable to find any trace3 of the hitherto reasonably strong Thursday and Saturday sendings on 8097kHz for the past couple of months.

V02a

Not much was heard of this station since poor weather ravaged the island of Cuba. Then on 22/09 AnonUK offered, "M08a is back on the air, on at 0700z on 9331kHz. So should hear V02a again soon." [See V02 above].

PoSW followed with an interesting find, noting a new schedule for V02a on Friday at 2008z 10175kHz with signals peaking S7, finales at 2039z. He noted that 10175kHz was again in progress at 2024z on 04/10 and not quite as strong as Friday 01/10. Heard again 10175kHz 2017z 07/10 3 ‘Finale’ at 2049z

[Tnx PoSW]

Apart from PoSW’s find of a new schedule for the ‘Spanish Lady’ we are also in receipt of Peter’s logs for September and October, which make excellent reading:

V02c

AnonUK intercepted an unusual Spanish Lady and writes

"There was a V02c on Friday 1st October at 1900z on 10345. First time I have heard one and also at a strange time, they are usually on in the morning. Call was 888 20, then I missed the GC, but it must have been 150 x3 group messages as it ended at 1940z. There was a pause between every 10 groups."

[Excellent AnonUK - Tnx for the report]

V07

Reports on this station have been few, it can be heard on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Its frequency series have been:

Note relationship of ident to freq.

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