ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 26

January 2005
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

Oddities

First, E writes in with details of an ‘Electronic rasping’ he heard:

6700kHz

2003z

05/09

He also heard a rasping on 18110kHz 1714z on 12/09. He noted the 30kHz bandwidth noting the occupancy of the signal extending to 18140kHz.

E also heard another apparently disappeared ‘Buzzsaw’ on 6730kHz 2006z 05/09 along with a comment on its 25kHz b/w extending to 6755kHz.

A two tone rasping noise was heard by E on 6895kHz 1609z 02/10.

Further raspings were heard by E, and reported in his communication of 22/12:

8170kHz	1617z	25/11	[spread to 8205kHz]	E - 35kHz	bw
12205kHz	1531z	25/11	[spread to 12240kHz]	E – 35kHz	bw – described as a tapping.
15950kHz	1605z	25/11	[spread to 15990kHz]	E – 40kHz	bw
17165kHz	1014z	29/11	[spread to 17200kHz]	E – 35kHz	bw
20165kHz	1127z	25/11	[spread to 20205kHz]	E – 40kHz	bw

Thank E, good stuff.

On 27/11 E2k received an email from JRW that read,

“This evening I came across a signal I have never heard before on 4275kHz USB.

4275kHz

2126z

27/11

JRW

“It sounds almost like an idling data link with lots of distortion, but then it has occasional glitches in the signal. The signal here is about S0, but I have an indoor aerial which is far too short for this frequency.”

PLondon immediately listened to JRW’s attached UNID and it was as described. Tuning to 4275kHz PLondon discovered the signal to be chirping away in tandem with a data signal. Whilst PLondon could not identify the signal he recorded it at its apparent optimim freq 4273.9kHz at a steady strength of S5 in his Crystal Palace shack. It was, he thought, a data signal of some type possibly linked to a nearby data signal,. Upon measurement the glitch JRW described was measured as a 2010Hz tone

The spectrogram of such a break can be seen below:

break spectrogram
©PLondon27 November 2004

Whilst that particular break was measured using Spectrogram a more professional package was used to measure another break as 2072Hz.

break spectrogram 2
©PLondon 27November 2004

JRW’s original wave file was of mp3 format and posted to Group files. Thanks JRW.

Here’s another, heard by AnonUK on 5759kHz 0850z 14/12:

spectrogram 3

For the technically minded the rising pulse lasts for 0. 310s and lifts from a freq of 770 to 1640Hz.

Whilst AnonUK listened the signal ceased and was followed by two words that he does not recall. Any ideas on this one please?

Sample in Group Files under UNIDs as 5759 15 Dec.

Robert Wise in Hobart, Tasmania [HbI Radio] writes that he intercepted,

"A strange buzz...its Morse code I think, I starts off with a hum then it stops, comes back than starts beeping, has some Indonesians talking on top.

10095kHz 1417z 12/12

I felt it was using USB and in audio mode, not a CW mode. The beep isn't a strandard beep that you get from amateurs.

Message using WinMX:

EI W I E E I E EEI S E M EEI M E E T E N E EE NE E

I had previously heard strange bubbles or pigeon chirp which was interesting”

8861kHz

1013z

08/12

Both were supplied with samples which were previously uploaded to Files in the Group. Tnx Robert

[Robert runs Hobart Radio International and has produced a piece on Number Stations available from his site, URL available near start of this newsletter]

Backwards music station (XM)

E kicks off with a BMS experience in mid-November:

5179kHz

1806z

13/11

Then onto:

7811kHz

2218z

01/12

[Gert]

Received by Gert, who wrote, "Backward music station active on 7811 kHz. Well active, mostly you hear only a carrier but sometimes going into "music>mode".[Gert]

Chris Smolinski [US] followed on with, "I am hearing what sounds like AFRTS (or whatever it is called today) at 2300z on 7811 USB." [CS US].

Then into 02/12 with Lee [US] "Station is S-5 here in Maryland on 7811 USB at 0044Z. Playing Marvin Gaye forward right now.” [Lee US] and in the early morning as I was preparing to fall out of bed for M10 at 0400z and get ready for work, TomH wrote, "Hearing it now 0345 UTC playing popular music... I think its AFN (Armed Forces Network) It's fading in and out of the noise." [Tom].

[I recall listening to AFN and sport on the medium wave in the early 60's. The music was very good and only offset by the sports coverage. Unfortunately not available in Great Britain now].

11362 kHz

0825z

07/12

Gert

Carriers [Blank ]

Nil Reports

Crackle (XC)

8041kHz

1553z

26/11

Gert

Foghorn

E reports this anomaly as:

8030kHz

1907z

18/08

Jammers

These can be heard with some regularity on: 5320, 5600, 6420, 6880, 7040, 7050, 7070, 8320, 8340, 8515, 9360, 10280, 10470 and 13410, 16176kHz.

Mazeilka (X06)

3-Nov-04	Wednesday	2127 UTC	6,850 kHz	weak signal, first X06 heard for a while, vanished after 2140z, nothing further heard.
28-Nov-04	Sunday	0758 UTC	10,535 kHz	very strong signal with slight background buzz, only the second X06 heard in November. Went on until 0825z - the best part of half an hour - when the tones stopped. Carrier went off shortly after followed by "Twittering" data type signal often noted following on from X06 tones in the past, only stayed on for a couple of minutes.

2-Dec-04	Thursday	2104 UTC	5,838 kHz	this came up a few seconds before 2104z, heard off to the edge of the pass band on a receiver tuned to 5,842 kHz in readiness for the expected E07 transmission at 2110z. The tone sequence was one I had heard before with the last five notes sounding something like the tune "Whistle while you work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves"! Signal strength peaking S8 to S9, vanished suddenly after 2113z, nothing further heard although a few seconds of the "twittering" type data came up around 2121z.

[Tnx PoSW]

10815kHz	1638z	01/12	[RNGB]
10193kHz	0822z	24/11	[RNGB]

S28 [formerly XB]

It buzzes away on 4625kHz.

www.geocities.com/uvb76

4625kHz

0333z

07/11

pipping in background AnonNI

AnonNI kindly sent a txt msg to E2k early Monday morning [0022z 08/11]; it read:

“S28 4625kHz no transmission, checked with 3 receivers, 2359 to 0011z - confirm?” Getting up at 0400z daily I was in no humane condx to confirm; what made being awoken worse was the cat took it upon itself to jump into bed with me and savage me. Rolling over I switched on my ICF-7600 and no, there was nothing to be heard!

At 0816:37z 08/11 I received the following txt from AnonNI: Checked 4625kHz this morning, S28 normally still audible – today, not a sausage. [tnx AnonNI].

S30 [The Pip]

Continues to dominate 3757kHz in the 80M band also 5403.9kHz.

On 10/10 on 6657kHz E reported hearing a Pip like beep repeating every 1.5s at 1512z [Tnx E]

Frogs [XFR]

A surprise interception of this peculiarity prior to E11 start up:

7663kHz

0750z

30/12

PLondon

Slot machine (XSL)

XSL is heard on 4152.5, 4231, 4290.5, 6249.5, 6416.5, 6444.5, 8312.5, 8587.5 and 8703.5kHz. USB mode

Still being heard in US, Oceania and like areas. E2k would like to receive details of any observations made in Great Britain, Eire and Europe please.

XSL general transmission times [freqs of 8588.0//8703.5]

Sun	1500z	1600z	1900z
Mon	0900z	1700z	2215z
Tue	1510z	1530z	1600z
Wed	1400z	1500z	1545z
Thu	1600z
Fri	1450z	1600z	2140z
Sat	1400z	1600z	1700z

The text via <http://www.geocities.com/hfasia/files/Japanese-PSK.html> describes the Slot Machine as Japanese PSK with a Vertical bandwidth of 3kHz. It states frequencies in use as:
4152.5, 4231, 4290.5, 6249.5, 6416.5, 6444.5, 8312.5, 8587.5, 8703.5kHz

XSW [Squeaky wheel]

3829kHz continues to be the home of XSW.

3829kHz

0330z

04/11

AnonNI, gd sigs

XWP [Wop Wop]

This particular sound can be heard doing its stuff around the 6 and 8MHz bands. Note that the signal changes frequency every 20 mins and takes the odd break too. Believed to be Coastal Radar, samples exist in our sound samples file in group.

8031kHz

1605z

02/10

Teleprinter 4710

Can be heard on the usual frequencies of 4710, 6702, 9000kHz, 11122kHz [daytimes] and 15020kHz [evenings].

4710kHz	0330z	07/11	carrier only	AnonNI
6702kHz	0331z	07/11	carrier only	AnonNI

More Info on 'oddities' can be found on Brian of Sussex excellent web pages:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/brogers/page2.html
Frequency information and trends can be downloaded from:
http://www.cvni.net/radio/

Thanks to AB, AF, Anon UK, AnonNI, Anon Scandinavia, AR, BMDartford, CD, D of Kent, 'E', GallusGallus, Gert of Holland, HFD, IB, IW, J of Aylesbury , JM, JMM, K of Kent, LP, LW Ben Mesander, Mike of Kent, Mark Slaten, PLondon, Peter of Saffron Walden, RNGB, and all others for their contributions to the Morse, Voice and Oddities columns.