ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 33

March 2006
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Polytones
Favourable comments | German branch | Numbers predictions
E03 & E03a prediction charts | RDF bearings | Gross misuse of MoD email system
Cuban schedules | G06 schedules over a year | E11 schedules over a year
Software defined radio | If it had not been for 15 minutes (2/6)
HJH's watch | News Items | Web sites | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home

Morse stations news

Morse is Dead, Long live Morse.

As your CW editor I’ve watched and listened with great dismay over recent years at the countless announcements of closure of various CW facilities world-wide.

An opinion prevails, fuelled by and rife within the popular media, that in this age of high technology there is no longer any use for such an archaic, primitive, simple, outdated and slow mode of communication. !!!!!!!

Even the worlds “advanced! !” military powers had started drastically reducing, or even completely stopping, the training of CW operators as they did not consider it as being cost effective compared to their “mega money” all singing – all dancing – make the coffee - integrated multi function - frequency hopping – watch it on TV - warfare control & communication facilities.

Oh boy !

Then reality, provided by mother nature, hit back with a vengeance.

A series of Major Hurricanes hits the US, a Tsunami hits Indonesia, a Major Earthquake hits the Indian continent, and all just as a taster of things possibly to come, particularly if you are a supporter of the Prophets of Doom.

So what happened to all this expensive high tech :-

Power out, Cell-phones out, Sat-phones out, Landline Networks out, Cable Networks out,

Command & Control networks out, Radio stations out, TV stations out, Road & Rail infrastructure out,

Food & Water Distribution out, Fuel Distribution out – and much much more.

Then the Politicians and Military Brass get a dose of the “Heebie Jeebies” as they realise they have no info, no control, no comms, no access, NO SPIN and billions of dollars worth of super high tech useless junk, just to rub the salt in.

Within a very short time scale large numbers of the affected populations are forced into a grim “live or die mode” and have to endure all the deprivation, suffering, brutality, unrest and crime that goes with a “No Control” scenario.

Then, out of the blue, there arrives a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel - information.

Where is it coming from, who is providing it.

Why, the CW boys of course – Amateurs, Ex- mil, anyone with the ability.

In one case even carrier pigeons.

How, mainly with milliwatt QRP kit, some even cobbled together from “string and chewing gum”, run on batteries charged up by small solar panels often “on loan” from roadside traffic monitoring installations, some by “bicycle power”, but it worked , and worked successfully – while all the expensive junk didn’t or couldn’t.

Did the mass media acknowledge this, well there was the occasional passing comment, but it was not regarded as “glamorous enough” to give the credit it warranted.

But all was not lost, the various emergency planners had noticed – and then rapidly started integrating this unique resource into their severely damaged networks, in some cases it was the only network, for days on end, – and it saved the bacon of many an “expert”.

Those emergency personnel have at last, and very wisely, made their voices heard, they are actively planning to fund and locate low cost, low power, highly portable QRP CW equipment widely into many identified “at risk” communities.

In a number of areas the training of new CW operators is already well under way, and authority is regarding it as an essential front line facility.

CW is back – and here to stay, not that it ever went away – to the enlightened ones. [I might add that one member was involved in a very urgent requirement for Morse Keys and trainers in 1991. What is more perplexing is that these rather well made devices are selling in ebay for over £40]

While writing this I thought “how would I manage without power for days, or even weeks” the answer was not very pleasant.

The CW numbers scene has certainly “hotted up a bit” in the first 2 months of 2006 and is providing us with some new opportunities, logging stations that have been unheard for a few years is quite a thrill.

Beginners Corner (or CW 101)

A number of our “voice” contributors are now plucking up courage and venturing into the wonderful world of CW via the route of using PC based decoding programmes, so a few words of guidance, again, will not go amiss.

PC Decoders are available in a wide range of “flavours” and are providing a very mixed range of results. There are no particularly good or bad progs so we have no specific recommendations to make. All have their little idiosyncrasies and varying facilities, it’s a matter of finding what is best in your individual circumstances.

An identical programme used on different PCs in different locations can have markedly differing results, however they all have similar failings :-

They do not cope very well with weak, noisy or rapidly varying strength TX’s, so it’s very handy to have an adjustable signal threshold – it may help in some marginal cases.

Most do not cope well with TX’s that have a short “inter word spacing”, although the ear will spot it, but some do allow a small change in that spacing to be made – you need to be very gentle here.

None will cope with an uneven (sloppy) hand sent TX for more than a few characters.

None will cope well with 2 very closely spaced signals, although the ear can easily differentiate them.

Few can cope successfully with good high speed TX’s, and none with a poor one, but then neither do the majority of “average” CW listeners, so these stations are for the experts.

Most programmes appear to have a “preferred” centre freq to give the best overall results, and this can be quite tight so experiment with it, it may not be an ideal freq for the operator.

This may initially sound as if I’m decrying decoders, I’m certainly not, but being aware of their inherent limitations allows us to more successfully use them as a valuable “training aid” in learning very basic CW, without having unrealistic expectations of the results.

You need to concentrate, but only in short bursts to start with, I’d suggest at most 5 mins as you’re not trying to catch a whole TX , yet, build up your time in stages that you are comfortable with.

Use a pair of decent comms headphones if you can obtain them, (they pass audio freqs only, typically 200 – 3000 Hz), NOT expensive HiFi ones – they’re a total waste of your money for use in our hobby.

Ex pilots ones are very good – the lower & mid priced ones tend to get discarded if the mic packs up on the combined headset / mic so make contact with your local flying club or “grass strip” and let them know you’ll buy broken ones, but only at reasonable prices.

(Brilliant for general monitoring too – designed exactly for the job. Ed)

Keep the volume down to a comfortable level, you do not hear any more by turning up the volume.

Only practice for your first few listening hours on strong clean sigs, using the Newsletter predictions as a guide, M03, M13 & M45 are a good starting point.

You only need to learn 0-9 for starters, 5 (..... ) and 0 ( _ _ _ _ _ ) you’ll pick up in minutes, while the “short 0” ( _ ) stands out a mile, so only 8 more to go.

Print yourself a large sized 0 – 9 CW chart, in about 20 point bold, and just study the di – dah patterns for a short while, then place it where you can see it with “one eye” but out of direct vision.

(some tutors do not recommend this – it’s your choice, I’ve used it successfully )

The decoder will always lag slightly behind the audio sig, so turn it into a “game” and try to beat the decoder in recognising the TX’d number, you’ll surprise yourselves just how very quickly you recognise the patterns, and how pleased you’ll feel in accomplishing it.

During this learning process you will also have picked up a few things almost without realising it as they are the very common “procedure shorthand codes”, don’t worry about them.

Those most frequently used with number stations are :-

• V strings (a common tuning signal)...–...–...- sounds a bit like a train going over rail joints.
• (If you hear these stay with it, there could be a number station coming up)
• The “break sign” =, sent as BT, both letters sent as one -... –
• The “end of message sign” sent as AR, both letters sent as one. -. -.
• The “end of transmission sign” (rarer than AR) SK, both letters sent as one... -. –
• The “repeat sign” or “interrogative” sent as IMI, all letters sent as one.. - -..

The last trick, after you feel comfortable with your progress, is to try and beat our CW Editor who spots PC decodes from 100 mtrs, well only because he gets loads of correct logs after a good clean transmission, but if it’s been a weak / noisy / poor one only those with “good ears” will send it in.

Nevertheless ALL logs are read, and appreciated, as they are used as a continuous check on our prediction lists.

. -. -..

Here is a representative sample of the very many CW logs received.

Mystery Station, currently only being heard in USA on 6975kHz MCW at c16.00z. Appearing on a known V02a sked, the content is very variable and has a passing similarity with the V02c format, so far, although there are many groups being TX’d – over 400 - there are breaks, disruptions and incomplete groups. The informed speculation at this stage is that it could be the Cubans carrying out trials with a new system, considering all the problems with M08a it’s a possibility, but this yet remains to be established.

T, GD, Tom & Mark are on the case so we will find out, sooner or later.

Unid1 per IB

Unid2 per IB

Unid3 per MoK

M01/1 (197 skeds) MCW, hand

M01b

M03 ICW, some CW

Freqs
4180/1, 4505, 4840, 4909, 4958, 5358, 6849, 7317, 7377,8088, 8544, 9443, 9610, 9950, 10210, 10384, 11486, 12660

M03c

M08a ICW

Still having fun with late/early starts, “watery” TX’s, wrong skeds, stopping to change freq – all the bits that make this one so interesting.

Freqs
3025, 3244, 3926, 4027, 4173, 4478, 6797, 6854, 6933, 7320, 7480, 7519, 7526, 7555, 7580, 7680, 7887, 7890, 7975, 8009, 8135, 8186, 9062, 9152, 9238, 9323, 10125, 10235, 10344, 10346, 10446, 10566, 11432, 11565, 13374, 13418

M08c

M10 ICW/MCW, some CW

Freqs
3522//3659, 3522//3810, 3522//4007, 3522//5027, 3522//5076, 3522//5301, 3563//5094, 3583//4007, 3631//5471, 4030//6763, 4485//6758, 4836, 4958//7605, 5027, 5945, 6945, 9383, 9986, 10582, 14978 [See DoK’s Slavic Desk for info on schedules]

M11

Rolling 4 wk sked.

Still doing its thing on 5019kHz, 09.00z, missed out Wed 9 Feb, Mon – Fri same mssg

M12 ICW, some MCW/CW, short 0

One of the most prolific CW stations, freqs can vary +-2k

Noise noted on sig of some skeds, 20.00/20/40z, “982 1 671 105” 72459 etc

Additional freqs

3997, 4042, 4451, 4552, 4622, 4826, 4868, 4978, 5126, 5203, 5243, 5403, 5442, 5788, 5862, 5878, 5883, 5888, 5903, 5934, 6782, 6856, 6883, 6947, 6978, 7657, 7697, 7849, 7983, 8036, 8084, 8173, 9107, 9164, 9181, 9338, 9352, 9926, 11020, 10569, 10681, 11438, 13384, 14522, 15862

M13 ICW/CW rare MCW

A couple of late starts noted !!, some TX’s with key clicks.

Where’s the 07.00z 5298+-kHz gone to ?

I asked at the start of M13 where had 07.00z 5298kHz gone to, well now we know, after some detective work by GD we had this: -

“I have been looking for this M13 ID 572 for some time, first time an old log has been useful. The old log from 1997 was for 0700 on 5298 ID 752. The ID was probably a typo, as it was sending 572 today. I listened first on 5298, the 1997 frequency, and started to tune and found it on 5299 with a weak very chirpy signal. The interesting thing is that I tuned with another receiver, which was set to a lower frequency, and found a much stronger signal on 5287. What I am wondering is did they have the same spurious frequency in 1997.

The message number was correct 258 GC 22.”

(and we’ve been looking in the wrong place!!. Ed)

• 21 Feb, 5287kHz, 07.00z “572 = 258 22”

Two things jumped out of this log and report : -

• You never know when a piece of historical logging will help to solve a current quest.
• We’ve had a number of “chirpy sig” reports in recent months, and not only for M13, so a quick 20k up/down could be handy.

Freqs
3318, 3428, 3824, 3843, 3863, 4042, 4073, 4126, 4188, 4365, 4473, 4685, 4688, 5062, 5215, 5247, 5274, 5287, 5355.5, 5359, 5377, 5574, 5715, 5767, 5779, 5783, 5832, 5864, 5887, 6283, 6314, 6352, 6378, 6382, 6388, 6455, 6574, 6884/5, 6933, 6936, 6993, 7533, 7825, 7887, 7921, 7927, 8077, 8107, 8113, 9264, 9473, 9878, 10878

Sample of complete TX (tks MS)

The following is copy of an M13 "458" sked:

458 (R5) BT 256 20 BT //2300z //6885m //QSA 4
45563 04445 04043 24664 24758
27213 32947 19648 17152 14329
23534 33674 41523 20064 61356
45621 27049 04798 30887 36860
BT //2310z
458 (R1) BT 256 20 BT
45563 04445 04043 24664 24758
27213 32947 19648 17152 14329
23534 33674 41523 20064 61356
45621 27049 04798 30887 36860
BT 0 0 0 //2315z
//End of sked//

M13a

2^nd/4^th Mon/Tue special sked.

M13b ICW

M13e

Monthly ID change

M14 MCW, short

M23 ICW

At last we’re having some regular success with catching this one, well done CW team.

Starting on :-

A great catch by GD, first M23 mssg he’s caught since July 05, and since this station keeps moving skeds it’s always a “pot luck” catch

Wonder if this station is going to “come to life” again, Ed.

Then F-NL grabbed this one

Then again on :-

GD was at this point able to confirm that these TX’s were M23’s, with apparently a very peculiar and previously unseen intro structure, the output of an auto decoder was too garbled to accurately decode, but GD, intrigued, and intent, on making sense of what had been reported went “on watch”.

He was rewarded at 18.30z with intercepting a complete TX which is given below, this structure has never been seen before and it gives us a little more information into the behaviour of this strange station.

665 123 548 015 620 366 156 984 512 308 665 785 691 035 461
984 512 302 564 128 974 658 366 357 951 258 456 025 410 362
966 866 235 145 987 966 012 548 950 266 325 954 123 951 668
= 33 33 = 13066 78849 then 29 x 5 fig groups 71040 45747 = IMI IMI =
Message repeated
Ends AR AR

Then JoA grabbed this

While BR catches it again on 14 Feb, same sked & TX, but with only 5min pauses, no sign-off

Brian thinks this one was sounding like El-bug keying.

Then on 15 Feb he catches same sked but with 12 min breaks, again, no sign-off.

Looks as if there is a change in habit and a return to a regular slot using 5665kHz instead of the 2004 7795kHz freq and a time change from 15.00z to 14.00z. Will not be expected daily but to appear in bursts of a few days duration. Strange how the pauses vary so much.

Logs appreciated.

The station info will be updated in our documents, as appropriate, in due course.

M45

M50

Here’s another surprise from the headphones of GD.

M50 puts in a dual appearance after some 5 years un-logged, when we last reported a change of freq.

Then on 15 Feb FN catches same sked clg 475 069 50, then again 22 Feb with QRM4, followed by :-

A new sked.

Very interestingly this freq was then used by M01 for 1 Mar 16.20 sked ??? – a Test TX

GD’s current thinking is that this station may be a training station for M01 / M01b, based on its characteristics. Will continue ongoing monitoring.

Wonder if an M50a will now turn up, Ed.

M55

Still with us on its Tue / Fri 13.00z 12150kHz slot clg 698 null, started in 1997 and never sent a message (that’s ever been logged) so we still do not know the format.

***Tue/Thu 9254 22.00z *** Possible sked, keep a look-out.

M62

FN caught this

M76

Bogus 4 dig c/s station. Currently on 3819kHz.

We need help tracking this one down again, not logged since 17^th Dec 05, then suddenly bursts into life.

ML caught this.

Will move freq in March to 3280kHz and probably fade out Apl/May due to propo.

A difficult station, only GD & ML currently logging, anyone up for the 05.00z sked during March before we lose it, it is essential to read the profile.

A complete description of the structure of these TX’s will be found in the Detailed Morse Stations Profile List, available off group site.

M87

M89

Perhaps this one needs a much closer look, Ed.

AF, BR, C-De, CX, Et, DoK, GD, FN, F-NL, HFDIB, JoA, J-P, LW, Malc F, MoK, MoWS, ML, MS, Plondon, PoSW, RNGB, S i H, Anon UK, Anon2 Eu.

Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Polytones
Favourable comments | German branch | Numbers predictions
E03 & E03a prediction charts | RDF bearings | Gross misuse of MoD email system
Cuban schedules | G06 schedules over a year | E11 schedules over a year
Software defined radio | If it had not been for 15 minutes (2/6)
HJH's watch | News Items | Web sites | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home