Ninetieth edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

(Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 13:16:41 +0000)

Unid stations

PHPZ

10541 kHz, 2315 UTC, 4 Nov., Mode: CW

Remarks:
Duplex net; very active from 2200-0100 UTC.; 5FG & 5LG msg's

Traffic sample:

phpz phpz qtc ar
phpz phpz phpz 116 34 50201 116 bt
zba 184179 929387 639370 026955 bt
05020 32835 80560 81712 11060
8553x 927xx 05020 42656 70560
81605 11070 8552x 930xx 05020
30274 91560 61708 11070 85530
920xx 05020 23744 97458 80000
11098 77187 882xx 916xx 05029
k

(Logged by Attu in Alaska)

Unid 4430 kHz

4430.0 kHz, FSK-CW

Messages like

QQT 934 FM 919876 FOR 238376
8t8 FM 1t1268 FOR 533332
781 FM 1t1t51 FOR 533332 ...
811 FM 919249 FOR 288376
929 FM 1t11tt FOR 533332 k
ar

(Logged by Alf in Central Europe)

Yosemite Sam

This very odd pirate station was responsible for a large fox hunt via the WUN mail server. Over 100 messages flooded the list about a station that only transmitted one single line of text, taken from the well known cartoon. The text was preceded by a short burst that sounds like a radar burst. After the burst Yosemity Sam says "Varmint, I'ma gonna blow yah t' Smithereens". The transmitters were possibly located in a desert in the SW of the USA.

Sam was heard between 19 and 24 December on 3700, 4300, 6500 and 10500 kHz. YS used a loop transmission which started on 3700 kHz. The message was then repeated on the next higher frequency after 10 seconds.

Chris has a sound sample on his website, so if you want to know how this infamous station sounds, check this out:
http://www.spynumbers.com/YosemiteSam.html

Because some see a terrorist behind every tree, the expected link was quickly made. Someone told me very seriously that the mysterious transmission was in fact a wakeup call for extremists to attack the USA during Christmas.

BND

The mysterious European NDB "BND" has been active again during the holidays. Like last year it transmitted "Happy Xmas BDN BDN" on 499.28 kHz during Christmas and "HNY BDN" on 1 January. The callsign "BDN" is probably just the inverse of NDB.