Somre Kids Were Scared of Clowns

Not me. This is what used to get me:

Radio in the Age of Waiting



Cuban Number Stations

They're still at it. Heaven only knows why. The Radio Intrigue log has a list of times and frequensies for their activity in February.

Times in UTC, Freqs in kHz. VO2A 0200 5762 Sat 0800 5898 Fri 1900 12180 Tue-Thu 2000 13380 Tue-Thu M08A 1300 7578 Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 1400 8097 Tue-Fri 1800 8097 Mon-Wed, Fri 1900 6785 Mon, Wed-Fri 1900 8097 Mon, Wed,Fri 2000 7554 Mon-Fri 2100 6932 Wed, Thu 2200 7519 Mon, Wed, Fri 2200 8009 Thu 2300 8009 Mon, Wed 2300 8135 Tue, Thu-Fri

Cache, cache... It seems Fidel has friends in hidden places it seems.

Shortwave Music?

You bet. Myke Weiskopf shreds tracks using the mysterious sounds of the long-range airwaves.

Nice Glockenspiel, Lady!

Creepy Number Station goodness, for all you wierdos out there.



I say it’s art.

Despite its Name and Signature tune

It was called "Freheitsender 904" or Freedom Station 904, and actually broadcast on 908 AM/MW out of the East German transmission site at Berg, which also happened to be where "Soldatensender" for NVA soldiers was transmitted from, as well as a Station broadcasting to Soviet troops, and the DDR's only longwave radio tower.

It's a peek into a very strange world, thankfully lost to time. I know, I know... it isn't a number station, but it was a very strange form of propaganda, especially given that it would only broadcast for 30 minutes at a time.



"Enjoy." If you can, that is. If you don't recognize the present use of the tune, then check here.

Origins: Stoking Anti-Globalization

Founded on the theory that those Mexicans didn't need jobs anyway, a typical "editorial" from the golden age of self-delusion.



A Radio Berlin International broadcast from 1972

A Cold War Radio Fragment

Radio Berlin International (DDR) - circa 1981

Jammin' 'til the Break of Dawn

One can easily forget how it was not that long ago that transmitting honest news was a hard thing to do, and that people in oppressive states had to rely on word of mouth to find out what was going on in the world. One always had to suspect that there was falsehood in it as well.

AFN 1107khz from Kaiserslautern Recieved in Berlin

Recorded 26 December 2011 using a cheap reel-in wire antenna suspended out of a window into a closed exterior courtyard.

Number Station Remix

The vibe is the essense of "joyously grim".

The Tale of a Number Station

Station UVB-76 / MDZhB started out as a Soviet military/intelligence number station. Glasnost and defunding have laid it bare. Interstingly enough, it has a fanbase that uncludes radio DXers and club-track remixers:

Today, the Buzzer’s fan base includes Kremlinologists, anarchists, hackers, installation artists, people who believe in extraterrestrials, a former Lithuanian minister of communications, and someone in Virginia who goes by the moniker Room641A, a reference to the alleged nerve center of a National Security Agency intercept facility at an AT&T office in San Francisco. (“I am interested in ‘listening,’” Room641A tells me by email. “All forms of it.”) All of them are mesmerized by this bewildering signal—now mostly buzzing, once again. They can’t help but ponder the significance of it, wondering about the purpose behind the pattern. No one knows for sure, which is both the worst and the best part of it.

The station's output is being relayed over teh internet by a dedicated enthusiast. It can be heard here.

These are the Bad Old Days

Between the Koreas, there is still a Radio War going down.

Radio kooks and crazies, such as your correspondent's faithful readership may delight in trying to bag these obscure transmissions.

Random DX Report

A number station of undetermined origin was heard 15 June 2011, 0135 GMT on 6767 khz. 5 digit cifer was read in multiple languages by what sounded like a computer generated female voice.

It went off air at 0140 GMT.

The use of number stations is an ‘old school’ method of communicating with your spies from the home land to the nation where they are doing their surveillance without being detected.

The strength of the signal and the use of this reliable but primitive method of messaging suggest that it likely originated in Cuba, Venezuela, or transmitted from sea.

Not So Distant, Not so 'Ago'

Shortwave listeners... yes, both of you, will enjoy this. A British group has been refining software that harvests what remaining SW transmissions are still being broadcasted out there in the murky land of spookdom.

Building on the huge successes of previous editions, Version 3.5 delivers to users a vast array of signals intelligence gathering tools and provides far more comprehensive functionality to cope with today's dynamic signals collection environments. HARVESTER just got better.

In a rapidly changing world where major events impact on all our lives, you need to keep one-step ahead of the news. Signals Intelligence can give you that edge but valuable time can be lost sorting, storing and searching through collected intelligence.

The HARVESTER family of SIGINT database applications provide unique and cost-effective solutions to a wide range of collection requirements. From a network enabled multi-user collection system to the standalone radio enthusiast, HARVESTER provides real-time solutions for all COMINT, ELINT or FISINT signal intercepted between 0 Hz to 100 GHz.

My next radio indulgence will be this dandy little trifle:



Frankly, I have too many of the groovy old ones to keep up with. Owing to their vintage, they may start getting the attic treatment, where they are cleaned, boxed, and forgotten for another decade.

English Language Government External Service Radio Stations

Tune in now, before the world runs out of radio waves.

Radio station	Country	Format		Notes
Deutsche Welle	Germany	WMA RAM	48 Kbps 64 Kbps
Radio Netherlands	Netherlands	RAM WMA	32 Kbps 32 Kbps
Polskie Radio dla zagranicy	Poland	WMA	64 Kbps	Various languages
Radio Romania International 1	Romania	WMA	64 Kbps	Various languages
Radio Romania International 3	Romania	WMA	64 Kbps	Various languages
Voice of Russia Ch.2	Russia	.m3u	64 Kbps	English service
Radio Ukraine International	Ukraine	WMA	128 Kbps	Ukrainian, English, German
BBC World Service	United Kingdom	RAM WMA PLS	32 Kbps 32 Kbps 24 Kbps
ABC Radio	Australia	Flash	Flash
Radio New Zealand	New Zealand	WMA	32 kbps
China Radio International	China	WMA	64 kbps
Radio Taiwan International	Rep. of China	RAM WMA	32 kbps 32 kbps	Podcast
KBS World Radio	Korea	WMA	CH1/64k	In 11 languages
Voice of America Music mix News now	USA	WMA WMA	32 kbps 32 kbps
NHK	Japan	Mp3 Mp3	Newscast TV audio
Radio Habana Cuba	Cuba	WMA	20 kbps	Spanish, English
Other: TV Links
International TV online			HTML links	Iinks not verified
News TV online			HTML links	Iinks not verified