Number Stations

[Paul K]

Very interesting and rather spooky article:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24910397

I remember picking up one of these on a radio back in the 1980s. No numbers were being broadcast at the time, but the same bar of music was being played over and over. At the time, I assumed it was some sort of calibration signal or something, like the TV test card, only for radio instead. Presumably, the music was kept going so that the recipient knew he was on the correct frequency while waiting for the numbers to be read out at the appointed time. Have a listen to the two recordings - very George Smiley, if you know what I mean.

[Molyned]

Yes, that takes me back to my amateur radio days. There was a station on which a female just slowly recited 'eins zwei drei vier funf' over & over. She was known here as 'Vera' . The station was believed to be run by the then East Germany spy masters - but who knows ... the truth is out there somewhere
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

[FlyTexas]

Interesting. I've never heard of such a thing. Thanks Paul.

Brian

[nigelb]

Thanks for that link, Paul. Fascinating stuff. I used to listen to shortwave, (especially Autie Beebe) quite a lot before the internet but a lightening storm knocked out my radio and I never replaced it. I never did hear any number stations though.

[cstorey]

Possibly related to this was the "Tesla beat" interference which used to occur on FM stations during the 1970s and early 1980s . It was a regular threshing machine noise that would occur for a few seconds at a time, and was said to emanate from an undisclosed source in Central Asia. Does anyone remember this ?