Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations Radio

Cherry Ripe is the nickname of a discontinued shortwave numbers station that used several bars from the folk song "Cherry Ripe" as an interval signal. The station, which appears to have commenced transmissions in the late 1960s, is believed to have been controlled by the British Secret Intelligence Service. It is thought to have originally broadcast from a base on Guam (a US territory) but moved to Australia in 2009.

Broadcasts from Cherry Ripe consisted of an electronically synthesized, English-accented female voice, reading groups of five numbers, e.g. "3-5-7-6-1". The final number in each group was spoken at a higher pitch. The station was likely used to communicate messages to undercover agents operating in other countries, to be decoded using a one-time pad.

A better-known and more active counterpart, known as the Lincolnshire Poacher, also after an English folk song used as its interval signal, was broadcast from the eastern Mediterranean from the early 1970s until 2008. Many aspects of both stations' broadcasts were identical. The Lincolnshire Poacher used the same synthesized female voice and was also suspected as being operated by the UK government. From unofficial triangulation, its location was determined to be RAF Akrotiri, in Cyprus. Cherry Ripe appeared to assume at least part of the role of the Lincolnshire Poacher after the latter ceased transmission.

In September 2009, the transmitter for Cherry Ripe was moved to Humpty Doo, in Australia. However, in December that year, Cherry Ripe also ceased transmissions

UVB-76, also known by the nickname "The Buzzer", is a shortwave radio station that broadcasts on the frequency of 4625 kHz.[1][2] It broadcasts a short, monotonous buzz tone (help·info), repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, 24 hours per day.[1] Sometimes, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place.[3] The start date of broadcasting is disputed. However, it was allegedly reported to have started broadcasting in 1982. The station is commonly known as The Buzzer[4] in both English and Russian (Russian: Жужжалка). From the start of broadcasting, the station identified itself as UYB-76 (Russian: УЫБ-76).[citation needed] From at least 1997 to 2010, the station identified itself as UZB-76[5][6] (Russian: УЗБ-76). The callsign UVB-76 was never used by the station itself but is rather a mistranscription of UZB-76.[2] However, the station is still often referred to by that name. In the following years of transmission, the main callsign of the station changed regularly. The station transmits using AM with a suppressed lower sideband (USB modulation), but it has also used full double-sideband AM (A3E). The signal consists of a buzzing sound that lasts 1.2 seconds, pausing for 1–1.3 seconds, and repeating 21–34 times per minute. Until November 2010, the buzz tones lasted approximately 0.8 seconds each.[1][7] One minute before the hour, the repeating tone was previously replaced by a continuous, uninterrupted alternating tone, which continued for one minute until the short repeating buzz resumed, although this stopped occurring in June 2010.[8]

Since the start of broadcasting, The Buzzer broadcast as a repeating two-second pip, changing to a buzzer in the late 1980s/early 1990s.[9][10] It briefly changed to a higher tone of longer duration (approximately 20 tones per minute) on 16 January 2003 but has since reverted to the previous tone pattern. These buzzes have gotten longer in duration and deeper in pitch over time, and breakdowns have been more frequent, suggesting the possibility of the buzzes being mechanically generated. Sometimes the buzzing sound is interrupted and a voice message is broadcast. These messages are always given in Russian by a live voice, and follow three fixed formats:

Quick note: A message in the Monolith format always consists of the following parts:

Callsigns, each of which repeated twice in the readout. A callsign always consists of four symbols, each symbol being either a Russian letter or a digit

Five-digit ID groups (amount of items usually follows the number of callsigns)

Message blocks, each consisting of one codeword and eight digits

Example of a Monolith message sent on The Buzzer with exactly one callsign, one ID group,, and one message block (most common type):

Monolith messages can however contain any amount of items from each part:

A message in the Uzor format always consists of the following parts:

Callsigns, each of which repeated twice in the readout

Message blocks, each consisting of one codeword and four digits

Example of such a message: MDZhB MDZhB TsYeNTIM 61 51, Nowadays, Uzor messages are rarely sent on The Buzzer. Komanda is the most uncommon type of voice message. Since it has not been heard for years, messages of this type are most likely not being sent on The Buzzer anymore. They consist of a callsign (readout twice), "ОБЬЯВЛЕНА КОМАНДА" (OB'YaVLYeNA KOMANDA) and the following number.

Example of such a message: Komanda is the most uncommon type of voice message. Since it has not been heard for years, messages of this type are most likely not being sent on The Buzzer anymore. They consist of a callsign (readout twice), "ОБЬЯВЛЕНА КОМАНДА" (OB'YaVLYeNA KOMANDA) and the following number.

Example of such a message: MDZhB MDZhB OB'YaVLYeNA KOMANDA 135

Distant conversations and other background noises have frequently been heard behind the buzzer, suggesting that the buzzing tones are not generated internally, but are transmitted from a device placed behind alive and constantly open microphone. Because of the occasional fluctuating pitch of the buzzing tones, it is supposed that the tones are generated by a tonewheel as used in a Hammond organ. It is also possible that a microphone may have been turned on accidentally. One such occasion was on 3 November 2001, when a conversation in Russian was heard Я – 143. Не получаю генератор... ...идёт такая работа от аппаратной. (English: "I am 143. Not receiving the generator (oscillator)... ...that stuff comes from hardware room.")


Below is a log of unusual signals and other anomalies which listeners to UVB-76 have captured;

In September 2010, several unusual broadcasts were observed; these included portions of the buzzer being replaced with extracts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and in one instance, a sound that resembled that of a woman screaming.

On 11 November 2010, intermittent phone conversations were transmitted and were recorded by a listener (at 14:00 UTC) for approximately 30 minutes. These conversations are available online and seem to be in Russian. The phone calls mentioned the "brigade operative officer on duty", the communication codes "Debut", "Nadezhda" (Russian for "hope", both a noun and a female name), "Sudak" (an alternate name for the Zander, and also a town in Crimea) and "Vulkan" (volcano). The female voice says Офицер дежурного узла связи "Дебют", прапорщик Успенская. Получила контрольный звонок от Надежды... ...поняла. (English: "Officer of the duty station "Debut", ensign Uspenskaya. Received a test call from Nadezhda ... ... understood.") On 17 July 2015, the station broadcast what appeared to be a RTTY signal in lieu of the buzzer The purpose of the station has not been confirmed by government or broadcast officials. However, Rimantas Pleikys, a former Minister of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Lithuania, has written that the purpose of the voice messages is to confirm that operators at receiving stations are alert. Other explanations are that the broadcast is constantly being listened to by military commissariats. There is speculation published in the Russian Journal of Earth Sciences which describes an observatory measuring changes in the ionosphere by broadcasting a signal at 4625 kHz, the same as the Buzzer. The most likely purpose is that the voice messages are some sort of Russian/Soviet military communications. The station being a numbers station for intelligence agencies such as the FSB or the former KGB of the Soviet Union is extremely unlikely due to the fact that messages occur at random, unpredictable times, while numbers stations use a fixed schedule which changes rarely. In addition to that, the non-changing frequency of 4625 kHz and the low transmitter power are unsuitable for reliable communication from Russia to Europe, where spies would be stationed.

The buzzing functions as a "channel marker" used to keep the frequency occupied, thereby making it unattractive for other potential users. The signature sound could be used for tuning to the signal on an old analogue receiver. The modulation is suitable to be detected by an electromechanical frequency detector, similar to a tuning fork. This can be used to activate the squelch on a receiver. Due to the varying emission properties on shortwave bands, using a level-based squelch is unreliable. This also allows a signal loss to be detected, causing an alarm to sound on the receiver.

Another theory, described in a BBC article, states that the tower is connected to the Russian 'Perimeter' missile system, and emits a “Dead Hand” signal that will trigger a nuclear retaliatory response if the signal is interrupted as a result of a nuclear attack against Russia. This theory is also very unlikely, due to The Buzzer stopping / breaking down regularly, potentially triggering the Dead Hand by mistake.

There are two other Russian stations that follow a similar format, nicknamed "The Pip" and "The Squeaky Wheel". Like the Buzzer, these stations transmit a signature sound that is repeated constantly, but is occasionally interrupted to relay coded voice messages. The former transmitter was located near Povarovo, Russia, which is about halfway between Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Moscow, near the village of Lozhki. The location and callsign were unknown until the first known voice broadcast of 1997. In September 2010, the station's transmitter was moved to the nearby city of Saint Petersburg, near the village of Kerro Massiv. This may have been due to a reorganization of the Russian military. Prior to 9 August 2015, the station is not transmitted from the Kerro Massiv transmitter site ("Irtysh") anymore, possibly due to a reorganization of the Russian military for the particular area which may cause the frequency to be used only in the Moscow Military District. At present, The Buzzer appears to be broadcast only from the 69th Communication Hub in Naro Fominsk, Moscow. In 2011, a group of urban explorers claimed to have explored the buildings at Povarovo to find an abandoned military base and, in it, a radio log record confirming the operation of a transmitter at 4625 kHz. Besides the main callsign, there have been transmissions containing different callsigns such as: LNR4 (Russian: ЛНР4), 87OI (Russian: 87ОИ), VM62 (Russian: ВМ62), A1JZh (Russian: А1ЙЖ), MSZh7 (Russian: МСЖ7), OMP4 (Russian: ОМП4), 7U8T (Russian: 7У8Т), VLHN (Russian: ВЛХН), 217O (Russian: 217О), ANVF (Russian: АНВФ), VZhCH (Russian: ВЖЦХ), LNRCh (Russian: ЛНРЧ), VShchCH (Russian: ВЩЦХ), 34ShchK (Russian: 34ЩК), YeDGShch (Russian: ЕДГЩ), 58Shch1 (Russian: 58Щ1), LNR4 (Russian: ЛНР4), 5Ye27 (Russian: 5Е27), M4Z2 (Russian: М7З2), 'M4T (Russian: ЬМ4Т), 5PTsB (Russian: 5ПЦБ), LNTM (Russian: ЛНТМ), ZhD9S (Russian: ЖД9С), 28YA (Russian: 28ЫА), KhIZhJ (Russian: ХИЖЙ), 53AJ (Russian: 53АЙ), AMVS (Russian: АМВС), V'TD (Russian: ВЬТД), YeIYJ (Russian: ЕИЫЙ).

References:

^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h "The Buzzer". October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.

^ Jump up to:a b c "The Buzzer › Priyom.org". priyom.org. Retrieved 16 October 2021.

^ Jump up to:a b Savodnik, Peter (27 September 2011). "Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma". Wired. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ Jump up to:a b Gorvett, Zaria (15 July 2020). "The ghostly radio station that no one claims to run". BBC. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ UVB-76 MDZhB [24.12.1997] [21:58 UTC] (180 08 BROMAL 74 27 99 14), archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ "UVB-76 MDZhB [23.08.2010] [13:35] (93 882 NAIMINA 74 14 35 74)". 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ Jump up to:a b Boender, Ary (January 2002). "Oddities". ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter – Issue 8. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ Jump up to:a b "Russian HF Beacons". 24 December 2000. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ "UVB". Youtube. 2 August 1976. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

^ Boender, Ary (1995). "Numbers & oddities: Column 1". Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ "El misterio de las emisiones de radio secretas". ABC (in Spanish). 26 August 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ Turnbull, Alex (21 July 2009). ""The Buzzer" (UVB-76)". Googlesightseeing.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

^ The Buzzer/UVB-76(4625Khz) February 3, 2021 15:25UTC Voice message, archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ UVB-76/The Buzzer(4625Khz) 11th December 2019 Message #10 9:51UTC, archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ The Buzzer/UVB-76(4625Khz) Feb. 6th 2020 12:16UTC Voice message #6, archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ UVB-76 MDZhB [26.01.2015] [05:59] (CENTIM 61 51), archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ UVB-76 MDZhB [25.01.2013] [02:58] (OB'YaVLENA KOMANDA 135), archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 20 October 2021

^ "Mysteriózní rádio už 30 let vysílá záhadný signál a teď i tajnou šifru", Technet.cz, August 27, 2010 (English)

^ "The Unexplained Signals Of Russian Station UVB-76". Gizmodo Australia. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.

^ "UVB-76". Evan's Media. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

^ "UVB-76 MDZhB [02.09.2010] Swan Lake". YouTube. UVB-76 Activity Channel. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021.

^ "UVB-76 2010-11-11 14.00 UTC". Retrieved 11 October 2012.

^ "Translation by a Reddit user". Retrieved 3 August 2014.

^ "Recording of the phone calls on UVB76". Soundcloud. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

^ "The Buzzer has changed sound?". reddit.

^ "UVB-76 (The Buzzer) appears to be sending out a RTTY-like signal right now. Anyone care to decode it?". reddit.

^ "UVB76 with RTTY". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2019.

^ "Single letter markers – posts from the SPOOKS and WUN listservers". 2000. Archived from the original on 25 November 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2008.

^ Pleikys, Rimantas (1998). Jamming. Vilnius, Lithuania: Rimantas Pleikys.

^ "Военная "Жужжалка" на частоте 4625 кГц. "Buzzer" UVB-76. – Страница 4". Radioscanner.ru. Retrieved 9 October 2012.

^ "Information-measuring complex and database of mid-latitude Borok Geophysical Observatory". 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2012.

^ Geere, Duncan (August 2010). "Mysterious Russian 'Buzzer' radio broadcast changes". WIRED.CO.UK. Retrieved 12 September 2010.

^ "El misterioso zumbido de la estación de radio UVB-76" [The mysterious buzz of the UVB-76 radio station]. El Reservado (in Spanish). January 24, 2011. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2011.

^ wasd. "kwasd's blog " Небольшой фотоотчет с УВБ-76 ("The Buzzer", "Жужжалка")". Blog.kwasd.ru. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.

^ "Sample Buzzer Logbook" (PDF). 22 September 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2016

The Lincolnshire Poacher was a powerful British shortwave numbers station that transmitted from Cyprus from the mid-1960s to June 2008. The station gained its commonly known name as it uses bars from the English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" as an interval signal. The radio station was believed to be operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service. Amateur direction-finding linked it with the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, where several curtain antennas had been identified as being its transmitter. It consisted of a pre-recorded English-accented female voice reading group of five numbers: e.g. '0-2-5-8-8'. The final number in each group was spoken at a higher pitch. The station was likely used to communicate to undercover agents operating in other countries, to be decoded using a one-time pad.

An Asian[clarification needed] numbers station of identical format is believed to have been broadcast from Australia, and nicknamed "Cherry Ripe". It uses several bars from the English folk song of the same name as its interval signal. Cherry Ripe ceased broadcasting in December 2009. The precise date that the Lincolnshire Poacher began broadcasting is unknown; however, it is estimated that the broadcasts started around the early to mid-1970s. While numbers stations have existed since World War I, numbers stations such as Lincolnshire Poacher began appearing during the Cold War, when nations such as the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom needed to send messages discreetly to their operatives in other countries. However, after the Cold War, the number of numbers stations greatly decreased. The Lincolnshire Poacher remained operating after the end of the Cold War and continued to be broadcast into the next two decades. The Lincolnshire Poacher stopped broadcasting in July 2008. The last recorded transmission of the station was on 29 June 2008. It is believed that the station's sister station, Cherry Ripe, began to send broadcasts that used to be intended to be sent over the Lincolnshire Poacher station. This is believed to be true because the "Cherry Ripe" station used a very similar call signal, and broadcast its messages in 200 sets of five-number IDs.

The Lincolnshire Poacher numbers station features prominently in the second series of the BBC Lovecraft Investigations podcast, The Whisperer in Darkness, and also in the Amazon Prime series Truth Seekers. Although the usage of numbers stations has not been confirmed by any world government, amateur enthusiasts have traced the location of the Lincolnshire Poacher's signal transmission to RAF Akrotiri, a Royal Air Force base located on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The station is believed to have been operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and maintained by the Royal Air Force members that occupy the base in Cyprus. The Lincolnshire Poacher was broadcast several times throughout the day and was transmitted seven days a week, at various times and on various shortwave frequencies. This schedule was accurate as of January 2006, which is the most recent update to the broadcast schedule. All times are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and all radio frequencies in megahertz (MHz).

References: "Tracking the Lincolnshire Poacher". BBC Radio 4. 23 April 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2010


Footnotes: "E03 The Lincolnshire Poacher". Retrieved 6 September 2014.

^ "Lincolnshire Poacher". Numbers and Oddities. Retrieved 2008-05-25.

^ Jump up to a b c d Simon Mason. "The Lincolnshire Poacher". Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2008-05-25.

^ "Profile of Cherry Ripe". Spy numbers. Retrieved 2008-05-25.

^ Hundred forty-seventh edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

^ Jump up to a b c d e Mason, Simon (30 October 2009). "E3 Lincolnshire Poacher". Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2010.

^ Jump up to:a b Pepitone, Juilanne (31 July 2008). "Secrets in the Static". Esquire Magazine.


This page was last edited on 28 December 2021, at 03:19 (UTC)

-Wikipedia

The second MfS station to fall silent was characterized by its use of Gong chimes in its broadcast preamble. This station too left the air on Wednesday, May 9th, 1990. It is recorded as operating as early as 1973.

Transmissions began at half-hourly intervals beginning in early evening European Time. The preamble began ten minutes before the actual traffic was due to begin and contained a set of eight separate chimes from an old clock. This was repeated for the ten minutes leading up to transmission time on the hour or half-hour. The traffic began with a traffic list that repeated five times. Preamble: Gong Chimes

Message: Achtung!
06667 Trennung 81
16324 Trennung 26...

The first five-digit number is an agent's address number with the second number representing the group count of that message. Note that each message was preceded by an 8 second period of dead air.

Achtung! 06667 Trennung 81 06667 Trennung 81

76582 76582 40822 40822 43198 43198. Ende

Achtung !

16324 Trennung 26 16324 Trennung 26

43272  43272 87654 87654 16523 16523. Ende.

The transmission ended with an 8-second dead air period followed by one set of gong chimes. Note that the transmitter used for these transmissions was switched off within one minute of the final chime sequence, and was similarly switched on at the very beginning of the broadcast and not before. Traffic was presented at 19 groups per minute in German by a quite harsh computer-synthesized female voice. Pronunciation was of the usual East German standard, Traffic Schedule: Traffic was broadcast at half-hourly intervals in the evening around 1800hrs UTC, with the last transmission beginning at 2300hrs:

Daily Evening Broadcasts

1800hrs to 2300hrs UTC

3258 kHz

Saturday Morning Broadcast

1000hrs UTC

5410 kHz

This half-hourly schedule was adjusted if any transmission exceeded the twenty minutes limit set aside for each broadcast. In such a case the next transmission was carried on the next available half-hourly slot. Transmissions generally contained 6 items of traffic, although 2,3,4, and 5 item broadcasts were commonplace Average total group counts per transmission were:

2 messages 40 to 60 groups

3 messages 50 to 70 groups

4 messages 80 to 100 groups

5 messages 100 to 120 groups

6 messages 130 to 160 groups

Of interest is the tape containing the Gong Chimes - as the years passed, you could hear the tape being distorted. In the early 1970s, it sounded fresh; but by the last 1980’s it had been stretched and worn out, causing the gongs to sound as if they were in a nightmare-like scenario.

Interesting Footnote:

The thawing of the "Cold War", initiated by Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, which lead to the Brussels conference of world powers in November 1990, finally silenced the East German numbers stations on the evening of Wednesday, 9 May 1990, when final messages were sent out to agents in the field. “They were always preceded by a gong being struck several times. Then on shortwave, a frequency of 3220 kHz, (really 3258kHz) one heard a synthetic voice speaking in a metallic tone: eg. one, seven, five, three, eight, combinations of numbers in groups of five conveying coded news from East Berlin to agents in the FGR and neighboring foreign countries. Once again the routine broadcast was expected on Thursday evening by the FGR counter-intelligence service, but it never came. The voice of espionage has fallen silent.”

— West German DPA News Agency

The last transmission consisted of a group of men drunkenly singing the well-known children's song Alle Meine Entchen (All My Ducklings). Before that, one of them says: "Und nun die Sendung fuer das aufgeweckte Kind" ("And now the transmission for the bright child").