• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Shortwave Number Stations

Have you really OTR? Why do the broadcasters choose such bizarre "instruments" for their signals. I understand that it helps distinguish between them but (quoting the radio 4 programme) church bells recorded on a reel to reel and stretched by time...thats weird!
 
And who's the little man who plays the tape every day at the right time?
 
linesmachine said:
Have you really OTR? Why do the broadcasters choose such bizarre "instruments" for their signals. I understand that it helps distinguish between them but (quoting the radio 4 programme) church bells recorded on a reel to reel and stretched by time...thats weird!
Click to expand...

As I said earlier, they are supposed to be "place-holders," the audio equivalent of television test-patters.

And I seem to recall from my short wave DXing days that occasionally the gongs would abruptly stop, to be immediately replaced by an actual radio program, which would seem to support the above.

Either that, or it's the International Anthem of the Illuminati.
 
gncxx said:
And who's the little man who plays the tape every day at the right time?
Click to expand...

Frank Morgan. (The "little man behind the curtain" in THE WIZARD OF OZ, the 1939 Judy Garland version.)
 
OldTimeRadio said:
gncxx said:
And who's the little man who plays the tape every day at the right time?
Click to expand...

Frank Morgan. (The "little man behind the curtain" in THE WIZARD OF OZ, the 1939 Judy Garland version.)
Click to expand...

I pay no attention to him.
 
Have numbers stations gone FM? I fell asleep with the radio on last night, Radio 2, and was woken by the sound of "Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop... Oooooooowweeeee!" instead of the sounds of Neil Sedaka, or whoever.

Not finding that terribly relaxing, I retuned to Radio 4 for some news but fell asleep again, only to wake up a half an hour later to the "boop" sounds on that channel too. I retuned back to Radio 2 and it was business as usual.

Any idea what that was about? Was it a hidden message?
 
gncxx said:
Was it a hidden message?
Click to expand...

Yes, but only for you.

The orders "Kill them! Kill them all!" will begin next week.

Just thought you'd want to be forewarned. <ggg>
 
gncxx said:
Have numbers stations gone FM? I fell asleep with the radio on last night, Radio 2, and was woken by the sound of "Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop... Oooooooowweeeee!" instead of the sounds of Neil Sedaka, or whoever.
Click to expand...

Is it a digital tuner? Could it be being lured off signal by a near by source?
 
OldTimeRadio said:
gncxx said:
Was it a hidden message?
Click to expand...

Yes, but only for you.

The orders "Kill them! Kill them all!" will begin next week.

Just thought you'd want to be forewarned. <ggg>
Click to expand...

Ah well, who needs pacifism?
 
austen27 said:
gncxx said:
Have numbers stations gone FM? I fell asleep with the radio on last night, Radio 2, and was woken by the sound of "Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop... Oooooooowweeeee!" instead of the sounds of Neil Sedaka, or whoever.
Click to expand...

Is it a digital tuner? Could it be being lured off signal by a near by source?
Click to expand...

It's not a digital radio, it's about fifteen years old. I don't know if its signal could be corrupted, but I don't recall this happening before. Maybe it was some kind of test?

I take it no-one else heard this? Or has in the past?
 
Sounds like a test signal. But I'm sure Radio 2 broadcasts shite 24 hours a day (and some during the night, too). 'Radio Quiet' during the early hours for all you truck drivers out there.

So I guess you're losing your mind. In stereo! And not even the lushest, dulcet tones of Neil Sedaka will save you now.
 
Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Ah well, never mind. Never mind is better than no mind.
 
It wasn't your mobile causing interference was it?
Radio two does indeed broadcast Neil Sedaka throughout the night. Radio 4 however turns off at 1.00 in the morning after Sailing By and the shipping forecast.

I listen to radio 7 on digital. They are serialising The Kraken Wakes at the moment at 12.30 every night and we sit in bed and listen to that! Sometimes we really push the boat out and have cocoa! For the last two weeks it was Day of the Triffids.
 
gncxx said:
Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Ah well, never mind. Never mind is better than no mind.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Don't get that reference.

Is it the Charlton Of The Wheelies speach at the end of 'Planet Of The Humans' where 'he' confronts the 'Statue Of Lesbians'? But with monkies? And stuff?
 
liveinabin1 said:
Radio 4 however turns off at 1.00 in the morning after Sailing By and the shipping forecast.
Click to expand...
It becomes the BBC World Service, until R4 resumes about 0515.
 
Hey Rynner. Do you still listen to the shipping forcasts? I'm not taking the p*ss. I know you're into all that sailing stuff. Do you still do it?
 
Frobush said:
Hey Rynner. Do you still listen to the shipping forcasts? I'm not taking the p*ss. I know you're into all that sailing stuff. Do you still do it?
Click to expand...
When I can stay awake! :D
 
Frobush said:
gncxx said:
Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Ah well, never mind. Never mind is better than no mind.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Don't get that reference.

Is it the Charlton Of The Wheelies speach at the end of 'Planet Of The Humans' where 'he' confronts the 'Statue Of Lesbians'? But with monkies? And stuff?
Click to expand...

From Cheston's cold dead hands!
 
There's a fascinating article in "The Anomalist" issue #1
(free PDF D/L here...http://www.anomalist.com/print/print.html)

Called "The Numbers Game". It goes into loop lines, numbers stations, and a bunch of really crazy phone calls. Definately worth downloading, for the other articles as well.
 
gncxx said:
Frobush said:
gncxx said:
Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Ah well, never mind. Never mind is better than no mind.
Click to expand...
Sorry. Don't get that reference.

Is it the Charlton Of The Wheelies speach at the end of 'Planet Of The Humans' where 'he' confronts the 'Statue Of Lesbians'? But with monkies? And stuff?
Click to expand...

From Cheston's cold dead hands!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one. Where Arnold Cheston fights all those Wombats, whom corner him in that wigwam, and he utters those imortal lines "Get your fingers out of me bum, you silly pervs!" But he's been shot in the neck and it sounds like he's a Dalek. And then they all run away and get the monkies on him.

And "get the monkies on him" is a euphemism for 'getting the monkies on him'.
 
Just curious - has anybody ever tried playing number station numbers on the lottery?
 
OldTimeRadio said:
Just curious - has anybody ever tried playing number station numbers on the lottery?
Click to expand...

I like this idea. Spies noting down the numbers to play the lottery for their pension funds?

It would be a very long ticket, though.
 
I once believed that the Spanish numbers station numbers gave details as to the locations of guerrilla units and the times and co-ordinates for aerial weapons and supplies drops.

But I now suspect that the majority of messages, if translarted, would reveal some permutation of "Santos Diaz in Miami sends 67th birthday greetings to his cousin Emilio Ortega in Santiago."
 
OldTimeRadio said:
Just curious - has anybody ever tried playing number station numbers on the lottery?
Click to expand...

You only do that if you plan on getting stuck on an island after a mysterious trans-Pacific flight you're on crashes onto an island inhabited by a smoke monster, polar bears, and hatches for psychological testing.
 
Apropos of nothing much, I decided to check out the articles on number stations on Wikipedia, and to my horror it says that the famed Lincolnshire Poacher is no longer in operation! I thought these things were hardly ever discontinued, I wonder why? There was something creepily reassuring about knowing the LP was still going, but as of last July it's gone. Can anyone recall any major event that occured then that might have contributed to this? I can't.

The similar Cherry Ripe is still transmitting, though.
 
I've been trying some of the Mossad frequencies, but I couldn't find any number stations there :-(
Maybe they're gone for good? Cold war finally over?
 
uair01 said:
I've been trying some of the Mossad frequencies, but I couldn't find any number stations there :-(
Maybe they're gone for good? Cold war finally over?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but now we have a War on Terror to replace it, the number stations should be going into overdrive! The North Korea situation alone should increase their funding. If spying is indeed what they're for...
 
they're still about, i can't listen at the moment because of chronic interference from a neighbours BT Home Hub, but 4-5mhz is always a good place to look, especially around 4460khz
 
Yeah, I got one by accident a couple of months ago - just a US accent reading the usual one-time pad codes out over and over, then static...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top