Numbers station help please

[BennyAdeline]

I have recently been turned onto numbers stations. Those who do not know what these are can search the frontpage archives for a good explanation. I am very interested in them, but know nothing about shortwave radio. I have a few questions and requests.

1. what type of radio do i need to search for numbers stations.
2. how much does this type of radio cost
3. after getting the radio, how do I search for numbers stations?
4. Does anyone have personal experiences or thoeries about numbers stations? I’d love to hear them.

thank you

[mks57]

You want a general coverage (3-30 MHz) shortwave receiver. An external antenna, if possible at your location, will greatly improve reception.

As for picking a receiver, I would recommend getting the latest edition of “Passport to World Band Radio” and read the receiver reviews. In general, you get what you pay for.

It’s been a while since I looked for numbers stations, but they weren’t too hard to find. Try searching through the utility (non-broadcast) sections of the shortwave bands.

I’ve always assumed that the numbers stations were used for coded messages from controllers at intelligence agencies to their spies and moles, much like the messages the BBC used to broadcast during World War II.

[Green_Cymbeline]

A very cool article from the Washington Post about a guy who became obsessed with numbers stations and starting making interesting recordings and music out of them:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35647-2004Aug2.html

From the article, about what the numbers stations are for:

“…dreamed up during the Cold War: Listen on shortwave radio at a predetermined time and frequency for a message that only you can understand. Numbers stations, it turns out, are the one-way chatter of espionage agencies to their spies. This isn’t conspiracy theory hokum; it’s referenced in a dozen-plus memoirs of assorted ex-spooks and defectors.”
"…no government official, at least in Britain or the United States, would acknowledge this whole system was in place. "

[Squink]

NPR on numbers stations:
Atencion: Seis Siete Tres Siete Cero: The Shortwave Numbers Mystery
Music by the ‘Numbers Stations’

[tanstaafl]

I assume you’ve read Cecil’s article on numbers stations.

Here’s a bunch of MP3 recordings of numbers stations.

[rfgdxm]

@mks57

It’s been a while since I looked for numbers stations, but they weren’t too hard to find. Try searching through the utility (non-broadcast) sections of the shortwave bands.

I’ve always assumed that the numbers stations were used for coded messages from controllers at intelligence agencies to their spies and moles, much like the messages the BBC used to broadcast during World War II.

They are used to communicate with spies. And by necessity they have to be easy to find. These are broadcast to a large area so the other side can’t figure out where the spy is. Also, they need to be transmitted with a very powerful transmitter to make it highly likely the spy will be able to receive them. If the spy were found with some sort of highly specialized receiver this would make it obvious he was a spy. They get around this by making these numbers stations receivable by common, commercially available shortwave receivers. Possession of such is quite common worldwide.

[rfgdxm]

@tanstaafl

Here’s a bunch of MP3 recordings of numbers stations.

One slight error on that page. There is no reason to conclude based on the fact that the messages are in the Czech language that they are aimed at Czech spies. Or that even if they are broadcast from the Czech Republic that nation even knows who the messages are aimed at. The Czechs may be just broadcasting these for profit for clients paying cash, without even being aware what country is paying the bills. For example, if the Chinese were sending these messages to spies in the US, China might intentionally not want to transmit these from China because it is easy through triangulation to figure out what country these messages are being transmitted from. And, since these message are encoded to one time pads, China would have no fear that the US would bribe the Czechs sending these to reveal what the message was. The Czechs broadcasting these would have no clue about the message content.