( Continued from page 36)
Messages begin on the hour in the AM mode and are repeated on the half hour in single sideband.
The stations have their own addressees unique to them and not used by Papa November or the other two letter stations. Here is a typical day's broadcast:
 
 
  DFC37                       DFD21
1500-036 236 450 A    1500-698 154 C
1600-387 400 832 B    1600-413 356 D
1700-698 154 C           1700-036 236 450 A
1800-413 356 D           1800-387 400 632 B
1900-036 236 450 A     1900-698 154 C
2000-387 400 832 B     2000-413 356 D
2100-698 154 C           2100-036 450 236 A
2200-413 356 D           2200-387 400 832 B 

As noted, broadcasts are repeated in upper sideband on the half hour. I have added the letters A, B, C and D to indicate identical messages, that is, message "A" on DFC37 at 1500 is the same as on DFD21 at 2100, etc. You can see that they really are the same station and that, on any particular day, there are four opportunities in the AM mode and four in USB for addressees to receive their traffic.
As with Papa November, DFC37 and DFD21 have unique three figure identifiers. These are:
002/12/20/36/44/47/62/65/69/74/79183/85194195
107/14/16/17/21/29/30/34147/54/57
204/11/25/29/36/37/5 1/59161/73/78/91/95
316/23/30/36/54/56/87/97
400/11/13/14/23/26/28/3 1/35/50/71/83/90
619/23/41/44
651/80 735/84/92
811/17/21/23/27/32140/46/51/52/67/72/80/90
904/14/25/34
991

Because DFC37 and DFD21 have seemingly legal callsigns you would expect them to appear in such utility station lists as the Guide to Utility Stations by Joerg Klingenfuss and the Confidential Frequency List compiled by Geoffrey Halligay. And, indeed, they do! You might think that this is a breakthrough - two numbers stations listed in these publications, with the operator's identity exposed and transmitter locations listed. Unfortunately, the inclusion of these stations does nothing to explain the mysteries. Indeed, the opposite is true. Their inclusion only adds to the intrigue. Take the Klingenfuss Guide first. According to this book DFC37 and DFD21 are operated by the Deutsche Bundespost (the German Post Office). Fair enough. Far-fetched though the idea may be, let's suppose that a company as technically advanced as the German Post Office has a use for a station sending numbers - the telecommunications equivalent of talking drums or smoke signals. We already know that Papa November and the other two letter stations are part of the same organisation as DFC37 and DFD21. Here is the proof:
 
1) The same four female operators were used (until the conversion to voice synthesisers) on DFC37, DFD21, Papa November, etc.
 
 
2) The stations do not duplicate three figure identifiers, as would be the case if they were from separate organisations.
 
 
3) Mixing errors have caused DFD37 to be transmitted on Papa November's frequency.
 
Now, of course, although DFC37 and DFD21 are proper callsigns, allocated to Germany, Papa November, Papa Zulu, Charlie November and all the rest are not. An organisation such as Deutsche Bundespost would not, I think, operate these illegal callsigns. The Confidential Frequency List states that DFC37 and DFD21 are part of an "internal net" and places the transmitter site at Frankfurt, Germany. Intrigued by this, I wrote to the Deutsche Bundespost but received no reply. I next wrote to Herr Klingenfuss and asked why he listed DFC37 and DFD21 but did not list Papa November, etc. His reply didn't really answer the question:
�

"Since several decades nobody has ever succeeded in the exact location and
purpose of these stations. Nobody has ever been able to contact such a station or to get a verification for reception, etc. All what especially those SWLs from America, etc. write and state about these stations are presumptions, guesses and nonsense. From our point of view, monitoring these stations is a waste of time and you get more from reading Bracknell Meteo's Teleprinter coded weather during 24 hours than from monitoring these number stations' for 24 seconds. Consequently, we cannot answer your questions because Klingenfuss Publications considers to give facts and not guesses."
 
But is it therefore a fact that DFC37 and DFD21 are operated by the Deutsche Bundespost? Almost certainly not. It would be interesting to know were, exactly, these callsigns are registered, if, indeed, they are. As mentioned earlier, before automation four distinct female operators were employed in reading out the numbers. They had their own characteristics and delivery styles. One even sounded as though she had a Welsh accent. It became possible to know when certain women were on vacation or perhaps ill. One could often hear them pausing to swallow or take a deep breath, but to their credit I never heard them cough. They were mystery ladies and I tried to imagine them outside the work environment -would anyone else have the slightest idea what they did for a living? What would they say if anyone asked? In one way their voices live on. The voice synthesiser now in use is modelled on one of the real voices. This woman's voice must have been "sampled" before technology made she and her colleagues unnecessary. Imagine being able to switch on a radio and hear your own synthesised, disembodied voice coming out of the speaker!
 

TWO-LETTER GERMAN

As we have seen, Papa November uses four frequencies and DFC37/DFD21 use one each. The other members of this set-up use many frequencies in the 2.0 to 30 MHz range. There are many different callsigns, each of which has its own three figure identifier, although nowhere near as many as Papa November. The format is similar to Papa November. The woman repeats two letters from the international phonetic alphabet four times, after which random electronic tones are played for a few seconds. This goes on for five minutes after which the woman gives the three figure identifier and then the group count. Example:
"Yankee Sierra" 4 times, electronic tones (5 minutes, repeated), "635 635 27
gruppen. 516 516 78 gruppen. Achtung, 635 63527 gruppen." Into five figure
text.
2690 2707 2745 3228 3262 4543 4594 4821 4888 5015 5182 5732 5770 6370 6765 6853
7404 7532 7661 7740 7752 7858 8063 8173 9040 9325 9450 10177 10460 10500 10740 11108
11545 11617 12092 12210 12314 13362 13413 13752 13775 13890 14622 14945 15610 16055 16220
16220 16414 17430 18195 18575 19295 19755 20240 20350 20675 22885
There are at least 40 different frequencies used by these stations. Here is a
complete list of all the stations noted on these frequencies, along with the three figure
identifiers they use:
 
YS-635, 516, 027, 907
CT - 884*465, 223, 286, 032
ST-481, 755
AL-043, 969, 023
PL-855, 131, 679
LG-224, 484, 761
ZO-209, 391, 475, 681
ZB-589, 926, 203
JB-606, 995, 239
TE-460, 103
LE-633, 910, 262
BI-191, 721
SB-527, 962
ZG-763, 405
ER-573, 885
CN - 158, 430
PZ - 143, 625, 374
PB-917, 263, 709
PT - 118, 551
KW-884, 091, 908
UI-443, 778
LA-873, 355, 363
AM- 119, 791
YB - 042, 979, 676
EL-928. 510, 063
ZT-250, 863
LU-998, 031, 456
KR - 737, 171
UL - 137, 781, 218
PG-217, 424, 732
IT- 139, 525
BE-558, 903
TP-004, 975, 738, 696
AU-600,349, 244, 385, 006, 554, 691
UF-234,655, 049
BU-608,073, 492
(Continued on page 38)