( Continued from page 39)
occupation is part of the purpose of sending markers and identifiers but no messages. Perhaps, but what is gained in occupying a frequency like this? You are sending no useful information and your station will not magically assume an air of legality because of the "custom and practice" of using a specific part of the radio spectrum.
The "Rapid Dot" station was last heard in late 1990 and disappeared around the same time as "Bulgarian Betty". Russian language transmissions continue to be unpredictable, as the next station shows.

On 20 March, 1991 at 1910 UTC a CW station was heard in AM mode on 4425 kHz sending the letters Y-T (- .- -) very slowly. After this a Russian-speaking woman which was obviously not a computer voice but a real person, sent a three figure identifier followed by a group count (e.g. 019 gruppi 19). Then the five figure text was sent. After this the station resumed sending YT in Morse. Further traffic followed in five minute intervals:
1920 - 019 Gr. 19
1925 - 001 Gr. 12
1930 - 281 Gr. 14
1940 - 154 Gr. 17
1945 - 993 Gr. 14
1950 - 231 Gr. 13


Each time the letters "YT" were sent in CW between each message. This was the only time this type of transmission has been noted and it seemed to be one of the many "One-Off' stations, such as this next one.

As implied in the heading the woman in this broadcast pronounced the numbers five and three as "fife" and "free". This station was noted on 8072 kHz at 2000 on 3 September, 1989 and on the same frequency 24 hours later. This was the full broadcast:

2000 - "453/2005 Number 107 Groups 28"
2006 - off the air
2009 - "453"
2010 - "Number 107 Groups 28

28398 88153 27594 27329 76115 81658 06287
57612 17438 28089 81164 27859 47530 80888
54304 62774 88810 66611 44889 68458 28868
85276 42127 65524 05232 40444 03357 03132


This station has, to my knowledge, never been heard since. It, along with the next station, is a good example of how number stations can pop up anywhere at any time, never to be heard from again. Because they are heard so briefly we can't pigeonhole them so neatly.

A jazz-style, multi-instrumental piece was playing on 10606 at 1900. At 1905 a woman in German started repeating "40309" for a few minutes, after which "achtung, achtung" was sent and the woman went into five figure groups. The transmission finished with "ende, ende". It, too, has not been heard since

These stations, alleged to be operated by Israeli intelligence (the Mossad) are covered comprehensively in Tom Kneitel's book Guide to Embassy and Espionage Stations (CRB Research) so they'll get only a brief mention here. The current theory is that these are run by the Israeli Secret Service. They are commonly heard on a very wide range of frequencies at most times of the day.

The stations each have their own three letter callsign, such as "Uniform Lima Xray", which is repeated before each message. If a suffix ("2") is included, as "ULX 2", then no traffic is to follow. A "1" suffix indicates a test transmission. A typical transmission would be: ULX ULX .."message message group 47 group 47 text text. .

WASSD..HJJHF...RYGDD..." etc - then, "end of message, repeat, repeat, group 47, group 47 text text WASSD..."

After the repeat the woman says "end of message. end transmission."
Sometimes more than one message is sent in the same broadcast. In this case "Two messages. two messages. message message" would be sent. Apart from the 1 and 2 suffixes, other, more elaborate headings have been sent. The purpose of these is unknown.

Part Three
ODDS AND ENDS

This section contains items and loggings not covered earlier. It includes "One-Off" transmissions as well as mistakes and other oddities. It is by noting errors that one can gain a tiny clue to the operation of these stations.
2707 - "Papa November" sending both synthesised and real voiced messages at the same time (0030), making them impossible to copy.

4370 - Woman in Russian with "187/27" at 2305, then into five figure groups. At 2308 Scheviningen Radio from The Netherlands was on the same frequency sending a shipping traffic list in English.
4740 - An orchestral rendition of part of Verdi's Aida heard repeating from 2000-2005, then off the air.

5091 - Woman with "ULX 2" on the wrong frequency. At 2030 the woman said "JSR 2", which was correct.

5091 - Woman with VLB 2" on the wrong frequency at 1847. WLB 2" switched to the correct frequency of 4665 and "JSR" started on 5091.

5284- A woman sending "Kilo Whisky" from 2130 to 2133. This then changed to "Sierra Tango" until 2135 when a woman in German sent five figure groups. The "Kilo Whisky" identification was a mistake.

5420 - A woman in German repeating "528, 528, 528, 528, 1" from 2000-2015. Then she sent "85,45, 85, 45" and then went into five figure groups. The numbers were terribly clipped, which meant that the "funf' was sent as "unf'. Transmission ended with "00000 " in CW.

5725 - Longest five figure transmission I've heard. Woman in English with "248" from 1900-1905, then "967, 967, 301, 301" at six groups per minute. The broadcast ended with "00000" at 1951 - over 45 minutes in length!

6570 - Woman in German repeating "40905" from 1345-1350 UTC, then the same woman with "30209" from 1350 to 1354, after which five CW "didahs" (the letter "A") were sent. The station then left the air.

6808 - 2000 UTC - A woman in English was repeating "288 and 71" until 2010. Then she said "attention" and went into five figure groups. The "5s" and "9s" were pronounced as "fiver" and "niner".

7375//9465 - Woman in German with a 1 to 0 count and "192" at 2000. The 7375 frequency was also being used by Radio Beijing transmission to the USSR.


7404 - An autovoice test transmission during changeover from a real woman's voice to synthesised voice had "Papa November" sending dummy messages to addressees 524, 602, 307 and 669 - broadcasting at the non scheduled time of 1300.

7445 - Mixing error had "KPA 2" and "MIW 2" interfering with each other at 2115.

7740 - Woman in English with a 1 to 0 count and "260" at 2000. On the same frequency a woman repeating "Foxtrot Sierra" before going into five figure groups at 2005. The counting station went into five figure groups at 2010.

8170 - Man in Romanian repeating "trei patru sase zero zero zero" (356,000) from 2030 to 2035, then off the air. This is no relation to the Romanian "Skylark" station. Apparently, stations that end with "000" or "00000" are operated directly by the Soviet KGB.

9450 - Woman repeating "Foxtrot Bravo" at 1700, interfering with French language broadcast of Radio Moscow. The woman began five figure groups in German at 1705.

9450 - At 1030 a German 2-letter station, "Romeo Kilo", started its transmission
on top of the world service of Radio Moscow. The numbers broadcast could be heard distinctly on top of Moscow's English language program. I managed to record this on a cassette which was then sent to Radio Moscow. I asked if they could identify it. Their reply was included in one of their DX programs. Here it is, as read over the air by their DX presenter:
"I've consulted experts on interference but they were unable to identify it. You know, sometimes over 20 different radio stations operate on the same frequency due to a lack of frequencies. It is permitted by international
rules, however, that transmitters are directed in such a way so that interference does not occur. But, you know, conditions or developments in the ionosphere influence propagation. Radio waves travelling around the globe may thus create this type of interference. And the station that you heard that was imposed on the Radio Moscow world service broadcast could either be a utility station or a meteo station. I don't know exactly."

10655/11685 - Woman in German with 1 to 0 count and "373" at 1800. Similar situation to the last logging. The 11685 broadcast again interfered with Radio Beijing.

11108- Woman repeating "Yankee Sierra" at 1800 on this "Papa November" frequency. The other "PN" frequencies of 2702, 5015 and 7404 were carrying "PN" as usual. A mixing error at the transmitter site.

11108- A mixing error similar to the above had DFD21 transmitting on this "PN" frequency. DFD 21's frequency of 4010 was carrying "PN" at 1800 UTC. The repeat at 1830 was without error.

(Continued on page 41)