| G4 |
| STATUS- INACTIVE |
| G4 3-note Oddity Version 1
G4 3-note Oddity Version 2 |
| Note from Bill in Ohio, USA about the possible origin of the 3 tones: "The three notes of the Three Note Oddity sound very similar to the so-called "SIT tones" heard at the beginning of recorded telephone intercept messages. The pitches are somewhat lower but it's very similar, right down to the slight flatness of the top note. I don't know if they use SIT tones outside of the US, so I've included a recording of an intercept message with the tones. Try slowing this clip down to 4000 Hz (half speed) and listen to those three tones at the beginning of the message, and you'll see what I mean." Sorry Hear this piece of music composed by Jimmy in Oxford, comprising of G4 and G7 samples. 3-Note (plays in Winamp) Another piece composed by William J. Spiropoulos base on 3 note oddity. |
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THREE NOTE ODDITY Courtesy ENIGMA Group. A Very Odd Pair-Family XII This family contains two members, M29 (VDE) which has two variants M29A and M29B and G4, it�s German language arm. The Morse arm operated several schedules, daily, twice weekly, or weekly. Both M29 and G4 change their frequencies monthly and starting times vary an hour between summer and winter. M29, whose schedules are most likely to change (as there are more of them), may begin at five-minute interval within the hour, but generally prefer h+00 and h+30. G4 generally only operates one schedule, although others occasionally appear for short periods. VDE-Canadians in Hungary? The only Morse format in use at present in M29A, which is more complex than the voice format. Unlike G4, it uses the bogus callsign �VDE� officially allocated to Canada. Like so much about this station, the reason for this is unknown and lies back in the mists of time, for this family was already around during Cold War days. The call consists of VVV VVV DE VDE VDE VDE sent repeatedly for five minutes at average speed. This is followed by the preamble- a pause, more VDEs another pause and a two-figure group repeated once (purpose unknown). A second two figure group, also repeated once, follows-this is the Group Count which is always between 10 and 40-usually in the 20s. After this comes a date of month group (a single or double figure repeated once 1-31 referring to date of first transmission of message) and a four-figure time group (repeated once). This last group refers to the time in UTC of the first sending of the message and would usually end in either 00 or 30. After a short pause the message follows consisting of paired five figure groups, nearly always of a unique non-random nature. This string of groups ends with AR (end of work). Repeats are sent 30 minutes later on a frequency 2100 kHz higher or lower depending on time of day. A further pair of repeats may be sent later in the day. Short zeroes are used and the transmission mode is basic i.c.w. Messages are changed on a weekly or monthly basis. Achtung G4 Calling G4 transmissions start at any five-minute interval within the hour with a repeated sequence of three rising electronic notes. This continues for five minutes when, after a pause, a woman�s voice shouts as if on a parade ground. �Achtung, Achtung�, after which the message follows in paired non-random five-figure groups, before ending with �Ende, Ende�. Another �Achtung, Achtung� and the message, (with �Ende, Ende�) is repeated. Note the complete lack of preamble, lack of call sign and the repeat-unlike M29. G4�s long-term regular Sunday schedule has been with us for many years with two transmissions: 2005 and 2035 UTC. These are now repeated every Thursday-same time and frequencies. As with M29, the 2035 repeat is sent 100 kHz higher. The frequencies change monthly along with the messages, which have always been repeated throughout the calendar month, but recently there have been a few cases of two messages per month. Such an increase in traffic has never been known before. Like M29, the same unique non-random message groups have been used for many years, but again quite recently, there have been transmissions where random groups have been sent throughout messages. Like everything about this station, known as the Three Note Oddity, frequency usage is peculiar. A notable feature is its complete disregard for ITU frequency allocations (and call sign regulations). The family has used any frequency between 3130and 8752 kHz and its repeats half an hour later always stick to the 100 kHz rule, regardless of who may already be using the frequency. There is no easy way to predict the regular frequency changes, but long term monitoring has produced patterns. For example, G4 Sunday/Thursday schedules has operated as follows: As a month in one year may use the same frequencies in the same month of the next year, but this pattern doesn�t continue year after year. Sometimes, due to the inflexible frequency use pattern, there may be other strong transmissions sharing the same channel and G4 may be swamped, usually however, the signal is very good in this country. Due to the non-random nature of nearly all of the messages, the particular form of encryption used means that the messages are not sending text, i.e. sentences made up of words. All other number stations which send messages in blocks of groups are sending text, but this family in unique in this respect. Random groups only stared to appear this year. Here�s an example of the non-random structure G4 SEP 98 23 Groups 32587 05458 32125 45214 65212 85458 65458 65458 54120 45120 45200 45158 65425 54214 74548 35458 62102 85402 78521 84522 14520 87458 32125 Total number of figures: 23 x 5 = 115 This family is believed to originate from the transmitters at a site just outside of Budapest. Its frequencies indicate its operations are restricted to Europe and are routine and generally very stable. Use of German by G4 probably indicates that its target country is Germany (less likely tan directing German-speaking agents/illegals elsewhere. M29A is obviously aimed at trained Morse operators somewhere in Europe; the biggest mystery is the continuing of these operations unchanged since the height of the Cold War. Interestingly, the distinctive voice is the same as used by the now extinct G3, East German gongs/chimes station. 3-NOTE ODDITY (G4) Frequency List Thanks to: H. F. Dumrese Latest news: G04 4852kHz 2135z
07/03[84821...]YL AM S9+10dB in South London, Great
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