Numbers Broadcast
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- Chief Pilot
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Numbers Broadcast
There is a diverting thread on TOP about Cold War spy radios etc. I recalled these broadcasts and predictably found an entry in wiki. For your interest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station
- TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
I wonder how many intelligence agencies play the numbers game midst the white noise on the internet in JPEG images and the like on innocuous sites, like this one even?
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Re: Numbers Broadcast
When I used to play around with radios, short wave, etc, there were a few stations that did USB (Upper Side Band) voice broadcasts of strings of numbers, single digits, in German read out by a woman with a monotonous voice.
SIEBEN ACHT ZWO NULL VIER EINS SECHS NEUN DREI FUNF DREI DREI NULL ACHT .......
Apparently it was something to do with met reports.
SIEBEN ACHT ZWO NULL VIER EINS SECHS NEUN DREI FUNF DREI DREI NULL ACHT .......
Apparently it was something to do with met reports.
Re: Numbers Broadcast
No, Cape - they were trying to activate you.
- TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
As so now we know who the infamous "Kaapse Klong" agent was!
Famous for this cryptic message.. Ease Mojo Pus. Only Kaapse Klong and Capetonian will know what that message means.
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
Caoer, that's t he one, see the wiki link. Seems several KGB radios have been unearthed including one in Switzerland t hat was booby trapped.
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
SteganographyTheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:28 amI wonder how many intelligence agencies play the numbers game midst the white noise on the internet in JPEG images and the like on innocuous sites, like this one even?
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110
Ricardian, Stronsay, Orkney UK
www.stronsaylimpet.co.uk
visitstronsay.com
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/EGER
www.stronsaylimpet.co.uk
visitstronsay.com
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/EGER
- TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
EBCDIC, last worked with that IBM format on the AS400.
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
- ian16th
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
I was introduced to it in 1965!TheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2020 10:03 pmEBCDIC, last worked with that IBM format on the AS400.
Thought that this 8 bit byte thingy was slick.
In 1967 I realised that a 16 bit word was better.
Cynicism improves with age
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
More usually known as "number stations".
Check out, on YouTube maybe.
1. The buzzer.
2. Gongs or chimes.
3. The Lincolnshire Poacher- a British one that!
There is a certain fascination about them, for those fascinated by such stuff.
Check out, on YouTube maybe.
1. The buzzer.
2. Gongs or chimes.
3. The Lincolnshire Poacher- a British one that!
There is a certain fascination about them, for those fascinated by such stuff.
- G~Man
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
Decoded:TheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:28 amI wonder how many intelligence agencies play the numbers game midst the white noise on the internet in JPEG images and the like on innocuous sites, like this one even?
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110
"This is to all agents listening in. Status green"
Life may not be the party you hoped for, but while you're here, you may as well dance.
- boing
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
The neat thing about a numbers broadcast is that 99.9% of its transmissions can be total garbage with the "one in a thousand" being useful. This means that a rival decryption facility has to decode the whole thousand transmissions to find the one that may be interesting and then they must break the second level of code to read the contents. The actual intended receiving party can use a "one time pad" as simple as a yesterday's local newspaper for decoding.
The system is cheap to operate requiring basically one operator and a transmitter and it creates its own obfuscation while an unintended receiving party needs to make a considerable effort to decode the signals.
.
The system is cheap to operate requiring basically one operator and a transmitter and it creates its own obfuscation while an unintended receiving party needs to make a considerable effort to decode the signals.
.
the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
Here's 'The buzzer' with a proper look at the station.
Many more out there....
Many more out there....
- TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
G~Man wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:07 pmDecoded:TheGreenGoblin wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:28 amI wonder how many intelligence agencies play the numbers game midst the white noise on the internet in JPEG images and the like on innocuous sites, like this one even?
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01101110
"This is to all agents listening in. Status green"
You are a pukka ELINT operator!
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
- TheGreenGoblin
- Chief Pilot
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- Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
For those that like this sort of thing there are some very good simulation tools out there...
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
- TheGreenGoblin
- Chief Pilot
- Posts: 17596
- Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
- Location: With the Water People near Trappist-1
Re: Numbers Broadcast
Really good synopsis of the pro's of the system and, as you say, the message can be further encoded using 128 or, better, AES 256 bit encryption (for example) to slow the would be eavesdropper down some more.boing wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:43 amThe neat thing about a numbers broadcast is that 99.9% of its transmissions can be total garbage with the "one in a thousand" being useful. This means that a rival decryption facility has to decode the whole thousand transmissions to find the one that may be interesting and then they must break the second level of code to read the contents. The actual intended receiving party can use a "one time pad" as simple as a yesterday's local newspaper for decoding.
The system is cheap to operate requiring basically one operator and a transmitter and it creates its own obfuscation while an unintended receiving party needs to make a considerable effort to decode the signals.
.
AES Encryption Standard - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance ... n_Standard
Use phase shifting, frequency hopping etc. and the would-be decoders task has just got a lot more difficult...
Signals that look like natural static or noise are great places to hide in plain sight... faux entropy being the best disguise....
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
- TheGreenGoblin
- Chief Pilot
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- Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
As a kid I found radio fascinating and used to tinker around with old valve radios and build antennae to pick up signals in both the short and long range frequencies ranges, my ambition in the latter frequency range being thwarted by my father who objected to me stringing the antenna cable through his grape vines in the back garden.
However some of the most interesting signals coming in from the Russian radars and often a whole block of the shortwave band would be be obliterated by the Russian Woodpecker, irritating the local radio hams who were unable to transmit or receive with fellow amateurs around the world. The Russians were completely insouciant about this disruption in their defiance of international regulations and norms and persisted in their provocations, blocking multiple frequency ranges in their pursuit of long range over the horizon radars and communications systems as well, right up to the late 80's...
However some of the most interesting signals coming in from the Russian radars and often a whole block of the shortwave band would be be obliterated by the Russian Woodpecker, irritating the local radio hams who were unable to transmit or receive with fellow amateurs around the world. The Russians were completely insouciant about this disruption in their defiance of international regulations and norms and persisted in their provocations, blocking multiple frequency ranges in their pursuit of long range over the horizon radars and communications systems as well, right up to the late 80's...
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
- TheGreenGoblin
- Chief Pilot
- Posts: 17596
- Joined: Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:02 pm
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Re: Numbers Broadcast
For sheer majesty and awe in strange and exotic radio frequencies nothing can beat mother nature and the cosmos itself...
Maybe an advanced alien civilisation will attenuate a pulsar's signal to transmit the meaning of life , the universe and everything.
I must admit I can listen to the sounds of these signals stepped into audio frequency ranges for hours. Perhaps I need help...
Maybe an advanced alien civilisation will attenuate a pulsar's signal to transmit the meaning of life , the universe and everything.
I must admit I can listen to the sounds of these signals stepped into audio frequency ranges for hours. Perhaps I need help...
Though you remain
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Convinced
"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."
Re: Numbers Broadcast
Here's hoping they are intelligent enough not to attenuate it............