THE LOS NUMEROS UPDATE HAVANA MOON MoonBeam Press PO Box 149, Depart. BB Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 ============================= On the plum in flower By my eave, The pale moon hangs At the dawning hour. -- Tenro ============================= BULLETIN 015UTC Monday, 01-21-90. "Foghorn" observed on the air-to-ground frequency of 6577 kHz. As if AERINC didn't already have enough trouble, what with Numbers transmissions and other types of jammers. 0200 UTC Monday, 01-21-90. The electronic war (?) continues at a highly elevated level as 6577 kHz is bombarded - not only by the "Foghorn", but by a "Buzz Saw Jammer", and the usual 5-D Spanish transmission. Said frequency being rendered totally useless for numerous aircraft in flight. WAKE UP, State Department! Exclusive to A*C*E - At some few times during the month of June, 1989, the 5-D Spanish transmission on 6577 kHz was determined to be originating from within a 25-mile radius of Managua, Nicaragua. This information, as usual, from those sources that decline to be identified. * * * * * * * * * * * Numbers 101, Part 3 * Type 3 Transmission Formats --------------------------- "Atencion 133 00 30" (repeated for several minutes) "30" (repeated for less than one minute) xxxxx xxxxx . . . (ciphertext or crypt) "Final" (repeated twice) The first three digits are the identifier, with the following two digits an unknown. The last two digits before the crypt are the "group count" digits. To the best of my knowledge, this transmission format is seldom heard - I would be very interested in reception reports from any of you who might encounter it. And speaking of reception reports, the *IDEAL* report would con- sist of the Identifier, Group Count and the first three and last 5-digit groups of the crypt. This in conjunction with the usual details regarding frequency, time in UTC, etc. Now, while I realize that this is time consuming and out of the question for most - any of you who would be willing to spend the time would be contributing greatly to Numbers research efforts. If you listen very carefully to 5-digit and CW transmissions, you'll find that the pause after every tenth group is slightly longer than that between the other groups of the crypt. If you were to record the transmission at 2.4 cm and then play it back at 1.2 cm, you would notice the pause following the tenth group to be very prominent. The number of groups is twelve per minute in 5-digit Spanish. The very same for 4-digit English and Spanish. The only exception I've noted in this cadence is in the live, or non-computer generated 5-digit Spanish transmissions. LADIES DAY AT THE A*C*E Traditionally, our hobby has been dominated by the male of the species. Look what we've been missing! Well it's time to put those days behind us, guys - because the female of the species has much to offer this hobby and profession. First - They look a hell of a lot better than we do. Second - Their skill at ferreting out numbers transmissions is unparalleled. Third - They just don't get involved in the stupid in-fighting that so many of us 'self-proclaimed experts' so often find ourselves mixed up in. More on in-fighting in a later edition of The A*C*E. Now I am fully aware that my stance on this issue will result in a hasty - and as usual, ill-prepared - meeting of NOG (National Organization of Guys) to immediately nish HM from saiorganization for ever and ever, amen. B that's okay, guys. I'm sure that NOW (Nation Organiza- tion of Women), while perhaps skeptical at first, will eventually welcome me with open arms. And just fortarters, here are just a few of the things YLs have contributed to the hobby - . Potato-Chip, a DC-basedemme, who joins us every Saturday night on-line, is well versed in the ins and ts of the ECPA. . Ira's Mom - w has her own shortwave radio (which she does NOT share with Ira) - indicates that she s discovered a relationship between Radio Havana Cuba and some few Numbers transmissions. How about sharing the info, Mom?! . Thyss - a California-based YL who also joins us on Saturday nights. Though only a beginner, she soaks up knowledge aster than one of Rosie's paper towels! . And lest we forget - there's the highly esteemed Lani Petit, whose shoes I am now attempting to fill. Where are you Lani? The high heels are bothering my feet - and the guys at NOG are giving me a rough time. . There are Pop'Comm's maven of Radio Nostalgia, Alice Brannigan, Monitoring Times' Gayle Van Horn and Jean Baker and Sharon Churcher and Trudy Miller of Penthouse. . There's Linda Reneau (KA1UKM) and Joyce Sawtelle of 73 Amateur Radio Magazine and Carol Johnson of Portal Communi- cations. . And then there's the indefatigable Kristin Kaye - of "Bits, Bytes & BBSs - who has lots and lots of the shadowy types who lurk about the Virginia countryside in a tizzy! Let's welcome them with open arms, guys - no pun intended, of course! AND NOW . . . Since this is Ladies Day At The A*C*E, reception reports, for the most part, will be those of Kristin Kaye, of UeL fame (UeL - no relationship to PTL) - with an emphasis on Slavic (?) Numbers transmissions - preceded by musical tones. 4032 kHz 0600 UTC AM 5-D Slavic kk/NY 4881 kHz 0000 UTC AM 5-D Slavic kk/NY 0100 0200 0300 0500 0530 0600 (This parallel to 4032 kHz transmission above) 1900 2100 2200 To my knowledge, no one has ever positively identified this language. Probably not Russian, says kk - no guttural sounds - Czech? Serbo-Croatian? We're just not sure. Give a listen - this one is there practically every hour on the hour through the day and night. Given propagation issues this one is very curious, indeed. RACING WITH THE MOON John Fulford of FL and Zel Eaton of MO report Numbers trans- missions in the 32 MHz range. Some years back, Numbers trans- missions were reported in the 40 MHz range. I reported this in very small detail in "Uno, Dos, Cuatro." Strange things happening these evenings on 6840 kHz. Maintain a close watch. 6802 kHz, after a long absence, once again active, and don't forget the mystery of 6835 kHz - shared by Air Force 1, Air Force 2, 5-D Spanish Numbers, and now - by a major electronics manufacturer which has just been granted an experimental license for this frequency. Talk about strange bedfellows . . . HM's ELECTRONIC RECEPTION REPORT To: HAVANAMOON From: John Brewer Subject: Numbers Intercepts Date: Sat, 23-Dec-89 08:37:52 PST Lines: 45 Date Time Freq/Mode Comments --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 DEC Z 0145z 6.824.8 AM YL #s, interesting because of the fact that another YL station (#s), was either mixing with, or being transmit- ted from the background. The station appeared to have a different YL "voice" and different numbers being "read." Both stations disappeared after the "primary" YL station left the air. Format was "Atencion, Atencion, Atencion" followed by #s groups, { repeated, then numbers groups till end of transmission. CONTRIBUTORS CORNER John Fulford (WA4VPY), Zel Eaton, Jim Vickonoff, Ira Martin, Ira's Mom, Don Bishop, Mark Pierce, John Brewer and Kristin Kaye. HAVANA MOON'S COSMIC SPOTLIGHT This month's Cosmic Spotlight shines on Ira's Mom. Mom will be receiving a one-year subscription to Electronics Handbook, pub- lished by C&E Hobby Handbooks, courtesy of Havana Moon and "Los Numeros." Next month's winner - to be selected at random, of course - will be the recipient of an original tape recording of one of the most unusual radio intercepts I have ever heard. More about that below! Get those intercepts in! * * * * * * * * * * There's been a truly peculiar transmission moving about the spect- rum lately, best described as a "Foghorn". Well, could it be that the "Foghorn" is a new and sophisticated jamming device? One recent Saturday Night while "Numbers Chasing" with the Amigas on "Los Numeros" we came across the "Foghorn" on 7920 kHz at 0500 UTC. Signal strength was very powerful, ranging from well over S9 at my QTH to S7-S8 on the West Coast. And that's not all. Underneath the "Foghorn" was a PAB (phonetic alphabet station) transmitting five character phonetic groups! I noted the signal strength of the Numbers Station to be around S7. Reception was extremely weak in San Diego, and not heard at all in San Jose. This (these) transmissions continued until approximately 0540 UTC. After the phonetic transmission ended, the "Foghorn" continued to transmit. The phonetic groups were broadcast by a YL using the standard inter- national phonetic alphabet but with decidedly non-standard pronuncia- tion. Example: LEE-MAH (Lima) NO-VEM-BEER (November) EEN-DI-YAH (India) U-NEE-FORM (Uniform) Use of non-standard pronunciation is an indication that the receive- site may use a voice-recognition system. Back to the "Foghorn" - it was later found jamming 6925.5 kHz, a known KKN50 frequency. It was learned the following day that a complaint was filed by the State Department as a result of this interference. A new form of jammer? Who? And why? Any thoughts? An interesting sideline from Harry Helms - Harry says KKN50's marker transmission was greatly enhanced by this mysterious "Fog- horn" with nomadic tendencies. Any ideas, folks? It's got the self-appointed experts confused - this, much to their chagrin! And if you think this group is confused, you ought to see the tizzy the professionals are in . . . HAVANA MOON's PREDICTIONS FOR 1990 Ira Martin will become romantically linked to a world-famous female rock star. This will lead to Mr. Martin's photo being plastered on the front page of many issues of The National Inquirer. Harry Helms sightings will become more frequent than Elvis sight- ings as he is seen scouring McDonald's dumpsters * for Covert Corner material. I beg of you, folks - don't let this happen. YOU're in control. Get Harry some reports before he has to move on to Burger King! The first Numbers transmission reception report received via a tooth filling will be logged by The A*C*E. The sender of this report will immediately receive a crushed and empty Tecate can. Contents of said can will have been disposed of in HM's own unique style (hic). John Fulford will get his check or money order off to The A*C*E for a membership - provided he is not molested by any more Mafia Dons. Ira's Mom will set The A*C*E record for Numbers reception reports while her son frolics on the Riviera with the above mentioned YL. And last - but certainly not least - Ed Anger, of Weekly World News fame - will be verbally attacked by Andre Provacateur. Look out Ed - Provacateur's World has no room for you! And you're going to be madder than Fred the Fed with no E-Mail system to invade! And if you haven't yet picked up a copy of The Weekly World News - don't start now! * * * * * * * * * * Well, folks - the intercept database is ready for distribution. It'll be available in two formats - one print-out by time, and another by frequency. And for you Commodore users out there, a diskette-version will be made available at a later time, if demand warrants. Here's what you'll need to do: Send a check or money order in the amount of $3.00 made payable to The A*C*E to the Club post office box. Include a stamped, self-addressed #10 envelope with your request. PLEASE - no requests to my Chicago address directly. Distribution methods will be worked out with Kirk. I'll assume all costs so that the entire $3.00 will go to The A*C*E Treasury. The first run is now in its final stages, and barring any unfor- seen computer snafus, will be ready a week to ten days after this issue of The A*C*E reaches you. * * * * * * * * * * HAVANA MOON RECOMMENDS If you haven't done so already - be sure to pick up a copy of the February, 1990 edition of Popular Communications Magazine, and join me and John Fulford, for a "Magical Mystery Tour" of Miami's mysterious KKN39. See it as a "KKN Station" has never before been seen. And I mean that quite literally, folks! And contact Grove Enterprises for shipping and pricing information about the all new "Shortwave Directory." This 1990 edition contains a new and revised Numbers section, courtesy of Yours Truly. George Zeller's 1990 edition of "The Pirate Directory" - soon to be available from Tiare Publications. * * * * * * * * * * Special thanks to "Fred the Fed", The "Los Numeros" On-Line Amigas, and Olivier Schmidt of The Intelligence Newsletter for a recent profile of HM and Harry Helms. Thanks, also, to Sweden Calling DX'ers, Fred Maia's W5YI Report and Wayne Green of 73 Amateur Radio Magazine for recent mentions of "Los Numeros" and Portal Communications. Hope to see all of YOU on "Los Numeros" soon. And by the way, you'll find The A*C*E Digest and Veried Response there - courtesy of Kirk Baxter and John Arthur! And don't forget, guys - introduce a YL to the hobby. You'll be glad you did. And as the legendary Gene Nobles, of WLAC fame used to say - "Titillate your sensibilities." We miss you - somewhere in time, Gene. And as far as you guys at NOG are concerned, you can . . . See you at the Denny's on the Beach. Time now for a Tecate and . . . On second thought, folks, I just might give up Tecate. You see, while on the patio just now, I saw a huge, furry creature with beady eyes running up and down my Cable TV line - I just may switch to Kool-Aid - SharkleBerry Fin . . . Havana Moon y Amigas 33469 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (C) Copyright, 1990, MoonBeam Press. All Rights Reserved. This column initially appeared in the 1/90 Edition of The A*C*E Bulletin, a monthly publication of The Association of Clandestine Radio Enthusiasts. For more information, write to PO Box 11201, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207. Sample copies $1.50. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=