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September 13, 2005
Yankee......Hotel.........Foxtrot
I'm sure you know these three words, letters of the international phonetic alphabet, as the title to Wilco's 2002 masterpiece, but did you know that the recording of the woman saying these words repeatedly on the tale end of the tune "Poor Places" was recorded from a shortwave 'number station?'
Most shortwave radio users have encountered number stations. Most pass right on by them, but others become obsessed by them and record them whenever they are stumbled across. The stations, active for the last four or five decades, are probably the greatest mystery in shortwave radio. No one actually knows what they are for, who the messages are intended for, or where the signal is being broadcast from. Most number stations in N. America broadcast at night, in Spanish (usually a female voice), and on frequencies from 3 to 12 MHz. Five digit Spanish number stations are the most common - they begin transmissions with something like "atención 341 67" repeated for several minutes. The three-digit group is believed to the identifier of the recipient of the message, while the second number is the number of five-digit groups in the message. Sometimes as many as three different messages may be sent in the same transmission. And 3/2 number stations are the next most common - These open with a three-digit group sent three times (again believed to be the intended recipient) followed by "1234567890." This sequence is repeated for several minutes. After ten tones, something like "grupo 154, grupo 154" is sent. The number following "grupo" is the number of groups that will be transmitted. There is another category of mystery station closely related to numbers stations, known as "phonetic" stations. These transmit messages using groups of five letters from the international phonetic alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, etc.). -- like the message embedded in the Wilco song. These stations are often heard repeating a phrase like "charlie india oscar two" for hours before any message is actually sent. It is widely believed that phonetic stations are operated by the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service.
Although disputed by some, most believe number stations to be connected to espionage and intelligence operations, especially the five digit stations. Another possibility is that some number stations operate as a way for countries to communicate secretly with their embassies and consulates around the world. Some number stations are a complete mystery such as the Yosimite Sam station that was first reported in December of 2004. A transmission is made on one of four frequencies: 3700 kHz, 4300 kHz, 6500 kHz, 10500 kHz, and then ten seconds later is repeated on the next highest frequency. Each transmission starts with what sounds like a data burst of some sort, and is followed by the phrase: "Varmint, I'm a Gonna Blow Ya To Smithereens" said by the voice of Yosemite Sam, of the Looney Tunes cartoon fame. The clip is apparently from the cartoon "BUNKER HILL BUNNY", 1949. Hear the "Yosimite Sam" broadcast: Download File
We certainly won't solve this mystery with this blog post, but here are some links to relevant sites so you can do your own detective work. In 1997, Irdial Records released The Conet Project, a 4 CD collection featuring over 150 recordings of phonetic and number stations make by shortwave enthusiasts over the last few decades. Someone has made the entire Conet Project available for download HERE. Very interesting stuff. You can download the entire directory (The entire 4CD collection) or just singular tracks. By the way, the "Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot" phonetic station recording used on the Wilco album is track #4 on disc 1 of The Conet Project recordings - download it here: Download File
Links:
Schedule of Number Station transmissions
| By Joshua Daniels | 6:24 PM