Sounds like a CIA numbers station transmitting info to agents on the ground.
Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
11–20 of 128 posts
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#12I wonder why they keep using a dedicated numbers station instead of embedding the code in a regular radio broadcast on a traditional channel? I'm sure that even before LLMs one could find a way to create a story where certain numbers / code words would be embedded without altering the underlying story too much. And they could probably get BBC / whatever station to air it. It would be a bit less inconspicuous to listen to BBC than to a dedicated numbers station, even if the message would be undecryptable either way.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#13This reminds me of UVB-76[0], a shortwave military radio in Russia. It would be interesting know why they're using this method to communicate covertly rather than beaming down messages to a phone via satellite or something. I'm not an expert on radios, though, so maybe it's not as clunky as I'm imagining where an undercover asset is hauling around bulky equipment. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76
Phones usually contain the hardware for radio too, so making sure agents have some set of models for that doesn't sound bad. Even if you had to use a dedicated one having a radio at home isn't that conspicuous? Or in a car, etc
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#14Does this move around geographically ? Triangulating broadcast location is a well understood craft.
Shortwave radio is more challenging than you might imagine.
Near to the transmitter it's received by ground wave, further it's scattered off the ionosphere. In-between it's undetectable due to the skip zone. This might also explain why Amelia Earhart went missing [1]
Coverage is obtained from multipath and reflections. Leading to variable strength and timing. Not as bad as DXing on HF with low power but much harder than you might imagine.
Fine for someone to transcribe some numbers but useless for people trying to identify sources.
So locally you get an apparent direction to the source which is clearly not the source.
Add to that the complex local terrain and a well placed number stations can be very difficult to locate with precision.
Edit: unrelated but interesting there are some mysteries in HF transmission including long delayed echoes where a signal takes far longer than reasonable to travel out and back over several seconds [0] which given its travelling light milliseconds is a conundrum.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#15This reminds me of UVB-76[0], a shortwave military radio in Russia. It would be interesting know why they're using this method to communicate covertly rather than beaming down messages to a phone via satellite or something. I'm not an expert on radios, though, so maybe it's not as clunky as I'm imagining where an undercover asset is hauling around bulky equipment. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76
Like the article says, satellite messages can be traced while radio is broadcast to everyone so it's impossible to find out who's listening. Shortwave radios are also cheap and widespread, so it's easy to get one anywhere in the world and if your house gets searched, it won't be suspicious if you have one.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#16"We don't need NATO." But we do need our bases in Germany plz.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#17Does this move around geographically ? Triangulating broadcast location is a well understood craft.
Shortwave radio is more challenging than you might imagine. Near to the transmitter it's received by ground wave, further it's scattered off the ionosphere. In-between it's undetectable due to the skip zone. This might also explain why Amelia Earhart went missing [1] Coverage is obtained from multipath and reflections. Leading to variable strength and timing. Not as bad as DXing on HF with low power but much harder t…
My father regailed tales of his college years where it was a game to have a HAM radio operator start broadcasting and to have teams try to find where they were hiding, first.
More challenging? Not really. It does require multiple boots on the ground to do it.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#18Does this move around geographically ? Triangulating broadcast location is a well understood craft.
Shortwave radio is more challenging than you might imagine. Near to the transmitter it's received by ground wave, further it's scattered off the ionosphere. In-between it's undetectable due to the skip zone. This might also explain why Amelia Earhart went missing [1] Coverage is obtained from multipath and reflections. Leading to variable strength and timing. Not as bad as DXing on HF with low power but much harder t…
Thanks that was quite illuminating. I knew about ionospheric reflections to be a problem but not the others.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shortwave radio is more challenging than you might imagine. Near to the transmitter it's received by ground wave, further it's scattered off the ionosphere. In-between it's undetectable due to the skip zone. This might also explain why Amelia Earhart went missing [1] Coverage is obtained from multipath and reflections. Leading to variable strength and timing. Not as bad as DXing on HF with low power but much harder t…
My father regailed tales of his college years where it was a game to have a HAM radio operator start broadcasting and to have teams try to find where they were hiding, first. More challenging? Not really. It does require multiple boots on the ground to do it.
This seems to be a common treasure hunt game conducted by HAM clubs.
Re: Random numbers, Persian code: A mysterious signal transfixes radio sleuths
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shortwave radio is more challenging than you might imagine. Near to the transmitter it's received by ground wave, further it's scattered off the ionosphere. In-between it's undetectable due to the skip zone. This might also explain why Amelia Earhart went missing [1] Coverage is obtained from multipath and reflections. Leading to variable strength and timing. Not as bad as DXing on HF with low power but much harder t…
My father regailed tales of his college years where it was a game to have a HAM radio operator start broadcasting and to have teams try to find where they were hiding, first. More challenging? Not really. It does require multiple boots on the ground to do it.
Presumably doing it locally within a known few mile radius is different from nation-scale broadcast areas bounced from god-knows-where?