Homer Simpson oddity station, multiple freqs, Jan 06 and 07, 2013

[Token]

All,

For the last couple of days I (and several others) have seen an oddity station that is, well, odd. Some are calling it “son of Yosemite Sam” in reference to the old Yosemite Sam oddity station. No one is suggesting a connection between the stations, it is only a catchy name. I am calling it Homer Simpson in my logs.

The station was reported in the #wunclub chat both days.

This station sounds like a recorded loop of Homer Simpson (from the TV show The Simpsons) saying “What the hell are you reading books for?” It repeats this phrase about 2 and a half times (the third repeat is a partial) before pausing for several seconds. It repeats this about every 16 seconds.

On Sunday, January 06, 2013, I saw this station on the air from before 1634 UTC (tuned to in progress) until it went off the air at 1743 UTC. Freq was 8051.5 kHz and mode was USB. Signal level was moderate at around S7 or S8.

On Monday, January 07, 2013, I saw this station on the air on two frequencies, from 1515 UTC until it left the air at 1639 UTC. I received it on 12088.5 kHz and 13570 kHz, both in USB (tuned to 12088.5 kHz only a few minutes before it ended at 1639 UTC). The station was also reported as on air on 17461.5 kHz USB, however I was not able to receive that frequency here. The audio was not in sync on the two frequencies I could receive, the 13570 kHz freq audio was slightly ahead of the 12088.5 kHz audio. The 13570 kHz signal was on the same frequency as a SW BC station, WINB, the BC station ended at 1558 UTC.

Video of the 8051.5 kHz TX Sunday here:
Oddities Station, unk, Homer Simpson voice, 8051.5 kHz, USB, January 06, 2013, 1653 UTC - YouTube


Video of the 13570 kHz TX Monday here (after WINB left the air):
Oddities Station, Unk, Homer Simpson voice, 13570 kHz, USB Mode, January 07, 2013, 1603 UTC - YouTube

In both examples note the width of the audio, it is over 15 kHz wide without significant distortion. The same was seen on 12088.5 kHz. I have no idea if it was this way on 17461.5 kHz. This would make me believe it is not just a typical voice transmitter being used, most cannot transmit clean audio that wide.

Log:
01/06/2013, 1634 UTC, 8051.5 kHz, USB, Homer looping voice
01/07/2013, 1515 UTC, 13570 kHz, USB, Homer looping voice
01/07/2013, 1630 UTC, 12088.5 kHz, USB, Homer looping voice

T!

[ridgescan]

Hey Homer's a ham!

[bkantor]

Mmmmm....ham!

[JnglMassiv]

Ok, please forgive me but I heard it as 'What the hell are you eating Bush for?' the first couple repeats.
Of course, what else could this refer to but one of the former Presidents Bush?

[kb2vxa]

HUH? "Eating bush" is slang for oral sex.

[Token]

The audio clip is from the Simpsons TV show, Season 5, Episode 12, "Bart gets Famous". The voice is Homer Simpsons, always the nurturing parental figure, and he is asking Bart "what the hell are you reading books for?"

T!

[mancow]

Bart Gets Famous - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


First air date Feb 3. Maybe it's code for something on that date?

(X files music plays)

[JnglMassiv]

Originally Posted by kb2vxa

HUH? "Eating bush" is slang for oral sex.

I beg your pardon?
Bush 41
Bush 43

[brandon]

This station was also reported last June.
Same exact phrase --- assumed to be the Homer Simpson voice.
8051 usb

Always wanted to know what Homer Simpson sounds like in USB mode

[MAHA01]

I wonder... I listened to the audio and came up with a possible explination. Morris code, but not in the usual form that we are used to.

The phrases in full = - (DAH)
The phrases in partial = . (DAH)

Sounds simple enough. now we just have to decode it.

[Quickcall]

Huh. This is pretty interesting. Any reason for these type of transmissions? I can think of soo many better simpsons quotes to use than that!

[MAHA01]

Originally Posted by MAHA01

I wonder... I listened to the audio and came up with a possible explination. Morris code, but not in the usual form that we are used to.

The phrases in full = - (DAH)
The phrases in partial = . (DAH)

Sounds simple enough. now we just have to decode it.

My Bad:
The phrases in full = - (DAH)
The phrases in partial = . (DIT)

[Bubbaditt]

I find this very interesting and wonder why the clip is cut off.

On another note, here is a video clip from the show regarding ham radio.

The Simpsons on Ham Radio - YouTube


73 - N0QIX

"What kind of music do you normally here Ma'am?"
"Why we got both kinds, Country and Western."

[MAHA01]

I wonder If this is of similar nature:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln...umbers_station)

"The Lincolnshire Poacher was the nickname of a mysterious, powerful shortwave numbers station that used two bars from the English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" as an interval signal."

Does any one have a recording of this station?

[Token]

Originally Posted by MAHA01

I wonder If this is of similar nature:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln...umbers_station)

"The Lincolnshire Poacher was the nickname of a mysterious, powerful shortwave numbers station that used two bars from the English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" as an interval signal."

Does any one have a recording of this station?

The thing to remember about the Lincolnshire Poacher (Enigma ID E03) is that it was a traditional numbers station. As such it actually had a numbers message, coded groups, following the tune it played. Several numbers stations (no less than 11) used to start with snippets of music, today some still do but the practice is less common than it once was.

Cherry Ripe (Enigma ID E03a) was a related station to the Lincolnshire Poacher but it started with different music.

Both Lincolnshire Poacher and Cherry Ripe (as well as other English language numbers stations) recordings can be found here:
Recordings of numbers stations

Also, if you pull down the Recordings tab on that page you can find recordings of numbers stations in other languages. Ones that include music would be(incomplete list) E03, E03a, E09, E23, E25, G01, G15, G21, V08, V13, V15, and V24.

Why do fewer numbers stations still start with music? Of course the reason cannot be proven, but I believe the probable reason is pretty basic.

If you ever tried to use older portables, pre-digital readout such as an agent in place might have, you are aware that knowing what frequency you are tuned to, before a specific message starts, can be quite an accomplishment. This is the same reason that shortwave broadcast stations had (and some still do) interval signals they sent before their programming started. The dial on the radio would get you close, say within 50 kHz. But there might be 10 possible stations inside that 50 kHz. You got close with the dial and then tuned around until you heard the correct interval signal. Then, when the program started you were on the right freq and did not miss any of the program.

Today with digital readouts on even the cheapest portables there is little or no reason for musical lead-in. You can tune your radio to the right freq before hand and when the station comes up you are receiving it from the start. Correspondingly today the only numbers station I can think of off the top of my head that still regularly has music to lead-in is Korean language station V24, every transmission starts with a song, and the song correlates to the intended recipient, so several different songs are used. English language station E25 sometimes has music, and Chinese language V13 starts with a few seconds of pipes. I think those three are about it for music with numbers stations.

For a description of most of the defined numbers stations look for The Enigma Control List. The latest version is Number 25. Found here: http://www.brogers.dsl.pipex.com/eni...0/docs/ECL.pdf The Numbers and Oddities web site includes a few others: Numbers & Oddities Download page

T!

[Token]

Originally Posted by Quickcall

Huh. This is pretty interesting. Any reason for these type of transmissions? I can think of soo many better simpsons quotes to use than that!

It is quite possible that the reason for these transmissions will never be known. At best it can be guessed at.

One possible explanation (not one I think is all that probable, but cannot really discredit it) is SIGINT testing. Either operators or software might be tested by the transmission of a specific phrase on unknown (to the subject/system under test, SUT) frequencies. The SUT then has to sift/sort all signals received and ID the phrase and the frequency/frequencies of transmission.

I will tell you that it is easier/more controllable and quantifiable to do such testing in a controlled environment, in a simulation or lab. Such simulation can even bring in the real world spectrum and inject the desired signal for test, there really is not much reason to do it in the open air. Particularly not much reason to do such a test using the same frequency (8051.5 kHz) several months apart.

While I personally do not place a lot of weight behind such an application I can certainly say that many times the end user demands an open air test for such systems. Simulations and labs are great, but nothing sells like showing something working in the real World. By the same token if I was the end user I would insist on an acceptance test plan that included more real world style signals, not something as easily identified as this signal. Such signals should have been used in early development, and like I said that is easier to do in the lab.

T!