Token
Member
Not sure why you apparently took my post to be antagonistic. For the most part I was adding to what you said, clarifying a few points that were vague, and correcting one or two things that could be taken incorrectly.
Not sure what you mean by that, I assume you are agreeing with what I said.
CB uses AM, but it also uses Sideband, both USB and LSB. CB is in the High Frequency (HF) band. To describe CB as in the “AM Band” is incorrect and not in common or widely accepted usage.
Most numbers stations are found in the HF Band, and in many modes.
The use of the term “AM Band” in the United States most often refers to the Medium Wave (MW) Broadcast Band from 520 to 1710 kHz. I have never heard a numbers station in that band in the US, although I have heard them there in Europe and Asia.
Possibly, this is a question, not an accusation, your use of the term “AM Band” comes from a scanner background? On the assumption that below scanner freqs (most of them being FM) AM is used most of all?
Wanting to get technical or not, you said most of the numbers transmissions are in the “AM band”, I wanted to point out to readers who might be gathering information that this is not correct to avoid confusion. And to also let the potential new reader know that numbers stations use multiple modes of transmission.
Except that as I said above, a simple AM receiver will not receive most numbers station. While the distribution of AM vs SSB voice numbers stations is probably close to 50/50, if you add up all of the numbers stations, voice, CW, and digital, you will find that a SSB capable receiver is needed to receive most of them.
Why digital? Why not (other than it does not have the listening mystique of a voice numbers station), depending on where the receiving asset is located and depending on what safeguards you can put in place to transfer the keys. In someplace like the US where it is not unusual for a person to have a smart phone, a tablet, or a laptop with them it makes sense. For an asset working in an area like North Korea or some 3rd World country that hardware would draw attention.
If you disagree with my statement you are incorrect. Everything I said in that paragraph is 100% correct. You said you could find numbers stations frequencies and times with a web search, I agreed but warned the reader that the older the data is the less likely it is to still be usable.
While a VERY few numbers stations are still using the same frequencies and schedules they have been using for many years (example V02a has been using 5883 kHz at 0700 UTC on specific days of the week since about 2007 and 5898 kHz at 0800 UTC on certain days since 2008), but that is an exception. A slightly larger set is still using some combination, maybe the same frequencies but new times, or the same times and new frequencies (this last is most frequent).
But most, a big most, do not use the same schedules today that they did, say, 4 years ago. And much information to be found on the web is older than that.
I added the bit about the voice change as a side point, so that the new numbers station listener would understand that sometimes stations sound different than their audio examples on the web. My main point in that paragraph was that stations change schedules.
Your comment that South Korea changed but not many do is incorrect. Most numbers stations that have been around for any length of time have gone through changes of habits, techniques, and voices. They ALL have gone through changes of time and or frequency over the years, I cannot think of one numbers station today that is using the same frequency and schedule that it was 30 years ago….assuming it was around then.
I generate several of the schedules for numbers station frequency and times to be found on the web. I think I understand this pretty well.
My point, and what I said, used the example that any schedule you find online for V-16, except for the one I published last week, will NOT be correct for this station, since they are all pre-2000.
However, in the world of numbers stations, a station re-activating after an absence of 12+ years has never happened before that I am aware of. As a general statement once a numbers station has not been active for 5 or 6 years it is never seen again. Numbers stations most certainly come and go, but generally once they go for any real length of time they stay gone.
T!
Not sure what you mean by that, I assume you are agreeing with what I said.
CB uses AM, but it also uses Sideband, both USB and LSB. CB is in the High Frequency (HF) band. To describe CB as in the “AM Band” is incorrect and not in common or widely accepted usage.
Most numbers stations are found in the HF Band, and in many modes.
The use of the term “AM Band” in the United States most often refers to the Medium Wave (MW) Broadcast Band from 520 to 1710 kHz. I have never heard a numbers station in that band in the US, although I have heard them there in Europe and Asia.
Possibly, this is a question, not an accusation, your use of the term “AM Band” comes from a scanner background? On the assumption that below scanner freqs (most of them being FM) AM is used most of all?
Wanting to get technical or not, you said most of the numbers transmissions are in the “AM band”, I wanted to point out to readers who might be gathering information that this is not correct to avoid confusion. And to also let the potential new reader know that numbers stations use multiple modes of transmission.
Except that as I said above, a simple AM receiver will not receive most numbers station. While the distribution of AM vs SSB voice numbers stations is probably close to 50/50, if you add up all of the numbers stations, voice, CW, and digital, you will find that a SSB capable receiver is needed to receive most of them.
Why digital? Why not (other than it does not have the listening mystique of a voice numbers station), depending on where the receiving asset is located and depending on what safeguards you can put in place to transfer the keys. In someplace like the US where it is not unusual for a person to have a smart phone, a tablet, or a laptop with them it makes sense. For an asset working in an area like North Korea or some 3rd World country that hardware would draw attention.
If you disagree with my statement you are incorrect. Everything I said in that paragraph is 100% correct. You said you could find numbers stations frequencies and times with a web search, I agreed but warned the reader that the older the data is the less likely it is to still be usable.
While a VERY few numbers stations are still using the same frequencies and schedules they have been using for many years (example V02a has been using 5883 kHz at 0700 UTC on specific days of the week since about 2007 and 5898 kHz at 0800 UTC on certain days since 2008), but that is an exception. A slightly larger set is still using some combination, maybe the same frequencies but new times, or the same times and new frequencies (this last is most frequent).
But most, a big most, do not use the same schedules today that they did, say, 4 years ago. And much information to be found on the web is older than that.
I added the bit about the voice change as a side point, so that the new numbers station listener would understand that sometimes stations sound different than their audio examples on the web. My main point in that paragraph was that stations change schedules.
Your comment that South Korea changed but not many do is incorrect. Most numbers stations that have been around for any length of time have gone through changes of habits, techniques, and voices. They ALL have gone through changes of time and or frequency over the years, I cannot think of one numbers station today that is using the same frequency and schedule that it was 30 years ago….assuming it was around then.
I generate several of the schedules for numbers station frequency and times to be found on the web. I think I understand this pretty well.
My point, and what I said, used the example that any schedule you find online for V-16, except for the one I published last week, will NOT be correct for this station, since they are all pre-2000.
However, in the world of numbers stations, a station re-activating after an absence of 12+ years has never happened before that I am aware of. As a general statement once a numbers station has not been active for 5 or 6 years it is never seen again. Numbers stations most certainly come and go, but generally once they go for any real length of time they stay gone.
T!
Last edited:
