VTN for May, 2011, from the Mojave Desert

[Token]

For those unfamiliar with the VTN (Vietnamese Numbers Station) information can be found at my web page concerning the stations, URL http://token_radio.home.mchsi.com/VTN.htm

The VTN has been pretty steady this past month, near daily transmissions, as normal 3 identical messages a day starting at about 1600. At the beginning of the month the message was a 30 group message read by a female voice. The last of these YL/5f/Vietnamese/30 group messages was noted on May 10, 2011. No message was received May 11, 2011, and starting May 12, 2011, a new content message was sent, again three identical messages each day starting at about 1600. The new message was sent by a male voice, in Vietnamese, and consisted of 50 groups, each of 5 figures.

Receptions from my location in the Mojave Desert, California, USA:

-May/01/11, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:33 UTC msg 1, 1606:59 UTC msg 2, 1615:18 msg 3, all msgs strong QRM from suspected Chinese OTHR
-May /02/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:32 UTC msg 1, 1606:58 UTC msg 2, 1615:18 msg 3
-May /03/2011, no recording
-May /04/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:30 UTC msg 1, 1606:56 UTC msg 2, 1615:16 msg 3
-May /05/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:30 UTC msg 1, 1606:57 UTC msg 2, 1615:16 msg 3
-May /06/2011, No messages received
-May /07/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:31 UTC msg 1, 1606:55 UTC msg 2, 1615:16 msg 3
-May /08/2011, no recording
-May /09/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:28 UTC msg 1, 1606:54 UTC msg 2, 1615:14 msg 3
-May /10/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:25 UTC msg 1, 1606:51 UTC msg 2, 1615:11 msg 3
-May /11/2011, No message received
-May /12/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:26 UTC msg 1, 1604:00 UTC msg 2, 1608:35 msg 3
-May /13/2011, No message received
-May /14/2011, No message received
-May /15/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:24 UTC msg 1, 1603:58 UTC msg 2, 1608:33 msg 3
-May /16/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:21 UTC msg 1, 1603:57 UTC msg 2, 1608:31 msg 3
-May /17/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:22 UTC msg 1, 1603:56 UTC msg 2, 1608:31 msg 3

Recordings from May 18, 2011, to May 27, 2011, corrupted. VTN transmitted most days but exact days and start times lost when recordings damaged. All transmissions noted in real time were OM/5f/50 grps.

-May /28/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:12 UTC msg 1, 1603:45 UTC msg 2, 1608:22 msg 3
-May /29/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:11 UTC msg 1, 1603:44 UTC msg 2, 1608:21 msg 3
-May /30/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:11 UTC msg 1, 1603:43 UTC msg 2, 1608:20 msg 3
-May /31/2011, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, OM/5f/50 grps, 1559:10 UTC msg 1, 1603:43 UTC msg 2, 1608:20 msg 3

T!
Mojave Desert, California, USA

 

[Token]

Note the start time progression of each group, like a PC clock that never gets synced and is just a tad off, about a second fast each day. This is normal for this station. In the past at some point they will back up all three message start times, sometimes all in sync and sometimes not. As if sometimes they just resync the clock and other times they leave the clock alone but back the start time of each up to the next closest back minute.

T!

 

[DPD1]

Interesting... I'll have to check it out.

 

[SCPD]

I love acronyms that don't make sense.

 

[Token]

I love acronyms that don't make sense.

nickcarr, are you talking about the abbreviations in my post? If so, let me see if I can help you out.

VTN is a generic name, not really an abbreviation, in fairly wide spread use to reference a station on 10255 kHz, USB mode, which has been sending numbers groups in the Vietnamese language for the last year or so. VTN is basically the abbreviation “VT” for VieTnamese, and “N” for Numbers. This numbers station has not been given a designator yet by the Enigma 2000 group, the group that has assigned the majority of the most accepted numbers station IDs, such as V02, M08, SK01, E10, E11, etc.

But, let’s take apart one of the lines in my post to just make sure everyone is on the same page.

“-May/01/11, 10255 kHz USB, VTN, YL/5f/30 grps, 1559:33 UTC msg 1, 1606:59 UTC msg 2, 1615:18 msg 3, all msgs strong QRM from suspected Chinese OTHR”

“USB” = Upper Side Band mode of modulation.
“VTN” = Defined above as Vietnamese Numbers station.
“YL/5f/30 grps” = A combination of standard radio and Enigma 2000 specific abbreviations. “YL” is Young Lady, or female voice. “5f” is 5 figure groups, meaning each numbers group consist of 5 numbers each said one time. “30 grps” is simply a statement of how many numbers groups are in each message body, in this case 30 groups, each of 5 figures.
“msg” = Message.
“UTC” = Coordinated Universal Time, or “Universal Time, Coordinated”, in general often used as another way to say GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time. There is actually a small delta between UTC and GMT, but for most practices involving a visually read clock they can be considered the same time.
“QRM” = Interference with the signal form man made noise.
“OTHR” = Over The Horizon Radar. In this case a form of HF Radar that is suspected of originating from mainland China.

Did I leave any undefined? Or was your question about something else?

T!

 

[E-Man]

I enjoyed the Vietnamese Mystery Deepens article in November 2011 Monitoring Times (pg.24). Hugh Stegman reference's your logs several times.