Soviet Spy Communication via Shortwave

[Art]

If anyone is interested in shortwave radio, and more particularly in the methods foreign intel agencies communicate with controllers or agents in the field, here is one of several describing this weird type of communication. Anyone with a good shortwave radio can pick up these odd signals, and various intelligence agencies use all types of coded signals and sounds to instruct their assets where to go for further information. This is the famous "Buzzer" Radio Station UVB 76, located 40km west of Moscow, and broadcasting on 4625.0 kHz. You can read more, see pictures of the once secret radio gear, and hear sound samples of the buzzer.

Radio Station UVB 76

Many other signals abound. Most easily picked up is the female numbers broadcaster, who only speaks in 5 digit coded groups. The numbers method of transmission has been linked to many different governments, including the U.S., Cuba, Russia, U.K., and others. This type of transmission utilizes one-time pad encryption, where an agent is sent out into the field with a book that will decode once, then the code is changed. You can hear samples of these transmissions, along with an excellent assortment of "spy talk" here:

numbers


And finally, probably the most relevant to today's unfolding intel war, this website shows how clandestine radio is used..


clandestineradio

[CZ]

Art,

at the end of the 80s I had been a SWL listening to "Radio Moscow", "Radio Tirana", "Radio Pjön Jang" and "Radio Bejing". This was true "hard-core"-entertainment, specially from Albania and North Corea: To listen to them for half an hour, drinking a excellent glass of wine, smoking a fine cigar and you knew, that world still had hope .... This is past now, what a pity!

The URLs are very interesting.

But do the secret agents nowadays not use the internet? It's much easier to walk into an internet-café, than to handle a big electronic machine on the attic. Even the insane "Bin-Laden-Boys", some of them had been stupid as shit, used the internet.

Regards from Vienna

[Art]

Christian,

I used to do the same. The most interesting broadcasts I ever heard were Swiss Radio International, right after the Chernobyl disaster. Also, Radio Deustche Ewelle when the Berlin Wall came down was interesting for the German point of view.

You would think that with the increasing numbers of personal computers, spy activity would decrease. Actually the opposite has happened. In comparing to my listening since the mid-1980's, this type of activity has not only increased, but the variety is much greater than before. Think of the advantages a communication via shortwave has over the personal computer and you can see why. First, secrecy. figuring out where a transmission came from takes alot of work. These transmission last approximately 3-5 minutes each. With the Internet, this is easy. Just back-pedal where the message came from. Also, the U.S. has a branch of the NSA which filters through all internet traffic coming from overseas (and rumoured to be doing it within the U.S. also). Second, encryption via one-time pad is unbreakable unless the agents pad is compromised. Encryption via computer in my opinion is a roll of the dice. I'm sure there is a way that the government can crack it.
Third is portability in receiving the message. If I'm overseas, I'm much less likely to be noticed listening to a Radio on 4625.0 khz than I am receiving encrypted emails on a laptop in some hotel room. Also, the signal is able to be received virtually anywhere on the planet.

Art

[CZ]

Art,

you are right, maybe the use of the internet was one of the main points why the "Bin-Laden-Boys" got dedected very soon.

For me the most exciting time as a SWL was in august 1991 to listen to the full and uncensored messages of the "Putsch"-government via "Radio Moscow".

I still have a "Grundig Satellite 500" here in my flat. Is there somewher in the www a website, which shows the usable and hearable frequencies of the radio stations for Central Europe?

Regards from Vienna

[Art]

Christian,

Here is a nice schedule that shows what is on right now. I can't tell which of these are European broadcasts, but you should be able to find something useful on this site.

SPEEDX


My setup: Drake R8-B, with a longwire anntenna.


Art