Category Archives: Numbers Stations

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The SWLing Post has been online since 2008, and over the years, I’ve seen our readership grow into a vibrant, international community of radio enthusiasts who support each other.

From the beginning, my goal for the SWLing Post has never been to focus on me, but rather to highlight the diverse ways people enjoy radio and to share news about international broadcasting. To achieve this, I’ve invited select individuals to contribute as guest writers and provided them with accounts to post their own content.

As our community has expanded, I want to open the door even wider and invite more of you to contribute directly to the SWLing Post. This will help alleviate the bottleneck of getting timely information out, especially as I am currently in one of the busiest stages of my life.

If you’re interested in receiving a volunteer contributor account, which will allow you to create and submit posts for approval and publication by me or one of our editors, please contact me via email or leave a comment on this post.

To qualify for a contributor account, please note the following requirements:

Community Involvement: We prefer to see that you’ve been an active, long-standing member of our community by commenting on posts. If you’re new to us, we will first need to review and post your contributions before granting you an account. This is due to the high volume of spam guest post requests we receive—often dozens each week.

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We are looking for original content that reflects the genuine spirit and kindness of our community. Our goal is to ensure that contributions are not only informative and engaging but also embody the warmth and enthusiasm that characterize our shared love for radio. As long as your content is respectful, informative, and true to the spirit of radio enjoyment, it will align with our standards and be a valuable addition to the SWLing Post.

If you’re interested, please comment on this post or email me directly, and I will get back to you via email.

Thank you!

Thomas Witherspoon (K4SWL)

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Cuban Numbers Station HM01 Goes Cuckoo! And Other Cuban Broadcast “Shenanigans”…

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Madtone, who shares the following recording of Cuban Numbers Station HM01 and notes:

Hi Thomas,

I was reading HF Underground earlier and a post on it mentioned that HM01 had gone a bit mad “10345 kHz is HM01 Cuban Lady with what sounds like a cuckoo clock“. Well I got up straight away and tuned in on VE7AV KiwiSDR and here it is in all it’s glory:

It almost sounds a bit reggaeish and even has what sounds like a little drum roll in parts.

If you’re feeling a bit down or tired today please have a listen as this’ll cheer you up!

All the best

Pete

Wow–thanks for sharing this recording with us, Pete! What a mystery behind this numbers station! Was the cuckoo intentionally or unintentionally added to the audio at the studio or transmitter level? What could that signify? Since the audio is tracking with the HM01 broadcast, it seems to be originating from the same transmitter.

Perhaps this adds more context or confusion: SWLing Post contributor Paul Walker has noted a number of audio “shenanigans” from Cuban broadcasts. Here are a few notes from his listening post in Alaska:

0320UTC Mon Aug 28 and Cuba is missing from 9700 for the 2nd time in a week, but instead of regular programming they’re broadcasting a horror movie of some kind. I can detect some kind of noise under the movie but it’s like a screech/hum, which is all I heard from 9700 last time it was on.
I should also add, after the first time i heard 9700 down on 9600, I subsequently heard it back on 9700 again…..so something’s up!
And now HM01 aka Suzie Cubana on 10345 is broadcasting……. along with Suzie counting down the numbers and the digital data bursts, theres a cuckoo bird cuckooing over the top of that audio.
In the 0500 UTC, Rebelde on 5025 kHz noted running TV audio too….some English language movie.
The domestic Radio Rebelde AM and FM web feeds appear to be running normal programming

What do you think is going on?

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Radio Waves: RTL Ends Longwave, Ana Montes Released, Mystery Antennas Across Utah, RIP Mihail Mihailov, and Morse in Music

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The Junglinster RTL longwave transmitter (via Wikimedia Commons)

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

RTL Ends Longwave Service (Radio World)

On 234 kHz, the new year rang in with static, not bells or fireworks. As had been announced in October, French broadcaster RTL switched off its longwave broadcasts on January 1, 2023.

Long-time RTL presenter Georges Lang marked the occasion with a bittersweet tweet: “Voilà, c’est fini… Goodbye good old Long Waves, you did a good job for a so long time. You belong now to the history of Radio-Luxembourg and RTL.”

Groupe M6, which owns the station, noted that maintaining longwave broadcasts from the Beidweiler, Luxembourg, transmission site consumed about 6,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year, roughly equal to the average annual energy consumption of 3,000 French people. [Continue reading…]

US releases top Cuba spy Ana Belén Montes after 20 years in prison (The Guardian)

SWLing Post contributor, Ed, shares this story and notes:

Some SWLing Post readers might be interested to learn that one of the few spies ever caught in the U.S. using shortwave numbers station transmissions to receive instructions is Ana Belén Montes, who was just released from prison after serving 20 years of her 25-year sentence.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, 65, freed after being found guilty of espionage in 2002

One of the highest-ranking US officials ever proven to have spied for Cuba has been released from prison early after spending more than two decades behind bars.

Ana Belén Montes pleaded guilty in 2002 to conspiracy to commit espionage after she was accused of using her leading position as a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official to leak information, including the identities of some US spies, to Havana. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison at the age of 45. Continue reading →

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Radio Waves: State of VOA Broadcast Infrastructure, Amish Weather Radio, 96.7 FM, Australia Calling, and MAME Showcase Gerät 32620 Emulator

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Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Where VOA’s Broadcast Infrastructure Stands Today (Radio World)

Shortwave retains a role in serving particularly difficult-to-reach audiences

Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine and its simultaneous blocking of Western media outlets has renewed public interest in shortwave radio broadcasters like the federally funded Voice of America.

Now managed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media or USAGM, VOA’s roots go back to 1941, when the U.S. government leased a dozen commercial broadcaster owned/operated shortwave radio transmitters for the VOA’s predecessor, the U.S. Foreign Information Service. (These shortwave transmitters were previously used by U.S. broadcasters to share content between their AM radio stations.)

The VOA came into being in 1942. It played a major role in broadcasting U.S. news and views to the world during World War Two and the Cold War. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, shifting government priorities, the emergence of platforms competing with shortwave, and budget cuts led to VOA’s language services, broadcasts and programming being reduced.

Today, “USAGM operates transmitting stations around the world, including in the U.S., Africa, Europe and Asia,” Laurie Moy, USAGM’s director of public affairs said in an email earlier this year.

“All of these stations are equipped with multiple shortwave transmitters, and four of these stations have a medium-wave (AM) transmitter each. In total, USAGM’s network consists of about 75 shortwave (ranging from 100 to 250 kW) and medium-wave (ranging from 100 to 1000 kW) transmitters.”

The agency also has access to shortwave and medium-wave transmitters via leases and exchange agreements with other broadcasters.

At present, USAGM produces content in 63 languages, 35 of which are aired on shortwave and medium-wave. VOA itself produces content in 48 languages, 18 of which are aired on shortwave and medium-wave.

“In terms of the agency’s shortwave network, shortwave continues to reach particularly difficult-to-reach audiences, such as in North Korea, western China, Afghanistan and elsewhere,” Moy told Radio World. [Continue reading…]

How do you find out about tornadoes if your religion doesn’t allow TVs or smartphones? (Courier and Press)

If a tornado or flash flood is imminent, most Americans find out about it through a smartphone or a television.

But as the National Weather Service was reminded in the wake of the deadly Dec. 10, 2021 Kentucky tornado, one segment of the population uses neither of those things: the Amish, who shun technology.

As meteorologists studied damage in the days that followed that storm, which killed 80 people and damaged hundreds of homes, they encountered an Amish community in Ohio County, Kentucky, and asked: How do you get severe weather information?

“They basically said they listen for the weather sirens from town,” said Derrick Snyder, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But as loud as storm sirens are, not everyone is close enough to hear.

A solution may be on the way, as the agency teams with a national radio maker as part of the Weather Awareness for a Rural Nation initiative. Snyder and other meteorologists are part of a project developing weather radios that will be both effective in relaying information immediately, but also acceptable for the Amish lifestyle.

It will be a stripped-down, hand-crank model with absolutely no modern amenities. Continue reading →

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Adi spots an Eddystone among other radios in the Netflix series Spycraft

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adi, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

I just finished watching “Spycraft” on Netfilx. It’s 8X30min parts documentary.

The last part is “Recruiting the best spy“.

I first spotted this lovely 880 Eddystone receiver but coming into the ~20 min was the story of the ICF-2010 and how an American spy for Cuba used it to receive the “numbered” code massages.

Later on there is nice illustration how the code was used.

There are few other radios pop here and there on this documentary as you can expect from the Spy Craft .

73’s Adi

Thank you so much, Adi! Some years ago, I actually read the book upon which I believe this series was based. Many thanks for the tip!

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Podcast dives into world of Cold War Numbers Stations

Cold War number stations

You might remember listening to short wave radio during the Cold War and coming across weird transmissions of metallic voices reciting random groups of numbers through the ether. These are number stations, shortwave radio stations characterised by broadcasts of formatted numbers, which were being sent to spies operating in foreign countries.

Number stations were used widely during the Cold War and we speak with Jo Reggelt of ShortwaveNumbers.com. Jo has been working with Simon Mason who was a founding member of ENIGMA, launched in the 1980’s after identifying several of these stations.

We discuss in detail the operations behind the transmissions and the stations themselves. You will hear some sample transmissions, including one of drunken Stasi officers serenading their agents after the opening of the Wall. [Continue reading…]

Click here to listen to this podcast on the Cold War Conversations website,
or via iTunes or Spotify.

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Sony ICF-2001 and ICF-2010: Choice radios for spies

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Zack Schindler, who writes:

I have been watching a series on the Science Channel called Spycraft. It is about the “business” and history of modern spycraft and is quite interesting.

The most recent episode (3/8/2022) was called “the Perfect Recruit” and was about spies inside US agencies. One case was about Ana Belén Montes who worked for the DIA and was spying for Cuba. In the story they showed that she used a Sony 2010. Per the article below she was listening to a Cuban Numbers Station on 7887 kHz. A number of other cases are mentioned in there too that involved a Sony 2001 or 2010.