{"id":10767,"date":"2014-09-13T09:29:06","date_gmt":"2014-09-13T13:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=10767"},"modified":"2014-09-13T22:41:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T02:41:56","slug":"numbers-stations-a-bad-day-to-be-a-cuban-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/numbers-stations-a-bad-day-to-be-a-cuban-spy\/","title":{"rendered":"Numbers Stations: A bad day to be a Cuban spy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10796\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg\" alt=\"SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station\" width=\"640\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg 640w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While band scanning last Sunday\u00a0(September 8, 2014) I stumbled upon the Cuban numbers station <a title=\"Other HM01 posts\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/HM01\">HM01<\/a> on 11,530 kHz at 17:30 UTC.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s always intriguing to hear shortwave numbers stations, but I prefer those that stick to <a title=\"Finding the \u201cEnglish Man\u201d numbers station while scanning for pirates\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/finding-numbers-stations-while-scanning-for-pirates\/\">pure vocal number strings<\/a>; HM01 has numbers with digital bursts between number sets, which is\u00a0a more fatiguing listening experience.\u00a0\u00a0Nonetheless, I kept it playing in the background as I tooled around the radio room Sunday afternoon, putting away supplies from my recent\u00a0<a title=\"CommRadio CR-1: a superb travel radio\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/commradio-cr-1-a-superb-travel-radio\/\">three week road trip<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5623\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"WFL_015\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag.jpg 475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Several times during the HM01 broadcast, I heard the audio (not the AM carrier) drop in the middle of numbers sets and digital bursts.\u00a0This isn&#8217;t the first time I&#8217;ve heard hiccups on HM01 (<a title=\"Cuban Numbers Station HM01: serving up a little confusion\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/cuban-numbers-station-hm01-serving-up-a-little-confusion\/\">see this post from last year<\/a>, for example), so I wasn&#8217;t terribly surprised. Then, close to the top of the hour, HM01 audio dropped for a minute or so, then switched back to five-number sets with no digital bursts between; though I wasn&#8217;t copying the message, I suspected\u00a0that\u00a0someone in the studio intentionally, perhaps in frustration\u2013or else accidentally\u2013started the broadcast from the beginning again.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, I started recording. The five-number sets continue for about a minute, then the carrier unexpectedly drops:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/HM0111.530033MHz\" width=\"500\" height=\"30\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Since it was near the top of the hour, and HM01 broadcasts only tend to last one hour, I didn&#8217;t expect to hear the broadcast repeat\u2013and it didn&#8217;t, at least on 11,530.<\/p>\n<p>Via a little band scanning, I discovered that HM01 had unexpectedly\u00a0migrated\u00a0105 kHz higher, to\u00a011,635 kHz. This broadcast audio also begins\u00a0a little awkwardly. You&#8217;ll hear the audio drop;\u00a0I\u00a0scan for a few seconds, \u00a0then return to 11,635, and\u00a0HM01 comes back. And this time, the numbers set sounds cleaner, with fewer problems. Here&#8217;s the recording:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/HM0111.635018MHz\" width=\"500\" height=\"30\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I couldn&#8217;t help but chuckle over this&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Evidently, this message had some important content&#8211;otherwise they wouldn&#8217;t have re-broadcast the entire set the following hour, 105 kHz up from the original frequency (most likely protocol after technical difficulties). I imagine spies huddled around their radios, cursing at the interruptions and frustrated they had to listen for an additional hour; and I imagine the confusion at the broadcast site as they tried to diagnose the problem in a live broadcast. It&#8217;s during these little mistakes that numbers stations inadvertently tell us who they are (Radio Havana Cuba content has accidentally been played before on Cuban numbers stations).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While band scanning last Sunday\u00a0(September 8, 2014) I stumbled upon the Cuban numbers station HM01 on 11,530 kHz at 17:30 UTC. It&#8217;s always intriguing to hear shortwave numbers stations, but I prefer those that stick to pure vocal number strings; HM01 has numbers with digital bursts between number sets, which is\u00a0a more fatiguing listening experience.\u00a0\u00a0Nonetheless, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,172,746],"tags":[1699,1698,1679,1678,4088,1879,1607],"class_list":["post-10767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-numbers-stations","category-recordings","tag-cuban-numbers-stations","tag-cuban-spy-numbers","tag-cuban-spy-numbers-station","tag-hm01","tag-numbers-stations","tag-spooks","tag-spy-numbers-stations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2NF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7413,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/cuban-numbers-station-hm01-serving-up-a-little-confusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":0},"title":"Cuban Numbers Station HM01: serving up a little confusion","author":"Thomas","date":"September 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On occasion, I hear the Cuban numbers station HM01 on 5,855 kHz on weekday mornings. It seems that many of the mornings as I listen, I hear HM01 making mistakes or at least experiencing \"technical difficulties\" (click here for a recent case in point). Though I don't often record HM01,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WFL_015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5575,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/shortwave-radio-recordings-listen-to-cuban-spy-numbers-station-hm01\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":1},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: Listen to Cuban Spy Numbers Station HM01","author":"Thomas","date":"February 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Numbers stations have always been a dark oddity that pop up from time-to-time in the course of shortwave radio listening. There is unquestionably an air of mystery and intrigue which surrounds them.\u00a0With the release of the movie The Numbers Station, many non-SWLers may be enticed to explore the HF bands.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WFL_015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5627,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/even-numbers-stations-make-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":2},"title":"Even numbers stations make mistakes","author":"Thomas","date":"March 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 5th, 2013, the Cuban numbers station widely known as HM01 struggled to maintain its composure following an awkward studio error. In this particular case, I started recording a few seconds prior to the carrier, at which point you'll hear a couple of minutes of \"dead air\" (silence). The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WFL_015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/CubanFlag-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8844,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/miami-herald-cuban-spies-and-shortwave-numbers\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":3},"title":"Miami Herald: Cuban spies and shortwave numbers","author":"Thomas","date":"February 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I should note that we have several\u00a0recordings and frequencies for the numbers station HM01, which is mentioned in this article. Very happy to see that they interviewed Chris Smolinski: (Source: Miami Herald) Even if you\u2019re not a Cuban spy, you too can receive secret messages sent by Havana to its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"towers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/grimetonbandw-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5764,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/how-to-decode-that-rdft-in-numbers-station-hm01-roland-explains\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":4},"title":"How to decode that RDFT in numbers station HM01? Roland explains","author":"Thomas","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago, I published a post with a recording of the Cuban numbers station HM01, a \"Hybrid Mode\" numbers station which interchangeably broadcasts both voice and a digital mode called\u00a0RDFT with each transmission. I had suggested using an application called \"DIGTRX\" to decode the data bursts. I then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DIGTRX","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/DIGTRX-300x213.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57559,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/cuban-numbers-station-hm01-goes-cuckoo-and-other-cuban-broadcast-shenanigans\/","url_meta":{"origin":10767,"position":5},"title":"Cuban Numbers Station HM01 Goes Cuckoo! And Other Cuban Broadcast &#8220;Shenanigans&#8221;&#8230;","author":"Thomas","date":"August 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Cuckoo-Clock-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Cuckoo-Clock-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Cuckoo-Clock-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Cuckoo-Clock-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Cuckoo-Clock-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10767\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}