{"id":8844,"date":"2014-02-26T07:39:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T11:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=8844"},"modified":"2014-02-26T07:39:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T11:39:19","slug":"miami-herald-cuban-spies-and-shortwave-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/miami-herald-cuban-spies-and-shortwave-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Herald: Cuban spies and shortwave numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"towers\"<\/a>I should note that we have several\u00a0recordings and frequencies for the numbers station HM01<\/a>, which is mentioned in this article. Very happy to see that they interviewed Chris Smolinski:<\/p>\n

(Source: Miami Herald<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not a Cuban spy, you too can receive secret messages sent by Havana to its spooks in Miami, Washington and around the world.<\/p>\n

Every week, one short wave radio station in Cuba broadcasts 97 messages coded in fax-like tones. A computer program easily available to the public changes the tones into numbers, and the Cuban spies then decode the numbers into words.<\/p>\n

A second Cuban spy station transmits 16 messages per week in the dots and dashes of the 175-year-old Morse code \u2013 secret messages to Havana spies who may be older or less technologically savvy.<\/p>\n

[…]The busiest Cuban station these days, and the only spy station in the world that uses the fax-like tones, has been baptized as HM01 by amateur eavesdroppers who run Web pages like Spooks List, Spynumbers, ShortwaveSchedule and Enigma2000.<\/p>\n

It transmits 11 to 14 messages per day, a total of 96 per week, on the same schedule each week but using a dozen different short wave frequencies, said Chris Smolinski, 41, a Maryland software engineer who monitors the spy stations as a hobby.<\/p>\n

Each message almost always has 150 five-digit groups, so that eavesdroppers cannot measure the true length of the text. And some of the 10-minute transmissions are phonies, designed to mask the real number of spies receiving them.<\/p>\n

Anyone can hook up a radio receiver to a computer, where the DIGTRX program \u2013 widely used by ham radio aficionados to send and receive lengthy texts, turns the tones into numbers. Spies then use secret computer programs to turn numbers into text.<\/p>\n

\u201cHM01 is an ideal system because you don\u2019t have to teach any to anybody. The computer does all the work,\u201d said Smolinski.<\/p>\n

For the less computer-savvy spooks there\u2019s the M08a station, which broadcasts 16 messages in Morse code, developed for the telegraph in 1836, on a set weekly schedule and on many of the same frequencies as Hm01.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article on The Miami Herald website…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 spooks in Miami, Washington and […]<\/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":[3,172,43],"tags":[1800,1699,1678,4088,445],"class_list":["post-8844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-numbers-stations","category-shortwave-radio","tag-cuba","tag-cuban-numbers-stations","tag-hm01","tag-numbers-stations","tag-spy-numbers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2iE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10767,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/numbers-stations-a-bad-day-to-be-a-cuban-spy\/","url_meta":{"origin":8844,"position":0},"title":"Numbers Stations: A bad day to be a Cuban spy","author":"Thomas","date":"September 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"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'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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6342,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/numbers-station-hm01-and-ana-montes\/","url_meta":{"origin":8844,"position":1},"title":"Numbers station HM01…and Ana Montes","author":"Thomas","date":"April 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Wednesday morning, I suppose I had number stations on the brain.\u00a0 It was no surprise, as I had just watched The Numbers Station the previous night.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I experienced a rather strange coincidence:\u00a0 I was reading an intriguing article about Ana Montes,\u00a0\u201cone of the most damaging spies in U.S. history,\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Downloads-001","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Downloads-001-300x175.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":8844,"position":2},"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 "Broadcasters"","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":6019,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/rijmenants-paper-sheds-light-on-cuban-numbers-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":8844,"position":3},"title":"Rijmenants’ paper sheds light on Cuban numbers stations","author":"Thomas","date":"March 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always amazed by the remarkable talents and extraordinary knowledge of SWLing Post readers. Dirk Rijmenants\u00a0recently commented on one of our Cuban spy numbers station postings: [T]hanks for your work on this fascinating blog. I have additional information on how and who used these Cuban numbers stations. I composed a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"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":7413,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/cuban-numbers-station-hm01-serving-up-a-little-confusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":8844,"position":4},"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 "Broadcasters"","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":5764,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/how-to-decode-that-rdft-in-numbers-station-hm01-roland-explains\/","url_meta":{"origin":8844,"position":5},"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 "Articles"","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":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8844","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=8844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}