code pad shortwave from cuba:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Reginald Curtis
Date: Mar 31, 2006 11:29 AM
Subject: [TSCM-L] Re: Feds bugged bedroom, phones of FIU pair
To: TSCM-L2006@googlegroups.com
Cc: garya_curtis@hotmail.com
In regards to this piece - I found the following in the March 06
edition of Monitoring Times at page 8.
"COMMUNICATIONS
Broadcasting
Spies Use Shortwave Broadcasts
In January, a Florida couple was accused of operating as covert agents
for Cuba's communist government for decades, using short-wave radios,
5-digit numerical-code language and computer-encrypted files to send
information about Miami's exile community to top Castro intelligence
commanders.
Carlos Alverez and his wife Elsa, both staff members of Florida
International University, were denied bond before trial on a charge of
failing to register with the federal government as foreign agents.
The indictment, which included no mention of top-secret U.S.
government information being disclosed, came months after the couple
confessed to the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier said
Carlos Alverez had spied for Cuba since 1977 and Elsa Alverez since
1982.
(See page 28 for more on Cuban 'numbers' stations.)"
Page 28
"UTILITY WORLD
HF COMMUNICATIONS
Cuban 'Numbers': A Pattern Emerges
By: Hugh Stegman, NV6H
hugh stegman@monitoring times.com
www.ominous-valve.com/uteworld.html
Collection and analysis of several months' loggings confirms that,
just as others have observed, the Cuban voice 'numbers' station does
indeed have what may be its first daily broadcast schedule ever.
This station is also known as 'V2,' 'Attention' (from its callup),
the 5-Figure Spanish Lady, and the 'SS/YL/5F' (same thing in
shortwavese'). Its the latest version of the famous Cuban spy
transmissions which have mystified listeners in much of the world,
while inspiring some good pop music, for several decades now.
And indeed, these broadcasts are compelling in their sheer
strangeness. Mumbling voices, strange noises, Radio Havana, and even
the occasional parrot, can turn up on the open tuning carriers run
before the messages. Technical flubs, mostly of the 'oops, wrong
button' variety, are many and legendary. If everything works (always a
big "if" with this bunch), that ominous machine-spliced female finally
barks the distinctive 'Atencion' ('Attention').
While the name 'V2' sounds appropriately like some kind of World
War II German rocket bomb, it is simply the sequential designator
given this particular broadcast on the list maintained by ENIGMA2000.
They're the online incarnation of the European Numbers Intelligence
Gathering and Monitoring Association. Over the years, this generic V2
has had a number of lettered variants. These differ in message
structure or detailed formatting.
After the callup, our V2a variant sends a message designator with
three 5-number groups. These are the first groups in the three
following messages, which are of equal length. Each message is always
150 5-number groups, beginning (as we've noted) with the one in the
designator. The whole transmission usually ends with the Spanish
'final' ('end'), around 45 minutes after the hour.
While the Cubans have traditionally preferred monthly and weekly
schedules, the new local-daytime V2a is a daily one. It's a long
schedule by 'numbers' standards. It's more like something you'd hear
from an international broadcaster, changing frequency more of less
hourly while maintaining a long program. This is pretty ambitious for
an operation which is so audibly straining to keep its aging,
hurricane-damaged equipment going.
The daily schedule starts at 1600 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC),
and goes until the 2100 broadcasts ends, nearly six hours later. The
times in UTC and frequencies in kilohertz (kHz, AM mode) are:
1600 on 7975.0
1700 on 8010.0
1800 on 8097.0
1900 on 8097.0
2000 on 7887.0
2100 on 6855.0
That's it. By the standards of 'numbers' stations, which often
confront listeners with a bewildering number of times and frequencies,
this is pretty simple stuff.
But there is way more: All of the other V2 schedules are still on
the air. These are the more traditional ones, using what may or may
not be a weekly frequency rotation. Parallel transmissions frequently
occur, on two or three frequencies.
At press time, the rest of V2a was on from as early as 0200 UTC
until as late as 1500. In other words, there's a Cuban voice 'spy
numbers' station going somewhere at nearly any hour of the day. This
doesn't even count the hours of Morse code broadcasts in a similar
format. For whatever its worth, which may not be much, this represents
an awesome volume of traffic.
V2a Message Continuity
These transmissions have another most interesting feature. If one
logs all of the initial three-group message designators, it becomes
quickly evident that they are anyting but random. In fact, they ofter
increment their last figures by one with each day's broadcast.
The best way to explain this is by example. On December 11, 2005,
one of several sets of message designators was 38641 45851 51761. On
the 12th, this one changed to 38642 45852 71762, but the messages
stayed the same. On the 13th, it became 38643 45853 51763. This
continued until the last digits reached 6 on the 16th.
At the same time, another sequence started out as 55911 12911
31311 (they always seem to start out ending in 1). This one did the
same behavior, until reaching 5 on the 15th. Currently, in early
January, we have 51871 10971 04481, incrementing daily.
It's been theorized that this last digit refers to the number of
times a message has been broadcast. In any event, it's a real good
idea to keep track of these numbers when logging the Cuban stations.
As special word of thanks is due to Camilo Castillo, a dedicated
ham and numbers listener in Panama, for making most of the loggings
used in the data. A few others appeared on the usual Internet mailing
lists, and the showed the same patterns we describe."
.......................
THE artilce also shows what they claim is a "Typical code pad used
with 'numbers' broadcasts." It is a small booklike pad about the same
size as the match box used for the small wood or kitchen type matches
( 2" x 1" x .5") with six columns of numbers printed on both sides of
the page.
THE END
Reg Curtis VE9RWC
