The Lincolnshire Poacher (MI6 number station)

[LOPEZdJUNGLIST]

men and machines... way too cool

[VNVgirl]

im always fascinated with the number stations ... so it's fun to find someone posting about it.:) reminds me of being a kid and making codes only we would know.

[hotelmario510]

One more Black Ops joke. ONE MORE BLACK OPS JOKE.

I dare you. I DOUBLE-DARE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS. USE THAT BLACK OPS JOKE ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME.

[spectro133]

number code??? D:

[blackfeathr]

It's kind of funny, the government was quoted as saying "People should not be asking about numbers stations, because they shouldn't be listening to them." It's kind of saying "You shouldn't ask about what's in the box, because you shouldn't be near it." That means they're DEFINITELY hiding something.

[totnesmartin]

A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat.

[mew6112]

THE NUMBERS MASON. WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

[DerGeckarbor]

THE NUMBERS MASON!WHAT DO THEY MEAN?!

[mew6112]

@DerGeckarbor Dammit I was going to say that. I already said it on a ton of other videos.

[TheSkelwor]

I really don't think these number stations have any subliminal intentio中国将统治!!!

[Siluriuskaeso]

ITS STEINER, WE HAVE TO KILL STEINER

[mew6112]

@Siluriuskaeso OSWALD... COMPROMISED! PROCEED.. TO.. TARGET!

[escueladeleyi]

where I live you can always hear either spanish women calling numbers or a male voice calling out the phonetic alphabet on shortwave radio.

[Splaterson92]

It was MI6... but w/e

[beepIL]

why do people listen to number stations and document the numbers etc?

I mean... yeah, it is encrypted message that is being sent to agents of different intelligence agencies around the world to execute missions or what not...

but its encrypted and you have no way to decrypt it in a million years, so what is the point of it all? yeah its cool... but listening to it once is more than enough to get the idea, what is the point of keeping on listening to it another day or document it..??

[peniosasdasd]

@beepIL

Whats the point in trying for something if you can't do it at the time?

Whats the point in going to the moon if we can't go to mars now?

Whats the point in learning an instrument if you can't play it right away?

Whats the point in watching videos on youtube?

Its a hobby.

[beepIL]

@peniosasdasd its not on the same logical level really...

whats the point in going to the moon or wanting to go to mars? because we will in the future...

whats the point in learning an instrument? to play it in the future.

whats the point in watching videos on youtube? well, some of us for knowledge, that are some really worthy videos out there, not everything is youtube poop

with that logic i understand that you people listen and document in hope to crack it?

[peniosasdasd]

@beepIL

In a matter of speaking. It's the same reason like mystery novels or movies. Things that tantalize you. The same reason I'm interested in all kinds of black helicopter loony theories and conspiracies, because even if there's nothing sinister going on at all it's still fun to have some leeway on reality.

Not to diminish the idea that numbers stations are some kind of spy thing.

Some creepy things can be heard through the static on dark nights, my friend.

[beepIL]

@peniosasdasd that's sounds like a much more reasonable explanation, the mystery of it is indeed interesting

[peniosasdasd]

@beepIL

And the best part of this mystery is that you know there is a solid answer out there somewhere. There could be some dark and sinister figure behind the broadcasting of stations like this, and hence is hidden from society. Or on the other hand it could be nothing, and not even important enough to tell anyone. But what one man finds pointless another can find fascinating you know?

[EEWW2006]

@peniosasdasd "Some creepy things can be heard through the static on dark nights, my friend. "

Oh you are so not wrong. Is UVB-76 still transmitting, because that thing, if you know what it's doing (allegedly) is really bloody creepy.

[peniosasdasd]

@EEWW2006

That thing that sounds like a foghorn? I picked that up on 4625 I'm pretty sure.

I just love hearing these things, its like we're discovering little hidden parts of history.

[EEWW2006]

@peniosasdasd The very thing, the one that is alleged to be the go-no go signal for "Dead Hand" (Look that one up and you'll know why its creepy

[peniosasdasd]

@EEWW2006

Yeah, I know about all the Russian nuclear ops. Its bad enough about how real the concept of nuclear war is, they had to name that fail-safe "Dead Hand" to really seal the deal. Lets be thankful that it isn't totally controlled by automated machines, and that people like Stanislav Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov were around to prevent armageddon.

[EEWW2006]

@peniosasdasd Youre not wrong. Apparently "Dead Hand" always had the human element though, so it wasnt totally automated, but according to semi-official sources, the USSR did have the blueprints for a totally automated "Doomsday" weapon. I wonder how long it was before some high up Ivan in the Kremlin thought "Hang on a minute..."

[trisnjok]

@EEWW2006 that last sentence brought a much needed smile to my face today... and i thank you for that :)

[bowenpriyom]

@peniosasdasd @EEWW2006

I am an admin of a number stations research group and website, priyom.org

Go check it out. Yep uvb-76 is still buzzing away on 4625, recorded over 100 messages on there this year. Been very active. again, go check out the site and have fun :D keep your eyes on those shortwaves!

[escueladeleyi]

@beepIL whats the point of going to soccer games then burning down entire neighborhoods because of the outcome of the game????

[beepIL]

@escueladeleyi LOL, dunno where that came from, but it made me laugh

[escueladeleyi]

@beepIL LOL was just commenting on motives was all.

[evilmurderproduction]

6.959 Playing the classic hits all night long....

[chrismichael333]

You need a key to decode the numbers without the key its impossible its called one time pad,So it dont matter whos listening and the station above called the Lincolnshire Poacher believed to be operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service(MI6) and is believed to transmit from the  Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri, Cyprus.The general belief is that numberstations are used by governments, spies, and drug dealers to communicate over long distances

[grail68]

What kind of radio do you use? I know absolutely nothing about this and was trying to read up on it... Is it shortwave, or another type? Number stations are so crazy! Damn they creep me out

[stg7]

@grail68 It's a Kenwood TS-450, you may be able to find the specs somewhere else.

[chrismichael333]

You need a key to decode the numbers without the key its impossible its called one time pad,So it dont matter whos listening and the station above called the Lincolnshire Poacher believed to be operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service(MI6) and is believed to transmit from the Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri, Cyprus.The general belief is that numberstations are used by governments, spies, and drug dealers to communicate over long distances

[poikaa3]

There are still a few of these "spy" number stations that are active. Cuba is the most common, seems they are "stuck" in the fifties! The number stations as they are called use a "One Time Pad" of code and is impossible to decipher save for the users. A common entertainment going back to the 1700s and earlier was to write letters in ciphers or codes. Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards on his notes and that goes back to the 1400s! Number stations remain a mystery as they were intended to be.

[mikesvampire]

What's is with the tunes in number stations? To entertain the poor bastard?

[anisocoro]

Well, If these frequencies are reserved ONLY to governative communications, such as Police or Army, it could be considered "against law" to listen to it. But if they lie within international radio-amateur-bands, they should be audible by everybody that is interested in them. It is not dangerous to listen to them, but it could seriously become so if anybody tries to transmit in these frequencies, thereafter imitating a real message even for fun

[DHGameStudios]

Y'know, it could all just be a old recording on a loop or something. And I find this hard to believe when I hear it's theme :P

[IronWaffles]

What's MI5? Is that like UNIT?

[generalflood]

they did a really bad job at keeping these secret

[jabajabamaster]

When did we see James Bond ever listen to these messages?

[lucadepu]

wait is that i hear an hardstyle code to be a techno raver brutal gabber?

[2dubstep5]

4 8 15 16 23 42 lol  lost

[CleoTheSim]

Exactly 2dubstep5. I think of poor Hugo every time I listen to these!

[igrenade]

oh vera

[Fruktpojken]

SupraTompan, stop failing please. As swedes we can listen to anything that's transmitted in the air. Any band, any frequency.

[ihaveairlockers]

@Fruktpojken

Swedes can listen to anything, but they probably won't understand it !

[1MaskedMexican]

@Fruktpojken Oh shit..

[poacher2506]

i,m an ex poacher (british army) and i served in akitori ,wierd eh. although some of these are used by drug trafficing and other illeagle trades,never heard this when i was there and we messed about with allsorts of comms,

[spuddy83]

May'be this was too secret for even a squaddies ears eh, lol!

[poacher2506]

probably we are like mushrooms kept in the dark and fed on shit, lol.

[slipmagic]

I lived in the Arabian Gulf for a few years and I could pick up the Lincolnshire Poacher and E10 (Mossad) around the clock on my little Sony 7600G. E10 was especially active...pretty much broadcast at the top of every hour.

[SanasSweetMode]

So... what do all these numbers mean?

[stg7]

Unknown without having the key to decipher the message. I guess that if we knew what the transmission is saying, we would not be discussing about it ;)

[SanasSweetMode]

How long has this station been around?

Or number stations in general?

[stg7]

Some dare to say that numbers stations have been lying around since WW2 or so, which sounds logical. Definitely, the existance of such stations can be traced back to the Cold War days. Lincolnshire Poacher is amongst the longest running stations of its kind, if my sources are good.

[SanasSweetMode]

Why that's very interesting. Very mysterious.

But if they really did have anything to do with spies and espionage, wouldn't it be kind of dangerous or illegal to listen to them?

[stg7]

It's kind of contradictory actually, because no government will ever aknowledge the existance of these stations, and on the other hand, some of them can also (or have, in the past) prosecute people that listens to them :)

They would not be so worried if they had nothing to hide, don't you think? :)

[SanasSweetMode]

So they can prosecute people for something that (allegedly) doesn't exist? That's odd.

Now I'm very curious. xD

[TEEEEEEEEJ]

stg7, The CIA have recently sanctioned a book written 'Spycraft' by Robert Wallace. Wallace is the former director of the CIAs office of technical services. Such broadcasts as these are known as one way links. All you need is a simply shortwave radio to receive them. The codes are unbreakable because only the agent and handler know the codes (one time pads). The problems arise when the pads and spies are caught with them.....

[IC2720]

Listening to the number stations isn't illegal, well, at least in free countries. The thing that makes short wave transmissions a perfect way for secret messages and codes to be transmitted, is you can't tell who listening. The codes are quite complicated, usually, and change on a daily, if not hourly or even at random times in a schedule.

[grahamkeithtodd]

@IC2720 strangely it IS STILL illegal in the UK to listen to any of these radio number stations..wireless and telecommunications act 1967 passed by that well know MP Tony Benn!postmaster general under Harold Wilson's government

[churchrvbrvb]

@stg7 Some even go to say that the stations where around during world war one, I'm not certain about it as I have not done any background research myself. But according to a friend of a friend they could have been around then. I want to get a short wave radio just to listen to these haha!

[TEEEEEEEEJ]

Both the Russians and US have caught spies red-handed with the broadcast lists and the one-time pads. For example U.S citizen Ana Belen Montes was caught spying for the Cubans in 2001. She failed to follow procedures and wipe her laptop after copying her Cuban voice broadcast. The FBI were able to decipher her instructions and convict her of spying for a foreign power. The recent Cuban spies caught in the US have the Cuban morse broadcasts mentioned in their indictment.

[MrRandomPerson]

@SanasSweetMode apparently the station broadcast for nearly 20 years. apparently the first time it was heard broadcasting was december 1988, and it went off the air towards the end of june 2008.

[poopskinTheLiar]

@stg7 "Today the cafeteria is serving...corned beef. Du-da-da-di-du-da-da-duu, du-da-di-de-da-doo-doo"

[mikesvampire]

@poopskinTheLiar You just made my day.

[poopskinTheLiar]

@mikesvampire Well, the MI5 Lunch announcements are so secret they need encryption :p

[kicior99]

look at the wikipedia entry concerning number stations. There are also many other sources in the web - these were special broadcasts for field spies.

[richardyingren]

Blimey, this brings back memories, my simple ex WD gear wld pick it up no problem thirty five years ago.. Thanks for posting.

[nilsine]

Assuming it's done by British intelligence, this would be MI6, not MI5. MI5 is the internal security agency, the equivalent of the American FBI.

[denisonM]

I think we can get it without comparisons!

[dominicrusho]

cherry ripe still exists

[JohnnyX50]

I was given an old radio its a Marc Pathfinder Model NR-52F1.LW 145-400Khz, MW 530-1600Khz, MB 1.6-4.0Mhz, SW1 4.0-8.0Mhz, SW2 8.0-12Mhz, SW3 12-18Mhz, SW4 18-30Mhz. The FM bands range 66-174Mhz and UHF 430-470Mhz.Could you tell me what i should tune to to pick stuff up like this? or would i need a digital air scanner? Thnx in advance :)

[ReorderTone]

It's sad that the Lincolnshire Poacher (and Cherry Ripe) seem to have gone off air. :( The end of an era. Fortunately great people have uploaded videos! :)

[Hanglands]

Yeh, somone posted that news on my vid, but only just got around to putting up a wire and checking. Not there on the usual Sunday freqs.

Shame, first numbers station I picked up, and the last.

[rjjrbrem]

the song's actually really good, it's just a shame you can't get it anywhere on the internet.

[CeleTheRef]

I wonder how the "spy" can get all the numbers right with all that noise.

[betomiyazaki]

lamentablemente salio del aire

[grahamkeithtodd]

the strange thing is that in the uk it is ILLEGAL to listen to one of these number stations!

there used to be one called magderburg annie which was run by the east german stasie...the only time M.I.^ got there hands on a one time pad the decoded messages where mostly complants from the stasie about there spys expence accounts!...

[tatotal]

It's amusing that the government prohibits us from listening to stations that officially don't exist!

[Hanglands]

Its even more amusing when somebody gets a QSL card from one!. I believe it has happened.

[butimsonotbothered]

Really??

[numberstation]

OLX,a Czech number station,did send out QSL cards.

[MNc99]

6-4-8-1-3....

[Soundchaser121]

Weird never seen this before?

[jacktorrance1978]

see my video "iridial" about number station....

[luxlisbon85]

creepy

[Pikapoo1]

this stuff is creepy. what station do you have to be on to pick this up?

[TheRadioFanatic]

You have to have a shortwave radio and go down to the lower numbers. I found the Russian Buzzer there a few times.

[shymirror]

Why don't you do more videos exploring the possible origins of this, stg7?

[the123kingRV]

The station itself is broadcast from an RAF base on Cyprus

[retsisruoydekcufi]

There is actually a genius behind using both a crude code like a one time pad(Vernam cipher) and "outdated" shortwave radio. I mean who the hell even listens to shortwave anymore? Also shortwave is cheap, almost untraceable. The cost effectiveness alone is attractive.

[antihate9876]

What isn't so attractive is the prospect of going deaf having to listen to all that noise. And the annoying tune. Also, it's pretty easy to jam shortwave reception within a certain radius, and the fact that the signal bounces all over the whole world isn't such a bonus either.

[ScornedbySara]

continued: However, numbers stations have transmitted with impunity for decades, so they are generally presumed to be operated or sponsored only by governments. Also, numbers station transmissions in the international shortwave bands typically require high levels of electric power that is unavailable to ranches, farms, or plantations in isolated drug-growing regions.

[ScornedbySara]

continued: Others speculate that some of these stations may be related to illegal drug smuggling operations.[4] Unlike government stations, smugglers' stations would need to be lower powered and irregularly operated, to avoid location by triangulated direction finding, followed by government raids.

[ScornedbySara]

Wiki (continued): According to this theory, the messages are encrypted with a one-time pad, to avoid any risk of decryption by the enemy. As evidence, numbers stations have changed details of their broadcasts or produced special, nonscheduled broadcasts coincident with extraordinary political events, such as the August Coup.

[ScornedbySara]

From Wiki: It has long been speculated, and was argued in court in one case, that these stations operate as a simple and foolproof method for government agencies to communicate with spies working under cover (sometimes literally[3]).

[Pikapoo1]

So, do YOU think these are really messages being sent to fellow spies, or do you think its a big hoax? Me, personally, Im not sure...

[stg7]

Considering how much effort has to be put to maintain such stations several hours a day, 365 days a year, if it is a hoax, it certainly is not a profitable hoax! :)

[surefirefan]

yea, Also its been happening since World war? and they are still doing it today and various places of the world.. i doubt its a hoax.. unless they team up with big countries and trying to mess with our minds :/ 73s ke5rrh

[HamRadioPanda]

Are there any novels or non fiction books I can read to learn more about this, what do you call it, shortwave radio? Where do I begin to learn this stuff?

[stg7]

Look for "Simon Mason" in your favourite searcher, he has lots of stuff and information about this and other related matters ;)

[DoctorTragedy]

stg7, what sort of messages do you think are transmitted through this?

[stg7]

Who knows! :) These messages are usually encripted with a so-called one-time pad, so the key changes in every message they send. Maybe there is not a full message transmited in every broadcast (so the last numbers are meaningless), or maybe they don't send logical messages at all.

[stg7]

Popular culture rumours that these messages are sent to undercover agents working abroad. Although some of these number stations have been proven to be a fraud, I don't think this is one of them, as the equipment and resources used to broadcast such a signal must be very expensive. What's sure is that this signal is from the Akrotiri UK base in Cyprus.

Civilians like us only can speculate about what this mess is about, but I doubt we will reach a clear answer some day :)

[HamRadioPanda]

I've heard of the one time pads. They're used once and then destroyed. So it's impossible to find any record of what was said, you can't begin to translate it. I wish there were some sort of information that was so outdated that it could be revealed in the form of an agent's biography or a fiction novel.

[englishjac]

Regnum Defende

[jfunk513]

I like the rig, I believe I saw that its a kenwood. What model is it? I use a 570S. Good clip I like searching for the Lincolnshire Poacher. 73s DE KI4SHQ

[stg7]

It is a Kenwood TS-450S.

73 and DX :)

[grahamkeithtodd]

sorry mate we are STILL here lol ;-)

[Scotscan]

quite simple to decode this data if you know how ;)

[Nuskrad]

No it's not. Why would the data be openly broadcast if it was easy to decrypt? It's likely that it uses OTP, which is mathematically provable to be secure.

[Radioham2e0]

Great Video.. Nice Radio from Louis 2E0LRA 5++

[stg7]

Confirmed QSO, 73 de EA4AFY 5/9+ :)

[neospydel]

When I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire

'Twas well I served my master for nigh on seven years

Till I took up to poaching as you shall quickly hear

Oh, 'tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.

As me and my companions was setting out a snare

'Twas then we spied the gamekeeper, for him we didn't care

For we can wrestle and fight, my boys, and jump from anywhere

Oh, 'tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.

[spuddwebb]

This shit is pretty fuckin weird.

[scorpdan]

I just bought the Conet Project. I taught English in China in the autumn of 1989. I listened to shortwave all the time, and know my apartment was bugged. Now I know what they were listening for.

[Spocko000]

Interesting. How did you know your apartment was bugged? (ps, it probably wasn't because you were listening to short wave, it was probably because you spoke english).

[scorpdan]

Besides the not-so-subtle clicks on my telephone, everyone who came to my apartment had to register at the front desk. Other teachers had the nerve to make suspicious sounds, etc. and sure enough, there would be a knock on the door, and under the pretense of checking the plumbing or something, these spooky guys would look around the place. This was just after Tienenmen Square and during the fall of the eastern bloc countries, so they were all a little nervous.

[Spocko000]

Suspicious sounds.. Like what?

[sean77741111]

Who are they talking to and why?

[saskabush2006]

No one knows. That's the mystery. There are websites devoted to this. General consensus is they're coded transmissions of some sort. This one could be telling a James Bond type to go do something.

[litwardle]

Nice one, I'm a HAM in the UK, havn't heard a number station yet but will do soon I'm sure!