Conet CD's Now Available!

The wait is finally over. The long-awaited Conet Project numbers station CD's are now being shipped. In case you haven't heard, the Conet Project is a four CD collection of recordings of numbers stations, both past and present. I guess you could call it "Cynthia's Greatest Hits."

In 1995, Irdial-Discs put out a worldwide request for recordings of numbers stations. Numbers monitors from all over the globe (including yours truly) sent in recordings. The resulting product is the world's first and most comprehensive collection of numbers stations ever made publicly available. The CD's contain recordings of just about every numbers station you can think of, and I bet there's quite a few recordings of stations you've never heard before. If you've never heard the Tyrolean music station, you're in for a treat. If you've never heard any numbers stations before, you're really in for a treat.

The collection of recordings spans the entire globe from various stations heard in Europe & North America, to the Chinese-language "New Star" and even an Arabic-language station. Also included are a few recordings of Morse numbers stations. There are also recordings of various unidentified signals heard on the HF bands, such as the "pip," the "crackle," the "buzzer," the "polytone," and the interesting "backwards music station." These and other signals have been heard for several years but never explained.

With the CD set comes a 72 page booklet that describes each recording and talks about numbers stations in general. Also, where known (or suspected), the operating agency of each station is noted. The booklet does a good job of briefly describing each station, but if you want detailed information you'll need to look it up elsewhere. Also in the booklet is a complete transcript of a Lincolnshire Poacher transmission to give you some idea of the format this station uses. I think a worthy addition to the booklet would be sample transcripts of several different numbers stations. There is also a lookup table of virtually every currently operating numbers station which also describes the transmission formats used by each station. This is handy to use to identify which station you are listening to, whether on the CD or on the air.

The booklet also goes into detail about the method designed & used by the ENIGMA newsletter to designate stations. This format is a good system to use for standardization of station ID's. If all numbers monitors refer to the same stations with the same designators, then there will be less confusion as to which station is being referred to. For example, for years the S10 station was referred to as "Bulgarian Betty." This is misleading because this station is not Bulgarian (operated by Czech intelligence), and it's very doubtful her name would be "Betty!" The ENIGMA system arranges the stations by the language or mode used. I'll go into detail on this system next month.

Overall, the CD collection is well-produced. It makes an excellent reference aid for numbers monitors, as well as an introduction to what different stations sound like to the newcomer to this aspect of radio communications. The set is also something interesting to listen to for those that are interested in espionage or intelligence activities. It also makes an interesting record of the history of underground communications.

If you're interested in the Conet CD's, you can contact Irdial-Discs in the UK at [email protected], or by phone at 44-171-351-5842, FAX 44-171-376-4858. Their mailing address is: Irdial-Discs, PO Box 424, London SW3 5DY, England. The discs cost �27.50 Sterling. The discs are also being distributed in the USA by the Dutch East India Trading Co., 45 W 34th St. Room 1001, New York, NY 10001. Their telephone number is 1-212-675-0922, FAX 1-212-630-0879, or e- mail [email protected]. The USA price is $54.00.

I want to take this space to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I hope Santa brings you every piece of radio equipment you wish for. Maybe if you're really good, you'll find the Conet CD set in your stocking. See you next year.