[Milsurplus] A2 code groups broadcast

[John Vendely]

Hue,

Here on the Space Coast of Florida, one can often hear a signal on 
various frequencies meeting your description--full carrier, DSB AM with 
machine-keyed tone morse with a restricted character set.  The signal is 
extremely strong here, and has been around for many years.  C/N here is 
sufficiently high that, along with copious quantities of 60/120 cps hum, 
telephone line crosstalk can be can often be heard mixed in with the 
audio, mainly rotary dial pulses.  Sometimes another morse "program" is 
faintly audible in the background that sounds much like magnetic 
"print-through" on an analog tape recording.

Some years ago, I DF'd this signal and found it was coming from south of 
here, most probably Cuba.  I suppose it is one of the "numbers stations" 
run out of Cuba to communicate with their field agents in the U.S.  
Doubtless the signal is designed specifically  for reception on any 
"crummy all-band inexpensive radio with a few feet of wire" such as you 
were using at the time.  A few years back, some people got busted here 
in The States for conducting espionage on behalf of Cuba.  They had been 
receiving instructions from Havana in just this manner...

73,

John K9WT

On 2/26/2012 5:47 AM, Hue Miller wrote:
> Was tuning a crappy "Rhapsody" all-band wonder portable radio (equivalent to
> Radio Shack
> SW-100, maybe? ) up to 31 meters to maybe get some Radio Australia before
> turning in for
> the day. At around 8900 kHz  ( +-200 kHz due to minimal frequency markings )
> I heard some
> what used to be called "A2 mode" ( keyed audio telegraphy; this radio has no
> BFO ) in
> 5 letter groups, well formed telegraphy, very good practice at taking CW,
> except for NO
> numbers and certain letters (  h, f, x, z, others? ) not used. Or was this
> "cut numbers" ?
> Where was this originating from? Was a strong signal. Occasional fading but
> overall"
> good copy, this with a crummy all-band inexpensive radio with a few feet of
> wire as
> antenna.  Must be several kW of power anyway.
>
> On another topic: I live in a small town served by 2 AM stations, among
> other broadcast
> services. This weekend one station was off for the second time, about a week
> each time,
> for a burned out part. From a photo on their website, looked like the power
> transformer
> got charred. I heard from a station employee that the burned part the first
> time, some
> capacitor, cost them $3000. Probably the power transformer cost as much or
> more.
> Then Friday night, during a windstorm, our lights flickered a couple times,
> and the other AM station, which I was listening to, went dead air also. Like
> primitive
> times; only AM radio from the "big city", many miles away!
> -Hue Miller
>
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