[Spooks] V2 and weird sounds

[kwcactus at att.net]

Unless someone has a letter of authenication from the operators of V2/M8, or has actually been to the studioes or transmitter site, it is all speculation anyway about who they are.  As it is with most of the other Enigma designations, isn't it?   Someone is going to have to drive up to the transmitter site and burn out his receiver's front end to actually know the real truth.  Someone says "I think that's Mossad" or "I think that's CIA" or "That may be KGB" and so it gets a name.  And then it becomes accepted as such, right?  But is it really?  

As to power, the very strong signals are typically just on very good antennas, with transmitter powers of from 1KW to 3KW.  No?  Listen to the ham bands.  Lots of hams are almost pinning S-meters with 100 watt signals.  Why?  Propagation - the right path -  and antenna.  It is imagination that the numbers stations run super power.  Big antennas?  Not much larger than a mono-band HF beam for a ham.  In fact, a kilowatt and a good dipole at the correct height can radiate one heck of a signal.  

Couple of nights ago I monitored a marine net.  Almost all of the signals were a good S9 plus, some plus 10, some plus 30.  Yet these are boats, with 150 watt SSB transceivers, on compromise marine antennas.  

As to the various noises?  Like telephone noises?  Certainly sounds like someone is recording the message off the phone lines.  In real life it is probably never done that way.  Why?  Because it can be traced so easily, for one thing.  There are other reasons as well.  

One possibility, and in my mind the most likely one, is audio tapes (probably old open reel) that have not been properly erased.  Just for example, suppose I decide to record on a previously recorded tape.  I may not start at the same place, may start a minute or two further in.  If the tape was not really bulk erased by a very good eraser, there is still noise from the  previous recording.  So just suppose a tape that was used by Radio Havana, to record a phone conversation into the United States, possibly an interview of some Cuban in Amerca, a perfectly legitimate use, is now re-used without being thoroughly erased.  There's going to be all sorts of extraneous noises on it.  Not saying this is the case, but it would explain quickly how US phone call sounds got on a tape being made in a Havana studio.  

Is it someone believing we want to believe what they want us to believe so they can believe we really believe it?  Not likely.  Why would they care?  We can't decipher it, we can't actually trace the signal, we sure can't read the message, and we can't determine who it's going to.  Nor can anyone else except the intended recipient.  And as noted in the first paragraph, we most likely can't tell who it's coming from, either.  Who would they be attempting to fool?  Cost a lot of money to fool a bunch of numbers hobbyists, and they sure wouldn't fool someone like NSA.  So there's no point in it that I can see.  

My guess, only a guess, is it is poorly erased audio tapes, probably old open reel types, maybe re-used dozens, if not hundreds, of times, and the bulk erasers available at the faciility just won't do the job.  Or they can't afford new tapes.  

But then, it's ALL a guess!   Happy hunting!

Cactus