Those creepy "numbers stations"

[Sandy G]

This has nothing to do w/numbers stations, but its a neat story, & I don't know where else to put it. This old lady that was a big bud of my grandmother, ran a boarding house during the War. There were 3 guys who would stay with her every so often, they had a truck, & usually one would stay w/it, while the others would sleep inside. They'd spend the night, come back a day or 2 later, & then she wouldn't see them for a month or 2. This continued all thru the war years. Mrs Thompson got to know them fairly well, but never asked what they were doing. After the War was over, one of them came back & asked her if she ever wondered what they were doing. She said yes, but it wasn't any of her business, so she never asked. The guy said, "Mrs Thompson, we were going back & forth to Oak Ridge. Several nights, you had parts of the Atomic Bomb sitting in yr driveway !" She's long since gone, but her house is still there-about a block away from where I'm sitting as I type this. -Sandy G.

[mhardy6647]

She's long since gone, but her house is still there-about a block away from where I'm sitting as I type this. -

Glowing faintly...

[Ed in SoDak]

I have the '67 Electronics Illustrated with the article on the numbers stations. Even had a slip of an OTP. I first heard them about that time or a couple years later.

Hallicrafters made a good AC/DC SWL radio. Any of the S-38 series would be a good choice, about 50 bucks or less typically. Being AC/DC there are stray voltage issues. Nothing that can't be dealt with if you can solder in a part or wire a new power cord, but old unrepaired units may have some risks. I know at age 9, I woulda loved to own one, shock hazard or not, but perhaps a transistor set is more appropriate.

Any of Zenith's transistorized versions of the Trans Oceanic would be great. The Halli is nice as it has a bandspread dial for fine tuning. Many "casual swl" portable will not tune that well, but you could probably snag a station with patience, good timing and some luck. An outdoor antenna, just a long wire strung out there, would help.

Most of the signals seem quite strong, maybe they're close by me, in the Hall of Records behind Mt. Rushmore maybe??

-Ed

[Sandy G]

There is a book, "Passport to World Band Radio" that you may want to check out. It has schedules for a lot of the bigger broadcasters, eceiving tips, & reviews of quite a few of currently-available radios. It comes out once a year. There are 2 fairly well-distributed magazines, "Popular Communications" & "Monitoring Times", that have product reviews as well. Me, I'd save up & go for a Rick Mish restored R-390A-it's the ONLY way to fly....but not everyone wants an imposing 85 lb radio sitting around...-Sandy G.

[Fast_Eddie]

Yes, the web site is http://www.cbs4denver.com

The story likely won't post on the site till monday. They don't put them up until after they air.

Thanks,

Ed

[Charlie]

I just finished looking over the story cbs-4 did on the numbers stations. Pretty freakin cool! There was also a link to click to see the video/audio of the story. I like the background audio they used while reporting the story! Made it seem even creepier!

http://kcncimg.dayport.com/htm/kcnc4...ewer_noads.tpl

[Mark B]

CBS channel 4 in Denver did a great job on the story - nice going Fast Eddie!

[dingus]

nice going Eddie, aka "Jimmy the Spy in the mailroom".