1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech And recently Amazon canceled 5 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: their television series truth Seekers, which I thought of as 6 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: sort of a cross between Shaun of the Dead and 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: The X Files. So in the series, a cable technician 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: named Gus played by Nick Frost, is obsessed with ghost 9 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: hunting and he gradually indoctrinates his new partner, who says 10 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: his name is Elton John. He's played by Sampson Keo. Anyway, 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: it's it's a cute show. It's a little odd in tone. 12 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: And the part that really applies to this episode, however, 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: is that one of the things that Gus fixates on 14 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: in the early episodes is a radio frequency playing a 15 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: numbers station. It's based off of an actual historical number 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: station that folks call the Lincolnshire Poacher. And here's what 17 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: it sounds like, gree nine seven one five green nine 18 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: seven one hive green nine seven one hive. So that's 19 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: a real thing, or it was a real thing, and 20 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: it's not the only such station out there. There have 21 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: been lots of numbers stations over the years, some using 22 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: different jingles to signal an incoming series of numbers. Some 23 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: of them have male voices, some use female voices, some 24 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: use children's voices. Some of them are in morse code, 25 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: some have people reciting not just numbers but letters and 26 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: code signals. A lot of them are super creepy, which 27 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: makes them really ideal for a show about paranormal investigation. 28 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: But while the supernatural stuff is fanciful nonsense, the numbers 29 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: stations are actually anchored in our real world. And while 30 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: tech Stuff did do an episode about numbers stations many 31 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: many years ago, I thought it would be good to 32 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: use numbers stations as a way to talk about not 33 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: just what they are, but also about short wave radio communications, 34 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,399 Speaker 1: the physics of radio in general, and the process of 35 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: ciphering and encrypting information. So this is really gonna be 36 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: a big overview, catch all kind of podcast. So let's 37 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: start off with radio itself. Radio wave are part of 38 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: the electromagnetic spectrum. Uh. They are there along with stuff 39 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: like microwaves, visible light, X rays, and gamma rays. All 40 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: of this is part of one big spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. 41 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,559 Speaker 1: You could actually think of it all as different flavors 42 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: of light if you like. It's just that the slice 43 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: of light that we can see is a very small 44 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:29,240 Speaker 1: slice of the overall spectrum. Now, specifically, radio waves are 45 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: in the long wavelength part of that spectrum. Electromagnetic radiation 46 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: moves in waves all at the speed of light, because hey, 47 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: really it is just light, just different flavors of it. 48 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: But those flavors of light do have different wavelengths, which 49 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: also means they have different frequencies. So what does that 50 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: mean exactly, Well, let's start with wavelengths. Imagine a nice 51 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: smooth wavy line the distance between two consecutive crests on 52 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: that wave, so the very peaks at the top parts 53 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: of our curve. In other words, that would be one 54 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: wave length from one crest to the next. A frequency 55 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: just refers to the number of times a given cycle 56 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: happens within a given amount of time, and we frequently 57 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: use one second as the time unit, and with electromagnetic radiation, 58 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: we talked about how many full wavelengths of a given 59 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: signal pass a specific point in space within one second. 60 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: We also use the unit hurts to describe this relationship. 61 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: A one Hurts frequency would have one cycle or one 62 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: wavelength per second passing you know this given point in 63 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:49,359 Speaker 1: one second, a giga Hurts frequency has a billion cycles 64 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: per second. Now, all electromagnetic radiation is traveling at the 65 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: same speed, which is around three thousand kilometers per second 66 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: in a vacuum. Because the speed actually changes depending upon 67 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: the medium through which the radiation is traveling, that happens 68 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: to be the speed limit of the universe. Nothing goes 69 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: faster than that, So the energy is traveling at that speed, 70 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: but the frequency is dependent not just on speed but 71 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: how long those waves are. In fact, because we know 72 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: all these waves are traveling at that same speed, we 73 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: can figure out the wavelength if we know the frequency, 74 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: and vice versa. So the formula is wavelength equals the 75 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: speed of light divided by the waves frequency. Alternatively, frequency 76 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: is equal to the speed of light divided by the wavelength. 77 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: So as long as we know either the frequency or 78 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: the wavelength, we can figure out the other one. Because 79 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,919 Speaker 1: the speed of light is a constant, it's not a variable. 80 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: On the longest wavelength side of the spectrum are radio waves, 81 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: which can measure more and a hundred meters in length, 82 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: so a radio wave with a wavelength of one meters 83 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: would have a frequency of about three mega hurts, meaning 84 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: about three million wavelengths would pass a given point in 85 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: a second, and each wavelength is measuring one hundred meters 86 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: between those crests. Again, the speed of the signal is 87 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: still the speed of light. But let's say we get 88 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: to the other end of the spectrum, towards the very 89 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: very very tiny wavelengths on the electro magnetic spectrum. And 90 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: when I say tiny, I mean really tiny. Gamma radiation, 91 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: which represents the smallest of the waves that we know about, 92 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: are less than one hundred pico meters in length, and 93 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: a pico meter is one trillionth of a meter, so 94 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: this is actually smaller than the nanoscale. The frequency started 95 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: out at around ten to the power of nineteen hurts 96 00:06:54,080 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: or ten quintillion hurts. Now, I've talked about electro magnetic 97 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: radiation in terms of waves, but we also know that 98 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: it behaves as both a wave and a particle. There 99 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: are a lot of experiments that have shown this, and 100 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: they're fascinating. But I don't want to get too far 101 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: off track. Some of you out there might be screaming 102 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: too late now, so we should also mention photons, the 103 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: particles of light. A photons energy is directly proportional to 104 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: the electromagnetic frequency of that wave. It's also inversely proportional 105 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: to the wave length, So gamma rays pack a huge 106 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: energetic wallop, while radio waves, by comparison, are whims. So 107 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: let's get back to the radio spectrum. In particular. We 108 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: know that radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the 109 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: electromagnetic spectrum, which means they also have the lowest frequencies 110 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: and the lowest amount of photonic energy. Generally speaking, we 111 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: group electromagnetic frequencies ranging from thirty hurts or thirty wavelengths 112 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: per second up to three hundred giga hurts or three 113 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: hundred billion wavelengths per second. Obviously this is a really 114 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: big range, but all of that are radio frequencies. Now, 115 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: different countries divvy up this spectrum of frequencies for different uses, 116 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: some of which depend upon the capabilities of those frequencies. So, 117 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: for example, if you're looking at around thirty hurts, this 118 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: is the extremely low frequency or e l F ELF range. 119 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: You know, I used to play in ELF range in 120 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: Dungeons and Dragons. Wait don't think of something else. So 121 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: these wavelengths are really long and they are good at 122 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: penetrating stuff like deep water, so it can be used 123 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: for very basic communications with submarines. A M radio would 124 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: be up in the medium frequency range for radio frequencies, 125 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: and also the medium wavelength range. Just above that are 126 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: the high frequency short wave radio hands, which are what 127 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: we're really going to talk about a lot today. These 128 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: have a wavelength between ten and one and frequencies that 129 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: are between three and thirty mega hurts. Radio waves in 130 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: this band of frequencies have some really useful properties, and 131 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: one of those is the broadcast range, as in how 132 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: far these radio waves can travel. So higher frequency radio 133 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: bands can essentially only travel by line of sight, so 134 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: there is a limited range to them. If you've ever 135 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: listened to an FM radio station, because FM frequencies are 136 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: in a band called very high frequency or VHF, then 137 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: you might have had the experience of the station starting 138 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: to give out as you travel away from the source. 139 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,199 Speaker 1: Depending upon the power of the broadcasting station, you typically 140 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: have a range of around thirty to forty miles or 141 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: fifty to sixty kilometers, but radio waves that are a 142 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: bit longer can travel further thanks to a layer in 143 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere. Higher frequencies can move right 144 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: through the ionosphere. They just punch right through and go 145 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: out into space, but lower frequencies, those having the longer wavelengths, 146 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: aren't able to do that, so they actually bounce off 147 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 1: the layer and come back down to Earth. By reflecting 148 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: back down to Earth, these radio waves could travel much 149 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: further than they would just by line of sight. Now, 150 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: as the name suggests, the ionosphere is a layer of 151 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: our atmosphere that is host to ionized particles. Ionization is 152 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: the process by which an atom becomes charged either with 153 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: a positive charge meaning it has lost electrons electrons are 154 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,599 Speaker 1: the negatively charged particles. So then you've got an imbalance. 155 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: You have more protons with the atom than you have electrons, 156 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: and thus you have an overall positive charge, or it 157 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: could become negatively charged, meaning that an atom has taken 158 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: on more electrons. Now, this makes that layer of Earth's 159 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: atmosphere a electrically conductive. It happens because our atmosphere is 160 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: hit by ultra violet light from the Sun and it 161 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: hits the atoms in this layer of the atmosphere it 162 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: energizes those atoms, and when the atoms get really energetic, 163 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: the electrons move further out from the nucleus and they 164 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: can actually peel off if they have enough energy. Now 165 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: you've got free electrons, and those free electrons are either 166 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: reflecting radio waves if they have a long enough wavelength, 167 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 1: or they can actually absorb them or otherwise allow them 168 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: to pass through for shorter wavelengths. This works in both directions. 169 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: By the way, not just radio waves coming from Earth, 170 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: but also radio waves that are coming in from space, 171 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,319 Speaker 1: because lots of stuff out there generates radio waves. I'm 172 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: not talking about aliens. I'm talking about like solar activity 173 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,599 Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Now, the activity of the ionosphere 174 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: changes throughout a day over any given spot on Earth. 175 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: So during the daytime, that part of the Earth is 176 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: facing the Sun, so the atmosphere overhead is being hit 177 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: with a lot more ultra violet radiation, and thus the 178 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: lower part of the ionosphere, the part that's closer to us, 179 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: ends up getting more crowded with ions. Now that means 180 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: that longer radio waves are going to hit the ionosphere 181 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: at a lower altitude and then reflect off. But at nighttime, 182 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: the sun is on the other side of the planet. 183 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: So the lower part of the ionosphere kind of calms 184 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: down a bit, and now the longer radio waves will 185 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: actually travel at a further altitude. They'll go higher up 186 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: before they hit the ionosphere and reflect back down. That 187 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: also means that you can actually pick up longer wavelength 188 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: radio signals from further away at nighttime because there's this 189 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: different angle that allows the waves to reflect and travel 190 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: even further. Now, the history of radio, as in the 191 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:57,560 Speaker 1: technology that we use to leverage radio waves, this gets 192 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: complicated because we call the technology this same terms as 193 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: we call the the scientific phenomena that is interoperating with 194 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 1: the technology. But we'll we'll carry on. So the tech 195 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: radio has a very long and complicated history, and it's 196 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: full of some really serious drama. I mean not just 197 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: radio dramas like soap oparas, I mean like drama drama. 198 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: Just get a couple of radio enthusiasts talking about Tesla 199 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: and Marconi or Armstrong and DeForest and see how things 200 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: go if you want some entertainment. But we'll just cut 201 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: to the chase and say that by World War One, 202 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: people were figuring out potential uses for radio waves like 203 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: being able to send communications quickly across large areas if 204 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: you know you're trying to coordinate numerous groups of soldiers 205 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: in different theaters of combat. For example, communicating by radio 206 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: involves generating a carrier wave signal at a specific frequency 207 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: and then modulating it so, in other word, changing that 208 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: signal in some way in order for it to carry information. 209 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: A steady signal gives you no real useful information other 210 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: than someone or something is generating this signal. But by 211 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: creating a way to encode and decode information by altering 212 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: that signal, do you have a way to send more 213 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: complex information. A M radio modulates a carrier signal by 214 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: changing the amplitude of the wavelength, and this requires a 215 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: good deal of power, and the long wavelengths mean you 216 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: need big radio towers to beam out these signals. FM 217 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: radio modulates signals through frequency modulation, altering the frequency of 218 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: the signal slightly. And radio stations, like the kind we 219 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: tune into for entertainment purposes, these are fixed frequencies right 220 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: like If they weren't, you would never be able to 221 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: tune into your favorite radio station because you wouldn't know 222 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: what frequency to go to. So this means they can't 223 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: take advantage of the changes in the ionosphere. They're always 224 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: stuck transmitting at a set frequency, whether conditions are good 225 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: for long range transmission or not. Shortwave radio operators have 226 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: a little more flexibility. They're working with a specific series 227 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: of frequencies in the high frequency range of the RF spectrum, 228 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: but they can swap from one of those sets of 229 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: frequencies to another and thus take advantage of atmospheric conditions. 230 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: So early in the day you might use one set 231 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: of frequencies that are available to you, and late at 232 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: night you might use a different set, because the actual 233 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: radio waves will travel at different distances as the day changes. 234 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: But there's another aspect to communicating during wartime, which is 235 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: that generally speaking, you don't want the people who are 236 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: fighting on the other side of the war to know 237 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: what the heck you're talking about, so you have to 238 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: come up with some means of of you skating the 239 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: meaning of your message. This is particularly important with radio 240 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: for a very obvious reason. See, there are a lot 241 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: of different ways to send secret messages, and some of 242 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: them are more secure than others. If you and I 243 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: are the only ones who know about a black glassy rock, 244 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: near a trina field, you know, a rock that has 245 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: no business being there, And I hide a message under 246 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: that rock for you, there's a decent chance that you'll 247 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: get to the message before anyone else does. I might 248 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: not even need to encode the message at all, because 249 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: no one else even knows that there's a rock there. 250 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: If I were to send you a message through the mail, well, 251 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: now there's a few points where someone could intercept that message, right, 252 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: I mean, perhaps the batties check my mailbox. They see 253 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: that I've put the little mail flag up, so they 254 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: come and check it and they steal the message before 255 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: I can even go anywhere. Or maybe they keep checking 256 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: your mailbox on the other side, looking at incoming mail, 257 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: and they grab my message when it arrives at your mailbox. 258 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: Or maybe they're super tricksy and they've infiltrated the postal 259 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: service and Cliff the mailman is secretly a dirty old 260 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: spy always suspected it. Well. Radio communications are out in 261 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: the open. Anyone with a receiver that has an antenna 262 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: that can tune into whichever frequency is being used can 263 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: actually listen in on that frequency, So you have no 264 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: control over who can hear what you're sending out. So 265 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,439 Speaker 1: if you're sending something out in secret, you have to 266 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: encode it in some way that makes it hard or 267 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,639 Speaker 1: impossible to determine what is being communicated. Now, when we 268 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: come back, will talk about how this sometimes involves making 269 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: creepy radio broadcasts. But first, let's take a quick break. 270 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: Let's say you want to create your own radio station. 271 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: You've put up a transmission tower, you figured out your 272 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: power needs to generate the signal necessary to claim a 273 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: subsection the r F spectrum set aside for broadcasts, and 274 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: you're ready to go right. Well, no, now if you 275 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: don't want to get shut down and find or worse. 276 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,719 Speaker 1: In order to make sure the spectrum isn't just a 277 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: free for all, which would make communication difficult at least, 278 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,679 Speaker 1: governments have designated specific bands of frequencies for specific uses. 279 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,479 Speaker 1: See if multiple transmitters were trying to use the exact 280 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: same frequency, everything would get garbled. You would have tons 281 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,879 Speaker 1: of interference. If you've ever used a pair of walkie talkies, 282 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: you probably know that it's standard for folks to say 283 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: over when they're done talking, because the walkie talkies switched 284 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: between transmitter and receiver mode and without the over you 285 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: might have both parties trying to talk at the same time, 286 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: and no one can hear anything because you're both holding 287 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,440 Speaker 1: down the transmit button. Well, when you think about all 288 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: the radio, television, cellular, WiFi, and other signals zooming around 289 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: out there, all of which are part of the RF spectrum, 290 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: you quickly realize that you've got to make up some 291 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: rules or else no one would ever know who they're 292 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: talking to. Now, way back in eighteen sixty five, the 293 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: International Telegraph Union came into formation, and in nineteen thirty 294 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: four it changed its name to the International Telecommunication Union, 295 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: and it's part of the United Nations today, and one 296 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: of its jobs is to designate specific slices of the 297 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: RF spectrum for specific uses to allow for seamless operations 298 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: between the world. That way, the radio is made by 299 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: a company in Japan will work in places like the 300 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: US because the frequencies that we've set aside for terrestrial 301 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: radio stations are the same, assuming that both US and 302 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: Japan are following the suggestions from the i t U. Now, 303 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: it's up to the governments of various countries to enforce 304 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: these rules. In the United States, radio stations have to 305 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,360 Speaker 1: obtain a license from the Federal Communications Commission to get 306 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: a permission to broadcast on specific frequencies within the A, 307 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: M or FM bands of the RF spectrum. There are 308 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: other frequencies reserved for amateur radio operators, but if you 309 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: want to operate your own amateur station, you have to 310 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: get a license from the f c C, and passing 311 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: a test is part of that process. Now, if you 312 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: just want to listen to radio, that's different. You don't 313 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 1: need a license. In that case, you could have a 314 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: short wave radio set and as long as you're not transmitting, 315 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: you're just listening, no licenses needed. But to transmit, you 316 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: gotta get permission first, and the f c C will 317 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: even assign a call signed to you. Number stations are different. 318 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: With commercial radio stations, you can do some research to 319 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: see who owns and operates that station, but with numbers stations, 320 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,199 Speaker 1: there's a distinct lack of information. This puts them in 321 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 1: the realm of pirate radio stations. These are stations that 322 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,880 Speaker 1: have no identifying information associated with them and they are 323 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: operating without being registered with the FCC or similar agency 324 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: in other countries. Now that doesn't mean that these agencies 325 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: like the f c C don't know about them. There 326 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: is a look the other way situation in which one 327 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: part of the government is using stuff that the other 328 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: parts just don't need to worry about. You know, by 329 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: the way, if you're wondering if people operate pirate radio stations, 330 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: they sometimes do. But there are ways to triangulate signals 331 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: and determine where those signals are coming from. So if 332 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: someone is broadcasting without permission on a specific frequency, it's 333 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: typically just a matter of time before the Feds come 334 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: in and shut things down. Now, you could hop onto 335 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 1: other frequencies, but unless your audience knows where to tune in, 336 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: you would likely be talking to no one or at 337 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: least very few people. So, since we know that it's 338 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: possible to figure out where a radio signal ridge and eates, 339 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: and since numbers stations can remain in operation for years 340 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: or decades, we have to draw the conclusion that these 341 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 1: numbers stations have some sort of sanction from governments, otherwise 342 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: they would get shut down. Now, some sources say that 343 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: numbers stations, these radio frequencies that are sending out seemingly 344 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: nonsensical information, got their start in World War One. Others 345 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 1: say it was actually closer to World War Two, and 346 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: I tend to suspect that the latter is more accurate. 347 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: Radio was important in World War One, but it was 348 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: also still pretty early on in the evolution of the technology. 349 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: But at some time around World War One and World 350 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: War Two, someone got an idea, and that idea was 351 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: to establish a transmission on a particular signal or sometimes 352 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: a series of signals that would change throughout the day 353 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: to take advantage of the ionosphere and the differences and 354 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: signal propagation, and the signal would broadcast encoded and for 355 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: vation presumably two spies. So let's say you're running a 356 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: top secret spy organization like the m I six. Now, granted, 357 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 1: you're spending a lot of time dealing with the fact 358 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: that your top spy has a habit of introducing himself 359 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: to any one in hearing range and then drinking his 360 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: way across the world. But you've got a lot of 361 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: other more responsible spy types out there too, and you 362 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 1: might occasionally need to send them orders. But if your 363 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: operative is halfway across the world, deep in enemy territory 364 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: and you can't rely on normal communication channels, you might 365 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: want to send a coded message by shortwave radio. This 366 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 1: has a huge advantage and that the radio signal goes 367 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: out everywhere, so you know that your enemies will be 368 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: able to detect the signal, but they won't know what 369 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,919 Speaker 1: the message was or who it was actually for. If 370 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: you were to call your operative, it's possible someone could 371 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: detect the call and trace it to the recipient the spy, 372 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: and thus compromising them. So sending out a message via 373 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: radio means you give no information about who is supposed 374 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 1: to receive that message. The operative nose to tune into 375 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: a specific radio frequency at a specific time. This is 376 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: something that you have to work out beforehand, obviously, as 377 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 1: most of us aren't aware of what's going on with 378 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,120 Speaker 1: radio waves all around us, or we'd have a lot 379 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: of trouble concentrating on anything. You might set up a 380 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 1: regular broadcast session using different frequencies throughout the day, depending 381 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: upon whichever one works best. And maybe some days you 382 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: have nothing to report, so you might even send out 383 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: a code for that, or it might just be gibberish. 384 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: But other days you need to alert your operative to 385 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: return home, or step it up and place a bigger 386 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: bet in baccarat or whatever it may be. So these numbers. 387 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: Stations typically have some sort of indicator at the top 388 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: of the hour. The Lincoln Share Poacher, which we played 389 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: at the beginning of this episode, is an example of that. 390 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: That little tune marked the beginning of a transmission, followed 391 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 1: by the actual message. The message would be a sequence 392 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: of some sort, typically numbers, sometimes letters. The voice might 393 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,679 Speaker 1: be a recording, or it might be read live on 394 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: the air. It could be a man, a woman, or 395 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,359 Speaker 1: a child's voice. You might pick up a short wave 396 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 1: signal with someone counting in another language. But what do 397 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,679 Speaker 1: those codes actually mean? Well, that's the real question, and 398 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: that's one that's kind of impossible for us to answer 399 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: because the coded messages use an approach that is unbreakable 400 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: assuming you don't get hold of the secret. So this 401 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: leads us to a discussion about cryptography. Cryptography, or the 402 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: art of writing and or breaking codes, is ancient, and 403 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: people have come up with a lot of interesting ways 404 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: to hide important information even if it's in plain sight, 405 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: and have it be indecipherable as it were to the 406 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: uninitiated at least. These range from the very simple strategies 407 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: such as a rudimentary replacement cipher like the Caesar cipher, 408 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: where you just substitute symbols for letters or just shift 409 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: letters around. So for example, you might say a B 410 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: actually means C and a C means D. That's a 411 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: very simple Caesar cipher. While these sort of ciphers might 412 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,920 Speaker 1: confound someone at casual first glance, they aren't particularly hard 413 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: to crack. If you happen to know what language was 414 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: used to write the message, you can look for patterns 415 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: in those symbols to indicate common letter combinations. So, for example, 416 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: in English, the letters J, Q, X, and Z are 417 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: really pretty rare, but the letters A, E, O, and 418 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: T are really common. So you can look for symbols 419 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: that show up a lot and start to think, well, 420 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: these most likely represent some of the most common letters. 421 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: And then you have letter pairs. In English, you get 422 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: stuff like T H E are oh N and A 423 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: N a lot. You can also look for common double 424 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: letters like T, T, S, S, E and so on. 425 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: Knowing the rules of the language means you can start 426 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: looking for clues as to what these symbols actually represent. 427 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:22,120 Speaker 1: Some ciphers take one little extra step, including some symbols 428 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: for common letter pairings. Really, this is just taking a 429 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: page from other alphabets, including older English alphabets. So for example, 430 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: the old English letter thorn represents the th h or 431 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: the sound. So maybe you have symbols that can represent 432 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:44,719 Speaker 1: certain letter pairs or double letters or phonetic sounds, and 433 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,360 Speaker 1: that can make it a tiny bit more challenging if 434 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: someone wants to break the code. Now, there are also 435 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: ciphers that use clever means to change how letters are 436 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,360 Speaker 1: encoded in some predetermined way, which is what the famed 437 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: Enigma machine could do. The Enigma machine was like a 438 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: really complicated typewriter, only when you hit a given letter 439 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,480 Speaker 1: such as W on the machine, the machine would generate 440 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: a different letter based on whatever its initial settings were. 441 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: So let's say you hit W and you get G 442 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: instead you write that down for your encoded message. Then 443 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: the Enigma machine would advance its mechanism so that the 444 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: entire encoding process changed. So if you hit W again, 445 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,239 Speaker 1: now the machine wouldn't produce G for the second W, 446 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,719 Speaker 1: it would produce something else, like maybe P. The Enigma 447 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: machine was so complicated that it prompted Allied forces in 448 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: World War Two to construct early computer systems, and had 449 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: it not been for a couple of quirks with the machine. So, 450 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: for example, the machine would never use the correct letter 451 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: as a cipher for itself. Well, if it hadn't been 452 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: doing those sort of things, the Allies might not have 453 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: ever cracked at code. And there are other methods to 454 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: send information in a clandestine way. There's hiding information within 455 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: some other message or inside a physical object. This is 456 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: called steganography. So you can imagine a painting that has 457 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: a hidden message incorporated in it, so that anyone who's 458 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: just looking at the painting just see's a painting, but 459 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: someone who knows what to look for can read the message. 460 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: Steganography is fascinating stuff, and in our modern tech age, 461 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: it can extend to stuff like files that are hidden 462 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: within other files. So how do numbers stations keep information secret? 463 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: What's through one of the oldest tricks in the book 464 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: the one time pad. Using a one time pad properly 465 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: is pretty much a guarantee that no one will ever 466 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: be able to crack the code. It's a perfect cipher 467 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 1: in that regard, though in other ways it has its 468 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: own drawbacks. Now, when we come back, we'll talk about 469 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: the one time pad. Some of the famous number stations 470 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: out there and speculate on what it all means. Spies. 471 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: It means spies. We'll be right back, okay. So the 472 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: beauty of the one time pad is that if you 473 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: do it correctly, it is unbreakable. The reason for that 474 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: is twofold. One is that the key that you used 475 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,960 Speaker 1: to actually encrypt the message is a randomly generated key, 476 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: So each letter of your message has an encryption method 477 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: that is independent of every other letter in your message, 478 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: so somewhat intercepting the message won't be able to look 479 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: for those patterns in the symbols. And the other reason 480 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 1: is that you use each randomly generated encryption key only once. 481 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: After you use it, you destroy the key. Since you 482 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: don't repeat the process, you avoid giving codebreakers enough information 483 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: in order to crack a message. If the code never repeats, 484 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: you can't establish any patterns. Now, the downside of this 485 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: is that you do have to make sure that everyone 486 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: you're communicating with has a copy of the encryption keys. 487 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: So whenever you generate that random key, you have to 488 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: make sure the person or people that you're sending messages 489 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 1: to have exact copies that they are able to keep safe. 490 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: Going back to the Enigma machine, if the Germans had 491 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: followed the procedure of changing the machine settings for every 492 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: single message, it would have made the code even more 493 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: difficult to crack. But an actual practice, doing this was 494 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: very hard to keep straight and could result in miscommunication. 495 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: So for the sake of convenience and clarity, the Germans 496 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: often wouldn't change the settings as frequently as they were 497 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: supposed to, and that gave the allies a foothold and 498 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: figuring out what was actually going on. Generating a coded 499 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: mess it requires a few steps, and since we're talking 500 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: about numbers stations, I'll go with numbers first. But keep 501 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: in mind, it's not just the way numbers work, it's 502 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: just it's the easiest way to explain it to you guys. 503 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: So your first step is that you create a simple 504 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: substitution cipher for all the letters in the alphabet, plus 505 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: any symbols that you plan on using, for example, any punctuation. 506 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: You assign numbers to each of those letters and symbols, 507 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,440 Speaker 1: so you could go just as simple as numbering the 508 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: English alphabet from one to twenty six A to Z, 509 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 1: but that's pretty simplistic. So you establish your basic cipher 510 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: and you make sure everyone who needs it has that 511 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: they know that if they see a one, that means 512 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: a two means to be for ciphered text. But that's 513 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: just one step. Next, you generate your encryption key. Now, 514 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: this should be a string of random numbers, with each 515 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: number ranging from zero to nine. Typically you group them 516 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,560 Speaker 1: in blocks to make it easier to transmit and receive. 517 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: The most common one I've come across is blocks of 518 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: five digits each. Now this is really important. Your encryption 519 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,479 Speaker 1: key has to be as long or longer than whatever 520 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: message you intend to send. So if your message is 521 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 1: one forty characters long, you need one hundred forty randomly 522 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 1: generated numbers, and you create a whole bunch of these 523 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 1: for the purposes of communication, with each encryption key taking 524 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: up a single page out of a pad of paper. 525 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: If you were to look at one of these sheets 526 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 1: of paper, all you would see are a bunch of 527 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: digits divide up into groups of five, and just no 528 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: apparent pattern to them because they would be randomly generated. 529 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: So when it comes time to encode a message, let's 530 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: say your message is extra act asset. That's what you 531 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: want to tell your operative. You would write down your 532 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: message in English, So you write down extract have a 533 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,240 Speaker 1: space asset, and then you would use your cipher method 534 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: to change each letter into its corresponding number. So we'll 535 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: go with the very simple substitution of A is one, 536 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: B as two, and so on, but we would probably 537 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: use something different in the field. We're gonna use zero 538 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: as an empty space. A lot of real number stations 539 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,400 Speaker 1: use a different method, uh in order to make it 540 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,800 Speaker 1: easier for people who are receiving the messages to actually 541 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,000 Speaker 1: decode them. But you get where I'm going. So using 542 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 1: our substitution cipher, we see that the first letter of 543 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,959 Speaker 1: our message, the E in extract, would be the fifth 544 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: letter the alphabet, So our first ciphered note is five. 545 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: The second letter of extract is X. That's the twenty 546 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: four letter, So then we have to write two four, 547 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: So this actually takes up two digits in our our 548 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 1: ciphered text. When we're done, are simple substitution cipher would 549 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,839 Speaker 1: look like this. This is extract asset. If we were 550 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: to write it all out by numbers, it would be 551 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: five two four to zero, one eight one three two 552 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 1: zero zero, one one nine one nine five to zero. 553 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:38,040 Speaker 1: But this is not encrypted yet. It's just enciphered which 554 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,399 Speaker 1: means that if someone were to intercept this message, they 555 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,759 Speaker 1: could potentially suss out what it means pretty quickly. I mean, 556 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: for one thing, if you listen to that, even though 557 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: it's broken up into two different blocks of of digits, 558 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,719 Speaker 1: you do have a repeating one nine one nine in 559 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,000 Speaker 1: there that could indicate a double letter, and in this 560 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,800 Speaker 1: case it actually does. Those are the who say is 561 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: an asset. So now you have to encrypt this message. 562 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: This is when we take one of those randomly generated 563 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 1: encryption keys, the ones that are at least as long, 564 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,080 Speaker 1: but preferably longer than the messages we plan to send, 565 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: and we've grouped the encryption key into blocks of five digits, 566 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: but again these digits are each randomly generated. We grab 567 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: the first key off our pad. Let's say that this 568 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: key starts with a five digit block that says zero 569 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 1: eight to three nine. Now we would probably just hold 570 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,040 Speaker 1: onto those first five numbers, not use them for encryption, 571 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,360 Speaker 1: because those first five numbers will alert our agents in 572 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 1: the field which of the encryption keys they need to use, 573 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,839 Speaker 1: because remember they have a whole pad of these things, 574 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,399 Speaker 1: and each one is different, so they have to look 575 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: in their pad and say all right, Well, let's look 576 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,880 Speaker 1: for the encryption key that starts with zero eight to 577 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: three nine. That's our starting point. So we've got our 578 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:05,399 Speaker 1: ciphered text and beneath those numbers of the ciphers, so 579 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 1: our first block was five to four to zero. Beneath 580 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: that we would write the second block of the encryption key, 581 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 1: and then we would do the third block of the 582 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,359 Speaker 1: encryption key, then the fourth block, and then the fifth 583 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: block to correspond with the four blocks of five numbers 584 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 1: that represent extract asset. Now again these are randomly generated 585 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: digits from zero to nine. Then we do quick subtraction 586 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: digit by digit. We take the encryption key number for 587 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,040 Speaker 1: each corresponding digit of our ciphered text, and we subtract 588 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: the encryption key from the ciphered key. So I remember 589 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,280 Speaker 1: our first five numbers of our cipher text are five 590 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,800 Speaker 1: to four to zero. Let's say that our randomly generated 591 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 1: encryption key is two seven. Well, if we're subtracting digit 592 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: by digit, that means our first pairing would be the 593 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:05,080 Speaker 1: five from our block of cipher text and the two 594 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,879 Speaker 1: from the encryption key. So five minus two gives us three. 595 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:14,000 Speaker 1: This is the beginning of our encrypted text. But our 596 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 1: second subtraction is seven that's from our encryption key, from 597 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: two that's from our cipher. In this case, you would 598 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: make the two a twelve for the purposes of subtraction, 599 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,440 Speaker 1: and your answer would be five and so on. So 600 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: you subtract each encryption key digit from the ciphered message 601 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 1: digit to create the encrypted message. So our first block 602 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:45,360 Speaker 1: of encrypted five digits would be three five three three five. 603 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: Remember we started with five to four zero. That in 604 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:54,680 Speaker 1: turn stands for the letters e x T. Anyway, you 605 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 1: do this encryption method for your entire message, You turn 606 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: it into blocks of numbers that you can broadcast those 607 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:04,520 Speaker 1: blocks of numbers through a numbers station. The agent tunes 608 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: into that specific frequency and an agreed upon time. They 609 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: listen for that first block of five numbers, they grab 610 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,799 Speaker 1: the sheet out of their pad that corresponds to that, 611 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: they write down the message that's being broadcast, number and 612 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,320 Speaker 1: by number. They match each new number to the next 613 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,160 Speaker 1: digit in the encryption key, and then they just add 614 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,360 Speaker 1: those two numbers together to get the ciphered version of 615 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,920 Speaker 1: the message. Then they convert the ciphered version to the 616 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 1: original message, so they're just reversing the process. It's pretty elegant, 617 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:41,040 Speaker 1: and because that encryption key is random, it is impossible 618 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,839 Speaker 1: to crack. This is also why if you listen to 619 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:48,799 Speaker 1: a numbers station broadcast, the speaker typically will repeat a 620 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,400 Speaker 1: block of five numbers a couple of times, maybe several times, 621 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 1: before moving on to the next block of five numbers. 622 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 1: This gives the listener enough time to make sure they 623 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:02,280 Speaker 1: are transcribing each digit correct really, otherwise their decryption process 624 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: isn't going to work. Now, this key is impossible to 625 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 1: crack as long as that encryption key remains random, but 626 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,680 Speaker 1: generating random numbers is actually trickier than it sounds now. 627 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:14,239 Speaker 1: One way to do this would just be to take 628 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 1: a tin sided die and roll it a bunch, and 629 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,960 Speaker 1: then write down each of the results of your roles 630 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 1: as you go. The number of times you roll the 631 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,040 Speaker 1: die depends on how long you're encryption key is going 632 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,720 Speaker 1: to be, but keep in mind you want that encryption 633 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,040 Speaker 1: key to be at least as long as the messages 634 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,239 Speaker 1: you're planning to send preferably longer. So if your key 635 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 1: has twenty blocks of five digits each, you would be 636 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,400 Speaker 1: rolling that die one times and writing down the results 637 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:46,600 Speaker 1: and the first five digits of your new key typically 638 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:50,399 Speaker 1: aren't used as encryption but rather identification. You can use 639 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:54,600 Speaker 1: other means to identify which pad or which page and 640 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,160 Speaker 1: a pad you should be using, but that's a pretty 641 00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:00,840 Speaker 1: common one. There are computer programs that are supposed to 642 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:04,560 Speaker 1: generate random numbers. You know, you've probably heard of r 643 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: n g s or random number generators, but what these 644 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:12,960 Speaker 1: really do is that they generate pseudo random numbers. They're 645 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:17,319 Speaker 1: not true random numbers. Computers have to follow rules. Now, 646 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,120 Speaker 1: those rules can be really complicated, but they're still rules, 647 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:25,520 Speaker 1: and randomness sort of falls outside of the rules category. 648 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:32,239 Speaker 1: So computer random number generators typically aren't truly random. Now 649 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,840 Speaker 1: to mere mortals, it can seem random, but in most cases, 650 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:38,719 Speaker 1: a person who knew the rules that the program was 651 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:42,320 Speaker 1: following in order to generate the numbers could create another 652 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:46,320 Speaker 1: program to duplicate that result, and that means the numbers 653 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: aren't really random at all, and that could put an 654 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,319 Speaker 1: encryption key at risk. For that reason, a lot of 655 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:56,240 Speaker 1: spy agencies don't rely on computers to generate random numbers. 656 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:01,120 Speaker 1: Typically they'll use other methods. Numbers station is really proliferated 657 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,840 Speaker 1: in the years after World War Two and throughout the 658 00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:07,440 Speaker 1: Cold War, presumably because you had spies all over the 659 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,440 Speaker 1: ding dang during place with American spies in Russia, you 660 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:16,360 Speaker 1: had Soviet spies in America, and so on. The Numbers 661 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:21,879 Speaker 1: stations declined in well number over the years, but there 662 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,960 Speaker 1: are still a few out there broadcasting digits to whomever 663 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,400 Speaker 1: is listening. Some of them may still be connected to espionage, 664 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: but others might be connected to non governmental activities, you know, 665 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,479 Speaker 1: like drugs smuggling. Some of the Numbers stations are shall 666 00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:40,960 Speaker 1: we say, executed in a less than professional manner, which 667 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,480 Speaker 1: suggests that they are not backed by, you know, state 668 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:49,080 Speaker 1: backed operations. It's also possible that some numbers stations are 669 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:52,879 Speaker 1: broadcasting out meaningless numbers just to obvious skate what's really 670 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,160 Speaker 1: going on. If you flood the airwaves with nonsense, you 671 00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:59,440 Speaker 1: keep your opponents guessing at what you're actually up to. Now, 672 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:01,799 Speaker 1: I've already played for you a bill of the Lincolnshire 673 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:05,360 Speaker 1: Poacher Numbers Station, which may have well been connected to 674 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:09,000 Speaker 1: the Secret Intelligence Service of the UK. But there was 675 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:12,560 Speaker 1: also the Swedish rhapsody, which would begin with a jangly 676 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: little tune that sounds like it came straight from an 677 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:18,680 Speaker 1: ice cream truck. There was the Gong, which began with 678 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:21,800 Speaker 1: a series of low pitched percussive tones as if bells 679 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,799 Speaker 1: or gongs were being struck, followed by someone reading out 680 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,879 Speaker 1: numbers in German. There were tons of others, and there's 681 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:32,520 Speaker 1: still several in operation today. A Keen Fernandez, a short 682 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:36,640 Speaker 1: wave radio enthusiasts, became fascinated with these numbers stations and 683 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,840 Speaker 1: released a set of CDs containing recordings of various numbers 684 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,680 Speaker 1: stations from around the world. You can find the recordings 685 00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:45,840 Speaker 1: available online for free, and lots of musicians have actually 686 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:49,719 Speaker 1: incorporated parts of those recordings into their own works. One 687 00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:52,560 Speaker 1: of the brilliant things about number stations is that, well 688 00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 1: you might figure out where the broadcast is coming from 689 00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:57,359 Speaker 1: if you have the equipment to triangulate a signal. Like 690 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,279 Speaker 1: I said before, you have no way of knowing who 691 00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,520 Speaker 1: those messages are intended for. Their just broadcast out into 692 00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:07,360 Speaker 1: the world, so anyone could be the intended recipient. But 693 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 1: there have been a few cases in which authorities caught 694 00:44:09,719 --> 00:44:13,279 Speaker 1: spies and uncovered their involvement with numbers stations, but not 695 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,959 Speaker 1: because they had some magical way of finding out who 696 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,319 Speaker 1: was getting the messages. So, for example, in two thousand one, 697 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:24,000 Speaker 1: U S authorities arrested Anna Mantz. Mantz had secured a 698 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:28,319 Speaker 1: position with the US Defense Intelligence Agency, which, y'all, that's 699 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: impressive for a spy to infiltrate an organization that you know, 700 00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:39,719 Speaker 1: spies on people, wowsers. And actually that happens, not like 701 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:43,120 Speaker 1: super frequently, but way more frequently than I would have thought. 702 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:46,320 Speaker 1: I mean, I figured, if you're the experts on spying, 703 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 1: you should be pretty good at picking out ones that 704 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:52,200 Speaker 1: are trying to infiltrate your organization. But as the Mission 705 00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:56,160 Speaker 1: Impossible movies tell us, that's not always the case. Anyway, 706 00:44:56,200 --> 00:45:01,160 Speaker 1: the authorities suspected her of act ding on behalf of 707 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:04,960 Speaker 1: another country. They searched her home and they found a 708 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:08,600 Speaker 1: code sheet for encrypting messages, plus a short wave radio. 709 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:11,680 Speaker 1: It turned out she was spying for Cuba, and in 710 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,560 Speaker 1: eleven German authorities arrested a married couple named Hydron and 711 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:20,600 Speaker 1: Andreas Schlug, both of whom were spying for the Russians 712 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,319 Speaker 1: and had been for years before the Berlin Wall had 713 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:26,640 Speaker 1: come down. During the raid on the couple's home, Hydron 714 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:29,640 Speaker 1: was actually in the middle of receiving a short wave 715 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,160 Speaker 1: transmission in the United States. In the mid nineties, the 716 00:45:33,239 --> 00:45:37,000 Speaker 1: FBI identified possible Cuban spies in the United States and 717 00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:39,120 Speaker 1: they managed to break into the home of one of 718 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:42,600 Speaker 1: those spies. They found a computer there with a decryption 719 00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:46,200 Speaker 1: program on it. Essentially, it was a computer with the 720 00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:51,520 Speaker 1: one time use pad programmed into it, so it had 721 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:55,080 Speaker 1: the codes used by Numbers stations, and the FEDS just 722 00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,880 Speaker 1: copied the key and they used it to decipher incoming messages. 723 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:02,080 Speaker 1: That allowed them to build a big legal case against 724 00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:08,840 Speaker 1: numerous spies. But again, if done correctly, this approach is unassailable. 725 00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: It just requires that the spies remain, you know, undetected 726 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,480 Speaker 1: through other means, and that they keep a tight grip 727 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,920 Speaker 1: on their decryption keys. Otherwise the jig is up. And 728 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,000 Speaker 1: while the number of stations continue to be creepy and 729 00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:26,560 Speaker 1: a suitable fit for films and TV series about paranormal 730 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,560 Speaker 1: stuff or aliens or whatever, the truth of the matter 731 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,560 Speaker 1: is that they're probably telling operatives overseas to knock it 732 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:37,040 Speaker 1: off with all the martinis and extract assets stuff like that. 733 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,000 Speaker 1: Fascinating things. By the way, you can find lots of 734 00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:45,360 Speaker 1: recordings of Numbers stations online. You can also find websites 735 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:49,680 Speaker 1: that allow you to use a software that lets you 736 00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:53,879 Speaker 1: tune into different shortwave radio frequencies around the world, which 737 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:56,440 Speaker 1: is really really cool that it lets you actually listen 738 00:46:56,560 --> 00:47:00,680 Speaker 1: in two different shortwave broadcasts, which may or may not 739 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:02,360 Speaker 1: be number stations. I mean, there are a lot of 740 00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:06,120 Speaker 1: people using shortwave radio to just chat with each other 741 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,440 Speaker 1: like amateur radio operators, but occasionally you can actually find 742 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:15,000 Speaker 1: operating numbers stations. There are lots of resources online if 743 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,680 Speaker 1: you are interested in looking into that. You can also 744 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:23,279 Speaker 1: always invest in short wave radio equipment, although that kind 745 00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:26,239 Speaker 1: of depends on where you are, like it may not 746 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,360 Speaker 1: you may not be able to pick up really interesting 747 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:33,320 Speaker 1: broadcasts depending on your location. You also typically have to 748 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:38,120 Speaker 1: use really super long antenna that need to be you know, 749 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:42,520 Speaker 1: elevated a pretty good distance to pick up broadcasts from 750 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:47,040 Speaker 1: really far away, so your mileage may vary with physical 751 00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:51,560 Speaker 1: shortwave radio setups. But as I say, there are websites 752 00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:55,600 Speaker 1: where you can tune into someone else's shortwave radio and 753 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:59,160 Speaker 1: use special software that lets you tune into different frequencies, 754 00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:01,840 Speaker 1: being able to to really listen in on whatever is 755 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,799 Speaker 1: going on that's being picked up by that particular radio set, 756 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,279 Speaker 1: So if you are interested, make sure you do some 757 00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:11,320 Speaker 1: more research and check it out. Very cool stuff. Alright. 758 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,759 Speaker 1: That wraps up this episode of tech Stuff. In our 759 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:17,360 Speaker 1: next episode, who knows what I'll talk about. I don't, 760 00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:20,080 Speaker 1: but I'm looking forward to it. If you guys have 761 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:23,480 Speaker 1: suggestions for topics I should cover in future episodes, let 762 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,600 Speaker 1: me know. It could be a technology, a trend in 763 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:31,959 Speaker 1: tech company, a person, really, anything that's related to tech. 764 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:36,600 Speaker 1: I'm eager to look at, examine, and then report back 765 00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:39,480 Speaker 1: to you guys. But let me know on Twitter the 766 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:43,200 Speaker 1: handle there is tech Stuff hs W and I'll talk 767 00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:51,319 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 768 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:54,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 769 00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,440 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 770 00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,759 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shown