This is a copy of The Numbers Racket CD-ROM, which I prepared back in 1998. I am presenting it here, unedited, for historical purposes. Obviously most if not all of the information is 'out of date' today, but think of it as a snapshot of what the Spy Numbers scene was like in the late 1990s.

Like what you see here? Help support my work by taking a look at my software , and buy something of interest :) It's all available for download before purchase, so you can try it out.

Enjoy!


The Skylark

The Skylark

The Skylark was certainly one of the most interesting Spy Numbers Station operations. This station could be heard quite easily in North America during the winter evenings, often on 6840, the notorious spook frequency. It also went under the name "The Mad Fiddler".

The station's name comes from the Romanian folk song played at the beginning of each transmission.

Here's a sample transmission:

The Skylark          Song played twice
Terminat             Said three times
The Skylark          Song played twice
Terminat             Said three times
39483 59399          5FG text in Romanian by OM
Terminat             Said three times

This station has not been reported recently, however these is the most recent schedule for this station:

Frequencies used by The Skylark:

3885    2200
4585    2000, 2200
5145    2000
5425    0000, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200, 2300
5835    2100
5889    1800, 1900, 2000, 2200
6840    2100, 2200
7385    2000
8170    1900, 2000


Listen to the station Here is an audio sample of The Skylark (ENIGMA V1)


Listen to the station Here is an audio sample of The Skylark (ENIGMA V1) Recorded December 26, 1982

I played this recording of the station to a native Romanian, and he made an interesting observation. He said that the voice reading out the numbers sounded like a Romanian who spent quite a bit of time in either the United States or Britain, because he had a slight accent. This would tend to imply that the station was transmitting from outside Romania (presumably a Western nation) to inside Romania.


Copyright 1998 Chris Smolinski. All Rights Reserved.
Last Update: June 17, 1998.

This is a copy of The Numbers Racket CD-ROM, which I prepared back in 1998. I am presenting it here, unedited, for historical purposes. Obviously most if not all of the information is 'out of date' today, but think of it as a snapshot of what the Spy Numbers scene was like in the late 1990s.

Like what you see here? Help support my work by taking a look at my software , and buy something of interest :) It's all available for download before purchase, so you can try it out.