Enigma2000 ID: E03
Nickname: Lincolnshire Poacher
Frequencies: 5422, 5746, 6485, 6900, 6959, 7337, 7755, 8464, 9251, 10426, 11545, 12603, 13375, 14487, 15682, 16084, 16475 kHz
Status: Inactive
Voice: Female, automated, with British accent, the last digit in the groups was inflected
Emission: USB
Location: Operated by the UK from Akrotiri, Cyprus
Known counterparts: E03a
Sound sample by SimonMason:
————————————————————————-
E03 was last reported on the 2nd of July 2008.
Below is the format, as given by Priyom.org:
| Preamble | Message | Outro | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First two bars of “The Lincolnshire Poacher”, rendered electronically | 87383 | 6 chimes | 69410 69410 03932 03932 42175 42175 … 46367 46367 | 6 chimes | First two bars of “The Lincolnshire Poacher”, rendered electronically |
| 5-figure message header | Fixed-length message of 200 5-figure paired groups | ||||
| Repeated 12 times | Repeated 10 times | Repeated 6 times | |||
| Repeated for 10 minutes | |||||
The transmission started by broadcasting an electronically recorded version of the first two bars of “the lincolnshire poacher” 12 times, followed by a 5-figure message header, which was repeated 10 times. Information about what the meanings of the numbers in the message header were are not available. Right before the message, you would receive 6 chimes.
The message consisted of (always!) 200 5-figure groups, each of which was sent twice.
Right after the transmission, there were 6 chimes again, followed again by the electronic version of the first two bars of “the Lincolnshire poacher”, however this time only sent 6 times (instead of 12).
There was no null message format, and the messages always consisted of 200 paired 5-figure groups. A full transmission took 3/4 of an hour and was always broadcast on three frequencies at the same time. Messages were sent daily for 12 hours a day, following the schedule below (by Priyom.org):
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 |
| 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 |
| 14:00 | 10426 | 12603 | 14487 | 14:00 | 16314 | 14487 | 12603 | 14:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 14:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 14:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 |
| 15:00 | 11545 | 13375 | 15682 | 15:00 | 7755 | 8464 | 10426 | 15:00 | 11545 | 14487 | 16084 | 15:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 15:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 |
| 16:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 16:00 | 11545 | 13375 | 15682 | 16:00 | 6485 | 7755 | 10425 | 16:00 | 8464 | 12603 | 14487 | 16:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 |
| 17:00 | 6959 | 8486 | 11545 | 17:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 17:00 | 12603 | 14487 | 16475 | 17:00 | 5422 | 6465 | 8464 | 17:00 | 11545 | 13375 | 16084 |
| 18:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 18:00 | 5746 | 6959 | 9251 | 18:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 18:00 | 12603 | 14487 | 16475 | 18:00 | 5422 | 6485 | 8464 |
| 19:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 19:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 19:00 | 5746 | 6485 | 8464 | 19:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 19:00 | 11545 | 13375 | 16084 |
| 20:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 20:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 20:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 20:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 20:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 |
| 21:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 21:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 21:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 21:00 | 5746 | 6959 | 9251 | 21:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 |
| 22:00 | 6959 | 10426 | 11545 | 22:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 12603 | 22:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 22:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 | 22:00 | 5746 | 6959 | 9251 |
| Saturday | Sunday | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 12:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 |
| 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 | 13:00 | 14487 | 15682 | 16084 |
| 14:00 | 10426 | 11545 | 14487 | 14:00 | 11545 | 14487 | 16084 |
| 15:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 15:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 |
| 16:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 16:00 | 8464 | 10426 | 11545 |
| 17:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 | 17:00 | 11545 | 12603 | 13375 |
| 18:00 | 11545 | 13375 | 8464 | 18:00 | 7337 | 9251 | 12603 |
| 19:00 | 5422 | 6485 | 8464 | 19:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 |
| 20:00 | 6900 | 10462 | 11545 | 20:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 |
| 21:00 | 6959 | 9251 | 11545 | 21:00 | 5746 | 6959 | 9251 |
| 22:00 | 5746 | 6959 | 9251 | 22:00 | 5422 | 6485 | 8464 |
Note: Above the times are UTC and the frequencies are kHz.
Even though there were many transmissions, there were only 18 messages each month. They followed a certain pattern, as given by Priyom.org in the table below:
| UTC | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | UTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 12:00 |
| 13:00 | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | 13:00 |
| 14:00 | C | D | E | F | A | G | H | 14:00 |
| 15:00 | H | C | D | E | F | A | I | 15:00 |
| 16:00 | I | H | C | D | E | F | G | 16:00 |
| 17:00 | G | I | H | C | D | E | A | 17:00 |
| 18:00 | A | G | I | H | C | D | E | 18:00 |
| 19:00 | E | B | G | B | H | C | B | 19:00 |
| 20:00 | B | A | B | I | B | H | E | 20:00 |
| 21:00 | E | F | A | G | I | B | D | 21:00 |
| 22:00 | D | E | F | A | G | I | C | 22:00 |
In each month, a first set of messages was broadcast during the first 14 days of the month, followed by a second set of messages for the remaining days.
First reports of E03 date back to the 70s, when the voice was still male and the intro tune was not yet recorded electrically. Back then, E03 also transmitted in AM instead of USB. The format that lasted until 2008 started in 1988. In the 70s, the transmitter was located at Her Majesty’s Government Communications Centre, in Gawcott near Buckinghamshire, but it moved to the British military base of Akrotiri on Cyprus with the new format.
E03 seems to have had a very good computer system and well-trained operators, since there were only few mistakes during the “lifetime” of the number station. However, E03 was once the target of jammers from Iran.
Originally there were 12 transmissions daily, every hour from 10:00 to 22:00 UTC – however, in 1998 the 10:00 and 11:00 UTC transmissions were stopped. The 10:00 and 11:00 UTC transmissions had used the same frequencies as the later 12:00 and 13:00 UTC transmissions.
In 2000, Cypriot radio enthusiasts started location the staion. The result was that it was located to the 12th Signals Unit of the Royal Air Force base near Akrotiri.
Below are photos of the transmitter site. They were sent to SimonMason by Russian shortwave listeners – we will referr to them as “B and D”.
BBC transmitter site at Zyggi. There are many rumors that E03 came from here, instead of the close military facilities. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
The four antennas to the left are Radio France International (RFI), while the three to the right are IBB/Radio Sawa installations originally built by RFI. This photo shows Cape Greco. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
The same RFI, IBB/Radio Sawa site at Cape Greco already shown above – just this time closer. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
Cape Greco with a part of the IBB/Radio Sawa installations. – copright (c): B and D / SimonMason
This site might be a Cypriot military installation near Cape Greco. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
This is a real multi-purpose site: Cypriot TV and FM, as well as military and radar (and even BBC) are on this site. It is located NE of Larnaca. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
The same site as already mentioned above. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
These are the two 1/2 by 1/4 wave box parallelogram BBC medium wave arrays at Ladies Mile, south of Limassol, one radiating east, the other south. – copyright (c): B and D / SimnonMason
The last 4 pictures were possibly taken on the W side of the Zyggi peninsula, which is severeign British territory. There are strong rumors that the E03 site was located in this area. – copyright (c): B and D / SimonMason
copyright (c) – B and D / SimonMason
copyright (c) – B and D / SimonMason
copyright (c) – B and D / SimonMason