(Continued from previous message)
of every message is a simple substitution which indicates the date the
message was composed and the group count which is always 3 less than the
group count shown in the preamble. The substitution is:
 
        O     I     U     Z     T     R     E     W     A     P
        0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
 
For example:
 
11177 00148 57477 26811 00609
 
QKANG XOBJZ ..................... VEVXX UEORW
 
The last group translates to 26057 -- 26th of the month, 57 groups.
 
 
ETFNJX TKAGAS
-------------
On the American network the sequence 'ETFNJX TKAGAS' is frequently heard.
It is always transmitted in sloppy FSK Morse for a couple of minutes and
then the transmission stops or continues in RTTY. Because the sloppy way
in which this message is keyed, it most probably should read 'E/NJX TKAGAS'
but also E/NJX QAG AS is possible.
The station simply comes up without any callsign and begins broadcasting
ETNJX TKAGAS over and over for a period of ca 10 minutes. On most occasions,
approximately 30 minutes later, one of the regular stations comes up and
sends normal traffic but out of the fixed schedule for that station. The
'ET' messages have never been observed on the regular daily scheduled
frequencies. They are transmitted on the same frequencies as the QWK
messages that are also on the air for the last 15 years. The QWK messages
are  sent several times a year on one of the regular schedules along
with the regular traffic. For example, on Dec. 3, 1994, the following was
at the beginning of BPA's regular schedule:
 
 QWK  QDG  FM  5/12  TO  NEXT  QWK
 FM  00.00  TO  13.00  QSW 10698/7684/13532
 FM  13.00  TO  24.00  QSW 16224/13532/19612
 
Also on Dec. 3, 1995 the following was sent at the end of SPK's regular
traffic:
 
 QWK  QDG  FM  5/12  TO  NEXT  QWK
 FM  00.00  TO  12.00  QSW  10183/7418/13227
 FM  12.00  TO  24.00  QSW  19808/16144/13227
 
ET messages have been heard on every one of the daytime frequencies listed
in the messages above. And these messages on these frequencies are almost
always copied on a Saturday or a Sunday, but occasionally during the week
as recently as March 22, 1995. The QWK message then seems to say "During
the times indicated I will use the following as _standby_ or _alert_
frequencies."  Until February 1995, there were no reports of such a string
on the European network.
Recently a sequence, very much like the American one, was heard and it was
keyed in the same sloppy way. The sequence was slightly different from the
American one. This one reads 'E/NJX TKAZAS'. The string was recorded and
played back for -I guess- a million times by several monitors and fed into
a couple of decoders. Although it was a tough one to write down, we are 100%
certain that the string is correctly decoded.
 
 
Bloopers
--------
A couple of years ago, right at the moment that the WFO callup should
find place, a numbers tape came up. After a moment it was terminated and
replaced by the WFO callup tape. On another occasion the WNY callup tape
was replaced by a PSN tape. After a few repetitions of the '464646 PSN PSN'
lines, the correct WNY callup tape was transmitted. This proves the theory
that also the American network has a master station.
 
 
CW powerhouses
--------------
Although it is just an uneducated guess, I believe that the CW powerhouses
that can be heard on numerous frequencies, belong to the same organization
as the RTTY network. These stations transmit 5L or 5F groups and often use
odd Q-codes. In several occasions a CW station transmitted at the same time
as a RTTY station and was only a couple of kHz away. The signals were equal
in strength and they faded at exactly the same moment.
 
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Chapter 2:  Chatter, preambles and messages <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 
 
A typical preamble for a message on link 60069, followed by the message
which consists of 52 5-letter groups. As you can see the 5th group of the
preamble states that there are 53 groups in this message. That is because
the last group of the preamble is actually the first group of the message.
 
 11177 60069 00000 03118 00531
 
 cwzky fypxz pldyn nwpmd wvihe rfrgy embqy jecdc xirws omfrg
 ucxxs aeosi pxdfx jtrru ofrva ltlrt vbyzj khgyn dglts rzykr
 bqhwy csffq iekmd jwytt ziydz bvzxm fjrkh lyrgv bbqcg tbctn
 gdhte ydpfc bzvns xoyvd dpnuv kbosy mzuvt dpyim krmmx fvpdb
(Continued to next message)
--- GEcho 1.11+
(1:369/8)
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