Gongs or Chimes (numbers station)

"Gongs" or "Chimes"

Broadcast area	Zeesen, East Germany
Frequency	3.258 and 5.410 MHz
Programming
Language(s)	German
Format	Numbers station
Ownership
Owner	National People's Army (speculated) Stasi (speculated)
History
First air date	1970s - 09 May 1990

The Gongs or Chimes was a German shortwave numbers station that transmitted from Zeesen in the Brandenburg region of East Germany, between the early 1970s until 9 May 1990. The station would broadcast one or several coded messages daily during its operational life, with the messages being read out using an East German "Sprach-Morse Generator".

Schedule and format

The station, which took its nickname from its distinctive interval signal, began broadcasting in the early 1970s. It would broadcast daily, starting at 18:00UTC on 3.258 MHz, and continuing to broadcast a message every 30 minutes until 23:30UTC. The broadcasts would start with a taped interval signal of chimes from a Church bell or clock tower, which was over the life of the station. Over the years that this tape was used for the interval signal, the tape wore and stretched, distorting the sound of the bells used. On the hour or half-hour, a recorded female voice, created from a speech synthesised "Sprach-Morse Generator", would alert the intended recipients of the message, and give them the amount of five-figure groups of numbers in their message. Each recipient would then receive their message, prior to the chimes sounding one more time. The station would also broadcast messages on Saturday morning, at 10:00UTC on 5.410 MHz. These messages were suspected to be sent to intelligence agents within the Western Bloc, to be decoded using a one-time pad.

In 1989, with the Peaceful Revolution leading to the eventual unification with West Germany in November 1990, the station's output became less consistent and scheduled, being heard only once a week on occasion.

The station ceased to operate in May 1990, with its last broadcast taking place on 9 May. Curiously, the last message departs from the usual structure of the station, with a live male announcer introducing a song, and a group of possibly drunk males singing the German children's song "Alle meine Entchen" (All My Ducklings)

Cultural impact

This station was frequently recorded by amateur radio enthusiasts, and a recording of this station was made available on The Conet Project, a compilation CD of numbers station recordings.