I Rang A Secret Numbers Station... And Got A Response!

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ย. 2023
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    Back in May I published a video on a story that broke back in 2013 on The Kernel in which a phone number was made public that had apparently been set up in place of the famous Lincolnshire Poacher numbers station.
    An anonymous source claimed that the Lincolnshire Poacher lived on as a secret telephone number for MI6 agents to receive encoded messages in the Middle East.
    Known only as Mr Bland, the informant claimed that after the Lincolnshire Poacher ceased operations in 2008, it was moved to a UK telephone number. Mr Bland even provided the telephone number.
    The Kernel called the number and was met with a mysterious version of the Lincolnshire Poacher.
    The following day after numerous calls to the number, the Lincolnshire Poacher message system had been taken down. Instead of hearing the numbers station, callers were relayed a different message.
    The Kernel, along with several readers, then received a text message from a different number informing them that the “Lincolnshire Poacher” telephone number was restricted and requesting that they don’t call it again.
    When the Kernel tried to call the new number that the text message was sent from, they were told that the number wasn’t recognised.
    Today I have some updates for you!
    I Rang A Secret Government Numbers Station!
    • I Rang A Secret Govern...
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ความคิดเห็น • 439

  • @RingwayManchester
    @RingwayManchester  8 หลายเดือนก่อน +51

    First part!
    I Rang A Secret Government Numbers Station!
    th-cam.com/video/FObo3-Q6FEA/w-d-xo.html

    • @Tech-NO-City
      @Tech-NO-City 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Can you make a video about the Haarp Array(High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) can it really control the weather?

  • @01cthompson
    @01cthompson 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +650

    In the late 80's I worked in the central alarm station/control room of a US based multinational corporation. I was basically a glorified telephone receptionist and radio operator. The company had its own security director who was a retired military intelligence officer. What is interesting is that at a point in time everyone in my position was given an envelope with a piece of paper inside. The paper had a person's name on it and instructions stating that if someone called our international help line and identified themselves as that person we were to only ask them where they were and nothing else. We were to them immediately contact a list of people at their office or home no matter the time of day or day of week. It seemed very bizarre to me and my coworkers that a regular business would do this. It also felt that we were being used as a last resort. Years later I now have to wonder if it was a similar situation to what was explained in this video.

    • @dmacpher
      @dmacpher 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +66

      Sounds like a Night Action program 😂

    • @gorak9000
      @gorak9000 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +86

      Sounds like a spy doing corporate espionage at the competition. If they were found out, they called in to get rescued.

    • @dmacpher
      @dmacpher 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@gorak9000 lots of “private” front companies for the CIA are known. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Central_Intelligence_Agency_front_organizations

    • @Hartley_Hare
      @Hartley_Hare 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +77

      I used to work for a company that had links to an organisation which employed ex-special forces people to go and do certain unpleasant things to certain unpleasant people in the event that a senior executive was being held hostage or menaced in some of the countries they were working in. They had a terribly charming person working for them who I think was a former ops officer for a regiment euphemistically 'based at Hereford' and they were all terribly charming in a supremely self-confident way.

    • @gregiep
      @gregiep 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +37

      Or a GREAT way to screw with your employees!

  • @tee_m
    @tee_m 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +65

    Time to register an 0845, make a weird recorded message and rake in the profit!

    • @TheChipmunk2008
      @TheChipmunk2008 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      070xx... most people assume they are mobile numbers ;) [don't, that's evil]

    • @glassbackdiy3949
      @glassbackdiy3949 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      I heard a story about someone setting up a premium rate phone number for a morse code "competition", they had multiple car phones set up to call the number, using nefarious methods to put credit on the phones, the scheme was run from a narrowboat so the signals couldn't be DF'd very easily, knowing the circles the chap who told me about it frequented, I found it utterly believable!

    • @TheChipmunk2008
      @TheChipmunk2008 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      that is totally believable@@glassbackdiy3949 Remember back in the day when PAYG was the way most people had phones, and ofcom thought allowing reverse charge SMS with NO verification was a good idea?

    • @TheChipmunk2008
      @TheChipmunk2008 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      my mother had her payg account wiped out 3 times till i threatened to call the police, then suddenly the company was like 'oops'

    • @gigitrix
      @gigitrix 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Numbers Station Deluxe DLC

  • @ozzybozzer
    @ozzybozzer 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +161

    it seems counterintuitive to make your top-secret intelligence phone line blast the (essentially) theme song of a very well known number station down the line at you for all your enemies to hear.

    • @totojejedinecnynick
      @totojejedinecnynick 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      to be fair, on radio you would blast it in the airways for *everyone* to hear. Secrecy is not in hiding the message, but the meaning of it, not hiding the transmitter, but hiding the receiver. Having your spy make a deliberate call to UK number kinda contradicts those benefits. There are some publicly known actors who don't need to practice tradecraft - think embassies. They might just use a low tech, unencrypted yet reliable landline connection to receive a one-time code. Who cares if it gets intercepted :)

    • @Carah-sq6lh
      @Carah-sq6lh หลายเดือนก่อน

      i came to the youtube comments for the REAL security experts

  • @vwestlife
    @vwestlife 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    The tune it plays sounds like it was recorded from shortwave radio, and then the rest of the audio sounds clean. So I think that's a clue that it was a mock-up rather than authentic.

  • @Aletsch
    @Aletsch 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +236

    If shortwave radio fuzz and artefacts can be heard on the telephone line version, its most likely a hoax. A legit source is likely to have access to and use a direct recording of the original sound source / hardware generator used. Added to that, yes, calling strange numbers on foreign networks is totally going to get noticed, particularly if under investigation; so that would be very strange.

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +30

      Exactly what I said and an hour of scrolling later I see your comment, the song sounded recorded off the air. Aka non original source. A hoax.

    • @PeterBellefleur
      @PeterBellefleur 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +25

      @@AldoSchmedack not only that, but it sounds EXACTLY like the conet project recording.

    • @Aletsch
      @Aletsch 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@PeterBellefleur I did wonder if it would. Pretty much confirmed at that point.

    • @joshryan9735
      @joshryan9735 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@PeterBellefleur thank you!!! I couldn't remember the name it was doin my head in

    • @Aletsch
      @Aletsch 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@vinny142 these days I get the impression various forms of plain sight stenography maybe favoured in the field instead. Messages hidden say in images on a news website someone might be expected to visit normally, which then can be decoded with a one time key entered into an app which would be on a device by default, but has some extra code added to it to facilitate this by security services. Various fun things of this sort that could be out there.

  • @JohnCompton1
    @JohnCompton1 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +78

    Not gonna lie. I knew next to nothing about Ringway's core content, radio communications and the like. I hitched my wagon after the incredible Duga and number stations series of videos. But I'm a huge fan of learning about things I never even knew existed. Especially when presented in such a way that makes seriously technical subject matter easily digestible and so very interesting .

    • @keef71
      @keef71 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      absolutely, just getting into this whole thing completely by accident. I find it equally interesting, fascinating, informative and scary & creepy. had a scanner in late '90s/early '00s so I remember when you could even get mobile phone calls! Was aware of the exotic SW community but never anything like this.

  • @SomeoneBloodyRandom
    @SomeoneBloodyRandom 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +60

    As I said on the other video, using a number station as a auto playing recording on public accessible number is dumb idea because every phone line on every network in every country is attached to a Dialled Number Recorder for one very basic reason, Billing.

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      Yep I call bogus, you would never use number codes to a traceable line even a throw away phone, and it sounded rerecorded over quality wise, like they got the poacher song off the air and reused it, they would have used the original if legit.

    • @holysirsalad
      @holysirsalad 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Bit off topic but that's why I - and everyone else should as well - completely reject the notion that scam/spam phone calls can't be stopped. Every call that crosses a billing boundary is documented, they are 100% traceable.

  • @bobroberts2371
    @bobroberts2371 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

    A much better covert dial in would be a weather number and the report would have subtle messages mixed into the report.

  • @harrymartin684
    @harrymartin684 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +54

    I remember hearing about this at the time and immediately dismissing it as a hoax. I don't understand why it would have the call-up signal (the lincolnshire poacher tune), surely the whole point of that part of the broadcast was to ensure that the receiver was tuned to the correct frequency, and to serve as an indicator that the channel was active and a message would follow shortly, neither of which are issues with what basically amounts to an answerphone

    • @paulsengupta971
      @paulsengupta971 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      Yes, exactly. You wouldn't need to identify the broadcast, you dialled the number!

  • @3v068
    @3v068 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +100

    As always, i love the radio conyent, but you taking deep dives into things like numbers stations are always really intriguing to watch and listen to. Thanks for the work you put in your videos Lewis. Youre awesome! Youve also got a good following across the pond here in the states.

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes I enjoy it too! His videos are always first I watch in my feed. Also from USA and I absolutely love our allies, most of all, by far, the Brits. We may have once very long ago been enemies but I consider it far gone and it was only because of that one man whom didn't treat people on his side good either (KG). But I won't get into that. My point is we helped each other out a TON since then and maintain a great mutual respect and relationship between us. Yanks and the Brits. Bless them both! In this day and age we need each other and can't afford nonsense. We share everything from resources, manpower, intel, weapons development, secrets, you name it. I hope we are always allies. Have a great love for all UK, esp Britan, and not just because I am part English, but because they are a very respectable people. Well liked here in my region btw (Midwest). Hope to get to England someday soon here. Hungry for good food and beer and some 'ol english heritage.

  • @tricky778
    @tricky778 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    A finger of fudge is just enough to give the kids a treat!

    • @BarnSt0rmer
      @BarnSt0rmer 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      "Now then, now then"

    • @Mortthemoose
      @Mortthemoose 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Oh yeah! 😅

  • @shodan2958
    @shodan2958 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    So nice to have someone who has seen my favourite TV series of all time The Americans! Yeah I love that element of it, I recall even them tuning in onto the BBC on shortwave so that they could get information. Certainly gave a "Damn this is certainly set a long time ago" vibe to it.

  • @Steve-GM0HUU
    @Steve-GM0HUU 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    I might try those Lincolnshire Poacher numbers on The National Lottery this weekend.

  • @RichardGilmoreDronetech
    @RichardGilmoreDronetech 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +32

    For someone even to spend the time setting up a fake number, and response on the line with music and numbers etc, is actually Brilliant 😂😂😂😂. Government stuff though.. MI5, MI6, SNEEKY BEAKIES etc etc. We will never know exactly what goes on within these organisations.. class video. Keep them coming

    • @rtechlab6254
      @rtechlab6254 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      With modern VOIP systems this would take minutes

    • @eib2445
      @eib2445 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      doesn;t take long at all, you can have this done in a hour if that. All you need is your own PBX hand have the DID(phone number) directed into your PBX. With asterisk you can seti it up to allow someone to call once and hear one recording and any other time they call they get a different one. Longest part would be making the recordings. I can have a phone number purchased and configured for this in about 15 minutes. And thats with propagation time

  • @Mortthemoose
    @Mortthemoose 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    TH-cam recommended this channel to me today, for some unknown reason 👀
    I thought I'd watch one video, and here I am....after watching about ten! 😂
    This all kind of reminds me of when I used to spend the evening listening to short wave radio (at least I think that's what it was), as a kid.....picking up pilot chatter, and sometimes bits and pieces of fuzzy police chatter. It was thrilling to me.....but then I was a strange little girl! 😅 I loved listening to the shipping forecast too! 😊
    PS. "Ain't nobody here but us chickens" has been a favourite song of mine for decades! Big fan of Louis Jordan.

  • @0liver0verson9
    @0liver0verson9 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +19

    The cease text message came from Aldershot, home of the British military as I'm sure you know (and my home also). Just something I noticed.

    • @YAHUAHsgotmysix
      @YAHUAHsgotmysix 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The number can be located to roughly the junction of Ordnance Road and the High Street.

    • @0liver0verson9
      @0liver0verson9 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@YAHUAHsgotmysix That's exactly where the Aldershot telephone exchange is :) I'm impressed you managed to triangulate it!

  • @waynekeenansvideos
    @waynekeenansvideos 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    "Nobody here but us chickens" was a very common catchline used in an 90's TV series called Nightingales which was about nightwatchmen in an office-block somewhere in Britain.

  • @stepheneyles2198
    @stepheneyles2198 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +77

    Nice update! I think that the number must have been a hoax, as afterwards they changed the recorded message to say 'this number is not available'. Whereas dialling a number which is truly not available would prompt a response from the telecom operator, as they couldn't connect your call in the first place...
    Sounds like the person who sent you details of the precautions they take has more reliable information - we just hope they're still alive and watching your videos from wherever they're hiding in plain sight!

    • @MissEldira
      @MissEldira 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

      I got a much better reason everyone seam to miss. Why would they play a recording with all the reception noises instead of the actual tape if it was the real deal. Makes no sense. Yes it's a fraud!

    • @Pharozos
      @Pharozos 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      Also "This number is currently unavailable. Do not use this number at this time. Please refer to backup channel RX39" Is not a message for the investigator. Red herrings aside its a fun mystery.

    • @kreuner11
      @kreuner11 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +17

      ​@@MissEldirayou can much easier tell it's a fake by the fact that telecom companies can simply detect the number being dialed, this is why shortwave number stations are still operated by Poland among others as the reception of one cannot be detected

  • @Top_Weeb
    @Top_Weeb 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    The phrase, "Nobody here but us chickens!" is used on some websites when your search queries come up empty, particularly on image boorus. That's how I first heard of it.

    • @RT-qd8yl
      @RT-qd8yl 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      I've heard it ever since I was a kid. Cartoons etc

    • @JamesHalfHorse
      @JamesHalfHorse 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Same. Seen it used in a few places for queries. Don't know where it comes from though. I think I will ask some oldschool devs but likely they saw it somewhere and used it.

    • @ReverendFlatus
      @ReverendFlatus 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      It was used as a catch-phrase in the 1990 channel 4 comedy 'Nightingales', they did a little dance with it.

    • @jaynbob42
      @jaynbob42 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@ReverendFlatus such a good show as well.
      Anybody there???

  • @rachelcarre9468
    @rachelcarre9468 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    I agree, the phone number and Mr Bland are someone with an adventurous mind. Mr ‘There ain’t nobody’ appears to have more accurate information but this could have been gleaned from fictional sources. I guess we will not know for decades how the Poacher was really replaced. Another really interesting video Lewis, just one minor point ‘Carrė’ is generally pronounced ‘kah-ray’. The 1980s BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor is exceptionally better than the film. It stars Sir Alec Guinness for a start.

  • @mcrockett2001
    @mcrockett2001 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Just noticed that you reached 100,000 subscribers. Congratulations!

  • @johnwalton5576
    @johnwalton5576 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    As always you provided us with some very intriguing content. Keep up the great work!

  • @ashleyclough5917
    @ashleyclough5917 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    I have no idea yet again what all this is about but I keep coming back for more, I'll get into it one day 😂

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      How agents ("spies") contact HQ for orders or report security compromised amongst other reasons. 😉

    • @Mortthemoose
      @Mortthemoose 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      😅😅 me too. I got the general gist of it though.
      TH-cam recommended this channel to me today, for some unknown reason 👀
      I thought I'd watch one video, and here I am....after watching about eight! 😂
      This all kind of reminds me of when I used to spend the evening listening to short wave radio (at least I think that's what it was), as a kid.....picking up pilot chatter, and sometimes bits and pieces of fuzzy police chatter. It was thrilling to me.....but then I was a strange little girl! 😅 I loved listening to the shipping forecast too! 😊
      PS. "Ain't nobody here but us chickens" has been a favourite song of mine for decades!

  • @rafaelasabchucalovato9439
    @rafaelasabchucalovato9439 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Oh my High School times, I remember seeing the article on the Lincolnshire Poacher during my afternoon break. So good to be back in the number stations black hole 🥰

  • @klhaldane
    @klhaldane 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    In the James Bond books he 'worked' for a company called Universal Imports and Exports (or something like that) and any calls made were answered by a perfectly normal receptionist.

  • @robinwells8879
    @robinwells8879 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Within Royal Mail there were/are? certain addresses with a special instruction to hand any received mail unopened directly to the office manager for, as I was told, special branch!😂. Much weird sh1t goes on right under our noses.

  • @Larry
    @Larry 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    It sounds fake, why would they play a recording of the Lincolnshire Poacher tune with cracks and hisses and all when they own the master tape of it? It would be crystal clear on the telephone if it was genuine.
    Same with reading out the numbers.

  • @pdrg
    @pdrg 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    John Le Car-ray btw, Carré has an accent :). And you should totally read some, great stories!

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      é on end is an "eh?" like Canadians go 😂

  • @paulwilliams2663
    @paulwilliams2663 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Never had a remote interest, but do now. Much appreciated Lewis, the Brian Cox of radio 📻. Great vids n info.

  • @RobWhittlestone
    @RobWhittlestone 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Hi Lewis - many thanks for this fascinating video! I enjoyed the antenna shots too, especially the Danish Terma 2D primary radar (not totally relevant but I'm being pedantic)! The rotation time of about 2,4 seconds could indicate a useful range of about 50 NM - suitable perhaps for a coastal or gap-filler application? They are also often used for airport surface movement (SMR), harbour movement or even windfarm (radar disturbance) mitigation. All the best, Rob in Switzerland

  • @derekporter7658
    @derekporter7658 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Fascinating video Lewis. Keep them coming!👍

  • @jennyd255
    @jennyd255 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +51

    I think this latest guy was quite probably the real deal, although why I think that is slightly complicated to explain. I also agree with your original conclusions for all the reasons you stated. Your reasoning is sound. I've never personally had any direct part in the world of smoke and mirrors, but I am aware that several members of my family (now long since deceased) almost certainly did, and I've also had a few friends and associates about whom I've had my suspicions (although working as I did in Broadcasting, and certain rather specialist types of IT, it wasn't exactly going to be a surprise if one or two colleagues had been so associated.) So all in all I consider myself moderately familiar with the fringes of that world, and what you say all makes a lot of sense.

  • @joeblow8593
    @joeblow8593 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Congratulations on 100K

  • @Mike.Howard
    @Mike.Howard 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Congrats on the 100K Lewis! 👍👍

  • @debsmith5520
    @debsmith5520 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    The stuff you talked about towards the end is essentially from Ian Fleming, Bond contacting Universal Export (an interesting rabbit hole to pursue there). Given the age we are in, the reasonable expectation would be a citizen would phone an embassy if in trouble, that would be normal. If you wanted to be covert and talk to home, there are loads of other techniques, for example, within images easily sent encrypted over social media. But nothing is secure as all means of communication have been tapped for a century, so it's just a case of a good enough code.
    For what it's worth, if I was an intelligence agency, I'd flood target countries with Lincolnshire Poachers by the boatload. Yes, I might have a couple of people out there, but I'd have them wasting time and resources chasing false leads.

  • @Fitzgoodntight
    @Fitzgoodntight 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Is their anyone else you’d recommend that makes content like yours? I love it! An absolutely can’t get enough of it. I’m 21 years old and have never been into radios and what not but I certainly would love too! I just don’t know here to start sadly, a lot of this stuff sounds so foreign!!

  • @ipath87
    @ipath87 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Congratulations on 100k subscribers

  • @stewartoutandabout
    @stewartoutandabout 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Just to note "there's nobody here but us chickens' was also a joke line used as a punchline in the Robert Lindsay sitcom "Nightingales". Based on 3 night watchman, it was the standard response when somebody walked in and asked if anybody was there. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingales_(British_TV_series)

    • @ReverendFlatus
      @ReverendFlatus 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Damn! I just replied with that to a previous comment and then I saw this!

    • @stewartoutandabout
      @stewartoutandabout 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      we're of a similar age 🙈@@ReverendFlatus

    • @awatt
      @awatt 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Remember that comedy. Worked as a night Watchman for a month or so and it was quite accurate.

  • @NickNorton
    @NickNorton 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Congratulations on 100K subscribers.

  • @paulashwin247
    @paulashwin247 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Ticked over 100k, nice one and well deserved.

  • @fotografm
    @fotografm 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Fascinating ! Please keep making videos 🙂

  • @gigitrix
    @gigitrix 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Most likely a goofy prank, a viral marketing ARG or (most unlikely) a recruitment tool for entry level enthusiasts like the GCHQ puzzles we have seen in the past. But most likely a stunt, perhaps even by a fan of the channel’s coverage

  • @sarkybugger5009
    @sarkybugger5009 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    Fascinating stuff, Lewis.
    It's pronounced John le Carray, by the way. Have you been taking lessons from Mr. Shenanigans?
    I see you popped up on a Martin Zero video recently. Hope you made him pay for stepping onto your patch. I'm with you on the tea. ;o)

    • @svensimpson4130
      @svensimpson4130 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      The name Le Carre is a French name, fgs!

    • @heckelphon
      @heckelphon 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@svensimpson4130 Then why don't you add the «accent aigu» on the final e?: é

  • @pdrg
    @pdrg 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    I have a conjecture for you. Transmitters are remote, and you have to get a signal to them. If you use another transmitter, you give away a location, so a wire is understandable. AM radio stations news opt-ins, remote church networks and the like could very reasonably dial in to service at a fixed time to relay the audio, and it means not having to send messages daily to the transmitter on tape.
    Perhaps the phone number was a long-forgotten unlisted dial-up service for the transmitter, which was not taken off line when the broadcast stopped due to inefficiencies in paperwork etc. The messages may have even been dummy content (a change in transmission patterns in itself is intelligence, so even "no news" would have been semi-random digits), just a computer told nothing important but providing the daily "no news" messages.
    The publication of the number would have raised eyebrows itself, so allow the service to be replaced by whatever is currently used, and was never meant to be a (ridiculously non-covert) subscriber agent dial-in.
    I think that would align with all the facts and be in sympathy with the covert nature of the systems. Makes sense to me at least - part paperwork cock-up between departments, and fitting the overall story.

  • @Cassandra_Johnson
    @Cassandra_Johnson 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Using a phone number that can be traced through the system is a poor substitute for the radio transmission that can be listened to anonymous. I call shenanigans.

  • @HamRadioDX
    @HamRadioDX 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Congrats on the big 100K Lewis!

  • @davesthedude
    @davesthedude 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Great video... thanks again for the content

  • @jaymzx0
    @jaymzx0 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    100K subs! Way to go, Lewis!

  • @livetillyoudielovelife2299
    @livetillyoudielovelife2299 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    A lot of this sort of thing was going on during the "troubles"

  • @anthonykinney28
    @anthonykinney28 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Congratulations on reaching 100k subscribers I remember subscribing about 8 years ago crazy time go fast.

  • @zoboe92
    @zoboe92 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Congrats on 100K!

  • @kacanggorengku
    @kacanggorengku 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Most of your video answering my question of my childhood (80's) memories with my SW radio (chopper sound, repeated numbers, bizarre tones etc)

  • @davidpenn2518
    @davidpenn2518 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Keep it up Lewis.. M3TDZ

  • @MegaAndroyd
    @MegaAndroyd 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Telephoning a number station seems too traceable to be safe.

    • @UndergroundHouseAndTechno
      @UndergroundHouseAndTechno 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Agreed. Could be done in the age of analogue tone dialling. but more or less impossible with digital exchanges... unless there us a secret network of analogue tone dialling exchanges that enables operatives to spoof their locations?

  • @RevMikeBlack
    @RevMikeBlack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    It sounds like you were being played by one person who decided to have some fun at your expense. By the way, Sir Alec Guinness is the real George Smiley. Gary Oldman did well, but Guinness made you feel the Cold War malaise that was Britain during that era. Thanks!

    • @marshhen
      @marshhen 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes indeed.Anybody interested in espionage and the cold war should watch the immaculately made mini-series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy created the BBC from the 80s. It stars Alec Guiness and it shows the gritty vibe of 80s London and an underestimated master spy cleaning up traitors in his midst. Very slow paced and flawlessly acted. The excellent Smiley,s People is also the resolution to the first story. It is generally findable on youtube. Not alot of action, just strategy and behind the scenes detail.

  • @richard7crowley
    @richard7crowley 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    The concept of using a traceable, interceptable connection over the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) seems rather unlikely.
    For those of us intrigued with espionage, there were two stellar mini-series on BBC by John le Carré, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Smiley's People" starring Sir Alec Guinness. I am among those who consider these to be the best espionage stories extant. Both of these series are currently available here on TH-cam. Recommended.

  • @BarnSt0rmer
    @BarnSt0rmer 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +20

    It's a bit off-topic but watching this video has reminded me of something from years ago. When I was a child in the mid eighties, I went outside the house one day to find my elderly (and usually very friendly) neighbour frantically smashing something up with an axe. I vaguely remember it was a cylindrical object, grey or brown, about a foot long with one or more of what looked like rotary telephone dials on the side of it. He saw me, looked horrified and told me to go away. I only saw it for a second and it was pushing 40 years ago so the memory isn't clear. I believe he and his wife were of German origin and he was an engineer/draftsman working for a large defence contractor. It's always bothered me as to what the object was, why he was destroying it, and why he didn't want me to see it. I suspect it was some kind of encoder/decoder device. In short, I suspect that he or both of them were a spy for one side or another.

    • @Jimbo_McBacon
      @Jimbo_McBacon 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Too bad you didn't dig thru his trash and retrieve said object, and hide it somewhere safe for 40 years. That would be a real museum piece now.

    • @AKuTepion
      @AKuTepion 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It was a dildo.

    • @Daweim0
      @Daweim0 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I wonder why he smashed it outside for the world to see? If he didn't want neighborhood kids around then smash it inside?

    • @PanglossDr
      @PanglossDr 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Of course. If it was some sort of encoding device he would choose to destroy it in public.

    • @halcyonanon
      @halcyonanon 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      … or, he was fed up with losing at Hungry Horace and rage quit his Commodore 64 with an axe.

  • @blaydCA
    @blaydCA 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Sometimes Bugs Bunny hit the carrot patch, and other times he took a wrong turn in Albuquerque.
    A dial in numbers station doesn’t sound viable- why risk getting your phone located if your hiding.

  • @jimmybx0072
    @jimmybx0072 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Your channel is a large part of why I got into Ham Radio. Yeah I know its 2023 and HF radio is rather out dated. But each night I scan through the bands in hopes of finding something like this. Still searching....

  • @profgyland2
    @profgyland2 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I always love to hear your accent. The contents is good as well.

  • @lt.petemaverickmitchell7113
    @lt.petemaverickmitchell7113 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I think this kind of stuff is absolutely fascinating.

  • @tobortine
    @tobortine 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thanks for the recommendation of Argo, I really enjoyed it.

  • @denniseldridge2936
    @denniseldridge2936 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The fact is that the internet has so many encryption options and means of transmitting information discreetly that numbers stations just became obsolete. So if there was going to be a replacement for the Lincolnshire Poacher it would be a non-discreet messaging app, or a well-known app. Much more secure and cheaper than having to maintain radio stations and towers, etc.

  • @geezerdiamond
    @geezerdiamond 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Not sure if it has any relevance but “Nobody here but us chickens” was also the catch phrase of the mostly forgotten UK sitcom “Nightingales”, which focused on a group of nighttime security guards looking after an empty building.

  • @thes764
    @thes764 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Congrats 100k subscribers mate! 73

  • @lunarbluesmusic
    @lunarbluesmusic 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Great stuff Lewis.

  • @davebrunker3399
    @davebrunker3399 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Here's the questions. Iasked myself when I watched the orginal video:
    * Why would a crackly version of the Lincolnshire Poacher, which sounds like it was recorded from a remote radio, be played at the start of the phone call instead of a sharp, clear version?
    * The Lincolnshire Poacher number station was famous for its voice inflection so why was it dropped for a completely different voice without any inflection?
    * Why would any music be played at the start of a phone call when the recipient knew who they were calling, a phone call doesn't need to clear the broadcast airwaves, and making the call longer would make it easier to capture a spy who was known to be stuck on a phone call for a specific time?
    * Why not send a burst of digitally encrypted data instead of making the spy sit on the phone for a half hour, copying numbers and not saying anything while on the phone, making the call seem more suspicious? Even Cuban spy Anna Montes had a computer program to decode Cuban number stations and she was arrested in 2001.
    * Why use traceable phone numbers instead of untraceable short-wave radio broadcasts?
    * Why use an in-the-clear phone number when voice-over-ip can be restricted to a specific caller, is harder to trace, and can be encrypted?

  • @Lopastudio
    @Lopastudio 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Congrats on 100 000 subs :)

  • @michaelfogarty3239
    @michaelfogarty3239 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    In Australia I remember dialling a 4 digit number and I got a recorded message "hello you have reached ______ exchange please enter code "" I tried 1234. It stated " your code is incorrect goodbye" thinking it must have been a line for workers to remote change or access information. I don't remember it was a similar to dial time 1194 a recorded service lines.

    • @DonzLockz
      @DonzLockz 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yeah, I think it was 1194 for the time and 1196 for the weather. That was super cool in the 80's as a teenager. :)

  • @zjzozn
    @zjzozn 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I live in Lincolnshire, and there are many poachers 🤡 Great vlog 👍

  • @michaelford1124
    @michaelford1124 หลายเดือนก่อน

    is that the theme song for the fudge advert in the 80's? lol thats quality!

  • @cartermize6651
    @cartermize6651 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    This series makes me want to know more about numbers stations OPERATORS, not just the end users!

  • @Dallemations
    @Dallemations 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    OK, another thing is I want to say that the music Is a conformation for location. each verified location calling the number gets its own music like that (non-verified locations get an invalid note or music). the number after is either a confirmation number for another number you have to call or checking if your number matches their numbers and you are a valid caller.

  • @steverpcb
    @steverpcb 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42

  • @thecookreporting
    @thecookreporting 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    love the visuals in this video

  • @davidrenton
    @davidrenton 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    obviously from the jingle, it's a delivery service for Secret agents wanting a raspberry ripple, hard to get in N Korea

  • @lordtherapeutics
    @lordtherapeutics 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This is excellent!

  • @killingtimeitself
    @killingtimeitself 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    regarding the "nobody here but us chickens" it gave me a good chuckle, as its the "no post under this/these tag/s found" for the image board of e621 (primarily nsfw, just a forewarning.)
    I'm guessing the relevance is zero, but a good bit of amusement is still worth the trouble i suppose.

  • @KIRBZVIDS
    @KIRBZVIDS 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Love yours videos buddy hope your doing well and I can't believe you got a response 🤣

  • @TheAverageDutchman
    @TheAverageDutchman 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The only way i MIGHT see calling a phone number working for a spy is using a VOIP phone service over a VPN, and even then you'd have to be supremely confident your VPN connection wasn't MITMed or compromised somehow. The thing about a numbers station is that you can listen to it with pretty much untraceable, innocuous equipment that a travelling person might have with him for legitimate reasons (ie, a shortwave receiver). Calling a phone number is far less conspicuous and far easier to track

  • @thegardenofeatin5965
    @thegardenofeatin5965 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    There is also a peripheral character in the Homestar Runner series of cartoons called Mr. Bland. He has a face similar to Strong Sad's but is thinner and wears a beige T-shirt. He's one of the "kid's book" characters along with Senor Havin' A Little Trouble and Didjiri-doo.

  • @alanslade2319
    @alanslade2319 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Bloody brilliant love all of it. fascinated by it all. It’s a hole new world to me. Spy’s and things that were not meant to know. But. Yea thanks again Alan from LUTON 🍻💯👍👍👍👍

  • @TIMMEH19991
    @TIMMEH19991 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    A question for you guys. Back in the mid 80s I had a very old FM radio that had a scale from 80 to 101 Mhz (I think!) made by either Hackett or Hacker. I can't remember which. Anyway in the part of the scale below the normal FM band there was a dead signal being transmitted all the time, and about once every 5 minutes it played a bit of orchestra style music that lasted about 10 seconds. I couldn't say how long this went on for as I was only a kid and didn't listen to it much. Anybody know anything about this?

    • @TuriyanGold
      @TuriyanGold 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      There used to be a lot of drone stations at the end of the FM dial that was like in the 60s we could hardly get anything on UHF in the 80s, all the weird stuff was 88-89 because of college radio.

  • @jackhreha4907
    @jackhreha4907 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Good show. I will get out my baord game and play around of clue. I always like it when the job was done with the silver candle holder. it still does not beet the blow tourch in the 1980s out of the canaries islands. It would lull me to sleep. From my bed in Seattle the cold war helped me to sleep. Thanks for the fun. Best Regards Jack.

  • @chrisblay
    @chrisblay 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    Back in the late nineties, I was playing around on the land-line one evening. Simply putting in random four digit number sequences to see if anything happened. Then, after one sequence i got an answer. It didn't make any sense at the time and I hung up. Thinking back, I could have stumbled upon a secret services access number? Wish I could remember the four digit code. 🤔

    • @barrieshepherd7694
      @barrieshepherd7694 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

      There were a lot of 4 digit sequences that were used by BT technicians for line testing. The most well known being SALT Subscriber Automatic Line Testing. You dial the salt code and hang up - the system would complete a number of technical tests and ring back giving error codes. You could also use the system to test a different line by adding that number on the end - it was fun as the test would cause the remote bell to 'tinkle' and people would often pick up the phone - there was no speech path if I remember correctly. Other sequences could introduce other tests - like line tracing tones and howler tone.
      There was on System X exchanges a long number sequence that would put the exchange into a lock down emergency condition. Only nominated phones could initiate calls - but everyone could receive calls. This was a Cold War response so that lines would be free for Government, Fire, Police etc.
      A colleague working on a very large private telephone system was testing lines from an MDF - when connected to an unmarked jumper on the tag block he was met with a stern voice demanding to know who he was and where was he etc. Fortunately the heavies did not arrive when he explained he was line testing.

    • @AldoSchmedack
      @AldoSchmedack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@barrieshepherd7694He found a tap off to the nethworld! 😊 There exist a few all over certain regions near certain places. It's how they reroute things to appear elsewhere. Completely untraceable.

    • @CalvinKlown
      @CalvinKlown 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@barrieshepherd7694 1471 was a line test number in the 80's, it then became the last caller redial in the 90's.

    • @user-lp3cf5yn5b
      @user-lp3cf5yn5b 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Did the same in late eighties. Can't remember exactly what it was, I think it was a pound + three digit and it read the phone number back to me or something. That's been a whole lotta moons ago.

    • @BarnSt0rmer
      @BarnSt0rmer 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@user-lp3cf5yn5b In the UK you can dial 17070 and it will read the line number back to you, followed by a series of BT line tests you can run such as quiet line test.

  • @davidpawson7393
    @davidpawson7393 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I have a secret encoding device. Hitting a key took me straight back to 1981 from the sound pushing the key made. Now I drive a woodgrained car with a Carnation in my lapel and a piece of chalk in my pocket.

    • @bobroberts2371
      @bobroberts2371 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Is there life on Mars ? And no, the answer isn't 42 . . ..

  • @DonzLockz
    @DonzLockz 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Big congrats on 100k my friend!👏🍻🤠🇦🇺

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thank you so much

    • @DonzLockz
      @DonzLockz 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@RingwayManchester 👍🍻😉

  • @bearb1asting
    @bearb1asting 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    She didn't know what she was taken.

  • @cosine8arctan
    @cosine8arctan 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    'Nobody here but us chickens', was the theme tune to a TV series called 'Nightingales'. The premise is three nightwatchmen in an anonymous block belonging to an unnamed company who sit around doing - not much at all, all night

  • @kaden-sd6vb
    @kaden-sd6vb 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    1:35 *insert rotating a-pose heavy*

  • @SkilledApps
    @SkilledApps 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Sounds like a tune that is used a memory aid so you know which phone keys to press to get to through to the operator by finishing the tune

  • @oleran4569
    @oleran4569 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Good work!

  • @boilerroombob
    @boilerroombob 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    How strange Lewis.... indeed once upon a time the heirs to Kim philbys trade could be here on shortwave but now a telephone numbe ...this is a great update .

  • @mfx1
    @mfx1 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Definite fake for the original number, playing the poacher tune and numbers would be an immediate red flag to anyone tapping the phone call.

  • @billmilosz
    @billmilosz 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "The local dibble" - great new slang you taught me.

  • @davidsradioroom9678
    @davidsradioroom9678 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I agree. Sounds like a hoax.

  • @zyeborm
    @zyeborm 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This seems like a great way of playing a numbers station type deal online ;-)

  • @johnroscoe2406
    @johnroscoe2406 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Sounds like people just having fun.

  • @solarizedmonkeyman
    @solarizedmonkeyman 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Ain't nobody here but us chickens was a catchphrase used in a Robert Lindsay comedy series called nightingales. Can't think of a significant link for that and the poacher though.