Numbers stations are radio frequency transmissions that broadcast a series of numbers to clandestine service officers throughout the world. The Lincolnshire Poacher is one of the most famous English language numbers stations which transmitted from the 1960s to June 2008 and it was likely used to communicate with officers from MI6. There are many recordings of the Lincolnshire Poacher and other numbers stations on the Internet. The series of numbers are encrypted and decoded with a one-time pad, so that they are very difficult to crack. Other coded transmissions are not as difficult to crack but may leave you disappointed ...
With WØNXM's and the Allied Forces upcoming geo-invasion of Fiяebug's ground zero, they needed a way to contact their intelligence officers deep behind enemy lines. WØNXM's Allied Forces setup this gadget cache to communicate to their clandestine service officers. Having heard back from our officers, their inital reports state that even Fiяebug is looking forward to being liberated.
As you approach this cache, use stealth and make sure that you are not being followed. If in doubt, run a surveillance detection route (SDR). Use tools at your disposal (B.Y.O.T.) to decode and unlock the cache. Do not force the cache open! Once you unlock the cache, be sure to sign the log, secure the lock, scramble the lock's code and rehide the cache for others to find.
Special thanks to Hamilton County Conservation for approving the placement of caches along this trail.
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The Lincolnshire Poacher was a powerful British shortwave numbers station that transmitted from Cyprus from the mid-1960s to June 2008. The station gained its commonly known name as it uses bars from the English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" as an interval signal. The radio station was believed to be operated by the British Secret Intelligence Service.[1] Amateur direction finding linked it with the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, where several curtain antennas had been identified as being its transmitter.[2] It consisted of a pre recorded English-accented female voice reading groups of five numbers: e.g. '0-2-5-8-8'. The final number in each group was spoken at a higher pitch. It is likely that the station was used to communicate to undercover agents operating in other countries, to be decoded using a one-time pad.[3]
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincolnshire_Poacher_(numbers_station) Obtained 9 Mar 2022)
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A numbers station is a shortwave radio station characterized by broadcasts of formatted numbers, which are believed to be addressed to intelligence officers operating in foreign countries.[1] Most identified stations use speech synthesis to vocalize numbers, although digital modes such as phase-shift keying and frequency-shift keying, as well as Morse code transmissions, are not uncommon. Most stations have set time schedules, or schedule patterns; however, other stations appear to have no discernible pattern and broadcast at random times. Stations may or may not have set frequencies in the high frequency band.[2]
The first known use of numbers stations was during World War I, with the numbers transmitted in Morse code. Numbers stations were most prolific during the Cold War era, yet many continue to broadcast and some long-time stations may have been taken over by different operators.[3][4] The Czech Ministry of the Interior and the Swedish Security Service have both acknowledged the use of numbers stations by Czechoslovakia for espionage,[5][6][7] with declassified documents proving the same. Few QSL responses have been received from numbers stations
by shortwave listeners[9] who sent reception reports, to stations that identified themselves or to entities the listeners believed responsible for the broadcasts, which is the expected behaviour of a non-clandestine station.[10][11]
One well-known numbers station was the E03 "Lincolnshire Poacher",[12] which is thought to have been run by the British Secret Intelligence Service.[13] It was first broadcast from Bletchley Park in the mid-1970s but later was broadcast from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It ceased broadcasting in 2008.[14] Russian numbers stations include UVB-76 "The Buzzer" and "The Pip" with origins in the Soviet era, as well as "Squeaky Wheel" since 2000.[14] In 2001, the United States tried the Cuban Five on the charge of spying for Cuba. The group had received and decoded messages that had been broadcast from the "Atención" number station in Cuba.[15]
Monitoring transmissions from numbers stations has become an activity for hobbyists, and ham radio enthusiasts dating from the 1980s,[16] though it is reported that Archduke Anton of Austria in his youth during World War I used to listen in to their transmissions, writing them down and passing them on to the Austrian military intelligence.[17]
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station Obtained 9 Mar 2022)
This cache is in the Geo-Invasion Series by WØNXM, Fiяebug95 and LilacLilyIris.
The Geo-Invasion began as a result of this comment.
And it resulted in a series of caches being published:
GC9PC16 - Rupert
GC9PGQJ - Fiяebug Pяopaganda
GC9PHTX - Fiяebug’s Woяkeяs, Uиitэ!
GC9PJAT - Back 'em up!
GC9PM7C - Geo Invasion: At the Ready!
GC9PM6N - Geo Invasion: Defensive positions
GC9PKC3 - Lincolnshire Poacher
GC9PJBA - I want you!
GC9PKD0 - Captain WØNXM
GC9PPXF - Visit your local recruiting office!
GC9PRKD - We can do it!
GC9PRK9 - Submarine Service
GC9PY4Q - Our Boys Have Got Your Back Capt!
GC9PYTD - Geo Invasion: Firebug's Command post
GC9PYTN - Geo Invasion: Tactics
GC9PYTX - Geo Invasion: Operation Retaliation
GC9Q04Y - Geo Invasion: The Falls
GC9Q16A - Airborne - The Finest
GC9Q16E - Boxholm Underground
GC9Q3K7 - A New Challenger Approaches!
GC9Q61Z - Geo-Invasion: Air Drop
GC9Q61Y - Boжholm Geostore
GC9Q8VD - Geo Invasion: Testing Waters
GC9Q8VY - Geo Invasion: Bamboozled
GC9Q62N - For Motherland, For Fiяebug!
GC9Q62B - DEFEND BOЖHOLM!
GC9Q733 - Operation: Gumball
GC9QB6W - Geo-Invasion: Colonel Lilac
GC9QB8K - Geo-Invasion: The Lilac Army Home Base
GC9QCCR - Geo-Invasion: Scouting Mission
GC9QB91 - Geo-Invasion: Special Units
GC9QCC3 - Geo-Invasion: Beginning to Maneuver
Will you join WØNXM's Allies or join the Fiяebug Regieme? Either way, find those geocaches, hide some geocaches, award favorite points and keep on caching!