Talk:Lincolnshire Poacher (numbers station)

Possibly moved to Twitter
There are a handful of "numbers twitters" that have popped up (https://twitter.com/SierraGolf5, https://twitter.com/cynthiafortune, https://twitter.com/ZuluTango4 to name a few), and SG5 (SierraGolf5) appears to be an obvious homage to this numbers station. Raelik777 (talk) 20:25, 9 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Yeah that's all bollocks. Sslaptnhablhat (talk) 09:36, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

One thing I don't understand
According to this article, it is the same five numbers transmitted over and over again. If this station was some sort of spy message, why is it the same number year after year? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.192.72.175 (talk) 07:44, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

- The same five numbers are broadcast a couple of times - that is to indicate the recipient of the message. Then the message is broadcast with lots of different groups of five numbers. There's lots of recordings of it on youtube. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.208.229.178 (talk) 05:32, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Lincolnshire Poacher in the 70's and early 80's
Simon Mason, an expert on number stations, especially Lincolnshire Poacher, says on his web page that he first logged the Lincolnshire Poacher in 1988, but, and this is unsourced, he says that in the 70's it used to broadcast using a male voice and the melody was played 'non-electronically'. I would love to hear this and get more information about this !

No Longer Active?
So The Lincolnshire Poacher and Cherry Ripe are no longer active? Was there any indication in the last broadcast that something had changed, and does anyone know on what day the broadcasts stopped? Although I never heard the Lincolnshire Poacher live, I feel quite sad that it's gone. Like a giant chunk of broadcasting history has gone. If someone can add the actual date (and/or time) of the last broadcast, I think that information definitely belongs in the article. --HillbillyProfane (talk) 21:20, 19 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Simon Mason, the LP expert, says on his webpage that the last broadcast he heard of it was on 29th June 2008. Maybe he missed a few broadcasts because he was on holiday, but he probably took a radio with him !


 * As for the very first broadcast, the only people who know would be breaking the law if they told anyone... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.209.134.179 (talk) 01:25, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

I heard it yesterday and just now. It came on, transmitted two 5-number codes, then disappeared. It is NOT inactive. This needs to be fixed on this article. Was on frequency 3772 on Shortwave. 5:04 AM GMT. JonnyNYC90 (talk) 02:13, 18 November 2010 (UTC)


 * It was probably another numbers station you heard. -Al

This article suggests that these broadcasts are targeted at field agents. I actually find it difficult to envisage a plausible scenario in which an undercover British agent operating in some hostile Middle Eastern country would reliably be able to receive transmissions from Lincolnshire Poacher.

The only reason we even know about these broadcasts is because they have been logged and reported over the years by shortwave enthusiasts using highly specialised receivers with large antennae. Even when listening with such equipment, the broadcasts are often indistinct and unintelligible (as evidenced by some of the Conet Project recordings).

Of course, a spy in the field is unlikely to have the luxury of setting up an esoteric shortwave rig with a large outdoor antenna. At best, he is probably limited to using a battery-operated "world band" radio (a more advanced shortwave receiver would be difficult to obtain, and would almost certainly arouse suspicion). Even in good reception conditions, these "world band" radios would be next to useless for picking up Lincolnshire Poacher, as most of the frequencies it uses are non-standard (try getting 10425KHz or 16084KHz on a typical 7- or 9-band portable set).

Numbers stations may well be used by intelligence agencies (for whatever purpose), but the notion of a spy crouched in a basement with his ear pressed to a little plastic radio is one I find rather hard to swallow. 217.155.20.163 20:48, 2 September 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, so let me help you envisage a plausible scenario. Our hypothetical agent is not a Brit crouching in a basement, but a mid-ranking local government official with a big house. He sets the antenna up once a month in the dead of night. He has no problem "obtaining" this equipment: a nice man from the embassy by prior arrangement places it in his car during a visit to a shopping centre. Furthermore, the equipment is rigged to look like a standard piece of equipment: you have to remove the case and flick a jumper to activate the shortwave circuitry. This is all standard stuff so far: try reading some cold war spy-ring memoirs.


 * If you're still having trouble, have a read through the main numbers station article. Cuban agents in the US, including a female defence analyst, have all been imprisoned and their messages from the Havana numbers station decrypted. The existence and key purpose of numbers stations is not in question.


 * Numbers stations are only useful to undercover agents: anything else can be conveyed through secure, dedicated communications channels. However inconvenient it sounds, it remains the only way to communicate encrypted information without revealing the location of the receiver (whether through easily-monitorable phone, emails or risky physical drops). Any technical difficulties are vastly outweighed by the secrecy afforded by this technique.
 * Additionally, the transmitter (on Cyprus) is directed at the middle east, which explains why it requires specialist equipment to pick up elsewhere.


 * It doesn't require specialist equipment... I'm sitting at home in Oxford, UK with a standard shortwave radio I purchased from a high street store and I can hear the Linconlnshire Poacher right now as I'm typing this. Good signal too!  It's just a normal portable radio.  If the signal is this strong here, imagine how strong it would be in the middle east where the transmitters are pointing.
 * Heh, thanks. I could have avoided hand-waving for three paragraphs if I'd actually bothered to check out the reception strength :)
 * Replace my original argument, then, with: "Spy purchases cheap radio. Listens to it anywhere. End of discussion." If anyone still has doubts about what these stations are intended for, perhaps we need to add references to the numerous cases of spies being busted in the act of decoding such transmissions - there were arrests in the UK in the 80s, and the recent one concerning the female analyst receiving instructions from Havana... (one time pads were recovered - albeit digital in the recent case - and messages subsequently decoded as evidence) I think it's safe to say there is consensus on this, especially since there are no plausible competing explanations.

I agree with the above that, yes, number stations are what people assume they are and are used by spies 'in the field'. However, I was wondering - if the message is written first in London, how do they get that message, encrypted or otherwise, to the transmitter in Cyprus ? Also, regarding number stations generally, foreign embassies play an important role, many of them having big antennas on their roofs. Is it that the message is somehow sent to the embassies where it is then encrypted and broadcasted from their roofs, or is it the case that the embassies pick up the radio transmissions using their big arials, then pass the messages on to the spies who work there?

Caught in the act
There was a spy masqueading as a Dutch antiques dealer who was caught red-handed by MI5 in the 1980s listening to a Czech numbers station and deciphering the message with a one-time pad. The name escapes me though. He was listening on a basic Japanese-made world radio. Using numbers stations to as a means of communicating with illegals easily can, has been, and no doubt still routinely is done by governments worldwide.BaseTurnComplete 16:53, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Bizarre - Normally agents would be expected to be in a useful position in the govt - not an antiques dealer! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.200.77 (talk) 20:33, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Anthony Blunt was an Art Historian, and spy. Because he was also a member of MI5. The cover stories are cover stories. Phlogistician (talk) 08:23, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Shortwave radio users
If you have a photo of a radio broadcasting the LP, this article is in a great need of a photo. Please post one if possible. Cheers, writers-block-14♠(talk) 23:11, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

There are plenty of images of the curtain antennas in Cyprus that used to transmit the LP but I don't know how to embed images in Wikipedia - google it !

In the Media
Just watched Vanilla Sky and during the murder scene where he suffocates the girl you can hear the numbers being read out and the tune of the Lincolnshire poacher (about 1:41:25) just as she expires. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.73.86.98 (talk) 19:42, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

Phone Number
http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/features/report/4903/we-called-a-secret-mi6-phone-number/

This seems to be somehow related and calls into question, "is this station really dead?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.134.102.136 (talk) 07:13, 5 November 2016 (UTC)
 * It's sourced content and those sentences attribute the source. Even if it's a cockamamie story, it's sourced content. Do not edit war over this. Chris Troutman  ( talk ) 12:34, 21 June 2019 (UTC)
 * It doesn't matter, the source itself is pure speculation, and you even say yourself it is wholly unbelievable. Why on Earth does Wikipedia allow such tripe on their articles as long as they're "sourced"? The guy who found this source is also clearly some creepypasta kiddie who hasn't a clue what they're talking about judging by their edits. Find me a more believable source and I will stop engaging in this ridiculous edit war. 7REPTILLIAN7 (talk) 02:37, 22 June 2019 (UTC)

"An Asian numbers station"
If Cherry Ripe was based in Australia or Guam, both of which are in Oceania, and the voice on it is an English-accented voice according to its article, what makes it an Asian numbers station? 86.7.177.177 (talk) 18:17, 7 May 2021 (UTC)


 * It's not "asian", nor is it transmitted from Oceania. Sslaptnhablhat (talk) 09:34, 16 March 2023 (UTC)