The Most Terrifying Shortwave Signal Ever

Little is known about the Gongs and Chimes station but it became one of the eeriest numbers stations to hit the shortwave dial.

With the Enigma ID G03, it became known for its famous gongs and chimes preamble signal which was played from a tape, an interesting point that’ll become clear soon.

The gongs and chimes sound made it one of the most terrifying shortwave stations ever heard on the air.

[arabianrailfan]

@5.25 Portishead Radio (GKC) chirping away in the background, along with GKD, used for from ship traffic. At its peak (1979ish) QRY 100 plus was common requiring at least an hour monitoring one or other of the aforementioned channels 5:27 5:27 . So happened I was to be at GKA in an official capacity on or very adjacent to the day of closure, acquiring a Post Office standard key as a memento - buried in a cupboard somewhere

[jonathangmallender]

Growing up in the 80s and listening to short wave hearing the voices. sounds and music phasing in and out from places like Russia, and eastern Europe always seemed dark and mystical. Like you were listening to something forbidden from places you knew very little about.

[stringlarson]

I can recall listening to these as a kid in the 60s, 70s. Being a nerd from birth, I was given a shortwave radio receiver and spent hours at night scanning up and down the dial.
I love this channel. Thank you.

[jensschroder]

"All my ducklings swim to the lake. Heads in the water, tails in the air."
That means all agents are exposed. Everyone disappear and act uninvolved.

[ulexite-tv]

The "transmission for the bright child" uses the German children's song "All of My Ducklings" as a coded political message. In the first verse, "all my ducklings swimming in the lake have their heads underwater and their tails in the air." In the second verse, "all my doves sitting on the roof lift up into the air and all fly away." In the third verse, "all my hens scratching in the straw find grains, and are happy." I think this song is used as a clever commentary by those who manned the Gongs and Chines station for so many years: Our agents (the little ducklings) should now all go "underwater" lest their "asses" be exposed; the transmitting staff members (the doves) are about to "fly the coop;" and everyone (the hens) can find new jobs, which will make us all happy.

[dereklea]

I was stationed in West Berlin (U.S. Army) from 1984-1987 and had a decommissioned Collins R-390 receiver in my barracks room. I was able to string up a long wire antenna and could hear these numbers stations with no difficulty. Hearing the gongs and chimes brings back memories of those days.

[betmulligan]

That final broadcast was very creepy. Great work! Thank you.

[markiangooley]

Very creepy sounds… but to me, even the completely innocuous WWV has always sounded somewhat creepy most of the time. That clock tick, when I’m in a bad mood, can make me feel as if my life is truly ticking away.

[scottlarson]

I didn't know what number stations were when I was a kid so when I heard "Oxygene Part II" on the shortwave suddenly followed by weird numbers, *that* was the scariest thing I had ever heard on shortwave.

[typograf]

According to the memoires of Markus Wolf the Alle meine Ente was a code telling agents that they were no longer required - a goodbye/signing off-signal.

[bielanski]

Lewis you've captured the essence of numbers stations for me in this one. The feeling of the void reaching into your ear and leaving a question.

[Orbis]

I knew it would be some number station spy stuff, when I read "most terrifying short wave signal" and saw the Berlin tower in the thumb nail but I wasn't prepared for some spooky GDR chime and gongs for sure. That they didn't switched out the old tape really rounded it off. Great video and greetings from Germany :)

[Neckername]

Whenever scrolling through a feed full of unenlightend, cheaply engineered sensationalism, I can always count on Ringway Manchester to provide something entertaining and enlightening. Often times about something so inconspicuous you never thought to question it, or simply never thought it to exist. Very cool stuff!

[kdog]

It actually mildly upsets me that the ever growing advent of digital radio will end up with us losing common access to the more mysterious and interesting aspects of the EM spectrum. I remember being given my first multiband radio receiver and listening to all sorts of fascinating, squeaks, bleeps, languages and effects like phasing. Feels odd that many kids these days will never get to experience that.

[EzeePosseTV]

Living on the east coast of Scotland all my life, back in the 80's when I was a wee boy I had this huge radiogram in my bedroom with all sorts of bands (LW, MW, SW, ETC) on the dial. I used to pick up all sorts of weird and unsettling radio broadcasts wavering in and out from Europe and Russia/USSR.
I remember hearing the Gongs 'n' Chimes one evening and feeling very creeped out at the unsettling sound more so than the other weird sounding transmissions which soft-triggered my 'fight - flight' reflex. I totally forgot all about it all and hearing it again 40 years later brought it back, lol.
Yeah the hair on my arms, legs and back all stood up the second that Gong/Chime sound started. Quite funny now how I react to hearing certain sounds and/or music _(the intro to the Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds part before the singing starts, has the same effect on me)._
But it was quite fascinating to finally learn what that eerie sound was after all this time.
*Cheerz Lewis, I appreciate your videos.* 👍🏼

[_sandie_]

I remember these along with sooo many others back in the day, the nact magnetic tape does add that eerie feeling many thanks for the capture to digital and sharing

[Vinline]

My favorite station. and it's actually my ringtone and my morning alarm, very calming. Great video I've learned many things i didn't even know

[oleo]

This gongs and chimes are very scary!This channel is amazing, the content about rádio transmission is incredible!

[StuartMTTQAmateurRadio]

I remember that one. Terrifying indeed. I couldn't read Morse back then but about 5.55 minutes in you can hear "de GKC" a couple of times. Presumably this was Portishead Radio announcing that they were listening for traffic and the East Germans were very naughtily broadcasting on a maritime band.

[rujok]

Terrifying to some, sweet music to another... I once read an account about a family who had defected from East Germany during the 1970's with the help of West German agents. They described how their handlers would smuggle small micro-sized cypher booklets to them so they could decode their instructions via a numbers station. Apparently the cyphers were printed on very thin paper so they could be chewed and swallowed if they were ever caught with them.