Mystery Signals Of The Short Wave

This station has been on the air for many years mainly on or near  5500 kHz or 5505 kHz, frequently causing interference to Shannon Air Radio on 5505 kHz.

One Enigma reader described the signal as sounding like "dragging a load of tin cans across the floor".

To hear a recording of The Crackle click on the Icon below:-

  The Crackle   (98kb)

(This sample recorded on 01 Nov 2009 replaces the previous poor recording. Listen for the distintive sound of "dragging tin cans".)

Below is a simple sound spectral analysis of the signal.

This station is a bit of a wanderer, starting on one frequency, then over a period of several months, moving to another, and another, then disappearing again. Sooner or later it will reappear on one of its home frequencies.

Usually heard during night-time hours in Europe.

Heard on 01 November 2009 with a good signal on 5135kHz in both England and Finland at 1530z. I took advantage of this appearance to replace the sound sample above and to post a spectral analysis of the recording. On 02 November the signal was again heard at 0500z on 5153kHz, but by 0600z had moved to 6987kHz where it remained for most of the morning.

A complete mystery - very little is known about this signal apart from its habits and sound.