1984: THEN AND NOW

Thirty years ago, the subject of spy numbers stations fascinated me. With my Kenwood R-1000 general coverage receiver, I scanned the shortwave bands for traces of these Cold War broadcasters. Six years later, I composed an electronic music piece around the recording of a CIA spy numbers station. Listen to this eery piece called Passing Messages. According to rumors circulating at the time, these broadcasts were coded messages to spies in foreign lands. They would receive a decoder card and decipher the numbers to create the message from headquarters. I never knew what those messages were about but it was thrilling to listen to these secretive transmissions.

I also discovered a few clandestine broadcasters. Those are stations set up by revolutionary forces in countries experiencing civil war. Radio Venceremos was one of my favourite catches. To me, it sounded like a Spanish Goon Show. Even though I didn't understand the language, I felt elated that I was hearing what few in my neighbourhood or city even dreamt existed.

During the autumn of 1984, I went on a hunting trip with my cousin Wayne. He hunted deer while I hunted exotic radio stations. I stayed to guard the camp while he went out with his rifle. Wayne didn't shoot any large game but I certainly snagged some good radio signals. One of which was an emergency transmission from a ship with an injured sailor. The radio operator's English was so poor that the coast guard man barely understood him. Wayne and I waited expectantly as we listened to the drama playing out on the airwaves. We gave up after a while since the signal faded out and it was late. I never did hear how things turned out.

Thirty years later, I discovered that some spy transmissions still occur. As I tuned the shortwave dial one sunny afternoon while enjoying a warm September day in my front yard, I came across the familiar sound of a numbers station. The sampled voice of a woman read off numbers in Spanish, presumably to a spy in south or central America. What pleasant memories the sound of that woman's voice brought back of a time when the Cold War was at its coldest.

In addition to coded analogue messages, spies around the world use highly sophisticated methods of passing information. The news is periodically filled with stories about spies being discovered and hackers being found out. Even Canada's Department of National Defense has had their computers hacked. I've heard that the Chinese government were behind that one as well as other incidents of digital spying on our government.

It seems that George Orwell's 1984 book is coming to pass in our daily lives. We don't have Telescreens but we do have the Web. The American government wants to turn control of the Internet over to the United Nations. Many of those member countries are hostile to our free way of life. Governments are also seeking to gain increasing control over the lives of their citizens through regulations and confiscatory laws. If I told folks thirty years ago that we'd be told what sort of light bulbs to buy and toilets to install, they'd think I was crazy. Now people accept it as just another government regulation.

Fortunately for me and others, the dire predictions of a cultic teacher I once followed never came to pass. Find out how God liberated me from the aberrant nonsense that faker taught me by buying How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books to learn more.

SHORTWAVE MEMORIES.

Ask any teenager about shortwave radio and they'll likely have no clue about it. Even among thirty-somethings, the topic of shortwave radio is barely understood by many of them. From my discussions with people, only seniors recall this wondrous part of the radio spectrum.

My first exposure to short wave radio occurred when my parents sent me to Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind. Each classroom had a Pye AM and shortwave radio that the teachers sometimes let us listen to. By age ten, I became curious enough to fiddle with the receiver during recess. The strange noises of utility stations and the exotic sounds of broadcasters thrilled me. Stations from Japan, the Soviet Union, and other distant countries kept me spellbound with the wonder of hearing their distant signals.

When my mom bought me a shortwave radio in 1971, I discovered that Ecuador had a Christian radio station called HCJB. Radio Netherlands was another powerful broadcaster that I heard regularly. Each evening, stations from Europe filled the shortwave bands with music and features about their respective countries. Listening to them actually helped me in my Social Studies classes.

During the eighties, I bought several general coverage receivers. These helped me tune in weak stations from exotic Asian and African countries. One morning, while on a camping trip with my cousin, we ate breakfast while listening to a station from Papua New Guinea.

Adding to the excitement was the thrill of receiving clandestine signals from rebel stations such as Radio Venceremos. Pirate stations, illegal broadcasters not involved in insurrection, also excited me. Their programming was often harmless, though some espoused leftist beliefs. With such exciting signals, I couldn't help but spend hour upon hour tuning the dial.

The Internet has largely shut down the major international broadcasters. Governments of wealthy countries assumed that everybody has access to broadband servers so transmitting millions of watts seemed wasteful. Though streaming audio is crystal clear, it lacks the wonder and atmosphere of hearing a signal from half way around the world without satellite or broadband assistance.

Though countries such as New Zealand and Australia still broadcast on shortwave, the bands are often filled with Christian radio stations from America. These often play programs of dubious moral quality. They even air conspiracy programs and infomercials. I avoid those broadcasters and search instead for news or current affairs shows.

I mentioned my love of shortwave radio in my two published memoirs as well as my upcoming How I Was Razed book. God willing, I hope to have it in print before the year ends. Meanwhile, please click on the Bruce Atchison's books link for more information about my books.