OLX number station
QSL card from OLX
OLX was number station operated firstly by communist Czechoslovakia then by Czech republic. It was unusual because it used ITU-registered callsign OLX and even replied to sent QLS cards, which was pretty unusual for number stations!
Back then in 2018 I was really into number stations and with my friend we discovered some info about this particular number station. This was documented at Priyom.org blog but because we were idiots our contributions were later deleted. Now I want to save this information for posterity and for those five people who are actully interested in these details.
In Czechia we have so called Archiv bezpečnostních složek (Security Services Archive), which is institution which takes care of archives of StB - infamous czechoslovak communist secret police. This archive is very transparent and you can find some really nerdy details about stuff which was top secret back then.
Firstly we discovered document which (in language in spy agency bureucratic minutae) described need to improve device used to generate number station's voice. This device was called BRIGITA. This document was translated and published in article Priyom Releases a Top Secret Document about Numbers by us.
Later I discovered by pure chance book called Očima estébáka aneb jak jsem škodil lidu (Through the eyes of an StB officer). This book is a memoir of guy who used to work in IT development section of Czechoslovak Ministry of interior. There are two sections in which BRIGITA is described - firstly in one paragraph about it development and secondly there is a section about how this device malfunctioned and needed to repaired on broadcasting site. I got contacted this guy and asked him for more info and all this was documented in article Behind the device of OLX. However I need to point that we somewhat misrepresented his answers while writing his post. I also need to ask you not to bother him with stupid questions.
Finally there is a book called V labyrintu tajných služeb (In secret services labyrinth) by Jiří Růžek, former BIS (Czech internal security service) director. This book is also a memoir (and somewhat controversial one - it was critised by then-current BIS director) but the part interesting for our story is that how it describes Czech secret services after transition from communism. StB used to have a lot of illegals in west so after Velvet revolution it was decided to silently transfer these people back to Czechoslovakia (if they wanted). This was done with cooperation of western security services and it was the very reason why was OLX in operated in 1990s in time when it responded to QLS cards.
This is everything I know about OLX now.
More info
- video People Wrote To This Secret Cold War Spy Station... And Got A Reply! by Ringway Machester