V20 was a live read Cuban numbers station. The announcer seems totally uninterested in reading the numbers. Since it was live read, sometimes background noises could be heard. Which would also distract the reader, making him laugh and lose focus. As a result of this and his general boredom, errors were common. Due to how unprofessional it was, it was thought it might not even be a government run station.
V20 was last heard in August 1998, shortly after the bust of the largest Cuban spy-network La Red Avispa, or Wasp Network by the FBI. This network was considered Cuba’s most daring attempt to penetrate the Cuban exiles community in the USA. Some of the agents were also involved in the Cuban Five case later that year.
Message Recording
Station Structure
The “R290” groups were read as “R, Dos Noventa”
| Preamble | Message | ||
| “Bilincsbe Zárva” + “Álmatlan Éjszakán” by Ervin Litkei |
“Atención” | R290 R290 R290 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| Interval music plays | Repeated 3x | 1-letter + 3-digit groups Repeated 3x |
Test count length varies |
| Repeated for 30 minutes | |||
Numbers Station Summary
Nickname: Bored Man / Lazy Man
Activity: Inactive
Emission mode: USB
Frequencies: 4106, 6868, and 9415 kHz
Voice Summary: Male and female in Spanish. Slow uneven delivery of numbers read live
Believed Country of Origin: Cuba
Source
RadioHobbyist.org, The Numbers Racket CD – The Bored Man
Numbers & Oddities Issue #44 (December 2001)
