1KB JavaScript Numbers Station

genewitch · 2025-07-22T16:47:08 1753202828

works on Firefox, on windows 11.

however even when it is working, it's not really like a numbers station. For a start, it needs varying static and clicks. Secondly, numbers stations don't generally say "seven hundred and thirty four", they generally say "seven. three. four." the random words repeated sometimes are a nice touch, though. And i like the idea of grabbing words from an internal list in the way the author did it. I wouldn't have thought of that, probably.

some numbers stations that i personally archived:

  https://soundcloud.com/djoutcold/31-may-2014-170948-19008500-mhz
  https://soundcloud.com/djoutcold/uvb-76-aug-23-2010-9-32ampst
  https://nextcloud.projectftm.com/index.php/s/unid-pizza-numbers [0]

here's one that sounds like a numbers station but can be argued is not, as the meaning is rather clear (if my memory serves):

  https://soundcloud.com/djoutcold/sdrsharp-20150825-020508z-4368khz-af

[0] i think this one is a joke; this one is the most representative of what numbers stations used to be like, though. Whoever made it really knew what they were doing, even though they used their knowledge to be a bit cheeky. I edited it because the music would blow out your speakers originally.

additionally, i know the 19008500-mhz is mislabeled, it should be 19.008500-mhz or instead of "mhz" just "hz"

edent · 2025-07-22T17:39:17 1753205957

I'd love it if you forked my code and managed to fit a full numbers station into 1024KB.

genewitch · 2025-07-22T19:46:32 1753213592

my kid wanted it to say point between the groupings, which is the speech engine, so this may sound different depending on your browser:

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><body><button onclick="f()">Start</button><script>
  function f(){with(window){
  a=new AudioContext;b=a.createBuffer(1,c=2*a.sampleRate,a.sampleRate);d=b.getChannelData(0);
  for(i=0;i<c;i++)d[i]=(Math.random()*2-1)*.4;
  e=a.createBufferSource();e.buffer=b;e.loop=1;g=a.createGain();g.gain.value=.05;
  e.connect(g).connect(a.destination);e.start();
  const l=n=>((n.match(/[A-Z]/g)||[]).length==1&&(n[0].match(/[A-Z]/g)||[]).length==1);
  setInterval(()=>{s=Object.getOwnPropertyNames(globalThis).filter(l).sort(()=>.5-Math.random())[0];
  if(Math.random()>.3){
    n=String(Math.ceil(Math.random()*1e4).toString().padStart(4,'0'));
    s=n[0]+'. '+n[1]+'. point. '+n[2]+'. '+n[3]+'.';
  }
  m=new SpeechSynthesisUtterance;m.text=s;
  v=speechSynthesis.getVoices();m.lang=v[(Math.random()*v.length)|0].lang;
  m.rate=Math.random();m.pitch=Math.random()*2;speechSynthesis.speak(m);},866);
  //m.rate=1.7;m.pitch=2;speechSynthesis.speak(m);},866);
  }}</script></body></html>

the comment at the end can be switched with the preceeding line so it sounds like he wanted it to (high pitched and fast, please) <1kb

and i got something stuck in my craw about noise so here's one with more accurate noise:

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><body><button onclick="f()">Start</button><script>
  function f(){with(window){
  a=new AudioContext;
  g=a.createGain();g.gain.value=.05; 
  h=a.createScriptProcessor(256,1,1);p=0;
  h.onaudioprocess=e=>{
    b=e.outputBuffer.getChannelData(0);
    for(i=0;i<b.length;i++)b[i]=p+=(Math.random()*2-1)/10;
  };
  h.connect(g).connect(a.destination);
  const l=n=>((n.match(/[A-Z]/g)||[]).length==1&&(n[0].match(/[A-Z]/g)||[]).length==1);
  setInterval(()=>{
    s=Object.getOwnPropertyNames(globalThis).filter(l).sort(()=>.5-Math.random())[0];
    if(Math.random()>.3){
      n=String(Math.ceil(Math.random()*1e4).toString().padStart(4,'0'));
      s=n[0]+'. '+n[1]+'. point. '+n[2]+'. '+n[3]+'.';
    }
    m=new SpeechSynthesisUtterance;m.text=s;
    v=speechSynthesis.getVoices();m.lang=v[(Math.random()*v.length)|0].lang;
    m.rate=Math.random();m.pitch=Math.random()*2;speechSynthesis.speak(m);
  },866);
  }}</script></body></html>

apologies to the HN servers for using 2kb to display these

i don't know javascript so apologies if i messed anything up (because it will eventually pop and click which is extremely accurate to numbers station reception but also crashes the page - audio stops.)

sterlind · 2025-07-22T23:26:57 1753226817

what's the meaning of the one you said is rather clear?

netsharc · 2025-07-22T18:53:39 1753210419

It kind of irks me that the idea was neat, but the attempt was seriously lacking.

edent · 2025-07-22T20:43:39 1753217019

Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it :-)

genewitch · 2025-07-22T21:16:10 1753218970

hey i should also apologize. I am really trying to not be so nit-picky. You had the idea and executed it in less than 1kb. I really meant to just kinda educate about numbers stations in general and i know it came off in a way that was unintentional.

and i used copilot because i am not a programmer, i just wanted to see if it was, in fact, possible to add noise and fix the way the numbers were read in 1kb. and i kept your code essentially the same, only adding stuff to split the numbers up closer to how they sound on RF.

so, sorry!

genewitch · 2025-07-22T20:05:13 1753214713

i replied in this thread with 855 bytes that do it a little closer to what i expected

netsharc · 2025-07-22T20:29:04 1753216144

FYI, having "." after numbers in German turn them to ordinal numerals (i.e. "4." becomes "4th"). I had to change them to commas to make it more familiar to the number stations recordings I've heard of.

genewitch · 2025-07-22T21:12:50 1753218770

so "neun. vier. punkt. sieben. drei."

doesn't mean 94 . 73 (or 94,73)? i considered using "dot". I'd have to listen to a german numbers station that uses a splitter like "point" or "dot"

what i'm asking is if you have an ip address like 4.2.2.2 how would you read that over the phone, in german?

also i made a lot of edits to fix issues during the edit window to the two versions i posted

netsharc · 2025-07-23T12:22:50 1753273370

> 4.2.2.2 how would you read that over the phone, in german?

Vier punkt zwei punkt zwei punkt zwei.

But the TTS isn't me, it sees 4. 2. 2. 2. (with spaces in between) and reads Vierte, Zweite, Zweite, Zweite (fourth, second, second, second).

Without spaces, it reads it like the way Germans read an IP address (see first line of reply).

In German the "." after the number is like the "nd" or "th" in "2nd" or "4th".

simonw · 2025-07-22T17:07:06 1753204026

This post inspired me to build (OK, vibe code) this little tool for playing with the speech synthesis browser API: https://tools.simonwillison.net/speech-synthesis

Commits / prompts: https://github.com/simonw/tools/commits/main/speech-synthesi...

tantalor · 2025-07-22T17:21:40 1753204900

Something is wrong with the voice selector. It does not actually change the voice.

simonw · 2025-07-22T17:40:44 1753206044

Which browser/OS? I've only tested on mobile Safari.

tantalor · 2025-07-22T18:09:19 1753207759

Android Chrome. It seems to be stuck with whatever the last random voice used by the numbers station demo and can't be changed.

Desktop ChromeOS works fine.

mg · 2025-07-22T16:06:50 1753200410

No sound at all and the console shows lots of these messages:

    24:4 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'lang')
    at 24:4:132

Which seems to be this line:

    m.lang = e[(Math.random() * e.length) | 0]["lang"];

Another observation: You write:

    m = new SpeechSynthesisUtterance;
    m.text = "Hello";
    speechSynthesis.speak(m);

    Run that JS and your computer will speak to you!

But when I paste those 3 lines into the console, that also does not produce any sound here. I tried in Chromium and Firefox, both on Linux.

netsharc · 2025-07-22T18:51:58 1753210318

Seems like you need to install additional components: https://askubuntu.com/questions/761975/chromium-is-not-gener...

Question/answers from 2016, so might be misleading...

genewitch · 2025-07-22T16:40:06 1753202406

moved text to top-level

LazarSRB · 2025-07-22T16:15:21 1753200921

funny and creepy

MobiusHorizons · 2025-07-22T14:53:54 1753196034

Cool concept, but doesn’t seem to work on iOS safari

edent · 2025-07-22T15:00:37 1753196437

I've had feedback that it should work on Firefox for iOS.

leeoniya · 2025-07-22T14:58:59 1753196339

> but doesn’t seem to work on iOS safari

if i had a nickel...

thenthenthen · 2025-07-22T16:18:45 1753201125

Isn't every browser on iOS technically Safari under the hood? Although Mozillas discontinued XRViewer app/browser does def expose more functionality

gkbrk · 2025-07-22T15:43:17 1753198997

Also not working on Brave on Linux for me.

edent · 2025-07-22T15:50:37 1753199437

Interesting, thanks. I tested it working on Chromium - but didn't test other Chrome based browsers.

tromp · 2025-07-22T15:51:13 1753199473

Working on my MacOSX Brave...