Traffic Analysis Part 2 of 4

Traffic analysis, as presented in this post, is based on the experience of members of the On-The-Roof Gang (OTRG) from its origin into World War Two, with one principal target – the Imperial Japanese Navy. Actually, traffic analysis really starts on the intercept of the initial Morse code “dit” of any transmission.

The experienced intercept operator feels he needs to know the identity of the transmitting as well as the receiving station, the identity of the originator and addressees, the exact frequency used, time of day, operators’ sending qualities. Some OTRG members had pet names and descriptions of some of the Japanese Navy radio operators who were referred to as those using their left feet on the transmitting key!). In other words, some Japanese radio operators were very sloppy sending Morse code.