Buzzer "UVB-76" Up Again on 4625

Good/readable signal, with heavy fading, into the web repeater's receiver somewhere in Europe at 16/1858 UTC.  Band conditions seem to have deteriorated somewhat.

The buzz is same as always, except for a slow warble at maybe twice per second.

4625 kHz Buzzer Up Today

On the Internet reflector right now (2118 UTC) with QRM from an off-frequency broadcast.

Military Net on 4625 kHz "Buzzer" Frequency

The Buzzer is still gone again, but there is still Russian Military activity on the frequency.

Here is some kind of daily CW net that has a roll call at 1900 UTC, as copied over the Internet UVB-76 blog's stream on September 13. These are tactical callsigns, which change periodically.

Previous operators have sounded pretty good, but this one got flustered, big time.

Here we go:

V
VVVVVV
VVVV V V (error dits)
VSJX DE FIN Q K
R K
KMMN DE F INQ K
R K
8OB5 DE FINQ K
V JIP DE FINQ ---- (possible Cyrillic character, four dahs) (error dits)
VJIP DE FINQ K
R K
E4LU DE FINN (error dits)
E4LEU DE FINQ K
R K
W4YM DE FINQ K
R K
U AR (error dits)
4G9G DE FINQ K
4G9G DE FINQ K
4G9G DE FINQ R K
VDZO DE FINQ R K
L6MM DE (error dits)
L6MM DE FIQ (error dits)
L6MM DE FINO AR (error dits)
L6MM DE FINQ K
O42M DE FINQ K
H (error dits)
L6MHM DE FINQ K (error dits)
L6MM DE FINQ K
O42N DE FINQ K
L6MM DE FINQ K
2X2M DE FINQ K
L6MM L6MM DE FINQ FIN (error dits)
L6MM L6MM L6MM E DE FINQ FINQ K
O42M O42M O42M L (error dits)
O42M O42M O42M DE FINQ J (error dits)
O42M O42M O42M DE FIINNN (error dits)
O42M O42M O42M DE FINQ K (error dits)
O42 (error dits)
O42M O42M O42M DE FINQ FINQ K
R K
[About an 8 minute pause, perhaps to regroup]
[missed-fading]
FINQ R K
[-end of work-]

More Voice Messages on UVB-76?

That's what they're saying on the blog. To hear the alleged 4625 kHz Russian communications, go to:

http://uvb-76.blogspot.com/.

Is the Buzzer Back?

I don't think so. At precisely 9:11 AM (hmmmm) Pacific Daylight Time (1611 UTC), the buzzing sound started up again. But it is much louder on the USB stream than the AM one, and since The Buzzer was in upper-sideband, full-carrier mode (H3E), this should not have been the case. Russian test counts and ominous 50-Hz noises are also being broadcast on 4625 at present.

Yesterday had several interesting non-pirate transmissions on this frequency. "F6J6" is a Russian duplex military net with a callup or roll call daily around 1800-2000. The voice message may or may not have been the same agency doing the ones on The Buzzer.

Then there's the intermittent Morse code at 3 kHz, indicating that the station is off-frequency. This has to be the Russian Air Defense (PVO). What you're hearing is an automated system which sends character strings in Morse code, at regular intervals. These have a strict format, in which the first character is a break (BT) and a time stamp appears. This time is local to the Moscow area. The rest of the data is presumably target locations. Missing characters are substituted with a question mark (?). These stations have been on for years.

4625 kHz Festivities Continue

Coming up on a week since The Buzzer suddenly went silent, and the pirate fest continues. Check http://uvb-76.blogspot.com/ for the latest.

At 2312 UTC, someone has a loop of The Buzzer and what sounds like classical music.

Earlier, someone was sending waterfall pictures which made Russian characters for a word which can translate as the male reproductive organ.

Real or bootleg military broadcasts continue, in CW. One net control station is on daily at times between 1700 and 2000, working stations duplex.

UVB76 Leaves Air, Human Species Survives

There's been a lot of Internet buzz surrounding UVB76, the supposed call sign of a mysterious, Russian station whose marker is The Buzzer (formerly XB, now S38). It's usually on 4625 kHz. Conspiracy sites have gone crazy since it broadcast a voice message on August 25, and then left the air shortly before 0000 UTC on September 1.

Right now, the only verifiable fact is that the station is still off-air, except maybe for a weak carrier. There have been a lot of pirate transmissions, some of which indicated a familiarity with the "numbers" hobby. A couple of these even addressed two well known Internet mailing list members, by name.

Mary Villano in L.A. reports that even "Adult Swim," a Cartoon Channel program block after the kiddies are in bed, did a bumper with a scope screen type of graphic and words about how UVB76 was off-air and we should all be afraid. This is fun stuff.

Also interesting is the very dark cloud shadow on Google Earth over what is purported to be the UVB76 transmitter building. It's almost as if the site was deliberately redacted. If the surrounding area wasn't more dank than a gloomy Russian novel, and if the images weren't from 2009 and earlier, even I might think someone said something. But I don't. It's just more strangeness from a seemingly endless source of same.

We'll try to sort all this out in the November column. I don't usually advertise, but you'll want to read THIS one.