UVB-76
UVB-76, also known as "The Buzzer", is a nickname given by listeners to a shortwave radio station that broadcasts on the frequencies 4625 and 4810 kHz. It broadcasts a short, monotonous, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, 24 hours per day. Sometimes, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. The first reports of a station on this frequency were made in 1973.
Name
The station is commonly known as the Buzzer in both English and Russian. Until 2010, the station identified itself as UVB-76, and it is still often referred by that name. In September 2010, the station moved to another location and adopted the identification MDZhB. On December 28, 2015, the station began using the callsign ZhUOZ – pronounced "Zhenya, Ulyana, Olga, Zinaida". Since March 1, 2019, the station appears to have used a number of new callsigns, the most recurring of which is ANVF.Format
The station transmits using AM with a suppressed lower sideband, but it has also used full double-sideband AM. The signal consists of a buzzing sound that lasts 1.2 seconds, pausing for 1–1.3 seconds, and repeating 21–34 times per minute. Until November 2010, the buzz tones lasted approximately 0.8 seconds each. One minute before the hour, the repeating tone was previously replaced by a continuous, uninterrupted alternating tone, which continued for one minute until the short repeating buzz resumed, although this stopped occurring in June 2010.The Buzzer has apparently been broadcasting since at least 1973 as a repeating two-second pip, changing to a buzzer in early 1990. It briefly changed to a higher tone of longer duration on January 16, 2003, but has since reverted to the previous tone pattern.
Voice messages
Sometimes the buzzing sound is interrupted and a voice message is broadcast. These messages are usually given in Russian by a live voice, and follow a fixed format. An example of such a message:At 21:00 UTC on December 24, 1997:
Ya UVB-76, Ya UVB-76. 180 08 BROMAL 74 27 99 14. Boris, Roman, Olga, Mikhail, Anna, Larisa. 7 4 2 7 9 9 1 4
Voice messages were thought to be very rare, until 2010 when listeners reported increased activity of the station, spurring on further monitoring and allowing listeners to "catch" more of the messages which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. On June 5, 2010, UVB-76 went silent for approximately 24 hours, resuming the normal buzzing pattern on the morning of June 6. At 13:35 UTC on August 23, 2010, a voice message was broadcast:
UVB-76, UVB-76. 93 882 NAIMINA 74 14 35 74. 9 3 8 8 2 Nikolai, Anna, Ivan, Mikhail, Ivan, Nikolai, Anna. 7 4 1 4 3 5 7 4
On October 17, 2016, The Buzzer broadcast at least 18 different messages in less than 24 hours.
Four additional voice broadcasts could be heard between January 13 and January 27, 2020.
On May 11, 2020, two messages were heard, one at 13:11 UTC and a second one at 15:22 UTC.
On May 14, 2020, another two messages were broadcast, one at 8:00 UTC and another one at around 10:00 UTC.
On June 17, 2020, two messages were heard, one at 11:39 UTC and a second one at 11:47 UTC:
VZhTsKh VZhTsKh 10 269 KYeDROKYeKS 99 57 53 14.
VZhTsKh VZhTsKh 74 701 KON'YuNKTURA 57 55 86 97 VDYeLYVAN'Ye 06 71 29 59.
On June 18, 2020, one message was heard at 10:12 UTC
ANVF ANVF 17 042 DAMPOLYaD 75 79 69 56;
ANVF ANVF 17 042 DAMPOLYaD 75 79 69 56.
On July 1, 2020, one message was heard at 12:31 UTC
VZhTsKh VZhTsKh 217O 217O 88 498 79 789 KAINOGON 52 47 37 68;
VZhTsKh VZhTsKh 217O 217O 88 498 79 789 KAINOGON 52 47 37 68.
On July 8, 2020, from 07:40z to 14:40z, the buzzer broadcast 13 different messages.
Unusual transmissions
Distant conversations and other background noises have frequently been heard behind the buzzer, suggesting that the buzzing tones are not generated internally, but are transmitted from a device placed behind a live and constantly open microphone. Because of the occasional fluctuating pitch of the buzzing tones, it is supposed that the tones are generated by a tonewheel as used in a Hammond organ. It is also possible that a microphone may have been turned on accidentally. One such occasion was on November 3, 2001, when a conversation in Russian was heard:Я – 143. Не получаю генератор......идёт такая работа от аппаратной.
In September 2010, several unusual broadcasts were observed; these included portions of the buzzer being replaced with extracts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and in one instance, a sound that resembled that of a woman screaming.
On November 11, 2010, intermittent phone conversations were transmitted and were recorded by a listener for a period of approximately 30 minutes. These conversations are available online, and seem to be in Russian. The phone calls mentioned the "brigade operative officer on duty", the communication codes "Debut", "Nadezhda", "Sudak" and "Vulkan". The female voice says:
Офицер дежурного узла связи "Дебют", прапорщик Успенская. Получила контрольный звонок от Надежды......поняла.
On July 17, 2015, the station broadcast what appeared to be a RTTY signal in lieu of the buzzer.
On February 7, 2019, several transmissions that were likely sent by a third party were broadcast. One of them goes:
Ya - Pogrom, Ya - Pogrom. Vozduh. 49 832 VOLKOSTYK 12 38 86 52
On May 15, 2020, The Buzzer was interrupted by a third-party transmission, likely sent by French fishermen.
On the same day, about four hours later, The Buzzer began playing Russian music.
On May 17, 2020, UVB-76 was interrupted again by a short third-party transmission. It is suspected to have been sent by the same French people as on May 15, 2020,
On May 30, 2020, at about 20:00 UTC, music was heard on The Buzzer´s frequency.
On June 9, two events could be witnessed. At 20:03 UTC, the buzzing generator of UVB-76 broke down; the buzzing continued only a few seconds later. Another anomaly happened at around 21:00 UTC, multiple transmission of morse code were heard.
On June 16, 2020, the buzzer stopped at 20:40 UTC for unknown reasons. It returned about one hour later at 21:40 UTC.
On July 15, 2020 a Voice message of unknown origin was heard on 4624.2 kHz, just below the Buzzers frequency. The message didn‘t come from UVB-76 itself because the buzzing didn´t stop. The message was in English and contained only numbers, no letters. The only word that appeared in this message was,,Attention“.
Location and function
The purpose of the station has not been confirmed by government or broadcast officials. However, Rimantas Pleikys, a former Minister of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Lithuania, has written that the purpose of the voice messages is to confirm that operators at receiving stations are alert. Other explanations are that the broadcast is constantly being listened to by military commissariats.There is speculation published in the Russian Journal of Earth Sciences which describes an observatory measuring changes in the ionosphere by broadcasting a signal at 4625 kHz, the same as the Buzzer.
It is also speculated that the voice messages are some sort of Russian military communications, and that the buzzing sound is merely a "channel marker" used to keep the frequency occupied, thereby making it unattractive for other potential users. The signature sound could be used for tuning to the signal on an old analogue receiver. The modulation is suitable to be detected by an electromechanical frequency detector, similar to a tuning fork. This can be used to activate the squelch on a receiver. Due to the varying emission properties on shortwave bands, using a level-based squelch is unreliable. This also allows a signal loss to be detected, causing an alarm to sound on the receiver.
Another theory, described in a BBC article, states that the tower emits a “Dead Hand” signal that triggers a nuclear retaliatory response if the signal is interrupted as a result of a nuclear attack against Russia.
There are two other Russian stations that follow a similar format, nicknamed "The Pip" and "The Squeaky Wheel". Like the Buzzer, these stations transmit a signature sound that is repeated constantly, but is occasionally interrupted to relay coded voice messages.
The former transmitter was located near Povarovo, Russia, at which is about halfway between Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk and northwest of Moscow, near the village of Lozhki. The location and callsign were unknown until the first known voice broadcast of 1997. In September 2010, the station's transmitter was moved to the nearby city of Saint Petersburg, near the village of Kerro Massiv. This may have been due to a reorganization of the Russian military. Prior to August 9, 2015, the station is not transmitted from the Kerro Massiv transmitter site anymore, possibly due to a reorganization of the Russian military for the particular area which may cause the frequency to be used only in the Moscow Military District. At present, The Buzzer appears to be broadcast only from the 69th Communication Hub in Naro Fominsk, Moscow. In 2011, a group of urban explorers claimed to have explored the buildings at Povarovo to find an abandoned military base and, in it, a radio log record confirming the operation of a transmitter at 4625kHz.