UVB-76 (Russian: УВБ-76; see § Name and callsigns for other callsigns), also known by the nickname "The Buzzer", is a shortwave radiostation that broadcasts on the frequency of 4,625kHz.[1][2] It broadcasts a short, monotonous buzz toneⓘ, repeating at a rate of approximately 25tones per minute, 24hours per day.[1] Sometimes, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place.[3][4][5][6]
Name and callsigns
The station is commonly known as "The Buzzer"[7] in both English and Russian (Russian: Жужжалка). From its first voice transmission in 1997 to 2010, the station identified itself as UZB-76[8][9] (Russian: УЗБ-76). The callsign UVB-76 was never used by the station itself, but is rather a mistranscription of UZB-76.[2] However, the station is still often referred to by that name. In the following years of transmission, the main callsign of the station changed regularly.
Main callsigns of UVB-76 ("The Buzzer")
Callsign
Timespan used
UZB-76 (УЗБ-76)
24 December 1997 – 7 September 2010
MDZhB (МДЖБ)
7 September 2010 – 28 December 2015
ZhUOZ (ЖУОЗ)
28 December 2015 – 1 March 2019
ANVF (АНВФ)
1 March 2019 – 30 December 2020
NZhTI (НЖТИ)
30 December 2020 – present
In addition to these main callsigns, The Buzzer also uses other "side callsigns" which are being used less frequently than the main callsign. Whenever the main callsign changes, all previous side callsigns are also discarded.[1]
Format
The station transmits using AM with a suppressed lower sideband (USB modulation), but it has also used full double-sideband AM (A3E). 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.[1][10] 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.[11]
Since the start of broadcasting, The Buzzer broadcast as a repeating two-second pip.[12][13]
UVB-76 - "The Buzzer", recorded on 10 August 2022
Voice messages
Sometimes the buzzing sound is interrupted and a voice message is broadcast. These messages are always given in Russian by a live voice, and follow three fixed formats:[2][1][14][15]
A message in the Monolith format always consists of the following parts:
Callsigns, each of which read out twice in the readout. A callsign always consists of four symbols, each symbol being either a Russian letter or a digit
Five digit ID groups (amount of items usually follows the amount of callsigns)
Message blocks, each consisting of one code word and eight digits
Example of a Monolith message sent on The Buzzer with exactly one callsign, one ID group and one message block (most common type):
Nowadays, Uzor messages are rarely sent on The Buzzer.
Komanda
Komanda is the most uncommon type of voice message. Since it has not been heard for years, messages of this type are most likely not being sent on The Buzzer anymore. They consist of a callsign (read out twice), a codephrase (Russian: ОБЪЯВЛЕНА КОМАНДА, romanized: OB'YaVLYeNA KOMANDA, lit. 'command announced'), and a following number.
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.[22] One such occasion was on 3 November 2001, when a conversation in Russian was heard:[10]
Я – 143. Не получаю генератор... идёт такая работа от аппаратной. (English: I am 143. Not receiving the generator [oscillator]... that stuff comes from hardware room.[23])
In September 2010, several unusual broadcasts were observed; these included portions of the buzzer being replaced with extracts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.[24]
On 11 November 2010, intermittent phone conversations were transmitted and were recorded by a listener (at 14:00 UTC) for a period of approximately 30 minutes. These conversations are available online, and seem to be in Russian.[25][26] The phone calls mentioned the "brigade operative officer on duty", the communication codes "Debut", "Nadezhda" (Russian for "hope", both a noun and a female name), "Sudak" (an alternate name for the Zander, and also a town in Crimea) and "Vulkan" (volcano). The buzzing tone can also be heard very faintly in the background of these calls, further suggesting the buzzing is generated externally. The female voice says:
Офицер дежурного узла связи "Дебют", прапорщик Успенская. Получила контрольный звонок от Надежды... поняла.[27] (English: "Officer of the duty station 'Debut', ensign Uspenskaya. Received a test call from Nadezhda... understood.")
On 17 July 2015, the station broadcast what appeared to be a RTTY signal in lieu of the buzzer.[28][29][30]
1984 aerial photograph of Povarovo, Russia, the former site of the transmitter for UVB-76
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.[11][34][35] Another explanation is that the broadcast is constantly being listened to by military commissariats.[36]
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 4,625 kHz, the same broadcast frequency as the Buzzer.[37]
The most likely purpose is that the voice messages are some sort of Russian/Soviet military communications. The station being a numbers station for intelligence agencies such as the FSB or the former KGB of the Soviet Union is extremely unlikely as messages occur at seemingly random, unpredictable times, while numbers stations use a fixed schedule which changes rarely. In addition to that, the non-changing frequency of 4,625kHz and the low transmitter power are unsuitable for reliable communication from Russia to Europe, where spies would be stationed.[original research?]
The buzzing functions as a "channel marker" used to keep the frequency occupied, thereby making it unattractive for other potential users.[1] 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 is connected to the Russian 'Perimeter' missile system, and emits a "dead hand" signal that will trigger a nuclear retaliatory response if the signal is interrupted as a result of a nuclear attack against Russia.[7] This theory is also very unlikely, given that The Buzzer stops / breaks down regularly.[23]
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.[1]
The former transmitter was located near Povarovo, Russia,[1][38] at 56°5′0″N37°6′37″E / 56.08333°N 37.11028°E / 56.08333; 37.11028 which is about halfway between Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Moscow, near the village of Lozhki. The location and callsign were unknown until the first known voice broadcast of 1997.[39] 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 9 August 2015, the station is not transmitted from the Kerro Massiv transmitter site ("Irtysh") 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.[3] 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 4,625 kHz.[better source needed][40][41]
Other callsigns
Besides the main callsign, there have been transmissions containing different callsigns such as:
^McLellan, Allison (November 2019). "Decoding Numbers Stations". QST. American Radio Relay League. 103 (11): 70–73 – via ProQuest. Perhaps the best-known is the Russian UVB-76, a misheard version of its first call sign, UZB-76. Transmitting on 4625 kHz, it was first noticed around the late 1970s, earning the nickname 'the Buzzer' because of its 24-hour droning hum.
^Harris, Shane (6 March 2016). "The Stupidly Simple Spy Messages No Computer Could Decode". The Daily Beast. The Newsweek–Daily Beast Company – via ProQuest. For most of its existence, which has been traced back to an original airdate in 1976, it has transmitted a short, high-pitched buzz, every few seconds.
^ abBoender, Ary (January 2002). "Oddities". ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter – Issue 8. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
