Live USB FEED of UVB-76 (USB on 4.625MHz, 4.5kHz bandwidth)

UVB-76 (also known as,  UZB-76, and more recently MDZhB) is the call sign for a shortwave radio station that broadcasts on the frequency of 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). Around 25 times a minute, 24 hours a day, this Russian shortwave radio station, nicknamed The Buzzer, plays a short, monotonous buzz tone on the AM frequency at 4625 kHz. The station’s official callsign is “UVB-76?,  and the sound it transmits has been on an almost continuous loop since it was first herd around 1982.

UVB-76 transmits a buzzing sound that lasts for 1.2 seconds, then a pause for 1–1.3 seconds, and repeated 21 to 34 times per minute. Up until November 2010, the buzzer tones lasted for approximately 0.8 seconds each. One minute before the hour, the repeated tone was previously replaced by a continuous, uninterrupted alternating tone, which continued for just one minute until the short repeating buzzer carried on, this no longer happens .

Sometimes, distant conversations and background noises can be heard behind the buzzer, this may suggest that the buzz tones come from a device placed behind a live and constantly open microphone, rather than a recording or automated sound being fed through playback equipment, or that a microphone may have been turned on by accident. On November 3, 2001, a conversation in Russian was heard, which translated to “I am 143. Not receiving the generator (oscillator).” “That stuff comes from hardware room.”.

Voice messages from UVB-76 were quite rare until a sudden spate of activity in the second half of 2010. On August 23rd 2010, for the first time in over four years, the tone was interrupted and was replaced with a Russian voice that said:

UVB-76, UVB-76 – 93 882 naimina 74 14 35 74 – 9 3 8 8 2 nikolai, anna, ivan, michail, ivan, nikolai, anna, 7, 4, 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, 4 – (repeated twice)

Recording of August 23rd transmission

The names used in the message are used in some Russian spelling alphabets, and spell out the first word – “naimina”, It has been suggested that they translate to “russian names”, “Nikolai, Anna, Ivan, Mikail, Ivan, Nikolai, Anna” – Another idea suggests that “74 14 35 74? could be interpreted as longitude and latitude coordinates: 74.14N 35.74E.

Why would the UVB-76 be broadcasting a geographical location in the middle of the Barents sea? Maybe it was to do with the launch of a Russian anti-aircraft missile which happened on the same day?

The Russian Air Force is together with Air Defence units preparing a shooting exercise with the S-300 anti-Aircraft missile system from the island of Kildin in the Barents Sea.

Recently more voice transmissions have come from UVB-76, including the odd grumble, knocks, shuffles, beeps, and a even a completely new buzzing noise that nearly drowned out the original buzzer sound completely.

On the 11th at exactly 1400 UTC, a series of conversations were broadcast between different people on the UVB-76 frequency. It is not known where this transmission originated from, although the buzzer can still be heard faintly in the background. Either someone made a mistake, or it’s an unrelated or pirate transmission over the same frequency.

Recording of the 1th Novemver 2010 Transmission

Satellite image of the transmitter site

The Spanish Lady

The Spanish Lady Complete Sequence

Live USB FEED of UVB-76 (USB on 4.625MHz, 4.5kHz bandwidth)

UVB-76 (also known as UZB-76, and more recently MDZhB) is the call sign for a shortwave radio station that broadcasts on the frequency of 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). Around 25 times a minute, 24 hours a day, this Russian shortwave radio station, nicknamed The Buzzer, plays a short, monotonous buzz tone on the AM frequency at 4625 kHz. The station’s official callsign is “UVB-76?,, and the sound it transmits has been on an almost continuous loop since it was first herd around 1982.

The Buzzer transmits a buzzing sound that lasts for 1.2 seconds, then a  pause for 1–1.3 seconds,  and repeated 21 to 34 times per minute.  Up until November 2010, the buzzer  tones lasted for approximately 0.8 seconds each.  One minute before the hour, the repeated tone was previously replaced by a continuous, uninterrupted alternating tone, which continued for just one minute until the short repeating buzzer carried on,  this no longer happens .

Sometimes, distant conversations and background noises can be heard behind the buzzer, this may suggest that the buzz tones come from a device placed behind a live and constantly open microphone,  rather than a recording or automated sound being fed through playback equipment, or that a microphone may have been turned on by accident.  On November 3, 2001,  a conversation in Russian was heard, which translated to  “I am 143. Not receiving the generator (oscillator).” “That stuff comes from hardware room.”.

Voice messages from The Buzzer were quite rare until a sudden spate of activity in the second half of 2010.  On August 23rd 2010, for the first time in over four years, the tone was interrupted and was  replaced with a Russian voice that said:

UVB-76, UVB-76 – 93 882 naimina 74 14 35 74 – 9 3 8 8 2 nikolai, anna, ivan, michail, ivan, nikolai, anna, 7, 4, 1, 4, 3, 5, 7, 4 – (repeated twice)

Recording of August 23rd transmission

The names used in the message are used in some Russian spelling alphabets, and spell out the first word – “naimina”,  It has been suggested that they translate  to “russian names”, “Nikolai, Anna, Ivan, Mikail, Ivan, Nikolai, Anna” -  Another idea suggests that “74 14 35 74? could be interpreted as longitude and latitude coordinates: 74.14N 35.74E.

Why would The Buzzer be broadcasting a geographical location in the middle of the Barents sea?  Maybe it was to do with the launch of a Russian anti-aircraft missile which happened on the same day?

The Russian Air Force is together with Air Defence units preparing a shooting exercise with the S-300 anti-Aircraft missile system from the island of Kildin in the Barents Sea.

Recently more voice transmissions have come from the Buzzer, including the odd grumble, knocks, shuffles, beeps, and a even a completely new buzzing noise that nearly drowned out the original buzzer sound completely.

On the 11th at exactly 1400 UTC, a series of conversations were broadcast between different people on the UVB-76 frequency. It is not known where this transmission originated from, although the buzzer can still be heard faintly in the background. Either someone made a mistake, or it’s an unrelated or pirate transmission over the same frequency.

Recording of the 1th Novemver 2010 Transmission

Satellite image of the transmitter site

The transmission will start on one of the frequencies. Then ten seconds later, it’s repeated on the next higher frequency, and so on, this goes on for two minutes. The entire pattern takes exactly two minutes, and always begins seven seconds after the hour.

Each transmission starts with what sounds like a data burst tha will last for 0.8 seconds, then the voice of Yosemite Sam can be heard saying “Varmint, I’m a-gonna b-b-b-bloooow yah t’smithereens!” The clip is said to have come from the Looney Tunes cartoon “Bunker Hill Bunny” which was made in 1949.

The Yosemite Sam station disappeared on December 23, 2004, but then returned in February 2005, on its previous frequencies and additional new frequencies, including those of time signals stations WWVH and frequencies of 10 and 15 MHz (and perhaps others).

The purpose and origin of the Yosemite Sam number station remains unknown.

Various reports seem to suggest that the transmitter site is probably in the desert near Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The Albuquerque location is another relation to Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny often used the phrase “I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.”

Broadcasts are usualy at 1800 hrs and 1900 hrs on Monday and Tuesday, and 1900 hrs on Fridays.  As far as we are aware, there have not been any reports of broadcasts outside these times.

The Atención number station of Cuba became the world’s first number station to be officially and to be publicly accused of transmitting messages to spies and agents out in the field. It was the main centerpiece in a United States federal court espionage trial after the arrests of the of Cuban spies, known as The Wasp Network, in 1998. The United States. prosecutors claimed that the accused Cubans were writing down number codes which were received from the Atención broadcasts, and using normal hand-held shortwave radios, they typed the numbers into a laptop computer to decode special instructions. The FBI testified that they had entered a spy’s apartment in 1995, and copied the computer decryption program. They used it to decode spy messages, which the prosecutors reveled in court.

United States government evidence included the following examples of decoded Atención messages.

“prioritize and continue to strengthen friendship with Joe and Dennis”

“Under no circumstances should [agents] German nor Castor fly with BTTR or another organization on days 24, 25, 26, and 27.”

“Congratulate all the female comrades for International Day of the Woman.”

At the rate of one spoken number per character per second, each of these sentences takes a minute or more to transmit.

• E    indicates a station broadcasting in English.
• G    indicates a station broadcasting in German.
• S    indicates a station broadcasting in a Slavic language.
• V    indicates all other languages.
• M    is a station broadcasting in Morse Code.
• X    indicates all other transmissions which may not actually be numbers stations.
• T    indicates a station broadcasting in an unknown language.

For example, the well known number station, The Lincolnshire Poacher station has been designation E3 (or E03),  and the Cuban “Atención” station has been designation V2 (or V02). The most recent station to be given a designation is M94, which is believed to be sent from South Korea.

Some stations have also been stripped of their designation if they are discovered not to be a numbers station. This was the case for E22 which was discovered in 2005 to be test transmissions for All India Radio.

Message: Achtung!
06667 Trennung 81
16324 Trennung 26…

The first five digit numbers are the agent’s address number with the second number representing the group count of that message.

Achtung! 06667 Trennung 81 06667 Trennung 81
76582 76582 40822 40822 43198 43198….Ende
Achtung !
16324 Trennung 26 16324 Trennung 26
43272  43272 87654 87654 16523 16523…. Ende.

Transmissions ended with an 8 second dead air period followed by a set of clock chimes.  The transmitter used for these transmissions was switched off within one minute of the final clock chime sequence, and was usualy switched on at the very beginning of the broadcast, never before.

G3 Gongs recorded in 1989

Traffic was presented at 19 groups per minute in German by a quite harsh computer synthesized female voice. Pronunciation was of the usual East German standard.

eins   zvo   dri   fier   funnif  zechs   zeiben   acht   noi-in   noll

Traffic was broadcast at half hourly intervals in the evening around 1800hrs UTC, with the last transmission beginning at 2300hrs and were usualy operated on the Upper Side Band 3258kHz  5410kHz frequencies.

TANGO HOTEL FOXTROT

After about 45 years, the well known Israeli Mossad numbers station known as E10 have disappeared. The stations have been quiet since March 1st 2011.