[vnathan]

UVB-76 (sometimes referred to as UZB-76, but recently MDZhB) is the call sign of a shortwave radio station that usually broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). It is known among radio listeners by the nickname The Buzzer. It features a short, monotonous About this sound buzz tone (help·info), repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per day. The station has been observed since around 1982. On rare occasions, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a voice transmission in Russian takes place. Despite much speculation, the actual purpose of this station remains unknown to the public.

The station transmits 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 no longer occurs.

The Buzzer has apparently been broadcasting since at least 1982 as a repeating two-second pip, changing to a buzzer in early 1990. It briefly changed to a higher tone of longer duration (approximately 20 tones per minute) on January 16, 2003, but it has since reverted to the previous tone pattern.

Voice messages & other sounds:

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." ("I am 143. Not receiving the generator (oscillator)." "That stuff comes from hardware room.")

At 2100 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."

At 1335 UTC on August 23, 2010: "UVB-76, UVB-76. 93 882 NAIMINA 74 14 35 74" (Recording of August 23rd transmission)

A spectrum for UVB-76 showing the suppressed lower sideband.

[Weatherly]

The cold war isn't over?

[RedneckR0nin]

It never began

[Weatherly]

Then what was going on in the 80's? I was too young then... I should google it, but I'll just trust ya.

[vnathan]

The Cold war (although not a real war) began with heightened tensions between Western an Soviet leaderships around the 1950s.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, you may think everything has settled down.....think again. With the coming of Vladimir Putin, certain aspects of the Cold War seem to have returned. A good example would be the long range patrol of Russian TU-95 (NATO reporting: "Bear") bombers over the Arctic and near Canadian and Alaskan airspace. These patrols were regular during the Cold war and stopped after the collapse of the USSR. But they have restarted since 2007.

F-15C intercepts and escorts a Russian TU-95 near the west coast of Alaska

[kellyhound]

Although there is much speculation about the transmitter site, the station's transmitter is believed to be located near Povarovo, Russia at 56°4′59.59″N 37°6′37.01″E / 56.0832194°N 37.1102806°E / 56.0832194; 37.1102806 which is about halfway between Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk and 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Moscow, near the village of Lozhki.

The location and callsign were unknown until the first voice broadcast of 1997.

The purpose of UVB-76 has not been confirmed by government or broadcast officials.

However the 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.

[abacus]

During June of summer last year I spent a good week or two listening to it, that repeating buzzer was pretty uninteresting but it stopped one day...my ears pricked up and I thought the stream went down or something. Then I heard voices, it was in Russian I assume, it was another broadcast. I began to freak out in my room . after a minute or 2 it stopped and I thought to myself "did I really just hear a broadcast on uvb-76? wow..." I heard another one a few days later. It was a strange experience and I don't know what to make of it. Both transmissions were noted on wikipedia by other listeners, but now that I check they appear to have been taken down and replaced with other ones from later on in August.

I wonder why it became so Active in Summer 2010 after being quiet for so many years?

[Smackeddie]

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that noise lol where can we find this station on the internet to listen to ?

[Smackeddie]

voices on the radio

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[Smackeddie]

here ya go people

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