-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Voice of Russia to Go Dark After All
- Thread starter ARRL
- Start date
That's a shame. However, their transmissions ceased being very interesting to me after the Soviet Union went under.
I'll believe it when I don't hear.
Maybe, but they do actually seem to be out of the shortwave business as of yesterday.
Links:
http://www.eham.net/articles/32030
Shortwave Central: Last two broadcast days for Voice of Russia
The Russian shortwave service was around for a long time - I think since the start of the 1920s...
Radio Moscow was an interesting source of news and commentary back in the 1980s when I was a teenager. However, after 1992, it ceased to be interesting and the staff seemed to do all it could to sound like a shortwave version of CNN. So, I'll bet I haven't listened to them over a total of 20 minutes since that time. It appears that they've figured out no one else much listens, either...
I remember when I joined the US Army, and my MOS required a security clearance background check. The only thing they questioned me about was all of the letters to other countries I'd sent as a kid. I told them I was a short wave listener/Ham, and that was the end of that. Ended up talking to the security officer about Ham radio for an hour or so, then, as he was a Ham, too.
Links:
http://www.eham.net/articles/32030
Shortwave Central: Last two broadcast days for Voice of Russia
The Russian shortwave service was around for a long time - I think since the start of the 1920s...
Radio Moscow was an interesting source of news and commentary back in the 1980s when I was a teenager. However, after 1992, it ceased to be interesting and the staff seemed to do all it could to sound like a shortwave version of CNN. So, I'll bet I haven't listened to them over a total of 20 minutes since that time. It appears that they've figured out no one else much listens, either...
I remember when I joined the US Army, and my MOS required a security clearance background check. The only thing they questioned me about was all of the letters to other countries I'd sent as a kid. I told them I was a short wave listener/Ham, and that was the end of that. Ended up talking to the security officer about Ham radio for an hour or so, then, as he was a Ham, too.
So it seems that they did go dark after all. There were some contradictions about that possibility sometime last year.
I remember listening to Radio Moscow as far back as the 70's. They had the strongest signal on the bands. It was rumored that they used multi-megawatt transmitters but that was later disproved when it was found out that the Russian communications engineers had perfected the art of back-scatter. If you watched the signal meter just prior to a broadcast the carrier would waver up and down but each peak seemed to be a little higher than the last. This did not look like regular fading. Just before voice transmissions would commence the signal would peak extremely strong and then stay there for the broadcast duration. It was learned that the Russians were playing with beam steering and beam tilt. They could adjust the fixed antenna's actual beam heading and take off angle to maximize the signal into the target area. This was done by monitoring the signal reflected from the target area back to the transmitter via back-scatter.The stronger the signal into the target area the stronger the back-scatter signal and vice versa.
I remember listening to Radio Moscow as far back as the 70's. They had the strongest signal on the bands. It was rumored that they used multi-megawatt transmitters but that was later disproved when it was found out that the Russian communications engineers had perfected the art of back-scatter. If you watched the signal meter just prior to a broadcast the carrier would waver up and down but each peak seemed to be a little higher than the last. This did not look like regular fading. Just before voice transmissions would commence the signal would peak extremely strong and then stay there for the broadcast duration. It was learned that the Russians were playing with beam steering and beam tilt. They could adjust the fixed antenna's actual beam heading and take off angle to maximize the signal into the target area. This was done by monitoring the signal reflected from the target area back to the transmitter via back-scatter.The stronger the signal into the target area the stronger the back-scatter signal and vice versa.
Last edited:
The Soviets were definitely masters of shortwave technology. Their 7-10 Mc over the horizon radio system at Chernobyl put out a signal that could be heard over most of the earth 24 hours a day. Man, it took a really good noise blanker to do anything with that "woodpecker" signal.
It would almost be worth the trouble to drag a manpack out to Chernobyl and hook it up. I'll bet it would result in one heck of a pile-up!
Links:
Chernobyl 2 - Russian Woodpecker | Chernobyl Blog
http://www.zengardner.com/was-chernobyl-revenge-for-the-russian-woodpecker/
It would almost be worth the trouble to drag a manpack out to Chernobyl and hook it up. I'll bet it would result in one heck of a pile-up!
Links:
Chernobyl 2 - Russian Woodpecker | Chernobyl Blog
http://www.zengardner.com/was-chernobyl-revenge-for-the-russian-woodpecker/
What frequencies are the Russians? I have been on HF at night and picked up some really random radio broadcasts and it be obvious that it's from another country. I'm pretty sure I picked up Cuba one time.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You did see that this thread was about the Russians NOT broadcasting The Voice of Russia, formerly known as Radio Moscow, on shortwave anymore did you? The only Russians you will be hearing on the radio are hams. Pick a band and pick a frequency. 20m is your best bet.
Russian Hams often hang around 14.200 Mc give or take a few Kcs. I've heard a few on 10 meters over the years, but most of them hang out on the aforementioned section of 20 meters.
These folks usually have really good signals, so you should be successful at picking them up. They are on USB, btw, though I once talked to a fellow in Moscow on 14.285 AM. That was a LONG time ago, though.
Good luck and 73!
These folks usually have really good signals, so you should be successful at picking them up. They are on USB, btw, though I once talked to a fellow in Moscow on 14.285 AM. That was a LONG time ago, though.
Good luck and 73!
Russian hams are really no different than any other. They follow the bands as propagation allows. I have heard many on 20m, 10m and even 80m at night.
Speaking of working Russia on AM, back in my early days I lived in an apartment with access to the attic. I had a few wire antennas up there including a three element wire beam for 10m and a two element wire beam for 20m. I had a Heathkit DX-160 that would run 50 watts or better on CW and 12 watts of carrier on AM peaking to 50 watts with audio in what is called carrier controlled modulation. Back then I must confess I was an expert in zero beating a signal. I heard a Russian calling on 20m SSB and called him back with my smoking 12 watt carrier on AM mode. He came right back and had a little chat. He had no idea I was on AM until I told him. LOL I cannot remember the call sign but I do remember he was in Novosibirsk in south central Russia.
Speaking of working Russia on AM, back in my early days I lived in an apartment with access to the attic. I had a few wire antennas up there including a three element wire beam for 10m and a two element wire beam for 20m. I had a Heathkit DX-160 that would run 50 watts or better on CW and 12 watts of carrier on AM peaking to 50 watts with audio in what is called carrier controlled modulation. Back then I must confess I was an expert in zero beating a signal. I heard a Russian calling on 20m SSB and called him back with my smoking 12 watt carrier on AM mode. He came right back and had a little chat. He had no idea I was on AM until I told him. LOL I cannot remember the call sign but I do remember he was in Novosibirsk in south central Russia.