Ukrainian, Russian radio enthusiasts battle over alleged Russian military frequency
The frequency of a suspected Russian military shortwave radio broadcast, known as the “buzzer” for its recognizable repeating channel marker, has become the battleground for rival Russian and Ukrainian radio enthusiasts, who have been attempting to hijack the frequency to play memes and propaganda.
The UBV-76 transmission, which can be listened to at 4625khz on shortwave radio, is suspected to be used by the Russian military for relaying coded messages to military forces. The signal has been transmitted since the late 1970s, during the height of the cold war.
With tensions between Russia and Ukraine mounting, enthusiasts noted that the encrypted radio messages were becoming much more frequent.
Since the end of November, listeners reported that encrypted radio messages had become a frequent occurrence. The cryptic messages can be picked up hundreds of miles away using strong antennae.
Following this flurry of military radio activity, enthusiasts decided to take to the airwaves themselves, flooding the frequency with memes, propaganda, and pirated music. Radio enthusiasts, including many users suspected to be based in Ukraine, are using internet-based radio transmitters to blast songs such as Korean viral-hit “Gangnam Style”, MGMT’s “Little Dark Age”, and other hits.
Columbiana students gain STEM skills with ham radio
COLUMBIANA, OH — While serving as a school resource officer Sergeant Wade Boley took an interest in students’ lessons involving the electromagnetic spectrum. Boley approached middle school science teacher Ashlee Sherwood and offered to help.
“I offered to do a lab for the teacher on the electromagnetic spectrum,” Boley explained. “The kids loved it.”
Boley introduced night vision, alternative light sources and other tools showing how the items use the electromagnetic spectrum.
In Fall of 2018 Boley started the Columbiana Clippers Amateur Radio Club known as K8LPS.
Now, every Tuesday students gather around a HF ham radio with 100 watts of power output donated by Graft Electric in the high school biology room.
Ham radio is still connecting people around the world today
From social distancing to zoom calls, we often ended up creating memories in ways we never expected. For some, the memories were created turning to a technology originally created in the 1800s, ham radio, and it’s still connecting people around the world today.
Some say the renaissance of ham radio can be attributed to the pandemic related lock downs and social distancing.