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The ghostly radio station that no one claims to run
BBC ^ | 2 Aug, 2017 | Zaria Gorvett

Posted on 08/03/2017 5:53:59 PM PDT by MtnClimber

“MDZhB” has been broadcasting since 1982. No one knows why.

In the middle of a Russian swampland, not far from the city of St Petersburg, is a rectangular iron gate. Beyond its rusted bars is a collection of radio towers, abandoned buildings and power lines bordered by a dry-stone wall. This sinister location is the focus of a mystery which stretches back to the height of the Cold War.

It is thought to be the headquarters of a radio station, “MDZhB”, that no-one has ever claimed to run. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the last three-and-a-half decades, it’s been broadcasting a dull, monotonous tone. Every few seconds it’s joined by a second sound, like some ghostly ship sounding its foghorn. Then the drone continues.

Once or twice a week, a man or woman will read out some words in Russian, such as “dinghy” or “farming specialist”. And that’s it. Anyone, anywhere in the world can listen in, simply by tuning a radio to the frequency 4625 kHz.

It’s so enigmatic, it’s as if it was designed with conspiracy theorists in mind. Today the station has an online following numbering in the tens of thousands, who know it affectionately as “the Buzzer”. It joins two similar mystery stations, “the Pip” and the “Squeaky Wheel”. As their fans readily admit themselves, they have absolutely no idea what they are listening to.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: russia
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1 posted on 08/03/2017 5:54:00 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

Sounds like old code book transmissions to soviet spies.


2 posted on 08/03/2017 5:54:44 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Boris has a long mustache.


3 posted on 08/03/2017 5:55:45 PM PDT by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: MtnClimber

Like a classic “numbers” station or something. The article opens with a scene that could have started an episode of The Avengers.


4 posted on 08/03/2017 5:57:26 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: MtnClimber

S32, The “Squeaky Wheel”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTOK-cZpsg


5 posted on 08/03/2017 5:59:22 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

Like numbers stations, many countries have them, like Cuba, for example.

They’re instructions for deep cover agents living their lives out abroad.


6 posted on 08/03/2017 6:00:36 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: MtnClimber

Still there.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901


7 posted on 08/03/2017 6:01:19 PM PDT by Drago
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To: HombreSecreto

UVB-76/MDZhB-voice message-September 16.2010 at 15.40 UTC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAbeGSa_Xh8


8 posted on 08/03/2017 6:01:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: gaijin

I love listening to different anomalies on webSDR when I get the chance.


9 posted on 08/03/2017 6:05:11 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: MtnClimber
I used to SWL but haven't in years. Is the "woodpecker" still out there?
Did anybody ever figure out what it was doing?
10 posted on 08/03/2017 6:05:35 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: MtnClimber

scintillating programming.


11 posted on 08/03/2017 6:06:07 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: MtnClimber

LOL, amazing, I just saw this same piece posted by my quite lib facebook friend. It is sort of creepy and weird.


12 posted on 08/03/2017 6:08:09 PM PDT by jocon307
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To: MtnClimber

13 posted on 08/03/2017 6:09:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: Fiddlstix

My opinion is that the woodpecker was experiments by russia into possibilities for over-the-horizon, wideband, HF wavelength pulsed radar or possibly doppler radar.


14 posted on 08/03/2017 6:10:45 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: Jim from C-Town

Try this. It’s a little like listening to classic Pink Floyd

The Backwards Music Station (Number Station)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgF9ZlI_R-8


15 posted on 08/03/2017 6:11:28 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

A marker beacon of some sort? Navigation aid?


16 posted on 08/03/2017 6:11:34 PM PDT by SkyDancer (You know they invented wheelbarrows to teach FAA inspectors to walk on their hind legs.)
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To: SkyDancer
A marker beacon of some sort? Navigation aid?

Could be. You would want more than one though. Like the old LORAN system.

17 posted on 08/03/2017 6:13:59 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

That is what most people thought it was too. However there were a few “conspiracy nuts” as always.


18 posted on 08/03/2017 6:14:20 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sounds like Brian Eno if you slow it down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoU8qVNE_zw


19 posted on 08/03/2017 6:16:01 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: HombreSecreto

"Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne
Blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone."

 
20 posted on 08/03/2017 6:25:04 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie
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