Understanding UVB-76 - The world of Pirate Radio

 Understanding UVB-76

The world of Pirate Radio

Radios in the modern world

We all use radios in our day to day life, whether we know it or not... From our car radios, Wi-Fi, mobile phones and even our home thermostats. Radio is a much larger part of the world than many think! It makes life easier, simpler, why get up and press a button when we can do it all without any wires, with no effort. Just a tap of an icon and as if by magic, something happens across the room.

However, there are some people who do more than just use this technology...

Amateur Radio

Radio Amateurs (HAM Radio operators) are a group of hobbyists who spend time learning about and developing tools that let them manipulate radios to do all kinds of amazing things! Talking to people from around the world using many methods, from old technologies such as Morse Code, to increasingly common digital signals that make strange sounds, it's all just a few clicks and a little bit of reading away.

Radio amateurs are licensed to transmit within set frequency ranges, there are rules to follow to maintain order within the world of Radio Frequency (RF), these rules ensure that as amateurs cause as little interference with the technological world around us as possible. This keeps us happy, and our neighbours too.

Sadly, not everyone respects the rules...

Pirate Radio and UVB-76

Radio pirates are radio users who are unlicensed but decide to transmit anyway. They often transmit in parts of the radio spectrum where licensed amateurs are not allowed. These frequencies are typically used for Broadcast stations, military, aeronautical and marine activity. It's not uncommon to hear of these pirates causing interference to one of the many users of the spectrum, recently this has been done by a group of pirates who were interfering with the UVB-76 station, an alleged Russian Number station that has been operating since 1982.

UVB-76 is often dubbed as "The Buzzer" due to the sound it makes, a buzz every second or so, acting as a channel marker, ensuring that only the intended user can use it... Despite this, it doesn't stop pirates from having their fun.

Pirates started transmitting on the UVB-76 frequency, 4625KHz early in 2022 when tensions where rising between Russia and Ukraine. They transmitted anything from Voice to Pictures using special modulation methods such as Slow Scan Television and Spectrogram imagery, in which a signal is generated digitally from a picture and the results when shown on a spectrogram reveal an image in what otherwise sounds like nothing but noise.

More pictures of the activity are available on my Twitter

The software used to do this is typically open source allowing anyone with a computer and a radio transmitter to repeat the actions. However actions like this are illegal in most countries and will likely result in at a minimum, the equipment being confiscated by the relevant authorities if located.

Play radio legally and...

Get into Amateur Radio

• RSGB - Get started in amateur radio

• Join an online community - OARC.uk 

• Ask me questions on Twitter @RedFox0x20
  

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This is my first time writing something like this, if you have any feedback I would be happy to hear it! This is just a brief overview of the topic of pirate radio and some of the activity that occurs. I hope to write about more radio topics and my development within the field!

73 Stay Safe, Have fun and Good luck!

From RedFox0x20, Amateur Radio Callsign M7TWS.