Since the renewed full invasion of Russia into Ukraine, the conflict has drawn much attention to the OSINT community. Besides this, it has also created a lot of interest in shortwave radio and VHF radio since people want to hear what both sides are saying over the air waves. Due to new necessities from the war, and the increased attention to radio monitoring, many new and odd shortwave signals have been discovered.
8992 kHz Data Mode Oddity
This one was first thought to be a French military data mode. TDoA suggests the location of the transmission is in Rufisque, Senegal. It’s possible this is a French signal, since the DIRISI (information service of the French military) operates a radio station network in Rufisque. It could also be the French air forces Circus Orange radio station network. Asking around the community, nobody is quite sure what this could be. Why is it on an HF-GCS frequency as well? You would think the USAF would have something to say about that.
UNID Burst Tone
This is a recording sample from when this signal first began.
UNID Signal Winding Up
Latest Recording Sample
This signal appears to be much different from what was originally spotted on 8992 kHz. This is what was determined to be located in Rufisque, Senegal with TDoA. It’s possible the recordings above are something entirely different and could have been from elsewhere, but they are likely from the same transmitter. They have not been heard since however.
The Chanting Loop
A continuous loop of what sounds like patriotic chanting of “Glory to Ukraine!” appeared on 5130 kHz for some time.
Russian Data Mode “Slot Machine”
A new Russian data mode that sounds and uses a mode similar to the Japanese Slot Machine (XSL) was observed. Analysis by diario SWL I-56578 Antonio and pir34 from UDXF has determined this is a continuous datalink modem transmission utilizing a 1200/800 baud rate. It’s similar to other data modes Russia is known to use. It was spotted on 5124 kHz.
Recording Sample (5124.5 kHz)
Recording Sample #2 (5124 kHz)
Radars
Several new radars were noticed, with many varieties. They likely emerged due to war necessities. This first sample was a radar heard on 5140 KHz.
Another new radar with a wider signal was heard on 5453 kHz on March 11th, 2022.
Sunflower Radar
It seems the Russian “Sunflower” radar also made a comeback.
Russian Wide Radar
This Russian radar was last spotted about a year ago. It seems to have made a comeback, maybe they needed it for the war.
Russian Data Packets
This signal that was seen sending supposed packets of data was observed on 6235 kHz
UNID Data / Radar
This signal was spotted on 5354 kHz. It seems to have another idle mode as well.
Idle Mode
Three Tone Beeping / Pip
This was possibly a temporary channel marker seen on 6556 kHz. Nothing was observed after it.
Sources
Thanks to our staff member Boeing 8-EC for providing many quality recordings
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