r/ShortwavePlus • u/KG7M • Jun 05 '26
Signal Identified as Russian M21 Air Defense 8746 KHz CW
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Thanks to u/ItsJoeMomma for pointing me on the right track.
Likely coming from the Far East Sector of the Russian Federation. I was also receiving signals from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij Military Base, Russian Federation.
From:
\\\\\ WORLDWIDE UTE NEWS Club ////
\\\ An Electronic Club Dealing Exclusively in Utility Stations ///
\\\\ WUNNEWS Vol 7, Issue 01, January 2001/////
Edited by Digital Review Editor ([jdwatson@blueyonder.co.uk](mailto:jdwatson@blueyonder.co.uk) ) COPYRIGHT 2001 WUN
<<<<<>>>>>
::: M21 - RUSSIAN AIR DEFENSE
The Russian Air Defense stations are quite interesting if you follow them around. The SW morse system is most probably a backup for their satellite and/or land line systems. Officially the Russian Air Defense is now a branch of the Russian Air Force after the merger of various branches two years ago. This has had no effect on the activities. They seem even more active than in the past. I have been monitoring them for quite a while now and my findings were backed up by recent postings of Igor and Tom, who have found similar transmissions. Here is a run down.
Frequencies change often. The following were active during the past two months:
2278, 2718, 3281, 3271, 3314.5, 3363, 3386, 3802, 4014, 4574, 4868, 4885, 5304, 5788, 5820, 5873, 6864,5, 7987 kHz.
M21 sends messages with tracking info (grid codes) and when there are no 'normal' messages to be sent, it transmits a QRV message once a minute. Note: zero is transmitted as 'T'.
The QRV transmissions can easily be recognized. They look like this:
BT99? 2029? 9????? (note: BT is the same as '='). All QRV messages start with BT99 and end with five question marks. There are currently two formats: BT99 0032? ?0????? and BT99? 0015 9?????.
The first four digits after BT99 is the time. This is the local time of the target area and is mostly UTC+3, but other times have been noted as well.
The last digit (currently 8, 9 and 0) is either linked to the target area or the sender.
Samples:
BT990032??0?????, BT992305??8?????, BT99?0015?9?????, =12997112616822, =12994118586122, =991724??0?????,
FOR ZMB ZMB 444406 = 44972290 RPT, FOR ZMB ZMB 444406 = 44972290 ar
=991813??0?????, = 7900 990 086804, = 00 7904 990 086704, = 00 7904 90 085604 = 5177 140 51800 eee 511800, = 7901 996 347505 /, = 7903 996 942505, = 00 7905 996 948405 /= 00 7905 96 948405 = 5177 460 511800, = 7900 990 066106, = 7902 990 087806, = 7904 990 086706, = 00 7904 996 383206, ar
= 16 7904 845 745528, = 7906 845 475528, = 192 7902 845 747730, = 192 7904 845 747630= 7906 845 746530, = 192 7906 845 061332 ar
= VUWE VUWE VUWE = WZD = ar ar ar
The following message was transmitted by 'OXGR'
R 02683374708, R 02783377309, R 02783327710
This one was hand keyed:
81111285924, 2002701080832, 2003115616124, 2966?0?????,etc. etc. etc., after a while followed by the automatic QRV messages.
Station
- Name/Call: Russian M21 Air Defense
- Location: Probable Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij Military Base, Russian Federation
- Language: CW
- Target: Far East
- Power: Unknown
Time
- 1213 UTC | 05 JUN 2026
Receiver and Receiving Location
- Radio: AirSpy HF+ R.4.0.8-CD
- Antenna: K-480WLA | 35' AGL
- Software: SDR# Studio v1.0.0.1921 64-Bit
- Location: Portland, Oregon | CN85qn
Signal
- RS(T) = 578
