HF Monitoring in Ukraine?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Al Hearn, who writes:

Given the emerging situation in the Ukraine, I would appreciate any tips and suggestions that you might offer directly or on your blog as to what we might find interesting in terms of SWL — related broadcast stations, pirate stations, unencrypted government stations, ham nets, or numbers stations that might be monitored for increased activity. KiwiSDR could be an important tool in such monitoring.

Thank you for any information you can provide.

Al Hearn
WA4GKQ

You are not alone in asking this, Al. Indeed, I’ve gotten a numerous inquiries as of late and as tensions continue to rise along the border.

There are numerous KiwiSDRs in the region and throughout Europe that should be positioned well for monitoring pirates, hams, etc. (see map at top of post).

A reminder that the RTL-SDR blog did share a note of caution recently for SDR users in the Ukraine.

Of course, the limiting factor to me is that I don’t speak the language, so I would appreciate any comments from and SWLing Post community members in the region. Have you noticed any new HF activity? What stations are you turning to for information?

Please comment.

I do hope for a peaceful outcome to all of this.

Spread the radio love

14 thoughts on “HF Monitoring in Ukraine?

  1. Mike N7MSD

    “A reminder that the RTL-SDR blog did share a note of caution recently for SDR users in the Ukraine.”

    If you read the story there, the warning is about what will probably happen if the Russians are successful based on what they already did against some in Crimea & Donbass; one guy is in a “Moscow prison” on a multi-year term for nothing more than listening with his SDR.

    There is no danger from the Ukrainian govt; in fact, they might even encourage it. Only a guess on my part, though.

    Reply
  2. Chris

    WRMI was recently broadcasting Radio Ukraine International. When I last checked, I think they have removed it from their daily transmissions. I wonder how we could ask if they could bring that back? I always enjoyed the Ukrainian authors they presented and read.

    Reply
      1. Richard Langley

        Just listened to the web stream and at the end of the English segment, they still request reports about their “transmission” and submitting reception reports for QSL cards! So, old audio? And the familiar IS is played between language segments. Perhaps ShortwaveService could pick them up. RUI might be more appreciative of that than Radio Bulgaria International (recently added to the ShortwaveService line-up).

        Reply
        1. K.U.

          A record from https://addx.de/Hfpdat/plaene.php:
          0900 1000 UKR R. Ukraine Int. 6005/D
          The programme is in German.

          There are also a number of records for R. Ukraine Int. in English, but none of them are in shortwave. I assume, reception reports are relevant for the listed satellite transmissions.

          Reply
  3. Tha Dood

    Actually, there’s a Ukrainian Youtube VID of a rare Pioneer SK-650 boombox, where a dude is tuning it on the FM broadcast band there. (It’s in better looking condition than mine.) What was heard at the time was mostly classical music stations and news. A neat VID for me, since I still have that rare boombox, and it gave a listen to what’s on FM there.

    Reply
    1. Michael Ramsey

      Thanks for sharing that, Walt. I smiled a bit because I am from Ohio and there is an insistence on emphasizing THE Ohio State University, as though there were more than one that could cause confusion.

      Reply
    2. Parry

      Thanks Walt for that little bit of info I never knew. I shall now try my best to remember when speaking about Ukraine it should never be expressed as “the Ukraine” but only as “Ukraine”. I shall also try to pass on this feeling to others.
      If (Hope) I understood you correctly ?
      And Thanks from saving me from future embarrassment ?

      Reply
  4. Andrew (grayhat)

    Here we go, this is a list of Ukrainian web-published SDRs, didn’t check them all, but the ones I checked seem to be active

    https://rx-tx.info/table-sdr-points?country=46

    notice that, aside HF bands, you may also want to “sniff” the VHF/UHF frequencies (which is only possible using those remote receivers) since that’s where “mil” and other traffic will be, sure, that traffic may/will be encrypted or scrambled but then…

    Reply
    1. Andrew (grayhat)

      Also, there are other radio signals which may be interesting, for example the ones automatically transmitted by aircrafts, for example the following are active at the moment

      * Boeing RC-135V “rivet joint”
      https://www.flightradar24.com/JAKE12/2ad3a4cd

      * Sikorsky UH-60M Blackhawk
      https://www.flightradar24.com/DUKE53/2ad42163

      now, the RC-135 is a “surveillance aircraft” carrying a bunch of sensors (including EW radars), while the UH-60M are attack and transport helicopters

      Reply

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