It doesn't run for free. It has power lines that someone pays the bills for the power usage. No doubt Russia has an FCC equivalent that all radio broadcasters must be licensed with. If it isn't officially licensed, then the government is allowing it, meaning the government is ultimately running it.
by Anonymous Coward writes:
on Friday August 11, 2017 @03:59PM (#54993363)
The most obvious explanation is it is part of a military strategy to facilitate an insurgency should Russia be invaded.
Basilcy the station broadcasts nonsense on regular intervals so that at any time in the future it can be used by remnants of the Russian military to broadcast coded information without giving away the fact that they started communicating. It also broadcasts a solid tone and heartbeat so they can reduce the likelihood of somone else using the channel and so they can tell if the station is destroyed or deactivated without waiting for the next broadcast. It is also possible but IMO less likely that it is in active use for espionage.
It probably isn't a nuclear deadman switch as those would have been shut down as part of post soviet disarmament. It might have been a decoy deadman switch that no one has the guts to turn off because they can't find the documentation saying where the missiles it controls are and are (because they don't exist) but no one is entirely certain the documents weren't just lost.
It also probably isn't just a random troll as it's continued operation implies that someone with some kind of pull set it up not just a random citizen (they had to make arrangements with the power company at the very least, and likely ongoing matinance given it's age)
"The Buzzer" is a common nickname for a Russian Western Military District commandment network, which operates on the frequency 4625 kHz around the clock. The name comes from its signature channel marker used to keep the frequency clear - 1.25s buzzing tone, followed by a 1.85s pause.
The Soviet (and later Russian) nuclear dead-man mechanism is reasonably well know to the public by now (well such things are hard to verify of course). It includes a lot of sensors designed to detect nuclear detonations on Russian ground, specialized hardened communications lines and hardened bunker(s) that is always active. If sensors detect detonations _and_ the normal chain of command can't be reached the personnel at the bunker(s) is given authority to decide if a nuclear attack have occurred and if ret
"The hands that help are better far than the lips that pray."
-- Robert G. Ingersoll
Follow the money (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't run for free. It has power lines that someone pays the bills for the power usage. No doubt Russia has an FCC equivalent that all radio broadcasters must be licensed with. If it isn't officially licensed, then the government is allowing it, meaning the government is ultimately running it.
Re:Follow the money (Score:5, Informative)
The most obvious explanation is it is part of a military strategy to facilitate an insurgency should Russia be invaded.
Basilcy the station broadcasts nonsense on regular intervals so that at any time in the future it can be used by remnants of the Russian military to broadcast coded information without giving away the fact that they started communicating. It also broadcasts a solid tone and heartbeat so they can reduce the likelihood of somone else using the channel and so they can tell if the station is destroyed or deactivated without waiting for the next broadcast. It is also possible but IMO less likely that it is in active use for espionage.
It probably isn't a nuclear deadman switch as those would have been shut down as part of post soviet disarmament. It might have been a decoy deadman switch that no one has the guts to turn off because they can't find the documentation saying where the missiles it controls are and are (because they don't exist) but no one is entirely certain the documents weren't just lost.
It also probably isn't just a random troll as it's continued operation implies that someone with some kind of pull set it up not just a random citizen (they had to make arrangements with the power company at the very least, and likely ongoing matinance given it's age)
Re: (Score:0)
thanks officer
Re: (Score:0)
"The Buzzer" is a common nickname for a Russian Western Military District commandment network, which operates on the frequency 4625 kHz around the clock. The name comes from its signature channel marker used to keep the frequency clear - 1.25s buzzing tone, followed by a 1.85s pause.
Link [priyom.org]
Re: (Score:0)
It probably isn't a nuclear deadman switch as those would have been shut down as part of post soviet disarmament.
Except they destroyed *some* missiles. They still have an arsenal of a similar size to the US.
Re: (Score:2)
The Soviet (and later Russian) nuclear dead-man mechanism is reasonably well know to the public by now (well such things are hard to verify of course). It includes a lot of sensors designed to detect nuclear detonations on Russian ground, specialized hardened communications lines and hardened bunker(s) that is always active. If sensors detect detonations _and_ the normal chain of command can't be reached the personnel at the bunker(s) is given authority to decide if a nuclear attack have occurred and if ret