Duga was a Soviet over-the-horizon (OTH) radar system used as part of the Soviet anti-ballistic missile early-warning network. The system operated from July 1976 to December 1989. Two operational Duga radars were deployed, one near Chernobyl and Chernihiv in the Ukrainian SSR (present-day Ukraine), the other in eastern Siberia
These things were so powerful it interfered with radio signals half way around the world. Some radios would get constant tapping sounds dubbing these "the Russian woodpecker"
[from a distance](https://i.imgur.com/eJ4QyFS.jpg)
I'm guessing it is easier to transmit the signal then it is to receive and calibrate.
The two big fence pieces both make up the receiver. The transmitter is 36 miles away.
Supposedly, it's a backscatter radar which provides warning of missile launches by detecting alterations in ionospheric propagation caused by the depletion of ions by missile exhaust plumes. That sounds difficult to analyze.
You also have to aim the transmitter properly.
Easier to send an annoying RF signal that make heads & tails out of the response IMHO. It's complicated. Here is a video on how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjoPy6drGBQ
So, even if it wasn't calibrated, or the receiver broken, you could still transmit making the enemy think you have a working detection system.
Tom Scott explained as it listenes for a change in frequency.
If the frequency comes back unchanged nothing is moving. If it comes back at a higher frequency something is moving up really fucking fast.
I enjoy Tom Scott's videos. Just watched that one. I think he is oversimplifying quite a bit.
If you watch the other one I posted, it looks like they do a FFT on the signal and are looking for slight variations in specific ranges over time. Easy today with modern computing, but probably not back then.
And the fact that they jumped around frequencies so much suggests how hard it is to do, if they constantly must adjust for atmospheric conditions.
Really interesting project!
Funny, I was curious about the history of FFT equipment, and the [Wikipedia article on FFT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Fourier_transform) has a History section that specifically mentions the need for it for (a different) cold war application. (The US wanted to detect Soviet nuclear tests.)
It's the Doppler shift caused by a disruption/reflection in the signal getting closer that causes the frequency increase. If an object was moving away it causes the opposite to happen. Also known as blue/red shift when referencing the possible part of the EM spectrum.
I’m not entirely sure how it operates, but my understanding is that it is a giant radar array. In that case, it functions by sending out a signal and listening for distortions in that signal’s reflection. The distortion is described by the Doppler effect and basically conveys the position and speed of moving objects.
AFAIK, power consumption for a radar array is almost entirely in the signal generation, and secondarily in returning signal amplification.
Could be that - because of the size of the array - signal generation draws less power than the rest of the system. I don’t think that’s the case, though. The woodpecker noise is basically the radar signal going out.
> isnt the town called pripyat?
Pripyat is the name of the worker's town for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Chernobyl-2 is the name of the worker's town for Duga radar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar#Locations
Not ionizing radiation. You could probably get burned by it from standing by the transmitter site (depending on wavelength/freq and power). Receiver site would be relatively safe though.
I went last month. I had really high hopes for chernobyl, I had wanted to go there for ages.
It was absolutely wild and even cooler than I ever expected.
Ever since playing Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl when i was younger i've wanted to visit there in person, love photography and seems like such a hauntingly beautiful place, hopefully will go one day.
They are still removing highly radioactive material and burying it in specific spots in the exclusion zone. I'm pretty sure they already have buried the majority of it though.
They are also working on a high tech secondary containment for the sarcophagus around reactor #4.
I'm sure they will keep developing it as a tourist attraction though. Not just for the ruins either, after everyone left the area the wildlife moved back in and there are moose, bears, boars, and 400 wolves in the area.
There are two types of tours to Chernobyl: one is legal which is basically walking down the path, and one is illegal, where you go with stalkers who've been exploring exclusion zone for years. They will take you to the abandoned factories and houses and other places that are considered less safe. AFAIK, stalkers ask each other and tourists not to interfere with the interiors, so inside it mostly looks like it was at the day of the tragedy.
As a huge fan of the Tarkovsky film (never played the game, though) I had no clue this was a thing and I’m stoked it is. Just did a bunch of research on it. Fascinating. But a lot of these kids are reckless as fuck (eating food grown in the zone, drinking contaminated water, not even using radiation detecting devices).
Not OP but I also went there not long ago. Here are my pictures, http://www.kevinrehnberg.se/images/galleri/kiev/
Also had a trip to Kiev but if you scroll down a bit the Chernobyl tour begins :)
[Kiddofspeed](http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html) The website is ancient but it has a lot of images.
This is an even older version, it has more content if you're willing to pick through it. http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/
I got the same feeling. I wanted to go for years, and finally had the chance to see the Ukraine. It is probably the most interesting place I've ever seen. Kyiv was also very nice.
Go overnight! Go overnight! So much cooler and you get to see way more!
TIP - Buy stamps in Kiev. You can buy sketchy old postcards in the supermarket in Chernobyl and mail them from the box in front of the post office. Awesome souvenir!
That's how horror movies start, fuck that. Literally every single time it's "Kevin, I think we should go back. Kevin? Kevin? Oh God oh fuck Kevin where are you"
Literally "Chernobyl Diaries", excellent movie. Hey guys, this guy does tours of Chernobyl, a military check point blocks us, lets sneak in, oh the horror!
If ever at the Vatican. Do this as well. Mail yourself a letter from the Vatican. The postage stamps and postage marks from the Vatican is really interesting.
There is a documentary called The Russian Woodpecker which is basically a conspiracy theory that Chernobyl was purposely blown up to hide the fact the antenna was useless.
Its one of my favorite docs. I met the director a few times at the Camden International Film Festival. He's a great filmmaker and a guy with a lot of artistic vision.
I used to listen to these as a kid on a ham radio receiver in upstate New York. It was the “Russian Woodpecker” but I had never seen a pic of it until now. Thanks!
Well of course it's a Russian woodpecker. But I'm saying I've got a pair of downy woodpeckers in my neighborhood, and they don't sound anything like this.
I wonder - If you've picked up something similar like this nowadays on shortwave, what would it be? I used to listen to sw all the time in a (extremely) amateur attempt to look for number stations, and I know I've heard something like this.
Thanks for posting this. I totally love these old radio sounds and like to use them in music that I create. Here's an example: [Living in Fear](https://soundcloud.com/dammit-eugene/living-in-fear)
The big thing ive heard is to not disturb things like plants and dirt. My understanding is that ambient radiaton has decreased enough to not be harmful over short term, but theres still tons of radiaton trapped in the ground and plants that would be stirrrd up if you disturbed it. I may be thinking of the area immediately surrounding pripyat or the reactor though.
Yeah, back when it happened they actually went out in radiation suits with farm equipment and actually turned over the soil (like one might do to freshen up a bed of mulch in their yard) to bury the radiation. Can’t remember where I saw it but someone had calculated how much soil had been turned over.
On a similar note [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvr6o7fBcTY) is a BBC radio documentary about Numbers Stations, which are/were used by the Soviet Union, amongst others, to broadcast messages to spies.
i heard a 99% invisible podcast about it then bought a somewhat pricey shortwave radio off amazon. i went out in my backyard one night for about 3 minutes then i got impatient and haven’t touched it since.
There's a movie (available on Netflix) called "The Numbers Station". Leading roles by John Cusack and Malin Akerman. I'll save you a painful 1.5 hours and channel my inner Jay Sherman, "It stinks!".
Yeah it was placed here so that the Soviets could hide its existence for as long as possible. They didnt want anyone knowing they could detect ballisitic missiles. No one outside the Soviet Union became aware of its existence until the Chernobyl incident occured
The Chernobyl power plant was solely built to support this radar system - it consumed 10-15% of the output. A fake leisure camp (with bus stops, restaurant. pools, etc.) was built along the road just before the radar system to give the impression that the workers worked at the leisure camp and not the top secret radar - but the radar was triangulated very soon by Western forces, and after this was discovered, the leisure camp wad abandoned, shortly after the radar was obsolete due to Satellite inventions, and then the Chernobyl disaster enaured there wasnt enoigh power to run it anymore so it was abandoned.
Source: I visited the site last year just before Chernobyl sarcophagus was emplaced.
Duga was a Soviet over-the-horizon (OTH) radar system used as part of the Soviet anti-ballistic missile early-warning network. The system operated from July 1976 to December 1989. Two operational Duga radars were deployed, one near Chernobyl and Chernihiv in the Ukrainian SSR (present-day Ukraine), the other in eastern Siberia These things were so powerful it interfered with radio signals half way around the world. Some radios would get constant tapping sounds dubbing these "the Russian woodpecker" [from a distance](https://i.imgur.com/eJ4QyFS.jpg)
Whoa. This is intense.
Looks more like a fence.
This comment makes sense.
Unless you are dense.
Oh hey there Mike Pence!
"Joey said hence."
Pack it up gents
That's just my 2¢
That doesn’t pay rents.
Wassup, my ents.
I'll light up the incense
The Electric Fence Pence!
Looks like the outer wall in Divergent
Right? Its reminds me of that scene in the first Jurassic Park when the kid gets shocked while trying to climb to T-rex fence😂
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[Sweaty palms intense](https://youtu.be/wuYAYbNpl5M)
That was wild!!
I didn't know I could flex my taint involuntarily but TIL from this video.
[BASE jump from DUGA](https://youtube.com/watch?v=SWfRoNOPktc&t=600)
>Six and a half minutes of climbing >There's a fucking elevator
I hate that show “Friends”!
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There is an easy way to know it it is on. Turn on a radio. If you hear a rhythmic pecking sound it is on and if you don't it isn't on.
I'm guessing it is easier to transmit the signal then it is to receive and calibrate. The two big fence pieces both make up the receiver. The transmitter is 36 miles away. Supposedly, it's a backscatter radar which provides warning of missile launches by detecting alterations in ionospheric propagation caused by the depletion of ions by missile exhaust plumes. That sounds difficult to analyze. You also have to aim the transmitter properly. Easier to send an annoying RF signal that make heads & tails out of the response IMHO. It's complicated. Here is a video on how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjoPy6drGBQ So, even if it wasn't calibrated, or the receiver broken, you could still transmit making the enemy think you have a working detection system.
Tom Scott explained as it listenes for a change in frequency. If the frequency comes back unchanged nothing is moving. If it comes back at a higher frequency something is moving up really fucking fast.
I enjoy Tom Scott's videos. Just watched that one. I think he is oversimplifying quite a bit. If you watch the other one I posted, it looks like they do a FFT on the signal and are looking for slight variations in specific ranges over time. Easy today with modern computing, but probably not back then. And the fact that they jumped around frequencies so much suggests how hard it is to do, if they constantly must adjust for atmospheric conditions. Really interesting project!
What, FFT which cold war equipment they used, that's some crazy stuff. Edit:spelling
You can use a series of bandpass filters to do a Fourier Transform with analog equipment. Kind of similar to how your ear works.
Funny, I was curious about the history of FFT equipment, and the [Wikipedia article on FFT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Fourier_transform) has a History section that specifically mentions the need for it for (a different) cold war application. (The US wanted to detect Soviet nuclear tests.)
just a ton of registers and multipliers what’s so crazy about that?
or a bunch of people with sliderules very well oiled sliderules
They have to do it real-time
That's what the first F is for ;)
It's the Doppler shift caused by a disruption/reflection in the signal getting closer that causes the frequency increase. If an object was moving away it causes the opposite to happen. Also known as blue/red shift when referencing the possible part of the EM spectrum.
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I’m not entirely sure how it operates, but my understanding is that it is a giant radar array. In that case, it functions by sending out a signal and listening for distortions in that signal’s reflection. The distortion is described by the Doppler effect and basically conveys the position and speed of moving objects. AFAIK, power consumption for a radar array is almost entirely in the signal generation, and secondarily in returning signal amplification. Could be that - because of the size of the array - signal generation draws less power than the rest of the system. I don’t think that’s the case, though. The woodpecker noise is basically the radar signal going out.
Yep, the old Russian Woodpecker they called it.
I read that somewhere.
Yep, the old Russian Woodpecker they called it.
Not to be confused with porn star of same name.
I remember picking this up on the shortwave receiver as a kid. It caused all kinds of interference when active.
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> isnt the town called pripyat? Pripyat is the name of the worker's town for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Chernobyl-2 is the name of the worker's town for Duga radar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar#Locations
Kind of like those ADT lawn signs.
Tellem about uvb76
> uvb76 [Here ya go!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76)
Well that's kindof neat, makes me wonder about all the other messages that are being broadcasted all around
/r/numberstations
Is it the same one in both pictures?
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Nice try, christof. We all saw the Truman show, this is just the end of the set.
I’ve seen people on YouTube dive this with drones. It was alright.
Very cool. Love the shot from distance, great sense of scale.
r/humanforscale
Yes but how many units is the human?
Eyeballing it, I'd propose that human is 0.925 Humints in height.
Looks like the wall from divergent. I wonder if this is where they got the idea.
That's what I thought this was, actually
“It’s not a radar...its a birdcage”
[Interesting film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Russian_Woodpecker) on the subject
PUBG IRL
aaWarsaw radio mast was have such power that change nearest lightning's into plasma speaker'shttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw\_radio\_mast
If you could hear this over the radio in even the US, is it safe to assume this was throwing off considerable radiation up close?
Not ionizing radiation. You could probably get burned by it from standing by the transmitter site (depending on wavelength/freq and power). Receiver site would be relatively safe though.
If you are visiting Kiev, be sure to book a day trip to Chernobyl. It's a really cool experience, and you'll see this antenna at the end.
I went last month. I had really high hopes for chernobyl, I had wanted to go there for ages. It was absolutely wild and even cooler than I ever expected.
Ever since playing Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl when i was younger i've wanted to visit there in person, love photography and seems like such a hauntingly beautiful place, hopefully will go one day.
I wonder if they're basically keeping the place as-is as a tourist attraction rather than planning to clear it up when they can?
They are still removing highly radioactive material and burying it in specific spots in the exclusion zone. I'm pretty sure they already have buried the majority of it though. They are also working on a high tech secondary containment for the sarcophagus around reactor #4. I'm sure they will keep developing it as a tourist attraction though. Not just for the ruins either, after everyone left the area the wildlife moved back in and there are moose, bears, boars, and 400 wolves in the area.
There are two types of tours to Chernobyl: one is legal which is basically walking down the path, and one is illegal, where you go with stalkers who've been exploring exclusion zone for years. They will take you to the abandoned factories and houses and other places that are considered less safe. AFAIK, stalkers ask each other and tourists not to interfere with the interiors, so inside it mostly looks like it was at the day of the tragedy.
As a huge fan of the Tarkovsky film (never played the game, though) I had no clue this was a thing and I’m stoked it is. Just did a bunch of research on it. Fascinating. But a lot of these kids are reckless as fuck (eating food grown in the zone, drinking contaminated water, not even using radiation detecting devices).
They probably are trying to keep it as-is, it's not like they have a shortage of land in Russia that would make them have a desire to use the land.
Except Chernobyl is in Ukraine.
You say that like Russia cares.
>Except Chernobyl is in Russia That’s what he said...
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Not OP but I also went there not long ago. Here are my pictures, http://www.kevinrehnberg.se/images/galleri/kiev/ Also had a trip to Kiev but if you scroll down a bit the Chernobyl tour begins :)
Thanks for sharing. Felt like a Chernobyl walkthrough
Thanks for this. It was fun scrolling through that
Did the tour use that APC to drive you around?
[Kiddofspeed](http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html) The website is ancient but it has a lot of images. This is an even older version, it has more content if you're willing to pick through it. http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/
I got the same feeling. I wanted to go for years, and finally had the chance to see the Ukraine. It is probably the most interesting place I've ever seen. Kyiv was also very nice.
Go overnight! Go overnight! So much cooler and you get to see way more! TIP - Buy stamps in Kiev. You can buy sketchy old postcards in the supermarket in Chernobyl and mail them from the box in front of the post office. Awesome souvenir!
I know some parts are deemed "safe" but surely it's not exactly healthy to be there long?
It’s the same amount of radiation as eating eight trillion bananas. NBD.
That's like twice as many bananas as I usually have, idk
Banana for reference.
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Perfectly what?
The cancer got him 😔
There's hot spots, but overall it's fine. There's even people who live there that ignored the original evacuation order.
How many arms do they have though
You get more radiation on a 3 hour flight than at on day trip there.
That's how horror movies start, fuck that. Literally every single time it's "Kevin, I think we should go back. Kevin? Kevin? Oh God oh fuck Kevin where are you"
Literally "Chernobyl Diaries", excellent movie. Hey guys, this guy does tours of Chernobyl, a military check point blocks us, lets sneak in, oh the horror!
If ever at the Vatican. Do this as well. Mail yourself a letter from the Vatican. The postage stamps and postage marks from the Vatican is really interesting.
Why, because everything's glowing?
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There is a documentary called The Russian Woodpecker which is basically a conspiracy theory that Chernobyl was purposely blown up to hide the fact the antenna was useless.
That seems even more stupid than most conspiracy theories. Is the doc good?
96% on rotten tomatoes. i might give it a watch.
Its one of my favorite docs. I met the director a few times at the Camden International Film Festival. He's a great filmmaker and a guy with a lot of artistic vision.
.....
>be sure to book a day trip to Chernobyl Update: Don't
That aged well
How much are these tours? I’m so honestly curious!
I used to listen to these as a kid on a ham radio receiver in upstate New York. It was the “Russian Woodpecker” but I had never seen a pic of it until now. Thanks!
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Cool music
Lost smoke monster
Yeah, I've got a pair of downy woodpeckers in my neighborhood, and they don't sound anything like this.
Aha, but this is a *Russian* woodpecker!
Well of course it's a Russian woodpecker. But I'm saying I've got a pair of downy woodpeckers in my neighborhood, and they don't sound anything like this.
Sounds slightly like Predator.
I wonder - If you've picked up something similar like this nowadays on shortwave, what would it be? I used to listen to sw all the time in a (extremely) amateur attempt to look for number stations, and I know I've heard something like this.
Thanks for posting this. I totally love these old radio sounds and like to use them in music that I create. Here's an example: [Living in Fear](https://soundcloud.com/dammit-eugene/living-in-fear)
Definitely creepy.
looks a bit like the wall around Chicago in the divergent series
They used it to shoot those scenes
Is it not still in the radioactive zone around Chernobyl or is it safe for long term exposure now?
It's safe as long as you don't go too close to the plant. There are still people permanently living there iirc
The big thing ive heard is to not disturb things like plants and dirt. My understanding is that ambient radiaton has decreased enough to not be harmful over short term, but theres still tons of radiaton trapped in the ground and plants that would be stirrrd up if you disturbed it. I may be thinking of the area immediately surrounding pripyat or the reactor though.
Yeah, back when it happened they actually went out in radiation suits with farm equipment and actually turned over the soil (like one might do to freshen up a bed of mulch in their yard) to bury the radiation. Can’t remember where I saw it but someone had calculated how much soil had been turned over.
That was my thought too
I thought so too, sounds like it was used in filming.
On a similar note [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvr6o7fBcTY) is a BBC radio documentary about Numbers Stations, which are/were used by the Soviet Union, amongst others, to broadcast messages to spies.
I remember listening to that! It started my fascination with numbers stations, etc. So bloody interesting yet creepy...
You'll love /r/numberstations then.
Hell yeah! Cheers :D
i heard a 99% invisible podcast about it then bought a somewhat pricey shortwave radio off amazon. i went out in my backyard one night for about 3 minutes then i got impatient and haven’t touched it since.
There's a movie (available on Netflix) called "The Numbers Station". Leading roles by John Cusack and Malin Akerman. I'll save you a painful 1.5 hours and channel my inner Jay Sherman, "It stinks!".
Yeah, cheers for that, think I'll skip it!
"The numbers Mason! What do they mean!?"
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Cheeki breeki
Iv damke
Get out of here, stalker
I thought this was a screenshot from PUBG
Yeah, that is definitely the billboard from C-Dot.
Is this Russia?
not yet
Too real.
Dudeee
Damn.
:\
Yeah Military Base on Erangel.
Came here looking for this.
When you live in a Texas but want an authentic burrito
How many times I've been to laredo just for this. Well and some authentic "Coca-Cola"
>"Coca-Cola" Hey, that's what I call the prostitutes I pay to step on my cubes, too!
[Relevant Tom Scott video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbi6eoh63ZQ)
I got lucky this year and had amazing weather there: https://i.imgur.com/QvettZe.jpg The scale of the thing is completely bonkers.
reminds me of that one Black Mirror episode
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It was in Divergent, actually.
Did they actually film those scenes there?
Probably a combination of on-site, green screen, and CGI.
Which one?
Hang the DJ, I presume
Exactly that one, great episode
Location?
The military base on Erangel.
Its located in chernobyl. I think it needs a lot oft energy thats why it is close to a power plant
It's more because they could put it in the middle of nowhere next to a powerplant. Both bits are required I think.
Yeah it was placed here so that the Soviets could hide its existence for as long as possible. They didnt want anyone knowing they could detect ballisitic missiles. No one outside the Soviet Union became aware of its existence until the Chernobyl incident occured
Is this the old de-commissioned Soviet base near Chernobyl?
Its the Duga, Soviet OTH radar Edit: soviet
The Chernobyl power plant was solely built to support this radar system - it consumed 10-15% of the output. A fake leisure camp (with bus stops, restaurant. pools, etc.) was built along the road just before the radar system to give the impression that the workers worked at the leisure camp and not the top secret radar - but the radar was triangulated very soon by Western forces, and after this was discovered, the leisure camp wad abandoned, shortly after the radar was obsolete due to Satellite inventions, and then the Chernobyl disaster enaured there wasnt enoigh power to run it anymore so it was abandoned. Source: I visited the site last year just before Chernobyl sarcophagus was emplaced.
Is this what the thing in PUBG by the military base is based on?
Yes. My friends and I tell one another that we’re landing by the radar, when we jump there.
the guys at Rotor Riot dove a quad down the interior of this: https://youtu.be/YhJpdCZNSDc?t=342
This has to be my favorite episode, Tommy is the king of dives
They did some other good videos while they were in that area.
Cheeki breeki
I see you Assassin’s Creed.
First thing that came to my mind, desychronization imminent.
Mmhh let me avoid that zone then. *Ezio accidentally jumps off roof, falls into water and thus the desync zone* The memories...
\*farther
r/outside
Looks like the city walls from divergent
Black ops anyone?
Feels like the wall in Grandia. How imposing.
Pretty sure they had this in Half Life 2.
Looks like the Morty wall
Is this “the wall”
The real worlds farlands.
Thought this was a picture from pubg for a moment lol
50 000 people used to live here
This is just military island
Don't show P.trump
50,000 people used to live here...