======================================================================= Tom Roach's Original Soviet Monitoring Guide ======================================================================= A decade ago, there was a CompuServe forum on how to hear Soviet military and commercial CW and RTTY. This remarkable document dates from this time, and may be of more than historical interest. -hugh ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday 10 August 1991 The following is a reupload of yesterday's mangled upload. Sorry for the inconvenience. This is an updated version of the file originally posted on Compuserve ages ago. Feel free to post it on any relevant bulletin board(s). It is copyrighted so please no commercial re-distribution! The re-posting results due to increased interest prompted by Compuserve magazine's article on this hobby. TBR Tom Roach A fascinating facet but not widely publicized portion of the SWL hobby is the monitoring of Soviet radioteletype (RTTY) and continuous wave (CW) i.e. Morse code, transmissions. Many fascinating insights can be gained from pursuing this relatively untraveled path of the SWL hobby. First you may get an insight into the Soviet Space program by monitoring the messages sent to and from the Soviet Academy of Science Event Support Ships (SESS). Sometimes the Soviets send messages in what at first appears to be "code". After some careful study the "code" soon reveals itself as azimuth and elevation angles for the tracking ship's antennas to use while tracking the MIR space craft. Other times you may see the cargo manifest of a Soviet freighter that may be carrying anything from pipes to weapons. You may find out more about the Soviet fishing industry then you ever cared to know! There is the adventure of at sea emergencies. Here are some messages, with translations, of signals I picked up quite recently: RTMS MALAYA ZEMLYA NVR MRKH 111 94 20/7 0000= 2 ADRESA NOVOROSSIYSK VODZDRAV GBZDRAV USOVSKOMU EZDRAV RAMZANOVU= PRODOLZHENIE NASHEY 135/07 2/ GARIFULIN EDUARD {DELETED FOR PRIVACY} 1945 G ELEKTRIK OBRATILSYA 070791 G ZHALOBY NA SLABOST' GOLOVNUYU BOL' VYSOKUYU TEMPERATURU 39.7 T4K ZEV 4ISTYY V LEGKIKH ZHESTKOE DYKHANIE KHRIPOV NET PERKUTORNO LEGO4NYY ZVUKH GOLOSOVOE DROZHZHANIE USILENNO T4K POLU4IL OKSATSILIN 1.0 =50SLOV= 2 RAZA SUTKI V/M GENTOMITSIN 0.08 2 RAZA SUTKI V/M RASTVOR ANAL'GINA 50 PROTSENTNYY 2 .0 V/5. 048 0926SHENII TEMPERATURY DO 39 GRADUSOV POLIVITAMINY T4K 120791 G GOSPITALIZIROVAN GOSPITAL' PORTA MONTEVIDEO DIAGNOZOM PRAVOSTORONNYAYA PNEVMONIYA RENTGENOLOGI4ESKI DIAGNOZ PODTVERZHDEN T4K FMED FEDOROV= 136/07 KMD PUKHAL'SKIY NNNN [from ship to two "zdrav"s. "zdrav" is a medical treatment point, probably like a naval hospital is this case. T4K=tochka] Two addresses Novorossiysk, Usovskiy Ramzanov Continuation of our [message] 135/07 7/7/91, Electrician Eduard XXXX ([born] 1945) complained of weakness, head pain, a high temperature of 39.7 [C]. His mouth was clean, in his lungs breathing was tough, no wheezing, [?] pulmonary sound, vocal trembling increased. He received Oxatcilin 1.0 =50 words= 2 times a day V/M Gentomicin 0.08 2 times a day v/m a 50% [analgesic?] solution. [Lowered? -looks garbled] his temperature to 39 degrees [with?] polyvitamins. 7/12/91 Hospitalized in the Montevideo port hospital with a diagnosis of right-side pneumonia. An x-ray diagnosis corroborated. FMED Fedorov ================================== BATM 6124 LNG/MRKH 4 102 2/7 0600= 2 ADRESA= LENINGRAD RYBRADIO PRPG SAMTSOVU KOPIYA PRFL KOVALENKO= DOKOVANIE BATM 6124 BYLO OPREDELENO ADMINISTRATSIEY ABSA 290791 TCHK ODNAKO NA SUDNE POSTAVLENNOM DOK DO 6124 OBNARUZHENY RAZRYVY OBSHIVKI PODVODNOR CHASTI KORPUSA ZPT SVYAZI ETIM POSTANOVKA 6124 DOK BUDET PROIZVEDENA TOL'KO POSLE 150891 TCHK NAMI NAPRAVLENO PIS'MO ADMINISTRA TSII ABSA PREDUPREZHDENIEM O TOM CHTO POTERI PRIBYLI ZA PROSTOY SUDNA 100891 BUDUT OTNESENY ZA SCHET ABSA TCHK SUDNO PO VSEM CHASTYAM ZA ISKLYUCHENIEM PODVODNOY CHASTI BUDET PRED'YAVLENO REGINTRU SSSR 150891 TCHK PROSHU VASHEGO RAZRESHENIYA NA ZADERZHKU VYLETA NA RODINU DO OKONCHANIYA PRED'YAVLENIYA REGISTRU PODVODNOY CHASTI INZHENERA REGISTRA OMILAEVA V V I MONTAZHNIKA KOZLOVA V V= 37/08 KM CHUMAK ================================== Docking of BATM 6124 was set for 7/29/91 by the administration of ABSA. However, tears were discovered in the plating of the underwater part of the on the supply ship. In connection with this, docking will be carried out only after 8/15/91. We were sent a letter from the ABSA administration warning about losses. The ships will be [?] on 8/10/91 owing to ABSA. All parts of the ship, with the exception of the underwater part, will be shown to the USSR Register on 8/15/91. We ask your permission to delay flying to the Motherland until the conclusion of showing the underwater part to the register. Register Engineer V.V. Omilayev and Fitter V.V. Kozlov. ----- RTMKS-0901 TLN/MRKH 12 24 2/8 0500= TALLINN NARVA MANTE 2 KV 20 FEDOROVOY= LYUBIMAYA POZVONYU 4 AVGUSTA 07 40 UTRA VYLETAYU MOSKVY 15 AVGUSTA 16 05 REYS 2117 TSELUYU=SLAVA Tallinn, Narva. Mante 2, Apt. 20. [to Ms.] Federova Beloved, I will call you Aug. 4 at 7:40 in the morning. I'll be flying into Moscow Aug. 15 at 16:05, Flight 2117. Love, Slava. ----- As you can see you can never be sure of what you will come across. The following is based on my personal exposure to this facet of the SWL world. I have tried to provide the names of vendors for specialized books or equipment as necessary. My opinions on equipment are just that. In the end whatever works for you is what's best. I only hope that you will share the fruits of your experience with others, on Compuserve or INTERNET. Please read the following in the spirit it is given: a desire to share what knowledge I have picked up since concentrating on this part of the SWL hobby. I expect some of what I am about to say is in error. I welcome any corrections or comments. Soviet CW In theory this will be the least expensive of two paths of the hobby since the receiver requirements are less critical, and therefore less costly. To really keep expenses low you need only to be able to copy Morse code. Technology opens the door for those with the budget who can not copy Morse code. Even if you can copy Morse, you better be able to copy at least 20 WPM and that is at the slow end of the spectrum for most Soviet CW transmissions. Also the Soviets use special Morse characters for some characters peculiar to the Cyrillic alphabet. When you are ripping along at 20 WPM a "new" or unfamiliar character can throw you for a loop. For example "di di dah dah" is the Morse symbol for the Russian "YA". Not especially difficult but it will take you a while to add new characters to those you already know and still copy at 20 WPM. A complete table of Morse code characters for Russian, Japanese, Arabic and other languages can be found on page 19-3 of the big yellow 1988 ARRL Handbook (appx $20). This book, and I presume the more recent editions also has a lot of other useful technical information and should be in every serious SWL'rs library. As already noted, the receiver requirements for CW are less stringent than for RTTY. Among relatively low cost alternatives, I find the Sony ICF-2010, an already excellent ISWBC receiver, generally quite adequate for CW. I recently made a side by side comparison of my NRD- 525 and the Sony. I connected them both to the same 100 foot longwire and tuned to a weak CW signal. Using this highly scientific comparison I found that the weak signal was completly audible on both receivers. In a crowded environment the Sony's lower quality "narrow" filter will not perform in the same league as a NRD-525 equipped with a 500 Hz filter. When I first tried to compare the NRD and the Sony on the same signal (see comments on "COL" in Havana, Cuba which is discussed later), I wrote the Sony off as a total loss. I couldn't hear the signal at all on the Sony while it was loud and clear on the NRD. Then it dawned on me. I tuned the Sony 800 Hz BELOW the actual RF (in this case the NRD was on 15024 kHz and the Sony was retuned to 15023.2 kHz) and my initial disgust turned to satisfaction. Don't forget to subtract the 800 Hz when tuning based on "exact" frequencies listed by the Confidential Frequency List (CFL) {also to be discussed further below} or similar publications. No matter the speed of the CW, I have found a technique that helps me copy CW too fast for me to copy "live". I record the receiver output onto an open reel tape recorder at 7.5 ips and play it back at 3.75 ips. If you have a cassette recorder you could then use it to record the slowed down output, then re-record the cassette back onto the open reel at 7.5 ips and then play the open reel back at 3.75 ips. Now we have our 20 WPM down to 5 wpm! Make sure the pitch of the initial recording is high. For those that have the money you could buy an M6000 or M7000 and read the CW on a VDT or computer monitor. My attempts at doing this indicate that the signal better be near perfect quality if you expect good results. The best automatic CW demodulator is a poor second to a practised human. Assuming you are able to copy Soviet CW, what can you expect to find in this traffic? Soviet CW often sends messages that appear identical to those you will see if you copy Soviet RTTY. That means lots of telegrams to lonely sailors aboard the Soviet fish factories or trawlers. Look for CELEUM at the end of this personal messages. This roughly translates to "love and kisses". If you have a "code 3" Morse decoder this will come out as TSELEUM (more on code 2 and code 3 later). There is also CW aeradio traffic between "COL" in Havana, Cuba (15024 kHz) and RFNV in Moscow. Even on the West coast I have no trouble picking up these station day or night. It is almost 11 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) local and I am listening to "COL" as I write this. I assume that this link serves much the same purpose as that provided by the ICAO HF aeradio USB voice links most UTE listeners are familiar with. The "COL" traffic contains the destination, speed, and times of arrival of Soviet Aeroflot flights. This channel also sends CW messages to planes in flight. It may even be used by Soviet Bear A/C flying reconnaisance off the East coast of the USA while enroute to Cuba. It features bizarre "Q" signals, which can be found in Klingenfuss's RTTY book (available for appx $30 from Universal Shortwave). The CW speeds used by "COL" are probably closer to 13 WPM, which makes it easier for those who know some Morse. The Soviets also use CW to transmit weather and naval area closures. I found one message notifying of a closure in the East China Sea. A search of the Compuserve "GO NEWSGRID" feature using the keyword MILITARY revealed the Chinese were holding a simulated nuclear attack war game in this area. I have only been copying Soviet CW for a couple of weeks, so have just scratched the surface of what is there. >From personal experience I can recommend the Gilfer's (201-391-7887) Confidential Frequency List (7th edition) as a source of exact frequencies to tune to for either CW or RTTY. In many cases the CFL will tell you the exact UTC time at which Naval weather or Naval warnings will be broadcast. In all instances where I have attempted to verify these listings, they appeared correct as the signals appeared right on time. To pursue RTTY you will need a good short wave receiver, an RTTY "decoder" device, and a computer or video monitor. This could cost you quite a few dollars. First, the receiver. The requirement for RTTY is that your receiver is "stable" and selective. The stability is required because if your receiver drifts, then the signal you send to the decoder device will eventually be unusable. The Soviets seem to use very stable transmitters so any drift you deal with is likely to be due to your receiver. The selectivity requirement is to keep other nearby signals from interfering with you. I find the "narrow" 500 Hz bandwidth filter works perfectly with "standard" 170 Hz frequency shift signals which still comprise the major proportion of Soviet RTTY signals you will most likely receive. For RTTY your receiver should be tuneable in frequency increments of 100 Hz or better. It also would be nice if the receiver was actually tuned to exactly the frequency it indicates. An error whether from drift, mistuning, or poor calibration of as little as 40 Hz can result in a garbled signal. Receivers of adequate technical means to monitor RTTY include (but are not limited to) the Kenwood R-5000, JRC NRD-525, and the ICOM R-71A. Top notch receivers will cost somewhere between $800 to $1300 including taxes and desirable modifications. It is also assumed that you have a reasonably good antenna and not overly noisy (RFI) location. By reasonably good, a "longwire" at least 25 feet or more in length is desirable. The next component in the system is the RTTY decoder. For once, one of the "best" is not the most expensive! See the excellent article by Jack Albert in the August 1991 Monitoring Times magazine which compares the performance of the M-7000, M-1000, PK-232 and KAM decoders. These devices can be purchased from Universal Radio (800- 431-3939). Their mailing address is: Universal Shortwave 1280 Aida Drve Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068 If you phone, ask for Fred Osterman. I like to be able to store intercepted data in a computer file for subsequent analysis, not just read it off a monitor or print it out. The M-1000 is excellent for IBM compatible PC's as is the M-7000 when properly connected (watch the special wiring on the RS-232 cable!). I started out with the PK-232 and eventually purchased an M7000. I use this setup with Procomm Plus software (I set it for 1200,N,8,2,COM1) and start reading files with an "ALT 030" command (use the numeric keypad). I also suggest that you use the ALT F3 command to ensure that the data doesn't write on top of itself if the line feed command is missed or garbled. You don't need a computer to just read messages. You can buy the M-7000 with a composite monitor. I prefer the M-7000 for its Cyrillic output onto a "standard" monitor. It also has an excellent autotune button, but there certainly is a difference in price! The Soviets use one of the least complex RTTY transmission schemes to transmit the majority of their RTTY. Most of the signals you will want to copy use a 170 Hz, 66 wpm (50 baud), frequency shift to transmit data. I also often pick up Soviet ships in ARQ or SITORA. For the optimal subsequent analysis of your data you are best served if you have a microcomputer. It needs word processing software capable of handling an ASCII file. On my IBM compatible I use PC-LITE (Quicksoft/206-282-0452) since it handles both English and Cyrillic with equal aplomb. I wrote a program in Quickbasic (V4.5) to convert the M-7000 generated files into both ASCII transliterated English and in the native Cyrillic for use with PC-LITE. MONITORING AND ANALYZING SOVIET DATA First you have to find a Russian signal to monitor. I live on the West coast of the United States so I find it particularly easy to monitor transmissions from Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk. Both of these Russian cities are renowned military and civilian maritime hotbeds. Another Russian city close to Vladivostok which also generates maritime traffic of interest is Nakhodka. It is very helpful to have some good reference material. A good place to look for frequencies to monitor is the CFL or Confidential Frequency List (7th edition) available from Gilfer for about $17. For RTTY look in the CFL for anything that says 170/50 in the modulation type column. In general look for a call sign starting with a "U" or and "R". If you don't have this book get yourself started try searching in any of the following bands: {Note: Unfortunately the CFL does not list the new ranges below which 6300.5 to 6311.5 kHz 8396.5 to 8414.5 kHz 12560.0 to 12576.5 kHz 16785 to 16804.0 kHz For my location (San Jose, CA) I find the 12 and 16 Mhz segments the best during early to mid-evening. Set your decoder for 170 Hz, 50 baud. {Note: What I find to be reverse my friend demodulates as "normal". This is a function of your receiver, not the signal). Select whichever (normal or reverse) works, as once you have found which it is ALMOST all signals on your receiver will use that "polarity". Tune in 500 Hz increments between the signal RF limits listed above. I have discovered four other frequencies (they are all coastal stations) that are generally strong and almost certain to be active nightly on the West coast. The East coast is also a good place to pick up the TASS news service in an RTTY broadcast in English. For those in the midwest, well in theory you live in the best of both worlds. For some real left wing slant on the news monitor Havana's Prensa Latina on 8140 kHz at 0900Z till about 0950Z. {This station varies slightly in RF and often seems garbled}. Typical Soviet traffic can be heard from Soviet station UKA in Vladivostok. It often consists of the Soviet equivalent of MARSGRAMS. That is to say relatively brief messages from the families and loved ones of Russian men and women working at sea, often on a huge fishing vessel. If you know just a few words of Russian you can tell these messages from the rest. As I noted in my comments on Soviet CW, look for the Russian word TSELEUM. With the knowledge of just a few such words you can usually get the drift of most messages. I have included some of the most commonly used terms at the end of this article. The PK-232, and probably other RTTY or CW decoders feature a mode which outputs text in what is known as "transliterated Cyrillic" or "code 3". This means you get Russian words that read most like English. For example code 2 "Wladiwostok" is the more familiar "Vladivostok" in code 3. The manual that comes with the PK-232 deals with the differences between "code 2" and "code 3" Cyrillic, in greater depth and should be read. If you are used to manually copying Soviet CW, then you have been using "code 2". Another type of message which abounds is official messages that list the types and amounts of cargo. One I message I saw kept using the word TONNE preceded by some numbers and followed by TRESKA. A Russian dictionary reveals their cargo as cod fish. Another category of message that you will be almost certain to see are the KRIPTOGRAMMA series of messages. These are encrypted messages of a secret or private nature. Here is an example of the call up and the subsequent KRIPTOGRAMMA: UPTZH UPTZH DE UKA K "UPTZH" (code 3) equates to a call sign in English (code 2) of "UPTV" which the ITU listing reveals as belonging to the Severo'uralsk. She is being called by "UKA", a Vladivostok coastal station that sends traffic to Soviet fishing vessels. This might be followed by: I SR VLADIVOSTOK 7093/1895 245 9/6 1400= {This header reveals the message as coming from Vladivostok. It is numbered "7093/1895" has 245 groups and was transmitted on "9/6" or the 9th of June at 1400 (Moscow Time). SRO:NAYA KRIPTOGRAMMA 3 PUNKTA PB SUZDAL' PB SEVEROURALSK PB SUKHONA OT MALAKHITA 108 = The above is the address list and goes to three Soviet fishing vessels: Suzdal', Severouralsk, and Sukhona. I don't know what the "OT MALAKHITA 108= " means, except that OT is "from" and MALAKHITA is probably a meaningless name like Sky King in our SAC messages. Then the message which might start something like this: DDDDD AAAAA AAAYAYA YAKKKR RREEE EEESHCHSHCH SHCHSHSHSHTS TSTSDDJ IUTKP LJNKHG FNFASH SHCHSHSHKHY OEKEYU GNNKYA PEVSH4 YUINJK ILIKHY YAKNPT ZHSGMTS BTSRTOIFG4Z etc., which is encrypted. I have noted at least three distinct types of KRIPTOGRAMMA messages. The "NA PERFOLENTE" header always appears to be followed a five letter group (if you are in code 2 mode). My reading of Kahn's The Codebreakers makes me think this may be a rotor setting of the sort used by the Nazi Enigma or Japanese Purple code machines. These are variants of the old Hagelin type machines. Aegean Park Press (Box 2837, Laguna Hills, California 92654) sells software for the IBM PC which can be used to break simple rotor machines. In any event who knows what luck you might have trying to decrypt them. Good luck trying to decipher Soviet Kriptogrammas! What do you do with the messages you intercept? I study them, and find I slowly understand more and more of what they have to say. You might soon become an expert in knowing how many fish the Soviet fishing fleet catches. You can look in your Polmar's Guide to the Soviet Navy (Naval Institute Press) and search for ships associated with Soviet space launch activity. On line information is available through the USNI Military Database (1745 S. Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA 22202). The names of Soviet ships associated with the Soviet Academy of Sciences are preceeded by "NIS" in the address portion of the message. If you own an IBM compatible, among the software tools you get with either the Microsoft or IBM operating system is a jewel called "FIND". It will search a huge text file in a jiffy and reveal to you every line where a given word was used. My personal favorite is a text search file program called "TS" for text search which comes as part of the Norton Utilities software. One Pacific fleet ship that I was told is almost certain to become active when the Soviets engage in a shuttle launch is a ship called the NEDELIN. Just tell the FIND or TS utility to look for any occurrence of "NEDELIN" in the data files you have collected. Let's assume you found it almost daily in your files of last summer's intercepts and then it wasn't heard from again after September. If TASS says there is going to be a shuttle launch sometime in months ahead and after months of no mention of its name you get gobs of "MARSGRAMS" to members of her crew, you may suspect she has just embarked for participation in the planned launch. You also might keep a data base of information related to a specific ship. Who are the crew members who send messages? What is the ship Captain's name (usually prefaced by "KMD")? Is there a sudden increase in KRIPTOGRAMMA messages? As you examine the traffic day after day you will come up with ideas of your own. There are numerous books available that you might find valuable if you are seriously considering monitoring the Soviets or any other military communications system. Among them are: "The American Black Chamber" by Herbert Yardley, and "The Codebreakers" by Herman Kahn. If you are going to seriously monitor Soviet maritime and Naval activity, then either purchase Jane's Warsaw Pact Merchant Ships (paperback $17) or go to a good local public library and see if they have a copy of the larger hardbound edition. Another extremely useful tool is the I.T.U. list of coastal stations and call signs. That can be gotten from the ITU in Switzerland for about $100. Jason Berri (21240 South Western Avenue, #18, Torrance, CA 90501) has managed to come up with an excellent subset of the most commonly observed Soviet ships and their callsigns. These are available, with instructions on how to read Soviet traffic. A real bargain, it sells for about $6. Perhaps the best buy of all is the Janes paperback (about $17) titled Warsaw Pact Merchant Ships Recognition Handbook. There you will find a lot of details about the ships whose names you will find in the traffic. Post questions to Compuserve or INTERNET. You may be surprised at the some of the "off line" responses you get. As promised here are some commonly found Russian words in transliterated Cyrillic: AKVATORIYA = AREA OF WATER (ON GLOBE) ANALIZ = ANALYSIS APPARATURNOGO BOKSA = "BLACK BOX" AS IN ELECTRONICS AVIAPOCHTA = AIR MAIL BEZOPASTNOSTI = SECURITY BEZZAKKUMULTYATORNOM = BATTERYLESS BOLEE = MORE BRUTTO = GROSS BUDET = WILL BE BUDO = I WILL BE BYSTREE = FASTER CHASTU = OFTEN CHEREZ = THROUGH CHTO = WHAT DAJ OTVET = GIVE ME AN ANSWER DAVNO = FOR A LONG TIME DBTCHK = COLON (PUNCTUATION) DEN'GI = MONEY DESYAT' = TENTH DESYATOGO = TENTH DAY DEVYAT' = NINE DEVYATOGO = NINTH DAY DEYSTVIYA = ACTIVITY DIZTOPLIVO = DIESEL FUEL DNEM = DURING THE DAY DO = UNTIL; TO ; UP TO DOBROGO = GOOD DAY? DOLGOTA = LONGITUDE DOLZHNY = DEBT DOMA = AT HOME DOMOJ = HOMEWARD DOSKI = BOARDS, BLACKBOARDS, PLAQUES DVA = TWO EKHOLOT = SONIC DEPTH FINDER EKIPAZH = CREW (AS IN SHIP'S CREW) ESHCH = STILL, YET ESLI = WHEN FORELX = TROUT FOTOPROFILIROVANIYA = "OCEAN BOTTOM PICTURE" GLAVBUKHU = (INDICATES FORWARD TO "CHIEF" OF SHIP) GLUBOKY = DEEP GODA = REFERS TO YEAR (IN DATES RUSSIANS ALWAYS PUT DAY FIRST) GORAZDO = MUCH GRADUSNIK = THERMOMETER GRADUSOV = DEGREES GROZA = STORM GRUZ = CARGO, FREIGHT I = AND IDEM = WE GO IZ = FROM KAK = HOW (KAK VASHE IMYA? = WHAT IS YOUR NAME?) KAMBALA = FLOUNDER KARP = CARP KETA = SIBERIAN SALMON KHLOPOK = COTTON KHOROSHO = WELL (AS IN "MENYA VSE KHOROSHO" - I AM WELL) KIPAKH = BALES KITAJ = CHINA KOGDA = WHEN KRAB = CRAB KREPKO = RARELY KREPKOGO = WARM, STRONG KTO = WHO KUDA = WHERE (DIRECTION) KVARTAL = QUARTER (AS IN 2ND QTR FISCAL YEAR) LESHCH = BREAM LICHNO = PERSONALLY MAKREL = MACKEREL MALO = LITTLE MASLO = OIL, GREASE MATROS = SAILOR MAZUT = FUEL OIL MEST = PIECES MINOGA = LAMPREY MOJ = MY MOLCHISH' = SILENT MOREPLAVANIYA = NAVIGATION MOZHNO = CAN, IS PERMITTED NA = UPON NACHALOM = BEGINNING NAILUCHSHEGO = THE VERY BEST NAM = US (TO US) NAPOLNYAT' = FILL(ED) UP NASTROJKA = TUNING NAVERNO = PROBABLY NEOTLOVNO = URGENT NET = NO NOSIT' = CARRY O = ABOUT OBESPECHENIYU = PROVIDE OBLADAYA = WE HAVE OBYCHNO = USUALLY OCHEN' SKUCHAYU = STURGEON OSVOIT' = OPEN UP, DEVELOP (AS IN TERRITORY) OT = FROM OTDEL = DEPARTMENT OTDYKHAEM = TO TAKE A BREAK OTETS = FATHER OTGULY = COMPENSATORY LEAVE OTLICHNO = EXCELLENT OTMENYAETSYA = CANCELLATION (USED IN NAVAREA MESSAGES) OTPRAVILA = SENT OTPUSK = LEAVE, HOLIDAY, FURLOUGH OTRYADA = TEAM OTTSET = ACCOUNT PALTUS = HALIBUT PALUBA = DECK PB = PLAVBAZA PERENOSITSYA = SWITCH, TRANSFER PEREVOD = TRIP PIS'MO = LETTER PISHI = WRITE POCHEMU = WHY POCHTA = POST OFFICE PODKHOD = APPROACH, ENTRANCE (AS IN HARBOR ENTRANCE) PODROBNO = IN DETAIL POISK = SEARCH POKA = IN THE MEANTIME POLAGAEM = WE SUPPOSE (BELIEVE) POLUCHIL = RECEIVED PONEDEL'NIK = MONDAY PONYALA = UNDERSTAND POSESHCHAT' = VISIT POSLE = AFTER POZDNEE = LATE POZDRAVYLAEM = CONGRATULATIONS PRAZDNIKOM = ON THE HOLIDAY PRIKHOD = ARRIVAL PRILETAEM = ARRIVE (AS IN AIR PASSENGERS WILL ARRIVE) PRISTUPILI = STARTED, BEGIN PRIVET = HELLO, GREETINGS (USED WITH CLOSE ACQUAINTANCES ABOUT SAME AGE) PROS'BA = REQUEST (FAVOR) PROSHU = I ASK (AS IN ASK PERMISSION) PYAT' = FIVE RADOST' = HAPPINESS RAJON = REGION, AREA RAKI = CRAYFISH RANEE = EARLY RASHKHOD = EXPENDITURE REMONT = REPAIR ROZHDENIYA = BIRTHDAY RUDA = ORE RUKOVODSTVA = "FROM THE TOP" {AS IN UPPER MANAGEMENT} RYB = "RYB" AS A PREFIX - REFERS TO FISH OR FISHING SAMOGO = YOUR OWN SCHET = ACCOUNT, CALCULATION (OFTEN FOLLOWED BY ACCT #) SDAN = TURN-OVER; DELIVERY SELD = HERRING SEREDINE = THE MIDDLE AS IN V SEREDINE OKEANA (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN) SEVERNAYA = NORTH SHEST{} = SIX {SHESTOGO = SIXTH DAY) SHIROTA = LATITUDE SHUKA = PIKE SIL'NO = STRONGLY, FIRMLY SKOL'KO = HOW MANY, HOW MUCH SKORO = SOON SKOROST' = SPEED SKUCHAYU = I MISS YOU, I'M BORED (USUALLY TO WIFE OR GIRLFRIEND) SLEDUEM = BOUND FOR SOGLASIYA = PERMISSION SOGLASNO = IN ACCORDANCE WITH SOKRATIT' = REDUCE, DECREASE SOM = SHEATFISH (LARGE CATFISH) SOOBSHCHU = ADVISE SOSKUCHILAS' = BORED SPASIBO = THANKS SPRAVKI = CONFIRM RECEIPT (USED AT END OF TRANSMISSION "PSE SPRAVKI") SPRUT = OCTOPUS SROCHNO = URGENT SROK = DATE, PERIOD STREL'BA = FIRING (AS IN ARTILLERY FIRING) SUDAK = PIKE PERCH SVYAZ' = CONNECTION SYEMGA = SALMON TAK = SO, THUS TCHK = PERIOD TCHK = PERIOD TEBYA = YOU (SINGULAR) TOL'KO = ONLY TOL'KO BEREG = EYES ONLY TOM = VOLUME TRESKA = COD TRI = THREE TSELEU IN A PROBLEM POPPED UP) VSE = ALL VSEGDA = ALWAYS VSEGO = ALWAYS VSTRECHAJ = MEET ME! VTOROJ = SECOND VYGRUZIT' = UNLOAD VYKHOD = GOING OUT, COMING OUT VYLETA' = FLYING OUT OF VYPOLNENIE = CARRIED OUT; COMPLETED VYSHLI = DEPARTED YUZHNAYA = SOUTH {PROBABLY} ZA = AT ZAKAZ = ORDER ZAKHOD = PORT CALL ZAPADNAYA = WEST (PROBABLY) ZAPISKA = NOTE, MESSAGE, DIRECTIVE ZAPUSK = FIRING (AS IN "ZAPUSK RAKET" ROCKET FIRING ZATRUDNENIE = DIFFICULTY, PREDICAMENT ZDRAVSTVUJ = HELLO ZHDAT = WAIT ZHDU = I WAIT ZHELAEM = WISH ZPT = COMMA Here are some "code 3" to "code 2" conversions: CODE 3 CODE 2 ====== ====== TS C ZH V KH H SHCH Q V W ' X [ YA ] YU Thus code 2 "UISHCHZH" is actually "UIQV" in the ITU call sign list. You will also see many cases where the Soviets seem to send numbers as characters which work out as follows: QWERTYUIOP 1234567890 also "X" is equivalent to a slash / and often I see a V for an "=". See the ARRL Handbook for the Morse code Soviet characters. In summary you will find out a lot more about the Soviets than you might ever have believed possible by monitoring the shortwave bands. Tom Roach