Channel Markers & Cluster Beacons

Updated 3 Sept 2006 Who has not heard them? During at least 35 years many of you have reported the various channel markers and cluster beacons from the former Soviet Union and later from the separate countries. I have read many speculations about these "mysterious" single-letter-beacons. What are they? Who is using them? Believe it or not but I even read an article that stated that the beacons were intended as homing beacons for extra terrestrials. Yes, really!!! Others state that they are being used by vessels on Russia's rivers. I'm not sure what they meant by that. One of the best was the one about the "buzzer". The author says that the buzzer is in fact the safety transmitter of the Tsjernobil nuclear power plant. When the buzzer stops, you really should panic because that would mean that a melt down is about to happen. Well, the power plant was switched of many years ago and the buzzer is still there. :-) I am not sure if all frequencies are still being used. Except for the historic beacons all the stations were heard during the past two years on the listed frequencies, some of them only a couple of times. Stations like "P" and "V" are using a whole bunch of frequencies but only few of them are regularly used. Cluster beacon slots: .7 "D", Sevastopol .8 "P", Kaliningrad .9 "S", Severomorsk .0 "C", Moscow .1 "A", Astrakhan? .2 "F", Vladivostok .3 "K", Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy .4 "M", Magadan Example of a cluster: "D" - 8494.7 "P" - 8494.8 "S" - 8494.9 "C" - 8495.0 "A" - 8495.1 "F" - 8495.2 "K" - 8495.3 "M" - 8495.4 I have updated the frequency list of current and historical MX, S28, S30 and S32 stations. Additions are most welcome. CLUSTER BEACONS Frequency Callsign Location Ctry Remarks --------- --------- ---------------------------- ---- ----------------------- 3593.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 3593.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3593.9 S Severomorsk RUS 3594 C Moscow RUS 3594.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 3594.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 3594.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 3594.4 M Magadan RUS 3594.8 M Magadan (March-July 2004) RUS 4557.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 4557.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4557.9 S Severomorsk RUS 4558 C Moscow RUS 4558.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 4558.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 4558.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 4558.4 M Magadan RUS 5153.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 5153.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 5153.9 S Severomorsk RUS 5154 C Moscow RUS 5154.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 5154.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 5154.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 5154.4 M Magadan RUS 5154.8 M Magadan (March-July 2004) RUS 7000 D Sevastopol (spurious) UKR Black Sea Fleet 7000 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS (spurious freq) 7038.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 7038.8 M Magadan (March-July 2004) RUS 7038.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 7038.9 S Severomorsk RUS 7039 C Moscow RUS 7039.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 7039.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 7039.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 7039.4 M Magadan RUS 7077.4 D Sevastopol (spurious) UKR Black Sea Fleet 7078 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS (spurious freq) 7078.4 F Vladivostok (spurious freq) RUS Pacific Fleet 8494.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 8494.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 8494.9 S Severomorsk RUS 8495 C Moscow RUS 8495.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 8495.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 8495.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 8495.4 M Magadan RUS 10307 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 10743.9 S Severomorsk (off freq) RUS 10871.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 10871.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 10871.9 S Severomorsk RUS 10872 C Moscow RUS 10872.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 10872.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 10872.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 10872.4 M Magadan RUS 13527.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 13527.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 13527.9 S Severomorsk RUS 13528 C Moscow RUS 13528.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 13528.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 13528.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 13528.4 M Magadan RUS 16331.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 16331.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 16331.9 S Severomorsk RUS 16332 C Moscow RUS 16332.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 16332.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 16332.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 16332.4 M Magadan RUS 17015.9 S Severomorsk RUS 17016 C Moscow RUS 17017.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 20047.5 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 20047.7 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 20047.9 S Severomorsk RUS 20048 C Moscow RUS 20048.1 A Astrakhan (tentative) 20048.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 20048.3 K Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy RUS 20048.4 M Magadan RUS <<<<<<<<<<-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0->>>>>>>>>> CHANNEL MARKERS Note: these stations are not always on the air. Frequencies may change from time to time. Frequency Callsign Location Ctry Remarks --------- --------- ---------------------------- ---- ----------------------- 2742.2 F Gdynia ??? 2813 N Unid 2842.8 F Gdynia ??? 3043 OB unid location RUS 3070.5 unid location; not Prague 3167 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3175 V Khiva UZB 3192 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3195 R Izhevsk RUS 3202.8 L Tirana ALB 3203.6 L Tirana ALB 3204.2 L Tirana ALB 3208 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3262 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3264 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3291 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3317 V Khiva UZB 3322 R Izhevsk RUS 3335.7 L Tirana ALB 3335.7 LT Tirana (defective "L") ALB 3336.2 L Tirana ALB 3339.6 L Tirana ALB 3345 L Tirana ALB 3415 A unid location 3415 OB unid location RUS 3508 T Dash. Unid location 3534 V Khiva UZB 3593.8 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3649 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3658 V Khiva UZB 3685.9 R Izhevsk RUS 3699.5 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3756 'Pip', Rostov Volgograd RUS 3772 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 3798.5 F Gdynia ??? 3807 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4031 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4043 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4049 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4051 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4069.6 L Tirana ALB 4091.5 L Tirana ALB 4210 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4301 S Severomorsk RUS 4315 F Gdynia ??? 4325.9 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4325.9 R Izhevsk RUS 4424.5 L Tirana ALB 4446 V Khiva UZB 4469.1 L Tirana ALB 4469.6 L Tirana ALB 4476 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4498.5 V Khiva UZB 4555.8 F Gdynia ??? POL operates only during daytime. Irregular 4558 R Izhevsk RUS 4575 V Khiva UZB 4605 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4625 'Buzzer', Moscow area RUS 4646 V Khiva UZB 4828 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4828 R Izhevsk RUS 4848 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 4878 V Khiva UZB 4899 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 5041 F Vladivistok RUS Pacific Fleet 5111 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 5154 E Defective cluster beacon? 5154 R Izhevsk RUS 5203.6 L Tirana ALB 5213 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 5342 V Khiva RUS 5448.6 'Pip', Rostov Volgograd RUS 5462 'Squeaky wheel' RUS 5465.9 R Izhevsk RUS 5473.9 'Squeaky wheel' RUS 5862 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 5920 K Petropavlovsk Kamcatskiy RUS 5982 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 6672.4 L Tirana (harmonic) ALB 6203 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 6389.9 R Izhevsk RUS 6550 D Sevastopol UKR Black Sea Fleet 6873 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 6934 T Dash. Unid location 6990.8 'Squeaky wheel' RUS 7000 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 7000 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 7000.2 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 7002 V Khiva UZB 7038.8 V Khiva (harmonic?) UZB 7064.4 H unid location 7452 R Izhevsk RUS 7550 R Izhevsk RUS 7630 V Khiva UZB 8165 T Dash. Unid location 8183 L Tirana (harmonic) ALB 8306 F Gdynia ??? 8442 AS (. ...) Unid. AS sent as 1 character 8492 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 9090 I unid location (6 + 16 Jan. 2004) 9111 W unid location not related to the old 'W' stations 9188.5 I unid location (6 + 16 Jan. 2004) 10008.6 L Tirana (harmonic) ALB 10470 T Dash. Unid location 10871.6 U Defective cluster beacon? 12158 T Dash. Unid location 13539 V Khiva UZB 15064.7 V Khiva (harmonic?) UZB 16204 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 16332 E Defective cluster beacon? 16932 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 20126.5 EO or J Unid location 20127 F Vladivostok RUS Pacific Fleet 21070.6 V Khiva UZB 2330.9 P Kaliningrad RUS Baltic Fleet 25250 R Izhevsk RUS 2547.8 F Gdynia ??? <<<<<<<<<<-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0->>>>>>>>>> HISTORIC MARKERS Frequency Callsign Location Ctry Remarks --------- --------- ---------------------------- ---- -------------- Ch (---.) Unid location Yu (..--) Khizyl Orda URS 3088 L St. Petersburg (Leningrad) URS 3090 L St. Petersburg (Leningrad) URS 3092 L St. Petersburg (Leningrad) URS 3533 W Cuba CUB 3564 C Moscow URS 3635.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 3650 'Yelper' URS 4302 C Moscow URS 4447.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 4775.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 5306 C Moscow URS 5308 O Moscow URS 5308.5 L St. Petersburg (Leningrad) URS 5309.5 Z Mukachevo (Ukraine) URS 5376.0 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 5568.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 5922 X Prague CZE 6245.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 6802.5 J Unid location 6803.5 G Unid location 6806 Q Unid location 6864.0 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 6985.5 U Khholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 7383 N Unid location 7395 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 7395.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 7423.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 7569.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 7677.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 8136.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 8669.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 8670.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 8682 M Magadan URS 8698 B Arkhangelsk URS 8918.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 9001.6 Y Unid location 9057.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 9160 Ya (.-.-) Unid location 9313.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 9322 X Prague CZE 10215.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 10285.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 10308 C Moscow URS 10612 C Moscow URS 11526.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 12149.5 I Unid location 12184.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 12329.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 13527 Y Unid location 13636 C Moscow URS 15655.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 15700.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 15705.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 18115.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 20428.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 24371.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 24409.5 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 24657.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 24982.0 U Kholmsk and other locations URS jammer related 26170 L St. Petersburg (Leningrad) URS