Russian Long-Range Aviation on 8131 kHz: the winter set, callsign Balans

What you hear

The winter version of the net described in the autumn article: long silences, then short exchanges in Russian between aircraft and a ground station, callsigns and groups of digits, read and read back. What changes with the season is the word the ground station uses for itself. In autumn it is Stupen; in winter it answers as "Баланс", Balans. Hear that word on 8131 kHz and you know the winter set is in force.

The aircraft are faint and often lost in the noise; the ground station, a strong transmitter that the catalogue places in the Moscow region, is the voice you actually hear from Europe. Traffic comes in bursts around a sortie and then stops for an hour or more.

Who transmits and why

The net belongs to Russia's Long-Range Aviation, the strategic bomber force, whose aircraft on long patrols keep contact with their command on HF, out of reach of any line-of-sight radio. The exchanges are coded reports and acknowledgements; the content is closed to an outsider, the rhythm of the net is not.

The winter set is used from about November to February, with 5827 kHz at night, 8131 kHz in the evening and 11200 kHz by day, and with two ground Morse frequencies, 8112 and 11318 kHz, where the sortie marker is sent: two minutes of the letter W around :00, :20 and :40 of each hour while aircraft are up. The exact date on which the net switches from the autumn set is not known and is not announced, which is why in late October a listener checks both 8033 and 8131 kHz, and at the other end of winter the same uncertainty applies.

Listening to it is not forbidden. The net transmits in the open, in plain voice, for anyone with a receiver to hear; ShackDeck receives and nothing more. In most countries receiving open transmissions is lawful, and where rules exist they usually concern what is done with the content afterwards, such as retransmitting it. The rules where you live are yours to know; this is not a legal assurance.

When and where to listen

8131 kHz is the evening frequency of the set: from late afternoon until around midnight in European time it is the most likely of the three to carry traffic, and in the short days of winter it also does well in the afternoon. Receivers in Finland, the Baltic states, Poland and central Europe hear the ground station best; from western Europe it is usually readable after dark. In the depths of the night 5827 kHz takes over, by day 11200 kHz; each has its own row in the catalogue, as do the two Morse frequencies.

The mode is USB. A quiet frequency is normal, and the Morse marker on 8112 or 11318 kHz is the best sign that waiting will be rewarded.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Military → Russian Long-Range Aviation 8131 (winter). The program picks a public receiver that covers 8131 kHz, tunes it and sets USB; you need no receiver, antenna or account of your own. If you hear Stupen rather than Balans, or nothing for days, the net may still be on the autumn set: open the 8033 kHz row.