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Vega

Enigma ID n/a
Name Vega (original callsign Vega-33), НЬЖЙ/N'ZhJ
Frequencies 5372
Status Active
Voice Male and female, live
Emission mode USB
Location Southern Military District, Russia

Russian

Activity pages

Vega-33 (Вега-33) is the original recipient callsign of a Russian military commandment network serving the Southern Military District. Based in Rostov-on-Don, it operates on 5372 kHz during daytime and does not broadcast a channel marker nor has a night frequency ever been established. However, there is occasionally a continuous 800 Hz tone which typically only lasts between two messages; this tone is also sometimes heard briefly just before a transmission.

The station broadcasts "Monolith" and "Uzor" type messages addressed to N'ZhJ/НЬЖЙ (previously Vega-33), with the average code word length being noticeably longer than its sister stations Pip and Squeaky Wheel.

The station emits traffic within minutes of messages from The Pip and The Squeaky Wheel. On August 15, 2019, all three stations emitted an "Uzor" message within 10 minutes of each other, featuring the same number group but different code words, definitively proving that these stations are part of the same network. The Pip channel marker is also often audible in the background of transmissions, just like with Squeaky Wheel, demonstrating that Vega monitors and receives from Pip.

On October 29th 2019 there was transmission "проверка вызова 4321 1234" from Pip, Squeaky Wheel and Vega further corroborating the connection between the three stations. The three stations send the same types of message except Vega-33 does not, at least so far, send "dlya" type network reception check messages.

The station gives Moscow time after each transmission, noted as время сигнала (vremya signala; English: time of signal); this timestamp is always around 20 minutes prior to the actual transmission as Vega's timestamps are based on the Pip messages which initiate a sequence of networked messages (Pip > Wheel > Baron [doesn't always transmit] > Vega) - Vega is the only station observing this behaviour however as Squeaky Wheel and Baron both give their own timestamps.

The callsign Vega-33/Вега-33 was changed to N'ZhJ/НЬЖЙ mid-October, 2019.