Talk:Duga radar

"Russian Woodpecker" vs. "Operation Woodpecker"
"Russian Woodpecker" is the casual name apparently given by geopolitically ignorant ham radio fans. If a group of ham radio fans in, say, Spain started calling the "West Austin Antenna Farm" in Texas the "Massachusetts Porcupine", that would not be sufficient reason for encyclopedic articles to refer to it as such. As such, I have put "Russian" in quotes and added (sic) to this. But really, this nickname really has no use in this article at all except perhaps as an extremely small footnote. The misleading nickname given by foreigners to a real item with a real name and a real designation should not be particularly important except, again, in the margins to help those who might be google searching based on old misunderstandings.

82.8.134.144 (talk) 10:42, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

These terms are being used about seemingly the same phenomenon. However, the sources seem to diverge, so the label differs. Can some of the "Operation W" sources be used for expansion of this article perhaps? __meco 17:14, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I googled on "operation woodpecker"+radar and the 11 pages returned do not seem to have anything useful to offer. I've followed the Woodpecker story since the thing first came on the air in the 1970s and I've neved encountered the phrase "operation woodpecker" before. What sources did you have in mind? Harumphy 18:16, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I have come across said information on at least two occasions. I can only remember source information for one source though, Tim Rifat's book Remote Viewing. You can search the book at Amazon.com for the term "Woodpecker" to see the details. It also mentions its source for the information, Cyril Smith and Simon Best's book Electromagnetic Man.


 * Btw. I also googled and found one reference (in several locations, however they seem to be copies from a single source) that shed some light in "operation Woodpecker": __meco 08:23, 16 June 2006 (UTC)


 * On that web page, Reference 15 is to a list of seven different sources, the majority of which seem very dubious. So far there doesn't seem to be a single credible source which uses the phrase "Operation Woodpecker". Harumphy 11:23, 16 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I mentioned two books. We aren't limited to sources available via the web. Anyway, you can peek into the Rifat book at Amazon. __meco 06:46, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Interesting source about this one and other radio-mysteries:

http://ds.dial.pipex.com/brogers/wpecker.htm

"Operation Woodpecker" is a made-up name created by the conspiracy theorists to suggest that the US was involved in making the Duga-3 radars control [your mind, the weather, etc.]. It seems to be based on some confusion over the term "woodpecker", but this isn't surprising considering the one site can't even figure out that 1978 is two years after 1976, not one. Maury 22:19, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Chornobyl-2
What is this location then? Chernobyl-2 Kgrr (talk) 08:25, 30 July 2008 (UTC)


 * That's the Duga radar installation are. It was called "Chernobyl-2".  "Chernobyl" is the nearby nuclear power plant complex.  Whoever named the area "Chernobyl-2" was not very creative.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by HashtagWOKE (talk • contribs) 19:56, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

Weather Warfare
On the "Weather Warfare" episode of the show "That's Impossible," it was suggested that this was used to alter the jet stream and cause the California drought between 1988-1992. Seems absurd, but maybe some mention should be made on this page. Zelmerszoetrop (talk) 09:22, 22 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Agreed, I added a mention, but it needs more info. If it was truly suspected as a weather control device it should be mentioned in the article. --68.97.164.83 (talk) 15:24, 1 May 2010 (UTC)


 * There were several conspiracy theories circulating in the west about what these signals might be for. While most correctly assumed it to be some kind of military radar Mind control, Weather manipulation and Broadcast signal jamming were among the alternative explanations put forward. The jamming theory was quickly debunked when it was determined that the broadcaster suffering the most interference was Radio Moscow! Some of the proponents of the mind control theory claimed (incorrectly) that the woodpecker signals couldn't be heard within the Soviet Union. 81.159.10.144 (talk) 13:48, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Violates some basic radar properties
If this was indeed a radar, then it certainly wasn't intended as a missile early warning system radar. Radar can't pick up an object that is smaller than its wavelength and even for an object that is bigger only by a wavelength or two, you won't get enough of a return off it without massive power. The wavelength for the highest woodpecker frequency is 15.8M. Even the largest Titan missiles were only about 32m, two wavelengths of the highest frequency, and only that if the missile were broadside aspect to the radar. The missile is much smaller than the wavelength of the woodpecker's lowest frequency. Even if you could get a return, and there is not a chance you could localize where the return was from at that frequency. There are some very basic laws of radio propagation which insist, rather strongly, that this was anything except an early warning radar. I wish someone with some sense and credentials would write an article to that effect so it could be quoted and included in the article.


 * Read the Wikipedia article on radar, particularly this part. The goal of this radar was (presumably) launch detection, not missile localization (beyond knowing that the signals were coming from the US, which of course they could tell).  Localization would have served no purpose, since the Soviets possessed no method for shooting down the missiles.  Rather, they would have wanted to know so they could launch their own missiles before it was too late.  In sort, missile early warning. Mcswell (talk) 16:25, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Piece of Techno-Music made of Woodpecker's signal
Does someone know more about the piece of Techno music made of Woodpecker's signal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.46.238.89 (talk) 13:57, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I assume you are talking about Radioactivity, by Kraftwerk? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:6AE5:2510:0:0:0:16 (talk) 17:45, 1 April 2022 (UTC)

Russian Woodpecker in S.T.A.L.K.E.R
The article currently states that: "The game heavily features actual locations in the area, including the Duga-3 array. It is presented as the "Brain Scorcher", a wide-area mind control device which must be deactivated by the player."

This is not correct. I have played the game in question, and the Russian Woodpecker is not presented as the "brain scorcher". The Brain Scorcher is a fictional array, consisting of five independently standing towers, the design of which can be in an in-game screenshot. The two arrays are nothing alike, and the subsection needs to reflect that or be removed. -User:Mriya 09:46, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Siberian transmit/receive station identification
I updated the list of coordinates to say which was the transmitter, and which the receiver, for the Siberian installation. However, I couldn't find any sources listing which was which. I looked at the satellite photos, and the Chernobyl transmitter has a medium building and a small building, while the receiver has a single large building. The Siberian installation has the same pattern (no surprise; it's the same design). I therefore tagged the Siberian transmitter and receiver coords according to the buildings present at those sites. If anyone has a better reference, please add it. Thanks! —Cxw (talk) 18:44, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Receiver in Belarus/Russia?
Is the receiver bit of the western woodpecker actually in Ukraine - or is it in Belarus? Secretlondon (talk) 17:50, 16 February 2012 (UTC)
 * It looks like it's about 15km east of the Belarus/Ukraine border - in Ukraine. Secretlondon (talk) 18:05, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Video of the Pripyat site
http://inotv.rt.com/2011-04-22/Sekretnaya-laboratoriya-CHernobilya-raskrila-svoi It's a bit exaggerated but Russia Today has a video report on the Pripyat (Chernobyl-2) site. Secretlondon (talk) 00:24, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Antenna array dimensions
Are the physical dimensions of the array known or estimated? If so, could we include that data in the article please? I'm most curious about the height of the antenna array or towers. The number of elements in the array would also be interesting. – voidxor (talk &#124; contrib) 09:44, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Chornobyl disaster
Did the Chernobyl disaster cause any disruption to transmissions/operartions and if so for how long ? 90.198.231.12 (talk) 20:15, 3 February 2015 (UTC)


 * It lead to the closure of the chernobyl radar. Secretlondon (talk) 13:52, 12 March 2015 (UTC)


 * The above comment is incorrect. The Soviets stopped using the Duga-3 radar a few months before the Chernobyl accident.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by HashtagWOKE (talk • contribs) 19:58, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

But the article gives the closure date as 1989. Three years after the Chernobyl disaster ? 81.159.10.144 (talk) 13:50, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

reappearance
It's obviously not reappeared, whatever newsweek think. The receiver side has been demolished, and the transmitter is just the old array, no electronics. There are other over the horizon radars out there - a British one in Cyprus, a Russian one called konteyner, and many others which could be the source of this signal, if it is a radar. Secretlondon (talk) 13:51, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Duga-3? Suggestion
Although the title of this article is Duga-3, only Duga-1 and Duga-2 appear in the text of the article. Need to clarify what Duga-3 is and is not. --Theodore Kloba (talk) 20:01, 5 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree with you on this one. Duga 1 and 2 has its own page but with text that is very similar to this page (selection only). I think should be one page called Duga. Maybe we can move it? Hammer5000 (talk) 17:11, 29 October 2015 (UTC)

Wrong numbering
Based on official Chernobyl tour operator article, there was no Duga-3 and the name is a mistake amplified by popular culture. So, the sites should be named like this: Tarmo888 (talk) 08:48, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Duga (5H77) - Mykolaiv, Ukraine
 * Duga-1 (5Н32-West/Woodpecker/Steel Yard) - Liubech and Chernobyl-2, Ukraine
 * Duga-2 - Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Russia


 * Agree. There is no reliable sources for naming Duga-3. --Li-sung (talk) 21:48, 27 April 2016 (UTC)


 * All the same, I'm unclear where this name came from. Some pages - like UVB-76 - still contain links to "Duga-3" in their See Also sections (which of course redirects here). I think some kind of text in the page attesting to the [incorrect] name would be prudent, because even I was surprised to find this out. Conventional wisdom and all that. AnyyVen (talk) 00:07, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

Location articles merged
Per suggestions on respective talk pages, I went ahead and merged stub articles on individual locations Duga-1 and Duga-2, Duga-3 (western) transmitter, Duga-3 (western) receiver, Duga-3 (eastern) transmitter, and Duga-3 (eastern) receiver here, and enhanced location maps in this article. I understand they were split primarily for the purpose of Google Maps geocoding, but that rationale seems weak, and there are probably better ways to do it (didn't investigate). The template:Soviet OTH radar locations is now orphaned and should be put to a TFD, but I'm short on time right now, so I'd appreciate if someone else would do that. No such user (talk) 12:57, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Discrepancy between Duga-1 Receiver and Transmitter
The text states "Duga-1 was built in northern Ukraine, between Liubech and Chernobyl-2, with the transmitter at 51°18′19.06″N 30°03′57.35″E located a few kilometers west-north-west of Chernobyl.", however the map shows that site to be the receiver. (see included map)

One of the two must be wrong. Is it the text, or the map? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Steltek (talk • contribs) 08:47, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

This is fixed now. 108.2.202.9 (talk) 03:20, 20 June 2019 (UTC)
 * It's all wrong now. :) The map has the transmitter and receiver sites swapped and the coordinates for the receiver in the text are pointing to the transmitter site near Pripyat and the coordinates for the transmitter point to the receiving site near Chernhiv.2A01:598:B102:3004:BC3A:5258:7E6E:2D5F (talk) 15:35, 14 January 2020 (UTC)
 * It's actually correct now. Transmitter was located near Liubech while the often-visited radar array at Chernobyl-2 is the receiver. So, geographically, transmitter on the east, receiver on the west. FlamebergUA (talk) 16:51, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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Talk about Amateur radio in 'Disappearance'
Does anyone have any proof or links to amateurs using the transmitter aerial? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.159.132.104 (talk) 11:01, 13 December 2019 (UTC)


 * There's been videos of amateurs climbing the array and using a portable off of it, but otherwise I don't believe its possible to hook up to the antenna itself. 96.32.127.235 (talk) 14:58, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

"Duga-3 (Template)" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Duga-3 (Template) and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. 1234qwer1234qwer4 14:13, 22 January 2023 (UTC)