Mystery Soviet over-the-horizon tests (Wireless World, February 1977)

The classic period-primary document of the West hearing the Woodpecker: Wireless World, February 1977, p. 53. Within months of the Liubech transmitter coming on air, the magazine reported interference across the HF band ‘caused by a very powerful transmitter, or transmitters, located somewhere in Russia or the Ukraine,’ complaints filed with the ITU by multiple services and countries, and - remarkably - that the Home Office had complained directly to the Soviet authorities and been told they ‘are conducting tests and are taking steps to reduce the interference.’ Nobody in the West printed the word Liubech; the guesses of the era ran to Kyiv, Minsk, Gomel, and later Chernobyl. Verified against the full magazine scan at worldradiohistory.com.