Over-the-Horizon Radar Returns

Receive antennas for the original "Russian Woodpecker"
over-the-horizon radar installation in Ukraine. (Photo by
Ingmar Runge via Wikipedia.com under Creative Commons
license)

Over-the-horizon radar is making a return to the HF spectrum, causing interference on several amateur bands. The International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 Monitoring System reports that Russian, Chinese and British radars have been heard in recent months on the 80, 60, 40 and 15-meter bands. German monitors reported that a Russian radar system has made 60 meters virtually useless there.
 

Meanwhile, CNN Travel reports that the receive site for the original over-the-horizon radar system - widely known as the Russian woodpecker back in the 1970s - has become a tourist attraction in Ukraine. The site is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and was abandoned after the meltdown there. The area around the antenna site has been reopened to visitors. (There is much more to this story; we will try to provide details in May CQ. - ed.)