The overall effect is that of a partially steerable antenna with a maximum resolving power of a nearly 600 m diameter dish, when using the central conical receiver, making it the world's largest-diameter individual radio telescope.

The effective collecting area of the entire ring is 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) which is 0.33% of that expected of a completely filled reflector of this size.

The RATAN-600 has not suffered from the persistent technical problems of the neighbouring BTA-6, and has generally been in high demand since it began operation in mid-1974.

More specifically, the signal intensity rose and fell as the telescope panned past in a way that closely matched what would be expected for a distant source.

Since the short wavelength (2.7 cm, or 11 GHz, in the X band) is unusual for a natural source of that power, after the researchers announced the signal in late August 2016 (in the form of a request for follow-up observations) there was a flurry of excitement that it might be a SETI candidate.