Cuba to install a 1 Megawatt AM station ...
J999w
Cuba is planning on putting up a 1 Megawatt AM station with directional
antennas to the north. This will be an all spanish station, much like the CIA's
Radio Marti that broadcasts into Cuba. Construction is to start this spring
and be on the air by fall. Additional programming may include the full Cuban
baseball season as well as cigar advertisements.
John
WB9UAI
The Axelrods
J999w wrote:
--
73 and Best of DX
Shawn Axelrod
The AMANDX DX Info Site including the Canadian DX, AM Slogans and Expanded Band
Pages:
http://www.angelfire.com/mb/amandx/index.html
REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER
Radioman390
hi John:
M Street knew nothing about it; I've been watching CNN for an hour...story
hasn't repeated.
73
Tom Sevart
"J999w" <j9...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020401153632...@mb-cj.aol.com...
I sure hope they have better engineers than they do with their numbers
stations. I'd like to ask that DIA spy, Ana Montes, how the hell she
managed to decode any messages with distorted audio, bad hums on signals,
and audio dropping out. You wouldn't know whether to steal a specific
secret or blow up a bridge.
Tom
RolloŽ
>I sure hope they have better engineers than they do with their numbers
>stations. I'd like to ask that DIA spy, Ana Montes, how the hell she
>managed to decode any messages with distorted audio, bad hums on signals,
>and audio dropping out. You wouldn't know whether to steal a specific
>secret or blow up a bridge.
>
Pedro will be insulted.
However, as for stealing a secret or blowing up a bridge, that's a no-brainer.
To blow the bridge, Pedro would have had to get her the explosives, too.
What's the probability of THAT going right?
By the way. Anybody actually HEAR Radio Marti through the jamming?
Anybody else besides me think it might be a total waste of megabucks?
Radioman390
>
>J999w wrote:
>
>> Just heard this on CNN.
>>
>> Cuba is planning on putting up a 1 Megawatt AM station with directional
>> antennas to the north. This will be an all spanish station, much like the
>CIA's
>> Radio Marti that broadcasts into Cuba. Construction is to start this
>spring
>> and be on the air by fall. Additional programming may include the full
>Cuban
>> baseball season as well as cigar advertisements.
>>
Don't laugh; there was a million watter in Colombia or Venezuela (Radio
Million) a decade or two ago.
It was on 1240 kHz.
There are dozens of half-million and million watt broadcasters throughout the
rest of the world.
Only in the US and Canada are we limited to flyweight power (50 kW).
Mike Rofon
> By the way. Anybody actually HEAR Radio Marti through the jamming?
> Anybody else besides me think it might be a total waste of megabucks?
I hear it sometimes here in Puerto Rico pretty well with no sign of
jamming.
-Bill
David Eduardo
"Rollo®" <Rollo_...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:a8b0n...@drn.newsguy.com...
Martí gets heard in many parts of Cuba where the jammers don't overpower the
signal. Remember, at 1180 in Marathon with 100 kw directional right at Cuba,
there is a huge signal at landfall over a saltwater path.
Interviews done with Cuban refugees in Miami indicate that Marti is just
about the only source of a different news focus in Cuba and many people go
out of their way to listen. Of all the VOA and related USIS stations, this
one probably gives us the most bang for the buck.
David Eduardo
Martí is part of USIS, not CIA. Radio Americas on Swan Island in the 60's
was indeed a covert operation, run by the Gibraltar Steamship Corporation
out of Miami.
Cuba does not have the electrical power to run a megawatt station. And,
except for Miami, where many Cuban stations come in well at night, what
other concentration of Hispanics is there in the Southeast that would
listen.
Sounds like an urban legend in the building, especially the cigar thing.
April fools?
David Eduardo
"Radioman390" <radio...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20020401204751...@mb-fg.news.cs.com...
> >Happy April 1 to u tooo
> >
> >J999w wrote:
> >
> >> Just heard this on CNN.
> >>
> >> Cuba is planning on putting up a 1 Megawatt AM station with directional
> >> antennas to the north. This will be an all spanish station, much like
the
> >CIA's
> >> Radio Marti that broadcasts into Cuba. Construction is to start this
> >spring
> >> and be on the air by fall. Additional programming may include the full
> >Cuban
> >> baseball season as well as cigar advertisements.
> >>
>
> Don't laugh; there was a million watter in Colombia or Venezuela (Radio
> Million) a decade or two ago.
> It was on 1240 kHz.
It never fired up. And it was direrectional, supposedly, to cover all of
coastal Venezuela. Supposedly the formet megawatt transmitter of TIRICAW-625
form Costa Rica, that actually got built and operated for a short, short
time.
>
> There are dozens of half-million and million watt broadcasters throughout
the
> rest of the world.
> Only in the US and Canada are we limited to flyweight power (50 kW).
Most of Latin America has either 50 or 100 kw limits.
50 seems to be the limit in Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican
Republic, and all of Central America.
Mexico has a couple of grandfathered stations above 100 kw, and Colombia has
one above 100 kw but will license nothing over 100 kw today, as is the case
in Venezuela. Argentina and Brazil limit to 100 kw (Brazil has a government
owned exception)
David Eduardo
"Mike Rofon" <TheRea...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3CA9109D...@netscape.net...
There are apparently at last report three jammers in the central, eastern
and western parts of Cuba along the coast. They just can't stop a 100 kw
directional station with a saltwater path.
Noticed things got a bit tense on your island today.
Mike Rofon
> Noticed things got a bit tense on your island today.
Same s**t different day. By the way, WAPA is online these days with
streaming audio. www.waparadio.net if you want to hear the 'real'
news, but they QRT at 0300z.
One of the reporters mentioned there were about 50 people at the protest
site today...he counted 35 fellow reporters.
:-)
-Bill
David Eduardo
> David Eduardo wrote:
>
> > Noticed things got a bit tense on your island today.
>
> Same s**t different day. By the way, WAPA is online these days with
> streaming audio. www.waparadio.net if you want to hear the 'real'
> news, but they QRT at 0300z.
I did not know WAPA was streaming. Will listen. Although I have a marked
preference for the stream of WUNO-630, since I program that one.
> One of the reporters mentioned there were about 50 people at the protest
> site today...he counted 35 fellow reporters.
Typical news feeding frenzy. I love to see stations in NY spending hours on
this, while no one really cares.
Prefered Customer
>Don't laugh; there was a million watter in Colombia or Venezuela (Radio
>Million) a decade or two ago.
>It was on 1240 kHz.
The PA tubes had a bad silver coating on the kovar seals and they went
to air regularly. At the time I got it on the air, there were only
nine tubes still serviceable. It was feeding a two-tower array with
the parasitic element set so it could be switched to act as either a
reflector or director. As a reflector, it almost dead on Caracas,
just a bit to the West. As a director, dead on Havana. The
transmitter site was at Punto Fijo on the Paraguaná Península. It was
an all-new facility and the Venezuelan gov't had built a whole new
power line all the way from Coro in the State of Falcon--where we used
to go for Arepas with queso amarillo--to power the site. The
transmitter was originally built by Continental Electronics in Costa
Rico but the religious organization that bought it went bankrupt
before it went on the air. The transmitter had two 500 kW amplifiers
configured as Weldon Doherty Amplifiers with four Machlette tubes in
the Peak and four in the Carrier section of each on. With only nine
tube, I only got one section, 500 kW, on the air. As a historical
note, it was the first transmitter to use a new type of driver: a 50
kW Screen-Impedance-Modulated Doherty. That driver went on to see
life on its own at the famous 317C, the most popular 50 kW transmitter
for over 20 years after. When I brought it back to life after 25
years in crates, the response was dead flat and the distortion was
under one percent. It worked perfectly but Venezuela was just
starting into deep economic problems and just as it was ready to enter
service, there wasn't enough money to fund it.
As a side note, at the time Punto Fijo was something of a resort and I
loved every minute I was there. A few years later and you'd get
killed over a pair of shoes, things got so desperate.
And them's the facts.
Fred, W8OY
jfr...@ieee.nospam.org
Radioman390
>about the only source of a different news focus in Cuba and many people go
>out of their way to listen. Of all the VOA and related USIS stations, this
>one probably gives us the most bang for the buck.
Yeah, and the VOA brought down the Evil Empire.
I was in Russia as it collapsed (starting in 89...even had an apartment in
Moscow), figuring I'd hear abouth Willis Conover's Jazz Show on VOA....found
exactly one person who knew what I was talking about.
Generally refugees will tell interviewers what they think they want to hear.
Prefered Customer
>Of all the VOA and related USIS stations, this one probably gives us the most bang for the buck.
only fund it. If you listen to what insiders say, if the programmers
want to do something, they do it. If BBG tells them not to, they do
it anyway. All we do is pay the tab. Because of that, they have the
freedom to play the music people in the target area want to listen to
and the politics are very subtle. Some say it's the way we should
operate our BBG stations all over the world: never insult the target
listener or his culture, play music the target listener likes, make
sure the accents are authentic, keep the music popular, keep the
politics low key, etc.
According to legend, the primary jammer is using an EBS test set (with
its annoying tone combination) that was purchased through Canada from
an American manufacturer. Allegedly, it's a 1 kW with a single stick.
For a fact, five miles either side of Sister Island in the Keys, the
jammer is louder than the station, the only licensed 100 kW in the US.
According to Miroslav Kral of Czechoslovakian Tesla, they build the
main Radio Havana Transmitter using an ancient WWII Marconi design,
their standard transmitter until they were broken up.
Fred, W8OY
jfr...@ieee.nospam.org
David Eduardo
> >Interviews done with Cuban refugees in Miami indicate that Marti is just
> >about the only source of a different news focus in Cuba and many people
go
> >out of their way to listen. Of all the VOA and related USIS stations,
this
> >one probably gives us the most bang for the buck.
>
> Yeah, and the VOA brought down the Evil Empire.
I worked for years in Latin America. In the late 60's, when, supposedly, SW
was at a peak interest point, I looked in vain for one VOA mention in the
local radio ratings for Quito and Guayaquil. Over 2 years and probably 20
thousand questionaires... I never saw one mention of VOA listening. There
was very little SW at all mentioned, but zilch for the VOA. In fact, I don't
recall ever having any one tell me of listening to the VOA in my 4 decades
in Latin American radio!
> I was in Russia as it collapsed (starting in 89...even had an apartment
in
> Moscow), figuring I'd hear abouth Willis Conover's Jazz Show on
VOA....found
> exactly one person who knew what I was talking about.
That does not surprise me. Why anyone would want to listen to music on SW I
will never understand. And I am pretty immune to people who tell me the VOA
has any listenership on SW.
RFE and Martí are different, though.
> Generally refugees will tell interviewers what they think they want to
hear.
Nope. These were refugees interviewed by a Miami commercial radio station
for a series on life in Cuba, and they told deep, anecdotal experiences
about listening to Marti, the lengths they went to to hide their listening
from the block committee members, etc. Many remembered specific incidents
reported on Martí, such as the reports on the Río Canaima massacre cover up
and similar exposé reports about Cuba. Martí is listened to in great
numbers.
David Eduardo
"Prefered Customer" <jfr...@no.thanks.ieee.org> wrote in message
news:3529CD741415EF1D.496E46B5...@lp.airnews.net...
> "David Eduardo" <radio...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Of all the VOA and related USIS stations, this one probably gives us the
most bang for the buck.
> As I understand it, it's not under the control of our government; we
> only fund it. If you listen to what insiders say, if the programmers
> want to do something, they do it. If BBG tells them not to, they do
> it anyway. All we do is pay the tab. Because of that, they have the
> freedom to play the music people in the target area want to listen to
> and the politics are very subtle. Some say it's the way we should
> operate our BBG stations all over the world: never insult the target
> listener or his culture, play music the target listener likes, make
> sure the accents are authentic, keep the music popular, keep the
> politics low key, etc.
While Martí is autonomous of the VOA, it is supervised by the USIS and
operates under the mandate of an act of Congress that requires the total
audit of programming by an outside expert every year. I performed this audit
one year, and know that there are strict guidelines and policies for the
Radio Marti Program as the operation is called. the audit person has to get
a low level security clearance and has thier credentials verified by some
scary men in bad suits.
The charter does allow them to be responsive to listener needs in music
selection, news reporting and style and program format. Of course, since the
"program" is intended solely for Cubans, the air staff is nearly 100% Cuban
American. This makes it sound legitimate and forces relevance. Most VOA
stuff is about as useful as a bicycle on the beach.
> According to legend, the primary jammer is using an EBS test set (with
> its annoying tone combination) that was purchased through Canada from
> an American manufacturer. Allegedly, it's a 1 kW with a single stick.
> For a fact, five miles either side of Sister Island in the Keys, the
> jammer is louder than the station, the only licensed 100 kW in the US.
It is not licensed. It has a permit of sorts, based on the feds notifying
the FCC of its existence.
> According to Miroslav Kral of Czechoslovakian Tesla, they build the
> main Radio Havana Transmitter using an ancient WWII Marconi design,
> their standard transmitter until they were broken up.
The Czech transmitters were widely marketed around Latin America in the
60's. I was offered both a 30 and a 60 for really cheap prices in 1967, with
Russian financing at about 2% interest. There were a dozen or so of these
rigs on AM all over Cuba. They were real heavy iron high level plate mod
stuff, designed mostly for state radio stations that ought to have known
better... but didn't.
Neutrodyne
>From: "David Eduardo" radio...@yahoo.com
>Date: 4/1/2002 9:48 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: <yS9q8.1658$Lu7.71...@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>
>
>I worked for years in Latin America. In the late 60's, when, supposedly, SW
>was at a peak interest point, I looked in vain for one VOA mention in the
>local radio ratings for Quito and Guayaquil. Over 2 years and probably 20
>thousand questionaires... I never saw one mention of VOA listening. There
>was very little SW at all mentioned, but zilch for the VOA. In fact, I don't
>recall ever having any one tell me of listening to the VOA in my 4 decades
>in Latin American radio!
>
Aren't the subjects of a banana republic led by a ruthless dictator just a
wee bit reluctant to admit any irregular actions, especially in writing? Did it
ever occur to you that they might have suspected the ratings questionaire was
being delivered directly to the secret police? I bet very few Germans reported
listening to the BBC during the Nazi years.
David Eduardo
"Neutrodyne" <neutr...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020402000002...@mb-ck.aol.com...
Interesting troll post, with, at least, a novel view.
A. There was no secret police.
B. It was not a banana republic.
C. Ratings in the 60's in the US and elsewhere were done verbally, not with
a questionnaire.
D. The military in the country was all trained by the USA, so listening to
the VOA could be considered a good thing.
E. There was no dictator at the time I lived there.
F. The country had total freedom of speech.
Earth to troll: over and out. Don't bother QSLing.
Radioman390
Oh?
Assume 50% efficiency towards output power:
1 MW is 1,000 kW. So they use 2Mw of electric.
A damn room heater runs 1500 watts in the high position, and 1000 or 500 in the
"low"
Assume 1000 watts each; you mean there isn't enough power for 2000 of these in
the whole island? Or 2000 toasters?
Or not enough power to power 20,000 light bulbs of 100 watts each? My house
has a 200amp power panel in the basement. At 110volts, that means it can handle
22kW max.
One hundred homes like mine total over 2 Megawatts. Yes, I know, we don't use
all that capacity, but I'm arguing a point here.
David Eduardo
You know what I mean. It does not have reliable power with excess capacity.
That is part of the reason why nearly all Cuban AMs have reduced power in
the last decade: power savings and other costs of operation.
Cuban household power consumption is not the same as that of the US. The
average home does not have a toaster, either. Room heaters are unheard of...
it is in the tropics!
Radioman390
>the last decade: power savings and other costs of operation.
>
>Cuban household power consumption is not the same as that of the US. The
>average home does not have a toaster, either. Room heaters are unheard of...
>it is in the tropics!
>
>
First of all, most broadcast stations are overpowered for their target
audience.
90% of all radio advertising is, as they put it, "local dollars".
A baker, or store in Canton, OH could care less that the signal is heard thirty
miles away, as the likelihood of influencing a shopper there is slight.
And anyway, a listener thirty miles away is likely listening to a local statio
near him.
Therefore, interestingly enough, the more vibrant the economic base (many
stores) the less need for wide reach of advertising media.
American McBastard
I read somewhere that 800 KHz out of Juarez is putting out a quarter
of a million watts.
American McBastard
> Anybody else besides me think it might be a total waste of megabucks?
I actually heard them once on MW, but i don't remember exactly where.
I think it was on 1700 of 1710 KHz.
Chris Smolinski
Radioman390 <radio...@cs.com> wrote:
> >That is part of the reason why nearly all Cuban AMs have reduced power in
> >the last decade: power savings and other costs of operation.
> >
> >Cuban household power consumption is not the same as that of the US. The
> >average home does not have a toaster, either. Room heaters are unheard of...
> >it is in the tropics!
> >
> >
> OK, air conditioners!
In Cuba? You're joking, right? (Except for the ruling elite of course)
I doubt Arnie and Pedro even have an electric fan in their office.
--
Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/
Macintosh Softwware - Specializing in audio, educational, and amateur radio
RolloŽ
>In Cuba? You're joking, right? (Except for the ruling elite of course)
>
>I doubt Arnie and Pedro even have an electric fan in their office.
>
Dang, Chris, I'm disappointed.
I thought FOR SURE you would have said something about my "Pedro" post.
Oh wait. There's Pedro. There's Arnie.
LOL. Arnie's back on the air. For a week or two, I thought Arnie might have
defected while he was in Denver. Then I thought about the last time *I* was in
Denver, and said "Naah".
CW
--
CW
KC7NOD
Web Page http://www.kc7nod.20m.com
"RolloŽ" <Rollo_...@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:a8dna...@drn.newsguy.com...
David Eduardo
"American McBastard" <american_...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:f6af898a.02040...@posting.google.com...
They are on 1180. The only S. Fl station near 1710 is the former Radio Unica
X-band station in Miami, which had nothing to-do with Martí.
David Eduardo
"American McBastard" <american_...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:f6af898a.02040...@posting.google.com...
>
> I read somewhere that 800 KHz out of Juarez is putting out a quarter
> of a million watts.
50 kw today; used to be 150 kw.
David Eduardo
> >That is part of the reason why nearly all Cuban AMs have reduced power in
> >the last decade: power savings and other costs of operation.
> >
> >Cuban household power consumption is not the same as that of the US. The
> >average home does not have a toaster, either. Room heaters are unheard
of...
> >it is in the tropics!
> >
> >
> OK, air conditioners!
There are few air conditioners in Cuba. Cuba, in case you did not know, is
Third World with capital letters. Even in Puerto Rico, part of the US, the
home central air conditioner is nearly unknown and most people outside
higher income levels dont even have room a/c.
You don't travel much, right?
> First of all, most broadcast stations are overpowered for their target
> audience.
No, they are not. In LA, NY, Chicago and other large cities, 50 kw is not
enough to overcome the man made RFI on the AM band and to penetrate large
buildings and the far reaches of the market.'
I work with a 100 kw AM that found that 100 kw was not enough, even at 710
AM. So they directionalized towards the city they served to put a greater
field strength over the downtown area where previously the signal did not
penetrate or overcome interference.
> 90% of all radio advertising is, as they put it, "local dollars".
Yeah, but local markets like LA may be 100 miles from north to south. And
full of light dimmers, X-ray machines and auto ignitions. And the figure in
large markets is more like 50% to 60% local (see deinition of local later)
> A baker, or store in Canton, OH could care less that the signal is heard
thirty
> miles away, as the likelihood of influencing a shopper there is slight.
A single location bakery in Canton is not likely to be able to afford radio
time on a significant station. Most radio dollars are local, but local means
"Metro Are"" and the local advertisers are Sears, Safeway, and other
multi-location retailers as well as products and services abailable across a
market.
> And anyway, a listener thirty miles away is likely listening to a local
statio
> near him.
Even the Traverse City market is over 100 miles form Norht to South. Local
means more than 30 miles.
>
> Therefore, interestingly enough, the more vibrant the economic base (many
> stores) the less need for wide reach of advertising media.
As said, single location stores are not very good sources for radio revenue
unless they are category killers, specialty boutiques or otherwise worth
driving to over great distances.
Kevin T.
> Unica X-band station in Miami, which had nothing to-do with Martí.
WJCC 1700 in Miami Springs does have a link to Cuba in that it started
out as WCMQ 1700 AM Stereo, "La Nueva C-M-Q", imitating the call sign of
famous Cuban station 670 CMQ. This was both to appeal to Cuban
emigrants in Florida as well as people in Cuba that might have been able
to hear the station.
David Eduardo
"Kevin T." <kevtr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3CAA91...@yahoo.com...
Give me a break, Kevin. There is absolutely no "link" to Cuba in the call
letters of 1700, which was simply a transferal of the calls of what started
as AM daytimer WCMQ in Miami in 1972.
Now, although there is no link to Cuba, someone copied the identifier of a
famous pre-Castro Cuban station CMQ to achieve a degree of familiarity. But
there was no link to the Cuban station called CMQ. CMQ was owned by Goar
Mestre, who went first to Venezuela and then Argentina to work in Television
and who never had anything to do with any station in Miami.
In fact, Kevin, CMQ in Cuba was mostly an all talk station with soap operas
and news and drama and sports; WCMQ started as an all music station owned by
an American, Herb Dolgoff, and programmed by an Ecuadorian, Betty Pino. Are
you seeing yet how little link there is?
The 1700 station had no interest in being heard in Cuba. In fact, being
heard in Cuba is kind of the kiss of death to Miami Spanish AM stations. A
signal that makes consistent landfall in Cuba will generally be jammed so
severely that coverage of parts of the Florida market will be hurt. There is
no money to be made being heard in Cuba, and WCMQ was always a Miami
commercial station out to make a buck.
CMQ in La Habana was on 630, CMHQ in Holguin was on 640, etc. 670 was a
Progreso net station. You did not even get that right. The CMQ calls no
longer are in use in Cuba, but the Radio Rebelde net is fairly close to
being what the old Circuito CMQ was before Castro in terms of frequencies
and power. In fact, Rebelde was the first Cuban network to broadcast
Castro's victory speech, originated at CMKC in Santiago, a Rebelde
affiliate.
("Emigrants" are people who leave. Immigrants are people who arrive. The
Cubans in Florida are Cuban immigrants.)
Mike Terry
Mike
"David Eduardo" <radio...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:HQuq8.2183$W21.101...@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
Doug Smith
At least three people I know of have reported hearing Radio Marti on 1710.
Some of them sufficiently familiar with Spanish that I'm pretty confident it
really was Marti they were hearing.
I'm not so confident Marti was actually transmitting on 1710. I suspect a
spurious response to a really strong shortwave signal. I wonder if two of
Marti's frequencies are 1710KHz apart?
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com
Kevin T.
> The Cubans in Florida are Cuban immigrants.)
Thus they also qualify as Cuban emigrants, because they have left Cuba.
Whether or not they are "immigrants" depends on whether or not the U.S.
government knows about them. People are free to emigrate from their
homelands, but they are not immigrants until the government of their new
country of residence knows about them.
p.s. Did you hear, this new 1,000,000-watt Cuban station is going to
broadcast in AM STEREO!!! :-Þ
David Eduardo
"Mike Terry" <mike...@ukrivals.net> wrote in message
news:a8e63p$k0u$1...@paris.btinternet.com...
> Was it an April Fool's joke?
That's what I said yesterday. Gotta be.
David Eduardo
"Doug Smith " <w9...@linux1.localdomain> wrote in message
news:slrnaal8c...@linux1.localdomain...
The SW comes from Greenville, I believe. Not Marathon.
David Eduardo
> > ("Emigrants" are people who leave. Immigrants are people who arrive.
> > The Cubans in Florida are Cuban immigrants.)
>
> Thus they also qualify as Cuban emigrants, because they have left Cuba.
> Whether or not they are "immigrants" depends on whether or not the U.S.
> government knows about them. People are free to emigrate from their
> homelands, but they are not immigrants until the government of their new
> country of residence knows about them.
If they are in Florida, they are immigrants. If the US government does not
know about them, they are undocumented immigrants (Cubans making landfall
are all legal immigrants... so they can not be illegal immigrants, just
undocumented ones).
Cubans are NOT free to emigrate form ther homeland. Emigration is a social
crime. That is why the immigrants come on rafts and inner tubes, not on
Cubana de Aviación.
>
> p.s. Did you hear, this new 1,000,000-watt Cuban station is going to
> broadcast in AM STEREO!!! :-Þ
Ya' gotta quit hoisting the brewskis with the Easter Bunny, Kevin.
Tom2000
wrote:
>
>There are few air conditioners in Cuba. Cuba, in case you did not know, is
>Third World with capital letters. Even in Puerto Rico, part of the US, the
>home central air conditioner is nearly unknown and most people outside
>higher income levels dont even have room a/c.
>
This is a great thread! Many thanks to the knowledgeable posters,
particularly David and W8OY, for sharing their information. This is even
better than the "focus" articles I used to read in Pop Comm and Monitoring
Times.
I'm enjoying it immensely.
Very 73,
Tom
Mike Rofon
>
> Cubans are NOT free to emigrate form ther homeland. Emigration is a social
> crime. That is why the immigrants come on rafts and inner tubes, not on
> Cubana de Aviación.
They have some lottery scheme for emigration now. I don't know how many
people win, probably no more than any othery lottery.
-Bill M
David Eduardo
"Mike Rofon" <TheRea...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3CAAF0B0...@netscape.net...
I'd forgotten about that. The problem is... when you apply for your chance,
you become a social outcast until you win an exit permit. And that may mean
a life of lower rations, no job opportunities and rejection by neighbors and
the authorities.
Mike Rofon
I think one of the catches is that you must leave within a year of
winning. I understand that a entire family can emigrate under this plan
but obviously one has to have the money to travel. A government
employee is often under a contract term and cannot always leave during
the specified time. And, getting an entry visa to many countries (like
the US) ain't a fast process.
J999w
>This is a great thread! Many thanks to the knowledgeable posters,
>particularly David and W8OY, for sharing their information. This is even
>better than the "focus" articles I used to read in Pop Comm and Monitoring
>Times.
>
>I'm enjoying it immensely.
>
>Very 73,
>
> Tom
>
Yipes ... you guys really are strung tight.
Yes it was an April 1st prank. Guess I struck a nerve.
:^]
John Wilke
WB9UAI
Milwaukee
Tom2000
Oops.... I didn't mean that sarcastically. I really *am* enjoying this
thread. When you have folks who have "brought up the biggies" and who have
actually programmed some shortwave stations, and they are willing to share
so much information, the thread is not only incredibly interesting, but
educational.
Sorry if it came off wrong.
Very 73,
Tom
American McBastard
That's funny. I remember reading in one of Yoder's books that they
were putting out 250 kw. Maybe the info was way out of date.
Mike Rofon
>
> Mike Rofon wrote:
>
> >And, getting an entry visa to many countries (like
> >the US) ain't a fast process.
>
> over the last 10 years.
>
> --
> Best Regards,
>
> Keith
Thats what I meant. Most residents of Third World countries cannot get
simple Tourist visas to the US due to the income and 'local ties'
requirements.
> ======================================================================
> My Home Page http://n6jpa.home.attbi.com/
> The Reply-to Address of this post is valid.
> Visit my home page for Free Software links.
> ======================================================================
David Eduardo
"American McBastard" <american_...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:f6af898a.02040...@posting.google.com...
> "David Eduardo" <radio...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:<8Iuq8.2176$2y.101...@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>...
> > "American McBastard" <american_...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> > news:f6af898a.02040...@posting.google.com...
> > > > Mexico has a couple of grandfathered stations above 100 kw
> > >
> > > I read somewhere that 800 KHz out of Juarez is putting out a quarter
> > > of a million watts.
> >
> > 50 kw today; used to be 150 kw.
>
> That's funny. I remember reading in one of Yoder's books that they
> were putting out 250 kw. Maybe the info was way out of date.
I do not believe the ever ran 250 kw., even as XELO in the days of the
McVeigh partnership.
j...@randomc.com
Wow! If you live in the south half of Florida and enjoy medium wave (AM
broadcast) DX at night, you can, as some people might say, kiss the
neighborhood goodbye. I wonder what frequency will be inhabited by this
megawatt monster.
When I lived In Stuart, Florida in the mid 1980's, there were about nine or
ten Cuban frequencies, broadcasting between them, two, and sometimes three,
different programs. At night, only a very few of the long-time American
50-KW stations from the northeast and the midwest could get through that
mess, and those were often plagued by interference from those powerful Cuban
stations. Stuart is only about 95 miles north and a little east of Miami.
I had some fairly good receivers at the time, most notably the AM receiver
section of the Yamaha CR-2040 "Natural Sound" Stereo Receiver, a Panasonic
RFB-600 tabletop receiver, and a hot little medium wave-only TRF portable
made by, or for, GE in the mid-late 1970's. Cuba was still pouring money
into multiple stations broadcasting to the U.S. and south Florida got the
brunt of the output.
If they put a megawatt station up and aim the propagation straight up the
east coast, or the middle, of the Florida peninsula, the "AM" band of the
average south Floridian's radio won't hear anything very clearly at night
within three frequency allocations on either side of that station's
frequency. I'm glad I won't be down there and trying to DX the MW band when
that bad boy goes live!
Reply to: j...@randomc.com
Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA
Is it OK to use the AM radio after noon?
Net-Tamer V 1.13 Beta - Registered
j...@randomc.com
OK, Guys, I'm behind with the newsgroups by about ten days or more. So it
was a nice April Fools' joke. It is still a good thread, with a
considerable amount of good information and good-natured back-and-forth
banter.
My point about the MAM broadcast band conditions in south Florida in the mid
1980's brought about by ten strong Cuban frequencies hogging most of the
lower half of the band and still giving us only two or three different
programs still stands.
I also noted with interest some of the discussion under this thread's title
about Western hemisphere stations with power ratings above 100 KW.
I remember an older gentleman telling me about the 1930's when WLW in
Cincinnatti, Ohio was experimenting with broadcast power well above 50 KW.
When they were using over 100 KW and often up to 350 KW, at night, they
could be heard all over the continent. A surprising number of American
entertainment and popular music icons got their first big national exposures
on WLW when they were bombing the airwaves with all that high power
transmission.
The older gentleman told me that when they tested transmitting with 750 KW,
that farmers fifty miles outside of Cincinnatti heard the station's signal
in their barbed wire fencing when temperature and humidity conditions were
right. A great deal of what was learned from those experiments did a lot to
shape the FCC's policy to limit U.S. AM stations to no more than 50,000
watts of broadcast power.
Back in the 1950's and 1960's the big "border blasters" in northern Mexico
transmitted with considerably more than 50,000 watts of power. I'm sure
many of you remember listening at night from anywhere in most of the eastern
half of North America to the U.S.-aimed English-language programming from
the likes of XERF, 1570; XEG, 1050; and at least one or two other such
stations.
Now, I"ll continue reading and enjoy the rest of the thread. Hey, who says
we have to wait until an April Fools' day to do such threads, anyway?
Reply to: j...@randomc.com
Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA
Net-Tamer V 1.13 Beta - Registered
David Eduardo
<j...@randomc.com> wrote in message
news:cAnt8.2$2i...@petpeeve.ziplink.net...
>
>
> I remember an older gentleman telling me about the 1930's when WLW in
> Cincinnatti, Ohio was experimenting with broadcast power well above 50 KW.
> When they were using over 100 KW and often up to 350 KW, at night, they
> could be heard all over the continent. A surprising number of American
> entertainment and popular music icons got their first big national
exposures
> on WLW when they were bombing the airwaves with all that high power
> transmission.
WLW ran an authorized 500,000 watts. It was turned off at the time the US
entered W.W. II and never was reauthorized.
> The older gentleman told me that when they tested transmitting with 750
KW,
> that farmers fifty miles outside of Cincinnatti heard the station's signal
> in their barbed wire fencing when temperature and humidity conditions were
> right. A great deal of what was learned from those experiments did a lot
to
> shape the FCC's policy to limit U.S. AM stations to no more than 50,000
> watts of broadcast power.
The FCC decided against national stations, not due to WLW, but to the desire
to promote local radio in each community.
> Back in the 1950's and 1960's the big "border blasters" in northern Mexico
> transmitted with considerably more than 50,000 watts of power. I'm sure
> many of you remember listening at night from anywhere in most of the
eastern
> half of North America to the U.S.-aimed English-language programming from
> the likes of XERF, 1570; XEG, 1050; and at least one or two other such
> stations.
Before W. W. II, XER ran 500 kw. Post war, the highest powers are (or were):
1570 XERF-250 kw (now not even 50 kw)
800 XELO (later XEROK) 150 kw (now 50)
1050 XEG 150 kw. Now and then
900 XEW 250 kw now and then
540 XEWA - 150 kw now and then
730 XEX 100 kw
940 XEQ 100 kw
There are or were more powerful stations elsewhere in Latin America.
David Eduardo
<j...@randomc.com> wrote in message
news:9Ant8.1$2i...@petpeeve.ziplink.net...
>
>
> Wow! If you live in the south half of Florida and enjoy medium wave (AM
> broadcast) DX at night, you can, as some people might say, kiss the
> neighborhood goodbye. I wonder what frequency will be inhabited by this
> megawatt monster.
>
> When I lived In Stuart, Florida in the mid 1980's, there were about nine
or
> ten Cuban frequencies, broadcasting between them, two, and sometimes
three,
> different programs. At night, only a very few of the long-time American
> 50-KW stations from the northeast and the midwest could get through that
> mess, and those were often plagued by interference from those powerful
Cuban
> stations. Stuart is only about 95 miles north and a little east of Miami.
> I had some fairly good receivers at the time, most notably the AM receiver
> section of the Yamaha CR-2040 "Natural Sound" Stereo Receiver, a Panasonic
> RFB-600 tabletop receiver, and a hot little medium wave-only TRF portable
> made by, or for, GE in the mid-late 1970's. Cuba was still pouring money
> into multiple stations broadcasting to the U.S. and south Florida got the
> brunt of the output.
The only station actually broadcasting on purpose into the US from Cuba was
Radio Taíno 1160. This frequency was picked to block Radio Americas from
Swan Island. Cuba had no interest in propagandizing in the US. They knew the
refugees would have none of it, and there were no other Spanish speakers
within regular signal range who would be interested.
The rest of the higher power Cuban stations were simply domestic service
stations that had high power both to cover the country and to block signals
form elsewhere.
>
> If they put a megawatt station up and aim the propagation straight up the
> east coast, or the middle, of the Florida peninsula, the "AM" band of the
> average south Floridian's radio won't hear anything very clearly at night
> within three frequency allocations on either side of that station's
> frequency. I'm glad I won't be down there and trying to DX the MW band
when
> that bad boy goes live!
Cuba has no interest in broadcasting into the US. It is only interested in
US stations not being heard in Cuba... specifically the ones in Spanish on
670, 710, 1140 and 1210 as well as VOA-1180 in Marathon (the only US 100 kw
AM station). They generally are only minimally concerned with blocking
stations in English, as English is pretty much unused in Cuba today.
Tony Calguire
>
>
> Cuba has no interest in broadcasting into the US. It is only interested in
> US stations not being heard in Cuba... specifically the ones in Spanish on
> 670, 710, 1140 and 1210 as well as VOA-1180 in Marathon (the only US 100 kw
> AM station). They generally are only minimally concerned with blocking
> stations in English, as English is pretty much unused in Cuba today.
Wasn't there an incident back in the 1980s? The Cubans were mad about
something or other, so they fired up one or several of their mediumwave
transmitters overnight. It caused interference to several US stations,
including, I think, WHO. I seem to recall seeing a news story about it.
David Eduardo
"Tony Calguire" <calg...@tcfreenet.org> wrote in message
news:3CB656...@tcfreenet.org...
1040 was one of the frequencies that had a big Cuban station on it; it was
also the channel a temporary VOA/MArtí station was on a decade or so before.
The Tampa area 1040 station got a power increase out of the deal.
Doug Smith
>The older gentleman told me that when they tested transmitting with 750 KW,
>that farmers fifty miles outside of Cincinnatti heard the station's signal
>in their barbed wire fencing when temperature and humidity conditions were
>right. A great deal of what was learned from those experiments did a lot to
>shape the FCC's policy to limit U.S. AM stations to no more than 50,000
>watts of broadcast power.
Really the biggest reason higher powers never happened was jealousy.
Even at 50,000 watts, many smaller stations were jealous of the huge
coverage of the clear-channel stations. (and with far fewer stations and
much less noise and interference, even at 50,000 watts stations could cover
most of the country at night) Indeed, ongoing attempts to "break up the
clears" eventually did restrict the interference-protected coverage area of
the clear-channel stations, in steps, until today few stations can be heard
much more than 1,000 miles away on normal consumer equipment.
Probably fewer than two dozen stations stood any chance of qualifying for
permanent 750kw operation. The remaining few hundred feared losing their
audience - or at least their network affiliation - to out-of-market
superpower stations. Politics, more than anything else, killed the 750kw MW
station.
In many other countries, stations of that power do exist. Powers of as much
as 2 million watts are relatively common in Europe and Asia. I would
presume the transmitter sites are generally far from urban areas!
David Eduardo
"Doug Smith " <w9...@linux1.localdomain> wrote in message
The 2 megawatt station in Riyadh was built next to a site where they built
the local soccer stadium. They had a lot of trouble, as the RF in the cranes
would arc over to the girders, and do spot welds and start fires. This
story, with pictures, was told me by the Harris rep in Quincy in about 1978.
Kevin T.
Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
watts non-directional
The most powerful broadcast radio stations in the world are some Russian
longwave stations that claim to be transmitting 2,500,000 watts.
However, Russia has also been known to use an extremely directional
26-tower array on 1494 kHz that provides 25 dB of gain to a 2,000,000
watt transmitter normally running at 1,200,000 watts output. Anybody
with a dB conversion table can do the math to figure out what the ERP is
when you are in the "beam" of the signal!
Richard Cranium
> >> There are or were more powerful stations elsewhere in Latin America. <<
>
> Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
>
> 800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
> watts non-directional
Nope. They used to run 500kW but are using about 50kW for the last
several years. Something about the ability of the island to produce
enough power to run the big boy (sorta like Cuba), and the cost to
Trans World Radio.
> The most powerful broadcast radio stations in the world are some Russian
> longwave stations that claim to be transmitting 2,500,000 watts.
In the AM broadcast band there are several 1 megawatt stations
including at least two run by the VoA overseas (Philippines and
Thailand) and one in Saudi Arabia. And Luxembourg runs 1.2 MW on 1440
kHz.
> However, Russia has also been known to use an extremely directional
> 26-tower array on 1494 kHz that provides 25 dB of gain to a 2,000,000
> watt transmitter normally running at 1,200,000 watts output. Anybody
> with a dB conversion table can do the math to figure out what the ERP is
> when you are in the "beam" of the signal!
Can you say RF Burn?
David Eduardo
>
> Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
>
> 800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
> watts non-directional
It has not run 500 kw for several years, Kevin.
And it was nearly always directional, putting a lobe over Brasil for the
Portuguese broadcasts, for example. I visited the station some years ago, I
doubt you had been born then, though.
The Radio Nacional do Brasil AM in Brasilia is higher powered, anyway.
>
Doug Smith
>Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
>
>800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
>watts non-directional
Not anymore.
They installed a directional antenna and reduced power a year or two ago. I
want to say it's 100kw non-directional daytime and 50kw directional (towards
South America) at night. Could be mistaken about the exact figures though.
Generating electricity on Caribbean islands is not cheap! I think they felt
the 500kw transmitter just wasn't worth the electricity costs.
David Eduardo
"Doug Smith " <w9...@linux1.localdomain> wrote in message
> On Fri, 12 Apr 2002 02:23:01 -0400, Kevin T. <kevtr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
> >
> >800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
> >watts non-directional
>
> Not anymore.
>
> They installed a directional antenna and reduced power a year or two ago.
I
> want to say it's 100kw non-directional daytime and 50kw directional
(towards
> South America) at night. Could be mistaken about the exact figures
though.
>
> Generating electricity on Caribbean islands is not cheap! I think they
felt
> the 500kw transmitter just wasn't worth the electricity costs.
At one point, like another religious broadcaster, HCJB, they generated their
own power. I believe the cost of fuel escalated beyond practicality. Another
factor is that PJB depended on full coverage of Venezuela, Colombia and
parts of Brazil. With the increased number of local stations in each of
those countries, the signal at any power was blocked. They were using a SW
model for a MW station.
Back in the 60's, I hated PJB as it caused a fringe area het with my
station, HCFV1, on 805 in Quito, Ecuador.
Tom
"David Eduardo" <amd...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:5pCt8.956$ls4.73...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
I used to be able to receive PJB on my car radio in California when I was
shielded from KGO. Now my only chances for "off the continent" reception are
from the Pacific, and then only with an R8B and a Kiwa Loop. It's really a
shame.
Tom
A.C. Smith
Ycut8.908$so.625...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com, "David Eduardo"
<amd...@pacbell.net> came hurtling through the Ether with:
> The 2 megawatt station in Riyadh was built next to a site where they built
> the local soccer stadium. They had a lot of trouble, as the RF in the cranes
> would arc over to the girders, and do spot welds and start fires. This
> story, with pictures, was told me by the Harris rep in Quincy in about 1978.
I'd PAY to see that! =)
Sounds like me and car electrical systems.... I have this great ratchet that
I managed to "weld" to the frame of my '62 Chevy.
acs
------
Pacific Northwest USA SWL -- WA7005SWL
Satellit 800, 100ą Random Wire
Radio Homepage: <http://homepage.mac.com/chevyorange/>
Pulling signals out of the thin air since 1992.
Powered by Macintosh OS X ‹ Virus Free
Kevin T.
station, HCFV1, on 805 in Quito, Ecuador. <<
Have all of the non-standard AM frequencies in the Western Hemisphere
finally been moved to standard 10 kHz channel spacing allocations?
David Eduardo
Actually, except for NARBA signatories, there is no standard.
There are some exceptions still to the 10 kHz "rule." I remember a few.
1375 St. Perre & Miquelon (French dependency off Newfoundland)
535 Radio Grenada
555 St. Kits
705 St Vincent (inactive, I think)
Other than that, there is very little on "split channel" assignments.
Ecuador and Bolivia had the most in the past, but all have reassigned
stations on 10 kHz increments, as did Panama that had quite a few splits.
Eric F. Richards
> "Kevin T." <kevtr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<3CB67D...@yahoo.com>...
> > >> There are or were more powerful stations elsewhere in Latin America. <<
> >
> > Most powerful AM broadcast station in the Western Hemisphere:
> >
> > 800 kHz PJB, Trans World Radio, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 500,000
> > watts non-directional
>
> Nope. They used to run 500kW but are using about 50kW for the last
> several years.
One of the oddest "catches" for me was getting PJB clear as a bell in
Cleveland OH, just a few miles away from powerhouse CKLW on the same
frequency. Grundig table radio. Without external random-wire, CKLW.
Connect random wire, PJB! Such a rare one...
--
Eric F. Richards
efr...@dim.com
"The weird part is that I can feel productive even when I'm doomed."
- Dilbert
Kent K9EZ
500kW seem small.
Kent, K9EZ
"David Eduardo" <amd...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:5vrt8.864$pN2.56...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
Kent K9EZ
26 tower??? Sheesh, talk about your baseball bat pattern. They must beam
that into one persons house, not a neighborhood. Where is this station?
Kent
Kent K9EZ
HCJB. Nevermind HCJB is 690, and XETRA would take it over.
Venezuela 1000 or I *believe* 570 would be interesting to try.
Kent
"Tom" <tmo...@nospam.attbi.com> wrote in message
news:uXCt8.13350$CH1.8766@sccrnsc02...