Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of a recent Vatican Radio broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Pope Leo XIV appeals for Gaza, Vatican News, 11870 kHz:
Part of Vatican Radio news bulletin (in English): Pope Leo XIV appeals for Gaza. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on a Xhdata d-808 receiver.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio La Voz De Melo broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Pope Leo XIV will host negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Radio La Voz de Melo, Uruguay:
Part of the news bulletin of Radio La Voz de Melo (Uruguay), in Spanish, about Pope Leo XIV’s willingness to host the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the Vatican. Listening in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on the Xhdata D-808 receiver.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Paul Jamet, for sharing the following eQSL card along with two recordings he made and submitted of the Vesti FM test broadcasts on May 19, 2025:
Vesti FM on 13,730 kHz at 19:40 UTC on May 19, 2025:
Audio PlayerVesti FM on 13,730 kHz at 19:43 UTC on May 19, 2025:
Audio Player
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Tilford, who shares the following update:
From the Isle of Music, June 2025
June’s program will be the first of several episodes featuring the best of Cubadisco 2025, Cuba’s most important discographic awards.
Friday, June 13:
6070 kHz at 1700 UTC
3955 kHz at 2100 UTC
Sunday, June 15:
9670 kHz at 1700 UTC using booster beam E to eastern Europe and Eurasia (repeat of June 13 episode).
Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, June 2025
June’s theme will be Bollywood vs. Lollywood, some of my favorite songs from India’s and Pakistan’s film industries (make music, not war, say I, and there will not be any losers in this episode) and will air as follows:
Friday, June 20:
6070 kHz at 1700 UTC
3955 at 2100 UTC
Sunday, June 22
9670 kHz at 1700 UTC using beam E (repeat of June 20 episode).
For those of you who were avoiding 3955 due to mixing product issues at the station, we have been informed that this has supposedly been fixed.
**In addition to direct radio reception, we do honor reception reports using remote SDRs as long as the whole program is described and which SDR is specified.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who shares this brief note:
Russian state-owned Vesti FM is on 13730 kHz as of May 19th, 2025 at 1910 UTC.
While I try to stay current on news and schedules, especially regarding new stations and shows, I don’t recall seeing any news about this transmission anywhere.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of a recent Radio Mitre broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Floods in Buenos Aires, Rádio Mitre, 790 kHz AM:
Part of Radio Mitre (Argentina) news bulletin (in Spanish) on the torrential rains that caused flooding in Buenos Aires, with a moving testimony from the mayor of Salto, Ricardo Alessandro. Listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on an Xhdata d-808 receiver.”Salto is one of the hardest-hit districts. The river reached over 10 meters and has already affected 9,000 people. Through tears, the mayor of that city, Ricardo Alessandro, said the flood was so fast that there was no time to do anything. ‘It rosed so fast that people didn’t even had time to get their clothes out of their homes in two hours. I didn’t even underestimate the flooding, but something happened that hadn’t happened before.Did you imagine how desperate it is? Look, I’m touched because the speed at which the water moves is incredible, it’s incredible.'”
Image: Radio Maya via Facebook
by Don Moore
More of Don’s traveling DX stories can be found in his book Tales of a Vagabond DXer [SWLing Post affiliate link]. If you’ve already read his book and enjoyed it, do Don a favor and leave a review on Amazon.
Given the subject of this final part you might assume that I eventually did make it to Barillas and get to visit Radio Maya. I wish it were so, but no. When writing part six of this series I tried to find a few interesting links about Radio Maya to include. I came across a 38-minute video about the history of the station issued on its 50th anniversary in 2012. The video is a series of still photos (most very old) narrated in Kanjobal.
Actually I’m assuming that it’s Kanjobal as that is the Mayan language spoken in Barillas. I don’t speak Kanjobal, but the Mayan languages use Spanish for numbers, dates, and modern ideas such as technical terms. Between the Spanish words and the context provided by the photographs, I was able to somewhat understand the video. Instead of expecting you to watch the 38-minute video, I’ve copied the most interesting pictures below. (I don’t think you want to see pictures of all the people involved over the years.)
There had been an Evangelical mission in Barillas since the mid-1950s. The name of whoever decided to put a radio station in Barillas is lost to history. But, like Father John Rompa of the Catholic station La Voz de Nahualá, they realized that radio was the best way to reach the Mayan people scattered across remote mountain towns and villages. Also lost to history is why they picked a place as remote as Barillas. Not only was the town at the end of the road, but in the early 1960s the last stretch of road wasn’t even drivable. Hauling in equipment for the new broadcaster was a challenge.
Here a man carries part of the transmitter on his back:
The transmitter eventually arrived in Barillas on an oxcart:
In these next two pictures about two dozen men haul the generator over a rough stretch of road:
The original building in 1962:
The next step was putting up the antenna. Here villagers prepare to erect a wooden pole as a center support for the antenna wires:
One of two shorter poles to hold up the lower ends of the wire:
When the pole was in place a very brave (or foolhardy?) man climbed to the top to attach the wires:
The finished tower. The antenna wires, attached at the top, aren’t visible. The lower wires are for support:
From its beginnings until the late 1970s, Radio Maya de Barillas only broadcast on 2360 kHz with this 250-watt transmitter. Later a one-kilowatt transmitter was added for 3325 kHz.
Installing the generator:
The Radio Maya studio in the 1960s:
In 1969 a plot of land was purchased on the edge of town and over the next three years a new building was constructed with help from American missionaries. Continue reading