Radio Bonaire | The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

Hi Thomas

Radio Bonaire 1530 went on the air July 27, 2026.

According to its website,

“Radio Bonaire 1530 is your source of information during emergencies, specifically for residents and visitors of Bonaire. Thanks to an off-grid system and continuous broadcasting, you stay informed at all times, even during power outages or other emergencies.”

It continues:

How did the idea come about?

During the major, prolonged blackout of 2023, all sorts of things went wrong.

The FM transmitters located at Subi Rincon had no audio; the studio also had no power, so nothing was being sent to the FM transmitters.

Most FM stations had already gone off the air, and those still broadcasting had no sound. Eventually, these stations also went off the air as their backup power ran out.

For many, the internet was also inaccessible because the Wi-Fi modems in their homes had no power.

Phones could still be used for quite a while; however, making calls was virtually impossible because everyone wanted to do so at the same time. But after 36 hours, the telephone connections also failed one by one.

In response, a few amateur radio enthusiasts put their heads together. Some already had experience setting up so-called LPAM transmitters in the Netherlands—LPAM stands for Low Power AM on the medium wave band. These LPAM transmitters achieved a remarkably wide range despite their low power output (400 watts).”

You can find more information on their web page at: https://bonaire1530.nl/en/

I came across the station last night, purely by chance, while doing some random tuning on a KiwiSDR located, where else, but on Bonaire. Here is a recording that I made around 0400 hours UTC.