Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Jake, who writes:
Just passing along this scan of an Associated Press story about the 5th anniversary of Radio Havana Cuba. It ran in The Virginian-Pilot on May 8, 1966.
Fun read considering so many of us have listened to the station over the years.
Keep up your good work!
Wow–as of May 2016, RHC has been on the air for 55 years. Thanks, Jake, for sharing this bit of radio history!
Front of RHC QSL card (click to enlarge).
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Daniel Amoroso, who shares this QSL card and notes:
Hello Thomas,
Attached is QSL # 1 from Radio Habana Cuba for their shortwave broadcast on 8- 15-2015
This was the day the US Embassy in Cuba was officially re-opened.
Back of RHC QSL card (click to enlarge).
Card was received on April 18 , 2016.
Very cool! Thank you for sharing this card and noting that relevant bit of history, Daniel.
China Radio International via Radio Havana Cuba
Click to enlarge
Each morning, I enjoy listening to Radio Australia on 9,580 kHz, but I’m forced to tune elsewhere due to interference when China Radio International starts broadcasting on 9,570 kHz, via Radio Havana Cuba’s relay.
Hypothetically I should be able to mitigate any adjacent interference from CRI by listening to Radio Australia’s upper sideband. But unfortunately, RHC’s transmitters spew spurious emissions a full 20 kHz on either side of their carrier. It’s most annoying.
Here’s what RHC/CRI’s 9570 kHz signal sounds like on 9560 kHz:
Here’s what my waterfall looked like when CRI signed off:
Notice how clear the 35 kHz waterfall window became (that’s Radio Australia centered on 9850 kHz):
The reason for this is clear: obviously, some of RHC’s transmitters are in need of care–and they’re not the only ones.
Radio Cairo
I’ve received a number of requests from Radio Cairo to post notices about their English language broadcasts. Normally, I’m quite happy to post press releases, but in each case I’ve mentioned that their English broadcasts are almost impossible to understand. For years, RC has had a problem with AM modulation (I assume) and, to my knowledge, have never addressed it.
I’ve sent RC feedback on a number of occasions; in response, I’ve received only the inconclusive reply that they’re “looking into the situation.”
To underscore the point, on Sunday Andrea Borgnino shared the following video/audio of Radio Cairo via Twitter.
Radio Cairo & worst am modulation @SWLingDotCom @LondonShortwave @John_Northants @UlisK3LU pic.twitter.com/o0aRCkPtwt
— Andrea Borgnino (@aborgnino) March 20, 2016
There are other broadcasters that emit messy signals, but Radio Havana Cuba and Radio Cairo are the most noticeable in my listening area. And, it seems, neither broadcaster is in any hurry to address their ongoing problems.
In Radio Cairo’s case, especially, the broadcaster is simply wasting money by attempting to broadcast a signal that can neither be received nor interpreted. It’s rather sad. Ultimately, one has to wonder why they bother to broadcast at all…
Radio Havana Cuba, China Radio International, and Radio Cairo (among others) take note: a little care of your radio transmitters will go a long way toward increasing your listenership.
What you can do: Consider contacting broadcasters when when you become aware of transmitter problems. Despite RC’s notable exception, oftentimes a broadcaster may not be fully aware of the issue––thus your feedback is necessary to help correct the problem.
This morning, I listened to Radio Australia on 9,580 kHz with my WWII era Scott Marine Radio SLR-M (above).
Radio Australia provides a reliable, strong signal into North America every morning and it’s where I typically tune for the morning news at the top of the hour.
China Radio International also fires up on the adjacent frequency of 9570 kHz around 1200 UTC–their signal is also incredibly strong here as it’s relayed from Radio Havana Cuba at 250 kW. CRI’s bandwidth is almost always wider than 10 kHz–indeed, it’s often 20 kHz–which means that it completely wipes out any average adjacent signal.
Indeed, when I’m testing selectivity on portable shortwave radios, I’ll often tune to Radio Australia and wait for CRI to fire up on 9570 kHz. If the portable radio can still lock onto Radio Australia after CRI is on the air–or, better yet, if an upper side band sync lock can eliminate all traces of CRI–I know the receiver has decent selectivity.
This morning, when CRI began transmitting at 1200 UTC, their signal completely wiped out every trace of Radio Australia. Though the SLR-M’s narrow AM filter is still quite wide, it can typically cope with the adjacent CRI carrier.
I fired up the TitanSDR to see what CRI’s signal looked like on a spectrum display–here’s what I found:
CRI’s AM bandwidth was 30+ kHz wide!
In my book, that was an abusive use of the band.
This was, by no means, an isolated event. It was just particularly annoying for me this morning as I was enjoying a good cup of coffee and the morning ABC news.
I’ll send a message to CRI and RHC about this, but I have my doubts anyone will take action.
Okay–sorry about the rant!
Havana, Cuba (Photo: Wikimedia)
(Source: VOA News)
Cuban President Raul Castro is urging the U.S. government to stop radio and television broadcasts that Cuba considers harmful, while also saying that his government is willing to keep improving relations with the United States.
In a speech broadcast on state television Friday, Castro said that his government will “continue insisting that to reach normalized relations, it is imperative that the United States government eliminate all of these policies from the past.”
He noted that the U.S. government continues to broadcast to Cuba, including transmissions of Radio Marti and TV Marti, despite Cuba’s objections. Radio Marti and TV Marti are overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is also the parent organization of the Voice of America.
Castro also criticized U.S. immigration policy that allows Cuban migrants to live in the United States if they reach U.S. territory.
“A preferential migration policy continues to be applied to Cuban citizens, which is evidenced by the enforcement of the wet foot/dry foot policy, the Medical Professional Parole Program and the Cuban Adjustment Act, which encourage an illegal, unsafe, disorderly and irregular migration, foment human smuggling and other related crimes, and create problems to other countries,” Castro said.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, London Shortwave, who has posted an article on his blog regarding US/Cuba relations after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced, last Tuesday, the re-establishment of relations. London Shortwave has included recordings from the VOA, Radio Marti and Radio Havana Cuba.
Click here to read the full article on London Shortwave’s blog.
Earlier this week, I noted that Cuban medium wave station, Radio Progreso, was to begin broadcasting on 4,765 kHz shortwave, beginning October 1st at 00:30 UTC.
I listened between 00:30 and 2:30 UTC on Oct 1st, but heard nothing other than the weak carrier from (possibly) Radio Emissora De Educao Rural. However, the following evening at 01:00 UTC (October 2nd) I did hear a strong signal from Radio Progreso.
For your listening pleasure: the recording I made of Radio Progreso on October 2, 2013, starting around 01:00 UTC. Click here to download the recording as an MP3 or simply listen via the embedded player below: