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Category: Bahamas

QSL ZNS 1540 Bahamas

There are two opportunities to hear the Bahamas on medium wave. On 1540 AM the National Voice broadcasts with 50 kW from Nassau. On 810 AM there is The Light with 10 kW from Freeport.

I have seen a few reports of 1540 AM from Europe. I’ve not been so lucky yet: all I heard on 1540 was CHIN from Toronto, and KXEL from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During my stay on Curaçao it was easier to receive this station. The only competition came from Radio Cóndor from Colombia.

Email QSL from ZNS The National Voice, Bahamas

My report to digitalmedia@znsbahamas.com was answered with a fully detailed email in a day.

Curaçao DX adventure (2)

I had the privilege of being able to spend 2 weeks on Curaçao in the Caribbean. And I decided to bring my small Grundig G6 Aviator portable with me. In the past I often took my portable with me while travelling for work. But confined to a hotel environment my experience was not always positive. I found that noise levels were often so high that reception was often very poor or non-existent.

On this trip I had the opportunity to move away from our apartment. Around 7.30 PM it was dark, and most evenings I enjoyed one or two hours listening to Latin American stations on medium wave under a tropical night sky . In total I logged 53 stations. Not all of them qualify as “DX” but it was fun nevertheless!

540Radio ABC, Santo DomingoDOM
550Radio Munidal, CaracasVEN
590Radio Santa Maria, La VegaDOM
610La Cariñosa, BogotáCLM
650Antena 2, BogotáCLM
670Radio Rumbos, CaracasVEN
680Radio Nacional Colombia, BogotáCLM
680WBQN Borinquen Radio, San JuanPTR
710Cristal Radio Red, MedellínCLM
770RCN Bogotá, BogotáCLM
780La Voz de Dios, CaliCLM
780ZBVI, TortolaVRG
800TWR Bonaire, KralendijkBES
810Radio Caracol, BogotáCLM
810Radio Paz, San JuanPTR
830Radio Sensación, San AntonioVEN
840Radio HJ Doble K, NeivaCLM
840Nacional FM, HowardPNR
850Candela 850, BogotáCLM
860La Voz del Caneguate, ValleduparCLM
860Radio Mundial 860, San CristóbalVEN
880Caracol, BucaramangaCLM
910La Voz del Rio Grande, MedellinCLM
930La Voz de Bogotá, BogotáCLM
940WINZ Fox Sports, MiamiUSA
970Radio Red, BogotáCLM
980RCN Radio, CaliCLM
990RCN Radio, MedellínCLM
1000RCN Radio, CartagenaCLM
1020Emisora Claridad, MedellínCLM
1070Radio Santa Fe, BogotáCLM
1080La Voz de Antioquia, MedellínCLM
1090Unión Radio Cultural, CaracasVEN
1090Caracal Radio, CúcutaCLM
1100BBN – Red de Radiodifusión BiblicaCLM
1100Caracol Radio, BarranquillaCLM
1130Radio ideal, MaiquetiaVEN
1140Radio Paisa, MedellínCLM
1160Su Presencia Radio, BogotáCLM
1160Caribbean Radio LighthouseATG
1200Radio Tiempo, CaracasVEN
1210La Cariñosa, CúcutaCLM
1220Santa Maria Colombia, BogotáCLM
1260BBN – Red de Radiodiffusión BiblicaVEN
1270La Cariñosa. CartagenaCLM
1340Amor Años Maravillosos, BogotáCLM
1400Harbour Light of the Windwards GRD
1420Radio Sintonia, CaracasVEN
1450Radio Maria Venezuela, Catia La MarVEN
1470Esperanza Adventura, MedellínCLM
1490Emisora Punto Cinco, BogotáCLM
1510La Voz de la Unión, La UniónCLM
1540ZNS1 National Voice, NassauBAH

The most distant distation was WINZ Fox Sports, Miami with 1913 km. I also heard ZNS1 Nassau/Bahamas at 1679 km, Cali/Colombia at 1275 km, and Howard/Panama at 1212 km. I tried to log the American Virgin Islands, but no trace of any of the 4 stations, most likely because they switch to low night power? The Voice of Nevis, another target, was blocked by a very strong LV de Caneguata.

No doubt I could have heard many more stations, as the band was crowded. Fading was a significant problem though, hampering station identification. Sometimes a Colombian station was audible for only 10 minutes or so, dropping in signal strength only to be replaced by another Colombian. And on some frequencies, close to 800 kHz in particular, I had the feeling my little radio was overloading with a strange oscillator howl. Maybe due to the presence of the strong TWR transmitter? Funny detail: pressing the back light button or changing the frequency by 1 kHz seemed to suppress it for a few seconds. I seriously consider bringing my little RSPdx SDR receiver next time I visit.

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