I received Comodoro Rivadavia Radio with a DSC test acknowledgement to a vessel with MMSI 311000867 (SYLVIA EARLE, Bahamas). It’s the second time I sent them a report. I heard them earlier in December 2024. They confirmed they were sending a message at the time but my decode of the MMSI of the ship they contacted was incorrect. Despite the ERR check being OK. These things can happen sometimes. This time there was one other DX-er that picked up the same message using YADD decoder, so I was confident I really heard them!
The distance between my QTH and Comodoro Rivadavia is 12890 kilometers… and this is definitely not a DSC station that I hear as often as the ones from Brazil. My other confirmation from Argentina was Buenos Aires Radio.
During my holiday on Curacao I was able to receive ZBVI from Tortola, the largest island of the British Virgin Islands. A distance of about 840 km. Sandra Potter, Operations Manager at ZBVI was so kind to confirm my reception report. This QSL ZBVI Tortola, British Virgin Islands on 780 kHz is my 198th country confirmed!
The official call sign of the station in the FCC data base is ZBV, but the station identifies as ZBVI after the Virgin Islands. It is also not clear why this station has a FCC license in the USA and seems to have to adhere to US law (no tobacco commercials allowed). Anyone?
For my report to HJCL Radio Panamericana on 1140 kHz I received a polite thank you email via radiopanamericana1140@gmail.com .
Radio Panamericana broadcasts from Girardot in Colombia with 10 kW. I heard them on Curacao, which wasn’t easy as Radio Paisa and most likely Radio Esperanza from Colombia are also active on this frequency.
Following a lecture on the relation between food and digestive problems I clearly heard an ID: “Esta es Radio Panamericana HJCL”. Radio Panamericana is an affiliate of the bigger Blu Radio network from Bogota and as such broadcasts Blu Radio programs as well.
A QSL from HJLK Radio Calidad, broadcasting from Cali, Colombia on 1230 kHz. I heard this station during my holiday on Curacao.
Email QSL for Radio Calidad de Cali on 1230 kHz
Radio Calidad is a RCN (Radio Cadena Nacional) station. RCN operates a few networks or brands as I explained in an earlier post. La Cariñosa is the program with focus on popular music. It is being broadcast on mediumwave from 15 cities, but according to Wikipedia three of them also have their own local station ID and programs: Radio Calidad from Cali, Radio Santander from Bucaramanga and Radio Paisa from Medellin. And indeed I heard an ID like “Radio Calidad la Cariñosa… y con la vocacion de servicio”.
A QSL email from Radio Maria Colombia, broadcasting from Manizales on 1500 kHz. I sent my report to info.col@radiomaria.org . The reply came from programas.radiomaria@gmail.com which looks like a more generic email address, but it carried the Radio Maria Colombia logo.
When staying on Curacao last year (2024) I received BBN – Bible Broadcasting Network – from both Venezuela and Colombia. But I only sent a report to the BBN Colombia which was confirmed with a QSL. So during my holiday this year I took the opportunity to write to BBN Venezuela as well. After all, it appears to be very difficult to get a QSL from a Venezuelan radio station these days. But in the case of BBN the report was sent to, and the reply came from their head office in the USA: red@bbnmedia.org .
QSL email for my reception of BBN from Venezuela
Like last time I got a nice detailed letter from BBN. BBN is most likely not as well known in the DX community as for example TWR and AWR. That is most likely because they do not operate on Shortwave. The organisation runs quite a few FM stations in the United States, in addition to 4 low power AM stations. But they are also active in 14 countries in South America, with medium wave presence in Chile, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. Rather than excited preaching heard so often on other stations the BBN programs that I listened to were always about explaining the Bible in a more modest fashion.
Is this the end of Radio Free Asia? Following the announcement of the Trump administration to cut funding of the USAGM department VoA, Radio Marti, RFE/RL, RFA and possibly other USAGM sponsored stations will discontinue broadcasting.
Last week I received this email from RFA:
Dear friends,
Last weekend Radio Free Asia lost its grant and funding. Unfortunately, we are unable to confirm any more reception reports.
If this situation changes, we will let you know.
As our relay sites stop transmitting our broadcasts, currently, we’re still airing evergreen programming on limited frequencies but it’s unclear how long this will continue.
Thank you for listening and also for your years of support and friendship.
RFA’s QSL Team
Personally I have mixed views on all of this. I saw an interview with Cubans on the closure of Radio Marti. An eldery man was truly disappointed. But a younger man said “I’ve heard of it, my granddad listens to it, but I never do”. I don’t know how many people still use short wave radio for their news. The younger generation typically relies on the internet. So with that in mind maintaining a shortwave radiostation is expensive and outdated.
That said: internet can be filtered or even blocked. Which is much more difficult for radio waves. Nevertheless the demolition of LW, MW and SW transmitters and antenna facilities continues in Europe. At the same time the Israel army resumed MW broadcasts of Galei Zahal, their army radio,ahead of their operations is Gaza and Lebanon. It might be that we will regret that we didn’t use some of the 800 billion to “rearm Europe” to maintain some of the legacy radio facilities. Time will tell.
A QSL from WKUM “Radio Cumbre”, Orocovis, Puerto Rico on 1470 kHz. I heard this station during my stay at Curacao.
Email QSL WKUM Cumbre 1470, Puerto Rico
They advertise as “Cumbre 14-70, la estacion de regio central y Puerto Rico”. Which is correct if you see their location on the map below. The spanish word “Cumbre” translates as “Summit”, and indeed this station is located on the central mountain range in Puerto Rico, the Cordillera Central .
A QSL from WRSJ “TIVA Radio” San Juan 1520 kHz from Puerto Rico. I received this station while staying on Curaçao. I sent my report to info@.com and Mr. Edwin Gonzalez was so kind to confirm within a day.
WRSJ “TIVA Radio” is owned by International Broadcasting. They also own WGIT 1660, a station that I have heard in The Netherlands recently. According to Wikipedia WRSJ brings an adult contemporary format, but what I heard was a lengthy and passionate discussion on side effects of the COVID vaccines.
A QSL for WXRF WAPA Radio Guayama, Puerto Rico on 1590 kHz. The station is part of the WAPA Radio network. My report to admin@borinquenradio was answered within a day with a brief email reply from ING Jorge Blanco, vice president of WAPA Radio. I heard this station while staying on the island Curacao (721 km distance).
QSL email for WXRF WAPA Radio 1590 kHz, Guayama, Puerto Rico
WXRF is part of the WAPA Radio network which operates 7 AM and 7 FM stations across the island of Puerto Rico. It is interesting to see that the email address still reads WBQN which was the call sign of the station on 680 AM which I QSL-ed last year (see below). At the time the network was branded Borinquen Radio, with “Borinquen” referring to the native name for Puerto Rico.
Things have changed over the past year. WBQN on 680 AM, the most powerful station of the network, has its old call sign WAPA back since October 2024. And the network is now called WAPA Radio network. WAPA refers to original owners, the Asociación de Productores de Azúcar, or Puerto Rico Sugar Grower’s Association. The WBQN call sign now belongs to the station on 1580 kHz by the way.
Call sign swap request. Funny thing is that it is not the Ponce 1260 AM station, but the smaller station in Aguadilla/Morovis on 1580 kHz that got the WBQN call sign.
2024 QSL emails for 680 kHz San Juan, which carried the WBQN call sign at the time.
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