"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe
Even during summer (or maybe especially during summer) it pays out to monitor the medium wave. Last night offered very good conditions towards Brazil and Argentina, allowing me to log a few stations that I didn’t hear before.
On this Youtube video you will see my recording of the National Anthem played on Radio Buenos Aires 1350 kHz. With 11448 kilometers from my QTH a new personal record!
One of the stations I heard during my stay on Curacao earlier this year was LS6 Radio Buenos Aires on 1350 kHz. Yes, with 50 kW this is one of the stronger stations in South America, but I was still very pleased to hear this one over 5300 km on my small Tecsun PL368 with standard antenna. Radio Buenos Aires has been received in the Netherlands as well, so that’s my next goal. So far Radio Z100 Milano has prevented me from doing so.
As my emails to the address advertised on the Radio Buenos Aires website bounced I asked my radio friend Néstor Damián Fischetto if he knew a contact. Which is how I learned that mr. González might confirm my report. Thank you so much Néstor, and of course thank you mr. González.
I don’t have a lot of information about the history of Radio Buenos Aires. LS6 is their call sign and according to Wikipedia the station was active under various names before it was acquired by Radiodifusora Esmeralda S.A in 1999. As a significant portion of this company is owned by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (a Brazilian entity), there is some controversy as Argentinian law apparently prohibits foreign religious organizations to own media licenses… The program I listened to was neutral, with popular music and news.
This year I had again the privilege of spending some time on Curacao. Like last year I brought a radio with me: the Tecsun PL-368 I won in the SWL 2024 contest. I focused a little bit more on the upper side of the MW band this time. Below a list of the stations I received. Quite a few from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, more than a year ago. The most distant stations I heard were ZSN1 Nassau and Radio Monumental from Quito (both 1700 km), WFED with a WTOP program from Washington (3100 km) and LS6 Radio Buenos Aires (5300 km). I was pleased to receive ZBVI from the British Virgin Islands as well as the Voice of St. Maarten, two new DX countries for me. I am still waiting for a reply from the latter station.
| 540 | Radio ABC, Santo Domingo | DOM |
| 550 | YVKE Mundial, Caracas | VEN |
| 570 | HIMS Radio Cristal, Santo Domingo | DOM |
| 580 | WKAQ 580, San Juan | PTR |
| 780 | ZBVI, Tortola | VRG |
| 1070 | HJCG Radio Santa Fe, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1090 | Union Radio, Caracas | VEN |
| 1100 | BBN Radio, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1110 | HJJP RCN Radio, Villavicencio | CLM |
| 1130 | Fuego AM, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1140 | Radio Panamericana, Girardot | CLM |
| 1160 | Carribean R. Lighthouse, St. Mary | ATG |
| 1160 | Su Presencia Radio, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1200 | Radio VEN AM, Santo Domingo | DOM |
| 1210 | HJE65 RCN, Cúcuta | CLM |
| 1230 | Radio Calidad, Cali | CLM |
| 1250 | HJCA Toca en La Capital, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1260 | BBN, Caracas | VEN |
| 1270 | HJAR RCN, Cartagena | CLM |
| 1280 | HJKN Aviva2, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1290 | La Voz de las Estrellas, Medellin | CLM |
| 1300 | Voice of St. Maarten, Philipsburg | SXM |
| 1310 | Voz de la Patria Celestial, Barranquilla | CLM |
| 1320 | Radio Apolo, Turmero | VEN |
| 1330 | Radio Vision Cristiana, Santo Domingo | DOM |
| 1340 | YVNE Radio Uno, Caracas | VEN |
| 1350 | LS6 Radio Buenos Aires, Malvinas | ARG |
| 1370 | Radio Mundial, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1380 | Radio Nacional, Santiago | DOM |
| 1420 | Radio Sintonia, Caracas | VEN |
| 1440 | HIAK Radio Impactante, Santo Domingo | DOM |
| 1450 | Radio Maria Venezuela, Catia La Mar | VEN |
| 1460 | WLRP Radio Raices, San Sebastian | PTR |
| 1470 | WKUM Cumbre 1470 AM, Orocovis | PTR |
| 1490 | Radio Dinámica, Caracas | VEN |
| 1500 | WFED WTOP, Washington | USA |
| 1500 | Radio Maria Colombia, Manizales | CLM |
| 1510 | Radio Monumental, Quito | EQA |
| 1520 | TIVA Radio 1520, San Juan | PTR |
| 1530 | HJDN La Voz de Nostalgia, Medellín | CLM |
| 1540 | National Voice, Nassau | BAH |
| 1560 | Pura Palabra R., Bayamon | PTR |
| 1560 | Voces Rovirenses, Málaga | CLM |
| 1570 | Radio Felicidad, Penuelas | PTR |
| 1580 | Uniminuto Radio, Bogotá | CLM |
| 1590 | WXRF WAPA Radio, Guayama | PTR |
| 1620 | Radio Rebelde | CUB |
| 1660 | WGIT Faro de Santidad, Canovanas | PTR |
| 1680 | Radio Senda, S. Pedro de Macoris | DOM |
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.
I think I am chasing a QSL LRA36 RN Arcángel San Gabriel for about 40 years now. To be precise, the station started transmitting from Esperanza Base in 1979. That is exactly the year in which I started with my hobby as a 17 year old kid. They featured in every WRTH I bought since…
I heard them once, many years ago. But I never received a reply on my report. On Saturday July 8th this year at 19.00 h UTC I heard them again on the usual frequency of 15476 kHz in USB. I was afraid that I tuned in too late, as reception quality soon deteriorated, and after 19.15 h UTC I couldn’t pick up their signal anymore.
But during these 15 minutes I heard a conversation between a man and woman, and more importantly: a fragment of a passionate Argentinian ballad. As I could neither specify details of the discussion, nor the title of the song I sent a small MP3 clip along with my reception report. And one month later I got his beautiful PDF as QSL in return.
Clearly the Argentinian government has a geopolitical motive maintaining a shortwave radio station in Antarctica. That said I’m still grateful to the LRA36 team for their commitment to the DX-ing community all these years!
It is not always clear to me when LRA36 is in the air. They seem to have regular programs on Saturday between 18 and 22 h UTC. I also heard that they have programs on Monday and Wednesday evening (UTC). My advice is to monitor DX sites like SWL-ing post, HF Underground or Hard-Core-DX for the latest information. Reception reports can be send to lra36nacional@gmail.com .
During my stay on a campsite in the north of the Netherlands I enjoyed good conditions on 12 MHz in a relatively noise free environment. That resulted in the reception of a lot of new DSC stations. SHN (Servicio de Hidrografia Naval) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was one of those!
The email reply took hours only and was the shortest possible. But it carried the three key letters: “QSL”! (I added their logo to the email myself to improve the appearance of this post).
I sent my report to shn@hidro.gov.ar. Confirmation followed via snautica@hidro.gov.ar, which is probably the Coast Guard branch.
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