Tag: Colombia (Page 1 of 2)

Curacao DX adventure 2025

April 10, 2025 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

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

QSL HJCL Radio Panamericana, Girardot, 1140 kHz

April 3, 2025 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

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.

QSL HJLK Radio Calidad de Cali 1230 kHz

April 2, 2025 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

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”.

QSL Radio Maria Colombia 1500 kHz

April 1, 2025 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

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.

QSL Radio Santa Fe Bogota 1070 AM

March 4, 2025 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I got a confirmation from Radio Santa Fe for a reception from Curacao some time ago, but it is so much nicer to get a QSL for a reception from my home QTH. It is also my first MW QSL from Columbia at my home QTH!

Bianca Bernal confirmed my report and she is most likely family of Hernando Bernal who founded one of the first commercial radio stations in Colombia. She enclosed a nice picutre of the Radio Santa Fe office and their web app:

HDSDR vs. SDR console and a nice Radio Santa Fe 1070 log

December 24, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

This year I switched from HDSDR to SDR console. I have to admit that I wasn’t immediately a big fan of it as SDR console is definitely a bit more complex interface. But HDSDR didn’t support my Elad FDM S3 which forced me to adapt.

A few months down the road I don’t want anything else than SDR Console for my medium-wave DX activities. The three biggest advantages of SDR Console over HDSDR are:

SDR console allows you to adjust lower and upper bandwidth indepently. This allows you to optimize the amount of modulation needed to get an audible ID.
SDR console offers a variety of highly tuneable filters. I particularly like the NR4 filter which might distort music a bit, but is a great help to improve voice.
The navigator functionality is so helpful to search your overnight recording for signals. I use 2 minute slots, and when a proper carrier is detect move forward (or backward) in 10 second steps.

Are there some disadvantages? Yes there are. There are more options, more functionality, but that also adds a bit of complexity. Scheduling a recording with HDSDR is a bit easier when you want to set both your center and tuning frequency: for example when you want to run an overnight DSC watch on 2187.5 while recording the entire medium-wave band. Starting an audio recording is a bit easier in HDSDR as well. But all in all, SDR console did help me to improve my medium-wave DX.

As an example, attached is a recording of Radio Santa Fé, Bogotá. I heard this station while staying on Curacao last year and even got a QSL. But I never expected to be able to pick up their ID in my noisy suburb location: “Eschucha Radio Santa Fe, 10-70..”. And of course I sent a report and applied for a confirmation.

Recording of Radio Santa Fe, Bogotá on 1070 kHz.

QSL Esperanza Colombia 1470 kHz

May 8, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I have heard AWR stations from many countries. While staying on Curacao I heard them on 1470 kHz from Medellin, Colombia. It is possible to hear this station with 5/1 kiloWatts in Europe…. My reception report to contacto@esperanzaradio.co was confirmed after 5 weeks with a brief email:

QSL La Voz de Bogotá 930 kHz

April 19, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

An email to QSL La Voz de Bogotá on 930 kHz. Another Colombian station I received during my stay at Curacao. I struggled to find an email address, but Arild was so kind to help me out. V/s is Mr. John Rodrigues

Confirmation email for La Voz de Bogotá on 930 kHz

La Voz de Bogotá started in 1931 as one of the first radio stations in Colombia. Today it is the flagship station of the Todelar Network. They also operate a number of FM stations like La X, of which you can see the logo on the confirmation mail.

QSL Radio Santa Fe 1070 AM

April 18, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 2 Comments

I heard Radio Santa Fe during my stay on Curacao, and Ms. Blanca Bernal was so kind to QSL Radio Santa Fe 1070 AM.

Radio Santa Fe was founded in 1938 by Hernando Bernal Andrade and his wife Luisa Mahe. Bernal purchased a communications system from a crashed airplane, repaired it and with his wife bought a house in Centenario, a neighbourhood in southern Bogotá, where the first broadcasts of Radio Santa Fe started.

I wouldn’t be suprised if Ms. Bernal is family of the founder. And while I am very grateful for the response of Ms. Bernal I regret that they don’t do something like an e QSL….Years ago they sent a QSL like this:

QSL RCN Cartagena 1000 kHz

April 17, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I received a QSL for my reception of RCN Cartagena on 1000 kHz. I heard this station, and the RCN stations from Medellin (990 kHz) as well as Cali (980 kHz) while staying on Curacao. Unfortunately the response was a poorly detailed answer via facebook messenger only.

The structure of the Radio Cadena Nacional organisation in Colombia is quite complicated with national and regional production centers and various network programs. On medium wave RCN as I heard it on 1000 kHz is their main program.

Antena 2 is their second network broadcasting sports. Antena 2 has dedicated frequencies in Bogotá, Cali and Medellin, but in other cities it shares the frequency with La Cariñosa. The latter is a network program started in 2000, focusing on popular music.

I came also across RCN owned Radio Red network (for example Bogotá, 970 kHz). Until 2013 these frequencies belonged to Cadena Super. The station I heard from Medellin (710 kHz) is referred to as Cristal Radio Red, but is in fact part of the same network.

Finally I received a “stand alone” RCN station called Años Maravillosos from Bogotá on 1340 AM. This seems a “left over” of the Amor Radio network which had several stations on FM. The FM stations have all been transitioned to other “FM only” networks of RCN: La Mega, La Uno and La FM.