The wonderful world of listening to the radio

Tag: Colombia

QSL La Voz de Bogotá 930 kHz

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

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

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.

QSL BBN Radio Bogotá 1100 kHz

A QSL for my reception of BBN Radio from Bogotá, Colombia on 1100 kHz. BBN stands for Bible Broadcasting Network. I have to admit that, unlike TWR and AWR, I was not familiar with this station. 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.

Red De Radiodifusión Biblica (BBN) from Colombia
email to QSL Red De Radiodifusión Biblica (BBN) from Colombia

During my stay in Curaçao I received the station “Red de Radiodifusión Bíblica” from Bogotá, Colombia. I heard a program with a Bible Class and a lecture from the apostle Matthew. I sent my report to red@bbnradio.org .

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.

QSL Alcaravan Radio 5910 kHz

I received Alcaravan Radio on Sunday night on 5910 kHz. Following a program with Latin American music I heard a DX program “Onda Continua”. In this program they also transmitted their call sign and frequency in CW, so I could practice my morse skills again. The e- QSL Alcaravan Radio 5910 kHz arrived in just two days.

QSL Alcaravan Radio Puerto Lleras 5910 kHz
e- QSL Alcaravan Radio, Puerto Lleras, Colombia on 5910 kHz

The DX program was presented by Rafael Rodriguez who is also QSL manager for Alcaravan Radio: rafaelcoldx@yahoo.com . He wrote me that “Onda Continua” is aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 1, 4 and 9 hr UTC.

Rafael also invites you to visit his DX blog: http://dxdesdecolombia.blogspot.com/, and his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DXdesdeColombia/videos .

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