The wonderful world of listening to the radio

Tag: Mediumwave (Page 2 of 12)

QSL Zender Zanussi & Radio Hercules 819 kHz

eQSL Zender Zanussi en Radio Hercules

With Impact AM from Wassenaar frequently dropping off the air, I had the opportunity to listen to, and QSL Zender Zanussi & Radio Hercules on 819 kHz. I sent my report to radio819am@hotmail.com .

Zender Zanussi & Radio Hercules is (are) operated by two brothers Johan and Andre. On Saturdays Johan runs Radio Hercules playing English music mainly. On Sundays Andre runs Zender Zanussi with with mainly Dutch music. And indeed I heard Zender Zanussi with polka music (the music typically played by pirate stations from the Netherlands) and some German classics as well.

Johan and Andre have been active in the pirate scene since 1977. But like a few other stations in the eastern part of the Netherlands they used the opportunity created in 2016 to start a legal 100 W LPAM operation. They are active on 819 kHz since December 2023 from the village of Mastenbroek, Overijssel province, The Netherlands. In the western provinces of the Netherlands Impact AM is usually dominant on 819 kHz. The other LPAM station “Studio Denakker” from Klazienaveen is apparently not active yet.

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 .

QSL Radio Cluj 1593 kHz

Romania still has a strong presence on medium wave with a number of regional stations. I received a brief email that confirmed my reception/QSL Radio Cluj 1593 kHz. I sent my report to office@radiocluj.ro and secretariat@radiocluj.ro and got a reply from the latter address.

The transmitter locations are Sibiu (10 kW) and Oradea (15 kW). Both locations are well outside the Cluj District by the way, and 120 and 130 kilometers of its capital Cluj-Napoca respectively.

Cluj Radio broadcasts in Romanian language. The station identification I heard was “Radio Cluj, ascultă Transilvania” before they went off the air at 20:00 h UTC. The same transmitter location also broadcasts Kolozsvari Radio in Hungarian language as well as Radio Bukarest programs in German and Hungarian. And the frequency is shared with the Radio Târgu Mures program from Miercurea Cluc or Radio România Actualități from Ion Corvin. So make sure you hear a proper ID!

QSL WBQN Borinquen Radio 680 kHz

I received two short email confirmations to QSL WBQN Borinquen Radio 680 kHz. The station is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I received it during my stay on Curacao over a distance of 760 kilometers. Their website is not much more than a streaming portal, but offered a nice opportunity to “spruce up” my QSL emails 😜!

QSL emails from WBQN San Juan, Puerto

The original call sign of the station was WAPA, which refers to the Asociación de Productores de Azúcar, or Puerto Rico Sugar Grower’s Association. It’s current call sign WBQN and name “Borinquen Radio” refers to the native name for the island of Puerto Rico.

The station identifies frequently as “Borinquen Radio, catorze emisoras en Puerto Rico!”. And indeed they have 6 other AM transmitter sites, each with a separate call sign, and each with an FM transmitter as well, so 14 in total. With 10 kW WBQN is the most powerful, the other AM transmitters are typically 1-2.5 kW. “La Poderosa” means “the most powerful” in Spanish.

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.

QSL CBEF 1550 “La Première” Windsor

A QSL CBEF 1550 “La Première” from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Thanks to Hugo Matten! I sent a report to cbef@radio-canada.ca twice. But twice all I got back was an acknowledgement by a CBEF employee that my email was received, and my request forwarded to the responsible team…. and that was all.

Hugo however got a direct reply from Mihai Bulgaru, Supervisor Transmission. So my third email went directly to Mihai. And yes he was so kind to reply to me as well, even referring to Hugo’s report:

Mihai included two nice photo’s of the station and transmitter site as well:

CBEF 1550 “La Première”, Windsor, Ontario

A big thanks to Mihai for the confirmation, and thanks to Hugo for sharing his QSL!

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Peter's DX Corner

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑