"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!
Mauricio Molana working at RNE Salamanca is a well known DX-er running his own weblog Mola-DX. So no surprise that he signed off on my eQSL for the reception of RNE 5 Salamanca on 1314 kHz. Nice to see the old school QSL layout! Thank you Mauricio!
RNE Salamanca is not a difficult catch at my location in the winter. But the problem is to catch their local program content. This is broadcast at 7.25-7.30, 8.45-9.00 and 13.55-14.00 h Spanish local time. In summer only the first slot is doable before the signal fades out (and at my QTH: solar panel noise kicks in). Following the local ID a brief weather bulletin is broadcast and after another ID you will typically hear some messages on local governmental themes.
Very pleased to receive Onda Cero last week during a SpE opening, with a nice station ID announcing their 90th anniversary: “Onda Cero Radio Ciudad Real, Noventa Años Contigo”
And even more happy to receive an email to confirm my reception:
La recepción es correcta. El jingle de Onda Cero Ciudad Real se corresponde a los 90 años que esta emisora cumple desde que fue creada cuando se llamaba Radio Ciudad Real EAJ-65. Es la emisora decana de toda la provincia de Ciudad Real. Lo que se oye es una desconexión de publicidad local en medio de un programa nacional de Onda Cero que se llama “Más de uno” y que presenta y dirige Carlos Alsina desde Madrid para toda España.
The station started 90 years ago as Radio Ciudad Real EAJ-65. Later on it became part of the Onda Cero Network.
Radio Nacional de España is one of the few national broadcasters in Europe that still has a solid mediumwave presence. And they have local programs. Problem for us DX-ers is that the various stations share frequencies, so it’s difficult to identify the individual stations. At 7:45 hours local time however the stations have a local news bulletin and ID:
Artur from Maresme DX was so kind to help me to get a verification for RNE Galicia. Big thanks, it is so nice to make friends in this hobby!
A fully detailed email QSL for my reception of WLRP Radio Raíces – La Voz del Pepino – on 1460 AM from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. I made my reception during my stay in Curacao. A distance of 725 km for a station with 0.5 kW on a small portable receiver isn’t bad, but the fact that it is all over water does help.
Radio Raíces was broadcasting a sort of “Latin Golden Oldies” with amongst others a very nice song “Quizás, quizás, quizás” by Nat King Cole that I didn’t know. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year as they started broadcasting in 1965.
The nickname “La Voz del Pepino” for WLRP Radio Raíces is tied to the town’s nickname, “El Pepino.” San Sebastián is commonly referred to as “El Pepino” in Puerto Rico, a name derived from the Spanish word for cucumber, though the exact origin of this nickname for the town is unclear.
I sent my report to radioraices1460(at)gmail.com . While I typically get replies on email reports within a day or so… this one took 9 weeks. So it was a nice surprise!
I really wanted to get a QSL from Radio Eule München as this station ticks so many boxes. It is low power (only 10 Watt), from abroad and with 648 kms at quite a bit of distance given its power. But more importantly, it is an initiative of enthusiastic people at the Deutsches Museum in Munich who want to promote technology to get young people interested.
It wasn’t easy though to receive this one as 1500 kHz is a frequency on which I always experience heavy pulsating noise as if it was digitial communication (source unknown). And this winter, when conditions were favourable, WFED from Washington was often stronger. I even heard Radio Santa Rosa from Peru before I caught Radio Eule. So maybe this is one of these stations that are easier to catch in summer?
Luise Allendorf-Hoefer, Dipl.-Ing., Kuratorin Nachrichtentechnik und Elektronik (Curator News Technology and Electronics) at the Deutsches Museum was so kind to confirm my report. Luise is also HAM radio amateur under DL4LA. The Deutsches Museum website has a nice page dedicated to this station including a clip on how to build your own AM receiver! Munich is a city worth visiting I can tell you, and while you are there, spend some time at this museum as Germany has a technology tradition more than any other European country.
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.
I think I beat my Mediumwave DX record… Radio Onda Cero from Lima is 10537 kms from my QTH… which is 12 kms further than Radio Santa Rosa.
I don’t have a proper QSL (e)mail address, so if you have one, please let me know in the comments!
The quality of the reception was even a bit better than for Santa Rosa as I could identify at least two songs that were played. Onda Cero plays modern songs from Latin America. Below two clips of my reception… yeah I know it is bad.. but the ID is there and it is my 86th Transatlantic station. And again… 2 years ago I wouldn’t have thought I would be able to log stations like this:
From December 1st, 2024, KBC is active on 891 kHz as a LPAM broadcaster from Huissen, The Netherlands. They succeeded Rivierenland Radio.
I heard them with a program with music from the offshore radio era. It was called “Het Zoute Uur” (The Salty Hour). Reception quality was pretty good (SIO 454) despite their 100 Watt and a distance of 72 kms to my QTH. My report was sent via the webform on their site.
KBC also broadcasts on shortwave to Europe, North America and Australia. Details can be found here.
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?
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