The wonderful world of listening to the radio
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:
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
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.
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:
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.
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.
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 .
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!
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 😜!
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.
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.
My report to digitalmedia@znsbahamas.com was answered with a fully detailed email in a day.
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:
A big thanks to Mihai for the confirmation, and thanks to Hugo for sharing his QSL!
One of my favorite LPAM stations because of their music selections, Kilrock 1287 kHz, will go off air June 1st as the owner is relocating. As they write on their website (translated in English):
Dear medium wave listeners,
KilRock currently broadcasts radio on 1287 kHz AM. These broadcasts will have to be stopped for a longer period of time as of June 1. Our program offering remains available online via kilrock.nl and the websites that offer KilRock radio on their own pages.
Why does KilRock stop broadcasting on 1287 AM?
Willem moves to another home. Our transmission system will have to move with us, as it is located at Willem’s home. There is no other installation location available, unless a temporary installation location for our transmission installation can be found elsewhere in the Hoeksche Waard. We do not expect to be able to realize something like this in the short term. The move is scheduled for July 2024. The antenna mast and transmitter must be dismantled well in advance and ready for transport. The disassembly work will start on June 2. That is why KilRock will no longer be receivable via 1287 kHz from Saturday, June 1 after 6:00 PM. The intention is to resume medium wave broadcasts from the new location as quickly as possible.
New start date unknown.
It is still unclear from what date we can switch the channel back on. This depends, among other things, on how quickly we can obtain an environmental permit at the new location; Such a permit is required if you want to install a transmission tower over eleven meters high. We will inform you via our Facebook page and this website if there are any new developments. Always keep in mind that KilRock is a hobby project. There are often more important things in life than pursuing a hobby. A move should be considered one of the most important things in life, whether it is fun or not…
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