When staying on Curacao last year (2024) I received BBN – Bible Broadcasting Network – from both Venezuela and Colombia. But I only sent a report to the BBN Colombia which was confirmed with a QSL. So during my holiday this year I took the opportunity to write to BBN Venezuela as well. After all, it appears to be very difficult to get a QSL from a Venezuelan radio station these days. But in the case of BBN the report was sent to, and the reply came from their head office in the USA: red@bbnmedia.org .
QSL email for my reception of BBN from Venezuela
Like last time I got a nice detailed letter from BBN. BBN is most likely not as well known in the DX community as for example TWR and AWR. 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. Rather than excited preaching heard so often on other stations the BBN programs that I listened to were always about explaining the Bible in a more modest fashion.
For an island with a population slightly over 190.000 people Curaçao has quite a few FM radio stations! I heard 17 different ones during my stay on the island. Ok this is not DX, but I’m just fond of radio. And it was nice to see the variety of radio stations in either Dutch, Papiamento (or a mix) or even in Spanish (like Radio Rumbera). Quite a few religious stations (New Song, Messianic Waves, Deltha), and a wide variety in music styles.
That said I didn’t get the impression that the situation is sustainable from a financial point of view. The economy of the island was severely impacted by the closure of the Isla refinery in 2019. Covid hit tourism, the only other main source of income, badly. And this impacts revenue streams from commercials. Yes there are stations with sound programming, disc jockeys, up to date news bulletins, a healthy volume of commercials and presence on social media. But there are also a few that seem to be a “skeleton” operation with non-stop music mainly. The owners of the only medium wave station Z86 and Mi95 on FM went bankrupt earlier this year…
88.3
Rockórsou
91.5
Hitradio 915
92.1
Direct Life
92.7
Radio Deltha 92.7
93.3
Telecuraçao FM
96.5
Radio New Song
97.3
Dolfijn FM
97.9
Easy FM
98.5
Radio Semiya
99.7
Radio Mas
100.3
Messianic Waves
101.9
Radio Hoyer 1
103.1
Paradise FM
104.5
Radio Active
105.1
Radio Hoyer 2
107.1
Direct 107
107.9
Rumbera FM
Messianic Waves seems to have replaced Hit 100.3 FM/Super Jumbo on that frequency. I did not receive anything on the frequencies for Laser 101 (101.1 MHz), Radio One (103.9 MHz) and Fiesta FM (106.3 FM). Not sure whether they are still online as their websites are also silent. And I might have missed logging Clazz FM on 95.1 MHz. The FM-Scan site does list a few other stations that I didn’t hear.
I did not actively search for stations outside Curaçao other than Aruba (which I tried from Westpunt) and Bonaire. But no results for these two islands. I did hear two stations from Venezuela though, both from Punto Fijo (145 kms away):
PDVSA on 105.7 FM, a station from the Venezuelean State Oil Company, also identifying as La Voz Petrolina.
Radio La Voz Internacional on 101.3 FM. I had this station listed on 106.9 FM, with Festivo FM listed on 101.3 FM, so maybe something changed overthere.
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!
540
Radio ABC, Santo Domingo
DOM
550
Radio Munidal, Caracas
VEN
590
Radio Santa Maria, La Vega
DOM
610
La Cariñosa, Bogotá
CLM
650
Antena 2, Bogotá
CLM
670
Radio Rumbos, Caracas
VEN
680
Radio Nacional Colombia, Bogotá
CLM
680
WBQN Borinquen Radio, San Juan
PTR
710
Cristal Radio Red, Medellín
CLM
770
RCN Bogotá, Bogotá
CLM
780
La Voz de Dios, Cali
CLM
780
ZBVI, Tortola
VRG
800
TWR Bonaire, Kralendijk
BES
810
Radio Caracol, Bogotá
CLM
810
Radio Paz, San Juan
PTR
830
Radio Sensación, San Antonio
VEN
840
Radio HJ Doble K, Neiva
CLM
840
Nacional FM, Howard
PNR
850
Candela 850, Bogotá
CLM
860
La Voz del Caneguate, Valledupar
CLM
860
Radio Mundial 860, San Cristóbal
VEN
880
Caracol, Bucaramanga
CLM
910
La Voz del Rio Grande, Medellin
CLM
930
La Voz de Bogotá, Bogotá
CLM
940
WINZ Fox Sports, Miami
USA
970
Radio Red, Bogotá
CLM
980
RCN Radio, Cali
CLM
990
RCN Radio, Medellín
CLM
1000
RCN Radio, Cartagena
CLM
1020
Emisora Claridad, Medellín
CLM
1070
Radio Santa Fe, Bogotá
CLM
1080
La Voz de Antioquia, Medellín
CLM
1090
Unión Radio Cultural, Caracas
VEN
1090
Caracal Radio, Cúcuta
CLM
1100
BBN – Red de Radiodifusión Biblica
CLM
1100
Caracol Radio, Barranquilla
CLM
1130
Radio ideal, Maiquetia
VEN
1140
Radio Paisa, Medellín
CLM
1160
Su Presencia Radio, Bogotá
CLM
1160
Caribbean Radio Lighthouse
ATG
1200
Radio Tiempo, Caracas
VEN
1210
La Cariñosa, Cúcuta
CLM
1220
Radio Maria Colombia, Bogotá
CLM
1260
BBN – Red de Radiodiffusión Biblica
VEN
1270
La Cariñosa. Cartagena
CLM
1340
Amor Años Maravillosos, Bogotá
CLM
1400
Harbour Light of the Windwards
GRD
1420
Radio Sintonia, Caracas
VEN
1450
Radio Maria Venezuela, Catia La Mar
VEN
1470
Esperanza Adventura, Medellín
CLM
1490
Emisora Punto Cinco, Bogotá
CLM
1510
La Voz de la Unión, La Unión
CLM
1540
ZNS1 National Voice, Nassau
BAH
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.
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