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Cuban Radio Bandscan

By Jean Burnell

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I was in Cuba a couple of weeks ago, and I had a great time at the beach! Between pina coladas I made some logs/observations, some of which may be useful! The MW band during daylight is dominated, of course, by many Cubans, but at night only the big network Cubans were clearly audible on their most local frequencies. Most channels yielded U.S. stations at night. Surprisingly, no Jamaicans were audible at night or during the day.

Jean Burnell at Guardalavaca, Province of Holguin, Cuba
Equipment: Sony 2010 with internal antenna
Daytime bandscan compiled 9 - 13 April, 1996

    Freq  Station Likely location SIO
    532.0 R. Vision Cristiana     South Caicos    555
    540.0 R. Rebelde      Sancti Spiritus 444
    550.0 R. Rebelde/a    Guantanamo      555  
    570.0 R. Reloj/b      Pilon   452
    580.0 R. Monte Cristi?? (U.S. stn)    333
    590.0 R. Rebelde/c    Santa Clara     443
    600.0 R. Rebelde      Urbana Norris   555
    610.0 R. Rebelde      Bahia Honda?    232
    620.0 R. Rebelde      Moa     555
    640.0 R. Progreso     Las Tunas       555
    650.0 R. Rebelde      Santiago de Cuba354
    660.0 R. Progreso     Santa Clara     242
    680.0 R. Rebelde      Ciego de Avila  253
    690.0 R. Progreso/d   Jovellanos      222
    710.0 R. Rebelde      Holguin 555
    740.0 R. Progreso     Sagua de Tamano 555
    760.0 R. Reloj/e      Las Mercedes    542
    789.5 R. RelojPinar del Rio   544
    800.0 R. Progreso/f   Manzanillo      455
    810.0 R. Progreso     Guantanamo      232
    810.0 R. Bahamas (ZNS3)       Freeport322
    820.0 R. Progreso     Contramaestre   355
    840.0 "W"     Santa Clara     344
    850.0 R. Rebelde/g    ?       222
    890.0 R. Progreso/h   ?       344
    900.0 R. Progreso     Cacocum 555
    910.0 R. Cadena Agramonte     Camaguey233
    920.0 R. RelojUnion de Reyes  252
    930.0 R. RelojCiego de Avila  555
    940.0 R. Reloj/i      Holguin 544
    940.0 WINZ    Miami FL322
    950.0 R. RelojSancti Spiritus 243
    980.0 R. Reloj/j      Bayamo  222
   1000.0 R. Musical      Camaguey253
   1010.0 R. Musical      Holguin 455
   1024.0 CCR     Grand Turk      455
   1040.0 R. Victoria/k   Puerto Padre    432
   1040.0 WYFX    Boynton Beach FL432
   1050.0 R. Victoria     Las Tunas       555
   1060.0 R. Victoria/l   Amancio Rodriguez       343
   1100.0 R. Angulo       Banes   555
   1110.2 unID/m  SS      weak
   1120.0 R. Angulo       Mayari  454
   1130.7vR. Angulo       Sagua de Tanamo 354
   1140.0 R. Bayamo/n     Media Luna      322
   1140.0 WQBA    Miami FL433
   1150.0 R. Bayamo       Entronque Bueycito      444
   1210.0 WCMQ    Miami Spring FL 355
   1230.0 WJNO    West Palm Beach FL      352
   1240.0 R. Bahamas (ZNS2)       Nassau  344
   1270.0 R. Reloj/o      Camaguey455
   1300.0 R. Enciclopedia Las Tunas       544
   1300.0 WFFG    Marathon FL     322
   1310.0 "W"     Sagua la Grande 242
   1320.0 R. Enciclopedia Santiago de Cuba344
   1340.0 R. BanesBanes   555
   1350.0 R. Libertad     Puerto Padre    555
   1360.0 WKAT    Miami FL455
   1370.0 R. Cadena Agramonte     Nuevitas555
   1400.0 R. Cadena Agramonte     Guaimaro344
   1400.0 WSGA    Savannah GA     232
   1450.0 WOCN    Miami Beach FL  343
   1490.0 R. Mayari       Mayari  555
   1500.0 R. Enciclopedia?/p      Holguin?242
   1540.0 R. Bahamas (ZNS1)/q     Nassau  555
   1560.0 WAGL    Lancaster SC    444
   1560.0 WTAI    Melbourne FL    222
   1590.0 R. Granma       Manzanillo      555 

   a      a ca. 1 kHz tone seems to be broadcast, not a het
   b      very poor audio, essentially unlistenable
   c      gritty sound quality, only R. Reloj listed here 
          in WRTH
   d      QRM mainly locally generated electrical noise
   e      Huge carrier, tinny signal, hum and tone
   f      WRTH says this has been reported on 792
   g      under US stn, not listed in WRTH
   h      not listed in WRTH but also noted back in Nov 1994
   i      QRM from WINZ
   j      under another Cuban
   k      slightly stronger than WYFX
   l      bit muffled, heard IDing as "Radio Las Tunas" also
   m      not // 1100, no sign of the R. Angulo from Holguin 
          listed here in WRTH
   n      under WQBA
   o      muffled audio
   p      muffled audio, it is hard to believe this very 
          weak signal emanates from a nearby town
   q      WRTH lists R. Juvenil in Holguin on 1540 kHz, 
          which did not seem to be active. R. Bahamas makes this 
          freq unusable in Cuba.

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Thanks to Jean Burnell for permission to include this listing here.

This website is maintained by Don Moore,
Association of North American Radio Clubs
DXer of the Year for 1995
.

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