Cuba,, and MIAMI and Keys Radio In Cuba

[Mid West Clubber]

Im so sorry if this has been brought up before,,, but first of all, why is Cuba still an Enemy of ours,,, Cant we Vacation there if we like, and dont Cubans on the North Shore listen to US radio from Miami and the Keys,, I hear that Power 96 is popular with the kids down there, and also the old Party 93.1 now off air of course.. Is Miami really close enough to throw a usuable signal into Cuba on a daily basis,, Im sure Tropo would bring them in, but are they really listenable daily there.. Isnt the closest part of Cuba still a few hundred miles from Florida? Ive heard its only 90 miles, but I think its farther than that,, it looks farther anyway,, of course coming across salt water can help alot.

 

[Radio-X]

Im so sorry if this has been brought up before,,, but first of all, why is Cuba still an Enemy of ours,,, Cant we Vacation there if we like, and dont Cubans on the North Shore listen to US radio from Miami and the Keys,, I hear that Power 96 is popular with the kids down there, and also the old Party 93.1 now off air of course.. Is Miami really close enough to throw a usuable signal into Cuba on a daily basis,, Im sure Tropo would bring them in, but are they really listenable daily there.. Isnt the closest part of Cuba still a few hundred miles from Florida? Ive heard its only 90 miles, but I think its farther than that,, it looks farther anyway,, of course coming across salt water can help alot.

Well, everybody's right on this one...

Florida IS only 90 miles away from Cuba...if you're at Key West. At that point, (and this is what freaked people out during the Cuban Missle Crisis) a nuke launched from Havana could have wiped out any city in the Southeast.

If you go to Key West, I know you can pick up 96.7/Havana and I think "Radio Reloj" on 100.5. I think these are 100kW stations, but broadcast at a pretty low height.

But, realize if you're in Havana, that Miami is a further 50 miles north of Key West and another 100 miles to the east, and it's about a 250 mile tropo to pick up any station from Miami. However, Cuba really only has 3-4 FM formats, so the dial is pretty empty. I would imagine Cuban beachgoers can enjoy WEOW and WAIL along with the other hispanic formats broadcasting 100kW on FM in Key West, and it's probably a near daily occurance to pick up either Miami, Ft. Myers, or Tampa tropo.

Power 96 could not make it into Havana due to 96.7, but further east on the island is a possibility.

And lastly, not to turn this political, but our country seems to be a bit leery of a communist dictatorship less than 100 miles from the "most free" city in the S.E. U.S.

Plus, has anybody forgot that this same Cuban administration was setting up nukes when they were in bed with the Soviets? What do you think they were they going to blow up? Bermuda? Puerto Rico?

I would love to see at least travel to Cuba decriminalized. It's a shame unless you have family there you have to fly up to Canada or down to Mexico or Bahamas to get a flight to Fidel's Fiefdom.

Radio-X

 

[davideduardo]

Plus, has anybody forgot that this same Cuban administration was setting up nukes when they were in bed with the Soviets? What do you think they were they going to blow up? Bermuda? Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico was one of the main targets, in fact... Ramey, Roosevelt Roads (largest sub base in the Caribbean and one of the largest in the world) and other installations, including most of the radar that looked at the mid- Atlantic at the time.

 

[Davie123]

Cuba got hit by 3 major hurricanes (Gustav,Ike,Paloma) this year, and a strong tropical Storm (Fay)
but I haven't heard how these storms affected their radio stations. They have been fairly resilient in
the past, but no doubt had some damage to broadcasting facilities, since much of the island was torn
up by at least one of these storms. By all news accounts the Cuban economy is in really bad shape.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Ive heard that people flying over Cuba can pick up Power 96 up high in the air, and then just south of Cuba you start picking up Magic 96.5 in Aruba,, which is the same format,,, just adjusted for a carribean island market.... I dont know what to believe or not to believe,,, Aruba looks to far from Cuba to pick up Magic 96.5 unless that station has like 500kw,, which it most likely just has about 2kw since they only target the small island, and I dont think Aruba is too friendly with nearby Venezuala which you could practically swim too.. I could be wrong,, but isnt Aruba Free and Democratic, while Venezuala is still Communist with Hugo Chavez...(Spelling)???? And also,,, BTW,,, I honestly dont think DXING in a Commercial plain is a good idea at all,, and illegal on most airlines,,, it would be fun as heck to try,, but Why risk causing a plain crash,, I wouldnt attempt it...

Speaken of Magic 96.5 I picked it up in Indiana about a weak ago around 5:30 AM local time,, and my whole dial was jammed with Spanish language stations.. Magic 96.5 Aruba was the only station I could ID.. I was getting Spanish on 99.9 too, which may have been Cuba,, but if this was the rare FM F-Layer skip,, I think it would have propogated over CUBA.... You would think I would have heard Power 96 Miami over Aruba,, since the Florida station are a common summer time Sporadic E occurance. This to date is my farthest ever FM DX catch at 2150 miles...

 

[Radio-X]

Ive heard that people flying over Cuba can pick up Power 96 up high in the air, and then just south of Cuba you start picking up Magic 96.5 in Aruba,, which is the same format,,, just adjusted for a carribean island market.... I dont know what to believe or not to believe,,, Aruba looks to far from Cuba to pick up Magic 96.5 unless that station has like 500kw,, which it most likely just has about 2kw since they only target the small island, and I dont think Aruba is too friendly with nearby Venezuala which you could practically swim too.. I could be wrong,, but isnt Aruba Free and Democratic, while Venezuala is still Communist with Hugo Chavez...(Spelling)???? And also,,, BTW,,, I honestly dont think DXING in a Commercial plain is a good idea at all,, and illegal on most airlines,,, it would be fun as heck to try,, but Why risk causing a plain crash,, I wouldnt attempt it...

Speaken of Magic 96.5 I picked it up in Indiana about a weak ago around 5:30 AM local time,, and my whole dial was jammed with Spanish language stations.. Magic 96.5 Aruba was the only station I could ID.. I was getting Spanish on 99.9 too, which may have been Cuba,, but if this was the rare FM F-Layer skip,, I think it would have propogated over CUBA.... You would think I would have heard Power 96 Miami over Aruba,, since the Florida station are a common summer time Sporadic E occurance. This to date is my farthest ever FM DX catch at 2150 miles...

Well, awesome on picking up those stations...kinda rare to get those in the winter.

Yeah, listening to the radio is frowned upon by the airlines. I have used a walkman on a plane (with a CD player, so it didn't look like a radio). Results were amazing everytime I did it. I think the best part was listening to myself VT'd on the radio 30,000 ft in the air and nearly 2 hours away (by car) somewhere near Raleigh, NC. Mind you, this is a class A station in VA...

The only thing you have to worry about is the harmonic the radio puts off at 10.7 mHz above and below the station selected. Since most plane radios are at 110 mHz and above, there is a small chance of interference though most airplanes are protected from this and I have personally never heard of a plane crashing or veering off course cause a radio was on.

In terms of Miami stations, you can start picking them up (a few) near Cape Canaveral on a plane. Stations like 96.5 and 105.9 will let you listen to Orlando radio almost down to Palm Beach Co.!

Radio-X

 

[CHRles]

Just a heads up Clubber, even though Hugo Chavez sucks, Venezuela is still a Democratic country. Is it more protectionist under a Chavez administration? Yes. Would he like it to be more fascist and totalitarian? possibly, but you can say the same is true for Russia.
In the most recent elections in Venezuela, however, a lot of the opposition got the votes of the Urban poor. Chavez is still popular with the poor living in rural areas, but the urban poor seem to be fed up with him.

As for radio signals, they can travel great distances, especailly over water. Cape Cod's 96.3 The Rose is always a fun DX when I'm flying in the air. Stations like B-94 Pittsburgh, K-92 Roanoke, and 97.9 NCI Columbus can also be heard for a while up there. And check out some of the stations in the western part of the country, especially those broadcasting at high elevation (like Salt Lake City and Denver stations).
I've noticed that you'll usually hear the Philly stations even over the metro NYC area, and its only once you start descending low enough that you'll pick up stations like Z-100 and KTU.

 

[davideduardo]

Just a heads up Clubber, even though Hugo Chavez sucks, Venezuela is still a Democratic country. Is it more protectionist under a Chavez administration? Yes. Would he like it to be more fascist and totalitarian? possibly, but you can say the same is true for Russia.
In the most recent elections in Venezuela, however, a lot of the opposition got the votes of the Urban poor. Chavez is still popular with the poor living in rural areas, but the urban poor seem to be fed up with him.

Venezuela is not a democracy when the leader can be reelected for life. It is not a democracy when private property is exprpriated with no or very little payment such as with RCTV, many oil industry companies and concessions, and even the steel industry.

 

[adamgre]

I remember I was on a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Cozumel MX earlier this year and I kept close ear to the radio when I was in my cabin...we went around the western part of cuba and alittle to the south. I remember picking up a few FM signals from Key West and Ft. Myers. The AM signals were soso...the dial is quite boring around cuba as there are many repeater stations along with the annoying station where a clock is ticking non stop...once you get to cozumel, there is little on the dial. There are 2 fm and 1 am station in cozumel. plus you pick up cancun, but it is very weak.

 

[Ai4i]

The only thing you have to worry about is the harmonic the radio puts off at 10.7 mHz above and below the station selected. Since most plane radios are at 110 mHz and above, there is a small chance of interference though most airplanes are protected from this and I have personally never heard of a plane crashing or veering off course cause a radio was on.

Radio-X

The aircraft "Nav" or "VOR" band begins at 108.05 MHz
Consumer-grade FM radios oscillate 10.7 MHz above the frequency to which they are tuned.
Tune no higher than 97.1 MHz (97.3+10.7=108.0) and you should be safe.

 

[Ai4i]

The only thing you have to worry about is the harmonic the radio puts off at 10.7 mHz above and below the station selected. Since most plane radios are at 110 mHz and above, there is a small chance of interference though most airplanes are protected from this and I have personally never heard of a plane crashing or veering off course cause a radio was on.
Radio-X

The aircraft "Nav" or "VOR" band begins at 108.05 MHz
Consumer-grade FM radios oscillate 10.7 MHz above the frequency to which they are tuned.
Tune no higher than 97.1 MHz (97.3+10.7=108.0) and you should be safe.

Venezuela is not a democracy when the leader can be reelected for life. It is not a democracy when private property is exprpriated with no or very little payment such as with RCTV, many oil industry companies and concessions, and even the steel industry.

The important thing is that the major decisions of Venezuela rely on regularly scheduled popular votes.
Chavez begs the people for their support, he lacks the authority to demand it.

 

[Ai4i]

Too short a time limit for us to modify our posts!

Venezuela is not a democracy when the leader can be reelected for life. It is not a democracy when private property is exprpriated with no or very little payment such as with RCTV, many oil industry companies and concessions, and even the steel industry.

The important political decisions in Venezuela depend on regularly scheduled popular elections.
Chavez begs the people for their support, he lacks the power to demand it.
Sometimes he gets their support, sometimes not.

 

[davideduardo]

The important political decisions in Venezuela depend on regularly scheduled popular elections.

And people who too openly oppose the reelection of Chávez or his "reforms" get their businesses interferred with (RCTV is the best example) or have trouble keeping their jobs.

That is a classic definition of a dictatorship with a tiny pretence of democracy.