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Did Cuba Have 500,000 Watt AM Stations?

This was not the infamous warble.
This was like a phase lock loop unlock. Immediate way off frequency then in a second sweeps to lock. At about a 5 seconds interval.
 
gr8oldies said:
Cuba may be broadcasting with zero watts due to a nationwide power blackout.
I tried to check out a Miami SDR (I miss that Key West SDR) this afternoon and did not hear either 530, 570 or 1620.
Click to expand...
Is Radio Martí on the air and covering the situation? Of course, the cost of batteries in Cuba is relatively high, so those who might listen would need to be using car radios, not portable sets.
 
gr8oldies said:
Marti doesn't reach the Miami SDR, no way of knowing but I assume so
Click to expand...
When I lived in Kendall, I could always get Martí... with a lot of AM noise... but it made it consistently in the daytime. But when we moved to Coral Gables, no amount of effort could get the signal.
 
gr8oldies said:
Marti doesn't reach the Miami SDR, no way of knowing but I assume so
Click to expand...
I just checked an SDR in Miramar (between Miami and Fort Lauderdale) and Radio Marti was booming in on 6030, 7355 and 7435 kHz shortwave. Frequencies vary by time of day or night, but these three are used during the evening and early morning hours. These SW transmissions have a very wide coverage area.

I could also hear those three frequencies via the UTwente SDR in The Netherlands even though Western Europe is way off-beam.

Edit to add: I checked 1180 on the Miramar SDR. No sign of Marti, but there are at least a few of the Radio Rebelde transmitters still on the air.
 
"Edit to add: I checked 1180 on the Miramar SDR. No sign of Marti, but there are at least a few of the Radio Rebelde transmitters still on the air."

Radio Marti is highly directional toward Cuba and therefore you should not be able to hear it in Miramar. For as brief period RM was transmitting FM using a transmitter mounted in the same plane used for TV Marti and a borrowed transmitter. The FM was actually listenable in southern Broward County.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I just checked an SDR in Miramar (between Miami and Fort Lauderdale) and Radio Marti was booming in on 6030, 7355 and 7435 kHz shortwave. Frequencies vary by time of day or night, but these three are used during the evening and early morning hours. These SW transmissions have a very wide coverage area.

I could also hear those three frequencies via the UTwente SDR in The Netherlands even though Western Europe is way off-beam.

Edit to add: I checked 1180 on the Miramar SDR. No sign of Marti, but there are at least a few of the Radio Rebelde transmitters still on the air.
Click to expand...
I caught 6030 on the Edinburgh IN SDR with a baseball game.
 
This is the current shortwave frequency schedule for Radio Marti through March 28 as registered with the HFCC. All times UTC and all transmissions are from Greenville.

0000-0100 on 7435, 9820, 11860, 11930
0100-0300 on 6030, 7365, 7435, 9820
0300-0500 on 6030, 7355, 7435, 9820
0500-1100 on 6030, 7355, 7435
1100-1200 on 7355, 9410
1200-1300 on 5980, 7435, 9410, 11930
1300-1400 on 5980, 7435, 9410, 11930, 13570
1400-1500 on 7435, 9410, 11860, 11930, 13570
1500-1600 on 11860, 11930, 13570, 13820
1600-2200 on 11860, 11930, 13570, 13820, 15380
2200-2300 on 9565, 11860, 11930, 13570
2300-0000 on 7355, 7435, 9565, 11860, 11930

It is possible some of these frequencies aren’t actually on the air. I have not been hearing anything on 11860 during the day, for example.
 
davideduardo said:
That makes sense. One of the comments I made in an earlier evaluation was to not broadcast from Midnight to 6 AM as anyone with the radio on in those hours in non-industrial Cuba would be subject to investigation.
Click to expand...
Wow, you didn't want to get Cuban listeners in trouble for tuning in your station between midnight and 6 a.m. I guess the local Cuban stations were off the air overnight, so anyone listening to a radio at that time was bound to be listening to an enemy broadcaster.

I thought Radio Reloj broadcast around the clock, serving as both a news station and a clock. But maybe in the countryside, they weren't able to receive Radio Reloj?
 
Mediafrog+ said:
This is the current shortwave frequency schedule for Radio Marti through March 28 as registered with the HFCC. All times UTC and all transmissions are from Greenville.

0000-0100 on 7435, 9820, 11860, 11930
0100-0300 on 6030, 7365, 7435, 9820
0300-0500 on 6030, 7355, 7435, 9820
0500-1100 on 6030, 7355, 7435
1100-1200 on 7355, 9410
1200-1300 on 5980, 7435, 9410, 11930
1300-1400 on 5980, 7435, 9410, 11930, 13570
1400-1500 on 7435, 9410, 11860, 11930, 13570
1500-1600 on 11860, 11930, 13570, 13820
1600-2200 on 11860, 11930, 13570, 13820, 15380
2200-2300 on 9565, 11860, 11930, 13570
2300-0000 on 7355, 7435, 9565, 11860, 11930

It is possible some of these frequencies aren’t actually on the air. I have not been hearing anything on 11860 during the day, for example.
Click to expand...

11860 is on
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Yes, 11860 is on at a 1445 UT check, along with 11930, 13570 and 13820.

Of course the schedules I posted are what is registered. Given the chaos at what is left of USAGM actual frequency usage can and will vary.
Click to expand...

actually, there have been historically what is called.. wooden registrations... stuff thats never used. oman registered for years after they stopped using it. so did jordan. russia still registers
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
actually, there have been historically what is called.. wooden registrations... stuff thats never used. oman registered for years after they stopped using it. so did jordan. russia still registers
Click to expand...
True, wooden registrations have been a thing for years. Also many registrations are alternates and are sometimes indicated as such.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
True, wooden registrations have been a thing for years. Also many registrations are alternates and are sometimes indicated as such.
Click to expand...

interestingly enough, Yemen is registered this year from within Yemen... and i looked back, this is their first registration in years, after years of using 11860 from within Saudi Arabia
 
Nothing heard from Radio Marti on 11860 at a 1815 UTC check today, despite being listed. 11930, 13570, 13820 and 15380 are on as scheduled.

The past few years the most transmitters I’ve heard on the air at the same time from Greenville was five. Not sure if RM currently actually uses any more than four at a time.
 
Gregg. said:
Wow, you didn't want to get Cuban listeners in trouble for tuning in your station between midnight and 6 a.m. I guess the local Cuban stations were off the air overnight, so anyone listening to a radio at that time was bound to be listening to an enemy broadcaster.
Click to expand...
No, all Cuban network stations run 24/7. However, there was extreme paranoia in Cuba over Radio Martí as well as the Miami "Cuban" talk stations. Remember, this was a country where you could have your grocery "tickets" reduced if you were heard saying anything bad about the regime. And say something "extreme" and you got a one-way ticket to the political prison on Isla de Juventud.
Gregg. said:
I thought Radio Reloj broadcast around the clock, serving as both a news station and a clock. But maybe in the countryside, they weren't able to receive Radio Reloj?
Click to expand...
There is a Reloj in every area of the country. WRH this year shows 18 stations in the network, only exceeded by Radio Rebelde and Radio Progreso.

Rebelde has 58 stations, but 28 are on 1180 alone... to block Radio Martí.... and 8 are on 710 to block WAQI and 12 on 670 to block "La Poderosa" in Miami. And 6 are on 1550 to block what used to be "Cadena Azul".
 
davideduardo said:
No, all Cuban network stations run 24/7. However, there was extreme paranoia in Cuba over Radio Martí as well as the Miami "Cuban" talk stations. Remember, this was a country where you could have your grocery "tickets" reduced if you were heard saying anything bad about the regime. And say something "extreme" and you got a one-way ticket to the political prison on Isla de Juventud.

There is a Reloj in every area of the country. WRH this year shows 18 stations in the network, only exceeded by Radio Rebelde and Radio Progreso.

Rebelde has 58 stations, but 28 are on 1180 alone... to block Radio Martí.... and 8 are on 710 to block WAQI and 12 on 670 to block "La Poderosa" in Miami. And 6 are on 1550 to block what used to be "Cadena Azul".
Click to expand...

and 670 isnt la poderosa anymore but im sure cuban is still jamming it.. they are very slow to change jamming stuff. ive heard them jamming themselves, like when marti was on 11860 awhile back, cuba would jam it, and then later in the day be on 11860 itself and the jammer was still on.

I've heard them jamming marti hours after it went off, so jamming nothing.

or heard them jamming a frequency marti no longer used
 


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