Key West

[borderblaster]

Really interesting. What's Cuba's issue with WLS? They're running 200kW on 890.(probably not all the time). (They once had a talk host who was pretty sympathetic to the Cuban government)/

 

[davideduardo]

Really interesting. What's Cuba's issue with WLS? They're running 200kW on 890.(probably not all the time). (They once had a talk host who was pretty sympathetic to the Cuban government)/

The best guess based on measurements in Miami is that 890 is running about 30 kw.

The list presented here is a plan, not actual operation.

Cuba has not "jammed" English stations since around the 60's. The pretty much limit blocking (the heterodyne jamming ended decades ago) to 710, 1140 and 1180. And even 1140 has not had severe blocking in more than a decade, either.

None of the 710 blockers, which are believed by the station management to be 4, are 200 kw. None are 100 kw. None are 50 kw. They seem to be 3 10 kw stations and one in the 1 to 5 kw range... yet the "plan" shows many more stations at huge power levels... which is not true.

 

[cd637299]

Really interesting. What's Cuba's issue with WLS? They're running 200kW on 890.(probably not all the time). (They once had a talk host who was pretty sympathetic to the Cuban government)/

The best guess based on measurements in Miami is that 890 is running about 30 kw.

Cuba has not "jammed" English stations since around the 60's. The pretty much limit blocking (the heterodyne jamming ended decades ago) to 710, 1140 and 1180. And even 1140 has not had severe blocking in more than a decade, either.

890 was the only Cuban AM I heard in the daytime in Bermuda, if that means anything!

cd

 

[davideduardo]

I did some investigating and found a somewhat recent paper that [supposedly] was an official frequency plan for Cuban AM stations and it's very interesting.

Based on more limited information, that document, lifted from data on an oh-so-propaganda-ish website, is a "plan" as in "dream."

For example, 1140 was jammed during the 60's and into the 80's by an off-frequency set of transmitters that caused a wicked heterodyne. Today, 1140 is relatively clear and WQBA is not subject to interference in the Miami metro, while previously the het could be heard on Key Biscayne, The Grove and along the shore from Turkey Point to Homestead.

670 has not been the subject of blockage for a long time, since it is pretty much a brokered station, with little content that would be disliked in Cuba. While Cuba has always had a 10 to 30 kw station on that channel, the goal was local coverage.

1550 is also brokered and doesn't have a signal in Cuba; it's high band, directional and drops to flea power at night.

710, as mentioned in my previous post, may have 4 transmitters, none outside of the 10 kw range (it's hard to tell precisely since all of them run, usually, the same programming, and we don't have a ground conductivity map of Cuba itself to be more precise).

And, even with Chavez' help, Cuba could not afford a tenth of those facilities.

 

[davideduardo]

890 was the only Cuban AM I heard in the daytime in Bermuda, if that means anything!

cd

I'll ask an engineer in Miami to do a field strength reading when he can... maybe out at Krome and the Trail where there are no urban obstructions.

 

[davideduardo]

Based on more limited information, that document, lifted from data on an oh-so-propaganda-ish website, is a "plan" as in "dream."

A real list of stations in Cuba is at

http://www.radiocubana.cu/index.php/directorio-de-radio-emisoras-cubanas

which is the official listing at the Cuban Institute of Radio's site. It can be seen that the ambitious AM plan was abandoned in favor of an extensive FM system, including moving some of the national networks, like Radio Taíno totally to FM.

 

[cyberdad]

I did some investigating and found a somewhat recent paper that [supposedly] was an official frequency plan for Cuban AM stations and it's very interesting.

Based on more limited information, that document, lifted from data on an oh-so-propaganda-ish website, is a "plan" as in "dream."

For example, 1140 was jammed during the 60's and into the 80's by an off-frequency set of transmitters that caused a wicked heterodyne. Today, 1140 is relatively clear and WQBA is not subject to interference in the Miami metro, while previously the het could be heard on Key Biscayne, The Grove and along the shore from Turkey Point to Homestead.

670 has not been the subject of blockage for a long time, since it is pretty much a brokered station, with little content that would be disliked in Cuba. While Cuba has always had a 10 to 30 kw station on that channel, the goal was local coverage.

1550 is also brokered and doesn't have a signal in Cuba; it's high band, directional and drops to flea power at night.

710, as mentioned in my previous post, may have 4 transmitters, none outside of the 10 kw range (it's hard to tell precisely since all of them run, usually, the same programming, and we don't have a ground conductivity map of Cuba itself to be more precise).

And, even with Chavez' help, Cuba could not afford a tenth of those facilities.

Thanks, David, for shedding even more light on things. Some of what you're reporting dovetails with my experience last week, while some does not. (Hey, I'm just the messenger here).

For example, 710. A few 10kw sticks seems about right. My trip began in North Carolina, where I didn't hear the "710 chorus" at all. This would not have been the case if things were as claimed/planned in the pdf document. I also haven't heard the Cuba 710s here in the Chicago area, either ....WGN splatter notwithstanding. Also 30kw on 890 sounds about right. Excepting points in the general proximity of the gulf coast, they don't seem to be a particularly onerous problem for WLS' signal. Again, that wouldn't be the case if they were actually running 200kw!

OTOH of the Miami frequencies, 1140 seems to be the one getting trashed the most. In my drive, it started right around Homestead. 670 didn't fare much better. 1550 was a surprise, but it was definitely getting a major haircut from the Cubans. You may also recall that a couple of years back, there was a Cuban noisemaker on 1550 for no seemingly obvious reason. Maybe these are all fairly recent developments, but if you have an engineer friend who's willing to look into things, I'll be curious to hear what he comes up with. You might ask him to look into 1620 as well....not that there'd be any reason for the Castro brothers to be going after English language sports talk from Pensacola. Howe

 

[jd]

That "real list" is great, if you're wondering about local stations, but what about the national network stations? It would be interesting to know, for instance, the locations and power levels for those 45 Radio Rebelde AM stations.

 

[davideduardo]

That "real list" is great, if you're wondering about local stations, but what about the national network stations? It would be interesting to know, for instance, the locations and power levels for those 45 Radio Rebelde AM stations.

The Rebelde website has... or has had in the past... a list. The 2011 and 2012 WRTVH have pretty accurate lists that are much closer to reality than the "plan" that lists all those non-existent 200 kw stations.

 

[davideduardo]

OTOH of the Miami frequencies, 1140 seems to be the one getting trashed the most. In my drive, it started right around Homestead. 670 didn't fare much better. 1550 was a surprise, but it was definitely getting a major haircut from the Cubans. You may also recall that a couple of years back, there was a Cuban noisemaker on 1550 for no seemingly obvious reason. Maybe these are all fairly recent developments, but if you have an engineer friend who's willing to look into things, I'll be curious to hear what he comes up with. You might ask him to look into 1620 as well....not that there'd be any reason for the Castro brothers to be going after English language sports talk from Pensacola. Howe

I could have been clearer...

1140 used to have a real jammer... an off channel station broadcasting tone which heterodyned with WQBA and caused an awful squeal in the Miami area. Now that is gone, but the channel does have some Cuban stations that make listening to WQBA even in the Keys rather hard. I don't program that station any more, so I have not driven the signal much but it's definitely better in the areas where listening is important.

670 always, even in the Pre-Castro era, had a big signal on it. Still does. I think 1550 is either the product of nobody in Cuba knowing that 1550 is a non-entity in Miami and continuing to block the signal or of just coincidence.

Many of the higher powered Cubans interfere with US stations by coincidence as opposed to any real purpose... the 890 situation being a good example.

Amusingly, I've had some discussions in the past with folks who believe that WFLA or WIOD or some other English talk station is being jammed on purpose... and trying to reason that only a tiny, tiny portion of the Cuban population understands English well enough to listen. I don't think Glenn Beck poses any real threat to the Cuban Revolution.

 

[cyberdad]

I completely agree that the Castro brothers have other concerns than Glenn Beck, etc., and are not intentionally "targeting" English language stations. The Cuban trashing of WSCR, for example, seems to be "collateral damage" from whatever may (or may not) be going on with regard to WMFE. In the case of the major south Florida English signals, whatever faint Spanish was underneath those by the time I got to Key West was insignificant to say the least.

The 1140 situation surprised me, but as you alluded to, WQBA was excellent everywhere I sampled it in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro (where I spent three days before moving on to the Keys).

1550 still puzzles me. I recall the thread going a couple of years back, where quite a few of us were wondering why Cuba had put a widely-heard noisemaker on what was a second-tier Miami area Spanish signal. Then the noisemaker disappeared. Perhaps it WAS just coincidence.

But the latest Cuban 1550 also seems to have a fairly significant footprint....which seems to be unusual for Cuban stations on that end of the dial. I'll be anxious to discover if I can hear it when I'm in Pensacola in a few weeks. Especially if it turns up during the daytime (the prior noisemaker was only audible there at night).

 

[cd637299]

I am almost sure that the Cuba 1550 is another Rebelde. IIRC, WRHC was off the air one night.

If it's heard in P'cola, I'd like to know for sure.

cd

 

[gar hi]

890 was the only Cuban AM I heard in the daytime in Bermuda, if that means anything!

cd

For what it's worth, daytime here in Tampa, the strongest Cubans are 530, 640, and 670 with good listenable signals.

890 is weak and barely audible.

 

[cyberdad]

I am almost sure that the Cuba 1550 is another Rebelde.  IIRC, WRHC was off the air one night.

If it's heard in P'cola, I'd like to know for sure.

cd

R. Rebelde is what I heard. When the 1550 noisemaker was going, I could hear it at night in P-cola (and Orlando), but not daytime. 

Btw, I know you've sent me a couple of PMs...which I appreciate....but my last two replies have bounced.  Not that I had anything worthwhile to say or anything!  ;D