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Radio Havana missing on all frequencies

DavidEduardo said:
One common thing in Cuba is to have a water storage tank on the roof of homes and apartments for when the water is cut or rationed. Those use electric pumps, so anyplace with that system is not just without electricity but without water, too. I guess the residents climb up to the roof and take buckets of water out.
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Rooftop water tanks depend on electric pumps to keep the tanks at or near capacity [i.e. input], but servicing within the building happens via gravity [i.e. output]. The problem is those tanks only have a limited capacity, so after some number of hours there won't be adequate water in the tanks to provide service to anyone. Maybe residents can milk the dregs manually [via a drain faucet and buckets], but even that's only going to be good for a short time more.

Sad situation. Reminds me of the great Northeast blackout of 1965, where very few of us knew what the cause were or how long we were in for. Layer on the Cuban regime's particular, uhh, competencies, and it mush be deadly frightening for the people.
 
My parents visited Havana last year for a week, and there were power cuts every day that lasted several hours. They said some Cubans they met said that this was common.
 
Weiserguy said:
Rooftop water tanks depend on electric pumps to keep the tanks at or near capacity [i.e. input], but servicing within the building happens via gravity [i.e. output]. The problem is those tanks only have a limited capacity, so after some number of hours there won't be adequate water in the tanks to provide service to anyone. Maybe residents can milk the dregs manually [via a drain faucet and buckets], but even that's only going to be good for a short time more.
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I had those tanks in several homes in Quito, and it was usual in single family homes to have them on a platform at about 3 meters above ground, so they needed a small pump to enhance capacity. In many apartments, the weight of the tank meant that it was at ground level or, at most, about 2 meters above. The weight of a large tank on roofs in Latin America did not allow them to be on the roof.

I had, in both homes, tanks that would carry us... including very fast showers... for about 3 days. I only recall running out once, and then we used "Agua de Güitig", the local bottled mineral water, for emergencies.
Weiserguy said:
Sad situation. Reminds me of the great Northeast blackout of 1965, where very few of us knew what the cause were or how long we were in for. Layer on the Cuban regime's particular, uhh, competencies, and it mush be deadly frightening for the people.
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I could not afford generators at each of my multiple studio and transmitter locations in Quito, so I had one on a trailer that my Land Cruiser could tow. When there were planned rationing outages, I would take the generator there the night before, and then in the morning I would show up at 5 AM and transfer manually to the generator. When the power was back, I go and switch back and more the genny to the next location.

If there was a long outage that was unscheduled, I'd just attach the trailer and truck off to the site and get it back on the air. The interesting thing is that all my site attendants were very superstitious about power and power outages and when they occurred they would seemingly forget Spanish and only communicate in Quechua; that was an education of itself.
 
Yahoo news was reporting late night Alaska time (when i saw the article friday night) that a few things were starting to sputter back to life.
 
NPR's 12 Noon EDT newscast said that the grid has gone down for a second day. About 10 million Cubans in the dark. I have to assume most stations are again off the air, but it's hard to confirm from California.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Three generations of Cubans have grown up under one of the strictest Socialist regimes anywhere, so they are less likely than most to want a change. As long as the government can convince people that the problems are due to "Uncle Sam" and the Yankee Imperialists, there won't be a change.

And a great opportunity for Radio Martí to get its message to all parts of Cuba.
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Seems that listening to foreign news during a power outage is so 1943..
 
Here in San Antonio last night, R. Rebelde was missing from 1180 and I was hearing just a carrier on 530 instead of the usual R. Enciclopedia.

Right now, 6:42 a.m. CT, there’s still no Rebelde on 1180, but I am getting R. Rebelde with a listenable signal on 530. No sign of Enciclopedia at all. Usually, Rebelde is only sometimes underneath it faintly or not there at all.
 
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Seemingly several of the most easily heard Havana signals are back. No sign of Enciclopedia (using Edinburgh IN SDR), only a weak CHLO on 530. Reloj was there on 570, 950 and 960. One or two Rebelde transmitters on 1180.
 
gr8oldies said:
Seemingly several of the most easily heard Havana signals are back. No sign of Enciclopedia (using Edinburgh IN SDR), only a weak CHLO on 530. Reloj was there on 570, 950 and 960. One or two Rebelde transmitters on 1180.
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Remember, Cuba is just over 800 miles wide. A recent Reuters report shows them putting the grid back zone by zone. So some may have power, others none.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Remember, Cuba is just over 800 miles wide. A recent Reuters report shows them putting the grid back zone by zone. So some may have power, others none.
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It was kind of interesting that last night I went to one of the Miami SDRs and found the 570 Radio Reloj off the air. Then it popped back on with a male announcer saying "Radio Reloj" and going into the news format but with no ticks, beeps or "RR".
 
Putting aside the idea that Cuban SW stations might be conduits for spy information --- hard to say one way or the other --- I have to think that in the year 2024, maintaining international SW service is more of a "prestige" thing than anything else, maintaining that they have the "truth" and are working to enlighten oppressed people everywhere, in the shadow of the mean old imperialist USA. Got to wonder how many listeners they have outside of Cuba, and if their message is taken seriously anymore.

They did score propaganda points of sorts when they ran Robert Williams's "Radio Free Dixie" back in the 1960s. A fellow student in college back in the 1980s tried to tell me that Cuban broadcasts fighting racism in the US existed and had been jammed, and I just kind of blew her off, but in retrospect, I can see where she was coming from. To what extent the US jammed these broadcasts, I cannot say. Anybody know?
 
IM42A said:
Putting aside the idea that Cuban SW stations might be conduits for spy information --- hard to say one way or the other --- I have to think that in the year 2024, maintaining international SW service is more of a "prestige" thing than anything else, maintaining that they have the "truth" and are working to enlighten oppressed people everywhere, in the shadow of the mean old imperialist USA. Got to wonder how many listeners they have outside of Cuba, and if their message is taken seriously anymore.

They did score propaganda points of sorts when they ran Robert Williams's "Radio Free Dixie" back in the 1960s. A fellow student in college back in the 1980s tried to tell me that Cuban broadcasts fighting racism in the US existed and had been jammed, and I just kind of blew her off, but in retrospect, I can see where she was coming from. To what extent the US jammed these broadcasts, I cannot say. Anybody know?
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As far as Im aware, the US Government does NOT jam any SW broadcasts, even Cuba.... there might be a rare frequency collision with some signal overlap but its not done intentionall.

And they dont do it with any AMs, but Cuba "jams" or tries to drown out several or our AMs
 
I believe there is a treaty involved. The US usually tries to honor it's commitments. IIRC Cuba didn't sign or just ignores the "allotments" that created the US, Mexico, Canadian (etc) clear channels at night. I forget the name(s) of the treaty and when it went into affect. There are some folks that believe a treaty can over override the US Constitution in Court. That's why they have to be approved by the Senate with at least 67 votes
 
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