What's on 530khz?

[mimo]

I CAN HEAR THIS 24/7!!!

so, cuba now has this??? yea, elevator music is played.
cuba doesn't release their power but i'm guessing 200KW as there drowning out a 50KW turks station.

Thanks, Rob

The T&C station has been off the air since a hurricane damaged the transmitter last summer. No loss there.

 

[cyberdad]

My guess is the Cuban is running a kilowatt. Maybe less. Near the beach at Gulf Shores its very, very, faint....if even audible at all...during the day. Then quite weak at night. This station was discussed in another thread last year, and I seem to recall that David Eduardo had some info.

 

[Rob]

more then that! i hear it on global tuners sites. id say 10 or even 50 KW

-Rob

 

[mimo]

Since it's the low end of the dial, it doesn't need as much power to get out. 1000 watts at 530 is almost the same as 50,000 at 1600. I get the Cuban up here in Canada at night. CIAO is 4 and a half hours away. They run 1000 watts day, I can just barely get it daytime, at night CIAO dominates the frequency, but Cuba still gives them a go0d run for it's money. Remember also the beacon station, LYQ at 529 khz is only 25 watts, and can be heard over half the continent.

 

[cyberdad]

The other thing that helps the Cuban station to be heard for longer distances than otherwise might be possible is the lack of just about anything else on or or almost on the channel. (Excepting, of course, CIAO and the beacon). I've never head the Cuban station (or the beacon) here in Northern Illinois, but I haven't really tried for it.

 

[radioman148]

I live in Northern Illinois also and I only hear CIAO on 530.

 

[gar hi]

Hey, guess what. I'm at home right now looking at this board and I hadn't thought of checking out 530 during the day. It's about 12:10 pm and that station is coming in here pretty good! They are playing the usual elevator type music.

 

[cyberdad]

I live in Northern Illinois also and I only hear CIAO on 530.

+1.

I'm in Crystal Lake, but as I said yesterday, I've never tried nulling CIAO and trying for the Cuban. I'll probably get around to doing that some night to see what happens. Not much slop next door on 540 around here, so between that and 530 being nearly vacant, I think theoretically it could be doable.

Conversely, I don't think I've ever snagged CIAO on any of my trips to the gulf coast.

 

[radioman148]

I've never heard the Cuban here north of Chicago, but I'll try to null CIAO and see if I can get it.

 

[schmave]

The Cuban is LOUD here in Houston. No trace of anything else on the channel.
The Radio Reloj on 790 has enough punch for the Morse Code to be heard below local KBME only 30 miles from the transmitter. KBME pushes 15,000 or so watts in my direction in its nighttime pattern.

 

[gar hi]

I'm glad you mentioned Morse Code. Can someone please explain why all the Morse Code and ticking clocks on those kind of stations.

 

[w9wi]

I'm glad you mentioned Morse Code. Can someone please explain why all the Morse Code and ticking clocks on those kind of stations.

Do you remember when many U.S. stations ran teletype sounds behind the news announcers? (I suppose that depends on how old you are... I'm 49 & it was fairly common, especially on Top-40 stations, when I was a kid) It was done, I suppose, as a background "signature", a jingle, pretty much for the same reason certain advertisers always play the same music under the announcer on their spots.

Same reason for the Morse and ticking sounds on Radio Reloj. It's *not* a time standard (the ticks & morse won't match up with WWV!) and the Morse is simply 'RR' - the name of the station - so it isn't sending any kind of coded message. (Cuba has other shortwave stations for that...)

 

[davideduardo]

I'm glad you mentioned Morse Code. Can someone please explain why all the Morse Code and ticking clocks on those kind of stations.

Radio Reloj, or "Radio Clock" was the worlds first all news station, dating to the late 40's when the owner of Circuito CMQ, Goar Mestre, put it on so he would not have to interrupt soaps and dramsa shows on CMQ to do news bulletins. The ticking is part of the presentation, a clock going round the clock, and the code RR stands for the station name... and the time checks were very, very accurate for the time.

 

[gar hi]

Do you remember when many U.S. stations ran teletype sounds behind the news announcers?

I know what you mean by the old teletype sound but I never would have guessed that's what it's supposed to be on those stations we're talking about now.


Speaking of the old teletype sound, KYW still uses it.

 

[radioman148]

Do you remember when many U.S. stations ran teletype sounds behind the news announcers?

I know what you mean by the old teletype sound but I never would have guessed that's what it's supposed to be on those stations we're talking about now.


Speaking of the old teletype sound, KYW still uses it.

Now I know what to listen for when I try to catch Radio Reloj.

 

[cyberdad]

The code and the ticking can really punch through the rest of the junk on a crowded channel, so you'll know right away when you've got Radio Reloj. I'm located near where you are, and I've heard it here lots of times. Usually without being able to make out the rest of their (or anyone else's) audio. Try for it on 570 or 790 if you can sufficiently null WIND and WBBM respectively.

And David, thanks for the great little bit of history and the connection to CMQ. I always thought Radio Reloj was a Castro regime invention.

 

[radioman148]

The strongest signal I ever heard out of Cuba was that rebroadcast of Radio Moscow that they were running in the late 70s on 590--I think.

 

[schmave]

The code and the ticking can really punch through the rest of the junk on a crowded channel, so you'll know right away when you've got Radio Reloj. I'm located near where you are, and I've heard it here lots of times.

Absolutely. Even when I hear the ticks under 790 here in Houston or KLIF, I never can make out anything they're saying. Just the ticks, which I think are sort of cool but at the same time it's ridiculous that I can hear anything under a 15-20K station blasting right in my direction only 25 miles away.

 

[radioman148]

Do the ticks come at a specific time such as on the hour?

 

[purpledevil]

The code and the ticking can really punch through the rest of the junk on a crowded channel, so you'll know right away when you've got Radio Reloj. I'm located near where you are, and I've heard it here lots of times.

Absolutely. Even when I hear the ticks under 790 here in Houston or KLIF, I never can make out anything they're saying. Just the ticks, which I think are sort of cool but at the same time it's ridiculous that I can hear anything under a 15-20K station blasting right in my direction only 25 miles away.

Schmave, I am around 20 miles away from KBME myself and for the life of me can't hear anything underneath KBME's audio. This from a site SE of the array off SH 249. Which direction are you from the array and which direction are you pointing to get the ticks on 790? I'll certainly check 790 from Bellville when I'm up there this weekend. Also checked 530 and 570 and there is zilch at 530 and KLIF and what I assume is XEBJB from Nuevo Leon, Mexico at 570 depending on which way I'm aiming. BTW, the Mexican station has to be running higher than 250 at night. 5kw KLIF is nowhere to be found most evenings and early mornings before dawn because of the Spanish music, and that's with KLIF sending a big lobe in our general direction.