I have just learned one of my cousins will be getting married down near Cancun, and I'm already looking forward to the trip. Of course, being something of a radio geek at times, I plan to do some nighttime DXing when I'm down there. What should I expect to hear in the Yucatan Peninsula, 50K and otherwise, from the States and otherwise? Being from the Midwest, I'm sure I'll hear plenty down there I can't get here.
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Yucatan Peninsula DXing
- Thread starter schmave
- Start date
gr8oldies said:
I would have replied sooner, but am just seeing this......
About WWL, I think their tx is voluntarily directional AWAY from the Yucatan. So, it won't be as easy to catch them as you think. It's one of the reasons that they come in so well across the US - because they don't waste as much wattage over the Gulf.
Try for the big Chicago signals (WSCR, WBBM, WGN, WLS) as I've pulled them in within the Caribbean basin. Others to look for would be WBAP 820 Ft. Worth, 1080 KRLD Dallas, WHAS 840 Louisville, WSB 750 Atlanta, and WLW 700 Cincy. Also, certain Tampa Bay area stations should come in well (try 970).
The various frequencies of Cuba's Radio Reloj should be messy - but audible. Try 570 and 790 (1020 is another, I think) and listen for the ticking of the clock, with a beep at the top of each minute, followed by six beeps that form the morse code for "R R". Those tones seem to break through most interference. Each frequency comes from a different part of Cuba - you'd need the World Radio and TV handbook and an atlas to figure out which comes from where.
Look and see if you can pull in any of the NY area stations. I have not had good luck with ANY east coast signal in the Caribbean area - only in Puerto Rico and that was sporadic. Even there, Chicago was an easier pickup.
830 could also be an interesting frequency - do you get WCCO from Minneapolis or Venezuelan radio from Caracas? Both are possible catches there - but Caracas is the better bet.
Enjoy the nice weather and good luck with DX!
Michael said:
Can't speak from experience since I haven't been there, but in the Yucatan you might hear a number of stations from Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley, including a couple that run relatively low power. News-talk KURV 710 Edinburg, which runs 1000 watts day and 910 at night, has a day pattern that's not that directional, but at night a major lobe runs to the ESE toward the Yucatan. Similarly, KUBR 1210 San Juan and KRGE 1290 Weslaco (both Spanish religious) run 5000 watts at night, much of it pointed that way. At 50,000 watts day and 10,000 watts night (much of it toward the ESE), KGBT 1530 (Spanish, "La Primera") in Harlingen should be an easy catch. And don't forget KVNS 1700 Brownsville, running talk programming with 8800 watts day and just 880 watts at night non-directional. They should be there at night (and maybe during the day, considering the direct salt water path). KVNS has a huge nighttime coverage area; in North Central Texas they often render co-channel KKLF Richardson's signal useless in much of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Finally, up the Texas Coast there's 50,000 watt non-directional daytimer KCTA 1030 from Corpus Christi with their traditional religious programming. Their tower is just a few miles from the Gulf Of Mexico and it should be an easy catch in the Yucatan.
fldxer said:
Most of what you hear will be Mexican and Central American. Guatemala has powerful stations (10 kw non directional) on most of the AM channels below 1000, and there are lots of big Honduran ones too. Yucatan is not over-radioed, and many stations are relatively low power, so locals will not be much of a nuisance. Western Cuba will be, as it is only a short hop away, and there are some monster Colombians on the channels below 1050 (where 10 kw is minimum and 250 kw is max). If you have a portable, try sitting on the beach at night (piña colada optional) or very close to it. I used to DX from the beach at Guánica, PR, and it was a wonderful place, as it was on the South Side of PR, and all the US stations were blocked... got Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and lots of nearer stuff, as well as Africans.
What about daytime reception along the coast. Is there anything that can make it across the salt water?
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