Emisora Regional da Cabinda

by Dan Robinson

During the golden days of shortwave broadcasting, there were more than a dozen stations on the air in Angola, in addition to the main government station in the capital Luanda. In the 1978 WRTH, 14 regional stations are listed, and one of them Emisora Regional da Cabinda, broadcasting from the enclave between Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo Republic. This station was among the most rarely heard by listeners in North America, but occasionally atmospheric conditions permitted some decent reception of its 5,033 khz frequency which varied quite a bit. This reception took place in Levittown, Pennsylvania using a Hammarlund HQ-180A receiver — the recording has had a bit of noise reduction applied. You can hear the steady interval signal that the station used, consisting of a drum, before a national anthem and sign on announcements as “Aqui, Republica popular da Angola, Emisora Regional da Cabinda….”