Radio Havana Cuba: December 18, 2014

/
UF23Alrg.jpeg

Many thanks to SRA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

On December 17, 2014 it was announced that diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba would be restored and an exchange of prisoners between the two countries would occur. This is the Radio Havana Cuba broadcast from that day. It was recorded December 18, 2014 at 0159 UTC on 6000khz using a Yaesu FT-857 in Hugo, MN.

Program Details:

00:00 Sign-on

01:25 News - Prisioners released in exchange, US and Cuba announced discussion to normalize relations, Complaint filed in relation to Bush era torture programs, Talaban attack in Afghanastan, Jeb Bush running for US President

12:00 Address from Cuban President Raul Castro

18:50 Commentary on ISIS

24:10 Sports

29:45 Cuban Music

34:25 News

39:00 Mailbag

51:15 Arts Roundup

Starting time: 0159 UTC

Frequency: 6 MHz

RX location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: Yaesu FT-857 and wire loop around the perimeter of the attic

Radio Havana Cuba: December 12, 2016

/

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Messina, for the following recording and notes:

African music program followed by an interview. Recorded onto cassette tape via a Tecsun PL-880 transferred onto Audacity. QTH (location of recording) was Haddon Heights, NJ USA at 12:30am EST 12-12-16

Radio Havana Cuba: November 20, 2016

/

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Joel Benavidez, who notes:

Amateur radio operator Joel Benavidez, KF5UNI from San Antonio, Texas made the recording in his home using the internet and the magic of Software Defined Radio or "SDR". SDR allows anyone with an internet connection to monitor someone else's radio over the internet. In this case, Amateur radio operator Louis Brown, KD4HSO in Kansas.
The Show "DXers Unlimited" is a ham radio oriented "techy" show out of Cuba, known to, and respected by Ham radio operators the world over.
Starting time: 0515
Frequency: 6.099 MHz
Location: Remote Recording made in San Antonio, Texas (HamGridSquare EL09ql) by station KF5UNI from station KD4HSO in Kansas USA (HamGridSquare: EM28qw)
Your receiver and antenna: OpenWebRX Software Defined Radio (SDR) over http://sdr.hu with receiver at http://64.136.200.36:8073

Radio Habana Cuba: March 22, 23, and 27, 2016

/

Live, off-air, recordings of three broadcasts in English from Radio Habana Cuba acquired during the week of the visits to Cuba of Barack Obama and the Rolling Stones. These broadcasts were received on the shortwave frequency of 6000 kHz on 22 March 2016 beginning at about 01:00 UTC, 23 March beginning at about 02:00 UTC, and 27 March beginning at about 05:00 UTC. These broadcasts were beamed to North America from a 250 kW transmitter at Quivicán, near La Habana, with an antenna beam azimuth of 10°.

Radio Habana Cuba transmits to North America in English between 01:00 and 07:00 UTC on 6000 kHz (as well as on some other frequencies for various periods of time). The daily broadcast is only one-hour long, so there are six repeats one after the other during the evening and overnight. There is a brief interval signal (IS) just before the first broadcast but no IS between the broadcast repeats. On 22 March, the transmitter came up on 6000 kHz at least a couple of minutes before 01:00 UTC with the IS beginning just a few seconds before 01:00 UTC. For the Monday (21st) and Tuesday (22nd) local-time broadcasts, the news bulletins had extended reports on the activities associated with the visit of Barak Obama and there were additional special items on the visit although the regular features like "Focus on Africa," "Arts Roundup," and "DXers Unlimited" were still aired. The Saturday (26th) local-time broadcast had extensive reports on the concert by the Rolling Stones on Friday, the 25th, along with the regular programs "Breakthrough" and "Music with a Message."

Signal quality was fairly good for all three broadcasts although there was a slight bit of transmitter hum and modulation wasn't always perfect. At times during the broadcast of 22 March (UTC), co-channel interference (QRM) from Turkey was noted despite their signal being beamed towards the east. 

The broadcasts were received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna indoors in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5.0 kHz RF filtering.

Radio Habana Cuba: August 24, 2013

/

Radio Habana Cuba recorded in London, UK on August 24, 2013 at 0043 UTC on the frequency of 6060 kHz using a Tecsun PL-380 radio with its built-in telescopic antenna. The transmitter is located in Bauta, Cuba and has a power rating of 100 kW. The recording was made on a clear summer night, on the rooftop of a multi-storey building in central London.

Radio Habana Cuba (English): June 12, 2015

/

Radio Habana Cuba (English service) recorded in London, UK on June 12, 2015 at 0300 UTC on the frequency of 6000 kHz using a Tecsun PL-680 radio with a Lowe PR-150 preselector, two Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antennas (positioned indoors) and a DX Engineering NCC-1 phaser. The transmitter is located in Quivicán, Cuba and has a power rating of 250 kW. The recording has mild distortion because of an incorrect audio gain setting on the recorder.

Radio Habana Cuba: September 13, 2013

/

Radio Habana Cuba recorded in London, UK on September 13, 2013 at 0232 UTC on the frequency of 6060 kHz using a Tecsun PL380 portable radio with a 4 meter clip-on long wire antenna extension. The transmitter is located in Bauta, Cuba and has a power rating of 100 kW. This broadcast was a relay of Radio Rebelde's live coverage of the Cuban Artists' "Concert for the Five" that took place at Havana Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Plaza. "The Five" referred to the four Cuban nationals remaining in US custody of the five originally imprisoned in the US in the early 2000s. They were released on December 18, 2014 in exchange for the freeing of Alan Gross by the Cuban authorities, as part of a deal that marked the beginning of the restoration of the US-Cuban relations.