This station is a relatively new one on 1500. Transmitting from Isidro Casanova, Provincia de Buenos Aires it was heard in Lemmenjoki during LEM379 in January 2017. A short FB message confirmed my mp3 file submitted.
Arnstein Bue 1963-2016
Arnstein Bue, one of the most active DX-ers in the Nordic Countries died after a long battle with a serious illness on May 9, 2016. Arnstein’s special DX-interest was North American and Latin American AM radio stations. During his DX-career, that spanned for 43 years (1973-2016) he received more than 1800 verifications from North American radio stations and from more than 1000 stations in Latin America.
Our thoughts go to his wife Heidi and their two sons. Sleep in peace Arnstein!
Surprisingly enough XEKQ Tropicalísima 13-50 faded up with a nice ID during one of the very few poor NA openings during the LEM357 pedition last October. This station is the most commonly heard Mexican on 1350 nowadays. For decades after signing on in 1940, XEQK was known as the time-signal station “La Hora Exacta”. In the late 90´s the station added also music to it’s time format. Mika Mäkeläinen (MTM) was the first one in Finland to log this station in 1995. My mp3 audio was confirmed by a short Facebook message without signature.
Via Arnaldo Slaen, dxld yg (15/11-2015) via Jan Edh, ARC we learn that a process has been initiated to move Brazilian AM radio stations to FM only. The President of Brazil some days ago signed a decree authorizing stations to leave the AM band in favor for FM. The reason is, that there is a need to improve the audio quality and competitiveness of the the radio stations thus making them more attractive for advertisers.
““It is excellent news for all national broadcasters, not only because it addresses the needs and expectations of broadcasters. The decree also establishes a new framework for investments and innovations in the sector, pushing the radio to become more competitive to better serve its listeners and the market, “said the president of Brazilian Association of Radio and Television (Abert), Márcio Villela. Abert estimates that of the present 1784 AM stations operating in Brazil, some 90% will be moved to the FM band only.
To us DXers this is indeed very sad news. We will now witness the trend that has already been taking place in, e.g., Canada, not to forget the large amount of stations on the Caribbean Islands that have moved to FM. Similar discussions is also taking place in another major AM radio market in the Americas, namely México. My guess is, that the biggest radio market in the Americas, the US will soon follow.
The trend is clear, however, and there is nothing we can do about it. Not only will stations move to FM but also the web-radios are increasingly taking market shares making AM radio less attractive for the audience and for advertisers. We now that of course. What the time frame will be before all of these plans have been completed remains to be seen. My estimation is, that the AM band, within ten years or less, will resemble the situation we today have on SW. There will not be much left for us DX freaks to hunt for on AM. Maybe the band is still full of stations during the coming solar minimum around 2020, maybe not.
Las 40 on 1450, has been heard a handful times in the Nordic countries. Probably the first logging in Finland was made during the LEM243 expedition (JEÖ&PÄ) in February 2007. I noticed the station again during LEM354 on February 24. No sign of the channels ARG dominant R El Sol, Quilmes, BA at that time. Las 40 carried Argentinian folklore programming and the identity was nailed by the YL ID “Música Argentina, AM Las 40, Folclórica de Argentina”.
Thanks to Henrik Klemetz, I rapidly got a confirmation from Andy Peredes, owner of the FM station Radio Activa San Juan on 88.7 FM and at the same time working at Las 40. Andy tells that the station´s effective power presently is 7 kW which is one explanation that the station has been heard recently (WRTH2015 lists the power to 1/0,25 kW!). Andy also mentions, that the station started it’s transmissions on April 2, 2001 on both 140 and FM 105.1. Andy is married and has two daughters aged 10 and 4. He included some 40 pictures of the station, of the city and of his family. Muchisimas gracias por su amabilidad Andy!
A very big surprise was found when going through files recorded on February 25, 2015 in Lemmenjoki during LEM354. On 850 a station playing Argentinian folklore was noticed fading under R Carve that was booming in with a very strong signal. Just before 05 UTC the folklore became stronger and seconds before 05 sharp Carve dived and left the frequency free for a TOH ID:”Transmíte Radio La Gauchita, desde Morón, Capital Federal de Gran Buenos Aires”! R La Gauchita is listed in WRTH2015 on 810 AM but moved to 850 during the latter half of 2015 according to Marcelo A. Cornachioni (ConexionDigital). I immediately received an email confirmation on my submitted mp3 from Carlos Pampillón, Director. Mil gracias Carlos!
1180 is usually dominated by R Mundial, Rio de Janeiro during cx towards the southern countries of South America. The other Brazilian stations listed on this frequency are more or less rare. A handful of them have, however, been heard in Finland, such as R Capital MA, R Cultura Alfenas MG and R Guaco, Todledo, PR, to mention a few.
Jari Ruhomäki was the first one in Finland to hear R Guri in 2012. My own logging of the station is from February 22, 2015 during LEM354, when Guri faded up just at the right moment from a bunch of Brazilians present, one of them R Cultura, Alfenas. A FB message confirmed my reception of R Guri.
ZYH247 R Jovem Pan, Maceió is a quite commonly heard Brazilian here thanks to it split 1029.93v. The frequency is interesting, since quite a few stations have been heard, e.g., R Folha, R Educadoro do Carirí, R Macambira, R Cenecista etc. The most common southern LA-stations here are perhaps Argentinian R Universidad Nacional del Litoral and the Paraguay station R Ñanduti on its high split 1020.10v. A short confirmation arrived from Jovem Pan on a reception report of February 22, 2015.
The station carries almost entirely classical music. CMBF, also carries the slogan “La Emisora Cultural de Cuba”, is not one of the most common Cubans to be heard in the Nordic countries. During LEM274 PÄ and I logged the station on, e.g., January 30, 2009, during very good cx towards the Caribbean Islands. Some time ago I sent out some follow ups to LA-stations among them one to CMBF. Saimi Reyes, periodista de CMBF Radio Musical Nacional
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