is radio marti propaganda?

Radio Martí operates a spanish broadcast sent via shortwave from the United States into Cuba. According to Wikipedia, "Radio Marti operates with about 100 employees and a budget of $15 million." It was originally a Voice of America operation based in Washington D.C., but is now operated by an organization called the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. In 1996, the station moved operations to Miami to be closer to its target audience.

I wanted to make the claim that Radio Marti was propaganda because it serves to undermine Fidel Castro. But my stance changed somewhat after reading this 1998 "Radio Marti" article on qsl.net. Note the New York Times quote from 1986. Certainly, it is possible that the broadcasts today are much different from 20 years ago. And although I can clearly listen to an audio stream over the Internet, I don't understand spanish.

Do any of you listen to Radio Marti via shortwave or the Internet? What do you think -- is Radio Marti broadcasting propaganda?

When I'm in Northern California as I usually am, the 6030 khz Radio Marti broadcast (0500-0700 UTC) seems to be distorted by the sound of running water. One reason could be a weak signal, although I've never heard any other signal with a swishing sound like this. Another possibility for the distortion is jamming. I confirmed this suspicion with a web search, turning up a webpage with a recording and analysis of the jamming by Cuba.

In California, the jamming is louder than the broadcast. During my stay in upstate New York in December 2005, the broadcast seemed at least twice as loud as the jamming. As I wrote in my reception log, if I understood Spanish, I'd be able to understand it just fine. Of course, the jamming signal is from Cuba for Cuba, so propagation is not its goal. Also, I'm comparing summer and autumn reception in California with winter reception in New York. Many propagation variables come into play.

Plans exist to broadcast Radio and TV Marti from a plane. Here is a Miami Herald article originally seen on Radiointel.com: Plane may help overcome Cuba's "news blockade".

Here is a Lexington Institute article titled "Radio Marti's shrinking audience and what to do about it.

For more on Radio Marti, read The Taxpayer Waste and Failure of Radio Marti in the Havana Journal (an American-run news service).

* Radio Marti - windows media and real audio streams available via the link "Radio Marti en vivo"

* Radio Marti shortwave schedule/frequencies

ge superadio and eton e5 on amazon

It is not my goal to sell products here, but I decided to pass along good deals when I see them. Amazon currently lists a GE Superadio III for under US$40:



Also, the Eton E5 is available for pre-order. Apparently it will start shipping on March 20, 2006:

my sw7600gr (photo)

Earlier today I took a few photos of my shortwave listening setup in my apartment. Here's a photo of my Sony ICF SW7600GR:

It is tuned to 11970 khz (China Radio Intl) at approximately 2330UTC.

receiver status

For no apparent reason, I thought I'd mention each of my portable shortwave receivers and what they are currently doing:

* Sony ICF SW7600GR: This has been my main radio lately. This is partly because I'm listening indoors, so its larger size compared to my other portable radios isn't an issue. The synchronous detect helps improve many signals, but in a few cases it actually increases the noise level. I've recently been using this radio to hear longwave and ssb in addition to the normal shortwave broadcasting. I wish that both the LCD and its backlight were a bit more exciting.

* Tecsun PL-350: I use this in conjunction with the SW7600GR, either to provide supplemental treble for a broadcast, or to check other frequencies while the SW7600GR does most of the work. This radio is definitely more sensitive to noise than the Sony.

* Kaito KA1102: This is currently my favorite portable, although it doesn't get much use while I am indoors. SSB reception is not as good as on the SW7600GR.

* Tecsun PL-200: I have one in my bathroom and use it mostly for mediumwave reception.

* Tecsun R-912 and Tecsun R-9012: I also use these mostly for mediumwave reception, or when I'm in the mood for analog scanning in the shortwave bands. My older, duller-looking R-912 seems to be a slightly better performer overall than my colorful R-9012.

* Eton E5: Ordered! It doesn't seem justifiable that this radio costs about the same as an SW7600GR, but I want one anyway. I don't have a Kaito KA1103 (aka Degen DE1103), and according to passband.com, this radio offers similarly excellent performance. It also has a dedicated volume control, and alphanumeric memories. I'll let you know more about this radio when I receive it.

a place for comments and questions: 2006

Readers of the Cobalt Pet shortwave radio weblog are encouraged to post comments and questions. In case you have a comment that's not related to a specific article, you are welcome to reply here. I'll link to this post from the sidebar so it's always easy to find. I welcome general comments, questions, and help queries, as well as feedback on the website layout.

If you find something on this site confusing, or located a technical term you're not familiar with, please mention it here so I can explain it or fix the article.

[Edit: No new comments on this page; please visit the main page and follow the link named "comments welcome here" to visit the current comments page.]

wbcq monitoring

A reader recently asked me about WBCQ shortwave reception here in northern California. Sadly, I've monitored their frequencies the past few nights without success. During 0400-0700UTC, I checked 5110 / 7415 / 9330 khz and heard only static. Tonight, I have relatively clear skies (low atmospheric moisture) and the Kp index in the 1-3 range, but still nothing. I even switched on my DE31 active loop antenna to try to catch it.

I emailed the station with a description of my listening situation. They haven't replied yet, but I am hoping they can tell me if they have received reception reports from California listeners recently. That would be a good indicator of whether their broadcasts are reaching my area these days.

I would like to hear a number of WBCQ's shows, and I appreciate their free speech approach to broadcasting. If any of you are WBCQ listeners, I'd be interested in your comments!

Edit: I wrote a post in WBCQ's Reception Reports forum about this issue.

radio feature requests

While using my shortwave receivers, I've imagined radio features that I want but haven't yet seen. Here's a partial list:

* Schedule-based alphanumeric memories. The same frequency can be used by different broadcasts, but I don't think it's possible to have the radio figure out which station is associated with which frequency. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) By allowing users to program in a station's schedule along with the frequency, this could be solved.

* A back button. This is something I use in a web browser all the time as a simple undo method. Sometimes I'll tune into a broadcast, and wonder if I can receive another broadcast on another frequency. I'll enter the second frequency but hear nothing, and then want to return to the original frequency. That usually happens via direct entry or by recalling a memory. But a single keypress for this operation would be great.

* Background scanning. I could tune into a frequency and have the radio perform a background scan where receptions are queued up. A number could appear on the display to indicate how many stations are in the received queue. Then that list could be flipped through with up/down buttons. This is like the feature that can auto-fill a memory bank but would happen while I'm already listening to a station. This can be worked around with additional receivers, but would be awkward when using headphones.

* Scanning pause button. My SW7600GR uses a pause-and-continue scanning method. It seems to stop on each channel for about 3 seconds. That's barely enough time to determine the broadcast language. Of course, sometimes the radio stops on a frequency that is nothing but noise. In those cases, the short pause makes more sense. Anyway, I want a pause button that I could hold down while scanning, allowing more time to evaluate a signal.

* Audio deconstruction. Since noise and interference can hinder analog shortwave listening, some listeners use advanced antennas or filters to improve the reception or audio quality. What if a radio could disassemble the entire audio signal, and let the user sort out the good audio components and the bad audio components to reconstruct the sound? I have no idea what the user interface would be like. In the case of local interference overpowering a faint signal, I believe it's possible to detect which sound components are quieter and which are louder. So all of the louder audio components could be discarded, letting the broadcast through. Also, sounds that are constant at a particular frequency could be treated as interference, particularly for a voice broadcast (as opposed to a musical broadcast). The human voice tends to produce a staccato effect over time whereas noise can hiss constantly at particular frequencies.

new eton product pages at universal radio

Universal Radio has added product pages, including general features and prices, for upcoming Eton radios:

* Eton E5. "This new model is expected February 15, 2006."

* Eton FR350. "This new model is expected March 31, 2006."

A page is also still accessible, although not linked, for the Eton p7132 (now called the p7136, I believe).