Re: [IRCA] CARIBBEAN TRIP

[BARRY DAVIES <barry.davies25@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you Pete for the very interesting report.


Best wishes

Barry  : -)    (Carlisle UK, PERSEUS)


>________________________________
> From: Pete Taylor <ptdx@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: NRC <am@xxxxxxxxxxx>; IRCA of America <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
>Sent: Wednesday, 7 December 2011, 7:15
>Subject: [IRCA] CARIBBEAN TRIP
> 
>My wife, DX-398 and I took a trip on a Holland America liner out of Fort Lauderdale 11/26-12/3 and visited Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and a little Bahamian island owned by the line. This is not meant to be an exhaustive analysis of all receptions, but rather just some comments on some noteworthy things.
>
>HAITI - the liner cruised by Hispaniola twice but only one Haitian station was ever noted - 4VEF-840. Since the band was loaded with Dominican Republic stations, I have to wonder if the Haitians are off the air or are operating at extremely reduced power or just on limited schedules. No Haitian FM signals noted either.
>
>TAs - about a dozen hets were heard. The Saudi on 1521 had audio on 11/26 about 2 hours out of Ft. Lauderdale (6pm EST) and the Brit on 1089 was readable at midnight. However, despite several checks during the trip, I never heard a peep out of Absolute-1215.
>
>NEVIS - VON-860 popped in one afternoon at 3pm ET with three nondescript C&W selections, an ID, and then "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Alvin and the Chipmunks.
>
>CUBA - they are all over the place. The 671 het was audible just about everywhere. Multiple transmitters noted on 670 710 1140 1180 and 1620.
>
>VENEZUELA/COLOMBIA/BONAIRE - obviously they were banging in at a good level the further east I got. 780 was the first one noted, giving a "6:30" time check at my 6:00. Bonaire-800 not as good as it used to be (ex-500kw, now 50kw, as I recall). 770 in a couple of times.
>
>U.S. - along with many of the 50kw stations, WPRO-630 was noted one evening which makes sense considering its night pattern. Unusual one morning at 12:06a was WFIR-960.
>
>MIAMI STAs - It is my understanding that WIOD-610 and WAXY-790 have STAs for 10kw to offset Cuban interference. I have to wonder if WWFE-670 is similarly empowered with either 10 or 50kw at night. 
>
>MIAMI TOWER - when I was doing the all night show at WQAM eons ago, I could look out the window while I was taking transmitter readings and see the tower in Biscayne Bay. It was reassuring to see it there with the red call letters on the south side. Radio-Locator now shows their tower to be on an island off the Rickenbacker Causeway. However, there is still a tower on the north side of Highway 1A as you leave Miami for Miami Beach. Surely, Scott, you know the details on this.
>
>I have not DXed in an East Coast environment since the late 60s (from Boston). Between that and the plethora of Cubans and the fact that I am too far removed to be able to readily differentiate between Cuban, DR, Venezuelan and Colombian accents, there is no way I could come up with a bandscan. However, as always, it was fun going up and down a band truly different from mine at home.
>
>Pete Taylor
>Tacoma, WA
>12225w 4719n
>HQ180 & ICF2010
>Kiwa aircore & Palomar loops
>DX398, SRF-59 & M37V
>Eton E100 + Tecsun PL-300/380
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