Friday, November 25, 2016

Radio Quillabamba (Peru)?

Radio Quillabamba (presumably), transmitting from Cusco (Peru), was logged on 17 November 2016. A DXer in Thailand initially alerted me about this Peruvian station, otherwise it quite possibly would have gone unnoticed. Over the course of about a week, their signal consistently has been heard between 10.50 to 11.25 UTC UTC (05.50 to 06.25 AM Peru time). A Spanish speaking female announcer, in a mostly talk format with at least two songs, was observed on this particular day.

The station operates at approximately -1 Hz off 5.025 kHz. On my receiver it is 5.024; for others it appears to be around 5024.78 kHz. It is possible Radio Rebelde could be the station, but most DXers I know have stated Rebelde is spot-on 5.025 kHz. It past years I have even heard Rebelde on this frequency. So, this  may indeed be Radio Quillabamba.

In any event, reception was less than ideal with an (SINPO) of 15321. At 10.50 UTC, the signal was a faint carrier and best received in SSB mode. Between 10.55 and 11.25 UTC, the grey-line road between Peru and Malaysia allowed voice and music to be heard, despite strong atmospheric noise and slight fading. By 11.25 UTC, the signal completely disappeared under atmospheric noise.

Reception report was emailed, Facebook messaged and posted to Radio Quillabamba. Interestingly, the station replied on Facebook, stating in Spanish: "¡Buenos días Timm Breyel!,nuestro agradecimiento por la información, gracias por compartir esta experiencia. Mañana en nuestro noticiero a las 6.30 am, te mandaremos saludos, sigue escuchando nuestra señal nos ayuda mucho tu información." Well, while I welcome the acknowledgement it falls short of a verification. I can only hope and pray that my letter reaches this remote Andean village, and then they reply with a QSL. I'm thinking this would be a small miracle if it were to happen!

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