Second in the log on Sunday night (17th October 2021) was Radio Marti in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on 7335 kHz in the 41m band.
I tuned in to Radio Marti at 1024 UTC. The broadcast was in the Spanish language.
Radio Televisión Martí is an American state-run radio and television international broadcaster based in Miami, Florida. The station transmits in the Spanish language to Cuba. Radio Marti was established in 1983 with the addition of TV Martí in 1990. The station broadcasts news and information to Cuba to promote freedom and democracy. US Congress has provided more than $660 million to fund these efforts.
The Radio Marti website states that the station’s purpose is:-
“to provide the Cuban people with news and information without the censorship of the regime.”
During the early 1980s, the United States Government planned to create a radio station to be known as Radio Free Cuba. Its mission was to fight communism in the hope of hastening the fall of Cuban President Fidel Castro. The station was established in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan at the urging of Jorge Mas Canosa, a Cuban-American exile.
The station was renamed Radio Marti after Jose Marti who had fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain and against US influence in the Americas.
Radio Marti uses three x 250, and five x 500 kW transmitters (Voice of America) in Greenville, North Carolina. It is known as the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station, named after Edward Rd. Murrow the former Director of the United States Information Agency.
Below is an interesting video from YouTube put together by Al Jazeera about Radio Marti. It is a little dated (2015).
I was receiving Radio Marti very well. The signal strength was strong (10dB over strength 9) and there was no interference from nearby stations. Fading of the signal was only slight.
There are reports that Radio Marti’s signal has been the subject of jamming by the Cuban Government, but I did not experience that whilst I was listening.
| S | I | N | P | O |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Below is a short video on my reception of Radio Marti.
References.
- Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_y_Televisi%C3%B3n_Mart%C3%AD> viewed 23rd October 2021
- American University Washington DC, 2021, <https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/cuba-archive-tv-and-radio-marti.cfm>, viewed 23rd October 2021]
- Radio Marti, 2021, <https://www-radiotelevisionmarti-com>, viewed 23rd October 2021
- World Radio TV Handbook, 2021
VK5PAS 