Guatemala's Radio Verdad being heard again

 

GUATEMALA

Radio Verdad from Chiquimula, is active again on 4055 kHz. Heard at 0550 UTC on 17 March 2021 with a very weak signal here in Lugo. Signal barely audible, best on LSB. Only 250 watts at the moment,

 Mail received from the station:

 "Le informamos que Radio Verdad Onda Corta YA ESTÁ EN EL AIRE CON 250 WATTS. SEGUIREMOS TRABAJANDO PARA LOGRAR TODA LA POTENCIA DEL TRANSMISOR.

Gracias a Dios y a la ayuda de los Ingenieros Jhaír Ramírez, quien hizo el trabajo, y Rafael Borthwick, de Canadá, quien lo dirigió."

(Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain/HCDX)

GRG schedule:

(UTC)

0000-0700

0910-0000

Radio Truth announces transmitter issues

 

Dear Friends of Radio Truth (Radio Verdad)

Radio Truth's Omnitronix 1000 burned out on the fifth of December 2020 by 10:00 o'clock in the morning. Both power modules were burned out, so, Radio Truth is out of air ever since.

We fixed Module 'A' today and I went to test it. It worked alright for five minutes, and then, a fuse burned out. We plan to review it tomorrow.

Module 'B' has a card with a burned area on the printed circuit. It may need a new card, or rebuilding the old one.

So, this is the reason why we are off the air on short wave.

However, we are on the air of Internet through our Web Site Radio Verdad Estación Educativa Evangélica de Chiquimula  http://www.radioverdad.org/

Radio Verdad | Estación Educativa Evangélica de Chiquimula

http://www.radioverdad.org/

From yesterday, we are also transmitting on Radio Truth International via satellite on the same frequency of 4055 Khz, and we need your reports if you get to tune it.

May God bless you and keep you in good health.

Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid

Manager and Director

Radio Truth,

Chiquimula, Guatemala, C. A.

Radio Verdad set to increase power

Guatemala
All times UTC

4055, R Verdad, Chiquimula, 0130, Dec 21, Spanish ID and religious talk, 25342. (Pankov)

I was glad to get these e-mail messages for Christmas below.

(First e-mail)

”I have some good news about Radio Verdad for you. We are starting a new system by which we are going to transmit to the whole world with a strong signal. I have spent very much money on that, and I just paid some money yesterday for our strong transmissions to Japan with Radio Verdad 's signal. I hope everything comes out alright. If so, we may be transmitting with a strong signal by the month of February 2016.”

(Second e-mail)

”We are almost ready for the short wave transmissions, but our Government said to wait until January, but in January I am going to travel to Perú. So, I hope we may transmit in February. I hope everything comes out alright. We are going to transmit through Short Wave Alliance Euro-USA.

May God bless you.

Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid

Radio Verdad and Radio Verdad TV”. (Wagai)

(DX Window 546)

Radio Verdad returns to air after transmitter repairs

Guatemala
May I inform you that we have repaired our transmitter already through the work of Engineer Ralph Borthwick, from Canada. Now we are transmitting with 800 watts power and a very high power stability.
May God bless you.
Dr. Edgar Amilcar Madrid
Radio Verdad & Radio Verdad TV, May 28.

4055 Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0336-0410 UTC on June 05, long religious talk with occasional musical selection a little later on. Poor signal, but nice to have them back even at reduced power.
(Rich D'Angelo, dswci DXW June 12)

Also heard at 0433-0611* UTC on May 28 and Jun 07, now on air again, with religious songs, ID, Anthem. Weak, best on LSB, 14321.
(Mendez-ESP, dswci DXW June 12)
(BCDX/WWDXC/Top Nx # 1211/15 Jun)

Anti-Cuban station from Guatemala

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Dear amigo Michael,
Just read the discussion about a now defuncty station in the TopNews Bulletin, and could not resist to tell the amazing story that follows.

Some time when the US sponsored anti-Cuban station known as La Voz del Cid was still on the air, a team of Radio Rebelde's sports commentators and an engineer from the station traveled to Guatemala City to broadcast a sports event that was going to take place in that Central American nation.

They went early to the stadium and installed the solid state portable audio mixer with its two commentators positions, hooked it up to the two phone lines that connected to the local phone company in order to send the audio signals to Cuba on one 4 wire circuit and with the other two wire circuit keep in touch with the Radio Rebelde Master Control in Havana.

But they could not make that hookup that had worked very well at many different locations to operate properly. They complained on the two wire direct line to Havana that there was a very loud audio signal in Spanish that leaked through without the possibility of removing that audio at all. They placed the telephone mouthpiece next to the local monitor at the mixer board and it was then that we realized that the audio was the infamous "program" from La Voz del Cid.

We asked the engineer to look around the stadium for towers or masts with an antenna hanging between the two and a ladder type open wire transmission line coming down from the center of the antenna...

Sure enough, from the top row of the grand stand of the stadium they could see the two steel masts that supported the antenna of the short wave station used by La Voz del Cid, the cause of the interference to the audio mixer board.

The highly capable engineer always carried in his tools kit and accesories ferrite ring cores (toroids) so he proceeded to place them at the proper places (microphone input, telephone lines input and output and the headsets of the commentators ... in order to remove the RF coming into the equipment from the nearby short wave station.

So, they were able to broadcast the sports event and the Cuban audience was very happy with the transmissions...

Of course that it was very interesting to learn, first hand, that the "clandestine" station was located not far from the center of Guatemala city, operating under the protection of the government of that country at
the time.

73 and DX
Your amigo in sunny La Habana  Cuba
Arnaldo (Arnie) Coro
Host of Dxers Unlimited radio hobby show
Radio Havana Cuba
(Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich-CUB, via pres Michael Bethge-D wwdxc Jan 18)

La Voz del CID recording:
http://www.hueppelshaeuser.de/radios/Clandestine84_LVdelCID_hm.m3u
http://www.kurzwelle-historisch.de/qsl/qsl_Clandestine84_LVdelCID_hm.html
(Manfred Hueppelshaeuser-D)
)BC-DX/Top Nx 1147)
QSL/Gayle Van Horn/Teak Publishing)

Update on Guatemala's Radio Verdad

I just received this letter from Radio Verdad regarding their third attempt to repair their SW transmitter (translated to English):

“On Thursday 14 January 2010, we made a third attempt to repair the two transmitter modules of "Radio Verdad" which were destroyed by lightning the horrible September 22, 2008. We thought, we were to succeed this time, because the last time we corrected the large short circuit located in the spark of the antenna, and as we warmed only two transistors. The new items replacing it, and tested, but not enough. We changed all the transistors and integrated circuits, including 12 power units, but even so, we did not get on the air. This time, we entered to the last phase, high voltage, but it did not broadcast radio frequencies.

The case we consider extremely difficult, almost impossible. We worked all day on that, until eleven o'clock at night, without satisfactory results. In this situation, we had to give up. We saw no other solution to the problem than order two new modules to be build in the United States, or purchase a new transmitter, but this is extremely expensive, and we do not have the ability to finance this, for Radio Verdad is entirely nonprofit.

The 2 modules we need, belong to a transmitter Omnitronix 1000SW, and have code:
Omnitronix 1998
B313110 REV 1
799 WT Power Amp
Modules Older Side
The two cards built into each module, have this code: B313115.

Your understanding please! Meanwhile, tune in online at our Website: http://www.radioverdad.org/ or at our Blog:
http://radioverdadguatemala.blogspot.com/

(Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Director Radio Verdad.” (Méndez, Jan 17)
(DX Window # 394 via Anker Petersen)