Radio Havana Cuba's audio quality

[GB46]

At least you didn't destroy yours like I did. I thought about getting a new one because it is a nice radio while it works. I can still hear Arnie fairly good, I'm smack dab in the middle of the US. I get a kick out of him cabbaging parts together to repair radios from old junk TVs and such. I also like to listen to Shipcom broadcasts too, 6519 USB top of every hour. They use other freqs but that one works best for me.

If you do buy another ATS-909X, hopefully the radio has been improved since you bought yours and you'd have better luck with it. I've read some good reviews of the white version of radio, and some complaints about the more recent black model, which is what I have. As for my broken scanner, I don't miss it anyway. My focus has always been on shortwave.

Arnie is doing what I used to do as a kid: scavenging for parts. When our family friends and relatives found out how keen I was on radio, they gave me all the old radios they had in their attics and basements. Among them there were some beautiful big console radios that still worked. I collected tubes, electrolytic capacitors and the like from the hopeless cases, and the collection proved useful for putting new life into the other radios.

I'll have to try those shipcom broadcasts you mentioned. The EiBi shortwave schedule lists WLO at 6519. So far I've never heard their voice broadcasts, just a CW beacon on 6317. They're listed on 8708 and 8806, as well. There are some more above 13000.

 

[GB46]

Squirt some tuner cleaner down the side of the tuner shaft. The tuner mechanism on some Sangeans can oxidise over time. My ATS909/DX398 skipped frequencies (it never tuned backwards -- that happened with my DX394) and the problem was solved with tuner cleaner -- down the side of the shaft.

It fixed my DX394 tuning backwards, also.

Looking at the ATS-909X, it may be necessary to remove the tuning knob to get a good aim at the shaft, and I'm not sure if that's possible. Otherwise the cabinet would have to be opened. I'm not the guy with the defective radio, but I suppose if mine were like that, I'd try it out of desperation.

 

[GB46]

@frankdrebbin and boombox: My ATS-909X recently started to skip frequencies (often in reverse) while using the tuning knob, but I just discovered a simple cure: Thinking some dust or dirt may have gotten lodged in the mechanism, and without a can of compressed air handy, I simply put the receiver close to my face and blew very hard at the tuning knob. That seems to have eliminated the skipping, at least for the time being.

I have a can of contact cleaner, but didn't want to risk getting the stuff in the wrong place inside the radio, where it might damage some plastic parts. That's what it must have done to my laptop keyboard, because it wound up unusable, so I had to disable it and substitute a wireless keyboard.

@boombox: When you mentioned the tuner shaft, were you referring to the 909X or just the 909? The 909's tuning knob seems to have had a different design, and was located at the side panel of the radio, whereas the 909X's knob is flat, with the step button at its center, and is now on the radio's front panel.

PS: Sorry about being off-topic, but it was the only way to comment directly on your posts.

 

[Boombox]

@frankdrebbin and boombox: My ATS-909X recently started to skip frequencies (often in reverse) while using the tuning knob, but I just discovered a simple cure: Thinking some dust or dirt may have gotten lodged in the mechanism, and without a can of compressed air handy, I simply put the receiver close to my face and blew very hard at the tuning knob. That seems to have eliminated the skipping, at least for the time being.

I have a can of contact cleaner, but didn't want to risk getting the stuff in the wrong place inside the radio, where it might damage some plastic parts. That's what it must have done to my laptop keyboard, because it wound up unusable, so I had to disable it and substitute a wireless keyboard.

@boombox: When you mentioned the tuner shaft, were you referring to the 909X or just the 909? The 909's tuning knob seems to have had a different design, and was located at the side panel of the radio, whereas the 909X's knob is flat, with the step button at its center, and is now on the radio's front panel.

PS: Sorry about being off-topic, but it was the only way to comment directly on your posts.

I was talking about the 909. I have a DX-398, which is a Sangean 909 with the Radio Shack badge on the front.

I pulled the tuner knob off (carefully), and spray edthe cleaner down the side of the shaft. I have had very little, if any, issue of cleaner getting elsewhere inside the radio. On the 909/DX-398 the LCD readout is far enough from the tuner shaft that there isn't much chance of the cleaner making its way there. I also have used Deoxit, which has an adjustable spray -- from high pressure to low pressure. I've used the low pressure with Deoxit.

But -- if memory serves -- I used the regular cleaner I got at Fry's, which has standard spray pressures, and I had no problems of spray getting all over the inside of the radio.

I don't know if there would be an excess spray issue with your 909X. I don't know if there are any photos of a 909X with the case off anywhere on the 'net, so I don't know what it looks like with the front off. Not having a 909X, I really don't know what the inside looks like, either.

If worse comes to worse, I would try a very small bit of spray down alongside the shaft and see if it works. But maybe canned air would be preferable.

Even canned air could dislodge a tiny piece of oxidation or crud inside the tuner potentiometer.

 

[GB46]

I was talking about the 909. I have a DX-398, which is a Sangean 909 with the Radio Shack badge on the front.

Yes, that's why I was wondering about the tuner. The 909's tuning knob looks like it would have a slightly longer shaft than the one on the 909X. I have the service manual for the 909X. The labeling isn't clear enough to make head or tail of the schematic, and there are no photos of the radio's interior, but there's an exploded view with rather crude drawings. I can see the front of the tuner assembly, but not the back of it, and can't see an actual shaft, so it must be very short. The knob is flat, and nearly flush with the front panel, with the tuning step button at its center. The knob looks pretty delicate, so seems risky to try and pull it off from the front.

This reminds of the time my brother opened the case of a portable radio, one of those early handhelds with miniature tubes and a 22-volt battery for the plate supply. Inside was the label, "for export only". I misread that deliberately and told him, "see, it's for experts only; you shouldn't be monkeying around with it." Well, I'm no expert either, so I don't trust myself to venture inside a brand-new radio without making a mess of it.

Even canned air could dislodge a tiny piece of oxidation or crud inside the tuner potentiometer.

I didn't know it was a potentiometer, although I do realize it isn't optoelectronic like the tuner on my R75. Anyway, what I did has solved the problem, but if it returns I'll do a repeat performance. Thanks for the comeback!

 

[GB46]

OK, back on topic, finally:

Last night, RHC's audio seemed muddier than ever, so I started to wonder if it had something to do with my own equipment (I like to approach things with an open mind). Well, I started listening to them on 6165 with the ATS-909X, and could hardly understand anything they said, although their carrier was S9 most of the time and it completely silenced the background noise. This was with the wide AM filter. My regular headphones don't get close enough to the ear canal, so I tried a pretty good pair of earbuds -- still unreadable.

Next I tuned them in on my R75 using the widest filters available for AM (I have "wide" set to 15 for both 455 kHz and 9 mHz). Nope; they were still unreadable with their signal at S9+, and switching between headphones and earbuds made no difference there, either.

Oddly enough, RHC's Spanish-language broadcasts don't sound muddy at all, although I've forgotten most of the Spanish I learned in high school, so in that sense they were still pretty unreadable, Their Spanish service to South America in the evening on 12000 also comes in a lot stronger and with less fading than their English service on 6165 at the same time. It should be the other way around, unless RHC's antennas are omnidirectional and they run more power when targeting South America. At any rate, I'm not likely to get them that strong via the long path.

Most of the time I listen to RHC for the Cuban music and ignore the political commentary, so I often switch to the Spanish service, but it's a shame I can't decipher Arnie Coro's DXers Unlimited anymore.

 

[frankdrebbin]

What the? Last night was going to listen to RHC on 6000 and heard Chinese the whole time? I know China is at 6020 but shouldnt hear 20 off.

 

[GB46]

What the? Last night was going to listen to RHC on 6000 and heard Chinese the whole time? I know China is at 6020 but shouldnt hear 20 off.

I doubt if either your radio or the transmitter are off frequency. Maybe there's been a schedule change or screw-up, which would come as no surprise, since China Radio International relays a lot of their programming through RHC's transmitters.

There are also several listings in the EiBi schedule for direct broadcasts from China (not CRI) in Mandarin Chinese:
6000 0830-0850 We-Mo CHN China National Radio 1
6000 0850-1805 CHN China National Radio 1
6000 2023-0100 CHN China National Radio 1
6000 2055-2400 CHN CNR 2 China Business R

What time UTC did you hear the Chinese broadcast?

I can never hear RHC on 6000, as their signal is too weak at my location. Even on 6165 they get hard to hear at times. They come in a lot better during daylight hours on 15140.

 

[frankdrebbin]

I doubt if either your radio or the transmitter are off frequency. Maybe there's been a schedule change or screw-up, which would come as no surprise, since China Radio International relays a lot of their programming through RHC's transmitters.

There are also several listings in the EiBi schedule for direct broadcasts from China (not CRI) in Mandarin Chinese:
6000 0830-0850 We-Mo CHN China National Radio 1
6000 0850-1805 CHN China National Radio 1
6000 2023-0100 CHN China National Radio 1
6000 2055-2400 CHN CNR 2 China Business R

What time UTC did you hear the Chinese broadcast?

I can never hear RHC on 6000, as their signal is too weak at my location. Even on 6165 they get hard to hear at times. They come in a lot better during daylight hours on 15140.

It would have been around 0300 UTC or 10:00 PM central where I'm at. I never did hear any RHC. I usually listen every night.

 

[GB46]

It would have been around 0300 UTC or 10:00 PM central where I'm at. I never did hear any RHC. I usually listen every night.

Well, I wouldn't put it past RHC to accidentally switch to one of their CRI feeds, since I've monitored a lot of other problems on their broadcasts. For example, their audio level often sinks way down when they switch from Spanish to English, or it gets distorted. On several occasions they even transmitted an unmodulated carrier for a very long time after they were supposed to have signed on in English.

Another thing I've discovered is that the English broadcasts I hear at night are beamed to Eastern North America. Arnie Coro even told me last year that they use an antenna they nickname their "Chicago" antenna. This explains why their signal is pretty weak at night here in BC. Their nighttime broadcasts to Western North America come on right at my bedtime, but I'm not willing to stay up to hear them. In other words, I don't plan on losing any sleep over RHC. :lol:

 

[frankdrebbin]

I am 300 miles south of Chicago so I guess that's why they come in good here. I just tuned to them 0200 UTC and they were back on. Musta been something wrong yesterday.