Radio Havana Cuba on 6100 kHz: the English service through the night

What you hear

Radio Havana Cuba's English service is a leisurely affair. News bulletins come with a clear Cuban and Latin American angle, followed by commentaries, a mailbag programme, features about Cuban life, and music: son, salsa, trova, and the occasional orchestral piece. For decades the schedule has included a programme about DXing and amateur radio that made the station a favourite with the hobby long before public receivers existed. Identifications are "This is Radio Havana Cuba" over a short theme.

The transmitters are part of the experience. Cuban shortwave has a reputation for hum, for audio that is either too soft or splattering, and for carriers that drift or sit a little off channel. None of this is deliberate; it is the sound of equipment that is kept running against the odds. In the last couple of years the island's electricity crisis has also taken the station off the air for hours or days, so an empty 6100 kHz does not mean the frequency has changed.

Who transmits and why

Radio Havana Cuba is the Cuban state's international broadcaster, founded in 1961 shortly after the revolution to present the government's view of the world and of the United States in particular. The shortwave transmitters stand at Bauta, a short way west of Havana. The English service is aimed first at North America, which is why it runs through the night UTC, the evening and night on the US east coast; other languages, Spanish above all, fill the rest of the day on several frequencies in the 49 and 31 metre bands. 6100 kHz is one of several English channels and has been one of the steadier ones.

When and where to listen

The English hours fall in the night UTC, from around midnight to the early morning. 6100 kHz is in the 49 metre band, so from Bauta it covers the eastern United States and the Caribbean comfortably after dark. Europe is another matter: the signal arrives late in the European night, often weak and in competition with other 49 metre stations, and it is best around 03:00 to 06:00 UTC in winter, when the whole path is dark. A receiver on the US east coast, in the Caribbean or in Florida hears the station at full strength; that is the sensible first choice if you want the programme, and a European receiver is the sport.

The catalogue mode is AM. If the transmitter is humming or an adjacent station is strong, upper or lower sideband with a narrow filter cleans things up; if the carrier has wandered off 6100 kHz, step the receiver a kilohertz either way and tune to the stripe you see on the waterfall.

In ShackDeck

The entry is under Station catalogue → Shortwave broadcast → Radio Havana Cuba 6100. ShackDeck picks a public receiver whose range covers 6100 kHz, tunes it and sets AM from the catalogue, so no receiver, antenna or account of your own is required. If the first receiver is in Europe and the channel is empty, ask for the next one; a receiver in North America will show whether Havana is on the air tonight at all.