uccxmgm@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu (03/24/91)
I remember, some time back, a discussion of the U.S. to Cuba
telephone links. While I haven't been or called there, I do listen,
at times, to a shortwave station called Radio Rebelde. I don't know
why it is called that since it is run by the Cuban government and is
not a clandestine. Since my grasp of the Spanish is rather poor, I
listen to this and other stations as practice.
A couple of months ago, the studio announcer was interviewing
several correspondents in Latin America about sports teams in their
areas. The program was either live or someone made off with their
editing block as I heard three or four rather interesting telephone
calls. The dialing and establishment of the line was being done off
the air, but every line was really pathetic. The voice was
understandable enough, but the noises on each of the lines were like
something one might have heard on a U.S. telephone line 25 or 30 years
ago. There was the usual dialing cross-talk, a strong 60HZ hum on each
line, and a curious low-pitched beep like one hears on call-waiting.
I think that this was to indicate toll charges since it seemed to be
every two or three minutes. Once, the remote correspondent's voice
ended suddenly with a loud click as something happened to his end of
the line. After a few seconds of hum and noise, the Havana announcer
got the call restarted again.
A few minutes later, on the next call, the interview was going along
at a brisk clip when the operator, probably in Havana, brok in and
asked if they were through. Neither the Havana announcer nor the
remote correspondent even slowed down in their conversation like this
sort of thing is normal. A minute or so later, a different female
voice popped onto the line and asked again if they were through.
From all of this, it seems that when free enterprise returns to Cuba,
the suppliers of modern telephone equipment will have a gold mine
refurbishing the island's networks.0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) (03/25/91)
In article <Digest v11,iss232>, uccxmgm@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu writes: > I do listen, at times, to a shortwave station called Radio Rebelde. > I don't know why it is called that since it is run by the Cuban > government and is not a clandestine. It's surprising you heard Radio Rebelde on >shortwave<, as it has been a Cuban national network of about two dozen mediumwave (AM) stations all in the lower portion of the band ranging from 540 to 750 kHz. The only functional shortwave outlet for the nation has been Radio Habana Cuba for many years. RHC, of course, broadcasts in Spanish and many other languages (not the least of which is English). That's not to day that RHC has never rebroadcast programs from Radio Rebelde, especially in its North America transmissions. As to the apparent conflict in the name, remember that although they're all getting gray now, Castro's people were all young rebels three decades ago. Regarding getting Spanish practice, you'll of course be getting the Cuban vernacular from Havana. To hear the *real* Castellano, you can tune in Radio Exterior de Espana any evening from 8PM-11PM (CST) on 9630 Khz. It's one of the biggest, clearest signals on the shortwave bands on North America. But, when Fidel Castro makes one of his (less and less frequent) speeches, it's very easy to understand Spanish. Later, he describes the dialup connections heard on R. Rebelde: > every line was really pathetic. The voice was understandable > enough, but the noises on each of the lines were like something one > might have heard on a U.S. telephone line 25 or 30 years ago. There > was the usual dialing cross-talk, a strong 60HZ hum on each line... Certainly. It's the condition that Cuban network was left in when it lost its capital support from its former U.S> owners, AT&T and ITT (in equal shares of the Cuban-American Telephone & Telegraph Coporation). However, there's still similar hum to be heard from U.S. lines, too. It's just that U.S. broadcasters have obtained better and better broadcast interfaces to dial lines, not the least of which is extensive filtering to keep the hum off the air. That's not to say the Cubans aren't having a time keeping plenty of *old* cable in function, as evidenced by the crosstalk you heard. Then he describes: > a curious low-pitched beep like one hears on call-waiting. > I think that this was to indicate toll charges since it seemed to be > every two or three minutes. That, in fact, is probably some crosstalk from a signal to a supervising operator, described later: > A few minutes later, on the next call, the interview was going along > at a brisk clip when the operator, probably in Havana, brok in and > asked if they were through. Neither the Havana announcer nor the > remote correspondent even slowed down in their conversation like this > sort of thing is normal. A minute or so later, a different female > voice popped onto the line and asked again if they were through. I'd venture that's an indication of the shortage of intercity trunks in Cuba. Having a supervising operator signaled to interrupt and try to harrass you off the line is a fairly common practice in nations where there are trunk shortages. Finally, the post concludes: > From all of this, it seems that when free enterprise returns to Cuba, > the suppliers of modern telephone equipment will have a gold mine > refurbishing the island's networks. To which I'd add only that it will be a gold mine to the suppliers of the nation that gets its government to finance the deal. That's been the way of world telecomm export sales for decades now. Needless to say, the U.S. is not a leader in such dealings. If the U.S> *does* prevail, it will be a pleasant surprise.
uccxmgm@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu (03/27/91)
AM broadcast band. I have been hearing it regularly in north central
Oklahoma for four or five years. As radio stations go, it isn't
technically too bad unless you count telephone remote broadcasts. You
may hear it quite clearly during the night time hours on 5.025MHZ.
There is another frequency below the 80-meter ham band, but it doesn't
make it nearly as well.
The programming is fast-paced with lots of electronically
synthesized music and even an occasional Western pop tune, (I wonder
if they're paying ASCAP or BMI for the privilege?)
Another domestic Spanish broadcasting system which used to be on
the air daily, but doesn't show up much, these days, is La Radio
National De Chile. They used to have a whapper of a signal on
15.140MHZ with local weather, sports, and, best of all, advertising.
One could hear ads for computer stores, auto dealerships, and the
local telephone company, whose name escapes me.
In the mid 80's, Santiago had seven-digit phone numbers, but
it seemed to be common to read them as one digit followed by
three groups of two as in 2-36-66-66.
There used to be a telephone company ad extolling the virtues of
the company which had a pulsating tone as its background. It sounded
for all the world like a busy signal.
The ads would also tell telephone customers when rates were lowest
just like here.
Martin McCormick WB5AGZ
Oklahoma State University Computer Center
Stillwater, OK