Peru DX Blog
October to December 2016
This page is for photos and other on-going DX related commentary on my trip. See the log pages for loggings and recordings of station. I will probably put most of my emphasis on medium wave listening.
CAJAMARCA
The city of Cajamarca is the capital of the department of the same name. In 1985 I visited shortwave stations Emisora Nuevo Continente and (the very short-lived) Radio San Pedro. This time I wanted to visit the Catholic station Radio Atahualpa, which I believe is the only station in the city that has been on shortwave within the last twenty years. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find out where it is. The listing from the Peruvian government is wrong. Their Facebook page doesn't give an address or a phone number. The staff at Radio Turbomix didn't know. Finally on my last day in town I stopped by Radio Campesina and they tell me the offices are in the nearby town of Baños del Inca. I expect to return to Cajamarca in April so will try then.
Radio TurboMix - 1540 kHz variable
I stopped by here on Wednesday November 1. Because that was a holiday (All Saints' Day) there weren't any managers present. Without management approval the staff wouldn't take me up to the studios.
Radio Continente
In 1985 there was a station named Emisora Nuevo Continente that had studios downtown just a block from the plaza. They were next door to the Hotel Jusovi, which is where we stayed (and the hotel still exists). I wanted to see if this was the same station or not, but when I stopped by the door was locked and noone answered.
Radio Campesina
This is a small station in the heart of a busy market area. I did walk up and talk to a few staff members for a few minutes but didn't ask to take photos. The station was very simple.
Some communication antennas on a hill overlooking Cajamarca.
Road To Cajamarca
From Lima I traveled to the northern coastal city of Trujillo. I did not take the main highway from Trujillo to Cajamarca. Instead I took the old route via Cascas, Contumaza, and the Hacienda Maichil (north of Chilete) to Cajamarca. I am more-or-less following the Moyobamba Route, which was the old trade route in the 1800s. It will be the focus of a book I am researching.
Anonymous Station in Contumaza
I found this while walking around the town of Contumaza. Nobody answered the door when I knocked. But it was a radio station - I could hear the studio upstairs.
Radio Estrella in Cascas
I walked by here several times in three days and there was never any sign of life. I tuned in their FM a couple of times and it was always relaying the main station from Trujillo.
DXing in Cascas
I spent three nights at the Hotel Rosa Ermila in Cascas. For 30 soles (a bit less than ten dollars) I had a very nice small room, plenty of hot water, and good Internet. There was a terrace on the top floor and I tried doing a little DXing from there with the PA0RDT antenna. Unfortunately it was a bit noisy. But I did make a few logs and some SDR recordings. Reception at the Hacienda Maichil was much better so I will go through those recordings first. But I don't believe I've ever DXed from a more elegant location than this terrace! I even had it all to myself.
Trujillo
Coolbox is a chain of Peruvian electronics stores. They sell accessories for cellphones, batteries, electronic games, cables, etc. They are a Radio Shack partner and it is interesting to see the Radio Shack signs. This particular store is in central Trujillo. I also saw a small one in central Lima. In Cajamarca there are two larger stores in two of the three malls. There is very little Radio Shack merchandise - mostly audio/video cables and batteries and a few standard adapters.
Lima
While in the Lima area I visited Peruvian DXer Pedro Arrunatgui.
A Little History
This was in a musuem in Trujillo. This is a photo of Victor Haya de la Torre, a long-time famous Peruvian politician, giving a speech via Radio Miraflores. It was not dated but compared to other photos of him I would guess late 1940s or the 1950s.
