- 1410
– XEBS México DF
XEBS wrote to me that "you can't imagine
the joy which your report brought to us".
Well, this is exactly what I like about DXing!
Neither can he imagine my joy when I heard Radio
Sinfonola at sunrise on a November morning
in 1997... Contacts like these are just fantastic,
and continue to be, no matter how long you have
been DXing. XEBS (part of Núcleo Radio Mil) is
an only-music station, which claims to reach half
a million daily listeners – not counting the odd
number of DXers all over the globe! My QSL from
early 1998 was signed by Gustavo Alvite Martinez,
Director de Programación del NRM. More info on
XEBS at their website.
- 1410
– XECF Los Mochis SO
The format of XECF consists of música ranchera,
norteña y tropical and sports. XECF is the
oldest station of Radiosistema del Noroeste established
already in 1940. XECF promptly identified with
its slogan Yo soy La Mexicana, but
at first I had difficulties in figuring out the
sort of sub-slogan which followed. It turned out
to be ¡Que Cante México! announced with
the pompous echo so typical of Mexican stations,
especially those outside the capital.
- 1420
– XEH Monterrey NL
In 1995 XEH identified simply using the call letters.
My report was promptly verified by Lic. Juan Manuel
López Saavedra, Gerente Administrativo. XEH claims
to be the oldest radio station in Mexico, founded
in 1921. Nowadays it is a music station and part
of the Grupo Radio Centro Monterrey, which comprises
of 7 stations. The company employs some 70 people.
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- 1450
– XECB San Luís Río Colorado SO -
Radio Ranchito was quite a surprise
when it beat all the U.S. stations on this crowded
frequency. My report was answered by Evelina Renteria
Montoya, then 24, whose home address and fabulous
picture I'm not going to include here for fear
of drowning her with letters from unscrupulous
DXers... I know that my name is a bit difficult,
but what was she thinking, addressing her letter
to Mr. Kika Makelainen... Nevertheless, with a
CD of ranchera music, stickers and other memorabilia,
this was a superb confirmation. XECB is part of
the local OIR-network with 5 stations in the same
town.
- 1470
– XEACE Mazatlán SN
XEACE was one of the many nice Mexicans audible
on a November afternoon at 1300 UTC. As usual
at 6 a.m. local time, it was time for the national
anthem. This is definitely not the easiest Mexican
on the frequency, but it was the first one I managed
to QSL. Luckily an intern working at the station
found the time to confirm my reception by e-mail,
because even after a phonecall, the sincere promises
of a more official verification by mail from the
station manager never materialized. That's the
problem with e-mail; you are more likely to get
a verification, but much less likely to get anything
more than just the verification.
- 1470
– XESM México DF -
I have rarely heard a station use so many different
slogans as XESM. In January 1995 I stayed on the
frequency for more than one hour trying to get
their call-letter ID, but all I got was La
Fabulosa Tremenda 1470, La Explosiva
Tremenda 1470, La Poderosa Tremenda
1470 and finally La Sensacional
Tremenda 1470. Fortunately they also announced
their address, so there was no question of the
identity of the station. Like the other ORF stations,
it's extremely difficult to get this one verified,
but the ORF website offers many e-mail addresses
for QSL hunting. The ORF station on this frequency
is now known as XEAI, which previously operated
on 1500 kHz.
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- 1470
- XERCN Tijuana BC
La Kaliente remained on my hunting
list for over a decade before I finally heard
it, even though conditions had favored the Tijuana
area many times before. In December 2001 it was
the only Mexican I heard, but luckily a new one.
A national newscast hosted by Eduardo Ruiz Healy
was frequently interrupted with local slogans.
La Kaliente belongs to Grupo Uniradio (since 1997)
which has also two other stations in Tijuana.
RCN by the way stands for Radio Cadena Nacional,
just as in Colombia, but unlike in Colombia where
RCN is a truly national network, in Mexico, the
network which in the 1950's had dozens of stations,
no longer exists. But there is also another story
behind the abbreviation RCN: The founder's name
was Rafaél Cutberto Navarro. Today the
station that bears his initials broadcasts mostly
tropical music and is affiliated to Radio Única
in Miami.
- 1480
- XEVIC Cd. Victoria TM
This station that I heard in 1995 talking about
Ciudad Victoria remained a mystery to me for years,
because it was not listed in the WRTH. When I
finally found information that there really was
a station in that city on this frequency, I was
able to send a tentative report, which was verified
by Federico Kelly, Director of Sistema Estatal
Radio Tamaulipas, a group of 12 publicly-owned
stations. Luckily he identified the announcer
that I had heard years ago as Humberto Zuñiga
and was able to confirm my reception report. The
station has a website
with much program and background information.
- 1500
– XEAI México DF -
Radio A-I sure knows what DXers
need to know; a perfect station identification
as soon as I arrived on the frequency, an announcement
for their program La Hora de los Recuerdos,
then telephone numbers to call to and other necessary
information before some romantic music. That was
in 1995; the same format continues now on 1470
kHz, and on this frequency you can hear XEDF with
the slogan Radio Uno AM.
- 1530
XEUR México DF -
Picking up La Fiesta Mexicana is
not as easy as its 50 kilowatt power would seem
to suggest, as the frequency used also by European
stations. When occasionally something from across
the Atlantic is audible, U.S. stations in Cincinnati
and Sacramento tend to dominate. However, on January
17th 1995, XEUR even dominated the frequency for
a while. Getting a reply took six more years.
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- 1540
– XEHOS Hermosillo SO –
XEHOS used to be a tough case to get a verification
from. After numerous reception reports and follow-ups
I finally received their QSL in 1997, signed by
Lic. Gabriela Alejandra Noriega Espinoza, Asistente
Personal de Dirección General at Grupo Uniradio
in Hermosillo. Nowadays QSLing should be much
easier, because the station has an e-mail address:
uniradhm@imparcial.com.mx.
In Hermosillo, Uniradio has 5 stations, La
Poderosa being the only AM station. XEHOS
has been heard rather often, as Ms. Noriega told
me she had received reception reports from more
than 10 Finnish DXers. Her generous reply included
a letter, a CD, a cassette, a pen, a keyring,
a postcard, a newspaper, stickers and balloons!
- 1550
– XENU Nuevo Laredo TM
XENU was the first station I heard on the LEM112
DXpedition (1997), which became my most productive
DXpedition ever in terms of Mexican stations.
Again an easy station to identify, as they gave
their slogan La Rancherita de Nuevo Laredo
between each song. Even though I wrote my report
in Spanish, they replied in English! That's what
the proximity of the U.S. does... The letter was
written personally by Presidente Carolina Irenne
Villarreal de Noguez. XENU is part of Radiorama
Nuevo Laredo, a grouping of 4 stations. Radiorama
Nuevo Laredo used to have a web page, but at least
I haven't found it anymore.
- 1560
– XEJPV Ciudad Juárez CH -
When I heard XEJPV for the first time in 1995,
they were simulcasting FM 100.7 Magia Digital,
but nowadays AM has separate programming with
the slogan La Radio Viva. XEJPV
is part of a local chain of 7 stations under the
name Megacadena S.A. de C.V. (Sociedad Anonima
de Capital Variable). The chief engineer of the
group is Faustino Torres, who can be reached by
e-mail from Meganten@infolnk.net.
Before trying e-mail, my numerous reports and
follow-ups went unanswered, so e-mail does have
its merits.
- 1570
– XERF Ciudad Acuña CO
XERF was my first heard Mexican and also the first
to verify in 1986. No wonder, with a power output
of 250 kilowatts, this truly was La Poderosa.
Nowadays the power is given as 50 kilowatts, but
XERF still is one of the easiest Mexicans to catch
even halfway across the globe. For me, this has
become a pest, because it overpowers the many
small U.S. stations on this interesting frequency.
- 1580
– XEDM Hermosillo SO
This is probably the most common Mexican in Lapland,
where stations from the western part of North
America come much stronger than in Southern Finland.
La Grande de Sonora was my second
identified Mexican on the second day of my first
Arctic DXpedition. Back in the 80's and at least
until the mid-90's XEDM was part of Grupo ACIR.
XEDM can be held partly responsible for my initial
fascination with Mexicans, as the generous confirmation
included a bunch of stamps, stickers and all the
things we DXers love to collect.
- 1590
– XEVOZ México DF
This is the station which I in the original article
labeled as a hopeless case in terms of getting
a verification from, but it seems that all nightmares
have an end... The QSL from Bonita
(for verie-signer see 1180 XEFR) eventually arrived
just before the new Millennium with the help of
DXer Hector García Bojorge. Bonita
is a pretty frequent catch, but without an identification
you can hardly discern this from WONX Evanston
IL.
As the above shows, a relentless
flow of follow-up reports and the help of Mexican
friends can improve the catch considerably - now
I only have about ten identified Mexican stations,
which I haven't received a confirmation from. Still,
on the AM band, as the Mexican combination continues
to be difficult-to-hear and more-difficult-to-QSL,
it may take a couple of decades before you are able
to read my Mexican Top 100, Los 100 Principales.
(published on September
10th 1999, last revised April 25th 2002)
 
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