Radio Oriental Verification Card
 
Index
Radio Centro
Escuelas Radiofónicas Populares del Ecuador
La Voz del Napo
Radio Oriental
Ecos del Oriente
Recent Logs of Oriental
Shortwave in Ecuador
 
 
- Radio Oriental's BuildingElsa and I sped through the spacious yards of Misión Josefina, where La Voz del Napo resides, and wandered onto the lazy streets of Tena with one place in mind: Radio Oriental.  "Let's see the Cuevas Jumandy," Elsa whined.  "Maybe the guy at Oriental can take us to see the antenna, which has got to be near the caves and the Cuevas Jumandy!" 
  
We tripped upon the station's building and went right in.  Lilian Velín, Oriental's secretary, met us at the door and insisted that we wait for the owner and station director, Luis Enrique Espín Espinoza.  "But he came all the from Washington," Elsa told her.  "Sit down," she grumbled.  Yeah, sit down and take your number.  The caves would have to wait, too. 
  
Oriental's StudioAfter an interminable wait Luis came in and gave me an incredulous look.  "What do you want to see?" he asked me.  "Radio Oriental," I said as enthusiastically as I could.  He frowned and then led us to his office a few doors down from the entrance.  "There's not much to the station," he told us.  "Just this office and the on-air studio...  I've got to tell you that we've got a satellite dish on the roof though!"  Elsa perked up and, thinking I'm obsessed with antennas, asked him if we could see the dipole - just as long as it is near the Jumandy Caves.  "No, I'm sorry it's not.  It's about seven kilometers outside of town." 
  
We went to see the studio in all its glory: eight-channel mixer, cassette decks, turntables, and a single microphone.  Like the other stations, the announcers sit in a separate cabin from the producer. 

Radio Oriental, unlike La Voz del Napo, is a commercial venture. It has been on MW for 20 years and began its SW service for 4780 kHz on February 12, 1987. Luis said that about five letters are received monthly and he responds to each with a nice green QSL card. In a few weeks, he plans on sending collectible photos of Indians and 200 sucre notes to listeners. Luis and Oriental's Satellite Dish
 
The main problem for Radio Oriental - and the reason for Luis' lack of enthusiasm for my visit - is that the station isn’t generating much revenue with its SW outlet.  However, although he has no plans to close it down he’s also not happy with interference "from Brazil" that listeners apparently report about. I suggested that he lobby the Ecuadorian government to change Oriental’s frequency to a clear channel above 5.1 MHz, which he quickly wrote down to do.  Maybe my trip wasn't such a waste after all! Communicado Form - Used to Sell Musical Requests and Messages
  
Elsa and I thanked Luis and his secretary for their time and generosity. We then took a three-hour walk through Tena and returned to La Voz del Napo at 8 o’clock. What a gorgeous sight! Under the Southern Cross constellation, the parrot painted on the front of the building was lit up like a star in the jungle. The music of crickets was so overwhelming that we could even hear them from inside the station’s studio. 
  
Ramiro ushered us into the tiny studio since he was on duty and the news was about to begin.  He turned on a television and proceeded to place a microphone in front of the speaker.  Sometimes ingenuity is better than modern science, I guess.  At the top of hour were dire headlines about massive riots and student shootings in Jakarta, Indonesia, a city where I have many friends and colleagues.  Tena's isolation hit me in the face at that moment since had I been in Washington, I could have communicated with my close friends and associates over there through telephone, fax or e-mail.  Yet there I was at La Voz del Napo in the middle of the Amazon and in need of a proper shower.  I felt so sick at that moment I headed straight for the station's bathroom and, just like street people do everyday, I took a "bath" in the sink to refreshen myself.  Now how many radio amateurs can attest to that?  (Actually, how many people would admit to such a demeaning act?)  Nevertheless, I felt a little better and didn't smell so much like clove cigarettes and Ecuador's disgusting brand "Lark." 
  
After the news, Ramiro popped in a religious cassette to play over the air and we jumped into his expensive landcrusier and went to the bus station, where Elsa and I planned to take a night bus to Ecuador's remote oil town, Lago Agrio. 
  
Visiting La Voz del Napo and Radio Oriental raised an interesting point about SW and Ecuador in general.  Two obscure radio stations in the middle of nowhere, however, one clearly had a budget - a budget large enough to include the cost of an imported Landcruiser: La Voz del Napo.  As Ecuadorians say, it comes down to the Company - the Church.  Either that or Ramiro sure did get "a couple hundred dollars" from short wave listeners.

 

Copyright ©1998 by Nick Grace C., All Rights Reserved
 
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