The Wobbler Mystery Radio Signal

THE WOBBLER

A Mystery Radio Signal

Investigations

This page last updated July 13, 2005

Power Generation Problems

Building off the notion that the Wobbler emanates from Cuba and is the result of transmitter malfunction, one popular suggested cause is the instability of the Cuban power system. The idea is that power fluctuations in the electricity grid cause the radio transmitters to malfunction, producing the wildly oscillating carrier signal that is in turn heard as the Wobbler.

To explore this idea, I Googled for information on the Cuban power situation and found some interesting facts.

The Cuban leader described the breakdown of the generator rotor at the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric facility in Matanzas province as a serious problem affecting the nation’s power output.

The Matanzas plant has been out of service since May 5, 2004, when it was shut down for routine maintenance.

Cuba has announced measures to cope with its prolonged energy crisis. With national output down to 54 percent, Havana's 2 million residents have been experiencing daily outages of five hours or more since August, 2004.

Cuba has seven large thermoelectric plants scattered across the island but because the grid is completely integrated, a problem or even maintenance at any one plant reduces the supply of electricity to the whole system.

Fidel Castro emphasized the need to reduce losses in the transmission and distribution of electricity, as present data show 18.1 percent of the electricity generated is lost - the equivalent of a new sixty megawatt generation unit.

A whole set of other measures were implemented, including the start up of twelve sugar mills power plants that have dual bagass and fuel oil fired boilers. These will come on-line and be synchronized with the national electrical system during peak demand hours between 7 and 11 p.m.

Not mentioned in these news reports, but a reasonable assumption is that some radio stations may switch to local back-up power generators during regional blackouts. These generators could themselves be unstable and contribute directly to the carrier fluctuations that produce the Wobbler.

All of this would seem to easily add up to the cause sought for transmitter malfunctions, making power problems an excellant possible solution to the puzzle of what causes the Wobbler.

Investigations into this phenomenon continues. New Wobbler results will be posted here as they are obtained.

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