[HCDX] logs 12-16 SEP 2000

[Mark Connelly <MarkWA1ION@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Report from Mark Connelly - Times / dates = UTC / 2000 
(logs 12 - 16 SEP 2000)  

[Connelly*C-MA] = Chatham, Cape Cod, MA
(GC= 69.965 W / 41.717 N)
(at Vern Brownell (W1VB) QTH: Eastward Road)

[Connelly*R-MA] = Rockport, MA
(GC= 70.622 W / 42.667 N)
(Granite Pier)

e-mail = MarkWA1ION@xxxxxxxxxx
Homepage = http://members.aol.com/MarkWA1ION/weblink.htm
NF DXpedition Page = http://members.xoom.com/MarkWA1ION/nfdxpage.htm
RF circuit page: http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/index.html
 
Receiver: Drake R8A

Antenna system: cardioid array with vertical whip,
broadband loop, and DXP-2 phasing unit

======================================================

*** TRANS-ATLANTIC DX ***

612 | MOROCCO | Sebaa-Aioun, SEP 12 2352 - Arabic music
(instrumental, then vocal); huge signal, at least 20 dB
louder than adjacent WGIR/CHNC-610. [Connelly*R-MA]

693 | UNITED KINGDOM | BBC, Droitwich et al.,
SEP 16 2315 - sports report by woman; over Spain
and others. [Connelly*C-MA] 

836 | AZORES | RDP, Pico da Barrosa, SEP 16 2311 -
man in Portuguese; fair. [Connelly*C-MA]

837 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | COPE synchros,
SEP 16 2309 - Spanish news interview; loud.
[Connelly*C-MA] 

846 | ITALY | RAI, Rome, SEP 16 2306 - news including
English and French talk mentioning Italian athletes in
the Olympics; very good. [Connelly*C-MA] 

855 | SPAIN | RNE1, Murcia et al., SEP 16 2308 - news;
good. [Connelly*C-MA] 

864 | EGYPT | Santah, SEP 16 2348 - Koranic vocal;
now dominant. [Connelly*C-MA] 

864 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Paris, SEP 16 2302 - // 1206
with light pop vocal; mostly over Egypt. [Connelly*C-MA]

882 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | COPE synchros,
SEP 16 2310 - // stronger 837 with news interview.
[Connelly*C-MA]

891 | ALGERIA | Algiers, SEP 12 2311 - group Arabic vocal
and percussion; strong signal, light audio. [Connelly*R-MA]
+ SEP 16 2300 - end of vocal with percussion and strings
then time pips (5 low notes, 1 high note) followed by
woman in Arabic with news report; loud. [Connelly*C-MA]

945 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Toulouse, SEP 12 2309 -
// 1206 with "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder; fair
signal. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2233 - // 1206 with
folk-style female vocal. [Connelly*C-MA]

981 | ALGERIA | Radiodif. Algerienne, Algiers, SEP 12 2313 -
excellent with Arabic male vocal, drums, and strings; then
a shrill choral accompaniment joined in. [Connelly*R-MA]
+ SEP 16 2227 - female Arabic vocal. [Connelly*C-MA]

1008 | CANARY ISLANDS | Las Palmas, R. Las Palmas / RadioVoz,
SEP 12 2239 - non-SER program with fast Spanish talk by
man. [Connelly*R-MA] 

1017 | SPAIN | RNE5 synchros, SEP 12 2342 - woman in
Spanish; loud. [Connelly*R-MA]

1026 | SPAIN | SER synchros, SEP 16 2222 - // 1044 with
monotone-delivery Spanish teletalk. [Connelly*C-MA]

1035 | PORTUGAL | R. Nacional, Lisboa, SEP 16 2223 -
country-influenced pop vocal; poor to fair.
[Connelly*C-MA]
 
1044 | MOROCCO | Sebaa-Aioun, SEP 12 2230 - rustic guitar
music, then violins followed by Arabic talk by man; well
over Spain. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2220 - Arabic music;
under Spain. [Connelly*C-MA]

1044 | SPAIN | SER synchros, SEP 12 2238 - Spanish newstalk
almost equal to Morocco. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2218 -
Spanish teletalk; dominant. [Connelly*C-MA]

1053 | MOROCCO | Tanger, SEP 16 2240 - male vocal and
strings; over Spain. [Connelly*C-MA]

1053 | SPAIN | COPE, Zaragoza / Castellon, SEP 16 2216 -
COPE teletalk // 1215; over Morocco. [Connelly*C-MA]

1062 | NIGERIA (t) | SEP 12 2307 - heavily African-accented
English talk (possibly religious) in an echoey room; messy
signal. [Connelly*R-MA]

1071 | SPAIN | EI, Bilbao, SEP 12 2240 - // 1197 with
"Cocaine" by Eric Clapton; strong, better than CBA-1070
at times. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2245 - country-blues
vocal "Mama Don't Treat Me Right"; good. [Connelly*C-MA]

1125 | SPAIN | RNE5 synchros, SEP 12 2338 - // 1152 with
Spanish talk; loud. [Connelly*R-MA]

1134 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, SEP 16 2207 - Spanish
teletalk. [Connelly*C-MA] 

1143 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, SEP 12 2335 - man & woman in
Spanish; loud. [Connelly*R-MA]

1152 | SPAIN | RNE5 synchros, SEP 12 2305 - // 855 with
Spanish news by man & woman, some echo; just atop a
second station believed to be Romania. [Connelly*R-MA]

1179 | CANARY ISLANDS // SPAIN | SER synchros, SEP 12 2302 -
Spanish teletalk show; fair. [Connelly*R-MA] 

1197 | SPAIN | EI, Vitoria, SEP 12 2240 - good signal
in // with 1071 with Eric Clapton's version of "Cocaine".
[Connelly*R-MA]

1206 | unID | SEP 12 2300 - maybe the Moroccan here with
Arabic vocal rising up over France. [Connelly*R-MA]

1206 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Bordeaux, SEP 12 2242 -
samba jazz; loud. + SEP 12 2259 - "All Night Long" by
Lionel Richie; good just before fading under an unID
Arabic station. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2204 - romantic
vocal; good. + SEP 16 2309 - loud with "Cruel Summer"
by Bananarama. [Connelly*C-MA]

1215 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, SEP 12 2244 - loud with
re-enactment of a sporting event by a man screaming in
Spanish, some synchro echo present. [Connelly*R-MA]
+ SEP 16 2203 - // 1296 with Spanish news; good.
[Connelly*C-MA]

1224 | SPAIN | COPE synchros, SEP 12 2258 - // 1215 with
Spanish teletalk; good. [Connelly*O-MA]

1251 | LIBYA | Tripoli, SEP 12 2256 - woman with newstalk
in Arabic. [Connelly*R-MA]

1296 | SPAIN | COPE, Valencia, SEP 16 2203 - // 1215 with
COPE network news in Spanish; to good peak. [Connelly*C-MA] 

1296 | SUDAN | Reba, SEP 16 2158 - very good with Koranic
male vocal prior to sign-off. [Connelly*C-MA]

1377 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Lille, SEP 16 2324 - // 1206
with operatic-style male vocal with a march tempo; good.
[Connelly*C-MA]

1521 | SAUDI ARABIA | BSKSA, Duba, SEP 12 2245 - Arabic news
and discussion. [Connelly*R-MA] + SEP 16 2125 - fade-up.
+ SEP 16 2145 - // 9870 with man in Arabic. [Connelly*C-MA]

1548 | KUWAIT | VOA, Kuwait City, SEP 16 2329 - woman
said "VOA news time"; poor. [Connelly*C-MA]

1550 | unID | SEP 12 2254 - maybe RASD Algeria with African-
accented French talk (though perhaps a domestic instead).
[Connelly*R-MA]

1557 | FRANCE | France Bleu, Nice, SEP 16 2235 - // 1206
with folk-style vocal (old-time Joni Mitchell or similar);
poor to fair through WQEW slop. [Connelly*C-MA]

1575 | SPAIN | SER synchros, SEP 12 2248 - SER net Spanish
talk by man; fair. [Connelly*R-MA] 

1584 | CEUTA | RadiOle, SEP 16 2236 - pop Spanish male
vocal; now back on channel zero beat with somewhat-
weaker SER synchros. [Connelly*C-MA] 

1584 | SPAIN | SER synchros, SEP 16 2236 - // 1575 with
SER net Spanish talk; under Ceuta. [Connelly*C-MA] 

1602 | SPAIN | EI, Vitoria, SEP 12 2251 - non-SER program
with rock Spanish vocal; good. [Connelly*R-MA]

*** COMMENTS ***

September brought two good non-solo DX sessions within a
week.  

I'd arranged to meet Kent Winrich (K9EZ) of Wisconsin while
he was in the Boston area on a business trip.   On Tuesday
12 SEP, he met me out at Granite Pier in Rockport, MA for
a sunset-period after-work mini-DXpedition.  We enjoyed
hearing numerous loud signals from southwestern Europe and
northern Africa.  Some of these were pushing S9+30 or better,
like Morocco-612 that was totally "smoking" WGIR-NH / CHNC-PQ
on adjacent 610.  Kent said he'd be happy to hear even one
Trans-Atlantic at his midwestern home QTH.  I referred him
to master foreign DXer Neil Kazaross of metro-Chicago for
suggested stations and times.  I know that some of the big
boomers like Norway-1314 and Saudi Arabia-1521 have made
it out there occasionally.  Obviously you don't get East
Coast results there on TA's, but he might hear a few of
them.  In other DX, he'd have at least a prayer of a chance
of hearing something Trans-Pacific.  I don't think a TP has
been logged in New England in at least 15 years (when Ray
Moore got a few Aussie X-banders before US stations started
to proliferate above 1600).  One thing I mentioned to Kent
was that he might want to look for a lakeside site in northern
MI, WI, or MN and run a Beverage due north to look for Trans-
Polar Russians, Indians, etc.  If he could bag some of this DX
on a good night, it just might breathe life into midwesterners'
conceptions about foreign MW DXing in their part of the world.
Maybe Trans-Polar would be something at which they could have
more success than DXers along the Atlantic and Pacific shores
of North America (where loud transoceanic signals tend to
cover up any weaker Trans-Polar stations on the same 9 kHz
frequency spacing plan).  As we wrapped up the DX session
around 9 p.m. local, Kent said he had fun and that he was
interested in getting a phasing unit and trying some different
antennas back home.

On Saturday 16 SEP, I had a nice visit with Vern Brownell
(W1VB) in Chatham, MA.  Two weeks earlier I'd gone out to
his excellent seaside QTH and I did a consult on a DX-worthy
antenna system that would help combat local electrical
noise.  This time around I brought the materials for the
antenna and set it up.  The main element is a one-turn
square loop, approximately 7 feet / 2.14 m per side.  This
is mounted vertically and aimed for maximum pick-up on
an east-west axis.  The wire is supported on a wooden frame
with cement blocks to keep it from blowing away during high
winds.  The loop feeds a 1:1 balun whose other turn goes to
the coaxial cable which runs back to the "ham shack" room
of the house.  Inside the house, the coaxial cable goes to
the input of a broadband amplifier with about 17 dB of gain.
The amplifier's output feeds channel 1 of a DXP-2 phasing
unit.  Channel 2 of the phasing unit is connected to Vern's
multiband trap vertical (40 m - 6 m ham bands).  Eventually
a second loop will be installed at a right angle to the
first one.  That would be fed to phaser Channel 2 instead
of the whip; this should reduce electrical noise to an even
greater extent than the present set-up.  At 2125 UTC, with
the sun still well above the horizon, Saudi-1521 and other
MW Trans-Atlantics were audible on my Drake R8A as soon as we
were done setting up the antenna system.  The next 2 hours
brought in some huge signals from the Mediterranean area
before conditions gradually deteriorated.  Loggings are in
the report above.  A highlight was hearing English and French
news (including Italian Olympic team results) from Italy-846.
The signal was very strong: there didn't seem to be any
reduction in power from any other time I'd heard this.  Vern
now has both a location and an antenna system that should
bring him a lot of good DX.  I encouraged him to join the
National Radio Club since that's where most of the MW DXing
talent in the eastern USA and Canada may be found.





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