[HCDX] DXpedition Loggings from Grayland, WA, July 9-10-11

["Guy Atkins" <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another enjoyable Grayland DXpedition is in the history books. Taking part
were John Bryant, Don Nelson, Walt Salmaniw, and myself. This Thursday
through Sunday DXpedition coincided with Grayland's annual kite festival; we
had good fun trying to impress the kiters with the DXing hobby, and
vice-versa. Did you know that some kites cost as much as a Ten-Tec RX340?
You do now!

Mediumwave reception was the worst overall we've ever experienced in 15
years of DXing from the Washington State coast, so I roamed the tropical
bands most of the time. However I did manage to log the rarely heard, 2
kilowatt 8RN stations in Darwin (657 kHz) & Katherine (639 kHz), both in the
Northern Territory. 657 was clearly parallel to R. Australia on 9580, and
639 was parallel the ABC (VL8A) on 2310.

On the shortwave side of the spectrum, Walt and I were determined to get an
ID out of RPDT Manggarai (2960v). However, in 3+ hours of monitoring this
tantalizing signal we never noted an ID. Catholic Radio Network (4960) in
Papua New Guinea boomed in with excellent reception on July 11th, providing
100% readability during a live broadcast of the Catholic Bishops Conference
of PNG. It was interesting too, to hear advertisements on CRN on July 9th--
ads with local flavor just like those found on the PNG regionals.

MEDIUMWAVE-------------------------------------------------------------

531 NEW ZEALAND 1XPI Auckland, Jul 11 1239 - Good level at tune-in, but
fading by 1240. Woman announcer with unid. island language or Maori.
(Atkins-WA)

639 AUSTRALIA 8RN Katherine, Jul 9 1210 - Male announcers broadcasting
Aussie football in English. Poor-fair level. Parallel 2310 VL8A (ABC).
(Atkins-WA)

657 AUSTRALIA 8RN Darwin, Jul 10 1140 - Big band music and male announcer in
English, clearly parallel 9580. Pleased with this; 8RN not often heard from
Grayland. Poor level with some peaks to fair. Gone for good by 1150.
(Atkins-WA)

702 AUSTRALIA 2BL Sydney, Jul 9 1320 - Noted in passing with two male
announcers, parallel to 2NR Grafton 738, 3LO Melbourne 774, and 4RN Brisbane
on 792. Poor-fair level. (Atkins-WA)

738 AUSTRALIA 2NR Grafton, Jul 9 1315 - Likely this with discussion by two
Aussie-accent males, parallel 702 2BL Sydney, 774 3LO Melbourne, and 792 4RN
Brisbane. Poor. (Atkins-WA)

774 AUSTRALIA 3LO Melbourne, Jul 9 1320 - Two Aussie-accented males with
talk, parallel 2NR Grafton 738, 2BL Sydney 702, and 4RN Brisbane 792.
Poor-fair. (Atkins-WA)

792 AUSTRALIA 4RN Brisbane, Jul 9 1320 - Aussie-accent talk with two
announcers, parallel 2NR Grafton 738, 2BL Sydney 702, and 3LO Melbourne 774.
Poor-fair. (Atkins-WA)

1098 MARSHALL ISLANDS R. Marshalls V7AD Majuro, Jul 9 1124 - Peaking at nice
level with Marshallese talk by male; island choral music 1126. Male
announcer 1134. Faded down by 1138. (Atkins-WA)

1548 AUSTRALIA 4QD Emerald, Jul 9 1044 - Presumed. Aussie-accented folk
music 1044. Male announcer in English with possible commentary on musical
styles. Fair. (Atkins-WA)


SHORTWAVE------------------------------------------

AUSTRALIA 2310, 1224-1233, VL8A Alice Springs Jul 9 Excellent signal of two
sportscasters discussing Australian football, and mentions of 'ABC
National'. Parallel 2325 VL8T Tennant Creek (very good) and VL8K Katherine
(poor), as well as 8RN Darwin on 657 (fair). (Atkins-WA)

BOLIVIA 6025, 0214-0225, R. Illimani Jul 11 Frenetic futbol announcers in
Spanish, describing match between Argentina and Mexico. Quick mention of
'Illimani'. Very good level, but some local QRM. (Atkins-WA)

CONGO 5985, 0447-0455, RTV Congolaise Jul 10 Strong, clear reception with
male announcer in French, mentioning Brazzaville frequently. Great listening
until WYFR stomped on the Congolaise DX at 0455. On Jul 11, RTV Congolaise
rose to equal level with WYFR at 0437, and was in the clear at 0445
dominating WYFR. Strong open carrier 0448 over Congo, but it was still
readable underneath with French announcer and brief soukous music.
(Atkins-WA)

GABON 4890, 0406-0421, RFI Afrique Jul 11 Female announcer in French with
possible news items, and report by a different female reporter. 4890 seemed
in parallel to 7150 Ascension. Mostly fair signal, but hampered by band
noise. (Atkins-WA)

GHANA 4915, 0548-0602, GBC Jul 10 Zairian style soukous at 0548 and at a
good level, too. Drums at 0600; 3 time pips +1, Radio Ghana ID and into news
reports. (Atkins-WA)

INDIA 4775, 1343-1348, AIR Imphal Jul 9 Male announcer with list or text
that he was reading v-e-r-y slowly in Hindi. Poor-fair at 1-1/2 hours past
local sunrise. (Atkins-WA)

INDIA 4910, 1338-1342, AIR Jaipur Jul 9 Male announcer in Hindi;
advertisement or promo 1341 with lively music and Hindi singing. Into
another ad with male announcer and short clips of music. Fair-good signal.
(Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 2960v, 1040-1310+, RPDT Manggarai Jul 11 First noted with
poor-fair signal at 1040 with sleep-inducing monotone Indonesian male
announcer. Heard only on the NW Beverage. Mentions of Ruteng Flores at 1105
and again at 1115, but no ID or break noted. Drifty signal from
2959.85-2960.05. Near grayline conditions between Grayland and Manggarai at
tune-in; signal slowly varied up and down from threshold level to poor by
1124; occasional brief peaks of better reception. Various music styles to
announcements 1158 (but no ID) and into RRI network at 1200, parallel 4750
and 3266.4. Good signal as local Grayland sunrise approached. Back to local
programming of music at 1225. No ID heard in the 1258-1310 timeframe either,
but 'who else could it be?'. Casual monitoring while packing up the
DXpedition gear showed Manggarai still on the air past 1400. (Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 3266.4, 1126-1145, RRI Gorontalo Jul 10 'Kang Guru Radio English
Show' with male and female announcers assisting Indonesian listeners with
writing/reading the English language; comments in both Indonesian and EG.
Credit given to the 'KGIA' (?) for production of the Kang Guru program. At
1138, sound bites of 1950s tune 'Hey Hey Mr. Postman' bracketing tips for
improving your postal letter writing. PO Box address given at 1140. Good
signal. (Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 4604.96, 1100-1106, RRI Serui Jul 10 RRI news relay at tune-in.
Nice RRI ID at 1105. Good level for a 500 watt station. (Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 4790, 1233-1313, RRI Fak Fak Jul 9 Soft lagu romantik tunes in
Indonesian, continuous from 1233 tune-in. Powerhouse signal level, but some
swisher QRM. No break or announcers at top of hour. Male announcer with ID
at 1310, and back into music. (Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 4870.9, 0948-1031, RRI Sorong Jul 11 Male announcer in Indonesian
with many mentions of Sorong; harmonizing acapella quartet at 0959-1002; EZL
male vocals 1003; continuous Indo music to quick RRI Sorong ID 1031.
(Atkins-WA)

INDONESIA 4925, 1120-1125, RRI Jambi Jul 10 Good signal with lagu melayu and
male vocals, and approaching grayline conditions with sunset at the
transmitter. (Atkins-WA)

MALAYSIA 4895, 1348-1355, RTM Sarawak Jul 9 Powerhouse signal of Malay pop
music and occasional chatter by male and female announcers in Iban. Mentions
of Malaysia 1350, and 'Radio Malaysia...???...' partial ID at 1355 by woman.
Excellent level on West Beverage. (Atkins-WA)

NEW ZEALAND 3935, 1410-1418, ZLXA Levin Jul 10 Radio Reading Service, with
two male announcers discussing Papua New Guinea politics. Poor-fair, and
only audible on SW Beverage. Also noted earlier at 1055 with National Radio
relay of an opera and into Radio New Zealand news at 1100. (Atkins-WA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3235, 1015-1030, R. West New Britain Jul 10 Hymn or
religious acapella chorus 1015, modern PNG pop music 1017. Fair level but
noisy band conditions. The following additional PNG outlets were also heard
in the 1020 timeframe: 3260 R. Madang, fair-good; 3325 R. North Solomons,
fair mixing with RRI Palangkaraya; 3335 R. East Sepik, excellent; NBC Port
Moresby 4890 (but absent on Jul 11, 0900-1300), Excellent S9+10db; 4960
Catholic Radio Network, good. Very few PNGs this evening. (Atkins-WA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 4960, 1140-1209, Catholic Radio Network, Vanimo Jul 9 Today
is the first time I've noted advertisements on CRN. Ads in English by female
for PNG Motors ("mention this ad to get an especially generous offer at only
72,500 Kina")($22,511 US) and Michael's Sporting & Fishing ("Phone 9821133
or 9821132"). Religious chorus in Pidgin 1201; "Good night listener program"
in Pidgin by male at 1203. Mentions of United Nations Development Program
and Leadership Development Program at 1204 in Pidgin. Very good signal. On
Jul 11, an excellent signal was heard at 0953 tune-in, with broadcast of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG in Pidgin and English. At 1011, numerous
Catholic and PNG government officials were introduced ("A warm welcome to
the Honorable Alfred Sumani of Bougainville..."). Mentions of various issues
facing the bishops such as youth problems, HIV/AIDS in the community, etc.
The bishops were reminded that they want only government cooperation, not
money for their participation in tackling these PNG problems. (Atkins-WA)

SOLOMON ISLANDS 5019.9, 0940-0943, SIBC Jul 10 Heard briefly while tuning
through 60 meters, and noted a good, but less than stellar SIBC signal.
Local female announcer in Pidgin, and island music. (Atkins-WA)

SOUTH AFRICA 3320, 0427-0434, R. SonderGrense Jul 11 Orchestral music to
0428 male announcer in presumed Afrikaans--too weak and noisy to be certain.
Tentative, and into the noise by 0434. (Atkins-WA)

VANUATU 7260, 0926-0933, R. Vanuatu Jul 9 Female announcer in English; male
announcer with 'This is R. Vanuatu' ID at 0926. Guitar folk music. Fair and
slowly improving signal. Also heard July 10 at 0950 with 'Oye Como Va' by
Santana at good level. (Atkins-WA)

ZAMBIA 4910, 0250-0315, ZBC Radio 1 Jul 10 Good reception with fish eagle
interval signal, national anthem, and lively Afropops music. Heard about
1-1/2 hours before Grayland sunset. Also heard 0422 on Jul 11, but with a
poor signal. (Atkins-WA)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA USA
DXing at Grayland, WA
Modified RA6790GM & R75
Kiwa MAP / ERGO / DSP-59+
740 ft. SW and W Beverages; 940 ft. NW Beverage


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