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[HCDX] DXpedition to Grayland, WA 11 - 12 June, 2005
One thing you can count on with DXpeditions: there's always something
memorable about each one! Although trans-Pacific mediumwave was an almost
total bust, there seemed to be a propagational magnifying glass on Papua New
Guinea this weekend on shortwave. This was very fortunate, as June 11 was
the special inaugural broadcast and celebration of the new Wantok Radio
Light station in Port Moresby.
Walt Salmaniw and I occupied the usual "DX Central" motel room at Grayland;
we had guest appearances by John Bryant, staying at nearby Grayland Beach
State Park with his wife on the first segment of a 10-day camping/mini
DXpedition trip. The first night, Walt and I kept in touch with John via
GMRS radio transceivers. On the second night of DXing we had the chance to
try out John's new "Porta-KAZ" antenna alongside the Beverages. Although
designed for mediumwave, the KAZ was a surprisingly good performer on
shortwave, too. It is also a quiet antenna and fits within a small
"footprint," suitable for most campsites.
The highlight of the trip for Walt and I was without a doubt the very
impressive reception of 1 Kw Wantok Radio Light, 7120 kHz. At home, both
Walt and I have had reception just above threshold levels. On the DXpedition
we were treated to hours on end of impressive signal levels, which made for
very enjoyable listening and recording for posterity.
On to the loggings, followed by a few trans-Pacific MW catches for
amusement:
----------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA 2310, 1305-1312, VL8A Alice Springs Jun 11 Discussion of
Australian politics by man and woman. Fair level. Parallel VL8T 2325 (fair)
and VL8K 2485 (poor). On June 12, all three 120 meter band Aussies were much
better, at 1044 UTC; persistent hum noted on VL8K transmitter. (Atkins-WA)
INDONESIA 3945, 1127-1130, RRI Ternate Jun 12 Soft Indonesian pop music to
male announcer with ID at 1130. Only a fair signal, with modest modulation.
Heard somewhat better on June 11. (Atkins-WA)
INDONESIA 4790, 1320-1333, RRI Fak Fak Jun 11 Strong signal of lagu romantik
music; female announcer at 1330 with mentions of Fak Fak. Presumed.
(Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1737, 1143-1144, KUT, Kutubu Jun 12 CW aeronautical beacon
KUT noted with slow Morse code; fair signal level. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3220, 0938-0943, R. Morobe Jun 11 Tentative. Weak signal of
man talking in Pidgin. Not much to go on, but other PNGs were in at very
good levels during the same timeframe. Old country Gospel music at 0941.
(Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3235, 1145-1201, R. West New Britain Jun 12 Man in Pidgin
language with mentions of Kimbe and Papua New Guinea. Sing-sing PNG vocals
to 1156 announcements. Still playing soft music past 1200. Fair signal at
tune-in, but fading fast. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3260, 0845-0901, R. Madang Jun 11 Male announcer in Pigin
with mentions of 'Papua' at 0846. Bagpipe music (!) at 0850; ad for a brand
of 'fine tuna' at 0857, and more bagpipe music 0858. 'Radio Madang' ID at
0900. Fair to good signal. Noted June 12 with weak, noisy signal at 1052.
(Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3275, 1050-1055, R. Southern Highlands Jun 12 Tentative.
Noisy signal of what sounded like a live church service or transmission from
an auditorium. English language preacher or speaker, but too weak of a
signal to pull out much content. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3290, 1056-, R. Central Jun 12 Central was not heard last
night, but booming in this evening with a very good signal of EZL pop music
and male announcer in English. Conch shell blowing, then Into NBC national
news read by a man in English at 1100. Into a commentary program at 1105 by
a male announcer: 'Welcome to another edition of Around the Provinces.'
Noted parallel to NBC Port Moresby on their alternate frequency of 9675
(4890 absent). (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3325, 0944-0948, R. North Solomons Jun 11 Live or recorded
broadcast of a female representative being sworn-in to a governmental
assembly, and swearing allegiance to the country of Papua New Guinea. There
were many mentions of Bougainville. The programming sounded like a PNG
version of CSPAN. Fair to good signal. Also heard June 12 with a fair signal
at 1058. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3335, 0948-0959, R. East Sepik Jun 11 Nice Melanesian
sing-sing music at tune-in; male announcer in Pidgin 0953 with time check
and mentioning Papua New Guinea twice. ID for 'Radio East Sepik' at 0959. At
1003, the announcer mentioned 'Wantok Radio Light dedication' in the midst
of a Pidgin sentence. Powerhouse signal!. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3365, 1131-, R. Milne Bay Jun 12 Nice to hear Milne Bay
again, as my last log of them was nearly one year ago. Very pleasant PNG
vocals and accoustic guitar at tune-in. Man in Pidgin 1136 with mentions of
upcoming programs, times, etc. Pacific islands flavored music 1139; weather
forecast for Milne Bay 1140. Good signal level initially, but deteriorating
by 1140. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3385, 0910-0924, R. East New Britain Jun 11 Surprised to
find on 3385 a relay of Australian rules football between the victorious
Brisbane Broncos and the Canberra team. Noted parallel to the 120 meterband
Aussie regionals. Suddenly back to local PNG programming at 0920 with ads
for a hardware store and grocery. Mentions of the football game by a male
announcer in Pidgin at 0922. Numerous mentions of Papua New Guinea at 0923.
At 1320 recheck, noted on late with local advertisement and mentions of
Rabaul, and then off at 1323. Also heard June 12 with a strong signal of
soft PNG pop music in Pidgin at 1112. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3905, 0820-0836, Radio New Ireland Jun 11 Excellent level
with female announcer in Pidgin; interesting primative music with women
singing, accompanied by wooden percussive instruments. 'Radio New Ireland'
ID by woman at 0831, and into local announcement or PSA by man and woman
regarding the evils of marijuana. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 4960, 0904-0906, Catholic Radio Network, Vanimo Jun 11
Noted in passing with Catholic programming in English, 'Hail Mary full of
grace,' etc. at tune-in. Much poorer signal than Wantok Radio Light...fair
at best. However, at 1340 I happened upon CRN again, with a good signal of
PNG choral music. At 1347, the female announcer congratulated Wantok Radio
Light on their inaugural broadcast and official first day on the air. On
June 12, CRN was heard with a poor signal of contemporary Christian music
and female vocals at 1115. (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 7120, 0520-1325, Wantok Radio Light Jun 11 A weak het first
heard around 0520, and strengthening into threshold audio before 0600, over
two hours before Port Moresby sunset. A steady rise in signal strength
throughout the 0600 hour was noted, with good, listenable levels by 0630,
with special inaugural broadcast of Wantok Radio Light in progress. Many
mentions of 'Wantok Radio' by male and female announcers with references to
the dedication of the station, and so on. This was clearly an outdoor event
and broadcast, with a 'you are there' feeling, complete with echoes,
microphone feedback squeals, crowds cheering, etc. Christian contemporary
praise and worship music in between announcer comments, phone interviews,
and messages by pastors and Christian leaders, and songs by local bands
(Voice in the Wind; P.T.U.I.F. Band; and Higher Vision). Heard frequent
comments like 'Papua New Guinea is praising today', 'Are you rejoicing,
Papua New Guinea?' and mentions of thanksgiving for the new station. By 0715
the signal was positively loud! An exclamation of 'Good evening, Kaupena!'
was heard at 0744, at the beginning of a listener's message and excited
testimony (Kaupena is the transmitter location.) At 0902 recheck, I caught a
quick ID in Pidgin rather than English: 'You hearim Wantok Radio Light'.
This new PNG station was even coming in at a fair level on the whip antenna
of my Degen DE1103...pretty impressive for 1 Kw on an NVIS antenna from over
6700 miles away. At 1325 recheck, noted Wantok Radio Light still in with a
fair-good signal of contemporary Christian music. Here are two MP3 audio
files of Wantok Radio Light:
http://www.guyatkins.com/files/Wantok_Radio_Light_7120_11June05_0738_inaugur
al_bcst.mp3 (outdoor inauguration celebration);
http://www.guyatkins.com/files/Wantok_Radio_Light_7120_11June05_1007_studio_
ancr.mp3 (studio announcer after the event). (Atkins-WA)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 9675, 1115-1122, NBC Port Moresby Jun 12 I almost didn't
check this frequency, as 0700 is typical sign-off for 9675. However, after
finding 4890 quiet, I noted 9675 with a good signal (far better in LSB) with
the 'Around the Provinces' program, parallel to 3290 R. Central. Male and
female reporters with news items from various PNG locations. (Atkins-WA)
SOLOMON ISLANDS 5019.9, 0750-0802, SIBC Jun 11 Bored-sounding announcer
calling a soccer match between the Solomons Islands and Kenya, alternating
between Pidgin and English. Caliope-like tune at 0801, and ID by woman, and
into news in English. Very good to excellent signal. (Atkins-WA)
UNIDENTIFIED 3935, 0802-0806, Jun 11 Man in an English or Kiwi accent
reading a list or story. Faint signal, barely above threshold level. ZLXA
Levin, New Zealand?. (Atkins-WA)
VANUATU 3944.9v, 0715-0740, R. Vanuatu Jun 11 Noted this rising up from the
noise prior to 0700, and down 0.1 kHz from nominal, just like Vanuatu on
7259.9v earlier in the evening before it shut down suddenly. Mentions of
'Tok Tok' at 0715 as well as Port Vila at 0731. Poor to fair signal, but
improving past 0740. Noted again at 0814, drifted down to 3944.85. 'Radio
Vanuatu' ID at 0815. (Atkins-WA)
MEDIUMWAVE (logged during VERY poor reception of trans-Pacific MW DX)
--------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA 792, 1239-, 4RN Brisbane Jun 11 Brief peaks of Aussie English to
fair level, then down in the mud again. Finally caught a parallel of 738 2NR
Grafton just before 1300; Radio National trumpet fanfare at top of hour, and
into news. (Atkins-WA)
AUSTRALIA 1116, 1250-, 4BC Jun 12 Beautiful signal with local ads for an
on-line casino, grocery store, and Ford Courier SUV at Brian Berg Ford ('A
hard-working man needs a hard-working ute, at a drive-away price of
$18,990'). ID as 'You're listening to more of the Weekend Shopper on 4BC
Brisbane' and 'Talk 1116 Brisbane, 4BC' by male announcer. Excellent signal
during peaks. A short MP3 recording can be heard here:
http://www.guyatkins.com/files/4BC_Brisbane_1116_kHz_12Jun05.mp3 (Atkins-WA)
FIJI 639, 1203-1215, R. Fiji 1, Drasa Jun 12 Church service broadcast at
tune-in, then South Pacific islands music. Fair to good level, and parallel
to 684 Labasa. (Atkins-WA)
FIJI 684, 1208-1215, R. Fiji 1, Labasa Jun 12 South Pacific style of vocals
and slack key guitar accompaniment; good signal level prior to fades, and
parallel to 639 Drasa and possibly 1152 Rakiraki. (Atkins-WA)
NEW ZEALAND 1125, 1232-1240, R. Sport, Napier/Hawkes Bay Jun 12 Sports talk
with two male announcers with US accented English, with typical relay of a
USA sports network. Discussion about top NASCAR drivers. Fair, clear signal
during peaks. Presumed. (Atkins-WA)
NEW ZEALAND 1332, 1220-1235, R. Sport, Auckland Jun 11 Noted with sports
programming of two male announcers in Kiwi English, possibly parallel 558
Invercargill. Fair on peaks, but over/under presumed 4BU Bundaberg
Australia with oldies hits. (Atkins-WA)
TAHITI 738, 1005-, RFO Tahiti Jun 12 Presumed. Woman with French talk; weak
signal. One of the few TP stations with any audio at all on the band right
now, during poor conditions. (Atkins-WA)
UNIDENTIFIED 1107, 1222-1227, Jun 12 Scraps of English with two male
announcers, possibly Aussie accented. Very low level. (Atkins-WA)
Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA USA
DXing from Grayland, WA
mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75
Kiwa MAP / ERGO
SW, W, and NW Beverage antennas, 500-800 ft.
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