[IRCA] Cook Island DXpedition-- NZ/ Australian Results & MP3's (Part One)

[Gary DeBock <d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

     New Zealand has a "free association" agreement with the Cook Islands, and the Maori-speaking islanders use Kiwi dollars, have the right of abode in New Zealand, and show the deepest reverence for NZ's famous rugby team-- the All Blacks. Most of the food in the grocery stores is Kiwi-sourced (although it costs tourists about twice as much as it does in NZ), and even the temporary internet service that tourists love to hate (the infamous Zenbu Networks Ltd.) is based in Auckland. As you might guess, DXers checking out the MW band in the Cook Islands are going to get a very heavy dose of (what else?) New Zealand.

     About an hour after local sunset on Aitutaki island the Kiwi MW stations start to pound in, plastering both Pacific island and Hawaiian signals alike. Regardless of their power, they seem to get a propagation boost to foul up all the exotic Pacific island stations on the band-- even 630-Cook Islands in Rarotonga. 990-TAB Trackside (1 kW) often makes it a good horse race with 10 kW Fiji Gold, and even 1440-Moana (200w) can give Kiribati serious competition.

     Australian MW stations generally take a back seat to the Kiwis until local midnight on Aitutaki, but they usually rule the roost around sunrise in the Cooks. A network of "Overnight Australia" pest stations is on exotic-station frequencies like 693 and 1566 kHz, while ABC mega-pests (such as 576-2RN and 594-3WV) are on others. Other talk-format ANZ pests on the remaining exotic frequencies (918, etc.) make sure that you will need to put forth some effort to earn your loggings of India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Mongolia-- although the awesome sunrise propagation will definitely be on your side.

     The NZ and Australian loggings below were all made with a 7.5 inch loopstick C.Crane Skywave SSB Ultralight portable, which proved to be very competitive when boosted by the South Pacific ocean beach propagation. Recordings which maxed out the bar-graph S-meter are identified with a double asterisk (**).Thanks to Theo, Chuck, Bruce and all others who contributed to identification of these ANZ stations.

531  2PM   Kempsey, Australia, 5 kW   Dominant during most sunrise sessions, but pretty wimpy in the evening. Here it was with call-in talk on the SRN network (// 639) at 1627 on 4-10  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dt3qb3g23xzqjnn6crsztf7x5xajmiby

531  4KZ   Innisfail, Australia, 10 kW   Occasionally dominant around sunrise, but usually under 2PM. This recording at 1559 on 4-10 has mentions of Innisfail at 20 and 23 seconds, a 4KZ promo, and "4KZ National News" at 1:21 in the MP3  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/bo65gzy106b6p3mf0gju4xhq14pgizig

**531  More FM   Alexandra, NZ, 2 kW   Despite its rare reputation on the west coast the low-powered station had no trouble making itself heard each evening in the Cooks. Here it is with typical modern rock music at 0714 on 4-9, with a choppy, sandwiched "More FM" Yankee-accented female ID (also typical) at the 6 second point  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dapiipgz0y3fcgkwqyg163zlr6l46h56

531  PI   Auckland, NZ, 5 kW   Usually in a snarl with Kiwi co-channel More FM each evening, this Samoan language broadcaster was sometimes dominant in the sunrise sessions, such as at 1633 on 4-10 (over 2PM's call-in talk)  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/v7vd48wj50wh850xzqwdde60nguomfmi

540  Rhema   Taranaki/ Christchurch, NZ, 2/ 1 kW)   Usually covered by Samoa's 2AP in the evening, it had a clear shot during the sunrise sessions before the Samoan sign on, such as at 1603 on 4-9 (with Rhema ID at 40 seconds)  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/niou2j8yrtih0ntgyu59a0bwdyyisnfo

**549  TAB Trackside Radio   Hawkes Bay, NZ, 1 kW   For some reason this low powered horse racing station ruled the frequency each evening, although there were higher powered NZ and Oz co-channels. This recording at 0733 on 4-10 features an entire horse race at a strong level, along with a musical break  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/udp96gpbxvdu26wrvbgy2ri224pps64h

558  Radio Sport   Invercargill, NZ, 5 kW   Barely audible (under a thunderous Radio Fiji One) with Yankee-accented Fox Sports News relay at 1624 on 4-10, this station always had a very rough time with the Fiji co-channel  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/pue1kl4p7uvohelwt5hdr45jbjp0aau3

**567  RNZ National   Wellington, NZ, 50 kW   With a relatively wimpy west coast signal after its old tower was demolished, the station sounded far more energetic in the Cooks. Here was parliamentary news at 0717 on 4-10  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/y4uy1yjnfvg5kboq7e1celolmrkysd33

**576  2RN   Sydney, Australia, 50 kW   A real blaster every morning around sunrise, it usually wiped out any chance of hearing something exotic on the frequency, such as at 1619 on 4-13  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/bkwh5w1vg3xufbe63f3yefbaav7afvlg

576  Star   Hamilton, NZ, 2.5 kW   If 2RN didn't wipe out the frequency during the sunrise sessions then the "Dwarf Star" usually would. Here it was in a relatively equal mix with the Oz big gun at 1618 on 4-13  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/x1od4xf71d9nxpgzpz21h7sqvevretiw

585  7RN   Hobart, Australia, 10 kW   Usually in a mix with a presumed 2WEB in the evening, the station was easy to ID with its 576 parallel, such as at 1607 on 4-9 with female and male speech in an RN network program  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/43n8cxjbesp75bk6t63tedovm3pkfo7h

585  Radio Ngati Porou   Ruatoria, NZ, 2 kW   A Kiwi Maori station with legendary weakness, on the west coast it has only been heard at Rockwork 4 (where it has now been MIA for 3 years). In the Cooks it was barely audible, such as at 1610 on 4-9 (with the 603-Waatea parallel playing "In the Misty Moonlight" for the first 3 seconds, followed by the same music way under 7RN from the rare station, and finally the 603-Waatea parallel again at the 35 second point). The parallel check was only successful on one out of four attempts, with the wimpy signal usually MIA   https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/ayxdvibx0u0hpecasdx9xuqd4pu6bwod

585  UnID-Oz   This station received at 0738 on 4-9 was not // 576, and was also not // 603, so most likely it was David Sharp's "Outback Radio," 2WEB in Bourke. It was usually in a running battle with 7RN each evening in the Cooks  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/8768a9n9y3wf1ibz51yi1lqj2pkhla04

**594  3WV   Horsham, Australia, 50 kW   This was another huge blaster during sunrise sessions, wiping out any chance at Southeast Asia. In tandem with the Star network, the Oz big gun plastered anything weak, such as at 1629 on 4-13  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/89kmglgoez1eh25ljbvtf0u625t4lm93

594  Star   Timaru/ Wanganui, NZ, 5/ 2 kW   The Christian hymn network dominated in the evenings, but lost out to the Oz big gun at sunrise. This weather report was received at 1622 on 4-13  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/z54n53zsf262e5d10jmcdegqz2yatzhr

**603  Radio Waatea   Auckland, NZ, 5 kW   The strongest of the Maori language stations in the Cooks, it provided a convenient parallel signal to check for the wimpy 585 Maori station. This was its typical (S9) strength at 0737 on 4-9, with Maori language conversation  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/s2hrnllo4jy6khbwlcegqpeym0gbhq0e

(TO BE CONTINUED)       

               
_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx