[IRCA] Rockwork Ocean Cliff DXpedition-- Rare Kiwi MW-DX Bonanza!

[Gary DeBock <d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

     As reported previously the transoceanic propagation was awesome yesterday at the Rockwork 6 Highway turnoff, resulting in multiple rare Kiwi receptions, and also S9 signals from stations like 7RN in Tasmania. The obscure NZ stations 531-More FM, 558-Radio Sport and 576-Star are usually a challenge to track down, but 585-Radio Ngati Porou borders on the monumental (it hadn't been heard at the Rockwork cliff for 4 years). All of them showed up during yesterday's phenomenal session, though.

     Once again the "sleeping squatters" made our antenna setup interesting, and Craig and I were together at Rockwork 6 while Tom and Nick set up at Rockwork 4. Nick also set up some monitoring gear at our Rockwork 6 turnoff in the hope of comparing DU-DX signals at the two locations (which Craig and I guarded with our lives against the sleeping squatters).

     When the first FSL antenna was set up to monitor 531 kHz in the total darkness at 1155 UTC it immediately tracked down an overwhelming S9+ signal from 531-PI in Auckland, which proved to be a harbinger of things to come  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/819m794mvc4gdym5b06smy19aqhooofi

     Before 1200 the rare Kiwis got into gear, along with S9 signals from 585-7RN, 702-2BL and 774-3LO. 531-More FM drowned out co-channel PI at 1247, while 558-Fiji showed up with potent strength at 1325. 1017-Tonga was again in and out at S9, of course. By the way, Craig is becoming a very skillful live DXer and FSL operator-- and certainly demonstrated that ability this morning. Overall it was a very thrilling session!

     531  More FM   Alexandra, NZ   (2 kW)   Potent modern rock music all alone at 1247, with typical short, choppy ID's (male and female, Yankee-accented) at 27 and 28 seconds  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/9z4bvsz7zd037grhwl5iwdrppm94m6rl

    558  Radio Sport   Invercargill, NZ   One of the tougher Kiwis came through with Yankee-accented Fox Sports News relay // 792 at 1307, showing up for the first time in three years  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dnkj6fqkviu8g57hw5mzcm00xae62ibr

    576  Star   Hamilton, NZ   (2.5 kW)  The "dwarf Star" manages music under 2RN at 1253  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xekx5gb4chsdr1njlc4kkd4mlxw630h3  which is parallel to 657-Star at the time  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/ipl15obsn5w55qtdgdjzyit65h6918lb

    585  7RN   Hobart, Tasmania   Powerful signal with female speech at 1249 (with the 576-2RN parallel confirmed at 31 seconds)  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/wpqm0pjh1f1cj8nlzzo93jclvrd46clg

    585  Radio Ngati Porou   Ruatoria, NZ   (2 kW)   One of the rarest possible catches from NZ. During the 7RN recording some choral music is audible under Tasmania, and after about a minute I decided to check for a Maori net parallel on 603-Waatea (at 2:08 into the recording). Much to my surprise 603 had the same choral music, nailing down reception of this station with legendary weakness (for the first time in 4 years)  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/wpqm0pjh1f1cj8nlzzo93jclvrd46clg


73 and Good DX,

Gary DeBock (DXing with Craig Barnes at the Rockwork 6 ocean cliff turnoff on Highway 101 near Manzanita, OR, USA)

7.5" loopstick CC Skywave SSB & XHDATA D-808 portables +

15", 15" and 17" airport-closing FSL antennas

Four DXer session photo is posted at  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/1vvrv5cyfl7di16ba5sv3u7mkx1fkeqf


 

      
_______________________________________________
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