[IRCA] August Rockwork Cliff DXpedition-- Overall Summary

[Gary DeBock <d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

     A group of 5 determined DXers once again set up on the plunging Rockwork ocean cliff on the Oregon coast near Manzanita this month, tracking down multiple South Pacific stations-- especially those for which the Cliff is famous for providing a potent propagation boost. This summer there was a little added excitement thrown in as we competed with an expanded group of "sleeping squatters" for antenna setup space, often pushing our luck by setting up in total darkness right next to total strangers in junk vehicles at 0400 local time. The crowded real estate forced us to spread out from the usual Rockwork 4 location to four additional turnoffs, providing not only the chance to test out our antennas at new DXing sites, but also a chance to test out our psychological skills in dealing with bizarre squatters having multiple issues. "Frequent Flyer" Craig Barnes accompanied me (with his Baby FSL) to four different turnoffs in seven days, while Nick was busy setting up relative signal strength tests all around (and below) the cliff. Somehow Tom was able to set up at Rockwork 4 during all his sessions, while Chuck seemed to alternate between Rockwork 4, 3 and 2. There was little or no chance of DXer interaction when set up at different turnoffs, although we usually gathered for a debriefing session after the DU propagation had fizzled.  

     As usual the Rockwork cliff provided its famous "Kiwi Magic," with obscure New Zealand stations coming out of the noise in droves. 531-More FM seemed to have some kind of antenna upgrade as it gave PI some serious competition each session, and both 558-Radio Sport and 576-Star sounded pretty healthy on a couple of occasions. The extremely rare 585-Radio Ngati Porou made its first appearance in five years, while 594-Star and 639-RNZ managed their best signals ever. A special occasion was the S9+ appearance of the 1 kW 936-Chinese Voice on August 3rd, surprising everybody who heard it.

     After the recent antenna upgrades for both 558-Radio Fiji One and 1017-Tonga they managed to pound in with awesome signals on several occasions, hitting S9+ peaks for their best performances ever. Several Australian stations like 585-7RN and 639-2HC also did their best to tap into the Kiwi propagation pipeline, and on 8-9 there was an interesting station on 855 that wasn't // 774 and whose music sure didn't sound like Rhema. During my 9-day DXpedition the Western Australian stations were MIA for the first 8 days, and it seemed like they might not show up at the Rockwork cliff in August for the first time in four years. Strangely enough, on the very last day (August 9th) at 1253 558-6WA in Wagin did manage to break through the Fiji QRM for about 40 seconds-- just barely strong enough to get adequate material to match with the ABC website's Podcast. Overall the DXpedition proved to be the usual, habit-forming thrill that has made this wacky cliff a center of DU-DXing activity. Tom mentioned that he once again had record-breaking Longwave NDB-DX results from the South Pacific, NZ and Australia, while Craig certainly seemed to be on Cloud Nine as used the cliff's propagation boost to track down multiple DU's with his 3.5" Baby FSL. Nick , Tom, Craig and I have already made our reservations for next August-- wild weather and sleeping squatters notwithstanding.


Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

                
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