Re: [IRCA] Top Ten South Pacific Signals from the Cape Perpetua (OR) Cliff

[Tony Ward <tonyward@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Oh boy, this takes me back Gary. Listening to KFI, KORL, all the West Coast, and some East (like WBZ-1030) on a "9 transistor" National Panasonic radio from the Southern end of your cliff-enhanced path around 1960-62 and earlier, on other larger rigs. I really must dig up the photo I took of R. Rhema's (684, formerly 648 KHz) amazing antenna location. Nominally Gisborne, the actual transmitter/tower is a little SW of (Google Earth) Mahia, quite a distance from Gisborne. Mahia is most of the way East on the North shore of the Mahia Peninsula, on which I spent a number of happy hours about ten years ago studying the geology with my Gisborne-based brother Chris, then Chief Science Officer East Coast North Island. A very few wavelengths from the tower the signal was already swimming its way to you on the Oregon shore.

Congratulations. Wot fun!
 
Tony (VE3NO) NYAA Starfest


tonyward@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.nyaa.ca


Schrodinger's cat is dead --- and living in Whitby!



________________________________
 From: "d1028gary@xxxxxxx" <d1028gary@xxxxxxx>
To: ultralightdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; am@xxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 3:31:05 PM
Subject: [IRCA] Top Ten South Pacific Signals from the Cape Perpetua (OR) Cliff
 
Hello All,

>From July 17-21 Norm Clark and I had the exciting experience of DXing
from the Cape Perpetua cliff site on Oregon's central coast, setting
up with a hot-rodded PL-380 Ultralight radio and an 8" FSL antenna on a
Highway 101 road side turn off (with an awesome ocean view). The
operating conditions were rough (no AC power, running water, street
lights or weather protection) and setup space was extremely limited,
but the thrilling DU-DX was more than worth the hassle! Recordings from
the strongest DU stations are linked below.

567-Radio National (Wellington, NZ, 50 kW)  A regular every morning on
the Cliff, with a mix of news, interviews and music. // 675
http://www.mediafire.com/?9z8vnphq6thc9p2

603-Radio Waatea (Auckland, NW, 5 kW)  Maori-language music and news,
quite vibrant during good Kiwi conditions
http://www.mediafire.com/?fjsnsk95l62iims

657-Southern Star (Wellington, NZ, 50 kW)  Christian music broadcaster
with extremely strong signals during good Kiwi propagation
http://www.mediafire.com/?ijcacg8uqmvian9

684-NZ Rhema (Gisborne, NZ, 5 kW)  Another Christian music broadcaster
with an exceptional signal for its transmitter power level
http://www.mediafire.com/?bge7anmbo8j79a8

738-RFO Tahiti (Mahina, Tahiti, 20 kW)  A French language blowtorch on
the Cliff almost every morning, this station frequently tested the
PL-380's crunch resistance. One of only two stations not from New
Zealand to make this "Top Ten" list
http://www.mediafire.com/?a4shuubhn36b6aa

765-Radio Kahungunu (Napier-Hastings, NZ, 2.5 kW)  The booming signals
from this low-powered Maori language broadcaster almost reached
science fiction levels on the Cliff. Part of the mystique is that this
station (and 603-Waatea) have apparently never been received at the
famous Grayland DXpedition site in Washington state. The second MP3 has
a beautiful Maori-language rendition of the old Jackson 5 hit, "I'll Be
There."
http://www.mediafire.com/?my4o957wpjtve0m
http://www.mediafire.com/?53ixrx2kv109g34

828-Radio Trackside (Palmerston North, NZ, 2 kW)  Another low-powered
Kiwi station with amazing signals on the Cliff. Apparently helped by
bizarre propagation shutting out Australian stations, it frequently
ruled the roost on this frequency
http://www.mediafire.com/?53b7zau8787ie0j

891-5AN (Adelaide, Australia, 50 kW)  The sole Aussie to make this
list, this ABC broadcaster apparently benefited from its central
Australia location, giving it booming signals while eastern Australia
was down in the noise. A frequent blowtorch on the Cliff
http://www.mediafire.com/?rsvoh1aro2w0xtr

1008-Newstalk ZB (Tauranga, NZ, 10 kW)  One of the stronger Kiwis, but
its proximity to a 1010 kHz domestic station saddled it with a tedious
2 kHz heterodyne on the low-tech Tecsun ultralight. The strongest of
the Kiwi Newstalk ZB stations on the Cliff
http://www.mediafire.com/?nl9j9f242ldirfm

Of course, many other South Pacific stations were received on the
Cliff, but these were just the ten strongest ones. Low-powered New
Zealand stations (and one obscure 400w Aussie X-bander on 1701 kHz)
were the order of the day. A full DXpedition report on this bizarre
4-day trip will be prepared shortly, which hopefully will motivate
other DXing fanatics to push their luck on the cliffs!

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
Cape Perpetua DXpedition video posted at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzBfstOXA4






















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