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

[Stephen Airy <pianoplayer88key@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Gary,

Comments interspersed below ...

>  From: "d1028gary@xxxxxxx" <d1028gary@xxxxxxx>

>  To: ultralightdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; am@xxxxxxxxxxx 
>  Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 12:31 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

WOW!!  That one sounds *exceptionally* strong, almost as if their transmitter is nearby, like ... https://picasaweb.google.com/118228966367965758611/TecsunPL606#5597872520572769682 ... and not over 7,000 miles away!!  I wonder if you would have been able to hear it on the barefoot non-7.5" PL-380, or even possibly a PL-360 with no antenna plugged in, or an unmodified SRF-M37W?  Do you by any chance remember what the RSSI was when you were recording that clip?  It almost sounds to me like it could have been in the 80s, or even in the 90s dBµ? ;)

>  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

Sounds fairly good, although not nearly as strong as 567-Radio National, I think.  I know this song fairly well btw ... which leads me to ....   I wonder how often a DXer, listening to a song they know very well on a weak/fading signal, can mentally dig that music out from under the noise (and even mentally "fill in the blanks" during fade-out periods) when *nothing* else would be able to punch through? ;)

>  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

That one's quite strong, too.  Who's the het coming from?  Is that 740-KCBS?
About testing the "crunch resistance" ... I wonder if you might want to back off a little on the input level on your recorder?  Normally I don't hear the audio starting to clip on my Tecsuns until the RSSI is around 95 dBµ or so, as in .... 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE2n94DLDak#t=0m47s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w49RVGQzFc#t=0m42s (this & above recorded 9.2 mi S of the station's transmitter)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIU3mP5f38#t=0m16s (also around 1:15)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEMLcEqCu3E#t=0m13s (also around 2:47)
I'm guessing the strength of your recording(s) was probably just a weeee little bit less than my KCBQ clips? ;)
I also hear that "crunch" in 567-2YA, a trace in 657-Southern Star, and 891-5AN.

>  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

Who's providing the ACI/QRM?  Would that be 760-KFMB (a fairly strong local for me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICaOz_Nvxeo ), 770-KTTH, or 770-KKOB (which usually is strong enough to punch through KFMB here) or someone else?  Even so, that's still quite good for only 2.5 kW.

>  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

Who's hetting on this one?  830-KLAA?  or someone else on 830?  Great signal for 2 kW though.

>  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

I also hear, along with the "crunch", a het.  Would 890-KDXU be strong enough to cause that, or is there another station on 890 in the Northwest?

>  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

Which 3 or 4 stations on 1010 do you think might have been causing the het?  I hear at least 2 different beat rates on the het, if not 3.

>  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


73 and even better DX, 
Stephen Airy (in east Mt Helix (S of El Cajon, E of La Mesa, N of Rancho San Diego), CA, USA)
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