[IRCA] Cape Perpetua, Oregon Cliffside DXing - Sept. 9th

[Guy Atkins <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yesterday morning before sunrise I sought out the Cape Perpetua, Oregon
cliff that has served Gary DeBock so well with a flood of DU DX with his
Ferrite Sleeve Loop (FSL) antenna.

With Gary's encouragement and supply of a regular tuned FSL, and Chuck
Hutton's help with electrical formulas and initial impedance measurements,
I was able to convert the FSL into a broadband (non-tuned) loop for
capturing the entire band with Perseus SDR recordins. The antenna
accompanied me to Oregon, secured inside a container strapped to the roof
of our family's vacation vehicle.

The 7-inch FSL was converted to broadband use by the removal of the tuning
capacitor and the addition of a homebrew 1.6 to 1 turns ratio transformer
and a Wellbrook FLG100LN amplified Flag antenna module. (FSL >> 26/15 turns
on Amidon FT140A-J core >> input of FLG100LN >> receiver. Chuck calculated
the FSL's impedance as 3K ohms at 1.7 MHz; the Wellbrook's input impedance
is 1200 ohms.)

Here is a photo of the transport container, ready for DXing on the roof of
our SUV:
https://www.box.com/s/cl9zoe1b85l15md9ma0b

Photo of the modded loop:
https://www.box.com/s/14ucdam3me28xncfo34t

Tests at home showed that the antenna works perfectly well inside the box
on the roof of the SUV... there's no need to brave the wind, cold, and
possible rain outside on the side of the cliff! I did all my DXing from the
comfort of the driver's seat, with the computer and Perseus receiver on the
center console. I felt a bit guilty to be enjoying such comfort, knowing
that Gary had braved the cold, damp, and darkness at this very same spot!
Thanks for blazing the cliff DXing trail, Gary :^)

While still in Puyallup I was able to verify that the broadband FSL picks
up TP carriers (738 Tahiti) equally well as a full size Wellbrook K9AY
antenna. Based on this result I was fairly sure that the antenna would work
well in an actual DXpedition situation. See the annotated Perseus screen
shot:
https://www.box.com/s/t7r0kdzv8aj5jczum1ne

Loggings from the first morning of DXing  (Sept. 9th) with the broadband
FSL were made from just 15 minutes of Perseus WAVs prior to local sunrise
at 1349 UTC; although I recorded up through 1400, most of the DX was gone
by 1355. I had expected DX to peak right around dawn and continue for a
time afterwards like usual at Grayland; instead, the peak DX was at the
moment I first turned on the receiver (1338 UTC). The same pattern
continued this morning (I still need to go through recordings from the
10th). Tomorrow I'm getting out there earlier, that's for sure!

Unlike Gary's visits to this location on Cape Perpetua, my DX
experience Sunday morning was nearly "all Japan, all the time". Even
many frequencies where low power Japanese outlets operate had some (low
level) audio.

It was quite the experience to receive the stations listed below, on a
small antenna strapped to the roof of a vehicle! I'll get to the Perseus
WAV files from this morning as soon as I'm able and report the results.
However, I need to fit it into time spent at the sunny Oregon beaches, the
beautiful coastal Oregon forest, and other non-DX distractions :^)

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA
DXing at Cape Perpetua, Oregon (1.3 mi. south of Yachats, OR)

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558 UNID Bass-heavy music at 1338 to faint Aussie accented OM in English.
Faint signal. 4GY Gympie?

567 JAPAN JOIK Sapporo, lively Japanese music and talk by two announcers,
1338 UTC. Fair.

594 JAPAN JOAK Tokyo, with a powerhouse signal at 1342 and Japanese
announcers having a party, evidently, in the studio (laughing, clinking of
glasses, etc.)

612 UNID Faint signal of man talking in English at 1342. Possibly a
devotional reading or religious talk, so maybe Radio Rhema, NZ here.

630 NEW ZEALAND Radio National with low level signal and ID at 1400 by male.

657 NORTH KOREA, KCBS Pyongyang with boring talk by female in Korean at
1339 and pompous orchestral music at 1341. Strong signal.

666 JAPAN JOBK Osaka, noted parallel to 594 with "party time" atomosphere.
Fair signal at 1342.

693 JAPAN JOAB Tokyo. Male and female announcers with English lesson on the
topic of the history of witches(!) in different cultures. Excellent, strong
signal at 1338.

774 JAPAN JOUB Akita noted parallel 693 at 1340 and with a similarly strong
signal.

828 JAPAN JOBB Osaka; yet another loud and clear NHK2 parallel here, equal
strength to 693 and 774 at 1340.

891 JAPAN JOHK Sendai heard at 1339, parallel to 594 in Japanese. Poor to
fair at first but improving to good at 1344. Unidentified station noted in
background, possibly in Korean language.

918 JAPAN UNID station at 1338 to 1352, with good signal at times in
Japanese but fading out before 1400. Possibly JOEF Yamagata.

927 JAPAN UNID, a faint signal in Japanese noted here, with male and female
announcers, 1338-1355.

936 JAPAN UNID, yet another low power Japanese station frequency with
audio, but too weak to get any clues. Noted 1340-1344 only.

945 JAPAN UNID NHK1, with "party in the office" programming, parallel to
594. Poor to fair at peaks, around 1344 only.

954 JAPAN JOKR Tokyo, good to very good signal at 1339-1345. Male and
female talk in Japanese, and flute music at 1345.

963 JAPAN UNID NHK1 station at 1343, fair to good and parallel to 594 with
the on-air party.

972 SOUTH KOREA HLCA with a super-strong signal at 1344-47. Male & Female
announcers playing music and singing a tune in the studio.

1008 JAPAN JONR Osaka playing jazz music at 1342, then lively announcers in
Japanese. Signal ranged from poor to good.

1062 JAPAN UNID, a weak signal of Japanese talk, on this frequency where
numerous low power Japanese outlets are listed in PAL. Best reception
1342-1344.

1071 UNID, very weak signal at 1348, possibly of a sporting event with a
Japanese announcer, but I'm not sure of the language.

1089 JAPAN JOHB Sendai, parallel to 693 with discussion of the history of
witches in various cultures. Poor to fair at 1342.

1098 JAPAN UNID, another very weak signal of Japanese language here, at
1345.

1116 JAPAN UNID, more weak Japanese talk on a low power frequency, with
male and female announcer; best signal was poor-fair briefly at 1347.

1134 JAPAN JOQR Tokyo, good to very good signal 1340-1402. Japanese
announcers and brief music segments. Jingle and single time pip at 1400,
another jingle in a rock music style, followed by announcements or ID of
some type. Seemed to be fighting a Korean language signal at times,
presumed HLKC.

1143 JAPAN JOBR Kyoto at 1341, fair level, with female announcer and
Japanese talk.

1152 JAPAN UNID NHK2 station at 1338-1340, parallel to 693. Poor to fair.

1170 SOUTH KOREA, presumed HLSR with KBS programming in Korean. Fair to
good with a weak KPUG Bellingham beneath.

1179 JAPAN JOOR Osaka, with announcers in Japanese at 1338-1345. Good
signal briefly on peaks.

1188 JAPAN JOKP Kitami, fair with office party program, parallel 594 at
1340-1342.

1205.97 UNID in Korean language, 30 Hz low on nominal 1206. Poor to fair at
1344.

1242 JAPAN JOLF, Tokyo, with Japanese male announcer 1340-1350. Poor to
fair.

1269 JAPAN UNID, threshold level Japanese talk at 1343; very weak signal
but definitely JJ.

1287 JAPAN JOHR Hokkaido, fair to good signal at 1338-1342 with male &
female announcers in Japanese, Japanese rock music at 1341, then back to
more lively talk. No sign of JOHR by 1400.

1314 JAPAN JOUF Osaka, fair level with woman announcer in Japanese, with
co-channel signal of orchestral and choral music in background (not Chinese
orchestral style).

1323 UNIDENTIFIED, an extremely weak, threshold level signal heard here
around 1349, possibly Japanese as it didn't sound tonal like the Chinese
language.

1332 JAPAN JOSF Nagoya, fading up from inaudibility to fair level at 1341
with female talk in Japanese.

1377 UNIDENTIFIED, threshold talk in possible Asian language heard briefly
1340.

1386 JAPAN UNID, NHK2 programming noted poor/fair 1340-1344; three 10 kw
NHK2 stations listed here. Much more interesting was the background station
on 1386, fading in and out with SE Asian folk music and singing, possibly
in Chinese. All signals faded after 1345, but 2+1 time pips heard at 1400.
The only Chinese stations listed for 1386 are low power outlets.

1413 JAPAN JOIF Fukuoka rising briefly to poor/fair level around 1343 only,
with talk by man and woman in Japanese.

1422 JAPAN JORF Yokohama, heard only at 1352-53 when a Japanese language
station rose to audibility for a short time. JORF is the only Japanese
station shown for 1422.

1476 UNIDENTIFIED, a threshold level station here at 1342-43, with a deep
voiced announcer. Maybe Japanese language, but the signal was too weak to
say for sure.

1548 AUSTRALIA 4QD Emerald, discussion at 1349 between two men in English
about the challenges of maintaining an education system in war-torn Syria.
Classical music heard up to 1359 announcements and mentions of Radio
Australia and ABC Radio. ABC trumpet fanfare 1400 and into world news. Good
signal around 1350, but QRM'd by a strong KKOV 1550, Vancouver WA.

1566 SOUTH KOREA HLAZ, Cheju at an excellent level of hymns and chants at
1338, with Japanese language announcers. Multiple FEBC IDs at 1341-42.
Break in transmission 1344, then sign-on in Chinese language with a much
weaker signal (beam change to Asia).

1593 JAPAN UNID, likely JOQB Niigata here as it's more northerly than JOTB
Matsue. Fair level of Japanese talk and music 1342 with programming NOT
parallel other NHK2 outlets.

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