Re: [IRCA] Worldwide, DXpeditions Hunt Elusive Radio Signals

[Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Newfoundland is quite different. In NJ in November, we've started to see TA's as early as 1500 LT,
and that was maybe once or twice, and at the other end, it's pretty much done by 0300 at best.
More often it's 1600-0200, and we don't usually get a swing to the South. If Brazil is going to be
in, that means conditions are auroral. A few may get up early to search for TP carriers, but most
do not, and lately that's been done more via recordings.

Lunchtime often finds some of the group away from site for various reasons, with others listening 
to recordings, working on logs, working on equipment, etc. There are a few local restaurants
featuring excellent breakfasts, so presuming everybody gets up at a reasonable hour that's the
main group meal/discussion.


 
Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia 
Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>





________________________________
 From: Mark Connelly <markwa1ion@xxxxxxx>
To: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Worldwide, DXpeditions Hunt Elusive Radio Signals
 

On the Newfie DXpeditions we usually just did lunch around noon (after catching some minimal amount of sleep in the 6-11 a.m. stretch).  By 2 p.m. local, TA DX was already rumbling in on the Beverages even though it may have been 2+ hours pre-sunset.  By the time it was dark for an hour or so and we were getting blase about the initial rush of DX from Europe, Africa, the Mideast, and sometimes India, then the Brazilians, Argentinians, and many other southerly goodies started rolling in.  Depending on conditions, these could persist well into the wee hours of the morning.  Additionally, as westerly-progressing sunrise knocked out one group of TA's after another, lower powered British and other stations on the western flanks of Europe and Africa, signals previously buried by Mideast megawatters, would come into their own.


In essence, maybe only about 6 hours out of 24 could be considered non-DX time.


There were some decent fish places in the area the first few times I went up to Cappahayden (e.g. 1991, 1993).  The poor economy caused by the decline of the fishing industry around there resulted in one restaurant after the other "going dark" as the years passed.


Typically the communal DX shack room had snack material (chips with dip or salsa, pretzels, nuts, crackers, cookies) of dubious nutritional merit.  At least once in a while, oranges or other fresh fruit showed up.  No matter how you looked at it, however, there was nothing distinguished from a culinary standpoint.


Drinks?  When actually DXing, it was usually about the caffeine: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and cola prevailed.  Beer, wine, and that distinctive local "hooch" known as "Newfie Screech" weren't usually trotted out until the last DXpedition night as a celebration of the "job well done" and as a sort of farewell send-off.  DX efficiency typically declined a few notches at that point.  Some of us had very early flights out the next day so we couldn't get too blasted.  On the subject of diminished DX efficiency, of course nowadays with SDR's, most of the serious DX analysis goes on weeks or even months after the actual reception times.  So as long as you're not so inebriated that you delete (or fail to save) the capture files, you can still make a go at some good DX as long as the alertness is there when you finally do get to dig through all those captures.  Even with the benefit of an eventually-bigger logbook, the after-the-fact nature of DXing
 with SDR's does take away some !
of the old-school "fun factor" of immediate gratification and in-person real-time success-sharing with your DXpedition comrades ... stuff that the late John Bryant celebrated so well in his kid-in-a-candy-shop-enthusiasm writings from the ol' knob-twisting and cassette-recording "dark ages".  After-the-fact DX also tends to take useful tools such as shortwave parallel checking, webstreams, and remote web receivers out of the game.  


I guess what I advocate is a 50/50 blend of SDR-band-capture modernity and Bryantesque "waist-gunner onna NRD-525"  (or was it SX-28?) "live" DXing.


Back on the food topic ... local group DXpeditions here on the Massachusetts coast, not surprisingly, sometimes have a seafood restaurant get-together meal prior to the set-up of mobile DX gear / antennas at a suitable shore site in time for high-productivity listening starting 15-30 minutes before sunset.  See "DX Clams" reports such as <http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/dx_clams_2005.htm> for an example.


Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA


<<
The only 'big meal' we normally have at the LBI DXpeditions is breakfast, when 
there's little to no DX.
Lunches and dinner are usually nearby takeout pizza, subs, etc. Of course 
there's also beer, soda
and various munchies in stock.




?
Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia 
Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>



________________________________
From: Walter Salmaniw <canswl@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America 
<irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 12:48 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Worldwide, DXpeditions Hunt Elusive Radio Signals



Seems that the culinary and beverage side of DXpeditions on this coast has
been sadly lacking.? Although we did go for some nice meals in Grayland,
once in a while!? We must take DXing much more seriously.? Who has time to
eat, when the DX is so good!?  73,....Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC




On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 4:29 AM, Nick Hall-Patch <nhp@xxxxxxxx> wrote:


> What are these "beverages (often of alcoholic origin) " of which the
> author speaks??  All these years, I thought they were antennas, hi.
>
> Some years ago I think the Nagoya DX Circle provided a link to photos of
> Japanese DXpeditions which looked as if there was a strong culinary streak,
> not to mention, ah, beverages.
>
> Nice link, capturing the international flavor of DXpeditioning.
>
> best wishes,
>
> Nick
>>
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