[IRCA] Rockworks 4 DXpedition - April 6th

[Guy Atkins <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This morning was the first of three sunrise DXing sessions planned for the
~440 ft. high "Rockworks 4" cliff, south of Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Chuck Hutton (Seattle) and I met at the very foggy cliff side pullout at
1215 UTC (5:15 a.m. local), in anticipation of strengthening DU / TP medium
wave signals as the 1345 sunrise approached.

We each battled our own antenna gremlins as we sought to get settled and
start recording DX to our hard drives via Perseus SDR receivers.

Once Chuck got his Flag loop antenna wires readjusted and the weighted
concrete bases for the masts in place, it looked to be about 15 ft. X 12
ft. in size. It was hard to tell for sure in the dense, night time fog,
though!

I'm using another variation on the SUV-top loop I used very successfully
last November at the same Rockworks 4 location. This morning I had a Flag
configuration of approx. 8 ft. X 7 ft., with a Wellbrook FLG100LN module
and a remote, transformer-based termination resistance (Mark Connelly's
design). On the advice of Andy Ikin of Wellbrook, I used the DC interface
box from a ALA1530S+, which has an additional 9db gain. I also have an
additional Wellbrook preamp of 12-15db gain to use if needed (small Flag
loops are not very sensitive).

Unfortunately I was only getting about 10db of nulling to the east, at the
best setting of the remote termination control. I don't know if something's
wrong with my wiring, or if the Flag's performance was totally screwed up
from the vehicle's metal body and/or Chuck's nearby Flag loop. TP signal
levels were also very low, unlike November's sterling DX when I was using a
ALA100M (bi-directional) head unit for a smaller 4.5 ft. X 6 ft. loop.

Neither Chuck nor I found any DX worth noting; only a few "big guns" were
in, such as 738 Tahiti, 972 HLCA, and 1566 HLAZ. Perhaps there's something
of interest lurking on our hard drives yet to be found, but I think
conditions were basically mediocre.

The weather on the Oregon coast is getting better by the minute, and sunny
skies and mid 60s  F. are in the forecast for tomorrow. This afternoon I'm
switching my antenna back to the ALA100M bi-directional loop setup, and
hoping for better results tomorrow. I trust we can get the DX conditions
"fully warmed up" in time for Gary DeBock's arrival in a few days (after
Chuck and I return home, unfortunately).

If I remember to take some photos tomorrow at the cliff before we head back
down to sea level, I'll take some photos of our antenna setups.

73,

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA
DXing at Rockworks 4 cliff, Oregon
coast<https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Nehalem,+OR&hl=en&ll=45.743559,-123.9583&spn=0.000555,0.001206&sll=44.145447,-120.583402&sspn=4.643208,9.876709&oq=nehalem&t=h&hnear=Nehalem,+Tillamook+County,+Oregon&z=20&layer=c&cbll=45.743611,-123.958434&panoid=NGo3mctKj0XXvu528NQzEQ&cbp=12,172.4,,0,0>
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