[IRCA] Masset DXpedition 15 - 23 October, 2015: MW perspective Part 1

[Walter Salmaniw <canswl@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm back from another visit to my cottage on Haida Gwaii.  Fourth visit
this year, but the first that I was able to devote a lot of time to DX.  I
had fun erecting various antennas and testing them, and in some cases,
taking back down.  Conditions were OK for SW generally, and at times, very
interesting for MW DX.  I'll have a separate email for SW DX.  Receivers
used were 2 Perseus SDRs (one live, and the other using Mestor for timed
recordings), and an AOR 7030+ receiver.  Antennas used with most important
first, as follows, along with comments:

1.  NW BOG (Beverage on ground).  700' or so in length.  Unterminated.
This is always my go-to antenna with excellent results.  It's the first
antenna up, and the last to be removed.  DX RPA1 amp added at the antenna
lead in, as well as chokes on both ends of the coax.

2.  DKAZ aimed 220 deg.  This was an impressive antenna after a few
hiccups.  Before local dawn, it was often as effective as the BOG.  And
only requiring 140' of real estate.  Fed to a FLG 100 LN head, and via coax
to the Wellbrook interface.  Often the only antenna that would hear Hawaii
well.  This one's a keeper from now on.  Not good for LW, however.  The
DKAZ performed very nicely on SW, in addition to MW.

3.  ALA 100 LN antenna:  double loop, separated by about 30 cm, as
suggested by Andy Ilkin (Mr. Wellbrook).  Aimed NE/SW.  Normally an
excellent all band antenna.  This time around, it somehow did not perform
as well as in previous DXpeditions.  The only change was that I purposely
separated the 2 loops to 30 cm, from around 10 cm (as recommended by
Andy).  The other possibility was of a coax fault, although the lead in is
milspec RG 58 cable.  Almost in no case, this time, was the ALA better than
the others, even on SW.  More investigation needs to be done as it's a very
quick antenna to get up and running.

4.  Mini Beverage aimed due north, terminated into the sand on the beach,
and under water at high tide.  About 500' long, so I call it a
mini-Beverage.  It is elevated about 12' or so.  At times a great antenna.
I was hoping for some European MW DX, but nothing ever came about.  Often
picked up Alaskans very well, and at times equal to the NW BOG for TP DX
(like this morning).  This is a permanent antenna, except for the beach
portion.

4.  Parallel BOG to the NW BOG.  Fiddling with it, and feeding it into a
Misek Phaser, for instance, did nothing at all.  Didn't seem to enhance
anything, so I moved it towards the SW.

5.  SW BOG:  about 600' and aimed about 230 deg.  This path takes it
directly across the land mass of Haida Gwaii (whereas the NW BOG aims to
the direct open ocean).  Overall, not a great performer, even with a
DX-RPA1 amp.  Once again, it could be due to a lossy coax, as it was quite
a way to the shack, or the direction.  I do recall in the past erected a
similar BOG with much effort (with Bruce Portzer) and also being
disappointed.  Makes me attribute this to the land mass phenomenon.  Not
ideal for BOGs.

Here's the report for MW.  As always, excuse the typos, or mistakes.
Please let me know, and I'll correct them.

Part 1 (in order to get under the limit for IRCA):

531 AUSTRALIA unid, Oct 23 1429 - For the first time this week, English is
dominating this channel.  Before 14:00, I was hearing a lot of American
music.  An extended newscast at 14:00, including weather and marine
forecast.  Little sign of any NHK1 stations which dominate, and only a hint
of Avtoradio.  Unfortunately, this is the noisiest morning with lots of
static crashes.  Mentioned a phone number ending in '4139'.  I know it's
very difficult to ID stations on this frequency.  Funny that the usual DU
frequencies are absent when checked earlier. At 14:35, there seems to be 2
English speakers.  One I suspect may be DYDW as it sounds like a sermon.
Didn't last long, as the dominant Australian came back. (Salmaniw, Masset,
BC)



531 JAPAN Morioka 10 kW NHK1 JOQG, Oct 20 1510 - Very strong Japanese
opening this morning with many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tier stations heard.
What's more interesting to me is the co-channel with pop music, which I'm
quite certain is Avtoradio Sakhalin.  One of the few MW channels still on
the air in Russia.  Reception of the latter would be pretty decent, if not
for the powerful JJ station!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



531 JAPAN NHK 1 Morioka 10 kW JOQG, Oct 16 1513 - The lower half of the
band is interesting at this time, as it's solid NHK 1 on each frequency.
Good signal on 531 (with a weak cochannel), 540 at good/very good level
with 6 NHK 1 stations listed, 549 at fair/good level.  Oh, I notice this is
Okinawa!  Nice catch.  567  excellent from the 100 kW Sapporo site (with
weak cochannel), 576 at good level from probable JOHG Kagoshima with 10 kW,
although 2 others are listed at 0.5 and 1 kW.  585 at good level,
presumably JOPG Kushiro, and of course JOAK from Tokyo with 300 kW at very
good level, but with a cochannel.  It doesn't stop there, there's still 603
with 5 kW, probably JOOG Obihiro (less likely JOKK Okayama with same 5 kW),
well over the 250 kW HLSA. 612 JOLK Fukuoka with 10 kW cochannel with
another cochannel.  Whew!  Oops, musn't forget 666 at excellent level from
Osaka JOBK at 100 kW. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



531 RUSSIA Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 5 kW Avtoradio Sakhalin, Oct 22 1522 - A very
nice LSR enhancement with a big boost to an otherwise anemic morning.  NHK
1 well heard, but almost as strong is a pop music station, which is almos
certainly Avtoradio (Car radio) from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.  Listening further,
I can confirm this as they have a characteristic rapid tone dialing
signature which I just heard.  I wonder whether there are any other Russian
stations still on MW in the Far East?. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



531 RUSSIA Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 5 kW Avtoradio Sakhalin, Oct 23 1505 - Came
back to see who was there, and now only 2 cochannels:  NHK 1 and Avtoradio
both about equal level. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



531 RUSSIA Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 5 kW Avtoradio Sakhalin, Oct 17 1407 - A
tentative logging.  Cochannel with NHK 1 station.  EZL music, fading up and
down.  Most likely them, with propagation conditions of the morning (vs
DU).  Note by 14:26, a repeat of yesterday's all NHK 1, all the time, and
everywhere!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



540 CHINA multiple sites CNR 1, Oct 20 1414 - For an out of world
experience, 540 delivers this morning.  Multiple echos with CNR 1
programming.  There are 31 listed transmitters!  Cochannel with 6 NHK 1
transmitters.  CNR 1 dominates mostly. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



549 OKINAWA Naha 10 kW  NHK 1 JOAP, Oct 20 1513 - Particularly strong this
morning // to 531, 540, etc etc!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



549 OKINAWA NHK 1 Naha 10 kW JOAP, Oct 16 1526 - Very good reception when
rechecked at 15:27 parallel to many channels on the lower part of the
band.  A superb Japanese opening this morning. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



550 HAWAII Wailuku Maui 5 kW KNUI The Talk of Maui, Oct 19 1449 - Local
mentions of Maui at good level, before fading down. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



630 PHILIPPINES Bulacan 50/25 kW DZMM, Oct 22 1529 - Excellent reception,
with Tagalog talk, identical to what I heard a few days back.  Faded a bit
at 15:33 with cochannel 630 CHED Edmonton.  Another good LSR Filipino
morning, it appears. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



630 PHILIPPINES Bulacan, Metro Manila 50/25 kW DZMM ABS-CBN Broadcasting
Corporation, Oct 16 1503 - I originally thought that this might be KUAM,
Agana or a domestic MW outlet, but going back to the Perseus wave files, I
find a beautiful musical vocal ID for DZMM at 15:03  ('Dee Zee M M'), so no
doubt about it!  I'm very pleased with this one!  I checked the following
day, and heard the same ID jingle at 15:01, but weaker. (Salmaniw, Masset,
BC)



680 ALASKA Barrow 10 kW KBRW, Oct 22 1511 - Good reception, for the first
definite logging of the season of Barrow.  Splatter from 670 KDLG,
Dillingham, but otherwise in the clear, and best heard on the North
mini-Beverage.  Flipping over to the SW DKAZ has an entirely different
station.  Earlier, I was hearing KOMW Omak, WA with very folksy local
programming. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



738 PHILIPPINES Philippine Broadcasting Service Bulacan NCR 40 kW DZRB, Oct
18 1550 - I'm quite certain that I heard this station this morning with
Tagalog talk, with some English words.  Fair to good reception.  No ID, of
course, but no other Filipino listed on this frequency. (Salmaniw, Masset,
BC)



738 TAHITI Papeete 20 kW Radio Premiere Polynesie, Oct 19 1422 - Good
reception with lovely Polynesian music and clearly in Tahitian, and not
French.  Best heard on the DKAZ.  Excellent reception on recheck at 14:41,
but now in French, and then back to Tahitian, although the French appears
to be ads. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



740 HAWAII Kihei 5 kW KCIK, Oct 19 1340 - Immaculate Heart Radio
tentatively mostly under very strong KCBS with religious content.  A
tentative  logging, heard only using my DKAZ antenna aimed at Hawaii.  As
expected, reception improved markedly after LSR in California, and good
reception with Immaculate Heart Radio IDs at 14:17 UTC.  Interesting that
KCBS came back to dominate briefly at 14:20 (LSR over northern
California).  Excellent reception at 14:45.  Continues at great level at
15:00 where there's a super brief ID for 'KCIK, Kihei, Maui', and then back
to network programming. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



747 SOUTH KOREA KBS 1 Bia, Gwangju 100 kW HLKH, Oct 16 1549 - The NHK 2
network signed off today at 15:40, leaving the channel clear.  Up to very
good reception of the Korean.  With 500 kW for JOIB Sapporo, and 100 kW for
HLKH, I wonder how they avoid QRMing each other?. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



774 JAPAN Akita 500 kW NHK2 JOUB, Oct 23 1422 - English lessons about when
it is not polite to ask for a doggie bag.  British have an aversion to do
so.  Waste not, want not in Japan.  Portion sizes are far too large in the
US, etc.  When first tuned in, barely audible, which is very unusual.
Instead, there was a cancophany of stations co-channel.   A disturbed
morning, I suspect.  At 14:26, I think I can make out a Filipino  station.
(Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



774 JAPAN NHK 2 Akita JOUB, Oct 19 1547 - I haven't noticed this before,
but watching the Perseus waterfall, both 774 and 828 (JOBB Osaka), cut
their transmitter at 15:47.  Perhaps a new energy savings measure, or
transmitter maintenance?. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



774 PHILIPPINES Ilollo City 10 kW DYRI, Oct 22 1547 - Great!  Previously,
I've been hearing DWWW, but just caught the sign-off of DYRI, with call
sign, power, location, etc in English, followed by the National Anthem.
Part way through the NA, DWWW came back at very good strength!  A bit of a
mushy signal, which I think is due to the 2 (or more) stations being a
little different in frequencies.  I suspect KYRI was on 774.027, while DWWW
is on 774.004.  If I really zoom the waterfall, I think there are actually
5 carriers measuring:  773.997, .999, 774.005, .008 and .027.  An
interesting frequency, for sure!. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



774 PHILIPPINES Quezon City 25 kW DWWW, Oct 22 1534 - At my local dawn (LSR
15:29), there was a huge boost of signals, and especially from Japan, but
also the Philippines.  774  JOUB is a 500 kW powerhouse, of course, from
Akita, but for a while DWWW was giving it a good run for it's money.  I can
still hear them underneath JOUB.  Assuming that the NHK2 network will sign
off in a few minutes (15:40), and then turn off their transmitter, we
should be able to hear DWWW well this morning. (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)



774 PHILIPPINES Quezon City 25 kW DWWW Music of Your Life, Oct 20 1624 - A
presumed logging with 50s/60s American vocals.  Good reception, with weak
cochannel(s).  Once again, JOUB (and other NHK 2 network transmitters)
turned off their transmitters shortly after signing off at 15:40, leaving
the frequency open.  Rechecking at 17:36, several hours after LSR (10:36 AM
local), still playing the same genre of music at fair level.  Addendum:  I
went back to listen to my mp3 from the 7030+.  At 15:45, there's a long
monologue about the program, 'Just For You' with announcer George ? and
then, 'right here on DWWW 774'.  In the clear with fair signal. (Salmaniw,
Masset, BC)
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