[IRCA] 2005 Newfoundland DXpedition Report - Summary
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[IRCA] 2005 Newfoundland DXpedition Report - Summary



Newfoundland Dxpedition #15, November 4-14, 2005


SUMMARY


            Since it usually takes many months to complete a full and 
detailed report (necessitated by the need to review dozens of cassette 
tapes), we offer this initial summary to whet the appetite of those who 
would like to get an early report on our doings in Newfoundland the week of 
November 4 to 14.  Please note that the items reported below are subject to 
correction following review of tapes.



The 2005 Newfoundland DXPedition is now completed, with Jean Burnell of 
Halifax NS (NOV 4-14), John Fisher of Kingston ON (NOV 8-14) and Jim Renfrew 
of Byron NY (NOV 7-14) having been the participants.  As many as five radios 
were in use:   Drakes R8, R8A, R8B, and an ICOM R71A.  For the second year 
the location was the Round Cove Bed and Breakfast in Cappahayden, a short 
distance from the location that had been used until 2002.   Cappahayden is 
about an hour's drive south of St. John's.  The proprietors are very 
friendly, and we have the full use of a finished basement for DXing.  One 
serious problem was some sort of power line buzz that would strike for a few 
minutes or even hours at a time.  We suspect that this is related to salt 
spray on the lines and connectors.  A day of rain seemed to cure the worst 
of it.  At our previous Cappahayden location the local power lines were 
further from the house, but here the power lines run between the house and 
the shoreline where the antenna wires run.    There were two wires, the 
"northern wire" aimed at Europe, and the "southern wire" aimed at South 
America, along with splitters and amplifiers.



Reception conditions were dramatically different from 2004 when major 
auroral conditions prevailed.  In 2004 conditions were excellent to Africa 
and South America because Europe was almost completely blocked.  In 2005 
nearly the opposite conditions were experienced, with good east-west 
propagation throughout the week.  Please note that the word "good" needs 
some interpretation.  At Cappahayden there are typically TA signals on 
nearly every frequency from around 2:00 PM until 7:00 AM Newfoundland time, 
so "good" means that all of the signals that can normally be heard were 
heard.  But it was not "excellent" in that there were only a few far eastern 
receptions and sub-Saharan Africa was almost completely absent.  What was 
most striking was the absence of deep south receptions.  Even with quiet 
atmospheric conditions, just a few of the Brazilian and Argentine regulars 
were in evidence, unlike previous years when a slew of signals are available 
from sunset in Brazil until dawn in Colombia.  Jean noted that this was the 
first DXpedition in which he was unable to log at least one new Brazilian 
station.



Even so, with lots of patience and observation there were a number of real 
gems noted:



810            MACEDONIA            Makedonska Radio, Skopje, NOV 10 1900 - 
strong signal with Balkan music, then a full ID at

the top of the hour "Makedonska Radio - Radio Makedonia".

846            RUSSIA?        Radio Radonezh, Noginsk, NOV 10 1942 - long 
talk in Russian, struggling to get through

Ireland 846, at 1950 bells between news items, faded before the top of the 
hour.  Tentative.

860       CUBA             Radio Reloj, Baracoa, NOV 14 0328 - not a new 
station for us, but unusual because instead of

the normal "RR" in code, there were chimes instead.  All the other Reloj 
outlets heard used code.

1000      USA                KOMO, Seattle, NOV 12 1019 - nice "KOMO Radio 
1000" heard through WMVP.  We've

never heard anything this far west before.

1020            VENEZUELA            R. Continente Calendario, Maracaibo, 
NOV 14 0257 - a DXer's dream of a full five minutes

of IDs, following a classical music program.

1035            ESTONIA     Tartu Family Radio, Tartu, NOV 10 2135 - light 
music program.

1125            RUSSIA         Radio Orfey, St. Petersburg, NOV 10 1937 - 
Russian language with classical music, parallel to

1161.  This represented the beginning of a good run on Russian stations 
during the next two hours.

1161            RUSSIA         Radio Orfey, Volograd NOV 10 1937 - Russian 
language with classical music, parallel to 1125.

1170      UAE                Radio Sawa, al-Dhabbaya, NOV 8 2018, easily 
heard through Voice of Russia.

1188            RUSSIA            Deutsche Welle, St. Petersburg, NOV 10 
2018 - "Hier ist Volna" ID heard at 2030, parallel

6180 kHz German program.  Listed at 10 kW.

1197            LESOTHO   Family Radio, Maseru, NOV 7 2234 - the 
unmistakable voice of Harold Camping.

1341            HUNGARY     Magyar Katolikus Radio, Szolnok, NOV 10 0352 - 
music program, led into a program from

Vatican Radio at 0410.

1350            LATVIA         Radio Tatras International, Kuldiga, NOV 8 
2028 - strong dance music, a few IDs as "Tatras"

or "RTI.

1377            ARMENIA            TWR, Gavar, NOV 10 1910 - noted with a 
TWR Interval Signal, parallel to the previously

logged TWR 864 from Armenia.

1385.9            GUINEA       Radio Rurale, Labé, NOV 8 2115 - stood out as 
one of the few heard from Africa, a strong

signal.

1386            LITHUANIA            Radio Baltic Waves, Sitkunai, NOV 10 
2155 - with Chinese lessons for a Russian audience.

1386            KENYA         KBC, Maralal, NOV 12 0215 - steady signal with 
music and announcements.

1413      UNID SITE    Voice of Russia, NOV 10 2001 - very strong in 
Bulgarian, parallel to 6000 kHz.  This seems to

have replaced the 1467 Grigoriopol transmission.  We wondered if this might 
be Pristina in Kosovo?

1440            RUSSIA         Radio France International, St. Petersburg, 
NOV 10 2035 - French program parallel to 7315

kHz, weak under Luxembourg which was not using DRM at the time.  This one 
listed as 10 kW.

1494            CORSICA       Radio Bleue, Bastia, NOV 7 2131 - France-Inter 
was once the sole program heard on this

frequency, but now there are two programs here:  Radio Bleue and France 
Info.  Radio Bleue is from Corsica.

1494            RUSSIA         TWR, St. Petersburg, NOV 10 2042 - program in 
Norwegian, interval signal heard at 2058.

1539            DJIBOUTI     RTVD, Djibouti, NOV 7 1942 // 4780 shortwave.

1548      SRI LANKA            Deutsche Welle, Trincomalee, NOV 12 1730 - at 
this early hour German language was

quickly paralleled to 9545 shortwave.  The signal was gone around 1750. 
This may be the highlight of the DXpedition, as Sri Lanka has not been heard 
here before.

1557            LITHUANIA            Radio Baltic Waves,  Kaunas/Sitkunai, 
with China Radio International in Russian, NOV 8

1815.

1557      UAE                Radio Asia, Ras al Khaimah, NOV 13 1842 - heard 
though out the week with Middle Eastern

music under France and Radio Baltic Waves, an ID announcement was finally 
heard at this time.

1575      UAE                R. Farda, al-Dhabbiya, NOV 7 2028.

1700            MEXICO            XEKTT, Tecate BCN, NOV 12 1034 - in the 
post sunrise hour we found a series of English

ads and announcements for the San Diego area, along with a muffled mention 
of call letters.  This occurred shortly after the KOMO 1000 reception noted 
above.



The most fruitful times for MW DXing were afternoon and early evening, and 
then again in the hour before and after sunrise.



Some suspected Greek and Serbian pirates were noted on 1627 and 1639.87 on 
NOV 13 between 2045 and 2145.



DRM signals were noted on 1440 and 1530 kHz, producing a heavy buzz. 
Fortunately, from such a far distance, there was not much interference to 
adjacent channels.



After about 2000 UTC, with the absence of any new targets, we usually 
shifted to shortwave.  We found Greenland 3815 on NOV 8 2133-2212, with 
Greenlandic and Danish talk.  As far as we know this is the first North 
American reception of this station.  We also noted nearly all the Indian 
regional stations on the 90 and 60 meter band, with the exception of AIR 
Gangtok.  All of these sign on between 2355- and 0100.  They were in every 
night we looked for them.  An RRI station on 4925 from Sumatra was noted, 
too.  Coalition Forces Radio operates in International Waters on 9133 usb, 
with Middle Eastern music and announcements, but an ID could not be found 
when we listened to this station on November 11th, 0127-0300.  John and Jean 
enjoyed spotting various European pirates, while Jim dug around in the 
longwave band looking for beacons.  During the sunrise listening period 
there were numerous domestic stations logged for the first time.



Watch for our complete report in months to come.




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