[IRCA] DXing and cruising -\ part two

[Theo <theod@xxxxxxxxx>]

And from February, with the funny part at the end of the second para as 
long as the formatting holds:

"As some already know, I took off back to Africa in early February when 
the chance to take a cruise calling at St Helena couldn't be resisted, 
even if credit card and bank account were s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d.  Flying to 
South Africa from the UK meant just a day in Cape Town for the usual 
tourist trip up Table Mountain which was clouded over until after I was 
back down!   The only radio note was an SABC office location in a 
business/apartment complex south of the CBD and strangely no obvious 
sign of any towers for TV or FM in the heights above the city.  During 
21 days on the ship, I did manage a few evenings out on deck after late 
dinner.  Observations were really quick, just noting educated probables 
rather than definite loggings, but I was surprised at how much the stock 
Tecsun PL-380 dragged in on the Saturday evening 10 Feb just before the 
first call at Lüderitz in Namibia: a pile of the Botswanans (mostly poor 
or fair -- but no sign of VoA/909 just after 2100 UT) and I think all 
the higher-powered South Africans plus Lesotho/639 and TWR 
Swaziland/1170.  More startling was stuff from further northeast: 
TWR/1233 Cyprus good signal with ID as well as probably Sawa/990 also 
Cyprus and a definite Sawa ID on 1548/Kuwait, along with presumed Saudis 
on 882/1449/1467/1512, that last one at very good strength.  But the big 
puzzler was Chinese on 1098 at fair level -- and yes, as a Good 
Vancouverite I know Mandarin when I hear it!  The obvious probable would 
be Golmud in western China as one source lists it with CNR1 before 2155 
UT.   The next major evening check around 2130 UT Wednesday 14 Feb was 
midway between Walvis Bay and St Helena, so basically due west of 
Angola, and a lot of the same stuff was still around, though not 1098; 
two quirks were futbol in Spanish on 738 and 855, probably RNE but 
amazing to me being so far south. And French showed up on 1566, likely 
TWR/Parakou though it wasn't there previously during the Saturday check. 
The final major MW sweep was around 2230 UT Sun 18 Feb, the night before 
Ascension Island, and reception was changing... and causing noisy 
confusion on the 380 as 9- and 10-kHz channels were battling as 
Brazilians appeared, some very good such as 580/1220/1260/1350/1440/1600.

Shortwave evening sweeps had, what else, Chinese on any band!   4800 in 
Mandarin ~2245 UT suggests Golmud again and a puzzler on 4885 in an 
Asian language, sort of like Korean,but not definite.  The SABC's Sonder 
Grense on 3320 was a staple all the way, even up into the Canary Islands 
on the last night -- their daytime frequency of 9650 was easy pickings 
till after Ascension when Guinea ruled the roost with a massive signal.  
RTG seemed to stop programming at either 1100 or 1130 UT (I had other 
things to do during the day) but left the carrier on, but after a 
lunchtime broadcast seemed to turn the tx off 1400/1430-ish, allowing 
Sonder Grense to show up.  Channel Africa/9625 also appeared 
mid-mornings in the early going   Presumed ELWA/6050 had BBC World at 
1515, and later in the evening I caught it signing off with an anthem at 
2230 even though it was a weekday. One puzzler was a Really Huge Carrier 
on 9635 the same afternoon ~1440 UT between Ascension and Dakar -- there 
was either suppressed audio or a station underneath of African origin -- 
and jumping to a conclusion I'd say Mali as their claim to fame for me 
on 5995 at home has been low mod.  However, having said that, later at 
1900 UT, RFI (Aoki lists Issoudun) was on the frequency with the same 
massive carrier but normal modulation, and the African was still 
underneath.  I doubt RFI would have a tx on with OC for so long. And a 
little tale connected to that: I was approached by a Senior Officer 
while dangling my feet over the rail with the Tecsun antenna into the 
sky.  He struck up a conversation and wondered what I was hearing -- I 
explained about Conakry/9650 and the Beeb's towers we'd seen on 
Ascension, which satisfied his curiosity but as he was about to walk 
away, he remarked his wife had told him that someone was fishing over 
the rail of the promenade deck.  You couldn't make that up if you tried!

Now to Jamestown on St Helena:  I had resurrected my rather scruffy 
Radio St Helena Day T-shirt (from the 1992 broadcast) for wearing on 
shore, intending to visit what is now South Atlantic Media Services.  
First order of business was to climb Jacob's Ladder, 699 steps up the 
cliff above town.  While recovering at the top, I fell into conversation 
with some local women who were collecting charity donations from 
unsuspecting tourists from the ship.  They asked about the T-shirt and 
how I'd obtained it, and then remarked that I'd just missed Tony Leo, 
former station manager at RSH, as he was using his car as an extra taxi 
for the day.  I thumped back down the 699 steps (worse than going up -- 
thighs were ruined for days) and after some wandering, decided on a 
Windhoek Draught at a tavern. Unbeknownst to me, the bartender had also 
noticed the T-shirt and just as I was about to go exploring some more, 
in tore this local guy, looking around expectantly. I sort of jumped to 
a conclusion, and sure enough it was Tony.  As all the shore tours 
arranged by the ship had been sold out, I hadn't managed to get out of 
Jamestown but Tony drove me up to Longwood House, built for Napoleon's 
exile on the island, and afterwards decided he wanted a short interview 
for possible use by SAMS.  And he then delivered me back to the quayside.

Three days later, the call at Ascension produced a bonus. Landing is by 
tender but the swell was too dangerous at the quayside steps.  As a 
consolation, the Captain decided on a clockwise circuit of the island 
which allowed for a fair viewing of BaBCock's antenna facilities out on 
the northern tip away from Georgetown.  Once back at anchorage in the 
early afternoon, the swell had calmed enough for passengers to land, 
though I was on the last tender at 4.30 and got the last back from shore 
around 6.30 pm. Landing permits severely restrict access beyond the 
settlement so even if we'd had the whole day on shore, I wouldn't have 
even seen as much as the circuit provided.

A shore tour of Dakar was interesting -- one stop turned out to be 
across the street from the main RTS compound behind a high concrete wall 
but with several billboards showing why.  And later, the tour bus got 
caught in traffic outside a second building which appeared to be the 
RTS-FM location.  And talking of FM, sorry Douglas, I didn't do much 
tuning around though did notice at Praia on Cape Verde that RFI Afrique 
is indeed on 99.3 MHz."


73

Theo

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