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Re: [IRCA] DXing and cruising -\ part two



Thanks Theo.   Fascinating descriptions.

As for the fishing, well, I guess that could be a secondary use of a long whip antenna....if you can't hook a big one in one mode, hook something else in another....

best wishes,

Nick




At 17:05 2018-04-29, Theo wrote:
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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Nick Hall-Patch
Victoria, BC
Canada
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