[IRCA] Report from Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands: Part I

[Walter Salmaniw <salmaniw@xxxxxxx>]

While on the Charlottes between December 29th and January 4th, I did some very extensive monitoring of the bands.  Unfortunately, nearly non-existent internet access prevented me from reporting in a more timely fashion, so instead I've reported my observations here, in several parts.  Part I will cover my arrival and the first morning and day of listening, December 30, 2008 which was probably the best morning and afternoon (for TA) DXing of the trip.  It was quite cold up there as well, especially early with a very biting north-westerly wind!  Enjoy!   ......Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC.

Winter DXpedition to Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands
Dec 29,2008 to January 4, 2009.
Part I for 30 December, 2008.
As always, I?m excited to get back to the Queen Charlottes to get some serious time in on the dials, and this time was no exception!  DXing in the depths of winter call for a slightly different strategy than other times of the year.  For example, we arrived in Masset to find a ?winter wonderland? with perhaps 15 cm of fresh fluffy snow, and temperatures around ? 4 to -6 deg C.  The ground (mostly sand) was frozen solid, so there wasn?t going to be any driving stakes into the ground this time.  As my Wellbrook phased array requires some driving into the sand, I elected not to erect my array at this time.  
 
     We arrived in the early afternoon and proceeded out to the cottage.  After some unpacking, I immediately set out to lay down the BOGs.  My favourite is my NW BOG which has always been a very good performer.  Next, I laid down the NE BOG (hoping for Greenland on 3815U), and lastly the coax to my Europe facing large diameter Wellbrook ALA 100.  I also have a permanent mini-Beverage terminated into the ocean at about 450? due north.   This, I noticed had broken in one of the many big ocean storms, but was easily repaired once I found the mass of white Teflon coated wire entangled in the kelp and sea weed.  
 
     Checking each wire, all performed well.  I immediately noticed that TA signals were in strongly, and it was still another hour before darkness fell.  A good sign for sure, especially with A/K indices of 0/0!  
 
     As is so often the case, the first day/evening is usually one of getting things organized rather than any serious DXing.  On top of that, we were up at 5:00 AM to get to the airport bright and early, so after having a bite to eat, and finding conditions mostly to have deteriorated on the TA front (they were very good on SW, though), I called it a night and returned to the dials at 11:45 UTC.  Again, I should have slept in a bit more since things were rather ho-hum for several hours before really taking off closer to dawn, and especially after 16:00 UTC.
 
     Highlights of my first morning were the continued TP and later TA signals that just didn?t want to stop.  After dawn, many exotic MW frequencies were yielding audio (albeit weak).  Early on, the Chinese stations totally dominated the bands, while the Japanese stations were mostly very weak (including the many Hokkaido stations).  As the morning wore on, the Japanese stations became more and more dominant.  By 17:00, I started seeing some TA activity, especially from the Arabian Gulf area.  Much later in the 19:00 time frame, the Chinese stations seemed to return, mostly all CNR1  stations.  
 
     The LW Russians were poorly heard today with only 153, 234 (later at 13:31) and 279 making appearances.
 
     I?ll now itemize frequencies with various comments, highlighting only those of specific interest:
 
531:  This was a busy channel all morning with audio that peaked at 16:09 with NHK1 programming at a 9 level.
549:  Russia all the way with a nice Radio Rossii ID at 12:10
576:  Echo heard at 12:15.  It sounded Russia again.
594:  JOAK was heard very well.  A cochannel also noted at 13:34
603:  A Chinese station, not CNR1 heard at 16:14.
648:  Russia in Korean at 8 level at 12:20.
657:  North Korea at 9 level at 13:55.
666:  7.5 level with NHK1 under a cochannel station with Christian sounding hymn.  Chinese noted at 14:11.
675:  Vietnam at 14:05
693:  NHK2 at 9 level, at 14:08.
702:  NHK2 at 8 level at 12:27
720:  North Korea (719.9) at 9 level, but not until 17:08.
729:  JOCK poorly heard earlier, but up to 9+ level at 17:08.
738:  Presumed Taiwan Fisheries station at 16:20, 8 level.
774:  NHK2 never made it past an 8.
774:  NHK2 at 12:33 at 9 level.
945:  2 cochannels noted at 12:40, with one being CNR1, and the other with oriental music.  8 level.
963:  CRI Russian at 12:44.  8 level, but just barely.  Nothing like the strength they?re heard in the early Fall!  
972:  KBS still going strong in Korean at 20:46!
981:  CNR1 at 12:45, and still there at 8 level at 20:08.
1044:  CRI Japanese, with Chinese lesson at 12:49.
1053:  JOAR and North Korea (on 1053.04) at 8 level.
1089:  Talk Sport at 7+ signal at 20:23.
1134:  CNR1 at 13:10.  Still CNR1 at 20:22!
1170:  Probable CRI at 19:09, over/under KJNP, North Pole, AK where the temperature was ? 47 deg F!  
1179:  Radio Sweden in Russian at 19:48 at fair level.  IS at 19:59 confirms them.
1188:  JOKP and FEBC at 13:16
1206:  Yanbian presumed at 8 level.
1215:  Absolute Radio with typical music.  Fair level at around 20:00.
1251:  Radio play at 19:44.  ?Libya?
1287:  JOHR, Hokkaido at very good level, all // at same time to 1278 (JOFR), and 1269!
1368:  JOTS, Hokkaido at 9 level at 19:03.
1386:  ? Iran at 7 level at 19:40.
1413:  JOIF with KBC ID at 19:34 very strong.  Still a 7 at 20:20.  
1440:  Nearly a perfect 10 signal for JOWF, Sapporo at 19:00.
1449:  JOQM .  Very strong 9 level at 19:00.
1458:  Arabic music at 6 to 7 level at 20:15.  Not sure who this would be.
1467:  KBS1 // to 711 at 20:00.
1503:  7 level at around 18:45.  ??Egypt??
1512:  Strong Filipino at 16:53, with phone in show.  Lot?s of ?Good Morning? heard.  Presumably DZAT.  9 level.
1539:  ?VOANEWS.com? heard at 18:36 at 8 level, making this UAE in Urdu.  Checked again at 20:29, and it?s now CNR1.
1548:  Probably Radio Sawa around 19:00
1557:  WYFR always arrives later than the rest, at 8 level at 16:48, and continued for some time. Around 18:56 I was listening to slow English Bible lesson, ?I will confess before my Father who is in Heaven?.  
1566:  Very anemic earlier, but up to 9 level later at 15:59.  At 18:30, while HLAZ is off, I could hear faint audio, perhaps TWR Benin?  Very strong carrier from HLAZ returned at 18:56, followed by an IS and Hymn at 18:56:40 into Korean?9 level, but rapidly faded over the next 30 minutes.  
1575:  A fun frequency to monitor for sure!  Initially AFN Japan at 11:55, then VOA Thailand at 9 level at 12:42.  Later Farda at 15:15.  At 16:00 I could hear VOA again very strong, cochannel with Farda and AFN, but by 17:13 Farda returned to dominate.  It was at 8 level at 8 level at 20:13!
1584.02:  Who?s on this slightly off frequency?  3 + 1 time pips at 19:00.  ? Iran, ?Kuwait, ? Egypt?
1593:  7 level, probably VOA Persian, from Kuwait at 18:39.
 
The above proves that European and middle Asian stations can be heard on MW during the day in North America.  It was great fun to watch the gradual transition from TP to TA propagation!  You can be sure I?ll be back at it tomorrow morning!
 
 



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