[IRCA] July 26th Grayland ULR DXpedition-- Aussies Boom In
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[IRCA] July 26th Grayland ULR DXpedition-- Aussies Boom In



Hello All,
 
Thanks to the Victoria DXers (and their comments about the relative  
desirability of Grayland as a DXpedition site), it was with a newfound  
appreciation that I started the 2 hour drive to the Grayland Motel's Room 14 on  
Saturday afternoon. When the 93 degree inland heat gradually became 63 degress  
on the cool ocean coast, I was appreciative indeed.
 
On Saturday morning, by fortunate coincidence, fellow Puyallup, WA resident 
 Guy Atkins had just received the latest DSP-enhanced wonder in the 
Ultralight  Radio market, the Kchibo D92L. This radio represents a serious new 
effort by  Kchibo to manufacture high-quality portables with DSP-enhanced 
selectivity, and  has the option of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 kHz selectable DSP filter  
settings. Provoking intense interest in the Ultralight radio enthusiast  
group, this new model (along with its D96L sibling) offers the possibility of  
great AM selectivity without the need to transplant premium Murata IF 
filters  (in rather tricky modification jobs). The chance to test out this new  
wonder in the ultimate challenge of split-frequency TP-DXing  was 
irresistible, so Guy and I quickly arranged a transfer  operation with military-like 
precision, prior to the Grayland trip.
 
Mutual travelers on southbound I-5 gaped in disbelief as they viewed the  
bizarre collection of disassembled PVC-framed monster loops crammed into my  
compact car-- and seemed to give me a little extra space as a precaution.  
Representing my own fanatical contribution to the recent boom in ULR-related  
experimentation, I had taken along a collapsible-frame 8' (diagonal)  PVC 
Loop, a collapsible-frame 6.5' model, and an all-PVC altazimuth support  
base. These three items just barely fit in my compact car-- and probably made  
fellow I-5 travelers convinced that I was just barely sane.
 
Arriving at the Grayland Motel's Room 14, the 6.5' tuned passive loop  was 
set up inside the room next to the window (again, just barely fitting), but  
the 8' loop was left in the car, to be assembled on the ocean beach at 1100 
 UTC (0400 local time) the next morning. Viewing this contraption in the 
car, the  curiosity of several of the motel residents was apparently aroused, 
and they  couldn't resist asking me what in blazes the thing was. They must 
have thought I  was nuts when they heard it was a custom loop antenna, to 
hear Australian  stations on the AM band. But when I told them that this was 
really just a  small-sized version of the 13-foot fixed frame version at 
home, they seemed  convinced that the Room 14 resident was not playing with a 
full deck.
 
The first TP to reach audio level was 738-Tahiti at 0815 UTC (0115 local  
time), which had weak French on the 6.5' loop during its sunset peak. As I  
grabbed Guy's new D92L to make a relative selectivity comparison with the  
C.Crane SWP Slider model, 738-Tahiti's audio quickly fizzled out-- along with  
any chance of much sleep before the notoriously early DU dawn enhancement.
 
Arriving at the Grayland Beach Road picnic table in total darkness at 1100  
UTC (0400 local time), DU heterodynes were plentiful and strong on the SSB  
spotting receiver I was using (a slightly modified ICF-2010, with a 30"  
transplanted loopstick). I wasted no time setting up the 8' passive loop on 
the  PVC altazimuth tilting base, and started checking for audio on the 9 kHz 
splits.  As usual, the New Zealand big guns (567, 657 and 1035) were the 
first to have  much signal strength, around 1150. But with the mission to 
thoroughly  compare the selectivity of the new DSP-enhanced Kchibo D92L against 
the Murata  CFJ455K5 filter model C.Crane SWP Slider, for the first 30 
minutes of dawn  enhancement my focus was on finding DU's with significant 
domestic  splatter, to run relative reception tests (and record MP3's). This was 
more  challenging than it might appear, since DU's rarely hold their signal 
levels for  minutes on end, and I needed to throw out some tests (and 
recordings) when DU  signal levels dived-- which would have given an unfair 
advantage to one of the  tested radios. Finally, after several attempts, I had good 
MP3 recordings  of 738-2NR and 567-2YA on both radios inductively coupled to 
the 8' loop,  which clearly showed how much they could limit the domestic 
splatter from  KCBS-740 and KVI-570, respectively.
 
Wrapping up the Ultralight testing, I eagerly searched the modified  
ICF-2010 for DU audio on never-before-logged frequencies, and  found that 
Australian stations were very strong-- but the NZ stations and  Pacific Islands were 
pretty anemic. I quickly made new Ultralight loggings of  576-2RN, 594-3WV, 
684-2KP and 1008-4TAB, with a couple of UnID's on  531, to make things 
interesting. The full log was as follows, all received on  the C.Crane SWP 7.5" 
Slider loopstick model (with Murata CFJ455K5 filter)  inductively coupled to 
the 8' tuned passive loop: 
 
531-   Two UnID's mixing at 1230, including the  repeated pop music station 
(presumably 3GG)
567-2YA  The first NZ station to reach audio level, had weak music at  1151
576-2RN  ABC News at 1230; new Ultralight logging
594-3WV  Weakly heard with ABC program at 1318; new Ultralight  logging
612-4QR  Good signal at 1232 with ABC talk program
639-Radio Fiji  Weak choral music audio at 1238; never very  strong
648-Radio Rhema  Threshold audio at peak dawn enhancement  (1245)
657-2YC  Had decent audio just before 1200, then became anemic  afterwards
684-2KP  Strong signal with ABC news at 1300; new Ultralight  logging
702-2BL  Strong throughout dawn enhancement with ABC programming
738-2NR  Provided great signal at 1258 for D92L Ultralight  selectivity test
774-3LO  Another Aussie powerhouse for most of the morning
792-4RN  Booming in with the rest of Aussie big guns at 1245
891-5AN  All alone on the frequency at 1308 for a local-like MP3  recording
1008-4TAB  Fine signal at peak dawn enhancement (1246); new Ultralight  
logging
1017-Radio Tonga  In and out at threshold audio level for most of  morning
1035-2ZB  Like the other Kiwi big guns, "Newstalk Zed-B" took a  dive after 
1200
1116-4BC "Sharina the Psychic" weaker than usual at 1255; not booming in  
like 2 weeks ago
 
The modified ICF-2010 had audio on many other weak Aussie stations,  but 
with about half of the dawn enhancement period devoted to the testing  of the 
Kchibo D92L, there was limited time to go after all of them on the  C.Crane 
SWP Slider model. After returning to Puyallup, it was unfortunately  
discovered that Guy Atkins' new D92L model had a cracked loopstick  ferrite bar, 
which undoubtedly affected the Grayland test results. There is  currently an 
ongoing discussion about the new Kchibo D92L DSP-enhanced  model among the 
Ultralight DX group, specifically relating to possible  congenital issues. A 
full report on the suitability of the model should be  available shortly, but 
until detailed information in promulgated to the group,  DXers may wish to 
hold off on purchasing the model.
 
Thanks again to John Bryant for his detailed Ultralight DU logging  
information, and to Guy Atkins for the opportunity to test out the D92L. Thanks  
also to the Victoria DXers (Walt, Nick and Colin) for giving me a newfound  
appreciation of the Grayland DXpedition site, with its unique combination of  
isolation and convenience :>)
 
73 and Best Wishes,
Gary DeBock
 
 
 
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