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[IRCA] DXing from the South Pacific 16 Nov2009
*/Dxing report from the South Pacific (sailing toward Tonga) for
November 16, 2009:/*
Hello, everyone! We’re now 2 days outbound from The Bay of Islands, New
Zealand and bound for Tonga. During these at-sea days, there’s more time
and energy to do some serious DXing and that’s exactly what I’ve been
doing. On November 16^th , I concentrated on the 9 kHz channels, whereas
last night it was the 10 kHz channels. A lot of what I heard I’ve
recorded with a running mp3 recorder (iRiver 795T). The MW noise from
the ship, at least at the aft end is remarkably absent and using Gary’s
modified eton e100 with the Murata filter and large ferrite rod
(tuneable) has enabled me to do some good Dxing in a very small package.
It’s rather fun sitting in the semi-dark with ear buds holding my tiny
receiver and rotating it this way and that. Have had a few people ask
what I was up to, though! Of course on the first night, New Zealand
dominated. I’m surprised by the huge number of transmitters carrying the
same program (especially the Newstalk ZB network, and to a lesser extent
New Zealand’s Rhema, Southern Star, and Radio New Zealand National. They
sure get out. Don’t bother with legal local IDs. Instead they all seem
to carry local ads which easily ID the station and location. I simply
made notes, and later went through my loggings and was usually able to
ID the station with the help of PAL. Thanks, Bruce and David for that!
Here we go for Nov 16^th . Assume approximately the same time as the
previous loggings as I pretty much systematically went from 531 upwards:
531 08:42 531PI in Auckland with 5 kw in presumed Samoan mentioning
Easter Island and then an English ad for an appliance store in Hunter’s
Corner, and other English ads. Excellent. Weaker cochannel with music.
549: 09:00 Rhema from Kaltaia, Northland with 2 kW and cochannel Radio
Trackside 1 kW from Napier.
558: Radio Fiji 1, Naulu 10 kW with Trackside Sport ID at 10:50 (listed
as Radio Sport, Invercargill 5 kW…note the different ID). I was
surprised how well the Invercargill and Dunedin stations came in.
567: Radio NZ National, Wellington with 50 kW. Very strong at 09:06.
576: The Word, Hamilton with 2.5 kW with religious programming and
weaker cochannel, presumed ABC Sydney with 50 kW.
585: unid oldies
594: unid with modern pop music
603: unid modern soul music.
612: unid , // 594 and 621. This is either ABC Brisbane (with the others
being 3WV Horsham and ABC Melbourne) or possibly Rhema. Not sure.
630: Radio NZ National, Napier-Hastings with 10 kW with NZ news re
Wellington bus accidents. // to 639 (weak) 2 kW from Alexandra, Otago.
648: 10:51 ID for NZ’s Rhema. Very strong. From Gisborne, 5 kW.
657: strong pop music, and EZL music. Presumed Southern Star, Wellington
with 50 kW.
666: RFO, New Caledonia. 20 kW, Noumea. Very good reception with lots of
French talk (Bonsoir, bonsoir, bonsoir….). //729 barely audible. At
09:59, heard cochannel ABC jingle to TOH, making this 2CN, ABC Canberra
with 5 kW. Later on at 11:02:40 noted “RFO” ID at excellent level.
675: Radio NZ National, Christchurch 10 kW. NZ weather. Excellent.
684: 2KP ABC mid-North Coast, Kempsey 10kW. Call in program discussing
the Rural Parks Service, fires. Phone # given as 1300 222 …
690: possibly KHNR, Honolulu with 10 kW. Thought I might have heard CBC,
but not sure (which would have made in CBU, Vancouver). Fair reception.
693: Radio Sport, Dunedin 5 kW discussing Nigeria’s disqualification
from the world cup.
702: Radio Live, Auckland 10 kW >> cochannel
711: Radio Trackside, Wellington 5 kW with sport play by play with het.
Fair reception.
720: Radio NZ National, Invercargill 10 kW with talk program at good level.
729: Radio Sport, Wangarei 2.5 kW discussing rugby
738: Radio Live with ID at excellent level. Christchurch 5 kW. Ad giving
a phone number as: 0-800-CONTAINER, and ID as “Christchurch 99.3 FM”. No
sign of Tahiti.
747: 2 cochannels at poor/fair level.
750: KFQD, Anchorage at fair level at 09:28 with ID as, “Newstalk KFQD”.
Happy to hear this one at this distance!
756: Radio NZ National, Auckland 10 kW. With call-in about the future of
music at good level, with a weaker cochannel music station.
765: unid with pop music ?Napier?
774: Radio Sport, New Plymouth 5 kw with talk about ball control, and
cochannel ABC Melbourne 50 kW.
783: Access Radio, Wellington 10 kW. Very strong with music.
792: Radio Sport, Hamilton 5 kW with talk about a player needing
shoulder surgery.
810: Radio NZ National, Dunedin 10 kW. Very good reception, // 819 also
very good from Tauranga with 10 kW. Also weak cochannel with music.
Discussing building a business using the internet.
828: Radio Trackside, Palmerston-North 2 kW. Fair with sports, and
cochannel too.
837: Radio NZ National, with 2 transmitters in the Northland at 2 and
2.5 kW. Excellent reception with NZ business.
846: 2 cochannels at fair level. Newstalk ZB, Masterton 2 kW and ?ABC
855: Rhema, Hamilton 2 kW with “God’s Word” and weaker cochannel with music.
860: ? WCNA with music at poor level.
864: Newstalk ZB, Invercargill 10 kW // to 873 below.
873: Newstalk ZB, Ashburton 1 kW at good level, and cochannel sports
(Radio Trackside, Tauranga 1 kW).
882: probably Southern Star, Auckland with 10 kW with “The best songs of
all times”. Less likely 4BH, Brisbane with 5 kW. Good level
900: Southern Star, Dunedin 10 kW with song, “In the Summertime” at
fair/good level plus another cochannel with music. Just noticed that I
should have checked if // 882! Duhh!
918: Radio NZ National, with 2- 2.5 kW transmitters with sports talk at
fair level.
927: very muffly audio, impossible to understand. ? Fiji? And cochannel
Newstalk ZB Palmerston North with 2 kW.
936: New Supremo 936, Waiuku, 1 kW with Chinese at very good level.
954: Coast, Dunedin 1 kw at fair to good level with music.
963: Southern Star, Christchurch with 10 kW at excellent level. With EZL
music.
972: NZ’s Rhema, Wellington 5 kW at good level about enhanced education
outside the classroom.
981: Radio NZ National, Kaikohe, Northland 2 kW with Conservation
Minister call-in and cochannel with music.
**990: A bit of a mystery for me. Hindi (or possibly Arabic) sounding
music at very good level. Did the Radio Trackside, Nelson station change
format?? Seemed too strong to be from Australia. What format is 4RO,
Rockhampton?
1008: Newstalk ZB, Tauranga 10 kW at very good level about different
cultures.
1017: A3Z Nuku’Alofa, Tonga (our next destination) with drums, Radio
Tonga ID, hymns at good level with cochannel music.
1026: Newstalk ZB with echo. There are 2 transmitters here and not
exactly in sync: Whangarei 2 kW, and Kaitaia with 2 kW. Interesting sound!
1035: Newstalk ZB, Wellington 20 kW. “11 to 11” time check. (09:49) with
px about, “should we teach Asian history in our schools”.
1044: Newstalk ZB, Dunedin 10 kW with “Dunedin’s Newstalk ZB” ID and a
carpet ad. Good reception. // to 1053 at poor/fair from New Plymouth
with 2 kW.
1062: unid at poor to fair with seeming ID as “??? Greatest hits”. Not
sure who fits the format.
1071: loud het with 2 cochannels: Call in show from Radio NZ National,
Masterton 2.5 kW and Radio Trackside, Ashburton 6 kW with play by play).
1070 from presumed WCNA also just audible.
1080: Newstalk ZB, Auckland 10 kW at very good level. // 1098 also very
good from Christchurch, 5 kW.
1107: Radio Live with a Bay of Plenty ad at good level. 2 tx listed with
1 kW from Tauranga and 10 kw from Rotorua.
1116: Radio NZ National, Nelson 2.5 kW. Good level
1125: unid pop music and a het from ? source. Cochannel Radio Sport,
Napier with 1 kW.
1134: Radio NZ National, Queenstown with 2 kW at fair to good level. //
to 1143 at 09:58 at very good level, which is Hamilton with 25 kW.
1152: Newstalk ZB, Timaru 2 kw at good level with news at 10:00.
1161: unid station, mentioning, “update at YKU”. Is this the Maori
station in Wellington with 5 kW?
1179: unid station at good level with music. ?Maori station in Auckland?
1188: Radio NZ National , Rotorua with only 0.4 kW at very good level.
RNZ ID with news and weather.
1197: Newstalk ZB, Wanganui, with 2 kW with call in show at good level.
1206: Radio Trackside, Dunedin with 2 kW with play by play plus equal
cochannel with music, unid.
1215: Newstalk ZB, Kaikohe, 2 kW at excellent level.
1224: Radio Trackside, Invercargill, 1 kW and weak cochannel.
1242: possible 1XX, Whakatane, Bay of Plenty with 2 kW with music at
fair level.
1251: Rhema, Auckland with 2 kW at excellent level.
1260: Radio Trackside, Christchurch, with 2 kW at weak level.
1269: pres. Classic Hits, Tukaka, Nelson with only 0.4 kW with EZL music
and weak cochannel.
1278: Newstalk ZB with 2 transmitters listed in Eltham (2.5 kW) and
Napier (2 kW). Very good level with talk about studying Asian history.
// 1296 Hamilton, 2.5 kW at excellent level.
1305: possible Radio Dunedin, 2.5 kW at fair level, with Titanic theme
song.
1314: Southern Star, Invercargill with 10 kW with music. At excellent level.
1332: Radio Sport, Auckland with 10 kW with sports talk at very good level.
1341: Newstalk ZB, Nelson with 2 kW giving ad for ?grafitti removal,
then call-in number as 0800801080. Fair to good level.
1350: Radio Sport, Rotorua with 1 kW talking about NZ rugby. Fair level.
1359: Oldies music (if you leave me now…) at fair to good level, and
weaker cochannel talk. 2 NZ stations listed: More FM, Queenstown with 1
kW and Coast, New Plymouth with 2.5 kW.
1368: Radio Live, Napier with 1 kW at poor/fair level.
1377: Radio Sport, Levin with 2 kW at very good level.
1386: Radio Tarana, Auckland with 10 kW at superb level with Hindi
music. No wonder it gets out so well to North America! One of the
strongest stations I can hear.
1395: Newstalk ZB, Oamaru, with 2 kW at poor/fair level with call-in.
1404: Rhema, Invercargill with 5 kW at very good level with music, then
local ads for Burnside motors and South Center Mall.
1413: Newstalk ZB, Tokoroa with 2 kW at fair level.
1431: unid oldies music. Possibly Radio Kidnappers, Hastings with 2 kW
at fair level.
1440: unid with oldie music, then a choral piece. ? Maori station in
Tauranga with 0.2 kW at good level.
1449: Radio NZ National, Palmerston North with 2.5 kW at good level with
music. // to 1458 Westport, 2.5 kW at fair level.
1476: Radio Trackside, Auckland with 5 kW at good level. // 1485 at
Gisborne, with 1 kW at very good level.
1494: Southern Star, Hamilton with 5 kW at very good level with vocal.
1503: Radio Sport, Christchurch or Wellington with 2.5 or 5 kW, with
Radio Sport ID and time check for 46 minutes after.
1512: probable ABC National, Newcastle with 10 kW with fair level and
cochannel, with special program about Australia’s forgotten.
1521: Radio Sport, Tauranga with 1 kW.
1530: Coast, Napier with 1 kW with, “Timeless music all the time”, at
very good level.
1539: Radio Sport, Blenheim with 1 kW and strong het.
1548: Radio Trackside, Rotorua with 0.9 kW and weak cochannel with
oldies (Coast, Palmerston North with 1 kW).
1557: Coast, Hawera, Taranaki with 2 kW at excellent level. // to 1530
and 1548 and 1593 (Christchurch, 2.5 kW).
1566: No luck with Norfolk Island with mostly an empty channel until
late in the evening with Australia fades in. 3NE, Solid Gold, Wangaratta
with 5 kW and announcing “15, double 6” at fair level, and increasing to
good by 10:33. Note the website for Norfolk Island broadcasting suggests
a very much shorter broadcast day than does PAL. Worthwhile investigating.
1575: Presumed Toroa Radio, Dunedin with 2.5 kW. BBCWS simulcast at very
good level and BBC ID at 11:05. Heard consistently here. Not sure who
else this would be, but PAL does not list BBCWS at this time, but it’s
there!
1593: Radio Samoa, Auckland with 5 kW in Samoan presumably at very good
level.
1602: 2XA Levin with 2.5 kW at excellent level with print handicapped
programming.
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