[IRCA] Fwd: Masset loggings

[Nick Hall-Patch <nhp@xxxxxxxx>]

Walt Salmaniw has had no success posting this, so 
we'll see if I can manage it.....


*DXpedition to Masset 26 Dec 2013 to 3 January, 2014*

by Walter Salmaniw

     I have just spent the above period at my DX cottage near Masset, BC on
the remote islands off of the north-west coast of British Columbia on
Canada?s west coast.  Conditions, for the most part were not particularly
good, with a total absence, almost of any TA activity.  There were a couple
of good mornings for TP activity, especially the morning of December 30th,
and to a lesser extent January 1, 2014.  With conditions not up to par, I
did venture much more than normal into the shortwave, especially tropical
bands for some pretty good DX.  With the near absence of any local noise,
there were many stations heard that would never be possible in an urban
environment, such as my home in Victoria, BC.

     The weather was particularly mild, and often quite nice with blue
skies and starry nights occasionally being seen.  The average temperatures
were in the 7 to 9 degree C range.  This compares to other years where I
have experienced ­ 15 to ­ 20 deg C temperatures, during the same period of
time!  The normal would be in the ­ 5 to + 3 deg C.  No complaints from me,
especially since I took part in the local polar bear swim on January 1st!

     One advantage of sub-standard conditions is that it allows for other
activities, such as erecting different antennae, or making repairs.  I
erected 4 antennae for this DXpedition.  My stalwart is always the NW BOG,
about 700? long and aimed about 300 deg, perfect for Asia.  It was my go to
antenna for almost all of my serious TP DX.  My reference antenna, and
quickest to erect is a double large diameter loop aimed NE/SW ALA 100LN, an
excellent antenna for all frequencies from LW to the top of the MW band.  I
cannot recommend this antenna highly enough.  Nick Hall-Patch gave me an
Eavesdropper antenna a few years ago, and on my second day, I erected it
about 40 feet high between a couple of evergreens near my cottage.  In the
past, I would climb these trees to attach the supports, and this would have
taken many hours (and place myself at risk), but this time, I used the
antenna sling-shot device which I purchased a few years ago on eBay, but
have never used.  Such simplicity!  It worked the first time for both
trees, and within minutes, the antenna was exactly where it was supposed to
be!  The results of this antenna in almost all cases were inferior to the
ALA 100LN, and next to useless for anything but the SW broadcast bands
(after all, it is a trap dipole).  How technology has changed!  I don?t
even know if this antenna is still commercially available.

     To fill out the other antennae, I resurrected a previous favourite, a
mini-Beverage which runs along the property line, due north.  I was hoping
for more TA activity, which never really materialized, although in many
circumstances, it was a good performer for the LW band, and for some
Alaskans (for instance KBRW 680 Barrow often was heard with this antenna,
and absent or mixed with other domestics on the others).  The length was
about 450?, with the last 150? running along the beach and buried in the
sand to anchor the antenna.  At high tide (and they were very high during
this visit), it would be totally submerged, and usually buried by a few
inches of sand, and often displaced by the currents.  At low tides, I would
repair the antenna, and place it on top of the sand, in line with the rest
of the antenna.  On at least one occasion, someone ?kindly? gathered up the
beach antenna into a ball, which took me a few minutes to untangle!  An
advantage of my cottage, especially this time of the year, is that
virtually no one is around, so the antenna tangle surprised me!

     For the future, I brought up my newly purchased from eBay 4 antenna
Wellbrook array, which should be fun to try out for it?s 360 degree
capabilities.  In the winter, I have to contend with a lot of domestic
splatter from the lower 48 states and Canada.  Next time!

     Before I start into the loggings section, I should mention the
adventure of just getting here.  We flew on Pacific Coastal Airlines from
Vancouver aboard their very small 9 or 10 seat Beech 1900C twin engine
aircraft.  These are fine for very short haul flights, but not so for
longer flights, like to Masset.  Normally these are about 2 hours (and
usually using a much larger Saab 340 aircraft).  The flight was fine until
just before touch down, when it was noted that the airport in Masset was
enveloped in a very thick blanket of fog.  The pilots attempted to land
three times, twice from the south, and once from the north, but each time
we could not see the airport in time to land.  We finally diverted to
Sandspit, where conditions were marginally better, after 3 hours in a tiny
airplane (and no bathroom!!).  I was happy to see the ground.  Some
negotiations followed for transport to Masset, and thankfully, a van was
arranged for transport (Sandspit is a very sleepy little town, with just a
few hundred people).  2 ½ hours later and one ferry trip from Moresby to
Graham Island, and I finally made it to Masset.  That first evening, I just
quickly laid out the coax to the ALA 100, and started things from there.

     One of the first things that I couldn?t get over, was the total
domination of China on the SW bands.  Just terrible, and no reason for it,
IMHO.  They ruin so many other stations to be heard.  Also there?s a big
increase in intrusions into the SW bands from OTH radars which continuously
pollute the bands.  The world has changed, and not for the better.

     Before I post the loggings, I?d like to give you a morning?s worth of
TP DX recorded on January 3, 2014.  It was a particularly good morning for
Asian MW DX, and so I recorded over an hour of Perseus SDR wav files for
future reference.  I?d be happy to share them with anyone.  Just drop me a
line at canswl@xxxxxxxxx and I?m sure we can arrange either a USB stick or
a hard drive transfer to you.  You would just have to send me the hardware
and postage, and I?d take care of the rest!  Here goes:   I monitored
between 14:50 and 18:30 UTC.  Primarily used my 700? BOG to the NW, and my
Perseus SDR, although I also have an AOR 7030+, and a NRD 535D as well.
The Solar Indices were not promising:  SF:  161, A:  20,  K (15:00): 3,
with geomagnetic storms, and blackouts occurring.  I still like to use the
10 point scale, with 10 being absolutely armchair, and 1 just a very weak
het.  5 is barely audible, without content, and so forth.

LW:  The Russian Longwave stations continue, at least for now with 3 on
this morning, compared to the 31st, when there were 6 on the air (153, 189,
and 279 compared to 153, 171, 180, 189, 234, and 279).  All very strong!  9
levels.

MW:  531 JOQG Morioka  7 with cochannel music.

549:  7 level, not NHK1

558:  8.5 level  Probably HLQH with music.

567:  JOIK Sapporo, at 9 level.

576:  NHK 1, 3 listed but JOHG Kagoshima has 10 kW 7 level.

585:  // to above most likely JOPG Kushiro at 8 level.  Other cochannels
too.

594:  JOAK Tokyo, 9 level, but also some good strength cochannels.

603:  JOOG Obihiro over HLSA at 9 level.

612:  JOLK Fukuoka at 8 level at 15:09

621:  Earlier Pyongyang Bangsong, at 8 level.  At 15:25, echo +++, so now
probable Heilongjiang RGD, China.

639:  8 level CNR 1, then later at 16:26, JOIP Oita, // to 594 and 567.

648:  6.5 level

657:  8 level Pyongyang Pangsong.  // 3250.  Not as strong as in past
years, it seems.

666:  JOBK Osaka, 9 level, plus others.

675:  8 level Voice of Vietnam My Van

684:  8 level  (no comment added)

693:  9 level JOAB Tokyo

702:  8.5 level KCBS, Chongjin.  Off frequency.

711:  9 level HLKA, plus pulse jammer at 15:11

720:  8 level Strong Chinese at 15:32.  May be CNR 2.  Multiple stations
earlier.  ?KOTZ with open carrier this morning?

729:  JOCK at 7 level, but a lot of 730 Vancouver splatter!

738:  8 level 2 cochannels at 15:34.  Didn?t stay to see who they were.

747:  9 level JOIB Sapporo

756:  8 level with a lot of splatter.  At 15:40 echo +++ CNR 1

774:  JOUB Akita at 9 level.  Also cochannel at 15:41.  After NHK2
sign-off, noted American oldies at 17:00, followed by an English ID for
DWWW, Quezon City, Philippines!  A real highlight for me, and the first
Filipino heard this DXpedition.

783:  8 level Chinese echo ++, so presumed Hebei RGD at 15:48

792:  8 level Chinese at 15:51

819:  9 level KCBS, // 2850

828:  9 level JOBB Osaka

837:  9 level NHK 1 station (2 listed, 10 kW JOQK Niigata, but a 1 kW
closer station in Nayoro, Hokkaido), much stronger than CC cochannel at
15:57.

846:  7 level NHK 1 (Many listed between 0.1 and 5 kW)

873:  JOGB, Kumamoto 8 level, with cochannels at 15:58

882:  7.5 level Chinese station plus het from 882.428, presumed North Korea

891:  7.5 level  JOHK Sendai

909:  8 level JOCB Nagoya (NHK2) over JOVX Abashiri (STV), but equal at
16:10

918:  6.5 level

945:  9 level CNR 1, but at 16:10, NHK 1 (?JOIQ Muroran, Hokkaido) stronger
than CNR 1

954:  JOKR Tokyo at 9 level at 16:12

963:  7 level NHK 1 (5 between 1 and 5 kW) at 16:12

972:  9 level HLCA Dangjin, and CC cochannel at 16:15

981:  CNR 1 at 9 level

990:  9 level JORK Kochi

999:  8 level NHK 1 at 16:18 (7 outlets between 0.1 and 1 kW) at 16:18

1008:  9 level JONR Osaka

1017:  JOLB Fukuoka 9 level, with NHK 2 sign-off at 16:20

1035:  8 level NHK 2 (7 outlets 0.1 to 1 kW) and CNR 1

1044:  7 level KBS 1 (2 - 10 kW outlets) // 711 at 16:24

1053:  JOAR Nagoya 9 level, // 720

1062:  HLKQ Cheongju at 7 level // 711 at 16:31

1071:  JOFK Hiroshima (NHK 1) at 9 level at 16:32 (and not JOWM Obihiro,
Hokkaido)

1089:  8 level Chinese echos, presumed Liaoning RGD

1098:  8 level Japanese.  Didn?t wait to figure out which (8 different
transmitters and different networks)

1107:  7 level Japanese at 17:51

1125:  8 level  at 16:40.  ? further info.

1134:  8 level JOQR Tokyo, but faded and a Chinese sounding music (not CNR
1) became dominant.

1143:  7 level JOBR Kyoto, // 1485

1161:  8 level with call-in show, I think NHK 1 (many 0.1 kW transmitters),
and way over CNR 1

1170:  9 level HLSR Gimje, way over KJNP, // 972 at 16:53

1179:  9 level JOOR Osaka

1188:  9 level JOKP Kitami

1197:  7 level Japanese, not // to 1440

1206:  6.5 level

1215:  7 level, // 1143, so either JOBW Hirnoe, or JOBO Maisuru

1224:  7 level with EZL music

1233:  7 level Japanese at 17:06 (5 transmitters 0.1 to 5 kW)

1242:  8 level JOLF Tokyo at 17:50

1269:  Measured frequency and noted the following transmitters:  1269.000,
.004, .008, .111.  // to 1287, and music with the off-channel station.
JOHW Obihiro or JOFM Esashi, both on Hokkaido

1278:  7 level JOFR Fukuoka // 1287

1287:  9 level JOHR Sapporo, and 1 cochannel at 17:42

1296:  7 level with several CC, as well as JOTK Matsue (NHK1 with 10 kW)

1305:  6.5 level ? CC

1314:  9 level JOUF Osaka at 17:38

1323:  KBS 1 (2 transmitters here).  At 17:22 recheck KBS 1 plus another
cochannel

1332:  9 level JOSF Nagoya

1341:  7 level NHK 1 station (23 transmitters, all 100 watts only!)

1350:  9 level JOER Hiroshima

1359:  7 level CNR 1

1368:  9 level 1 cochannels at 17:33:  NHK 1 (12 transmitters 0.1 to 5 kW)
and also JOTS Wakkanai with HBC network // 1287)

1386:  7 level CC vocal, not CNR 1

1395:  7 level CC and cochannel

1404:  9 level JOQL Kushiro, // 1413, and 1287 at 17:28, later not in //

1413:  8 level JOIF Fukuoka, // 1485

1422:  7 level 2 cochannels

1431:  7 level JJ

1440:  JOWF Sapporo 9 level at 17:24

1449:  9 level JOQM Abashiri (and only 5 kW), // 1287

1467:  9 level HLKN Mokpo  // 711

1485:  8 level  no info recorded

1494:  8 level live concert at 17:17, not //1287 ? JOYR Okayama

1503:  9 level NHK 1 JOUK Akita at 17:15

1539:  Open carrier 17:14.  NHK 2 (17 ­ 100w transmitters)

1557:  7 level big carrier, but no or little modulation

1566:  HLAZ Jeju always 9 level!

1575:  8 level AFN with music.  Only heard a single station.  Other days
could hear 2 separate AFN feeds, at much better levels.  Do we know which
station carries which feed?

1584:  8 level NHK 1 at 17:09  (28 ­ 100 watt transmitters)

1593:  8 level CNR 1 at 17:08

1602:  8 level NHK 2 OC at 17:07 (28 ­ 0.1 to 1 kW transmitters)

No X-band activity this morning.  Conditions took a sudden dive at 18:15
UTC.



     That?s a taste of what was heard on a single morning.  Of course,
there will be a lot to mine from the Perseus wav files!  Now on to the
loggings for the period:

KOREA 1566, 1742-, HLAZ Dec 27 Fair reception, still, with English lessons
noted. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



KOREA 1566, 1906-, HLAZ Dec 28 Excellent reception with hymn 'Holy, Holy,
Holy'.  Still S6 to S7 signal, but with no QRM, it sounds like a local!
Korean. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



CHINA 1098, 1934-, Guangzhou Diantai Fengyun Tai Dec 28 Tentative logging.
Excellent reception in Chinese.  Did mention Guangzhou, so it's my presumed
logging.  Amazing, since it's 11:30 AM local time!  Being deep in the
winter sure helps!. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



RUSSIA 279, 1943-, Radio Rossii Dec 28 A bad sign, but I haven't seen a
peep from any of the Russian LW stations over the past several days.  I
will keep checking, but there's a chance that they've pulled the plug on
them, leaving nothing at all to hear in the mornings. They should be
relatively easy catches in Masset.  Well thankfully, I checked at 13:25 on
29 Dec, and sure enough, at least 153, 189, and 279 are back.
(Salmaniw,Masset, BC)





CANADA 834, 2022-, 1U Dec 28 Beacon weakly heard is actually the
aeronautical beacon at 3 x 278 kHz, and measured on 834.007, so ever so
slightly off.  Nothing noted on 2 x 278, nor 4 x 278.  Airport is located
about 10 km to my west. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



ALASKA 850, 0527-, KICY Dec 30 Old time radio with local announcements
'telegraph messages'.  Always fun to listen to this rather than the usual
network programming on so many frequencies!  Local ID only at 06:02, and
into network news. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



ALASKA 1170, 0606-, KJNP Dec 30 Excellent reception with weather forecast
and advisory not to travel the Dalton Highway after dark.  Into Voice of
Hope program.  KPUG Bellingham, occasionally fades up cochannel, but
otherwise KJNP totally dominates the frequency on the North mini-Beverage.
(Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



ALASKA 780, 1542-, KNOM Dec 30 Excellent reception.  Heavilly modulated.
Local Nome information at 15:43 (pool is closed), then back into modern
music 'I was a dinosaur'. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



ALASKA 1080, 1834-, KUDO Dec 30 Massively strong, but with a transmitter
problem.  Clear modulation, but a regular broad band noise pulse, about
once per second.  Not sure of the cause otherwise.  PSA against smoking
pot. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



RUSSIA 180, 1504-, Radio Rossii Dec 31 Perhaps a last hurrah, as 6 Russian
LW are heard this morning.  Will they be there tomorrow?  153:
Komsomolsk/Khabarovsk 1200 kW at fair/good level, 171 Yakutsk with 150 or
500 kW at fair level, 180 Petropavlosk-Kamchatskyi at excellent level (Z
Novom Godom! just as I'm tuning at 15:10 UTC)  listed with 150 kW.  189
Belogorsk with 1200 kW at good/very good level, 234 Magadan with 1000 kW at
good level, and finally 279 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with 500 kW at very good
level, except for Aerobeacon cochannels which are very plentiful in this
area.  That makes for 6 Russian LW channels on the same time which is very
unusual.  On top of that, Mongolian Radio on 164 was heard before 15:00 at
fair level in addition, and very weak when rechecked at 15:22.  The
surprise of the morning, which generally was below average was the
longevity of the LW channels.  At 17:27, 153 and 180 are going strong, but
with different feeds.  180 is // to 7320 and 5930 and 234.  153 is // to
189 and 279 with a rock music show.  171 seems to be very undermodulated,
but is also // to the rock music show.  The show was announced at 18:44 as
EZ Tops, 'Live from Texas.'!  Interesting, indeed!  Still at good level on
189 at 18:45 (10:45 AM local time). (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



JAPAN 828, 1550-, JOBB Dec 31 Just happened to be listening to JOBB when
they ID'd at 15:50, and went into their usual sign-off procedure.  Very
good reception, but not at the same level as yesterday's excellent levels.
A lot of domestic splatter this morning, it seems.  Cochannel station(s)
are heard weakly beneath. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



RUSSIA 189, 2033-, Radio Rossii Dec 31 Still going strong at fair/good
level, and I can also still hear 153 (poor), 171 (threshold),  234 (poor).
Despite reports that Magadan is gone, I'm still hearing audio, so perhaps
it's the other listed transmitter in Angarsk, Irkutsk?. (Salmaniw,Masset,
BC)



VIETNAM 675, 1700-, Voice of Vietnam 1 Jan 1 Very nice reception this
morning.  Left the air at 17:00 without any sign off procedure.  I suspect
there were several other Vietnamese stations on today as well.
(Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



CHINA 1251, 1954-, CNR 1 Jan 1 Quite something.  Why I enjoy DXing from
Masset in the depths of winter.  11:55 AM local, and I'm hearing Chinese at
good level on this frequency.  Neat!. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)





ICELAND 189, 2337-, Rikisutvarpid Ras Jan 1 Nice signal at 3:30 PM in the
local afternoon.  Several other LW stations from Europe are just at
threshold, but only on my due North Beverage.  First Icelandic reception on
this DXpedition.  Checking later after 01:15, I hear a number of LW, but
all just barely (except for Iceland):  153, 162 (fair level), 171, 177,198,
207 (fair, if not for aero beacons),. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



ALASKA (NON) 580, 2345-, KRSA Jan 1 Noted the absence of this station,
which is usually one of the regulars, and heard just about all year around
with the car radio.  Not on since I've been in Masset this time.  ?Gone for
good, or moved to FM?. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



JAPAN 828, 1557-, Osaka Jan 2 Conditions not that great this morning, so I
parked on 828 and noted Russian music, something I normally never hear on
Japanese stations.  No language lessons this morning, but instead a concert
of some sort.  Also noted that the NHK2 network did not sign-off at the
normal time (by 16:00), as it's still going at 16:01.  Signals not
particularly strong today, but these first tier stations get through no
matter what, at excellent levels.  At 16:07 there were in fact Russian
lessons, but these seem locally produced, and nothing like the other more
traditional language lessons. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



JAPAN 693, 1620-, JOAB Jan 2 Signed off this morning at 16:20.  Excellent
level, of course.  Also heard 702, 774 (but not 747!), 828, 873, 909, 1017,
1089, 1125, 1377, 1386, and 1467 before the prolonged sign-off completed.
One of the few times that one can hear the call letters on some of these
stations. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



RUSSIA 648, 1736-, Radio Free Asia Jan 2 Excellent reception of RFA in
Korean.  Domestic splatter is pretty much gone, and signal is very strong.
Not often heard here due to strong 650 KENI Anchorage splatter.
(Salmaniw,Masset, BC)



CHINA 1593, 1740-, CNR 1 Jan 2 Not signing off at 17:35, it seems.  Still
quite strong, although starting to fade now.  // to 6125 and hundreds of
others!!. (Salmaniw,Masset, BC)


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