-----Original Message----- From: Guy Atkins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2006 2:03 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Grayland DXpedition Report - Oct. 20-21 - First 2 Nights
The first two nights of John Bryant's and my "dual solo" DXpedition were very enjoyable, if not spectacular in terms of DX heard. I have one more night to go, while John is not planning to leave until after the DX fades on Monday morning. The weather thus far has been wonderful, with mostly sunny skies, clear nights, and daytime temps in the sixties. This is the first time I've done a camping-style DXpedition in the newer portion of Grayland Beach State Park. This particular site is very nice for DXing purposes, being not too close to neighboring campers (less noise possibilities), and privately situated for erecting unobtrusive masts for EWE antennas, large loops, etc. among the trees. There is also the possibility for over-the-shoulder Beverages through the pine trees and brush. As in the original portion of the park, all AC mains are underground in this area; I'd imagine that the newer condition of the power transformers, power vaults, and so on contribute to the quiet RFI conditions I've found here. At the Grayland Motel a half mile away, John put up a single Northwest-orient Beverage wire. When comparing notes during the day, we found equal conditions and signals on the band from the night before. It appears that my 12 ft. X 35 ft., east-west ALA 100 antenna (20 ft. high at the top) and the PA0RDT Mini-Whip hoisted 30 ft. high on a DK9SQ mast, performed admirably, and generally on par with John's Beverage antenna. Hearing 972 kHz HLCA, Korea, stay in audio all the way to a 1700 UTC (10 a.m. local) sign-off is indication that it's more about propagation conditions that optimum antennas! John and I tried contacting each other with "10 mile range" FRS walkie-talkie radios to stay in touch during the DXpedition, but we never had reliable reception despite the mere 1/2 mile distance. The local noise was typically very low as I expected, and the Mini-Whip (true to form) was noisier than the ALA 100. However, the omni-directional Mini-Whip was an advantage most of the time, providing better S/N ratio than the loop on most signals. I had expected auroral conditions to knock out Asian signal paths, so I split the difference with an east-west orientation for the loop; perhaps this would be a DXpedition of DU conditions. Nope...both nights have been strongly Asian. The loop would have performed better I'm sure, if it was on a Northwest bearing (the broadside nulls are very noticeable). The night of the 20th was completely "big gun" Japanese, Korean, and Chinese signals (plus ever-present 738 Tahiti) up until just before local SR (1435 utc), when reception suddenly switched to modest signals from Australia and a couple of likely Kiwis. About a half hour to 45 minutes after dawn, signals changed back to Asian, and they slowwwly faded down into the mud, most of them between 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 hours past SR. Prime examples of this were 972 HLCA mentioned earlier, and China CNR1 on 981, as late as 1623 UTC and parallel to 6030 and 9800. The second night of the 21st was even more Asian, with only the faintest, brief hint of DU reception before sunrise. Signals were not as strong as on the 20th, overall, with a lot of "mumble-mumble" audio on many splits, that just wouldn't rise above the muck long enough for IDing the station or content. The strongest Asian signals on the band faded out much quicker this morning, and by 1515 UTC the DX was pretty much gone. I'll hold further details, some loggings, and an overall bandscan from the three nights of DXing until tomorrow afternoon and evening. I'm uploading this report from the Westport public library; here's hoping that I'll have news of even better reception from tonight! 73, Guy Atkins Puyallup, WA DXing from Grayland Beach State Park www.sdr-1000.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://arizona.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
