Via Walter Salmaniw - Another day in paradise up here in Northern BC�. Blue skies and warm sunshine�not all that common in these parts, but I�ll take what I can get! First of all, I went on my little dxpediton out to Rose Spit, about a 40 minute drive along the beach, then along a very sandy pathway, and finally into a field of strawberries and grasses chest high.
One has to be very careful not to get stuck, even with a 4X4 truck as I have. Once there, I laid out 3 BOGs�.not really aBOG, as they were mostly about 3 to 4 feet off the ground and on top of the grasses. The first was a 1050� BOG aimed about 20 degrees and terminated(aimed for Europe). Number 2 was the longest at 230 degrees and about 1200 feet long, unterminated,and the third BOG was about 720 feet long and aimed 315 degrees, also unterminated. As well, I put up a PA0RDT-mini active antenna. More on that one later. The weather was perfect and I had the antennae up within an hour (quite difficult pushing my way through tall grass!). Next time, I've found a spot about a km closer and very easy to traverse�.short grass and wild strawberries and room for plenty of Beverages (or Bogs) and easier parking, without the risk of getting stuck in the soft sand. It�s avery lovely spot, so I could see setting up a tent or parking a camper therefor some really serious and fun DXing, as the closest power has to be 30 km away anyway. I was hoping to use the Perseus receiver out there, but as it turned out, all I got to use was my 7030+ and the SDR-IQ. As it happens, the battery on the computer lasted until just before dawn, so the last hour or two was done strictly with the 7030+�.felt very old-fashioned! Still, I have SDR-IQ files from virtually the entire night to have fun with. Once again, the TA activity was virtually non-existent. Disappointing since I had a very nice BOG aimed right at Europe�. Oh well, nothing much came up with that antenna. The real stars were the 230 degree BOG overnight, and then the NW BOG towards dawn (and that little PA0RDT active antenna�.it�s nothing short of amazing. A tiny PVC pipe, less than 6' long. I mounted it on a pole 4' tall on the dunes about 50' from my truck and it was absolutely amazing at picking up DX as good, or almost as good as the BOGs! Imagine taking something that fits in a little bag and needs no real estate�.just hang it in a tree and away you go�. AS LONG as there�s NO power anywhere�. It's very prone to picking up noise from power lines, etc, but for remote areas, it�s ideal! I did hear 2 LW channels from Rose Spit�.first was Iceland,of course, on 189 with an 8.5+ signal at 05:33. Next was France Inter on 162 with a 7.5 to 8signal. Other than that the only hets were on 531, 783 (most likely Tahiti, though), 1215,1566 and 1575. Very poor. Just as I was nodding off to sleep around 06:05 UTC, the entire MW band just opened up completely. It was most amazing. I haven�t experienced anything quite like it,with virtually every channel present with hets, usually loud, and many with audio. What hadn't dawned on me, was that we weren't talking about TA European MW dx, but Pacific dx. I�m used to listening at dawn, not in the late evening (just after 11pm local). >From 06:05 I was hearing hets on 531, 549,576, 603, 621, 639 (weak audio), 648 >(weak audio), 657, 684, 693, 702 (weak audio), 783, 756 (weak audio), 765, 774 >(weak audio), 783, 792, 801, 819, 828,837, 846, 882, 90, 918, 954, 982, 999, >1008 (weak audio), 1017 (very strong carrier, but some >co-channels�.possibly SS speaker), 1026 and 1053 (with weak audio), >1062, 1071, 1089, 1107 (heard with English), 1116 (also English), 1124,1143, >1161, 1188, 1197, 1206, 1215 (6 level), 1224, 1233, 1242 and 1251 both 6level, >1269, 1278 (weak audio), 1287, 1296 (music heard at 06:26 as well as IBOC), >1305, 1314, 1332 (6 level), 1341, 1359, 1368, 1377 and 1386 both with audio. >At 06:30,it was obvious that 1386 had Hindi music�..light bulb >moment�.this was New Zealand!!! 1413, 1431 at 6 to 7level with choral singing. 1449, 1458,1476, 1494: EZL music at 06:34 at 7.5 level. 1500 had Honolulu in at excellent level with a co-channel CC station with a ball game play byplay. 1503 had English with a ball game), 1575 (6 to 7 level at 06:40 sounded SS to me, 1593 and 1602. It became obvious that I wasn�t going to get much sleep that night! And things got only better. I know that John Bryant was eager to hear what happened on Rose Spit. I decided to arbitrarily cut the night in half with basically a DU first half and an Asian second half. -- Colin Newell - Editor - coffeecrew.com | coffee.bc.ca | DXer.ca Web-Design / E-Commerce / Writing Victoria, British Columbia, Canada _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.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]
