As reported earlier it was a pretty wild ocean cliff session, with both Tom and I judging it to have been the most thrilling ever at Rockwork 4. There was enhanced propagation to both Australia and New Zealand, with Fiji joining in the bonanza as well. Some highlights were the best-ever signals from both 558-Fiji and 558-6WA (in a snarl much of the time), the best-ever signal from the 2.5 kW Radio Kahungunu, unusual Kiwi-Oz mixes across the band, and 558-Fiji sticking around at an S5 level until 1350, 15 minutes after Oz and NZ had bailed. The underperforming Fiji of the past 2 years has suddenly become a DU-DX powerhouse.
There is no way to make a detailed report of such a wild session without extensive file review (which I assume that Tom will be doing for weeks), but some of the highlight signals are linked below. While still in total darkness Tom and I both noticed that Kiwi propagation was unusually good around 1200, and we thought it would turn out to be a great Kiwi morning. It was, but in the increasing daylight the Australian signals also got a major boost, along with 558-Fiji. Snarling frequency fights broke out across the band as enhanced DU propagation kicked in throughout the entire South Pacific. Neither Tom or I had ever heard anything like it., but it certainly more than made up for Tom's dicey luck the past two days. His Perseus recordings from today may become real classics. 531 More FM? Sounds like another Kiwi ad string (minus the "Sheila") at 1258, but I'm certainly no expert on Kiwi English. In a mix with PI and an Oz talk station throughout the session https://app.box.com/s/jtq9cyi0te4bbri3tv7puzvt289fpsmx 531 UnID-Oz ABC-sounding talk hanging around at 1253 over and under PI and the rest. 558-6WA was in at the time but I didn't think to check for a parallel. Maybe 6DL? https://app.box.com/s/688ujh8qu23t7jl5dfuvwzsc6iudsw0e 558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji, 10 kW The real star of the session, pounding in with serious strength after its recent rejuvenation. Was still easily audible at 1350 during final antenna dismantling. These two MP3's (at 1307 and 1323) were the strongest recordings ever made of the station at the ocean cliff https://app.box.com/s/13ra6q2edyniegz3jnwii1nlu6dcoz05 https://app.box.com/s/ykjkqqfa59l7h2rfcedhudikwn8ayfye 558 6WA Wagin, Australia, 50 kW In a snarl with Fiji for much of sunrise enhancement, the Western Australian station (with programming matching the "Overnights" podcast on the ABC website) made a return appearance at 1319 to repeat the North American Ultralight DXing distance record of 9,138 miles / 14,705 km. First heard at this cliff in August of 2015 https://app.box.com/s/cze5omzc1x01p28gpdo44wylhdl61l6y 603 Oz-Radio Waatea Mix For the first time ever, at 1254 an Oz station dominates the NZ Maori powerhouse Radio Waatea at the "Kiwi Cliff." Prior to this I had never even heard any competition for Radio Waatea on the frequency (during 12 ocean cliff DXpeditions here) https://app.box.com/s/i3mgrjxw0dwadrtc2c69x7f2f7h6qzua 765 Radio Kahungunu Napier-Hastings, NZ, 2.5 kW Yikes! The Kiwi Maori station melting down my CC Skywave's front end is running only 2.5 kW of power! Even with its reputation as an overachiever, this signal is straight out of science fiction. There is apparently a new Maori net ID at 1:30 into the recording at the 1300 TOH, but no Maori translator is currently available at the cliff https://app.box.com/s/qvu2atw8b22qvi8xwkgp95riigd5mlca 73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork 4 ocean cliff near Manzanita, OR, USA) 7.5 inch loopstick CC Skywave and Tecsun PL-380 Ultralights + 17 inch and 15 inch "Weightlifter Required" FSL antennas _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com 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: irca@hard-core-dx.com
