As reported previously, the salt water-enhanced propagation from Aitutaki
island to New Zealand was outstanding every evening after local sunset,
resulting in over 100 Kiwi MW-DX recordings made during the Cook Islands trip.
Australian signals ruled at sunrise, however, as a collection of Oz talk-format
pest stations on 567, 594, 693, 918 and 1566 did their best to make it a
challenge to track down exotic South and Southeast Asian DX on their
frequencies.
All of the following stations were received with the hand-held 7.5"
loopstick C.Crane SSB Ultralight radio alone, which was more than sensitive
enough to track down scores of Kiwi and Oz stations every evening on the lagoon
beach next to our motel. The master plan during the trip was to check all the
MW frequencies in the evening after sunset, splitting up the frequencies to
cover in pre-planned DXing sessions every evening. That worked fairly well
until my wife discovered some special Polynesian dinner offers on the last two
days, causing some of the higher frequencies to be foregone in favor of South
Pacific luaus and Cook Maori dancing entertainment. As I watched the Maori fire
dancing, it seemed like my master plan to cover the band was going up in smoke.
873 UnID-DU Three DU English stations mixing at 0826 on 4-10, all receiving
a salt water enhancement boost to the point where they succeed in creating mass
confusion. Probably a mix of Newstalk ZB, TAB Trackside and an Oz station
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/aw9dn1m2bw39sbwflb4dagenutr95ksi
882 Star Auckland, NZ, 10 kW S9 signal all alone and // 909 with female
speech at 0825 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/n2y76kxspboqnm5bcs2otv3xc3q8i45p
891 4TAB Townsville, Australia, 5 kW Pounding in at a winning level at
0821 on 4-10, featuring a bizarre "When You're After Your Mate" ad at 28
seconds, complete with a gambling addiction hotline number. Meanwhile
891-Wellington was left in the dust, barely showing up at the end of the race
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/2t7mn5m32326z3drhyta6dtwnx4y3t5z
891 Magic Wellington, NZ, 5 kW The anemic music station was under 4TAB (as
usual) in this recording at 0822 on 4-10, the Kiwi oldies station was losing
the horse race with 4TAB every evening
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/24833qhi3ta0rp284700h85d6tgtm9sr
900 Coast Whangarei, NZ, 2.5 kW Oldies format dominating over Star for
most of this recording at 0819 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/nj1ytafh2dj2fervb0itouzrppdefrx8
900 Star Dunedin, NZ, 10 kW Dominating over Coast at the end of this
recording at 0820 on 4-10 with female speech // 909 (includes a brief 909
segment) https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/nj1ytafh2dj2fervb0itouzrppdefrx8
909 Star Hawkes Bay, NZ, 5 kW Awesome S9 signal with female Kiwi speech at
0818 on 4-10; this was the preferred Star frequency for parallel checks every
evening https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/nrs8b2xto0tkzxrdx8icqtae9qo13335
The Christian format station was also a powerful presence every sunrise
session, such as at 1618 on 4-11
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/cgde7y1n3p9w2ll1xdl6tjge5fd4jooi
918 RNZ Timaru/ New Plymouth, NZ, 2.5/ 2 kW Fair level with male speech //
567 at 0812 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/78f0cf7mjhy66cjb5uryhtw0n2hzsym0
918 UniD-Australian "Midnight, with Merv Starr" program intro at 1702 on
4-12 (30 seconds into the following recording). Strangely, the two eastern Oz
station websites indicate that both should be music-oriented
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dlhcf700ou82hf7unqwlbn026m7bci52
Note: The 918 kHz frequency was one of the more interesting in this group. It
received a lot of attention because of Cambodia on the frequency, which finally
broke through with its National Anthem on April 12th. One single MP3 contained
the Cambodian anthem, Shandong in China, bizarre "Cuckoo Clock" time pips at
the 1700 UTC and a mix of two DU English stations after that-- one of which was
the "Midnight, with Merv Starr" program on an Oz talk station, which remains
unidentified. The other DU English signal on the frequency was the RNZ duo from
Timaru and New Plymouth, which routinely showed up in the evening sessions.
After hearing Nick's opinion about the "Cuckoo Clock" time pips at 1700 UTC (at
1:41 in Chuck's reworked MP3, posted at
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/qams92h5ktn7ki93u3qlvbzvyl3y8rru ) I agree with
Nick that they are most likely the Shandong 5+1 time pips alternating with the
5+1 time pips from RNZ, and not echoes from the Shandong multi-transmitter
system, a
s originally thought.
927 4CC Gladstone, Australia, 5 kW Presumed the one with a rock format
dominating over Newstalk ZB at the earlier part of this recording at 0807 on
4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/8zjzilbrxolzk4azgz1xqoblx8neu7pd
927 Newstalk ZB Palmerston N., NZ, 2 kW Male speech // 1035 dominating
over a presumed 4CC at the end of this recording at 0808 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/8zjzilbrxolzk4azgz1xqoblx8neu7pd
936 Chinese Voice Auckland, NZ, 1 kW One of the major surprises of the
DXpedition, with awesome signals every evening. This TOH recording at 0800 on
4-10 features a Chinese ID, station promos and website information
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/jp8cmpqmmxbjm6bruj601g5y0i4j66f5
936 UnID-Australian Mixing with Chinese Voice at 0731 on 4-9 with DU
English, most likely 4PB in Brisbane
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0o7oo6i4nd6wunsncdsxs516r3wkyiji
945 Newstalk ZB Gisborne, NZ, 2 kW Good signal // 1035 with sports news at
0758 on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/7dl3volkdjwq4u9wa8eygb166a115lah
954 UnID-DU A single station all alone with news at 0756 on 4-10, but just
not enough content to identify
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/crippbcbus3gw6g27yc767f4nqf3md7m
963 Star Christchurch, NZ, 10 kW Strong signal // 909 with ID at the 10
second point, followed by Christian music
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/ltk43q3f8gkj60zwyvbwlfe27zk0ercb
972 UnID For some reason this frequency was overlooked in the evening, but
an apparent DU English co-channel was mixing with HLCA's Korean at 1632 on 4-12
with a talk format-- most likely Rhema, in Wellington
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/rsjxq9ara77rrvdeg4f1dnn5fh9jgs1b
981 RNZ Kaikohe, NZ, 2 kW Female-voiced news // 567 at good level at 0723
on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0lx9tfev0eq7qe9vj054mu60kw1oxthq
990 TAB Trackside Nelson, NZ, 1 kW In a fairly good horse race with Fiji
Gold at the start of this recording at 0712 on 4-10, only to fold to Melissa
Etheridge in the clutch
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/devsen4lrp2pul0m92m0r638yb6yj79i
1008 4TAB Brisbane, Australia, 10 kW Dominating over Newstalk ZB with live
horse racing at 0752 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/oqks7pabb5rjj96eb04c49n5iseb16xv
1008 Newstalk ZB Tauranga, NZ, 10 kW Dominating over 4TAB with male-voiced
news // 1035 at 0753 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/c1qk2124yuu2hhf0cwaqjjg3ev3w6q31
1017 Radio Sport Christchurch, NZ, 2.5 kW The major co-channel of A3Z in
Tonga, it could usually be isolated simply by nulling out Tonga. This was the
case at 0723 on 4-10, with sports-related news from the Kiwi station in the
null of S9 Tonga
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/4yaczeqnvcdqyv6pyuog7707lrh2uifx
1026 Newstalk ZB Kaitaia, NZ, 2 kW Pretty good signal from the 2 kW
station with male conversation // 1035 at 0738 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/6tjlvks46ygt3q8zo92768d2vcrtra1y
1035 Newstalk ZB Wellington, NZ, 20 kW Usually very strong on the
frequency each evening, but a little off at 0737 on 4-10 with male conversation
about gender-changed athletes
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/zbrxgjg5cyvi1xow8nedzv9aoie2x7cq
1044 Newstalk ZB Dunedin, NZ, 10 kW Male conversation // 1035 about
gender-changed athletes at 0739 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0arbh5wji31myv9vn46r29d07qjgbi8a
1053 Newstalk ZB New Plymouth, NZ, 2 kW Great signal for the power level
with (once again) male conversation // 1035 about gender-changed athletes at
0740 on 4-10. Newstalk ZB has this part of the band almost monopolized
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/15b7t03n2w5y03tfoqoyk0u2xrms6pzz
1062 Radio Sport Wanganui, NZ, 1 kW Sports play-by-play with good signal
for the power level at 0742 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/9h4ib0fg3in4xnnfqw6ue00zqi3o6lbk
1071 TAB Trackside Ashburton, NZ, 1 kW Believed to be the Kiwi-accented
station at the end of the recording at 1700 on 4-13 under the dominant UnID
Australian (thanks to Bryan Clark for accent assistance)
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/4zu1wp0eykwxyy3598w45dtpjirs5nif
1071 UnID Australian Mention of "Melbourne" at the 18 second point, but no
definite ID clues at 1700 on 4-13
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/4zu1wp0eykwxyy3598w45dtpjirs5nif
1080 Newstalk ZB Auckland, NZ, 10 kW Powerful signal at 0745 on 4-10 with
sports-related news over very weak co-channel (KWAI in Hawaii?)
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/f8lqy6xhvv56fdsyauyebt1t28wlxcsp
1089 Radio Sport Palmerston N., NZ, 2.5 kW Sports play-by-play // 1062 at
0746 on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/chasv9jgq78avz0gsgsl2760p3b0l707
1098 Newstalk ZB Christchurch, NZ, 5 kW The usual co-channel of V7AB in
the Marshall Islands, it could usually be isolated by nulling V7AB, as in this
strong recording // 1035 (with the gender-changed athlete discussion) at 0749
on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/cidqz29yfbvsfqe3xn2e3v5e11tppudt
1107 Radio Live Tauranga, NZ, 1 kW Talk-format station all alone at 0750
on 4-10 with good signal for the power level
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/ixt6fum9c0eejx979eps4i1h7pwmzg4k
1116 UnID-DU A mix of a strong UnID music station (RNZ?) and a probable 4BC
from Brisbane at 0752 on 4-10
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/a5pe6fmk17tnr90zlh4irjx2jf36xld9
1125 Radio Sport Hawkes Bay, NZ, 1 kW Great signal for the low power with
local ads and promo for shared sports program on sister network Newstalk ZB at
0753 on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/wp65skhg3czwx2sk1i1yzu8k4j5wzllb
1143 RNZ Hamilton, NZ, 2.5 kW Great signal with music and speech // 567 at
0754 on 4-10 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/b2f1mcjbzek1s2147rm2scj1m25nbqeo
1152 Newstalk ZB Timaru, NZ, 2 kW Good signal all alone with male
conversation // 1035 at 0756 on 4-10 regarding (once again) gender-changed
athletes https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/hpf4368fgakui2ivax59ms8pfpnpibww
1161 Radio Te Upoko o te Ika, Wellington, NZ, 5 kW Good signal // 603 with
Maori language speech at 0750 on 4-10; a parallel segment on 603 is included at
the end of the recording. On some evenings this station would be wiped out by
1160-KSL in Salt Lake City
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/glyd7t60c5ihz1v9hrydblkslkd36524
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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