About 11 years ago John Bryant conducted an all-out DXpedition on Easter
Island in the Pacific, deploying multiple 500 foot beverages and chasing DX
with total freedom, whenever he wished. He received transoceanic DX from around
the world, demonstrating the awesome potential of ocean-enhanced propagation on
an isolated Pacific island.
Of course there was no way to duplicate John's outstanding achievement with
ultra-compact Ultralight gear that was all designed to fit inside a single
hand-carry suitcase, but I was convinced that the new TSA-friendly FSL antenna
could be a real thriller if it was deployed at a similar location-- Aitutaki
island in the Cook group, about 2,600 miles due south of Hawaii.
I would be traveling to the gorgeous South Pacific island with my wife,
who of course expected this anniversary trip to be worthy of the awesome
scenery. As such DXing time would need to be somewhat limited, although I knew
that sunrise sessions would be possible every day, along with evening sessions
about 2 hours after sunset. So it was with some anticipation that we both
boarded the 9.5 hour flight on Air New Zealand from LAX to Rarotonga.
So how much transoceanic DX can someone expect with a hot-rodded pocket
radio and a 5 inch (13cm) diameter FSL antenna, chasing exotic MW stations as a
secondary priority during a busy South Pacific vacation? As it turns out, the
results were the hobby thrill of a lifetime! India, Bangladesh, Mongolia and
Cambodia were all received on MW around sunrise, and despite the inability to
chase DX around sunset, stations like 1000-Radio Record (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and
multiple North Americans showed up two hours later. Exotic Pacific island
stations like 630-RCI and 990-Fiji Gold pounded in, and over 100 Kiwi DX
recordings were made. Full details are contained in the 20 page DXpedition
article posted at the link below, containing multiple photos, narrative and 145
transoceanic DX MP3 links for stations in Asia, the Pacific islands, North and
South America, Hawaii, NZ and Australia
http://www.mediafire.com/file/rcsss62udssl9js/April_2018_Cook_Island_Ultralight_DXpedition-final.d
ocx/file
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
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