It's safe to say that this morning's ocean cliff transoceanic propagation
provided a real thrill for all five of us. Despite the need to dodge the
squatters and spread out over three different Highway 101 turnoffs, the
exceptional Kiwi propagation reminded us again how unique this wild cliff can
be.
Antenna setup in total darkness right next to total strangers is never
boring, and this morning Tom and Chuck needed some reasonable space to set up
their broadband loops. When I drove up at 1150 (0450 local time) I noticed that
Tom was setting up at Rockwork 4, and Chuck at Rockwork 3 (apparently along
with Nick, who was testing out propagation at various places with verticals).
By now Craig had become fully accustomed to my vehicle, and he showed up at a
perfect time to follow me to Rockwork 6, which had just enough space in between
the squatters to set up four large FSL's and PVC bases.
After enjoying 6 days of thrilling DU-DX on the cliff Craig had become a
pretty skillful live DXer and Baby FSL user, and by now he was fully capable of
running independently on his own. During the DXpedition he had switched to a
new-design, TSA friendly 3.5" FSL with a rubber locking collar to keep all the
ferrite rods securely in place-- and he was using it to track down almost as
much DU-DX as I was. He alerted me when stations on 531, 585, 936 and 1017 were
coming in, and mentioned that this type of DXing was so thrilling that he
needed to book a return trip next August right away.
After the session all 5 DXers got together at Rockwork 4 to discuss the
exceptional results. 1 kW Kiwi stations like 936-Chinese Voice were as strong
as they've ever been, with Nick mentioning reception of 540-Rhema (a
low-powered NZ network). Tom said he had great Kiwi conditions all over the
band, so after he and Chuck review their Perseus files this DXpedition could
well compete for the all-time Kiwi MW-DX record on the west coast (established
here in July of 2014).
Photos from this morning's session are posted at
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0wxcc0b1cvt3220ir7htdouddcmnngp4 (Craig, Chuck,
Tom and Nick at Rockwork 4) and at
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/y9j42u9c7pg9ey7e6n7vnmd69dquw522
(Craig and me alongside "FSL Row" at Rockwork 6)
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Nehalem, OR for two more days)
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