Re 153, if this were Romania, there should be 6 short evenly spaced time pips
at TOH. So far both this and Norway have eluded us at LBI.
Russ Edmunds
WB2BJH
Blue Bell, PA
Grid FN20id
From: IRCA on behalf of Volodya S
Sent: Saturday, February 2, 2019 4:09:36 PM
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America
Subject: [IRCA] Masset DXpedition 27 Dec 2018 to 2 January 2019
*Latest DXpedition from Masset, BC 27 Decemmber 2018 to 2 January 2019*
Well, another DXpedition under the belt to my favourite DX cottage off
the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. Conditions for the most part
were very good, although I think I just caught the tail end of the superb
TA conditions. If only I could have been up in Masset a day or two
sooner! Asian conditions were, as always, very nice with excellent
openings to Japan, Korea and China. Plus, some interesting Filipinos,
especially a new one for me on 1611, a smattering of Australia including
armchair 4KZ 531 Innisfail, and Bangladesh was back one morning with 693
until 17:30 sign-off. This time of the year, the DX keeps on coming, with
the TPs carrying on until the afternoon hours, locally. The Iranian buzzer
on 1575 heard frequently in Victoria was a daily visitor, both in our
mornings, and into the afternoons/early evenings, as was 1539 Asianet via
the UAE. I’ve collected many GB of Perseus wav files to enjoy for years to
come. There was plenty of time to experiment with antennas. I had a total
of 5 to choose from: The best, as always, is my 750’ WNW BoG. Then, the 2
nd most used was the 500’ due north over the Pole Beverage. My permanent
ALA 100LN large diameter loop oriented NE/SW is a good reference antenna.
I erected a permanent 65’ x 35’ FLG 100 corner fed loop antenna this time
around, and swung the direction to the S overnight, and to the north in the
evenings with results perhaps about 75% as good as the Beverage/BoG.
Finally, I toyed with a staggered // BoG and a phaser with occasional
useful results. Not sure whether it was worth the effort, though!
Besides the DX, there was always time for good food (thanks to my wife’s
family in Masset….fish, deer roast, pies, chili…yum!), and exercise with
golf and the polar bear swim on New Year’s Day.And, of course the
famous Wullenweber array at the Canadian Forces Station in Masset is the
location of the pretty 9 hole golf course, giving superb views of the array
from every angle! The latter is still functional, although remotely now
via Ottawa, ON. I’ve been told that the usage has increased owing to the
antics of Vladimir Putin!
Now onto the really good stuff! Receivers were 2 Perseus SDRs only, each
fed to it’s own laptop. Errors, as always, are my own, and I appreciate
comments and corrections. Sometimes one gets a little bleary eyed in the
early morning or late nights! 73 and the best of 2019 to all, Walt
Salmaniw, Victoria.
153 NORWAY Ingoy 100 kW NRK, Jan 1 0057 - Good reception tonight with all
western music. Joined by both Icelandic frequencies at good levels (189 and
207), as well as 162 (OC), 198 BBC, 234 Luxembourg and 252 RTE. Into news
at 01:00, clearly Norwegian. Probably the best LW propagation I've heard
on this trip, but not translating to anything in the MW band.
(Salmaniw,Masset, BC)
153 ROMANIA Brasov Bod 200 kW ND Antena Satelor (tent) vs more likely NRK
Norway, Dec 29 1431 - Something totally unexpected, but weak audio hear on
the over the Pole Beverage. Makes sense as the Grayline for transmitter
LSS is over Romania now. Too weak to make out any content, though.
Improved and just about readable at 15:00. Will be interesting whether
other LW from Europe will be audible as sunset goes across western Europe!
Much better on recheck at 15:59 with an English song. No time pips at TOH,
but into presumed news, first by a YL, and then OM. Still no other LW
audible this morning. Later in our local evening (00:57 UTC 30 Dec),
reception again at fair to good level. ***Now I'm confused. This might in
fact be NRK according to MW List with 100 kW in Ingoy. I had thought they
had left the air on LW and MW long ago??? So could very well be Norway and
not Romania?? Grayline passed through Norway at the same time. Have to
admit, the intonation sounds more Norwegian than Romanian. At same time
(01:00 UTC 30 Dec), besides 189, I'm also hearing 252 weakly (sounding more
English than Arabic), but no one else from Europe on LW. (Salmaniw,Masset,
BC)
189 ICELAND Gufuskalar 300 kW Rikisutvarpid Ras, Dec 29 0548 - Compared to
last night, tonight is practically a write-off, except for Iceland.
Yesterday, the LW band was extremely noisy, but with the steady drizzle
today, the presumed salt spray build up on the power lines have washed
away, leaving Iceland to be heard at good level. // rarely heard 207 also
quite strong (but in the middle of beacons). Going out for dinner, I left
the recorder going and a very