[HCDX] Grayland DXpedition Loggings

GRAYLAND, Washington USA DXpedition
September 21-23, 2001 (UTC date)

Receiver: AOR AR7030 with Lankford sensitivity mod & extra filters
Accessories: Sharp MD-X5 MD recorder, JPS NIR-12 DSP audio filter, ERGO receiver control software
Antennas: three matched, terminated dual-wire Beverages aimed southwest, west, and northwest. Each antenna 1000 ft. long.

Interesting propagation conditions prevailed during this DXpedition. More often than not we found very little directionality differences between the three antennas. I noticed that prior to local sunrise the normal directionality improved, but usually this was not the case. On most other coastal DXpeditions I've found that lack of directionality often occurs *during* the dawn enhancement period (presumably due to fluctuating arrival angles) rather than the other way around.

Conditions were predominantly Asian on mediumwave, with very little "down under" DX heard. I was disappointed not to hear my favorite South Pacific stations at better and more sustained levels-- 1017 Tonga, 891 Fiji, and 738 Tahiti. However, the variety of signals from elsewhere more than made up for the absence of these favorites.

Indonesian and Papua New Guinea stations on the tropical bands were occasionally at impressive levels, although I would call the conditions mostly average on shortwave.

DXers in attendance were Don Nelson, John Bryant, Walt Salmaniw, Phil Bytheway, Bruce Portzer, Chuck Hutton, and myself. Compared to the others, my loggings from this trip are rather few in number. I look forward to reading John's published logs in particular... he seemed to be writing or typing furiously throughout the DXpedition!

MEDIUMWAVE
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531 UNIDENTIFIED , Sep 22 1200 - US 1950's song 'Rock Around the Clock' noted here briefly before fading into the noise. Possible 1XPI Auckland. (ATKINS-WA)

550 HAWAII Wailuku KMVI, Sep 22 1203 - Excellent signal on all Beverage antennas. Ads for Maui businesses including 'Uncle Webster.com'. ID as 'You're in the zone for sports 24 hours a day, seven days a week... SportsZone 55, KMVI Wailuku'. (ATKINS-WA)

558 FIJI Radio One, Sep 22 1237 - Island choral music at fair level; fading down by 1243. Tentative. (ATKINS-WA)

594 JAPAN Tokyo JOAK, Sep 21 1128 - Male and female announcers in JJ and bamboo flute music. Mentions of Tokyo 1130. Fair-gd. (ATKINS-WA)

612 AUSTRALIA Brisbane 4QR, Sep 22 1304 - Female announcer with 'ABC regional news' and into Queensland weather. Fair. (ATKINS-WA)

774 JAPAN Akita JOUB, Sep 21 1342 - EE lesson given by male and female announcers (discussion of travel and the internet). Strong signal. (ATKINS-WA)

792 UNIDENTIFIED , Sep 22 1323 - Definite gamelan music at fair level. Brief break at 1324, then a few notes repeated over and over (stuck CD?). Station faded down, then replaced by presumed 4RN Brisbane with Aussie-accent EE talk for a couple of minutes. By 1329, CC lang. faded in. (Will the real 792 kHz please stand up?). (ATKINS-WA)

882.6 UNIDENTIFIED , Sep 22 1020 - Moderate het right on 882.6, and best on western Beverage. Seems to follow a TP fade pattern over a few minutes time. Heard at 1105 recheck drifting up slightly to 882.63. Also noted this on Sep 23 at 1100 with an even stronger het, but no audio, and best on western wire. (ATKINS-WA)

936 JAPAN Unid., Sep 21 1353 - Possibly JOTR or JONF with JJ talk by female; poor with fades below noise. No breaks at TOH. (ATKINS-WA)

963 CHINA China Radio Intl., Sep 23 1416 - Woman announcer in RR. Likely CRI here as previously, which broadcasts in Russian 1000-1600 UTC per sked. Good level on brief peaks. (ATKINS-WA)

1026 CHINA Unidentified, Sep 22 1335 - CC drama at good level before quick fade. Beijing is among the several CC stations listed in PAL for this frequency. (ATKINS-WA)

1062 NEW ZEALAND Wanganui Radio Sport, Sep 22 1346 - Accented male announcers discussing different players (soccer?). Signal quickly faded after 2 or 3 minutes. Fair. Definite RR, CC, and JJ languages also heard on this frequency 1343-1349, but only briefly. Many frequencies in this time frame noted with a jumble of stations/langs. (ATKINS-WA)

1098 MARSHALL ISLANDS Majuro V7AD, Sep 23 1037 - Variable levels from poor to good. Nice female vocals of island chorus. Interesting propagation this evening: there is very little difference between all three Beverages, both MW and tropical bands. (ATKINS-WA)

1107 JAPAN Kagoshima JOCF, Sep 23 1021 - Possibly this station rather than the other much weaker JJ outlets listed in PAL for this frequency. Animated male and female JJ talk; fair to good signal. (ATKINS-WA)

1152 FIJI Rakiraki Radio One, Sep 22 1146 - South Pacific island music and talk by male in pres. Fijian at 1149. Faded down 1150 and was replaced by an Aussie in EE (6RN?). Back up at 1154, overriding the Aussie. Fair to good on peaks. (ATKINS-WA)

1179 JAPAN Osaka JOOR, Sep 23 1340 - Woman announcer in JJ, followed by non-descript soundtrack or instrumental music. Very good signal. (ATKINS-WA)

1179 JAPAN Osaka JOOR, Sep 22 1356 - A jumble of stations here, but the JJ language station dominated at fair-good levels when not in a fade trough. Presumed; listed at 50kW, JOOR is the most logical choice here. Possible slogan or ID 1400 with voice-over. (ATKINS-WA)

1197 JAPAN Kumamoto JOBF, Sep 23 1026 - Possibly this outlet, heard with interview program or similar, with two male announcers. Fair. (ATKINS-WA)

1260 CANADA Tofino National Park Weather Radio, Sep 22 1424 - Marine weather forecast by male announcer in EE for NW Vancouver Island, followed by female in FF. Very good signal. This TIS station reportedly 10 watts power. I was surprised to learn from Walt Salmaniw that TIS stations exist in the middle of the (non-extended) broadcast band. (ATKINS-WA)

1323 JAPAN Unid., Sep 23 1029 - JJ talk heard here briefly. All stations listed in Pacific Asian Log for 1323 are 1 kW or less. Fair signal before complete fade down. (ATKINS-WA)

1467 FIJI Rakiraki Radio Two, Sep 22 1132 - Hindi music at fair level; male announcer in Hindi with mentions of Indonesia, and back to Hindi m/f vocals. Regular fades into the noise. (ATKINS-WA)

1503 PHILIPPINES Unidentified, Sep 23 1348 - Nice signal of presumed Tagalog lang. with lively male announcers possibly calling a sporting event. Good level on peaks, with occasional JJ QRM (JOUK Akita). Periods of complete fading into band noise. No break at TOH. Tentatively DZRM, Talisay. (ATKINS-WA)

1557 TAIWAN WYFR, Sep 22 1411 - Scripture reading in EE at 1411; hymn 1412, more Bible reading at 1416. Good level; mixing with JJ talk at times. (ATKINS-WA)

1575 THAILAND Bangkok VOA, Sep 23 1206 - Very good signal when not in a deep fade. Male and female announcers with discussion of implications of terrorist attacks. 'VOA news, Washington' ID at 1212. (ATKINS-WA)

1575 THAILAND Bangkok VOA, Sep 21 1425 - Male and female announcers in EE with news of president's speech. Fanfare and ID at 1429:30. Language change to unid lang. at 1430. Fair-good. (ATKINS-WA)

SHORTWAVE
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AUSTRALIA 3325, 1120-1127, VL8A Alice Springs Sep 23 EZL music program hosted by two announcers. 'ABC' IDs and announcements. Signal was very good to excellent, with identical levels on all three Beverage antennas--unusually non-directional reception on mediumwave and tropical bands this evening. 2310 was // 2325 (fair) and // 2485 (good). (ATKINS-WA)

BOTSWANA 7255, 0325-0336, VOA Sep 23 Very weak signal of Afro-pop music and female announcer in poss. EE language. Short break at 0330 but did not catch ID. Ladysmith Black Mombazo tune 'Homeless' at 0334. Presumed. (ATKINS-WA)

BURMA 4725, 1454-1505, R. Myanmar Sep 21 Male announcer with lesson or school test in EE, and numbered questions for students. No break at TOH. Fair-good. (ATKINS-WA)

BURMA 4725, 1154-1201, R. Myanmar Sep 23 SE Asian pop music and female announcer in unid. lang.; fair-good signal. Flute music and poss. ID 1200. (ATKINS-WA)

BURMA 5985.8, 1445-1552, R. Myanmar Sep 21 Female announcer with regional political talk in EE. Upcoming sked and into US pop music 1449. Fair-good. (ATKINS-WA)

GUATEMALA 3324.8, 1050-1101, R. Maya Sep 22 Tentative with folklorico music and female announcer in SS; old US C&W bluegrass tune. Het from presumed Palangkaraya/3325 began at 1058. Announcement by man at 1100, but too buried in noise for details. Weak signal, and overcome by Palangkaraya audio at 1101. (ATKINS-WA)

INDIA 4800, 1310-1313, AIR Hyderabad Sep 23 Male announcer in Hindi reading list of news items or political commentary, with mentions of regional cities. Fair, with UTE QRM. (ATKINS-WA)

INDIA 4820, 1314-1332, AIR Kolkata Sep 23 Eerie sub-cont. music with drone stringed instrument and soaring male vocals in Hindi. Brief anmt or ID 1329, single TP at 1330, then woman announcer with world news in Hindi. Mentions of Taliban, Afghanistan, etc. Fair at tune-in but improving to good at approx. one hour past Kolkata SS. (ATKINS-WA)

INDIA 4895.18, 1502-1510, AIR Kurseong Sep 22 Continuous, mournful wooden flute music in sub-cont. style. Fair signal. Presumed. (ATKINS-WA)

INDIA 5040, 1308-1315, AIR Jeypore Sep 21 Good signal of sub-cont. music and male announcer in Hindi; world news items. Also heard with EE news Sep 22 at 1430. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 2960, 1230-1234, RRI Manggarai Sep 21 Male announcer w/ID 1230, followed by talk and Iagu populer. Fair-good. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 3264.6, 1246-1304*, RRI Gorontalo Sep 21 Fair-good signal of US R&B music; male announcer with bouncy talk; then lagu populer to ID 1259. SCI at 1259, then dead air for one minute before returning at 1301 with music and dramatically stronger signal (3 S-units!). Suddenly off for good at 1304. Perhaps the engineer was tweaking the xmtr's output power?. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 3325, 1057-1102, RRI Palangkaraya Sep 23 Superb signal! Male announcer with ID, TC, and into local news. Unusually strong level for this early in the evening. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 3344.8, 0951-0954, RRI Ternate Sep 23 Woman announcer with monotone talk and mentions of Indonesian cities. Fair-good. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 3976.1, 1455-1504, RRI Pontianak Sep 22 Strong signal of lagu pops; S-9+20dB peaks. Nice lagu romantik vocals at 1500, with no break at TOH. Also heard at exc. level 9/23 at 1447. (ATKINS-WA)

INDONESIA 4000.12, 1140-1150, RRI Kendari Sep 23 Enjoyable lagu melayu music to 1149 ID by woman. Advertisement or announcement by male announcer 1150. Strong signal but mixing with PBS China. (ATKINS-WA)

MALAYSIA 4895, 1302-1305, RTM Sep 23 News program in Iban with some words in EE such as 'bomb blast'. Mentions of Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Kabul, Bin Laden, and Taliban. Good signal. (ATKINS-WA)

MEXICO 2390.08, 1212-1226, R. Huayacocotla Sep 21 Ottmar Liebert tune 1212-1215; woman ancr in SS and ID at 1219. SS romantic music 1223. Good at tune-in, but fading to fair. (ATKINS-WA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1737, 1326-1335, KUT R. Southern Highlands Sep 21 CW beacon at poor-fair level. (Also see PNG bandscan below) (ATKINS-WA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2410, 0940-0945, R. Enga Sep 21 Heard at fair level with Melanesian music and tok pisin lang.; mentions of PNG. (ATKINS-WA)

SOLOMON ISLANDS 5020, 0959-1012, SIBC Sep 22 US pop music at tune-in, then caliope jingle and ID into local news in EE by woman. Back to old US music 1008. Excellent signal. (ATKINS-WA)

SOUTH AFRICA 3255, 0312-0318, BBC Sep 23 Two male announcers discussing World Trade Center attacks, and reports from on-the-scene BBC reporters. Fair & improving signal. Hrd // 6005. (ATKINS-WA)

SOUTH AFRICA 6190, 0257-0301, BBC Sep 22 BBC bells at tune-in; ID and 6 TPs 0300 and into EE world news. Poor. (ATKINS-WA)

SWAZILAND 3200, 0308-0312, TWR Sep 23 Tentative. Weak, brief signal of African choral music, just above noise level. Male & female announcers in unid. lang., but too faint for any other details. (ATKINS-WA)

TANZANIA-ZANZIBAR 11634.1, 1515-1520, R. Zanzibar Sep 21 Female announcer with talk and Middle Eastern music. Fair. Presumed. (ATKINS-WA)

VANUATU 7260, 1220-1230*, R. Vanuatu Sep 22 Superb S9+20dB signal in Bislama with 'Star Spangled Banner' by the Oak Ridge Boys. Female announcer with mentions of US cities, military base locations, and into Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' classical tune. Curious programming! Short relay of VOA Washington with references to Pentagon, Bin Laden and President Bush at 1226. Local announcer in Bislama with mentions of VOA, then s/off suddenly at 1230*. (ATKINS-WA)

ZAMBIA 4965, 0243-0250, R. Christian Voice Sep 22 Program of contemporary Christian music and various speakers. Poor signal. Presumed. (ATKINS-WA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA BANDSCAN
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The following are the only PNG outlets noted during 1045 UTC bandscans on 9/22 and 9/23:

2410 (fair 9/22, good 9/23)
3205 (very good 9/22, good 9/23)
3220 (good 9/22, fair 9/23)
3260 (good 9/22, not heard 9/23)
3305 (fair 9/22, good 9/23)
3375 (good 9/22, fair 9/23)
3385 (good 9/22, fair 9/23)
3905 (fair 9/22, good 9/23)
4890 (absent 9/22, excellent 9/23; perhaps 4890 was active later than 1045 on the 22nd... I didn't recheck)