Hi Bill,

 

Thanks for your comments, and wish you were here to enjoy the DX!

 

"DU" is a generic term for "down under," or South Pacific medium-wave DX. This can include Australia, New Zealand, various South Pacific Islands, etc. It has no relation to the amateur radio "DU" prefix for the Philippines (a point that was confusing to me also, an extra class CW QRP fanatic, when I returned to MW DXing in 2007) . One of the quirks about this type of transoceanic DX available here on the west coast is that it occurs primarily during the "dog days" of summer, when the rest of the continent's medium wave DXers are suffering through static noise and poor propagation. Presumably this is because the DX stations in the Southern Hemisphere are enjoying their winter DX season, and Trans-Equatorial propagation gets a boost from this.

 

DU DXing seems highly dependent upon salt water beaches for much success, which motivates fanatics like me, Guy Atkins, Kevin Schanilec, Nick Hall-Patch, Walt Salmaniw, etc. to schedule multiple Pacific Ocean beach runs during the months of July and August. South Pacific DX station propagation is extremely variable from day to day, making DU chasing the AM-DXing hobby equivalent of visiting a casino. You can have either fantastic propagation, absolutely nothing, or anything in between-- depending upon the luck of the draw. Maybe that is one reason why it is so addictive? :-)

 

73, Gary