Hello All,

The one-week trip to the Oregon beach this month was an excellent
opportunity to test the compact new Ferrite Sleeve Loop antennas (8"
diameter MW and 6.5" diameter LW) in weak-signal international DXing
for the first time. They had both been tested prior to the trip
(against 3' and 4' sided air-core tuned passive loops in fringe daytime
DX) and had demonstrated superior weak-signal capability, so their
excellent beach performance was no surprise. The Longwave model
provided an inductive coupling boost to a Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight
radio to receive the Samoan 1,000 watt beacon 270-FA at over 5,000
miles,providing the first Ultralight trans-equatorial NDB DX. Despite
spotty propagation, on medium wave the 8" FSL received signals from
more DU-DX countries than during any other summer Ultralight
DXpedition I've ever conducted, including the new country of
666-New Caledonia.

The loggings are posted below, with the MP3 links showing the time and
date of reception for the recordings.

DX Loggings With the exception of the two Longwave loggings all the
following receptions were made with a stock Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight
radio with an inductive coupling boost provided by an 8” diameter tuned
Ferrite Sleeve Loop antenna composed of 63 Russian surplus 200mm x 10mm
ferrite bars wrapped by a single coil of 660/46 Litz wire. Times are in
UTC. Sincere thanks is given to Walt Salmaniw, Chuck Hutton, Bruce
Portzer, Patrick Martin, Nick Hall-Patch and Guy Atkins for their
suggestions on unknown station identities after the past three
DXpeditions.

180 Radio Rossii Yelizovo, Russia The weaker of two Radio Rossii
stations heard during this beach trip, its frequency was too low
for a gain boost from the Longwave-optimized FSL. Heard on the 7.5” LW
loopstick PL-380 with fair signals on most mornings
http://www.mediafire.com/?3417tfd6k6dx962

279 Radio Rossii Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia This powerhouse
Russian TP often produced legendary signals on the beach,
especially when assisted by the Longwave FSL. Beach propagation,
sunrise enhancement and an FSL boost produced the strongest Longwave
TP signal ever received (pegging the PL-380’s S/N display at 25), as the
Russian YL’s voice recorded in this MP3 tested the “crunch resistance”
of my Ultralight http://www.mediafire.com/?2ywc77uujq3mmea

531 UnID-DU The classic soft rock station with a classic non-ID
format was back for another DXpedition, presumed to be 2PM because
of the format and lackluster signal (fitting the general Australian
station trend during the entire week at the beach)
http://www.mediafire.com/?fy7oop7ocoa9tnh

567 2YA Wellington, New Zealand (National Radio) The
second strongest of four NR stations heard during the week, it
typically had good signals with some minor KVI-570 splatter. With
frequent easy listening music, it was an indicator of great Kiwi
propagation if strong http://www.mediafire.com/?s0ebj7gtl357sbg

576 2RN Sydney, Australia Music-oriented signals of
mediocre strength were occasionally heard from this station,
fitting the general pattern of Aussie station anemia. Parallel to
equally underperforming 792-4RN

585 UnID-DU The vibrant classic rock signals from last July
were long gone this trip, with only an occasional trace at times.
This would suggest an Australian origin, in keeping with the
weakened trend of other Aussie stations.

594 3WV Horsham, Australia Last July’s booming
signal was pitiful this time, as it struggled to get out of the noise
on most days. A puzzle was the complete absence of the
low-powered Kiwi Rhema stations during favorable NZ
propagation

603 Radio Waatea Auckland, New Zealand Back with its
Maori-language music and speech, signals were generally
decent, and all alone on the frequency. Its Polynesian choral
music compensated somewhat for the weakness of Fiji
stations during the trip
http://www.mediafire.com/?cd34fo9b95ihzy4

612 4QR Brisbane, Australia Australian “big gun”
sounded pretty puny during this trip, typically struggling to get
above the noise level. At least it showed up occasionally,
though, unlike in the July and August trips last year.

639 4YW Alexandra, New Zealand (presumed)
The strange Kiwi-slanted propagation apparently produced
this unusual logging, as the typically dominant 639-Radio Fiji
One was practically missing in action on most days. In this
MP3 from 1252 on July 17th a trace of Fiji choral music can
be heard in the background with headphones, confirming the
separate identity of the YL-voiced dominant station. Although
a parallel check with other RN stations was not run at the
time, her voice matches that of a YL announcer frequently
heard on the 675 and 567 National Radio stations
http://www.mediafire.com/?opt3b4ighkfz22w .The UnID
talkback station from last July (presumed Coff’s Harbour) never
produced a trace during this trip, in keeping with the trend of
Aussie anemia.

648 NZ-Rhema Gisbourne, New Zealand A real puzzle
considering the great Kiwi propagation, this station barely
managed a trace with its Christian music. But that was better
than its 594 parallels, which didn’t show up at all.

657 2YC Wellington, New Zealand (Southern Star)
The strongest Kiwi performer during the DXpedition, this 50 kW
“big gun” was an NZ propagation beacon, with occasional great
signals. Christian-oriented music was typical, as in this MP3
with the usual ID (“Great music, good company.. Southern Star”)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ifdzvuoe7j8qx3h Another strong
recording of Christian music was on 7-17
http://www.mediafire.com/?0jrccy4b59ubobr
Like last July, a weak DU co-channel was heard occasionally.

666 Noumea Noumea, New Caledonia Signals from this
French-language station were significantly stronger than during last
July’s trip, finally allowing the confirmation of parallel (France
International) programming with 738-Tahiti. Popular French vocal
music was common, as in this MP3 from 1257 on 7-13
http://www.mediafire.com/?5m5clydj88rql4c
The parallel check with 738 was made at 1233 on 7-13, matching
the French-speaking YL’s voice on 666
http://www.mediafire.com/?hp0jd6jpljcaxye (headphones
recommended) with the French-speaking YL’s voice on 738
(mixing with 2NR, headphones recommended)
http://www.mediafire.com/?cr54l2p3o3w9sn0 New Caledonia
was an all-time new Ultralight DX country, never having produced
a trace for John Bryant or me at Grayland.

675 3YA Christchurch, New Zealand Strongest of the
National Radio stations, this Kiwi “big gun” was another helpful
propagation beacon, // 567 and 756. Classic popular music and
interviews were common, with news and current events
http://www.mediafire.com/?ggock4ngs0onlg4
Another MP3 was recorded on 7-15 with a YL’s voice sounding
very much like the one on the presumed 639-4YW recording on 7-17
http://www.mediafire.com/?20zp1skmqcdcl3r

702 2BL Sydney, Australia Another Aussie “big gun”
struggling to get out of the noise for most of the DXpedition, it rarely
managed to show up with any strength

738 R. Tahiti Mahina, Tahiti By far the strongest South
Pacific performer during the DXpedition, this French language
station was a booming regular whenever DU propagation was in.
Unlike last July it was usually running roughshod over an anemic 2NR
or completely covering the weakened Aussie, as in this typical MP3
http://www.mediafire.com/?bjpdmcq1adrn487 . The French
International programming helped to confirm the // 666-Noumea identity.

738 2NR Grafton, Australia Either down in the noise
or “down for the count” during most of the week, its weakened signals
rarely gave Tahiti any competition. An exception was during the 666/738
parallel check on 7-13, when its presumed signal was roughly equal with
that of the French YL-voice signal from Tahiti
http://www.mediafire.com/?cr54l2p3o3w9sn0


756 1YA Auckland, New Zealand Weakest of the NR
network stations during the trip (and even weaker than a presumed
parallel, 639-4YW). Portland splatter from 750 didn’t help
http://www.mediafire.com/?atmfv0464lt96dv

765 UnID-DU The mystery pop music station was back at a slightly
reduced level this year (possible Australian origin?)
http://www.mediafire.com/?cy6zk1snxp2wvz8
Lots of music with little speech, making it tough to check the language

774 3LO Melbourne, Australia Another “big gun” Aussie
reduced to mediocrity by Kiwi-slanted propagation. Rarely heard
at all during the entire week.

792 4RN Brisbane, Australia Normally vibrant
music-oriented station rarely produced a trace during the entire
DXpedition.

891 5AN Adelaide, Australia The only “big gun” Aussie
to really play the part this trip. Presumably because of slightly
different
propagation from southern Australia, it generally avoided the “black
hole” seeming to swallow the signals from eastern Australia
http://www.mediafire.com/?9bxwm3409u4fden

1017 A3Z Nuku’alofa, Tonga Much weaker than last
August, it managed to produce an anemic signal occasionally
http://www.mediafire.com/?o3fo7p5tl5op9n7

1035 2ZB Wellington, New Zealand “Newstalk Zed-B” came
through with weak signals occasionally, but definitely wasn’t
fighting off domestic splatter

1116 4BC Brisbane, Australia Another underperforming
Aussie usually losing the battle with domestic splatter

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (back in Puyallup, WA, USA)