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Cape Perpetua (Oregon Cliff) DXpedition- Top Ten Signals from the South Pacific
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Hello All,
Cape Perpetua is Oregon's highest ocean side cliff (at 805 feet), located about 2 miles south of Yachats in Lincoln County. The very bare and exposed Highway 101 turnoff site on this cliff (at the 220' level) recently became the fairly harsh operating venue for the latest "Cliffhanger" DXpedition-- a fanatical 4-day search for South Pacific DX.
As usual during these wild trips there was no AC power, running water, street lights or weather protection. Curious stares, loud traffic noise and huge 18-wheelers coming straight at you (before they make their final turn on the curving road) add to the charm of the place. When the enhanced cliff-side DU propagation really kicks in during sunrise enhancement, though, all this is quickly forgotten-- the Cape Perpetua cliff becomes a DXer's dream.
Posted below are MP3 recordings links for the ten strongest South Pacific AM-DX signals received during the 4 days-- 6 of which pegged the S/N readout of the Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio at the 25 maximum. Twisted and wild ropagation continued throughout the trip, with many bizarre snarls on frequencies across the band. Signals which pegged the PL-380's S/N readout at the time of reception are identified with a double asterisk (**). For those interested, a photo of the Cape Perpetua DXing site, the new 12" FSL antenna, the new-design 7.5" loopstick PL-380 and not-so-new, sleep deprived DXer is posted at http://www.mediafire.com/view/cw5uw5egiwclrqc/CapePerpetuaSetup.jpg
**531-PI Auckland, New Zealand, 5kW This Samoan-language station usually was dominant, but almost always had an
unidentified Australian (or the Japanese NHK1 station) along with it. One of the best Kiwi performers during the trip
**567 RNZ National Wellington, New Zealand, 50 kW This was usually the first DU station to fade in each morning, as well
as the strongest Kiwi on most days. Plays a variety of music, interviews and national news, // 639, 675, 756 etc.
**576 2RN Sydney, Australia, 50 kW Usually playing a wide variety of exotic music, this RN network powerhouse could
really blast in when propagation favored it. Parallel to 792, which also was capable of huge signals
**603 Radio Waatea Auckland, New Zealand, 5 kW This Maori-language station was an exceptional performer for its power
level, and usually the strongest of the early-morning (in NZ) Maori-language network. Although Maori music and speech
was the norm, it also occasionally played easy listening (or old Motown) music
**639 2HC Coff's Harbour, Australia, 5 kW This Australian talkback station managed its best signals ever during this trip, drowning
out the 2 kW RNZ station most of the time. Occasionally it faced some NHK competition, but it was always the last one on
the frequency before sunrise enhancement collapsed
**657 Southern Star Wellington, New Zealand, 50 kW Strong signals on most mornings with Christian music but troubled with
domestic splatter much of the time. Parallel to 963, it usually was the stronger of the two
684 NZ Rhema Gisborne, New Zealand, 5 kW Usually good signals with Christian contemporary music from this Rhema network
station, and usually stronger than its parallel on 594. This recording features a Rhema network public service
765 Radio Kahungunu Napier-Hastings, New Zealand, 2.5 kW Once again an overachiever for its power level, this Maori language
broadcaster acted like a Kiwi "big gun" on most mornings. Usually plays Maori music and speech, but occasionally has
old pop music like this recording. Usually // 603 during these early morning (in NZ) hours
**792 4RN Brisbane, Australia, 25 kW Another Aussie powerhouse, typically playing exotic music from around the world. Parallel
to 576-2RN, this was usually the last DU to stick around before sunrise enhancement collapsed
891 5AN Adelaide, Australia, 50 kW Aussie LR network powerhouse had very good signals for most of the trip, although not at the
freakish level observed last year at this cliff site. Parallel to 774 and others, it typically has interviews, news, and occasional
There were many more South Pacific (and Asian TP) stations heard during this wild DXpedition, but these were the 10 strongest ones. A full report on the ocean cliff operating challenges, wacky propagation and DXing thrills will be included in the full DXpedition report. If any of you on the west coast are looking for an exciting new challenge in transoceanic DXing, why not give ocean cliff DXing a try? One session will provide a permanent cure for any hobby boredom.
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
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bbwrwy
Gary:
Thank you for the reports and recordings from your most recent DXpedition. It must have been fun. I still hope to hear audio from a DU someday. No hets have been heard from that direction since the spring equinox. Because of the QRM from KRMG and others on 740 kHz, I've given up on hearing Polynesia on 738. KRMG switches to daytime 50 kW a few minutes before local sunrise here, swamping anyone else on the frequency. I am unable to null it after that. I'm thinking about setting up a double KAZ aerial to see if it helps. I have the space. How do you get around the internally generated noise on all the Tecsun ULR's around 890 kHz. I finally figured out this was what I was hearing most of the time on 891 kHz rather than a het from 4RN. It ran too late past sunrise to be from the Aussie. Checks at other times found the noise. You have a good fall DXing season. Give my best to the family. Richard. Richard Allen, near Perry OK USA. |
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Hi Gary, After listening to your recordings from the Cape Perpetua cliff, I was left shaking my head in amazement. As you know, I was DXing at the very same spot one morning during the "Deja-Vu" Yachats DXpedition in July, using one of your 12-inch FSL antennas, but in "broadband" mode. I noted the presence of signals on most of the frequencies you recorded, but-- as Nick Hall-Patch would describe them-- they were "not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise that could be understood by a native speaker" or simply "burbles in the splatter and noise". Only a couple frequencies occasionally reached the level of even your poorest recordings. Unfortunately, the "freakish" DU signal boost at the ocean cliffs isn't enough to compensate for the broadband FSL's apparent deafness on the weakest of signals-- DUs coming from thousands of miles away. The effective gain of the tuned, resonant "circuit" of the single frequency (capacitor tuned) FSL is really incredible, as your recordings prove. I look forward to working with you this fall and winter to try and solve this dilemma. Whether FSL-based or not, the goal is to find a very compact antenna that will have the gain and S/N needed to allow a SDR radio to record the entire band at the Oregon cliffs, where reception is "repeatedly amazing". 73, Guy Atkins Puyallup, WA --- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@... wrote: > Hello All, > > Posted below are MP3 recordings links for the ten strongest South Pacific AM-DX signals received during the 4 days-- 6 of which pegged the S/N readout of the Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio at the 25 maximum. Twisted and wild ropagation continued throughout the trip, with many bizarre snarls on frequencies across the band. Signals which pegged the PL-380's S/N readout at the time of reception are identified with a double asterisk (**). For those interested, a photo of the Cape Perpetua DXing site, the new 12" FSL antenna, the new-design 7.5" loopstick PL-380 and not-so-new, sleep deprived DXer is posted at http://www.mediafire.com/view/cw5uw5egiwclrqc/CapePerpetuaSetup.jpg |
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Richard,
Thanks very much for your comments on the recent DXpeditions.
<<< I still hope to hear audio from a DU someday. No hets have been heard from that direction since the spring equinox. Because of the QRM from KRMG and others on 740 kHz, I've given up on hearing Polynesia on 738. KRMG switches to daytime 50 kW a few minutes before local sunrise here, swamping anyone else on the frequency. I am unable to null it after that. >>>
738-Radio Polynesie (Tahiti) is not always a blowtorch on the west coast, and it goes through weak days, like every other DU. During last week's trip it didn't even make the "Top Ten," managing only a moderate mix with the Aussie 2NR on most days. Keep trying, though, Richard, and you will probably find it potent enough to get a weak audio signal through KRMG splatter sooner or later.
<<< How do you get around the internally generated noise on all the Tecsun ULR's around 890 kHz. I finally figured out this was what I was hearing most of the time on 891 kHz rather than a het from 4RN. It ran too late past sunrise to be from the Aussie. Checks at other times found the noise. >>>
Well, my PL-380 has the same internally-generated heterodynes as your PL-310 on 890 and other frequencies, Richard. The main difference is that when you have a large FSL antenna greatly boosting up the signal level of DU's like 890-5AN, the resulting DU signals completely overpower and swamp out the ULR's internally-generated heterodynes. It's kind of similar to the situation when a weak DU (738-Tahiti, for example) has a signal right next to a common west coast pest, 740-KCBS. There is a loud 2 kHz heterodyne generated, which sounds pretty irritating in MP3 recordings. But when 738-Tahiti rises up to a monster level and completely buries 740-KCBS' signal, the 2 kHz heterodyne is long gone.
Anyway, keep trying with persistence on the DU signals, Richard, and I'm pretty sure that you will track down some audio sooner or later.
73, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message----- From: RichardA To: ultralightdx Sent: Thu, Aug 22, 2013 10:52 am Subject: [ultralightdx] Re: Cape Perpetua (Oregon Cliff) DXpedition- Top Ten Signals from the South Pacific Gary:
Thank you for the reports and recordings from your most recent DXpedition. It must have been fun. I still hope to hear audio from a DU someday. No hets have been heard from that direction since the spring equinox. Because of the QRM from KRMG and others on 740 kHz, I've given up on hearing Polynesia on 738. KRMG switches to daytime 50 kW a few minutes before local sunrise here, swamping anyone else on the frequency. I am unable to null it after that. I'm thinking about setting up a double KAZ aerial to see if it helps. I have the space. How do you get around the internally generated noise on all the Tecsun ULR's around 890 kHz. I finally figured out this was what I was hearing most of the time on 891 kHz rather than a het from 4RN. It ran too late past sunrise to be from the Aussie. Checks at other times found the noise. You have a good fall DXing season. Give my best to the family. Richard. Richard Allen, near Perry OK USA. |
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Michael <michael.setaazul@...>
As previously posted, I muse that the wire-netting holding the rockface in place
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might just possibly conceivably potentially unbelievably disputably make some, be it infinitessimal, contribution to signal-focus on DU reception :-) Michael (spelt : envious) ----- Original Message -----
Subject: Cape Perpetua (Oregon Cliff) DXpedition- Top Ten Signals from the South Pacific Hi Gary, After listening to your recordings from the Cape Perpetua cliff, I was left shaking my head in amazement. As you know, I was DXing at the very same spot one morning during the "Deja-Vu" Yachats DXpedition in July, using one of your 12-inch FSL antennas, but in "broadband" mode. I noted the presence of signals on most of the frequencies you recorded, but-- as Nick Hall-Patch would describe them-- they were "not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise that could be understood by a native speaker" or simply "burbles in the splatter and noise". Only a couple frequencies occasionally reached the level of even your poorest recordings. Unfortunately, the "freakish" DU signal boost at the ocean cliffs isn't enough to compensate for the broadband FSL's apparent deafness on the weakest of signals-- DUs coming from thousands of miles away. The effective gain of the tuned, resonant "circuit" of the single frequency (capacitor tuned) FSL is really incredible, as your recordings prove. I look forward to working with you this fall and winter to try and solve this dilemma. Whether FSL-based or not, the goal is to find a very compact antenna that will have the gain and S/N needed to allow a SDR radio to record the entire band at the Oregon cliffs, where reception is "repeatedly amazing". Guy Atkins Puyallup, WA --- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@... wrote: Hello All,during the 4 days-- 6 of which pegged the S/N readout of the Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio at the 25 maximum. Twisted and wild ropagation continued throughout the trip, with many bizarre snarls on frequencies across the band. Signals which pegged the PL-380's S/N readout at the time of reception are identified with a double asterisk (**). For those interested, a photo of the Cape Perpetua DXing site, the new 12" FSL a ntenna, the new-design 7.5" loopstick PL-380 and not-so-new, sleep deprived DXer is posted at http://www.mediafire.com/view/cw5uw5egiwclrqc/CapePerpetuaSetup.jpg |
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Hi Guy,
Thanks for your comments on the 'Top Ten" DU recordings from the Cape!
<<< After listening to your recordings from the Cape Perpetua cliff, I was left shaking my head in amazement. As you know, I was DXing at the very same spot one morning during the "Deja-Vu" Yachats DXpedition in July, using one of your 12-inch FSL antennas, but in "broadband" mode. I noted the presence of signals on most of the frequencies you recorded, but-- as Nick Hall-Patch would describe them-- they were "not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise that could be understood by a native speaker" or simply "burbles in the splatter and noise". Only a couple frequencies occasionally reached the level of even your poorest recordings. >>>
Well, it's pretty clear that if we want to make real progress on an effective Broadband FSL model, we need to try some completely different approaches than simply connecting the FLG100LN-2 amp across the Litz wire coil. Last winter my main focus was on the mechanical challenge of building the new 12" FSL's with materials that could survive a rough DXpedition environment, and the Broadband FSL experimentation was pretty much an afterthought. There is now quite a lot of interest among Perseus-SDR DXers in the project, though, so I think that by next winter it will be a main focus of experimentation. The potential benefit of combining the FSL's proven cliff-side DXing prowess with the Perseus-SDR's spectrum recording capability is too awesome to ignore.
<<< Unfortunately, the "freakish" DU signal boost at the ocean cliffs isn't enough to compensate for the broadband FSL's apparent deafness on the weakest of signals-- DUs coming from thousands of miles away. The effective gain of the tuned, resonant "circuit" of the single frequency (capacitor tuned) FSL is really incredible, as your recordings prove. >>>
Well, strictly from the standpoint of the Perseus-SDR DXer, one of the tunable 12" FSL's could be taken up to an ocean cliff site like Cape Perpetua (or Rockwork 4) right now and awesome live DXing could be conducted (with far superior sensitivity and filtering, in comparison to the PL-380 that was used last week). This would presumably allow reception of extremely weak and obscure DU's, at an all-new sensitivity level unprecedented on the west coast. The challenge is to somehow package this new capability up in an antenna that spreads such performance out on all the MW frequencies at the same time... not exactly an easy mission to accomplish!
<<< I look forward to working with you this fall and winter to try and solve this dilemma. Whether FSL-based or not, the goal is to find a very compact antenna that will have the gain and S/N needed to allow a SDR radio to record the entire band at the Oregon cliffs, where reception is "repeatedly amazing". >>>
Well, I'll be happy to work together with you on the project, Guy. You have full permission to modify or rework the existing 12" Broadband FSL in any way you wish, until I have more free time to join you (which might not be for a few months :-)
73, Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message----- From: thinkdx To: ultralightdx Sent: Thu, Aug 22, 2013 10:59 am Subject: [ultralightdx] Re: Cape Perpetua (Oregon Cliff) DXpedition- Top Ten Signals from the South Pacific Hi Gary, After listening to your recordings from the Cape Perpetua cliff, I was left shaking my head in amazement. As you know, I was DXing at the very same spot one morning during the "Deja-Vu" Yachats DXpedition in July, using one of your 12-inch FSL antennas, but in "broadband" mode. I noted the presence of signals on most of the frequencies you recorded, but-- as Nick Hall-Patch would describe them-- they were "not so reasonable audio, occasional words or phrases in splash or noise that could be understood by a native speaker" or simply "burbles in the splatter and noise". Only a couple frequencies occasionally reached the level of even your poorest recordings.
Unfortunately, the "freakish" DU signal boost at the ocean cliffs isn't enough to compensate for the broadband FSL's apparent deafness on the weakest of signals-- DUs coming from thousands of miles away. The effective gain of the tuned, resonant "circuit" of the single frequency (capacitor tuned) FSL is really incredible, as your recordings prove.
I look forward to working with you this fall and winter to try and solve this dilemma. Whether FSL-based or not, the goal is to find a very compact antenna that will have the gain and S/N needed to allow a SDR radio to record the entire band at the Oregon cliffs, where reception is "repeatedly amazing".
73,
Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA
--- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@... wrote:
> Hello All, > > Posted below are MP3 recordings links for the ten strongest South Pacific AM-DX signals received during the 4 days-- 6 of which pegged the S/N readout of the Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio at the 25 maximum. Twisted and wild ropagation continued throughout the trip, with many bizarre snarls on frequencies across the band. Signals which pegged the PL-380's S/N readout at the time of reception are identified with a double asterisk (**). For those interested, a photo of the Cape Perpetua DXing si te, the new 12" FSL antenna, the new-design 7.5" loopstick PL-380 and not-so-new, sleep deprived DXer is posted at http://www.mediafire.com/view/cw5uw5egiwclrqc/CapePerpetuaSetup.jpg |
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Mark/airchecklover
Hi Gary - An armchair question/observation abt broadband FSL vs tunable, very narrow passband FSL. What makes UL-DU DX possible for you, with an admittedly 'lesser' receiver and what does the Perseus crowd not have? Assuming they can setup on the same cliff, the difference is the FSL. Doesn't the tunable FSL provide, besides intense gain, two other key functions: Both a very narrow passband which helps reject local 10Khz 'pests' and perhaps also more side image rejection?
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I do not immediately see how how the "signal pre-conditioning" function provided by the tunable FSL can be achieved by a broadband FSL plus Perseus electronics. What are your thoughts on how you can mimic the signal conditioning provided by a narrow band manually tuned antenna? I can image - in theory - an electronic tuning circuit which modulates FSL tuning such that the antenna is swept repeatedly at a rate higher than human hearing can detect. Much like the effect of a 60hz fluorescent bulb appearing to be steady state. Ah this early morning coffee sure does work to get the ideas flowing :) Mark ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@... wrote:
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