From October 14-17 a special salt water DXpedition was conducted at the Rockwork 2 ocean cliff near Manzanita, Oregon, primarily to investigate whether the plunging cliff could provide enhancement of Asian transoceanic DX signals similar to how the adjacent Rockwork 4 ocean cliff enhances New Zealand signals in the summer (and which easily broke the west coast DXpedition record for such receptions).

 

Because the "burden of proof" was on the cliff to demonstrate a convincing Asian signal boost, as part of the plan two very small (6 inch, or 15cm diameter) FSL antennas were purposely used for all DX signal reception, along with simple modified pocket radios. No major ocean coast DXpedition had ever been attempted with such humble gear, which was highly unlikely to track down anything other than the most common, big signal TP's unless the ocean cliff intervened with some serious gain enhancement.  The format would be live DXing during sunrise sessions over four days.

 

Prior to the cliff visit I knew that claims of a signal-boosting Asian cliff would probably ring hollow unless this very humble gear pulled off some astonishing receptions of very exotic Asian stations, which would be considered fine catches even during major ocean coast DXpeditions with state-of-the-art equipment. In other words, unless something like a DXing miracle occurred, the "Asia Cliff" concept would probably be written off by most observers. I had chosen four exotic Asian countries as DXing targets-- four countries which are tough catches during any Northwest DXpedition, and which would leave no doubt that the ocean cliff was providing some serious propagation magic if reception occurred on a tiny 6 inch/ 15cm antenna. These countries were Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and India.

 

During the four daily sessions I made serious attempts to go after all four of these exotic targets, and immediately noticed that the Rockwork 2 cliff boosted up all Asian signals to an astonishing degree-- almost too well, in some cases. My exotic targets on 693 (Bangladesh), 729 (Myanmar), 918 (Cambodia) and 927 (India) seemed to be managing weak signals on occasion, but they were getting swamped by daily S9 pests from Japan and China. The cliff was boosting up everything from Asia, and wild three-TP mixes were showing up on frequencies like 531, 648, 675, 684, 702, 738, 837 and others. On the first day (October 14) I did manage to find a relatively weak 576-NHK1 with a co-channel around 1435, though, which finally broke through by itself around 1445. My recording was posted on Real DX, and was determined by C.K. Raman to be Burmese from 576-Myanmar. The cliff had pulled off its first shocker! Two days later I was tracking 576-Myanmar's fairly good signal around the same time while checking 594-JOAK's signal for fades. During a JOAK fade at 1429 on 10-16 I recorded a parallel check from 576 to 594 kHz, and found that 576's Burmese male vocal music was showing up on 594 as well, under the faded JOAK. As far as I was concerned the "Asian Cliff" had already proved its point-- by tracking down an exotic Asian signal on a 6 inch antenna that was an apparent all-time west coast first (594-Myanmar).

 

Besides these receptions the cliff also provided some blowtorch recordings of more common Asians, as well as some freakish three-way frequency snarls. Some of these are linked below, in addition to the 576 and 594 Myanmar receptions. In summary, the "Asia Cliff" has been discovered, and is offering a powerful propagation boost to those with a serious sense of adventure!

 

Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork 2 Ocean Cliff near Manzanita, OR from October 14-17)

DXpedition video posted at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tlrX_52shc

576-Myanmar at a good level (received at 1435 on October 17) 

https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/c37c53fn41jmnzk5iweaq0z9pdruxij6

576-Myanmar Burmese male vocal music + NHK1 talk (first 30 seconds) and parallel check with 594 kHz  (NHK1 talk + the same Burmese male vocal music from 31 seconds to 47 seconds) at 1429 on October 16 https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/zalj801tfpfc9w5ekesmm9pel7fsilfv
 
675-Nei Menggu "synchros" and NHK1 in a funny mix at 1415 on October 14  
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/gk35zhwhbyrc01brkn1fbfntijtkjqr1

738-BEL2 (S9+) over HLKG, UnID-Chinese and the Rumbler at 1416 on October 14  

https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/1y9064ihhaz9fkd1f73prfnbkg6ax4j3

837-Harbin S9+ TOH routine and ID at 1400 on October 17 (with apparent weak Tagalog co-channel)  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/y3tqupjky81qh35k9mbs8q5i4eybkmz0

873-Pyongyang BS' music in a wild S9 mix with NHK2 (female voice in Portuguese) and another UnID Asian (female voice) at 1406 on October 17  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/wl0n0zmc52o942ypwew7g16b4b2shru3

918-Shandong's wacky "synchros" team up with Japan to cover apparent Kampuchean music at 1427 on October 16 

https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/3gjrxeyojqpbqz6voo94mxugqcl0qbgn

1035-HLCP in an S9 mix with the CNR1 synchros at 1312 on October 14  
https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/6ljn5phd1nu9frmlxke5ccflc290gavu

On Tue, Oct 27, 2020 at 07:47 PM, Paul Blundell wrote:

I have a question: How did you first come across this spot? I ask as I am thinking of researching around Tasmania to see if we have anywhere which might offer the same sort of boast to signals as you experiance.

Paul

Paul,

If you would like long range DXing success across thousands of miles of ocean, the first step is to understand long range propagation.

1)  On Tasmania, you should try to set up on an ocean beach on the eastern coast of Tasmania around sunset for best results, and start listening two hours before sunset for long range DX signals from North and South America, Hawaii, the Pacific islands and New Zealand. Remember that Hawaiian, North and South American signals will be on a different frequency system (530, 540, 550 etc.).

2)  If you want to chase long range signals from the west, try sunrise DXing, ideally on the west coast of Tasmania.

3)  Look for an ocean side cliff that would offer easy access. The best place to chase DX is halfway up the slope, but you need to make sure that the cliff is facing the same direction as your desired DX signals.

3)  Your chances of long range DXing success vary greatly according to the season. North America is currently in its peak season for Asian DX, while August and September are our peak months for Australia and NZ reception. Other Oz DXers can give you more details on these seasonal changes in your local environment.

Gary