Back home on the West Coast. I would like to say that DXing from Kona is stunning -- the potential for trawling for layers and layers of Coastal and Central Asian DX is prime...
But. It is a totally different experience from West Coast dxing where you actually have to work at it. I suppose a good dxer could apply some skills to reach further inland -- to the sub-continent and the middle east - and who knows, even Europe on a westerly path. 2 strikes against: I had a moderately noisy environment that was very unpredictable - tended to improve throughout the evening but had an S5 to S9 "frying" noise level from long wave through to about 900khz - that would stop abruptly later on in the evening... Strike 1. Strike 2: I do not consider myself the most accomplished dxer nor do I think that I am that motivated - at least consistently. To be really good at this is much like being good at the guitar or fishing or some other vocation where practice is necessary to maintain sharpness - you have to put in the hours. What occurred to me while plunking around the tropical bands and what SW activity I could find (and there is lots...) was that I am out of touch with SW from the perspective of having a "air traffic control" sense of what is where... and when. I do not have the big picture any more. This time I brought the Eton E1 and the ALA100M with me. It performed flawlessly. I had no trouble with the TSA in Kona or Seattle. Actually, I find that airport security in the U.S. and Canada is easy to deal with - show some respect, get some respect. Simple as that. And understand what they are trying to do. Next time. Smaller radio. The E100 slider is really all the radio one needs to do some serious listening in Hawaii. An un-enhanced radio does not cut it because Hawaii is a deep fringe area for AM and LW. More later, -- .......................................................................................... Colin Newell - Editor - CoffeeCrew DOT Com --- Victoria, British Columbia - Blog - Coffee DOT BC DOT CA DXer DOT CA and Bob Harris DOT Com ------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com
