Hello All, An impromptu weekend run to Grayland kicked off with a bang this morning with Japanese, Korean and Chinese stations all pounding in for a wild 4 hour session. A new 17" FSL antenna was set up near the picnic table at the end of Grayland Beach road, and it managed to track down at least 15 Asians which pegged the PL-380's S/N readout. The deserted beach was clear and cold at my 1115 UTC (0315 local) start time, but the big gun Japanese and Koreans on 594, 747, 972, 1134 and 1566 had already reached S9 levels an hour before inside my Grayland Motel Room 11 ($65 a night, with absolutely no frills). Hurrying to the cold beach I brought along the 30" loopstick ICF-2010 spotting receiver, 12" Longwave FSL and the new 17" DXpedition FSL-- all of them very large items that could never be accommodated in my Toyota Corolla during previous "family vacations." Despite Grayland's lack of any ocean cliff, the fanatical gear was out for bear. Powerful Asian signals were all over the band in total darkness at 1115 UTC, three full hours before sunrise. Temporarily ignoring the Japanese and Korean big guns I went after some second-tier Asians like 603-HLSA, 657-Pyongyang, 1044-CRI and 1323-CRI, all of which pounded in with serious strength. Wild S9 snarls were on 1044 (CRI and KBS) and 1134 (JOQR and KBS), while the multiple 1035-CNR1 stations sounded like an echo chamber. Almost all the usual Asian big guns were at blowtorch levels, including the high band TP's on 1566 and 1575. As the wild session continued a sunrise enhancement boost around 1430 brought up the strength of Chinese middle and high band stations, with 936-Anhui, 981-CNR1, 1377-CNR1 and 1593-CNR1 all getting a serious boost. The Japanese second-tier stations like 954-JOKR also tapped into the boost, while 603-China finally managed to show up weakly under an S9+ HLSA. The CRI stations on the middle and high band were at awesome levels after the sunrise enhancement boost, and quickly took over contested frequencies like 1044. The big gun Japanese and Korean stations were still going strong in bright daylight after 1600, but I was not. My MP3 recorder was maxed out, and four hours in the 41 degree cold and wind had taken its toll. After returning to Room 11 at 1615 I checked 972-HLCA's signal, and it was still pounding in at an S9+ level right up until 1635. Overall, the ocean beach session was just what the doctor ordered-- for a land-locked DXer seriously bored by mediocre inland TP propagation. I wish that all the other inland TP-DXers could have been along for the wild ride-- especially the ones far inland (who patiently dig out weak TP audio in places like Oklahoma and Alberta). (Stations which pegged the PL-380 S/N during the MP3 recording are marked with a double asterisk **) 603 HLSA Namyang, S. Korea Pounding disco music at 1321; totally dominant over a weak 603-China this morning http://www.mediafire.com/listen/a2jl275zbgcpvir/603-HLSA-1321z110814PL380.MP3 657 Pyongyang BS Pyongyang, N. Korea Angry Korean tirade woman at irritating level around 1333 http://www.mediafire.com/listen/10cn306geba1m9p/657-Pyongyang-1333z110814PL380.MP3 1035 CNR1 China Synchros Multiple Chinese stations poorly synchronized, resulting in echo chamber effect during YL speech at 1401 http://www.mediafire.com/listen/d3aa5mcd3sh3usd/1035-CNR1-echo-1401z110814PL380.MP3 **1044 KBS (Samcheok, S. Korea) + CRI (Changzhou, China) The 10 kW Korean station fights it out with the 600 kW Chinese station in a wild S9+ snarl, holding its own temporarily at 1254 with Korean male speech over CRI's music http://www.mediafire.com/listen/d7txapvgj3krm7p/1044-KBS-CRImix-1254z110814PL380.MP3 **1044 CRI (Changzhou, China) + KBS (Samcheok, S. Korea) CRI's 600 kW Japanese service finally dispatches the 10 kW Korean station at 1355, finishing up with an S9+ level Japanese signal pegging the PL-380 S/N display http://www.mediafire.com/listen/vfjfa7o5r73c78q/1044-CRI-KBSmix-1355z110814PL380.MP3 **1134 JOQR (Tokyo, Japan) + KBS (Hwaseong, S. Korea Another wild fight-- the Japanese commercial station's giggly program holds the edge over the 500 kW Korean with an S/N pegging signal http://www.mediafire.com/listen/nbj5yk5qfmaiz6n/1134-JOQR-KBSmix-1355z110814PL380.MP3 **1206 CRI Yanbian, China CRI's Korean service at an awesome level after a sunrise enhancement boost around 1527 http://www.mediafire.com/listen/tf7mubya6ronn1z/1206-CRI-1527z110814PL380.MP3 1323 CRI Huadian, China CRI's Russian service at an excellent level while still in total darkness around 1250 http://www.mediafire.com/listen/22fbs4cpbcv3pjf/1323-CRI-1250z110814PL380.MP3 73 and Good DX, Gary DeBock (DXing at Grayland, WA) 7.5" loopstick Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight http://www.mediafire.com/view/du3sr5cd9thqvau/7.5inch-LS-PL380.doc + 17" DXpedition FSL antenna http://www.mediafire.com/view/n85a6ppdz9a7uuo/17inchDXFSL.jpg _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca
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