FSL Antennas poised to grab DX! (Photo: Gary DeBock)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares an update from the latest Rockwork (Utralight) DXpedition. Gary notes (in bold):
First day FSL antenna setup at the Rockwork 5 ocean cliff near Manzanita, Oregon (Craig Barnes in the photo)– outstanding conditions for 558-Fiji and 1017-Tonga!
558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji Awesome signal with island music and medley song ID on the half hour at 1230 (including “Radio Fiji One, Na Domoiviti” at 1:36) :
765 Radio Kahungunu Napier-Hastings, NZ The usual S9 signal from this 2.5 kW overachiever with distinctive Maori music at 1218:
1017 A3Z Nuku’alofa, Tonga Monster signal with island music at the start of the session at 1221:
Monster signal with island music near the close of the session at 1314 (in other words, all session long):
Wow! Impressive catches, Gary! Someday I would love to join your team as you snag signals from the edge of the Rockwork cliff.
Thanks for sharing, Gary and good DX!
Great work Gary. Man I would be happy with just one of those catches, and they all came in so clear. I would love to do some AM Dx’ing in Portland here but there would be too many other signals to contend with. I know the spot that you used too, as I used to drive by everyday on my driving job. What a view! I took my wife there 10 years ago when we just met and she was very impressed as she had never seen any beaches on the West Coast.
Further to my previous comment, what would be very interesting would be to repeat the experiment this time using only the radio’s inbuilt antenna. It is my guess the stations will still be heard.
Outstanding results but I challenge the use of the term ‘ultralight’ when one considers the outboard antenna hardware. To me ultralight means using a pocket sized radio with the INBUILT antenna.