Subject: NF DX Date: 95-06-06 18:03:50 EDT From: jburnell@KEAN.UCS.MUN.CA (Jean Burnell) Sender: jburnell@KEAN.UCS.MUN.CA Reply-to: jburnell@KEAN.UCS.MUN.CA To: jburnell@KEAN.UCS.MUN.CA, bjohn@okway.okstate.edu, werner.funkenhauser@canrem.com, markwa1ion@aol.com, bc@lexicon.com, neilkaz@interaccess.com, 70760.3540@Compuserve.com, 71311.2677@Compuserve.com, JimRenfrew@Delphi.com Bonjour DXers! Here is the first part of the report of the Newfoundland DXpedition of Spring 1995. What follows is the human interest blurb, and the next three messages are the loggings and the country list. (A fifth section, which is the reaction of the other 3 participants, will go out when I receive the 3rd "musing".) I hope that Swearingen will take all this as a special article for DX News. The country list will go to the AM NewsFlash. To the participants, thanks for coming and thanks for your help in putting this together. To those who didn't come ... I hope this report makes it that much harder to say "no" next time, hi! Best wishes....Jean THE NEWFOUNDLAND DXPEDITION OF SPRING 1995 10 May to 14 May, 1995 report by Jean Burnell, St. John's, Newfoundland Teamwork and intensity from a small group of experienced DXers led to the outstanding loggings of the "Newfoundland DXpeditions" of November of 1991 and October of 1993. The reports from these can be found in "The DX'pedition Handbook" by Shawn Axelrod [published by the NRC, 1994]. My decision to hold the third "Newfoundland DXpedition" in May of 1995 seemed unwise because this time of year is generally considered a poor time of year for DX. However, it was a convenient time for the other team members to assemble here, and it was an excellent opportunity to prove that the combination of a good location, good antennas and listening experience can yield decent DX at any time of year. My job was to provide the location and the antennas, and this team provided plenty of DX savvy. George Hakiel has racked up a very impressive record of TA's and Latin American logs from his home on Long Island, New York. I was introduced to George at the 1986 ANARC convention in Montreal, and that was when I first invited him to visit me in Newfoundland. At the time George was only 68 years old ! John Bryant of Oklahoma was ANARC's DXer of the Year for 1994. John is the force behind the acclaimed "Proceedings" series from fine tuning. He is well known for his work on propagation, his experience with antennas and DXpeditions, and, most recently, his research on the history of Zenith Trans-Oceanic receivers. Flamboyantly mustachioed Werner Funkenhauser is Ontario's premier international medium-wave DXer. In spite of DXing from QRM-ridden southern Ontario, Werner's recent DX achievements include many TA's and some remarkable catches such as Tahiti (738 kHz), Argentina (870 kHz), and Ecuador (880 kHz). Nobody could be better qualified to write the "Mediumwave International" column in DX Ontario. Accommodation for the DXpedition was arranged with Mrs. Theresa Lawlor in the village of Cappahayden. We have referred to Lawlor's Hospitality Home as the "DX Inn" since the DXpedition of 1991. I went through a DXpedition dry-run to the DX Inn accompanied by my wife, Stephanie Kaiser, and my two young children a few weeks before the main event. It was encouraging that I logged some decent DX, including HCJB1 on 690 kHz, using hastily extended long wires. But I also noted significant levels of local QRM that seemed to emanate from the Lawlor's heating system. It was unfortunate that this QRM was hardly attenuated by the use of shielded lead-ins on the antennas during the DXpedition itself, but we all agreed that the alternative, i.e., DXing from the cramped confines of my Mazda Protege in the cold and dark, would have been worse ! I brought my equipment and some supplies to Cappahayden on Tuesday, May 9th, and I returned to St. John's in time to pick up George Hakiel at the airport. George will admit that at one time or another he has owned just about every serious receiver on the market, so I should not have been surprised to see a Watkins-Johnson HF1000 emerge from his suitcase after supper. We set it up on the kitchen table, and, using my simple air-core loop as the antenna, George demonstrated the receiver's impressive capabilities. In the process he discovered a station on 1296 kHz playing Indian music, which we later identified as a test transmission from a new English station, Radio XL in Birmingham. The other two DXers arrived at around 11 p.m. John had well over 100 lb of luggage, which included a great deal of the ancillary equipment (splitters, switches, etc.) for all of us to use. Werner brought his Kiwa loop, which immediately replaced my loop on the kitchen table. We played with George's receiver and talked about DX until the wee hours, then headed for our beds. The next morning it was tricky shoe-horning all the equipment and the suitcases into my car. At last we were mobile, but before starting the 90-minute drive to Cappahayden we decided to visit the most popular station in St. John's, VOCM (590 kHz). In spite of arriving without forewarning, we were treated to the grandest of tours by the Director of Engineering for the VOCM network, Reg McCausland. We left VOCM weighted down by even more luggage: VOCM carry-on bags, mugs, and a mountain of stickers. The weather at Cappahayden was as expected for mid-May: cold, windy and wet. The first antenna to be extended was a 3300-foot Beverage south along the rocky beach. It was elevated over most of its length by shrubs and by driftwood supports. This was directed at eastern Brazil, hence called the "Braz-Bev". Experience had shown antennas in this location to be efficient conduits for signals from southern Africa and from the southeastern part of South America, also. The second antenna was a 2000-foot Beverage along the beach in the other direction. This was less straight, due to the terrain, and it was supported mainly by spans over large boulders. Beverages in this location have proven effective for northern Europe, the Middle East and even India. This was the "Euro-Bev". A third antenna, the "Southern-Bev", was directed at the middle of South America. It followed a fairly straight track through scrub land for 3300 feet. This should have been the easiest antenna to erect, but it proved to be the most difficult. The weather had worsened considerably, and I hauled out this wire in the midst of a very strong wind punctuated by squalls of driving rain and sleet. These antennas were "terminated" through a 510 ohm resistor running into another 300-350 feet of collinear wire. About thirty feet from the DX Inn the antennas were attached through impedance-matching units to coax wire that brought the signals into one bedroom that we used as a common shack. Inside the shack John had arranged a multitude of splitters and coax switches such that each DXer could use any (or all) of the antennas at any time. I found this tremendously useful, a significant improvement over our operations in 1991 and 1993 when each DXer usually had access to only one antenna at a time. As we were getting our radios set up, everybody tuned to 1566 kHz to hear Tunisia rolling in with a strong signal. The DXing began ! The three visitors were impressed by solid audio from the AFRTS station at Lajes, Azores, on 1503 kHz. Ho-hum. In spite of running only 100 watts, this is frequently heard from Cappahayden so after only ten minutes of DXing I was accused of being jaded ! Reception conditions did not vary much during this DXpedition. It was not surprising that the QRN levels were moderate and signals from the north were not strong, presumably due to the long periods of daylight at this time of year. Thus, the 600 kW Swedish station on 1179 kHz had only modest strength, and Finland was not heard at all. The Russians and Ukrainians were conspicuous by their absence, and even the German signals were lacking their usual punch. We found signals from the Caribbean to be very weak or even absent, although we later learned that at the same time the Beaton-Connelly- Conti group at Rockport MA were logging some of the nominally easy Caribbean countries that eluded us. We do not have even one Cuban logging ! However, this time of year does more consistently yield DX from the far-south, and this was true during this DXpedition, too. I consider our best catches of the first evening to be Radio Ascension on 1485 kHz, Radio Carve from Montevideo on 850 kHz, and two stations from Buenos Aires, La Red on 910 kHz and Radio El Mundo on 1070 kHz. Brazilian DX is a particular interest of mine, so I was pleased to tape the sign-off ID of Radio Principe Imperial, which was found off-frequency on 1435.4 kHz. This station runs only 250 watts at night, and is located in northeastern Brazil, directly in line with the Braz-Bev. The performance of the Southern-Bev had been disappointing during the first evening. We felt that there may have been a problem with the matching transformer, but the next morning there was an additional, more obvious problem. The wire was gone ! I walked up the track along which the antenna had run until I discovered large two-toed footprints and hundreds of "brown golf balls". A moose had walked across the antenna and had dragged it almost a thousand feet to the side, through some very thick brush and over a bog. It took hours of heavy labour to haul the wire back into position. Werner and I decided to inspect the rest of the antenna, and we found that the moose had done it again at the far end of the same wire. We hoisted the wire higher or lay it on the ground at points that looked like "moose-crossings". We did not have any more problems with wandering wildlife (George doesn't count!), but we stopped a number of times to watch small herds of caribou later that day during a drive south to the small town of Trepassey. We also passed the huge Loran C tower at Cape Race. Later that day, I pulled out another 3000-foot wire, this time unterminated, aimed at Quito in anticipation of the HCJB test scheduled for the next evening. This was a very difficult antenna to erect because it went over very unforgiving terrain. Nevertheless, I was pleased with the final result, which was straight and fairly uniform in height (around 7 feet). I tumbled into the shack weary and bruised to find John looking grim. The new antenna was a disaster. It was aimed too close to the bearing of the Loran C station, and all John was getting was a migraine from the pulsing QRM. What was worse, all the other antennas were feeding off it by induction, so we had to get the coax from this wire out of the shack. Nevertheless, that evening we did have a good run of Africans including Sao Tome (VOA) on 1530 kHz, Angola on 1313 and 1502 kHz, Lesotho (BBC) on 1197 kHz, Cameroon on 1152 kHz, Sierra Leone on 1206 kHz, and Togo on 1394.1 kHz. George-the-DX-bird-dog was flushing them out, and we were spinning knobs to keep up ! That night I stalked a station on 890 kHz that was likely a second Uruguayan, and just before daybreak I caught a clear ID for Radio Mitre from Buenos Aires on 789.9 kHz. Also with morning came a carrier on 1566 kHz that had not been present earlier. It was tempting to speculate that it was a TP, but on this and on subsequent mornings no audio was discerned. The next day was Friday, May 12th, and it was sunny and much warmer. Some time was given to photographing the procession of icebergs in the ocean in front of the DX Inn. Just after noon we were interviewed by phone by Richard and Lisa McVicar of HCJB, then we squeezed once more into my car and headed for St. John's to be tourists. Homage was given to Marconi at Signal Hill, site of the first Trans-Atlantic radio reception in 1901. We tried to visit VOWR (800 kHz), Newfoundland's oldest radio station, but we could not get in the building, which is a church in downtown St. John's. George bought a smoked salmon, and we drove back to Cappahayden. This was an evening of DX highs and lows. The highs first: During the DXpedition dry-run I had noted a signal on 1386 kHz that I had tentatively ascribed to Kenya. This time we all heard it unequivocally, which precipitated a chorus of cheers. I had sneaked away to listen to the Brazilians on 1100 kHz, and I bagged another (new for me!) 250-watt Brazilian, Radio Difusora do Vale Acara, which briefly topped the 150 kW signal of Radio Globo. Werner spotted an interesting signal on 846 kHz, which we all monitored. It turned out to be Radio Xhosa from South Africa ! But now the lows: for a while on the Southern-Bev I had play-by-play of a sports event with Chile versus Paraguay on 730 kHz. I was hoping for Radio Cooperativa from Valparaiso, Chile, but I could not squeeze out an ID. Then, on the same antenna but looking for Radio Mineria from Santiago, Chile, I noted tangos and Spanish talk on 1060 kHz. We followed this one for about an hour, but excitement turned to disappointment when we heard the station sign off with the Mexican anthem: this was Radio Educacion from Mexico City. Then came the biggest disappointment of the DXpedition, the HCJB test. On the two southern wires, 690 kHz was dominated by Radio Dragao do Mar from Brazil. Other signals present were the Caribbean Beacon from Anguilla and CBF from Montreal. Did we hear the test ? Not really. We had some fragments of code on the threshold between signal and imagination, but no real audio. We are nevertheless very grateful to Richard McVicar and the folks at HCJB for conducting this test. During the night we had heard large waves breaking on the beach so the next morning (Saturday Mar 13th) Werner and I examined both beach antennas. We found some seaweed draped over a section of the Euro-Bev, and blocks of ice on the terminator of the Braz-Bev. These problems were fixed, and I reeled in the miserable Quito antenna. Other than snapping a few more pictures, we did not do much else except wait for the DX to begin again in the evening. This was our last evening at Cappahayden, and some good European DX was logged (including Wales on 1125 kHz, NorthSound Radio from Aberdeen on 1035 kHz, and Guernsey on 1116 kHz), and we also heard the BBC relay in Oman sign on in Hindi at 0045 UTC. The best DX, though, was Haifa, Israel, on 1206 kHz, and the best program was HCJB's "DX Partyline" on 9745 kHz with the report on our DXpedition. Early the next morning (Sunday May 14th) I brought in the Southern- Bev then the Euro-Bev. The equipment was packed up, and at 10:30 a.m. I drove to St. John's airport with George and Werner, both of whom had flights just after noon. I returned to a foggy Cappahayden after a quick lunch at home. The last wire, the Braz-Bev, was reeled in, and John and I packed the car and headed back to St. John's. We had supper with my family then we jumped into the car for the last phase of the DXpedition. This was a one-night-stand from the car at a site I frequently use just north of St. John's, near Middle Cove. Two wires went out, a 900-foot wire aimed at the UK and another 500-foot wire aimed further north. John also set up an amplified whip about 30 feet from the car. We wanted to look for two countries that had eluded us at Cappahayden, Poland and Russia. The former we heard right off the bat on 1080 kHz, then its parallel on 1305 kHz. John found a Russian somewhat later on 1395 kHz, with a good signal on the whip antenna. A few smaller European stations were logged, and we noted a station broadcasting recitations from the Koran on 1251 kHz, beneath the Libyan. One might conjecture this was Dubai on later than usual, but there was no ID. John did a long-wave scan that netted another ten stations. We brought in the wires and the whip just before local midnight. I drove John to the airport to catch his flight early the next morning. What were the highlights of this DXpedition ? We heard around 70 countries in five nights at a time of year considered moribund for DX ! Of course, logging "new" countries is a special thrill. South Africa and Israel have been added to my list. I had a lot of fun chasing the Argentineans and the low-powered Brazilians. We have an antenna story that will be repeated (and, of course, embellished) for years, "A Close Encounter of the Furred Kind". However, I am sure that years from now what I will remember best will be the pleasure and privilege it was to share the DX and the laughs with some of the best in the biz: George, John, and Werner. The Loggings DXers and receivers: George Hakiel of West Islip, NY: Watkins-Johnson HF1000 John Bryant of Stillwater, OK: Japan Radio NRD-525 Werner Funkenhauser of Cambridge, ON: Icom IC-R71A Jean Burnell of St. John's, NF: Icom IC-R71A (& Sony 2010 backup) Antennas at Cappahayden: "Braz-Bev" - 3300 feet (ca. 1 km), terminated, towards eastern Brazil, "Southern-Bev" - 3300 feet (ca. 1 km), terminated, towards Guyana, "Euro-Bev" - 2000 feet (615 meters), terminated, towards northern Europe, Kiwa loop, and Bowers-Bryant tuned whip Antennas at Middle Cove: 900 feet (275 meters), unterminated, towards the United Kingdom, 500 feet (155 meters), unterminated, towards Norway, and Bowers-Bryant tuned whip All the times and dates are UTC. Loggings were made from Cappahayden unless otherwise noted. Trans-Atlantic Long-wave Bandscan The following long-wave stations were noted by John Bryant on 14 May 2245- 2300 from the Middle Cove site: 153 Two signals (GERMANY and ALGERIA likely); 162 Allouis FRANCE; 171 Nador MOROCCO; 183 Felsberg GERMANY; 198 Droitwich et al. ENGLAND; 207 Aholming GERMANY; 225 Konstantynow POLAND; 234 Beidweiler LUXEMBOURG; 252 Clarkstown IRELAND. Trans-Atlantic DX 531 MADEIRA RDP Antena 1, Porto Santo, 11 May 2152 - Fair w/ female PP speaker, // 666 531 ALGERIA RTV Algerienne, Ain Beida, 13 May 0140 - Alone on freq in AA 540 BELGIUM Belgische R., Waver, 13 May 2335 - David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust", // 1188. Under CBT, SIO 422 612 MOROCCO RTV Marocaine, Sebaa-Aioun, 13 May 2232-2244 - Traditional mx, woman ancr in AA, // 207 621 CANARY IS. RNE-1, Santa Cruz, 11 May 0254 - SS female ancr, pop song, pips at 0300 in a fade. 11 May 0540-0556 - SS football report, RNE jingle then local Canaries nx at 0555 630 PORTUGAL RDP Antena 1, Santa Isabel, 13 May 0028 - PP ancr w/ string of song titles then mx 675 NETHERLANDS R. 10 Gold, Lopik, 12 May 0010 - Steely Dan song, jingle ID at 0012 then another song. 12 May 0032 - Caught with "Radio 10 Gold" ID and jingle. Into Beatles music. 13 May 0224 - Pops w/ EE titles by man 702 GERMANY low powered synchros, 12 May 0020-0030 - Classical mx, woman ancr in GG, then pop song. Faded away at 0030 747 UNID 12 May 0118-0132 - Probably Netherlands, EE pgm: artist interviewed about his books and films, between selections of weird mx. SIO 343-2 756 GERMANY Deutschlandfunk, Braunschweig & Revensburg, 13 May 0240 - Classical piano mx, // 1269 765 SENEGAL RTV Senegal, Dakar, 11 May 0601 - FF talk. 11 May 2239 - Fair in African language with music bridges. 1222 and 1367 also audible with poorer signals 765 SWITZERLAND RSR, Sottens, 12 May 0114 - Good; female Romansch ancr between classical mx selections 774 NORTHERN IRELAND & ENGLAND BBC, Enniskillen & Plymouth, 14 May 0326 - BBC sports w/ tennis nx, // 1341. Over Spain, SIO 232 810 SCOTLAND BBC R. Scotland, synchros, 11 May 0010-0024 - Nx and reports from BBC WS, // 5975 818 UNID 13 May 2130 - Fairly strong carrier, but no audio. Zambia is likely 828 NETHERLANDS HitRadio Holland, Rotterdam, 14 May 2328 [Middle Cove] - Man in Dutch, pop mx. SIO 232 837 SCOTLAND/ENGLAND 11 May 0008-0016 - Likely BBC pgm very briefly noted in the QRM w/ American-accented man in EE at 0008, and a tiny bit of audio in English-accented EE at 0015 . SIO 221 837 AZORES RDP Antena 1, Pico de Barossa, 13 May 0230 - Back-to-back pop mx, // 666. SIO 433 846 ITALY RAI, Roma, 11 May 0026 - Opera, // 900 and 6060. On Euro-Bev 846 SOUTH AFRICA R. Xhosa, Komga, 12 May 2315-2336, 2348-0003 - Phone-in pgm mainly in a local language but with occasional EE, hosted by a woman. On Braz-Bev and Southern-Bev, long, deep fades, but up to SIO 343 864 EGYPT Egyptian R., Santah, 11 May 0048 - Koran, // 819, which was stronger 873 GERMANY AFN, Frankfurt, 12 May 0228 - US basketball play-by-play. SIO 333 891 ALGERIA RTV Algerienne, Alger, 11 May 2254 - Good, // 981. AA music program. 900 ITALY RAI, Milano, 11 May 0037 - Opera under CKDH, // 846 909 tent MOROCCO RTVM, Safi, 12 May, 2253-2303 - Man in AA, AA mx, pip at 2300, couple of words, pip again then woman possibly in FF; local mx from 2301. On Braz-Bev, Euro-Bev was dominated by the BBC, SIO 332 918 SPAIN R. Intercontinental, Madrid, 12 May 0430 - Time pips, SS talk 944 UNID 12 May 2350 - Carrier detected, but no audio. Sao Tome is the most likely on this old-plan freq 945 FRANCE R. France, Toulouse, 13 May 0415-0427 - Mx, FF talk by woman 954 SPAIN R. Espana, Madrid, 12 May 0435-0445 - News in SS w/ man and woman, pips between items 962 UNID 13 May 2212 - Carrier detected, but no audio. Only audible on the Braz-Bev 963 PORTUGAL R. Renascenca, Seixal, 13 May 0044 - Bryan Adams song, // 1251. SIO 222 963 UNID 14 May 2220 - Male and female speakers in unID language delivering news-slices with mx bridges. Fanfare, and ID by female at 2251, but "??? Radio" unclear. Poor-fair 963.4 UNID 13 May, 2258 - Man talking, but much too weak to ID. SIO 131 1017 GERMANY Sudwestfunk, Mainz, 11 May 0115-0130 - Old pop tunes, ancr in GG, ID at 0130 1035 ENGLAND tent Country 1035, London, 11 May 0135 - In a mix of Brits with woman ancr, "Highway of Love" then "Hand Jive" 1035 SCOTLAND NorthSound R., Aberdeen, 14 May 0312 - Ad, then "Through the night with NorthSound Radio and Radio Tay". SIO 343 1053 ENGLAND TalkRadio UK, synchros, 11 May 0155 - Man in EE 1062 DENMARK Danmarks R., Kalundborg, 12 May 0320-0340 - Pop mx 1080 POLAND Polskie R., Katowice, 14 May 2249 [Middle Cove] - Jazz: rather sterile solo sax, // 1305. Pulse QRM emanating from nearby airport, SIO 222 1098 SLOVAKIA Slovak R., Nitra, 12 May, 0230-0239 - Pips, woman w/ ID then nx until mx began at 0238:30. 12 May 2343 - Pop mx ended, man in Slovak. Splatter from R. Globo on 1100, SIO 444 1107 ENGLAND TalkRadio UK, synchros, 14 May, 0343-0347 - Telephone calls, ad for telephone meeting service, ID, // 1053 and 1089. SIO 232 1116 CHANNEL ISLANDS BBC R. Guernsey, 14 May, 0359-0401 - Lilybolero, pips at 0400, BBC WS nx. (The other BBC local stn on this freq - Derby - does not carry BBC WS overnight.) SIO 233 1125 WALES BBC R. Wales, Llandrindod Wells, 14 May, 0330-0340 - Boxing blow-by-blow of Lewis vs Butler - 5th round K.O. for Lewis, // 882. Under Spain, SIO 222 1134 CROATIA Hrvatski R., Zadar, 11 May 0157-0204 - Easy-listening mx, pips at 0200, nx, more mx from 0204. 11 May 0220 - Fair; female ancr intoed 1930's American "Big Band Vocal" but with Croatian lyrics. 12 May 0120 - checked in passing with mx program, // 1125 and 1557 1152 CAMEROON CRTV, Bamenda, 11 May 2217-2234 - Man in African-accented EE w/ long string of announcements of meetings, deaths and various official functions; ID at 2231 then basketball nx. SIO 333. 11 May 2303-2306* - Male ancr with local nx, anthem at 2305 and off at 2306 1179 SWEDEN Swedish R., Solvesborg, 13 May 2207 - Man in Swedish, at 2208 fanfare and ID. SIO 333 1188 BELGIUM Belgische R., Kuurne, 11 May 2355 - Fair; non-stop rock to 0000, 6 pips, then female w/ Flemish news. 13 May 2333 - David Bowie special, male ancr in Flemish. SIO 344 1197 LESOTHO BBC Relay, Lancer's Gap, 11 May 2320-2331 - Mess but BBC WS pgm noted, // 1485. Braz-Bev, SIO 222 1197 MOROCCO RTV Marocaine, Agadir, 11 May 2320-2331 - Over Lesotho w/ Arab-accented man in FF talking about shortcoming in the educational system in Morocco. Braz-Bev, SIO 322 1197 ENGLAND Virgin R., synchros, 11 May 2335 - Woman in EE, rock mx, ads, and contest promo, "1215 AM Virgin" spot at 2337, // 1215. Euro-Bev, SIO 333 1205.6 UNID 14 May, 0148 - OC on at this time, hetting Israel 1206 SIERRA LEONE Sierra Leone BC, Goderich, 11 May 2310-2317 - African choral mx, man w/ African accent in EE, says will go over to 'Studio 1'. Fading, SIO 333 1206 ISRAEL Kol Israel, Haifa, 14 May 0015-0032, 0055-0108, 0135-0234 - Pop songs (oldies), male DJ in Hebrew, pips then nx at 0200 followed by a real mixed bag of mx. Some AA noted also at 0220. Deep fades, hets, splatter from VOAR, at best SIO 332 1215 ENGLAND Virgin R., synchros, 11 May 2340 - ID, "Secret Garden", woman DJ. 13 May 2322 - Pop song "I Won't Give Up" segued into "Whiter Shade of Pale", // 1197 and 1242. SIO 444 1224 NETHERLANDS HitRadio Holland, ship in IJsselmeer, 14 May 0032 - Rock mx, Dutch ancr. SIO 333-2 1233 MOROCCO RTV Marocaine, Tanger, 12 May 0042-0100 - Traditional mx, telephone conversa-tion in AA, more mx. At 0100 3 pips and ID. 13 May 0440 - AA phone interview 1251 LIBYA Vo Great Homeland, Tripoli, 10 May 2359-0003 - Faded up over unID stn w/ ID and pips at 0000. SIO 322 1251 PORTUGAL R. Renascenca, Porto and Viseu, 13 May 0043 - PP talk, Bryan Adams song. Briefly over Libya, SIO 322 1251 ENGLAND SGR, Bury St Edmunds, 14 May 2337 [Middle Cove] - Male DJ, Paul McCartney song. SIO 222. 15 May 0059-0103 [Middle Cove] - Real mess, nx at 0100 read by woman, wx at 0102, then 70's mx. QRM from 3-4 stations, SIO 222 1251 UNID 14 May 2340 [Middle Cove] - Fairly strong stn w/ Koran, possible talk by man in AA at 0002. This was not Libya because Libya was also audible, and it could be distinguished by // 15235. Possibly Dubai, UAE, on late. SIO 322 1251 NETHERLANDS NOS, Hulsberg, 15 May 0000 [Middle Cove] - Up briefly over the mess w/ nx in Dutch. SIO 222 1260 SPAIN R. Valencia, 12 May 0017-0020 - A Brit signal was the real quarry here, but it remained unIDed. This had a man in SS, // 1584. QRM also from CIHI, SIO 322 1278 IRELAND RTE R. 2, Dublin & Cork, 12 May 0135-0203 - Male ancr w/ pop mx, 0200 "news at 3 o'clock" w/ woman reader, more mx just before 0203 1296 ENGLAND Radio XL, Birmingham, 11 May 0059 - Indian film mx, announcement w/ ID in EE at 0102 saying this was a test transmission. The address given was: KMS House, Bradford Street, Birmingham B12 0JD. This will be 24 hours w/ regular service starting on May 31 at 7 AM. Some Spanish QRM, SIO 343 1296 SPAIN R. Popular de Valencia, 11 May 0100 - Nx in SS by man and woman, item from Zaragoza. Mainly under England, SIO 222-1 1296 SUDAN Sudan Nat. BC, Rebia, 12 May 0316 - AA pgm, // 7200 1305 POLAND Polskie R., synchros, 14 May 2253 [Middle Cove] - Almost alone briefly w/ piano mx. SIO 232 1305 ENGLAND unID stn, 14 May 2250-2309 [Middle Cove] - In a mess, oldies, nx at 2300, garbled jingle at 2302, wx, more oldies. Could not get an ID! QRM from Poland and Spain, SIO 222-1 1313 ANGOLA EP do Huila, Lubango, 11 May 2157-2201 - Some PP talk, little pop mx. SIO 242 1314 NORWAY NRK, Kvitsoy, 10 May 0210 - Good; Male in Norwegian talking about pop mx. 11 May 0208-0216 - Man in Norwegian on how Beatles songs influenced Tanya Tucker 1314 SPAIN RNE-5, Salamanca, 13 May 0442 - RNE ID, nice guitar, // 1305 1341 NORTHERN IRELAND BBC R. Ulster, Lisnagarvey, 12 May 0055-0058 - EE talk about how the "News of the World" tabloid treats the royal family, press review at 0056. SIO 444. 13 May 2314-2326 - Nx, national lottery number, sports nx, headlines at 2325 then end of Ulster pgm and into BBC WS at 2326 1349 MAURITANIA R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 12 May 2308 - Traditional mx, talk by woman. 13 May 2106 - AA singing, // 4845 1367 SENEGAL RTV Senegal, Saint-Louis, 13 May 2108-2125 - Mx and phone-in talk. Senegal mentioned at 2125 1368 ISLE OF MAN Manx R., Douglas, 12 May 2237-0000 - Pop mx and ads, ID at 0000 and nx 1375 ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON RFO, St. Pierre, 11 May 0302 - Woman in French. Local 1377 UKRAINE Ukrainian R., synchros, 11 May 0220 - Woman in Slavic lang, heroic Russian-sounding instrumental and chorus. Faded at 0227. 12 May 0214-0218 - Mx from the 1930's, woman ancr 1385.9 GUINEA RTV Guinienne, Labe, 13 May 2134-2147 - Highlife mx, man in African-accented FF. Signed off at 2159. Braz-Bev, very long fades, SIO 252-0 1386 KENYA KBC, Maralal, 13 May 0158-0210 - Flute of IS was weak but unequivocal through the clutter, 0201:30 freq anmts by man in EE, woman singing a few times, 0208 choral mx, // 4935. SIO 222 1386 RUSSIA/KALININGRAD R. Nederland, Bolshakovo, 13 May 2155-2159 - EE pgm w/ lots of talk about the restoration of churches and the influence of the Protestant Reformation. SIO 344 1394.1 TOGO RTV Togolaise, Lome, 11 May 2239-2300* - Classical mx, off without anthem at 2300, // 5047 1395 RUSSIA Petrozavodsk?, 15 May 0021-0032 [Middle Cove] - Barda mx, other light mx, IS x 3 before 0030, then woman w/ nx in RR. SIO 343 1413 OMAN BBC Relay, Marisah Is., 14 May 0045 - Pips, BBC ID, fanfare, nx in Hindi. SIO 333 1440 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Damman, 13 May 2230 - AA mx and talk. Very good 1458 tent ALBANIA, Fllak, 13 May 2204 - Poor with British station(s); Slavic male/female speakers in a discussion. 1458 ENGLAND Fortune 1458, Manchester, 13 May 2302, 2312 - Mix of Brits: at 2302 ID, "More of the music you want to hear, Fortune 1458" then pop mx. At 2312 Moody Blues mx, Fortune ID. SIO 322-1 1458 ENGLAND Sunrise R., London, 13 May 2310-2315 - Mix of Brits: Indian mx faded up, presenter was a deep-voiced man, he read the names of many callers from London. SIO 222-1 1458 ENGLAND likely BBC R. WM, Birmingham, 13 May 2304-2315 - Mix of Brits: BBC WS programming...nx, promos, began "Jazz for the Asking" at 2315. (The April 1995 issue of the BBC's "London Calling" lists only BBC Radio WM relaying WS on this freq.) SIO 322-1 1467 FRANCE TWR Monaco, Romoules, 12 May 0400 - Noted on at this time 1475.1 BENIN ORT du Benin, Cotonou, 13 May 2348-2303* - FF talk, s/off w/ anthem 1476 ENGLAND Mercury Extra, Guildford, 12 May 0205 - Pop mx, // 1521. SIO 232 1485 ASCENSION IS. R. Ascension, English Bay, 10 May 2336-2346 - BBC WS pgm w/ talk about Dame Vera Lynn, then sports including European Cup football recap w/ play-by-play of the winning goal at 2345. Almost alone on the Braz-Bev but inaudible on the Euro-Bev; long, deep fades but peaking to a respectable SIO 343 1502 ANGOLA EP do Benguela, 11 May 2202 - Pop mx, PP talk. Hets, SIO 232 1503 AZORES AFRTS, Lajes, 10 May 2315 - Good w/ 1 kHz het; C+W song, PSA, Mike Harding Spot. 10 May 2337-2352 - Soft rock, many songs without anmts, PSAs and military anmts at 2349. S3, but very listenable signal on Braz-Bev 1512 BELGIUM R. Vlaanderen Int., Wolvertem, 11 May 2210-2218 - Flemish nx including report about Newfoundland, ID at 2218 1521 ENGLAND Mercury Extra, Reigate, 12 May 0205 - Pop mx by woman, // 1476. Huge OC on this freq, SIO 332 1521 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Duba, 12 May *0257 - On at 0257, pips at 0300 then Koran, // 900 1530 VATICAN R. Vaticana, 10 May 2329 - Multilingual IDs, readings from Matthew in II then EE, piano mx at 2331. Over a Brit, SIO 443 1530 SAO TOME E PRINCIPE VOA Relay, 11 May 2145 - News features, promo for World Report. S5. 13 May 0407-0409 - In a mess w/ nx in EE, // 7405. SIO 322 1537 UNID 12 May 0142-0158 - AA mx, AA anti-Iraqi talks to fadeout. Possibly the clandestine that used to be heard on 1530? 1544 CLANDESTINE R. Nacional Rep. Arabe Saharaui Democr. (Tindouf, Algeria?), 10 May 2327 - Man in AA w/ commentary mentioning Palestine. SIO 343 1557 MALTA Deutsche Welle Relay, Cyclops, 12 May 2231 - GG nx report about Jordan/Israel border 1548 ENGLAND unID stn, 11 May 0033 - BBC WS nx read by woman, // 1485. SIO 322 1566 TUNISIA ERTT, Sfax, 10 May 2308-2333 - AA nx by man, fanfare and ID at 2314, then Koran to 2320, talk, freq anmt at 2331 then quiet mx. Steady S9+10, faded to S9 then down to S7 1575 SPAIN SER synchros, 11 May 0304 - Male ancr in SS. Very good 1584 SPAIN SER synchros, 11 May 0304 - Male ancr // 1575 1602 SPAIN Radio Vitoria, Vitoria, 11 May 0225 - Mx ended at 0227, quasi-ID mentioned "Euskadi" in context, then apparent political talk Trans-Pacific DreamX 1566 UNID 12 May, 0823 - Carrier detected on all three Beverages, but no audio. No other 9-kHz-spread stations or carriers detectable at this time. The Azores station was not audible here at any time during this DXpedition so a ground-wave TA is very unlikely. Pan-American DX 600 BRAZIL R. Gaucha (ZYK278), Porto Alegre, 12 May 0501-0503 - PP ads, promo for pgm on Gaucha. SIO 333 640 GUADELOUPE RFO, Pointe-a-Pitre, 11 May 0417 - Fair w/ local CBN as QRM; FF // 1375 690 ANGUILLA Caribbean Beacon, The Valley, 12 May 0828 - Address for Dr. Gene Scott, lively mx, rambling talk as of 0832, // 1610. SIO 243 690 BRAZIL R. Dragao do Mar (ZYH587), Fortaleza, 13 May 0500-0506 - PP religious talk, ID at 0506 and also mentioned Fortaleza. SIO 444 690 tent ECUADOR Voz de los Andes (HCJB1), Pifo, 13 May 0600-0630 - HCJB test...signals were identified for R. Dragao do Mar, Caribbean Beacon and CBF. Only a few tones and some very weak code were noted as possibly HCJB's signal. SIO 111 720 VENEZUELA R. Oriente (YVQE), Porlamar, 12 May 0507 - Lively LA mx, ID then results of loteria de Zulia. Under CHTN, SIO 322 730 UNID 13 May 0254-0309 - Exciting possibilities: SS sports play-by-play of Chile versus Paraguay ... Mixing w/ another SS stn, w/ increasing QRM from CKAC, SIO 322 760 GUYANA R. Guyana, Georgetown, 11 May 0101-0109 - Poor-fair and poorly modulated; ID, mx, ad w/ echo at 0104 then man talking. Faded out 770 COLOMBIA RCN (HJJX), Bogota, 12 May 0819 - Talk about European Cup football game between Ajax and AC Milan, // 1000. SIO 222 789.9 ARGENTINA R. Mitre (LR6), Buenos Aires, 12 May 0800-0813 - SS ad for sports scores by phone, ad for something on Avenida Gaspacho then nx introed by "Mitre informa primero...el mejor servicio informativo durante 1994....". Over/under Canadian stn, deep fades, SIO 222 800 NETHERLANDS ANTILLES Trans-World R. (PJB), Bonaire, 12 May 0453 - SS religious talk over classical mx. SIO 322 850 URUGUAY R. Carve (CX16), Montevideo, 11 May 0045-0054 - SS ads, typical accordion mx. Much fading at this time, QRM from WEEI. SIO 222. 11 May 0432-0437 - Bank ad, ID, instr mx 850 BRAZIL R. Record (ZYH588?), Fortaleza, 11 May 0203 - Poor; man in PP w/ ID "Radio Record em Fortaleza". Listed in WRTH on 760 kHz 870 ARGENTINA R. Nacional (LRA1), Buenos Aires, 11 May 0400 - Good; solid ID then nx 880 UNID 11 May 0136-0146 - Looking for R. Catolica Nac., Quito: heard a SS stn w/ Beethoven behind R. Inconfidncia and WCBS, but at 0145 no Rosary heard... SIO 221 880 BRAZIL R. Inconfidncia (ZYL275), Belo Horizonte, 11 May 0145 - PP football under WCBS. 13 May 0129 - PP mx, pgm is "Fantasia ___". Over WCBS, 333 885 MONTSERRAT R. Montserrat, Plymouth, 11 May 0154 - Noted in passing, woman in EE 890 tent URUGUAY R. Libertad (CX18), Montevideo, 12 May 0241-0326 - Football news/scores from Spain, Italy, and Germany, each separated by a jingle that seemed to include "Libertad". One song was played at 0247, nx from 0301 included voice clips of the "Secretario del Interior Jaime Leoque" (not sure of this!) and the "Ministro de Turismo Benito Ester", "tiempo fresco en la capital" mentioned at 0310, then pgm "Panorama Internacional", which included a rpt about the Argentinean elections. Possibly more sports from 0314 w/ talk about the "Copa Libertador" and mentioned the police of Montevideo. Long, deep fades, but sometimes up to SIO 333 w/ Brazilian QRM. Clues regarding identity: Primary coverage area obviously a capital city with cool weather; the use of only one surname for the cabinet ministers (in many northern South American countries it is customary to use two surnames); not an Argentinean because the news item from Argentina was "International". I cannot find a really up-to-date list of cabinet ministers for various South American countries with which to confirm the names, but at least until their elections in late 1994 Uruguay did indeed have a Minister of Tourism (but not Benito Ester) whereas Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and indeed most South American countries did not. 890 BRAZIL unID stn, 11 May 0241-0326 - Religious programming in PP. SIO 222 895 ST. KITTS & NEVIS Vo Nevis, Bath Village, 11 May 0152 - Pop mx, Caribbean-accented DJ. SIO 343 910 ARGENTINA La Red (LR5), Buenos Aires, 11 May 0440-0509 - Talk pgm "Familia de la Fe" to 0500, ads, long promo from 0503 ended "en la Red", election slogan, sports, wx, clear ID at 0508. At best SIO 343 980 BRAZIL R. Nacional (ZYH707), Brasilia, 13 May 0215 - ID, talk about health in PP, tel number for health info in the Federal District. Over CBV, SIO 433 1000 COLOMBIA RCN (HJAQ), Cartagena, 12 May 0817 - Two men discuss economic problems in SS, pgm was called "Nocturna RCN". SIO 243 1020 VENEZUELA Mundial Margarita (YVRS), La Ascuncion, 12 May 0816 - "En Margarita, Mundial!" slogan, then LA dance mx. SIO 332 1030 ARGENTINA R. del Plata (LS10), Buenos Aires, 11 May, 0038-0040 - SS phone-in pgm hosted by male ancr 1040 BRAZIL R. Capital (ZYK537), Sao Paulo, 12 May 0102 - PP basketball commentary, IDs. Very strong 1060 MEXICO R. Educacion (XEP), Mexico, 13 May 0313-0401:30* Pgm of tangos w/ deep-voiced male ancr, nx at 0353, Mexican anthem at 0401 then off. Long, deep fades, QRM from a Brazilian, SIO 332-0 1070 FRENCH GUIANA RFO Guyane, Cayenne, 11 May 0604-0643 - Mixing w/ Mundial and El Mundo (see below) w/ FF talk, initially about politics, // 5055. SIO 322 1070 VENEZUELA Mundial Zulia (YVMA), Maracaibo, 11 May 0605-0630 - Most evident in this time period, many IDs, lottery results, LA mx. SIO 322 1070 ARGENTINA R. El Mundo (LR1), Buenos Aires, 11 MayJ 0604-0643 - Often dominant on the freq w/ pgm of guitar mx hosted by 2 men. ID and slogan at 0604, but especially clear around 0637 w/ mx, ads and talk about the upcoming presidential election. SIO 322 1080 VENEZUELA R. Barcelona (YVQJ), 12 May 0237 - Three IDs in 2 minutes, lottery numbers, LA mx. SIO 333 1080 BRAZIL unID stn, 13 May 2229 - PP rel pgm. SIO 232 1100 BRAZIL R. Difusora do Vale Acarau (ZYH668), Acarau, 12 May 2338-2342 - Mixing w/ Globo, but an unequivocal ID at 2340 followed by a Brazilian ballad. (WRTH'95 says this is still on 1420 kHz. Obviously, the station has now moved.) Soon faded under Globo, initially SIO 233 1100 BRAZIL R. Globo (ZYK694), Sao Paulo, 12 May 2338-2342 - Sports pgm, many Globo IDs. Initially under Acarau, but rapidly took over the freq. SIO 333 1160 BERMUDA VSB3, Hamilton, 12 May 0220 - EE talk about search for sunken Confederate submarine, // BBC WS on 5975. SIO 233 1220 BRAZIL R. Globo (ZYJ458), Rio de Janeiro, 10 May 2352 - CKCW QRM; fast talking PP football, "Globo" IDs at 2354 1280 BRAZIL Super R. Tupi (ZYJ455), Rio de Janeiro, 12 May 0457-0501 - PP sports nx, 0458 wx, Tupi jingle, talk about politics, salaries and benefits. SIO 433 1300 BRAZIL Radio CBN (ZYH586), Fortaleza, 14 May 0259-0309 - Pgm ends, full list of CBN stations at 0301:30, including "CBN Fortaleza, Ceara, 1300 kHz". This is ex-R. Iracema, which is still listed as such in WRTH'95. SIO 343 1308.4 likely ARGENTINA R. Nacional (LRA42), Gualeguaychu, 13 May 0310-0319 - Germanic-sounding instrumental mx, man ancr in SS. Noted on 1308.8 kHz back on 31 October 1994. Nice signal 1350 likely ARGENTINA R. Buenos Aires (LS6), 13 May 0148-0152 - SS ads: "Autocredito" and "Supermercado del Plata". Faded out rapidly and QRMed by CKAD and another SS stn, SIO 322 1380 COLOMBIA tent RCN (HJEE), Tunja, 11 May 0323-0403 - Mess here w/ at least two Colombians, one seemed to be running programming via Bogota and noted "la primera cadena de radio de Colombia" at 0359. The second HJ took over immediately afterwards mentioning Cartagena in two ads, but no Cartagena stn is listed here... RCN: SIO 322-1 1380 VENEZUELA R. Mundial (YVTL), Caja Seca, 11 May 0333-0358* - Often under the Colombians w/ musica romantica but clear ID and TC at 0352 (as 11:57), Venez anthem (choir) at 0355 followed by what was likely the state anthem. SIO 322-1 1435.4 BRAZIL R. Principe Imperial (ZYH637), Crateus, 11 May 0106-0116, 0157-0158:30* - Up from nominal 1430 kHz, "Voz de Libertacao" religious pgm all the time except just before s/off when a definite ID was finally heard, no anthem at s/off. Only 250 watts at night! Up to SIO 343 1505 ANGUILLA R. Anguilla, The Valley, 12 May 0220 - Fair; BBC pgm // 5975 1550 BRAZIL R. Guaruja Paulista (ZYK590), Guaruja, 11 May 2342-0002 - 2 ZYs here fading in and out slowly, mainly talk in PP, ID by one at 0000. SIO 333-2 1570 BRAZIL unID stn, 10 May 2346 - PP fast-talk, w/ some irritating echo, but fairly sure this was horse-racing. SIO 242 1570 BRAZIL tent R. Sertao Central (ZYH621), Senador Pompeu, 11 May 2257-2305 - At least 2 ZY stations here: initially "A Voz do Brasil" common pgm clearly heard but at 2259:30 the stns began broadcasting different pgms and readability became very poor. One stn did ID, but I could catch only: " [two-syllable word] Central", and at 2303:30 the same stn (I presume) faded up again and mentioned Ceara. SIO 222-1 for this one 1579.8 BRAZIL unID stn, 10 May 2322 - Very poor PP talk. Deep fades, SIO 242 - Albania t 1458 1. Algeria 153, 531, 891, 1544 (clandestine) 2. Angola 1313, 1502 3. Anguilla 690, 1505, 1610 4. Argentina 789.9, 870, 910, 1030, 1070, t 1308.4, t 1350 5. Ascension Island 1458 6. Azores 837, 1503 7. Belgium 540, 1188, 1512 8. Benin 1475.1 9. Bermuda 1160 10. Brazil 600, 690, 850, 880, 890, 980, 1040, 1060, 1080, 1100, 1100, 1220, 1280, 1300, 1435.4, 1550, 1570, 1570, 1579.8 11. Cameroon 1152 12. Canada many 13. Canary Islands 621, 882, 1008 14. Channel Islands 1116 15. Colombia 770, 1000, 1380 16. Croatia 1125, 1134, 1557 17. Denmark 1062 - Ecuador t 690 18. Egypt 819, 864, 1107 19. England 198, 693, 774, 837?, 882, 909, 1035, 1053, 1089, 1107, 1197, 1215, 1242, 1251, 1296, 1305, 1458, 1458, 1458, 1476, 1521, 1548 20. France 162, 945, 1467 21. French Guiana 1070 22. Germany 153, 183, 207, 702, 756, 873, 1017, 1269, 1422, 1593 23. Guadeloupe 640 24. Guinea 1385.9 25. Guyana 760 26. Ireland 252, 1278 27. Isle of Man 1368 28. Israel 1206 29. Italy 846, 900 30. Kenya 1386 31. Lesotho 1197 32. Libya 1251 33. Luxembourg 234 34. Madeira 531 35. Malta 1557 36. Mauritania 1349 37. Mexico 1060 38. Montserrat 885 39. Morocco 171, 207, 612, t 909, 1044, 1197, 1233 40. Netherlands 675, 828, 1224, 1251 41. Netherlands Antilles 800 42. Northern Ireland 774, 1341 43. Norway 1314 44. Oman 1413 45. Poland 225, 1080, 1305 46. Portugal 630, 666, 783, 828, 963, 1251 47. Russia 1395 48. Russia/Kaliningrad 1386 49. St. Kitts & Nevis 895 50. St. Pierre & Miquelon 1375 51. So Tom & Princpe 1530 52. Saudi Arabia 900, 1440, 1521 53. Scotland 810, 837?, 1035 54. Senegal 765, 1367 55. Sierra Leone 1206 56. Slovakia 1098 57. South Africa 846 58. Spain 531, 603, 684, 747, 774, 837, 855, 864, 873, 918, 954, 1017, 1026, 1044, 1107, 1116, 1143, 1152, 1260, 1296, 1305, 1314, 1413, 1485, 1575, 1584, 1602 59. Sudan 1296 60. Sweden 1179 61. Switzerland 765 62. Togo 1394.1 63. Tunisia 1566 64. Turks & Caicos Islands 532, 1020 65. Ukraine 1377 66. USA many 67. Uruguay 850, t 890 68. Vatican City 1530, 1611 69. Venezuela 720, 1020, 1070, 1080, 1380 70. Wales 1125 Musings on the DXpedition, or Burnell should shut my mouth and let the others say something... George Hakiel: It must be said that Newfoundland is truly "DX Capital of North America"! There is no use to enumerate the great DX catches because they will be evident from the logs. One thing, in particular, struck me as being typical and humorous. This happened while listening to the South African station on 846 kHz. The format was a woman conducting a talk show. The language was evidently an African one, but every once in a while the woman host would slip in a word or two of English. A man called in and said something to her that really rattled her. She replied to her caller, emphatically in English "YOU'RE OFF!" It seems that talk show hosts experience the same kind of abuse all over the world. I sure wonder what the man said to her! John Bryant: Paradoxically, most of my memories of the DXpedition will be of the environment and the people, rather than the DX. The rocky nature of the coast, I had expected, but the fact that the rest of the terrain is mostly tundra and bog was a real surprise. The icebergs were expected, but I never thought that I'd feel them so sinister or awesome or that there would be so many of them. The people of Newfoundland were a delight: friendly, hospitable and good natured; their many and varied accents made their speech comprehensible only if one concentrated totally. I pretended that they were DX and I was listening for an ID. Jean, George and Werner were so knowledgeable of TA DX that they tended to be most delighted with the really difficult and barely loggable DX like Kenya 1386 kHz (// 4935 kHz), Oman 1413 kHz or Dubai 1251 kHz. I tended to enjoy most the DX that was really listenable. Being able to listen for a couple of hours to Radio Xhosa, South Africa, on 846 kHz was a joy. We listened to a trilingual hostess very adroitly handle many and varied calls in what sounded to us to be Xhosa + Afrikaans + English. I also really enjoyed the other deep African loggings: Angola 1313 kHz, Cameroon 1152 kHz, Sierra Leone 1206 kHz, Lesotho 1197 kHz, and Sudan 1296 kHz. I enjoyed the Russian stations for reasons related to SWBC: Kaliningrad on 1386 kHz running Radio Nederland in English and Petrozavodsk on 1395 kHz, because it is located in what used to be the Karelo-Finnish SSR and is a NASWA country which is no longer found on the short-wave bands. If I could only keep one DX memory, though, it would be of the local station on the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom. I listened for about 20 minutes and then, at the top of the hour: "THIS IS MANX RADIO, THE 'VOICE OF MAN!'" What a great slogan meaning the voice of the human race I'd work at that station for free just for the chance to read that ID every half hour! All in all, it was a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience from a near perfect location. Getting to know Jean, Werner and George only as one can on a week-long DXpedition was also a joy. Many thanks to tireless host, Jean Burnell, and to my fellow DXpeditioners for their patience and assistance. Werner Funkenhauser: Most North American medium-wave DXers know all about the '91 and '93 Newfie DXpeditions, which have become almost legendary. I counted myself fortunate that my teaching schedule finally allowed me to take part in one these events this year. Those earlier DXpeditions had taken place in the Fall. Ours was the first ever to be scheduled in the Spring, a bit later than desirable for DX purposes, some said. Forget the fact that it was late in the "DX Season". As Jean Burnell pointed out, "late" augured well for deep-south DX. It proved true. Our Spring 1995 Newfoundland DXpedition included top-drawer DXers, George Hakiel, John Bryant, and Jean Burnell. George (our grand ole' DXer) and I, had known each other for 10 years, meeting infrequently. We spoke mostly by phone and it was a treat to see him again. John Bryant is a well known DXer, noted for his awards and activities in ANARC and Fine Tuning/Proceedings. I'd met John once, and looked forward to the reunion. Jean Burnell was a familiar name, but only via the Internet. He and I had exchanged many notes, and some tips of the one-way variety (i.e., from Burnell to Funkenhauser). It was a privilege to be in the company of such a seasoned group. As Jean indicated in his writeup, the "camara-derie", the tip-swapping, some exciting DX catches, (and an 0600 UTC barbecue or two) will remain among my fond memories of Spring '95 Newfie. As medium-wave DXers, John and I both operate in a kind of DX vacuum (though in different regions). Jean and George, both accustomed to better TA conditions, were calm (almost "Ho-Hum! Here's another one..."). I can't speak for John, but I was like a kid turned loose in a candy store. It was shooting fish in a barrel. Our first night of DXing brought many excellent catches, so many, in fact that it was almost a glut for me. During the early evening there were DX signals on almost every TA frequency and on many 10 kHz ones (mainly Brazilians). There was only the odd North American. I dig painfully for medium-wave DX at my Cambridge ON location, and really wasn't accustomed to Brazilian QRM. At one point, Jean told me to tune to 1502 kHz where we found Angola, then he directed me to tune to 1503 kHz where AFRTS (Lajes, the Azores) with only 100 watts, delivered a very good signal. It was almost a shock. Between 2300 UTC May 10 and 2337 UTC May 11, I logged 25 countries. On the first night, I caught an Arabic station on 1537 kHz which we couldn't account for. A later tape audit showed the program to be anti-Iraqi. Perhaps it was the clandestine station calling itself "The Voice of the Sixteenth District" (Iraq's name for Kuwait). We had sporadic local noise from mid-band down and periodically I tuned about to check this. In the process, I accidentally discovered a phone-in program on 846 kHz. We all jumped on that one. It turned out to be South African, Radio Xhosa. In another case while looking for Poland on 1206 kHz, I stumbled onto what turned out to be Haifa, Israel, and again we all pounced. As for DX disappointments, one of them was the HCJB DX test. We thought we heard code a couple of times. However, there really wasn't the distinctive music that Rich McVicar said we would recognize when he called us on Friday for interviews. On my return home, I spoke to Rich by phone about our results and identified at least one time interval when we thought we had code. Maybe we did hear HCJB, but it's really tenuous. A personal DX disappointment was that I didn't hear Greenland. Years ago, before it went silent on shortwave, I pried a QSL out of station engineer Henrik Jorgensen for a 3999 kHz reception by telephoning him. Since then I've tried their mediumave frequencies, all without luck. Jean comforted me by giving me a "Kalaalit Nunaata Radioa" lighter. Wait 'til I light up a cigarette for David Clark with that one. A final aside....I was the only smoker and periodically absented myself to go outside for a puff. WHAT A PENANCE. The fog isn't thick as pea soup out there. It's more like thin rain! Why, it was almost enough to make me think of quitting. However, the odd cup or two of genuine Newfoundland Screech (a fine sippin' rum) kept warm, and I successfully fought that temptation. What a memorable experience!!