Mount Evelyn DX Report: BIG STORM BRINGS SOME GOOD DX

The Mount Evelyn tree that brought down power lines near us after the storm (photo: K. Redford)

BIG STORM BRINGS SOME GOOD DX!

After several very hot late Spring days, an afternoon change yesterday (Nov 21) brought cooler weather, but no rain. The sudden gusty change in wind direction caused havoc throughout much of Victoria, and certainly in my own area where power blackouts were the order of the day. A few streets away from me, a very large tree toppled over across power lines taking out all local electricity for around 10 hours.

I had to decide whether to sit in the rapidly approaching darkness with not much to do or take advantage of a DX opportunity! So I fired up the Yaesu FTDX3000 transceiver via the always-ready 13.8v sealed lead acid battery that sits on the floor of the radio shack. Several hours at the radio proved profitable! No electrical noise at all! The only interference appearing on the dial was the faint carriers coming out from the Apple Macbook Pro laptop that sits next to the radios (these carriers are not heard during normal day-to-day operations when the noise levels are elevated).

Initially, I focused on the 49mb from 0730 to 0900 UTC (6:30 to 8pm local time) to watch for a few stations fade in as the evening approached. Later in the evening, from 1000 UTC (9pm) I checked out some openings on the 60 and 90mb. Although the electrical/man-made noise had disappeared, the cool change had brought some spectacular lightning and massive thunderclaps. Consequently, the bands were full of static crashes that made listening very difficult at times. On a few occasions, I had to switch off the receiver, disconnect the antennas, and wait it out for a few minutes until the next wave of dry thunderstorms passed.

Below are some of the stations noted on Thursday, November 21, 2019:

3215 USA. WWCR - Nashville TN. American preaching at 1030, weak signal.

3260 PNG. NBC Port Moresby. Tok Pisin discussions at 1032. Fair signal.

3320 D.P.R.KOREA. PBS Pyongyang Pansong. Long operatic selections at 1035. Poor signal.

👍 3330 CANADA. CHU Ottawa. Good to hear it back after an absence at 1025, fair signal.

👍 4774.84 PERU. R. Tarma At 1015 with anncts and short bursts of pop music, a fair signal. Another station mixed in there as well but I could not ID it, perhaps the Brazilian Congonhas?

👍 4885 UNID. Brazilian, either R. Difusora Acreana or R. Clube do Pará. In recent years from this location, I hear Acreana far more regularly than Pará, so I suspect on this occasion it was the former. Songs and chat at 0945 with a weak Echo of Hope underneath. By 1030, EoH becomes the dominant signal and the Brazilian fades away.

👍 4955 UNID. Probably R. Cultura Amauta - Huanta. At 1020 with a weak signal and softly spoken talks.

👍 5024.98 approx. PERU. R. Quillabamba. At 1005 with energetic songs and the occasional “Buenos Dias” at almost equal strength to the Cuban Rebelde.

5050 CHINA. Voice of Beibi Bay R. - At 1010 in Mandarin with news. Fair signal.

5850 RAE Argentina - Okeechobee FL. Japanese service at 0850 with chats and Argentinian accordion music. Pleasant programming until s/off 0900.

5935 USA. WWCR - Nashville TN. American female preaching at 0848, fair signal.

👍 5939.63 BRAZIL. R. Vox Missionaria - Camboriú SC. Preaching in Spanish at 0830, occasional Gospel songs, weak signal. At 0835, I had to stop listening, switch off the receiver and disconnect the antennas due to some heavy thunder and lightning activity. Switched everything back on at 0845 and the same weak signal was still there.

5970 USA. WEWN - Vandiver AL. Spanish to LAm 0720, fair to poor signal.

👍 6070 CANADA. CFRX - Toronto. At 0740 with early morning programming. A weak signal and I would not have heard it except for the local power outage.

6075 USA. KNLS - Anchor Point AK. S/on 0800 English to EAs, fair signal.

6115 JAPAN. R. Nikkei - Chiba. Network 2 with pop music selections at 0730, weak signal. The Network 1 outlet was also noted around this time.

👍 6134.82 BOLIVIA. R. Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz. An earnest interview at 0748, ballad or possible gospel song at 0751. I returned at 0815 and heard Bolivian pops. Weak signal. No sign of Aparecida on 6135.1.

👍 6145 CUBA. R. Habana - Probably via Bauta. English at 0753 with a commentary on countries in the Caribbean. Suddenly off without any closing annct at 0757. Weak signal and seems to be a NF for this service.

6155 KOREA REP. KBS WR - Kimjae. S/on 0800 in Japanese to EAs, fair signal.

73 and good DX to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW