Over the Easter Holiday Weekend in early April, DXers congregated in Southland and Northland to try for exotic DX from electrically quiet coastal locations. The keen DXers at Tiwai near Bluff at the very bottom of the South Island were Ray Crawford (Queensland) with a Drake SPR4, Steven Greenyer (Timaru) with Palstar R30, Arthur de Maine and David Headland (North Otago) listening on an AOR7030+ and SPR4 respectively and Paul Aronsen (Invercargill) with a Kenwood 5000. Antennas included various Beverages, long
wires and a EWE. In the far north, at Mangawhai, Bryan Clark and David Norrie were both using AOR7030+ receivers.
Reporting on behalf of the Tiwai DXers, Steven Greenyer writes: Paul and Arthur arrived early on Thursday and had the coal range going and the kettle on the boil when Ray and Steven arrived. Paul had erected a couple of temporary
antennas to which were added Steven’s portable EWE aimed at South America. Ray and Paul had a test of Paul’s Ham transmitter. The portable generator was cranked up and the house batteries given a top up until listening started about 0400. Only a few weak signals and hets were audible at this hour. By 0500 most frequencies had Latin signals with a few X band Yanks coming through; highlight being WMLB on1690. Around this time a few Mexicans also appeared. By 0800 several of the 50kw Yank channels had reasonable signals although noise levels were rising.
Friday saw the arrival of David Headland. A reasonable number of South Americans were in by 0430. Following a break for tea a return to the dials around 0700 showed a number of signals from Chile and Argentina unfortunately by 0730 the signals were beginning to flutter and dropped out shortly later, we should have eaten faster as we may have missed the best. A text from Bryan Clark indicated Spanish on 530, was he looking for Falkland Islands? Unfortunately Alexandra on 531 ruled this one out from Tiwai. Apart from a few X band stations and a couple of the stronger South Americans like Peru 1470, the b.c band was quiet for the rest of the evening.
Saturday afternoon saw the arrival of Southland branch members, Arthur Williams and Don Collie. A trek led by Steven over the paddocks and along the beach filled the early part of the afternoon. DX started again about 0400 and was dominated by Colombians with the highlight being the return of the 1510 Ecuadorian time signal station. Apart from a few regulars, signals faded out around 0800.
Bryan Clark and David Norrie phoned in from Mangawhai with a report of what they had been hearing – this illustrated the difference in conditions between the two locations and what was being heard. This was also the night the rats started playing in the roof.
Sunday saw the group meet up with some Southland Branch members for a visit to the Communications Museum at the old Awarua Radio site. We were welcomed by Brendon Sparks and Paul MacKay who presented a slide show on the history of ZLB Awarua Radio followed by a further show on the Invercargill telephone exchange, then a look at the various historical radio and communication exhibits.
Next stop was Eric McIntosh’s for a fish and chip lunch, it was supposed to include oysters but Paul had trouble finding a fish and chip shop open, let alone oysters. After an enjoyable lunch with Gwen, Raewyn, Phyllis and Bernice, the DXers headed out to Southland Branch member Colin McLean’s home to view the impressive collection of radio and electronic equipment he has collected.
Broadcast DX was a bit more promising this evening with several interesting signals from Argentina and a few new stations. Unfortunately it faded again by around 0800. Monday the Latins were in earlier with many interesting signals especially around 1300-1400 kHz, unfortunately they experienced a lot of fading and with the exception of a small input from the USA signals dropped out by 0800.Tuesday saw us packing up and heading home. Overall conditions were not as good as last year with earlier fadeouts and generally weaker signals, but we all had a good time and talked about whether this would really be the last Tiwai Easter get together.
Bryan Clark writes that it was most interesting to be able to compare medium wave receptions from the 2 locations in the same time periods, using mobile phones and text messaging. In the south, reception appeared to be more focussed on certain regions of South America such as Peru and Argentina, whereas in the north, stations were audible from as far north as Chicago, right down to Chile. However this probably reflects the differing antenna configurations at the 2 sites – Tiwai has longer Beverage antennas (up to 370 metres), which are far more directional than the short 100 metre BOG (Beverage on Ground) antennas used in Mangawhai. My listening highlights were both low frequencies – Morocco on 171 longwave and Voz Cristiana in the Caribbean on 530kHz. Both were unexpected, the first because longwave is generally very noisy, the second because of a semi-local station just 1kHz away! Reports have been written to both – my first sent out in over a year! Says David Norrie: Thanks to Bryan for the invite up, good conditions and some nice catches but the usual frustrating fade outs.. All part of the fun!
COMBINED EASTER TRAIL
171 1910 MOROCCO Medi 1, Nador at fair level 7/4 and 8/4. Popular music, FF
news at 1930. A surprising catch – I will pay more attention to this band
in future! Manga
530 0722 TURKS & CAICOS ISLAND Voz Cristiana surprisingly clear signal with
preacher in SS despite semi-local 531PI Auckland slop 6/4.
Followed till 0801, first time heard at Mangawhai. Only a heterodyne
audible at Tiwai Manga
580 0730 UNIDENTIFIED SS Religious programme 6/4. Tiwai
670 0520 CUBA CMBA Radio Rebelde Arroyo Arenas good with SS vocals
// 5025 SW 7/4. Manga
670 0524 CUBA R.Rebelde weak but clear // 5025 (very strong) co channel sports
whch was tentative WSCR IL 7/4. Manga
690 0737 CBU Vancouver, “Bridge over troubled water” not S and G version, fair
// 6160 which was good 7/4. Manga
710 0935 USA KIRO Seattle WA 6/4 with promo for their website www.710kiro.com
good signal. Manga
720 0709 USA WGN Chicago, IL(presumed), pushing through Radio National NZ at
times with talk. Manga
730 0650 PERU Radio Programas with frequent idents as Radio RPP. Tiwai
760 0730 USA KFMB, San Diego, CA, the Lars Larsson show phone in on
whether speaker should have gone to Syria, fair to good , co-channel
latin with lively music. Manga
760 0729 PERU Radio Mar Plus, Chorillas with regular idents, tropical music 7/4
over KFMB. Manga
770 0558 COLOMBIA HJJX female into vocal. Splash Tiwai
800 0609 NETHERLANDS ANTILLES Trans Mundial, Bonaire, good in SS, but
faded out. Manga
840 0700 ARGENTINA Radio Salta good with frequent Ids 8/4 Tiwai
840 0723 ARGENTINA? Classical music appeared parallel to 1190. 6/4 Tiwai
850 0645 ARGENTINA La Voz America presumed the one here with frequent Radio
Libertad idents. 8/4 Tiwai
850 0727 USA. KOA Denver CO Male ann. Wx “Rain, rain, rain and some snow,
high 51”. 5/4 Tiwai
860 0758 USA KTRB San Francisco CA with promo for “KTRB, the new… 8-60” 7/4,
then commercial. Manga
870 0510 USA WWLNew Orleans, with ad for “gold investor guide”, good. Manga
870 0536 ARGENTINA Radio Nacional fair with tango 6/4 mixed WWL on ‘Coast to
Coast AM’ and with Reloj Cuba also there. Manga
880 0645 PERU Radio Union , male announcer with calls of “Union Union” Tiwai
890 0546 CUBA CMDZ Radio Progreso, Chambas, fair but clear with popular Latin
vocals 9/4, parallel to 900 which was good level. Manga
900 0507 CUBA CMKP Radio Progreso, Cacocum has become a regular catch of
late, music and occasional idents 7/4. Manga
920 0609 USA KARN Little Rock AR good & clear for start of ‘Coast to Coast AM’
segment, advt for C.C.Crane Radio, 9/4. Manga
940 0740 USA KWRU Fresno CA good with SS religion 5/4 Tiwai
1010 0534 UNIDENTIFIED strong Latin here 9/4 with religious prgm, apparent ident
as “Radio La Vida” Manga
1100 0534 USA KFAX San Francisco CA with ident, religious prgms over/mixed unid
SS station, often 6/4. Manga
1110 0812 USA. KFAB Omaha NE talkback about shooting a bear. Tiwai
1170 0530 COLOMBIA HJNW Caracol with phone calls. Tiwai
1170 0750 AUSTRALIA 2CH Sydney NSW with ads for Sydney taxi service, very
good, 7/4. Manga
1180 0600 USA Radio Marti, Marathon FL excellent in SS, het later with NZer Tiwai
1200 0750 USA WOAI San Antonio TX fair with newstalk Tiwai
1220 0554 MEXICO XEB Mexico DF over unid Latin, ident with chimes “La B Grande”
at 0601 7/4. Manga
1230 0508 UNIDENTIFIED Latin on talkback format with mention of “Radio Nacional”
9/4, mixing XEB. Maybe Argentina? Manga
1220 0750 MEXICO XEB Mexico DF fair with vocals Tiwai
1250 0519 UNIDENTIFIED SS with idents as Radio Vitoria, La Voz de Lima. (I have
heard Radio Miraflores here relaying Radio Victoria Lima 780 in the
past. BC) Tiwai
1280 0628 BRAZIL Radio Tupi, Rio de Janeiro pushing through 1278 slop from time
to time 7/4 with morning greetings in PP. Manga
1290 0550 COLOMBIA HJKY RCN identification with frequencies at 0600 Tiwai
1320 0613 PERU Radio Nacional (presumed relayed by La Cronica Lima) music
format with regular idents for FM frequency 6/4, good over/mixed
XENET Mexico talker. Manga
1370 0516 UNIDENTIFIED SS poor modulation on Andean music, frequents idents as
Radio Catahuanta or similar two nights. Tiwai
1370 0616 COLOMBIA HJBO Barranquilla presumed the religious station with local
references 7/4, good. Manga
1380 0703 CHILE Radio Corporacion a regular with SS religious prgms, full ident of
Radio Corporacion and Radio Portales network stations at this time 7/4.
Also noted good at 1001 8/4, an hour before Santiago sunrise.,Manga
1380 0712 CHILE Radio Corporacion excellent with adverts. 6/4 Tiwai
1420 0554 COLOMBIA Unidentified 7/4 with music and talk, network ident
0600. Manga
1420 0750 ECUADOR Radio Bahai, fair with announcements of 24 horas. Tiwai
1470 0427 VENEZUELA – mentions of Latino and Valencia. Reports show Latino is
supposed to have changed name. Later dominated by CPN
Peru. 6/4 Tiwai
1470 0800 MEXICO XERCN? mixed with Peru earlier Tiwai
1520 0800 USA KOKC Oklahoma OK advert for Detroit Cavalcade then Nx. Tiwai
1540 0745 BAHAMAS Radio Bahamas. Singing Ident. Tiwai
1570 0630 MEXICO XERF Ciudad Acuna excellent SS talk Tiwai
1620 0715 US VIRGIN ISLANDS WDHP Saint Croix good BBC World Service Tiwai
1630 0630 USA KKGM Fort Worth Dallas TX poor gospel. 5/4 Tiwai
1630 0750 USA KKGM Dallas TX Bible study promo followed by Baseball schedule
for Tuesday. 9/4 Tiwai
1640 0529 USA WTNI Biloxi MS on sports talk 7/4, fluttery signal. Manga
1640 0600 USA WTNI Biloxi MS, ID as “Radio 1640 WTNI” carrying ESPN, Rob Myers
show, good. Manga
1640 0630 USA KDIA Vallejo, CA. excellent Relig talk in EE. 5/4 Tiwai
1640 0700 USA WTNI Biloxi MS Talk Radio. Tiwai
1660 0502 USA WCNZ FL ID as “Relevant Radio, the place I turn to” and religious
news. Manga
1660 0710 USA WCNZ Marco Island FL excellent with relig talk “Relevant
Radio” Tiwai
1670 0615 USA KHPY Marino Valley CA excellent with SS Religion. Tiwai
1690 0654 USA WVON Berwyn IL (pres), fading in above Radio Disney with African
American music and “talk to Chicago” and re song “Here’s
Hollywood” Manga
1690 0700 USA WMLB Avondale Heights GA,Voice of the Arts, classical music with
CBS Nxs on the hour. 5/4 Tiwai
1690 0640 USA KFSG Roseville CA poor- fair under WMLB in SS Tiwai
1700 0720 MEXICO XEPE Tecate EE ID “Cash 1700”. KVNS under. Tiwai
