Vaalkloof DXpedition
May 2004

By Gary Deacon

South Africa, despite a certain amount of static, would appear to be a good DX location for the reception of MW signals from around the globe. A typical DX session from this area would be as follows:
A few daytime groundwave signals from South Africa. (We are fortunate in that there are not too many local stations present). Sunset: MW stations from Africa/Asia and the Far East. Australian stations appear when reception conditions permit. Late evening: Europe and South America with strong signals from Brazil until sunrise. Early Morning: Caribbean/Central American stations. Dawn: USA stations when reception conditions permit.

Vaalkloof is a nature reserve in the Karoo desert, approximately 180 km north of Cape Town. A quiet location with no electricity - car batteries and parrifin lamps were the order of the day!

I was joined on this occassion by DX'er Vince Stevens who discovered this great site.

The luxury of three beverages (500m x 2 and one of approx 300m) together with a Yaesu FRG7, Icom R70 a newly aquired Drake R8 receiver produced the following results :

540 1725 25/5 INDIA AIR, Aizawl w local mx // 612 - poor

612 1725 25/5 INDIA AIR, Bangalore - poor

630 1615 25/5 INDIA AIR, Thrisoor // 1566 - poor/fair

720 1645 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6WF, Perth w ph-in - fair

729 1838 25/5 AUSTRALIA 5RN, Adelaide w ph-in - por/fair

820 0357 25/5 ST.KITTTS, Radio Paradise with rell pr. - poor/fair

828 1840 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6GN, Geraldton w mx - poor

882 1645 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6PR, Perth w ph-in - fair

900 1934 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6BY, Bridgetown w ad - v.poor

900 1540 24/5 INDIA AIR, Cuddapah with news in EE // 1566 poor

918 1545 24/5 INDIA AIR, Suratgarh // 1566 - poor

927 1546 24/5 INDIA AIR, Visakhapatnam // 1566 with id - poor

1044 1833 25/5 AUSTRALIA 5CS, Port Pirie with pops incl "You Needed Me" - v.poor

1062 1558 25/5 PHILLIPINES DZEC, Quezon City with id and signoff ann. - fair

1116 1835 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6MM, Mandurah w pops - poor/fair

1134 1538 25/5 INDIA AIR, Chinsurah in EE w news - fair

1143 1550 24/5 PHILIPPINES VOA relay, Poro with EE lesson - fair

1240 0514 24/5 USA UNIDENTIFIED with announcements - very poor

1242 1638 23/5 VIETNAM VOV, Hanoi with id in EE - fair

1250 0530 24/5 USA UNIDENTIFIED with OTR programme presented by Stan Freeberg with "Exploring Tomorrow" and "Amos And Andy" - fair peak

1359 1932 23/5 TAIWAN Family Radio with "Open Forum" a live broadcast // 1503 - good

1400 0210 26/5 GRENADA Harbour Light Of The Windwards, Carriacou w religious pr - poor/fair

1449 1855 23/5 AUSTRALIA 6TAB, Osborne Park with racing results - very poor

1503 1832 23/5 TAIWAN (Presumed) Family Radio in EE - very good and consistent signal

1510 0401 25/5 USA WLAC, Nashville TN with wx and id as "News Radio 1510 WLAC" - fair

1510 0445 26/5 USA WWZN, Boston MA w id as "15-10 The Zone" and sports news - fair/good

1512 1550 23/5 AUSTRALIA 6BAY, Geraldton with ann. and pops - fair

1520 0524 26/5 USA WWKB, Buffalo NY w id as "50 thousand watts KB Radio 15-20" - fair

1530 1459 26/5 PHILLIPINES DZME, Quezon City with id and sign-off - fair

1539 1804 25/5 THAILAND Phon Ror.Kao, Kanchanaburi with announcement - good

1540 0425 25/5 BAHAMAS ZNS1, Nassau with message - very good and consistent

1540 0515 26/5 USA WPTR Albany NY w ph-in - fair w QRM from Bahamas

1548 1640 26/5 AUSTRALIA 4QD, Emerald w ph-in poor under local

1557 1615 25/5 TAIWAN Family Radio with id and religious pr - fair

1560 0447 25/5 USA WQEW, New York N.Y. With Radio Disney id and anns. - poor

1566 1540 24/5 INDIA AIR Nagpur with news in EE - fair

1566 1635 26/5 KOREA (South Rep.) HLAZ Jeju w mx good. Noticable over India when selecting between the two beverages

1575 1620 23/5 MAURITIUS BBC Relay, Forest Side with interview - good

1575 1530 25/5 THAILAND VOA Relay, Ayutthaya with news report - fair with QRM from BBC

1600 0412 24/5 USA WWRL, New York NY with ph-in re hair transplant advice, Id @ 0357 - fair

1611 1958 25/5 VATICAN Vatican Radio w s/on - poor

1611 1815 25/5 AUSTRALIA 6GS, Margaret River (Presumed) w pops incl "Baker Street" - poor

1620 1759 25/5 AUSTRALIA Radio 2, Perth with pops incl "That’s What Friends Are For" - poor

1615 26/6 also noted w id as "Radio 2" and easy listening adult contemporary pop format

1620 2215 23/5 AMERICAN VIRGIN IS. WDHP, Fredricksted noted fading in. 0504 24/5 also noted with messages incl "National Storm Water Week" - very good peaks

1620 0406 26/5 USA WTAW, College Station w id - poor under WDHP

1630 0352 26/5 USA UNIDENTIFIED w msg - v.poor

1650 0503 25/5 USA WHKT, Portsmouth VA Radio Disney with id and ann. - poor

1660 0413 26/5 USA WWRU, Elizabeth NJ with id - fair

1660 0500 26/5 USA WCNZ , Marco Island FL w news - fair

1670 0505 26/5 USA WNWR, Dry Branch GA w id and ph-in - poor

1680 0501 26/5 USA UNIDENTIFIED w news - v.poor

1690 0324 26/5 USA WRLL, Berwyn IL with oldies mx, id @ 0502 - poor

1700 0517 25/5 USA KVNS (ex KQXX), Brownsville TX with "Coast To Coast" phone-in pr most consistent of of the USA X-Banders heard every morning - fair with good peaks

Good openings to the Far East were noted every evening with many unidentified stations across the band.

X-Band opening occured every evening to Australian West Coast and every morning to USA East Coast with variable distant static.

QSLs

Finally, a little about myself. I am a performer, composer and teacher of the guitar/bass guitar. Apart from performing with my own band, I have been teaching part time at the college of music, University of Cape Town since 1992. I have been DXing since 1973. I have been a member of the SADXC and the 34 DX Club - both were local DX clubs that sadly no longer exist.

My main interest is the reception of distant stations on the MW band.

I have been collecting QSL's and have been fortunate to have received many firsts/ not often heard stations in South Africa :

The following were heard/reported for the first time in South Africa :

USA :

WKIX, Raleigh NC 850 kHz 23/1/86 (First report from outside the USA)

Although a "first" for SA - USA station WFBR, Baltimore MA President/General Manager, Harry Shriver mentioned that a number of reports had been received from Europe and Scandinavia.

WAME, Charlotte NC 1480 kHz 4/6/86 (Possibly the most distant report, according to the reply)

CANADA :

CKEC, New Glasgow NS 1320 kHz 29/10/91

AUSTRALIA :

6KY, Perth 1206 kHz (17/8/85)

5PI, Port Pirie 1044 kHz (25/6/86) (First report from the African Continent)

2CH, Sydney 1170 kHz (25/6/86)

5CC, Port Lincoln 765 kHz (7/7/87) (Most distant in this direction, according to the reply).

3LO, Melbourne 774 kHz (15/4/92) (Most distant in this direction, according to the reply).

NEW ZEALAND :

4ZB, Dunedin 1044 kHz (25/6/86) (The reception of New Zealand here is very rare !)

UNITED KINGDOM :

LBC, London 1152 kHZ 13/11/85 (Record distance, according to Roger Francis, head of Eng.)

I am also very fortuntate to have received verifications from the following low power stations :

ASCENSION ISLAND :

Volcano Radio 1602 kHz with 500 watts 5/5/79

BBC Relay 1485 kHz with 500 watts 15/9/91

ST. HELENA :

Radio St. Helena 1548 kHz with 500 watts 15/5/85

DIEGO GARCIA :

AFRTS 1485 kHz with 200 watts 16/7/91 (Heard for the first time in SA - rare).

More recently I received a reply from KQXX, Brownsville TX 1700kHz with 500 watts on 28/9/03

I hope that the above report will provide some information on MW reception and DX'peditions in South Africa!

(published on June 30, 2004)