by Craig Edwards

December 2005

Nhulunbuy in Northern Australia is a remote coastal location where not many Australians will ever visit because it's so difficult to get there. It's the kind of place where serious DXers would love to go and do their 'once in a lifetime' DXpedition. I can imagine this place being like Newfoundland, Miscou Island or Grayland for North American DXers and Lemmenjoki, Kongsfjord or Parkalompolo for Europeans. I'm not sure if anyone has ever been DX'ing from this location, but I'm glad I have. This article is not a 'large-scale week-long DXpedition' report, but rather it's the first instalment of hopefully many DX reports from a place I have just moved to live for the next for 3 years.

Introduction

I really don't recall the conversation with my wife Michelle that led me here. It's not everyday that your wife offers you the opportunity to visit a potential DX paradise. I don't know how she agreed to it, but the bottom line is that I've accepted a three-year contract to work as a Public Health Nutritionist in Nhulunbuy while she remains in our home in Adelaide, South Australia. More about where Nhulunbuy is in a moment.

As far as Michelle is concerned, the plan is for me is to get this weird radio stuff out of my system and then return home to Adelaide for us to start having children. So this will almost certainly be a 'once in my lifetime' opportunity. My family and friends are still shaking their heads at me, especially as none of my friends know I'm a DXer. Well come on, it's not the kind of thing you advertise in the real world is it? The only close friend of mine who understands why I would do this move is my best mate Dave Onley, mind you, he is a DXer with DXpeditioning in his blood, so he's not really a member of regular society either.

The view out of my window at work - no more big cities for me

I can't emphasise how grateful I am for my lovely wife agreeing to this. Michelle knows that my career has been orientated to working in Aboriginal health, which generally means working in rural and semi-remote locations. Fortunately this has meant that I've been able to capitalise on DX opportunities through such career endeavours since we've been married. For example Townsville in Queensland and Murray Bridge (near the Coorong) in South Australia. However this situation is different, in those places we both lived together like a normal married couple. By working in Nhulunbuy it means I'm located in a very isolated and remote part of Australia some 2529 km (1571 miles) from my wife, family, friends and home in Adelaide, South Australia. This will obviously become a great challenge over the period we are apart, especially as I'll probably only fly back to Adelaide 4 or 5 times per year. I'll tell you more about the work I'll be doing here in future articles.

Nnnhull…what is this placed called? Where the hell is this place?

Nhulunbuy is pronounced NOOL-UN-BOY

Latitude 12° 13' 60S Longitude 136° 46' 0E

The township of Nhulunbuy is on the Gove Peninsula, in the northeast corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia

Nhulunbuy is the name of the town and Gove is the name of the Peninsula that the town is located on, both names are used interchangeably but they mean the same place.

Nhulunbuy was originally established as a mining town when Alcan began operating there in the early 1970s. Alcan currently leases the Gove Peninsula and township area from local Aboriginal communities and plays a large role in supporting the community. The Alcan operation consists of the mining, processing and export of bauxite and alumina and is our region's largest employer.

Our population is made up of around 4,000 non-Aboriginal Australians (Caucasians) who live mainly in Nhulunbuy with a surrounding population of about 10,000 Aboriginal Australians. Most of the Aboriginal population live in 12 remote communities and numerous tiny extremely remote Aboriginal homelands located on the mainland and adjacent islands. Nhulunbuy has since developed as the 'functional centre' for government departments and organisations providing services to East Arnhem Land. There are 16 major Aboriginal language groups of which there are many dialects.

East Arnhem Land is considered one of the most isolated regions in Australia with a lack of sealed roads (except in the Nhulunbuy township) and very little road transport. ALL roads around Nhulunbuy are impassable for varying periods during the 'wet season'. Most population movement throughout the East Arnhem Land region is therefore by light aircraft. Supplies are carried 650km from Darwin by barge along the coast to Nhulunbuy and other coastal communities.

There are wildly spectacular and beautiful beaches surrounding Nhulunbuy and this place is famous for its fishing. Beaches and camping areas are within easy driving distance by 4-wheel drive vehicles. As a resident of Nhulunbuy, we are constantly reminded that although this is a tropical paradise, there are dangers. There are many sharks in the ocean, there are crocodiles in rivers, oceans and estuaries. Stingers (Chironex box jellyfish) inhabit the waters all year round but are prolific from October to May. Irikanji and other jellyfish inhabit the waters at all times of the year. Water Buffalos wander into the township from the bush, especially during the dry season and must be treated with respect and not approached. And then there are the snakes.

Nhulunbuy's climate does not have spring, summer autumn or winter seasons. It is hot and tropical, with two distinct seasons, the "dry" and the "wet", with a build up season in between. During the "dry season" we apparently experience cloudless skies, warm days, balmy nights and cool breezes. During the "wet season", the monsoons commence in December and continue until May. This is when thunderstorms are common, and heavy rainfall events can occur, particularly when a tropical cyclone is nearby. The cyclone season in northern Australia is November to April, and tropical cyclones are a possibility at any time during this period. As I write this article Tropical Cyclone Clare is battering the north west coast of Western Australia.

Time to move north

In late November I packed up and freighted via rail all my possessions in order to receive them a few weeks later in Nhulunbuy. On Sunday December 4, I flew out of my home in Adelaide and flew to Darwin to meet my boss and start my orientation. My boss is actually based 645km from Nhulunbuy in Darwin. On Thursday December 8, we then flew to Nhulunbuy so that I could meet the locals and orientate myself to my home for the next 3 years. I was staying in hospital quarters the first couple of nights with no car or radio equipment, so DX was not on my mind, all I could think of was the weather.

The weather was a real shock to my system, having left Adelaide where summer hadn't really kicked in yet, I went to Nhulunbuy in "the build up" period before the wet season. Temperatures were 34 degrees C (97 F) during the day and 26 C (79 F) during the night. But the humidity was at a stifling 90+%, one morning it was 98%!!!! I thought Townsville, Queensland was humid at the start of their wet season, my god this place was incredibly debilitating. All I did was sweat, sweat, sweat, even in the air-conditioned health centre.

Being the new guy, people had planned a couple evenings of socialising. So in my first two nights in Nhulunbuy, I'd been drunk at the Boat Club, the Surf Club, the topless bar and the Arnhem Club bar/restaurant - hmmm, I could see myself doing very little DXing here in Nhulunbuy if I'm not careful. On Saturday December 10, my hangover and I moved into my new unit. Virtually all housing in Nhulunbuy is purpose built for staff in either the mines or in Northern Territory Government or Commonwealth of Australia Government jobs. You can't simply ring up a real estate agent to rent or buy one - cos there ain't none! The unit I'm renting now is the one that the person whose position I'm replacing used to live in. There are many oddities and differences in life here that I will share with you in upcoming articles.

My unit is simple but adequate with 1 bedroom, kitchen, toilet/laundry, living/dining area, and most importantly a little backyard for EWEs. The bedroom, kitchen and living room all have ceiling fans, but the bedroom is the only room that also has refrigerated air-conditioning. For this reason I decided that the bedroom was also going to be the DX room.

I can't describe how tough it was not being acclimatised to the heat and humidity while trying to unpack and move all my furniture, I'm sure I was running on adrenalin for my curiosity of the DX potential of this place was killing me, I had to keep unpacking. I didn't have my car yet, so I couldn't even check out what could be heard on the car radio at night.

On Sunday morning I decided to put up a EWE in the back yard, just one to see if it worked. As I surveyed the small yard I could feel it being full of life, every few steps I took resulted in sounds of scurrying little lizards, every movement in the tropical undergrowth had me momentarily wondering if it was a snake who had settled into my yard which had been undisturbed for the past couple of months. On top of this, at 7:30am the temperature was already in the 30's and the radio announced the humidity was 93%. After a couple of minutes of walking outside I was wet with sweat. So I had to be quick, the weather was so very oppressive.

I managed to put up a standard 3m x 15m x 3m (10ft x 45 ft x 10ft) EWE with palm trees as wire supports. Unfortunately I had not found my balun yet, this was not added until a week or so later. The big problem was earthing. I brought up some lovely new hard drawn copper pipes 1.5m (5ft) long from Adelaide. The first two hits with the small sledgehammer were fine, but that was it. The soil is made of orange bauxite, there is at best 10cm (4 inches) of soft bauxite on the surface, but under that it's like a slab of concrete. You'd need a jackhammer to get through. So my compromise was to dig a shallow trench as deep as I could and lay the copper pipe in this trench and bury it. Over time I'll try and enrich this with soil purchased from the hardware store to improve the effect of the earthing. The EWE bearing is at 50 degrees towards USA, my reason for this being that I really wanted to know whether I could hear any North Americans from home. I have plans for other antennas but I was very keen to just get on with listening. It was difficult working on the EWE terminations, I'd be kneeling down with a tropical spider web in my face, having flies and mosquitoes buzzing around me, little lizards running everywhere, I'd be looking out for snakes and then there was the HEAT. My clothes were saturated with perspiration, it was like someone was following me around the backyard squeezing sponges over my head - this "build up" period before the wet season was horrible.

The listening begins

Water path to RRI Merauke 810 kHz (572km/355 miles)

I set up a temporary listening post on my bedside cabinet with my R75 and amplifier powered by a 12V car battery. I started using my usual cassette recorder, however a few days later I changed over to my newly acquired little mp3 recorder, which is sensational, and only the size of my thumb. The results were very pleasing. Apart from local 8GO 990, in the middle of the day I could clearly hear 567 4JK Julia Creek, 585 NBC Port Moresby, 630 4QN Townsville, 765 RRI, 774 RRI Fak Fak, 810 RRI Merauke, 1044 4WP Weipa, 1062 4TI Thursday Island and 1260 4MW Thursday Island. So clearly the EWE was working in its intended direction. In fact RRI Merauke can be clearly heard at noon on the car radio as I drive around town at almost local levels - it's 572 km (355 miles) from me but it's a coast to coast water path, even NBC Port Moresby can be heard at noon on the car radio at fair levels and they are 1178 km (732 miles) from me, again the water path is to thank for that. I know it's stupid, but just being able to hear 3 countries on the car radio as I drive around town really puts me in DXpedition mode and is so exciting - aaah it's something only a DXer can understand.

Water path to NBC Port Moresby 585 kHz (1178km/732 miles)

Over the period Sunday December 11 to Saturday December 23 I would come home from work to cook, eat and then hit the dials by 0830 UTC or 6:00pm local which was an hour before sunset, and that's when signals from Japan and the Pacific would start to show a pulse. Then as darkness approached I'd look for signs of life under the hets on the 10 kHz splits. Nothing super spectacular was heard although the fact that 730 KNOM Alaska and 1180 Radio Rebelde, Cuba could be heard meant that good Trans-Pacific DX is possible from home when conditions allow. Predominantly there were higher power Californians heard simply because of the man-made noise, it was not horrendous, but high enough to prevent some of the lower power North Americans to punch through.

The South-East Asians were great fun with abundant Japanese, North and South Korean, Philippines, Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonesians to hunt. You'll see in the trail some logs of NHK frequencies with multiple stations, so I'll need to get local IDs on these, but that will come in time. I use the analogy that I feel like an explorer who has just landed on a beautiful virgin beach. During this December 11-23 period I basically walked casually up and down the beach picking up the shells that were easy to see. Sure I knew there were other shells buried under the surface, in the shallows and maybe even in the deep water or jungle thicket. But there was no need to panic, I could come back in the New Year and get those harder to find shells, after all I had this beach to myself for 3 years and there is plenty of time to explore and hunt. So this trail is full of the easy to spot shells sitting on the surface of the beach. Over the coming years there will be various antenna set-ups and methods of chasing signals, particularly for North America, Europe and Africa which I'll probably need to employ.

ABC Radio 8GO 990 kHz

The noise levels surprised me. I was expecting two problems, firstly man-made noise due to living in a unit with neighbours with TVs, air conditioners, fluoro lights and maybe touch lamps, etc. This was certainly there, but I couldn't do much about it because as soon as I arrived in my unit I turned the air-conditioner on and there it stayed on 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The second form of noise, which I thought would be a big problem, would be the afternoon thunderstorm static and lightning crashes. But fortunately there were no static crashes at all.

Transmitting tower of 8GO

Another huge surprise was the lack of Australian stations on the band. I attribute this to the EWE that was pointed towards the top of Queensland to North America with southern Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria simply not being audible because they were on the side of the EWE. This was the key difference between listening from here and Townsville where I had lots of trouble with interference from Queensland and New South Wales stations. In Nhulunbuy even the other NT stations on 639, 657, 684, 900, 1242 and 1530 were very poor compared to the stronger signals to the north.

On the beach looking straight ahead

On my first weekend in Nhulunbuy I was obviously unpacking the house, but during that week my car was barged across from Darwin. So on my second weekend on Saturday December 17 I figured it was time to have a little drive around to see any future DX spots and to have a look around my new town. I managed to easily find the local AM transmitter, the 8GO 990 kHz ABC transmitter relays ABC Darwin 105.7 FM and for only 500 watts really puts out a big signal (this has been heard in the Coorong). It can cause spurs so I only have the R75 on pre-amp 1 setting. This avoids most problems except for a mess on 990 +/- 69.8 kHz which destroys 920 and 1060 kHz and of course the splash from 972 - 1008 kHz, but hey I can live with that.

On the beach looking left

I really wanted to find some beach sites that were very close to town to string out a wire in the future. There are many unknowns and dangers here, especially at night. So I won't be venturing out by myself until I understand more about this foreign and exotic land I'm in. Just a few minutes drive from my unit I found a potential site at a town beach car park, although there are Crocodile warning signs.

On the beach looking behind me

It's amazing to live in a town where there are so many beaches, but there are so few people and very few visitors due to the difficulty in getting to Nhulunbuy. The following photos are at another beach only 7 minutes drive from my unit and as you can see the beach is deserted. The strange thing is that the photos were taken at lunchtime on a Saturday - it's little moments like that, which remind me how remote this place is.

On the beach looking right

The following weekend was Christmas, so on Christmas Eve I hopped on a plane in the morning and flew to Cairns in Queensland. I had 5 hours to wait in the airport before my connecting flight home to Adelaide. So I took this opportunity to buy some US $1 notes seeing though North American reception reports would be on the agenda in the near future. With five hours up my sleeve I promptly found the airport bar, sat myself down and used my wonderful new DX toy - the mp3 recorder, to start analysing my logs from the past two weeks while demolishing an unhealthy number of VB beers - pinch me - I'm in DXer heaven. After such a big interstate move, starting a new job, setting up my unit and DXing every night, it was nice to get home and forget about listening for a week.

You're looking at one hot but happy DXer

Another bonus of being in Adelaide was the fact that my fellow DXpeditioner in crime Dave Onley had brought over his wife and 3 year old son from Geelong, Victoria (~700km from Adelaide) to spend the week in Adelaide too. Both our wives sensed a conspiracy theory where they thought the only reason for us both being in Adelaide was to talk radio and plan a DXpedition in Nhulunbuy in the future. It was good for both our wives to finally meet and for me to meet Dave's son Matty. I'd only met Dave's wife Karin once when he dragged her along to a DXpedition in Victoria in December 2001 at the end of his bloody honeymoon!

When I returned home to Adelaide after being away for 3 weeks, I found my wife had put my QSLs under the Christmas tree and my obedient dog 'Padula' was guarding them.

It was a great afternoon the day after Boxing Day catching up with the Onley's. We'd bought little Matty a cricket bat and Australian Rules football, especially important considering they are heading off to live in Holland in late 2006. You see we have plans for Matty to be captain of the Dutch one-day cricket team to play in the 2022 World Cup after he becomes an accomplished 6 MHz Dutch pirate radio operator. It was soon time for the men to apply heat to the meat and stand around the BBQ drinking Coopers Pale Ale while the women sat at the picnic table to have a DWA meeting - DXers Wives Anonymous. This was my wife Michelle's first chance to talk to another DXer wife and I'm sure the therapy was worthwhile.

We forgot to cook up a pack of rissoles, so we decided to hold another BBQ on my last night in Adelaide on New Years Eve, this time at our house. I think Karin was very nervous that we were conspiring to plan a secret Nhulunbuy DXpedition near the end of 2006 before Dave and his family depart for Holland. What she doesn't know is that Dave is planning to come up for a month 8^)

New Years Day I dragged myself to the airport and flew back up to Nhulunbuy. It feels rather strange writing a sensible article without rainbow wigs, movie spin-offs or nudity. Rest assured such irresponsibility is bound to resume sometime in the New Year.

TRAIL

PACIFIC

567 0826 KGUM Agana, Guam. Battling it out with 4JK. US network pgm, ads such as KFC & Veterans of America then 'K-57' local ID on the half hour. Even though 4JK can be heard here even at midday, KGUM is a nightly regular from this time & heard throughout the night - it's the best of the 3 Guam stations here. Dec 11 (CE)

585 xxxx NBC Port Moresby, PNG. IDs as 'This is Karai Radio - the Voice of Papua New Guinea' etc. This is audible all day long at fair levels & then obviously stronger from late afternoon until sign off. It's great to hear my old mate here all day long just like in my Townsville days. This was an uneventful channel until a little diamond sparkled here on December 14…… (CE)

585 0844 Radio Sandaun, PNG. This evening I noted there were two stations which was really weird. NBC Port Moresby had music programming // 4890 but there was something in English underneath. I hung around thinking maybe the local ABC Radio 8GO in Gove was overloading the radio - but no. There were local news items in English which was heavily accented like a Pacific Island station. Over the next 30 minutes this station was actually equal to or even stronger than NBC Port Moresby. During a brief NBC Port Moresby fade I noted a Radio Sandaun ID with local news items mixing with NBC Port Moresby who were having a music show. At 0900 both stations had NBC News // 4890 with a slight half a second difference between the two. Once I realised the ID's for Radio Sandaun I checked 3205 and it was //. After news 585 had separate programs again. Both were heard through the next few hours. I last checked Radio Sandaun around 1145 and it was there but gone (just like 3205) at 1208 UT so I presume it is a 1200 sign off. I can't think why on earth PNG would commission two stations on 585? Since then both stations have been operating & audible each night. Just for interest the listed 1593 which used to be heard from PNG // 3205 is not audible here, only Truk Island. Dec 14 (CE)

612 0853 KUAM Agana, Guam. Fairly good at times with Kmart & Ford ads, then program annc 'You're watching Gatorade Sports Extra'. Dec 14 (CE)

650 1305 KRTR Honolulu, Hawaii. Playing non-stop EZL/AC music like 'My Guy', 'Memories' & 'Killing Me Softly', faded in the mush before any announcements heard. Dec 13 (CE)

801 1102 KTWG Agana, Guam. Great to get this, only heard once I think when I was in Townsville, but audible most nights here, although North Korea makes a horrible mess on this frequency. Noted at fair levels with religious 'Focus on the Family' program in EE. Dec 11. On Dec 23 noted at 0930 with local ID as 'our saviour Jesus Christ right here on KTWG' (CE)

830 1256 KHVH Honolulu, Hawaii. Good with ID 'at the top of the hour, this is news radio 830'. Dec 13 (CE)

900 0930 Radio West New Britain, site?, PNG. Listed as NBC Karai Radio/R Eastern Highlands in Goroka & listed to be // 4890. Noted Pidgin English & eventually worked out this was carrying music show called Pacific Beat with programming from Radio West New Britain // 3235 and not // 4890. Prior to 1000 giving 'ten o'clock' time check. Has been pretty regular since // 3235. Dec 19. (CE)

945 0944 SIBC Honiara, Solomon Islands. Fair mixing with NHK, carrying market prices in heavily accented English for the North-West Co-operative for Papua & Polynesia in the Solomon Islands. Dec 23 (CE)

1035 1150 SIBC Honiara, Solomon Islands. Fair with 'Weekend Music Show' in EE then ad for gas appliance store in Honiara. Dec 11 (CE)

1040 1410 KLHT Honolulu, Hawaii. Fair here with usual Christian music format. Dec 13 (CE)

1210 1140 KZOO Honolulu, Hawaii. Poor with JJ music show. Dec 13 (CE)

1420 1136 KKEA Honolulu, Hawaii. Good with ESPN sports. Dec 13 (CE)

1460 1406 KHRA Honolulu, Hawaii. Very good with usual Korean format. Dec 13 (CE)

1500 0828 KUMU Honolulu, Hawaii. Very good with newstalk, usual long KUMU ID. Dec 12 (CE)

1540 1250 KREA Honolulu, Hawaii. Good with usual Korean format. Dec 13 (CE)

1593 0930 V6AK Moen, Chuuk (Truk). Becoming a nightly regular now, but like Palau 1584, never really strong. Presumed Trukese MA talks with weather report & then into back to back old EE C&W songs from artists like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers & The Eagles. Dec 15. A little later in the week they would intersperse this with xmas carols. (CE)

ASIA

531 1836 JOQG Morioka, Japan. Poor under 4KZ with NHK1 network JJ music show // 594. Dec 16 (CE)

540 1838 NHK1 Network, Japan. Fair with NHK1 network JJ music show // 531. Dec 16 (CE)

549 1210 RV162 Tavrichanka, Russia. Fair with Radio Mayak program, music pieces & brief Russians talks by MA & FA, mixed with CNR. Dec 11 (CE)

549 1210 CNR Fujian, China. Very good yet over modulated with MA talks in CC // 1116 over the Russian. Dec 16 (CE)

549 1840 JOAP Naha, Japan. Fair with NHK1 network JJ music show // 531 & 540. Dec 16 (CE)

558 1211 DZXL Manila, Philippines. Good mixing with 4AM, noted in Tagalog with cigarettes ad (with EE disclaimer) & 'DZXL' jingle. Dec 12 (CE)

567 1845 JOIK Sapporo, Japan. Noted mixing with KGUM, NHK1 network JJ music show // 531, 540 & 549. Dec 16 (CE)

576 1130 DXMF Davao City, Philippines. Good in Tagalog with Honda ad then 'Radio Bombo' IDs & 'Bombo Network News'. Dec 12 (CE)

585 1304 DXCP Santos City, Philippines. Only noted briefly & no ID so only tentative. Poor under Japan & strong NBC Port Moresby open carrier. Heard with religious pgm in US accented EE. Dec 16. (CE)

585 1449 JOPG Kushiro, Japan. Noted under NBC open carrier with FA talks in JJ // 594 (CE)

594 0830 JOAK Tokyo, Japan. Excellent and the most powerful of all NHK1 outlets. First fades in (along with 693) around 0815 UTC which is over an hour before local sunset & heard all night long. Dec 11 (CE)

594 1420 DZBB Quezon City, Philippines. Fair under JOAK with references to GMA network & ID'ing as 'Number one D Z double B' & 'On Super Radyo D Z double B'. Dec 16 (CE)

612 1106 DYHP Cebu City, Philippines. Fair in the mix with KUAM with 'RMN Cebu Newsbreak'. Dec 12 (CE)

621 1831 Pyongyang Bangsong, Chongjin, North Korea. Good signal in the clear with typical fanfare music pieces // 657. Dec 16 (CE)

621 1115 DXDC Davao City, Philippines. Good here with excited 'DXDC! - DXDC! - RMN!' being shouted. Dec 12 (CE)

639 0909 JOPB Shizuoka, Japan. Fair in a messy jumble of signals but this was on top with world news in Portuguese carrying NHK2 // 693. Dec 14 (CE)

657 1831 Pyongyang Pangsong, North Korea. Fair signal in KK with typical fanfare music pieces // 657. Dec 16 (CE)

666 1822 JOBK Osaka, Japan. Fair over unid CC station with NHK1 music show in JJ // 594. Dec 16 (CE)

666 2025 DZRH Valenzuela, Philippines. Good this morning with political program with numerous mentions of DZRH, mixing with JOBK. Dec 17 (CE)

675 0918 JOVK or JOUG, Japan. Pretty good signal but a messy channel, carrying NHK1 JJ program // 594, will need to check this a bit earlier for local ID. Dec 14 (CE)

684 1134 CNR Fujian, China. Solid signal mostly with FA talk in CC // 1089. Dec 12 (CE)

693 0855 JOAB Tokyo, Japan. Very strong this one. 693 is the NHK2 version of 594 NHK1 for me here - i.e. a mega powerful marker station to check parallel frequencies. Again fades in from around an hour or so before local sunset here. Noted at 0859 with local Tokyo NHK ID. Dec 11 (CE)

702 0903 DZAS Valenzuela, Philippines. Pretty good with US accented English religious programs 'you're listening to the Voice of God'. But have heard this while tuning the band a couple of times with local DZAS ID's in English at TOH. Dec 11 (CE)

702 1215 RRI Manokwari, Papua (Irian Jaya). Fair signal with MA & FA talks in Indo mixing with DZAS. Retuned at 1256 to get RRI ID. Dec 15 (CE)

711 0925 HLKA Sorae, South Korea. The most regular KBS1 outlet here (along with maybe 1467) with very good signal in KK stronger than 4QW. Noted FA with KBS ID then into MA talks after 0930. Dec 14 (CE)

720 0906 RV679 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. Very good in Russian with Radio Mayak IDs & world news items. Also heard this later in the evenings carrying Voice of Russia Japanese service. Dec 11 (CE)

729v 0830 RRI Nabire?, Papua (Irian Jaya). I'm suspecting this is RRI Nabire, I'm 99% sure it's a Papua station judging by the propagation of this one. In the early evening around 0830-0900 would carry call to prayers but no IDs on the hour at 0900. Noted one evening with SCI at 1200 then RRI ID & Jakarta news but no local province noted, other times there is dead air just before 1200 & then straight into Jakarta news. On Dec 11, 12 & 14 was on 729.0 but on Dec 13 & 15 was on 728.25. Usually very strong but fights it out with powerhouse JOCK. (CE)

729 0909 JOCK Nagoya, Japan. Good but fighting with RRI. Noted with NHK1 in JJ with MA/FA talks // 594. Dec 11 (CE)

738 0920 BEL2 Taiwan Area Fishery Broadcasting Station, Baisha, Taiwan. Good in Taiwanese with usual format. Giving weather for Hong Kong apparently & noted // 1143. Dec 13 (CE)

747 0845 JOIB Sapporo, Japan. Very good here with NHK2 Portuguese program // 693. Dec 11 (CE)

756 1816 JOGK Kumamoto, Japan. Pretty good here with JJ NHK1 music show // 594. Dec 16 (CE)

765 0916 RRI Tual?, Maluku. Good here & dominant on channel with series of EE xmas carols. Retuned at 1030 to catch RRI ID without any province listed. Tual is listed but I'm not sure it's them, RRI - yes, but I have a feeling this is in Papua. Still need to confirm whether it's Tual or not. Dec 13 (CE)

765 1053 CNR Fujian, China. Good over the mix of others with more contemporary CC music show // 1089. Dec 12 (CE)

774 0925 RRI Fak Fak, Papua (Irian Jaya). Strong here but usually so is powerhouse JOUB too! Call to prayers then into RRI ID on half hour. This one can usually be heard at midday on the car radio when I'm parked on the edge of the beach! Dec 11 (CE)

774 0925 JOUB Akita, Japan. Strong & sharing the channel with RRI, noted with NHK2 news in Spanish // 828. Dec 11 (CE)

801.15 0945 Pyongyang Bansong, Hwadae, North Korea. Animated propaganda speech in KK with fanfare almost totally stuffing up 801 later in the evenings. Dec 12 (CE)

810 xxxx RRI Merauke, Papua (Irian Jaya). Much like 585, this is a wonderful exotic non-Aussie station heard all day long and clearly at midday driving around Nhulunbuy on my car radio - very cool. Merauke is on the south coast of Papua & I'm 572 km directly over a water path. Shows the power of the coastal site & water path, for instance Katherine is 546km inland from me & they put in feeble signals in at night & obviously nothing during the day. (CE)

828 0928 JOBB Osaka, Japan. Noted quickly in passing with very good signal carrying NHK2 Spanish service // 693. Dec 11 (CE)

837 1214 DYFM Iloilo City, Philippines. Good in Tagalog with 'Radio Xmas Special - number one for radio - Bombo!' ID. Dec 12 (CE)

846 2018 DZRV Quezon City, Philippines. Good with religious programs in presume Tagalog, with 'Radio Veritas' IDs. Dec 17 (CE)

873 1050 JOGB Kumamoto, Japan. Fair with MA/FA talks in JJ // 693. Dec 14 (CE)

882 0905 JOPK Shizuoka, Japan. Good with MA/FA talks in JJ // 594. Dec 13 (CE)

891 1809 HLKB Busan, South Korea. Good strength but so was JOHK. Noted with 2 MA with KK talk // 711. Dec 16 (CE)

891 1809 JOHK Sendai, Japan. As mentioned above, good strength but so was it's KBS buddy. Noted with NHK1 music show in JJ // 594. Dec 16 (CE)

909 0915 RRI Sorong, Papua (Irian Jaya). Just had this on without the headphones as I was packing my suitcase getting ready to depart home to Adelaide for the festive season!!! Nice xmas carols show with brief MA in Indo with RRI ID on the half hour. Dec 23 (CE)

927 2013 NHK1 Network, Japan. Fair hear with MA talks in JJ carrying NHK1 // 594. Dec 17 (CE)

945 0913 NHK1 Network, Japan. Fair here with MA talks in JJ carrying NHK1 // 882. Dec 13 (CE)

945 1235 CNR multiple locations, China. Fair with MA talks in CC // 1035. Dec 12 (CE)

954 1039 JOKR Tokyo, Japan. Strong here with JJ talkshow. Dec 11 (CE)

954 1039 RRI Kendari, Sulawesi. No ID heard but this is likely the one, noted under JOKR but reasonable at times with Indo music pieces // 4000.15. Dec 11 (CE)

963 1228 DYMF Cebu City, Philippines. Fair here with ID as 'numero uno news Cebu - Radyo Bombo'. Dec 12 (CE)

963 2008 NHK1 Network, Japan. Fair with NHK1 program with MA talks in JJ // 594. Dec 17 (CE)

1008 2000 JONR Osaka, Japan. Fair with FA in JJ with 'ABC Radio' jingle then talks. Dec 17 (CE)

1026 1125 RRI Serui, Papua (Irian Jaya). Usually a very strong signal here come nightfall. Xmas carols in Indo then RRI ID by MA. Dec 15 (CE)

1026 1130 DZAR Quezon City, Philippines. While listening to above log's xmas carols & waiting for RRI ID, up popped from nowhere this one with ad for peer education products in Tagalog with 'DZAR' ID, then away it went & back to RRI dominating. Dec 15 (CE)

1035 1235 CNR Multiple locations, China. Good with MA talks in CC // to other CNR's. Dec 12 (CE)

1044 1146 RRI Biak, Papua (Irian Jaya). All over 4WP with pop mx show in Indo with RRI IDs. Dec 12 (CE)

1053 1152 RRI Jayapura, Papua (Irian Jaya). Fair mixing with JOAR. Xmas carols in EE & Indo, then RRI ID & Jakarta news at 1200. Dec 12 (CE)

1053 1152 JOAR Nagoya, Japan. Mixing in & out with RRI with JJ talks but noted nice CBC IDs on the hour before news feed started from Jakarta. Dec 12 (CE)

1071 1946 JOFK Hiroshima, Japan. Good with NHK1 program of MA talk in JJ // 594. Dec 17 (CE)

1080 1759 China Radio International, Kunming, China. Fair with ID 'You're tuned to the English service of China Radio International' then web, email & snail mail details then pgm s/off. Dec 16 (CE)

1080.4 0855 KCBS Haeju, North Korea. Strong messy signal stuffing up 1080 with mind numbing typical KK mx pieces from KCBS // 2850. Dec 12 (CE)

1089 1204 CNR Fujian, China. Strong with MA/FA CC talks // 765. Dec 11 (CE)

1107 0840 JOCF Kagoshima, Japan. Early fade in late afternoon with FA talks in JJ. Dec 13 (CE)

1116 1210 CNR Fujian, China. Fair with MA talks in CC // 549. Dec 16 (CE)

1125 0850 DXGM Davao City, Philippines. Good in presume Tagalog with happy birthdays & 'Super Radyo' IDs. Dec 13 (CE)

1134 1115 CNR China. Good mixing with JOQR with MA/FA talks in CC // 1593. Dec 15 (CE)

1134 1925 JOQR Tokyo, Japan. Great signal with JJ pop music show. Dec 17 (CE)

1143 0920 BEL3 Taiwan Area Fishery Broadcasting Station, Baisha, Taiwan. Fair mixing with 4HI, noted in Taiwanese with weather announcements // 738. Dec 13 (CE)

1152 0925 JORB or JOPC, Japan. Fair signal with NHK2 EE language lessons with a xmas theme. Dec 13 (CE)

1152 1940 HLCW Wonju, South Korea. Nice signal in KK with MA talks // 711 (CE)

1170 1100 HLSR Gimje, South Korea. Noted with good signal each evening although various interesting things underneath for later checking in the New Year. Noted with KBS ID & web info prior to Russian service starting. (CE)

1179 0955 JOOR Osaka, Japan. MA/FA talks in JJ, regular here each night at good levels. Dec 12 (CE)

1188 1110 HLKX Inchon, South Korea. Fair carrying US accented religious programs from FEBC in English. Dec 13 (CE)

1197 1000 DXFE, Davao City, Philippines. Good with English 'Focus on the Family' network program. Dec 12 (CE)

1197 1931 STV Network, Japan. Fair with animated JJ FA talks noted // 1440. Dec 17 (CE)

1224 1030 DXED Davao City, Philippines. Fair with pres. Tagalog economic talks & 'DXED Radio 12-24' ID. Dec 12 (CE)

1224 1756 CNR Fujian, China. Good with CC musical // 1089. Dec 16 (CE)

1251 1350 RV70 Ussuriysk, Russia. Good here carrying Voice of Russia's CC service. Dec 16 (CE)

1260 1912 JOIR Sendai, Japan. Fair signal over a mix of others with JJ love songs. Dec 17 (CE)

1278 1015 JOFR Fukuoka, Japan. Discussions between 2 MA's in JJ at fair level in the clear. Dec 12 (CE)

1287 1752 JOHR Sapporo, Japan. Very good with MA talks in JJ. Dec 16 (CE)

1296 1022 DXAB Davao City, Philippines. Fairly good in the 1296 jumble with political reports in pres. Tagalog & lots of 'Patrol' jingles. Dec 12 (CE)

1296 1748 JOTK Matsue, Japan. Fair with NHK1 // 729 with EE songs & MA in JJ. Dec 16 (CE)

1314 1905 JOUF Osaka, Japan. Good with FA talks in JJ. Dec 17 (CE)

1332 1150 JOSF Nagoya, Japan. Good in JJ with ads. Dec 14 (CE)

1341 1744 KBS Kimpo, South Korea. Fair with MA talks in KK // 711 & 1467. Dec 16 (CE)

1359 1735 Family Radio, Fangliao, Taiwan. Very good with Family Radio Mailbox segment in EE. Dec 16 (CE)

1386 1337 NHK2 network, Japan. Poor under HLAM with EE language lessons // 693. Dec 13 (CE)

1386 1337 HLAM Mokpo, South Korea. Very good with MA talks in KK all over the top of NHK. Dec 13 (CE)

1413 1228 JOIF Fukuoka, Japan. Fair with talkback show in JJ. Dec 13 (CE)

1440 1320 JOWF Sapporo, Japan. Good with excited MA talks in JJ. Dec 16 (CE)

1467 1242 HLKN Mokpo, South Korea. Very good & regular with KBS1 KK talkback show // 711. Dec 13 (CE)

1512 1355 DYAB Cebu, Philippines. Good with 'ABS-CBN News' promo. Dec 13 (CE)

1530 1315 DZME Bulacan, Philippines. Good in predominantly EE with Jackpot draw for 9,466,922 pesos! & ID 'DZME 1530 on your AM band'. Dec 13 (CE)

1557 1415 Family Radio, Kouhu, Taiwan. Good with EE service. Dec 13 (CE)

1575 1301 DXJR Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. Caught the end of Philippines NA at sign off under VOA Ban Pachi, Thailand on Dec 13. On Dec 16 noted a later sign off at 1312. (CE)

1593 0905 JOTB or JOQB Japan. Fair & in the clear of V6AK for once with NHK2's Portuguese news. Dec 15. (CE)

1593 1253 CNR, China. Fair signal with MA talks in CC // 4460. Dec 13 (CE)

NORTH AMERICA

580 1347 KMJ Fresno, CA. Fair with simple 'KMJ' ID then later with '6 o'clock morning news, sports, weather & traffic'. Dec 13 (CE)

680 0920 KNBR San Francisco, CA. Poor here with KNBR & ESPN IDs. Dec 14(CE)

780 1452 KNOM Nome, Alaska. Poor with Christian music show, extended weather broadcast on the hour for Alaska then back to religious music show. Dec 16 (CE)

880 0932 KRVN Lexington, NE. Fair with ID 'This is KRVN' & C&W music show. Dec 13 (CE)

960 1103 KALE Richmond, WA. News with annc 'This is CNN News' & ESPN IDs. Dec 14 (CE)

1020 1140 KTNQ Los Angeles, CA. Good here with usual SS music format. Dec 11 (CE)

1050 1445 KCTC San Mateo, CA. Very good with 'KNBR Sports Update'. Dec 12 (CE)

1070 0910 KNX Los Angeles, CA. Good with ID 'KNX traffic in southern California. Dec 12. (CE)

1090 0920 KPTK Seattle, WA. Fair here with usual talk format. Dec 12 (CE)

1100 1000 KFAX San Francisco, CA. Good with ID 'The Spirit of the day for over 40 years - AM 1100 KFAX'. Dec 12 (CE)

1110 1040 KDIS Pasadena, CA. Fair with loads of Radio Disney promo's. Dec 12 (CE)

1110 1005 KFAB Omaha, NE. Good here with Coast to Coast // 1120. Dec 20 (CE)

1120 0910 KPNW Eugene, OR. Very good with Coast to Coast. Dec 13 (CE)

1130 1140 KRDU Dinuba, CA. Fair here with usual religious format. Dec 21 (CE)

1140 1200 KHTK Sacramento, CA. Poor here with 'Fox National Sports Report'. Dec 13 (CE)

1150 1223 KTLK Los Angeles, CA. Fair with ID 'You're listening to Talk AM 1150' (CE)

1160 1100 KSL Salt Lake City, UT. Good with ABC news & traffic report. Dec 15 (CE)

1180 1005 Radio Rebelde, Cuba. Poor but noted a few evenings now with SS programming // 5025, not the usual Radio Marti here. Dec 22 (CE)

1190 0930 KEX Portland, OR. Poor here with ads then simple 'KEX' ID. Dec 19 (CE)

1200 1010 WOAI San Antonio, TX. Fair with sports items on Dallas Mavericks. Dec 13 (CE)

1310 1035 KMKY Oakland, CA. Fair with Radio Disney promos & pop songs. Dec 12 (CE)

1380 1300 KTKZ Sacramento, CA. Fair with jingle for '105.5FM & 1380AM'. Dec 20 (CE)

1410 0905 CFUN Vancouver, Canada. Poor with medical talkback show. Dec 20 (CE)

1480 1205 KYOS Merced, CA. Fair with ABC news - actually had an interview with Australian correspondent about the 'race riots' in Sydney! Dec 14 (CE)

1520 0920 KOKC Oklahoma City, OK. Fair with talk & ID 'Talkradio 15-20 KOKC'. Dec 15 (CE)

1530 0902 KFBK Sacramento, CA. Fair with weather then ID 'For Newstalk 1530 Sacramento & Southern California'. Dec 22 (CE)

1570 0820 XERF La Poderosa, Mexico. Good hear with usual SS Ranchera music format. Dec 12 (CE)

1590 0915 KKZZ Ventura, CA. Fair with AC songs & canned '15-90 KKZZ' IDs. Dec 20 (CE)

1600 1130 KGST Fresno, CA. No ID heard but assume this is the fairly regular one here with SS music pieces & ads mentioning California numerous times. Dec 21 (CE)

1660 0950 KTIQ Merced, CA. Poor with SS music pieces. Dec 20 (CE)

1670 0940 KHPY Moreno Valley, CA. Poor with MA talks in SS. Dec 20 (CE)

1700 1100 KVNS Brownsville, TX. Fair mixing with XEPE with talkback show & 'Valley's place to talk' slogan ID on hour with 'Information Radio Network' news with an ad after each news item. Dec 11 (CE)

1700 0955 XEPE Tecate, Mexico. Just could not find an Id for this. Noted regularly with most nights with EE financial format. Many ads for US based companies along with PSA for US citizens travelling to Mexico & how to keep safe sponsored by the city of San Jose. Dec 23 (CE)

DXing at home in Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia with Icom R75, pre-amp, 3m x 15m x 3m EWE to North America

Contact details:

Craig Edwards, PO Box 60, Nhulunbuy NT 0881 Australia
Email nutritionandsports@bigpond.com
Phone 0411 966633 or (08) 8987 2712
Outside Australia phone (061) 411966633 or (061) (08) 8987 2712