1998 DXpedition to Mt. Megunticook

Camden Hills State Park, Maine
(All dates/times UTC)

      Hoping for a Newfie-like experience, I headed out to Camden Hills State Park in Maine for a camping DXpedition on the shore at the base of Mount Megunticook, August 20-22, 1998. Unfortunately, the weather would not cooperate as thunderstorms stretching from upstate New York across northern New England made reception difficult due to the high noise floor. It rained all night on the 21st, with nature providing the fireworks for most the night instead of the radio. A stagnant weather front continued to make listening a challenge the following night.
      Despite the poor weather conditions not being conducive to DXing, the coastal location provided for some good transatlantic and Latin American DX. Overall conditions mirrored that of the "DX Clams" outing in Rowley, Massachusetts, a couple of weeks ago, with poor reception from the Middle East and much of Europe, and Spain dominant on many frequencies. No reception of Argentina or Brazil either, just the typical Latin Americans from Colombia and Venezuela for the most part.
      The most interesting loggings from this two nights in Maine are 1251 Libya with three SW parallels, and two unID Latin American stations at 550 and 1190 which might be worth chasing from home or coastal car DX outings.

Bruce Conti WPC1CAT; Drake R8A, MWDX-5, 75-m slopers northeast and southeast.

Transatlantic DX

693  AZORES RDP Terceira  AUG 22 0210 - Good, over Spain; Beatles hits parallel 837 kHz.
747  CANARY ISLANDS RNE Las Palmas  AUG 22 0155 - Good; ballad parallel 855 kHz.
837  AZORES RDP Barrosa  AUG 21 0310 - Excellent! Contemporary Portuguese vocal parallel 693 kHz.
855  SPAIN RNE synchros  AUG 21 0255 - Good; R&B documentary with Hues Corporation "Rock the Boat" and Aretha Franklin "Respect" among the cuts played, Radio Cinco and Radio Nacional de España IDs into news on the hour.
864  EGYPT ERTU Santah  AUG 21 0250 - Fair, over Spain; Koranic recitations.
882  CANARY ISLANDS//SPAIN COPE synchros  AUG 21 0227 - Good; telephone talk. Well over an unID station, probably BBC R.Wales.
891  ALGERIA Alger  AUG 21 0225 - Fair; string music and vocal parallel 153 kHz.
1008  CANARY ISLANDS R.Las Palmas, Las Palmas  AUG 21 0210 - Good; talk in Spanish not parallel 1044 SER.
1035  PORTUGAL R.Comercial, Lisboa  AUG 21 0155 - Good; Portuguese vocals, top of the hour ID and news.
1053  unID  AUG 21 0145 - Huge open carrier burying UK and Spain.
1080  SPAIN SER synchros  AUG 21 0140 - Fair, over Venezuela in WTIC null; telephone talk parallel 1044 kHz.
1089  UNITED KINGDOM Talk Radio synchros  AUG 21 0135 - Good, over an unID station; telephone talk.
1098  SPAIN RNE synchros  AUG 21 0130 - Fair, over Slovakia; talk parallel 1107 kHz.
1107  SPAIN RNE synchros  AUG 21 0125 - Good; lots of echo from delay between synchronized stations.
1116  SPAIN SER synchros  AUG 21 0105 - Fair, over unID music likely Italy; news and telephone talk.
1134  CROATIA HRT Zadar  AUG 21 0103 - Woman with news in Croatian; phased wires needed to null Spain.
1134  SPAIN COPE synchros  AUG 22 0122 - Good, no sign of Croatia; telephone talk parallel 1143 kHz.
1143  SPAIN COPE synchros  AUG 22 0120 - Good; telephone talk with synchro echo, parallel 1296 kHz.
1215  SPAIN COPE synchros  AUG 22 0105 - Good; talk parallel 1224 and 1296 kHz.
1251  LIBYA Libyan Jamahiriya, Tripoli  AUG 21 2340 - Excellent; talk in Arabic with many mentions of America, parallel 15235, 15415, and 15435 kHz.
1296  SPAIN COPE Valencia  AUG 22 0055 - Fair; telephone talk paralle 1224 kHz.
1422  GERMANY DeutschlandRadio, Heusweiler  AUG 21 0030 - Fair; classical music.
1485  SPAIN SER synchros  AUG 22 0035 - Weak; telephone talk parallel 1575 kHz.
1550  ALGERIA R.Nacional Rep. Arabe Saharaui Dem., Tindouf  AUG 21 0015 - Excellent! String music and vocal well over anything else on the frequency.
1575  SPAIN SER synchros  AUG 21 0010 - Good; telephone talk parallel 1584, strong echo from delay between synchronized stations.
1584  CEUTA RadiOle, Ceuta  AUG 22 0006 - Fair, over SER Spain synchros; Spanish vocal.
1602  SPAIN R.Vitoria, Vitoria  AUG 22 0010 - Fair, over SER Spain; R.Vitoria ID and folk music.

Pan_American DX

550  VENEZUELA YVKE Mundial, Caracas  AUG 21 0900 - Good; many Mundial mentions, jingle, and salsa music.
550  unID Radio 550   AUG 21 0845 - In briefly with "Radio Cinco Cincuenta" ID, mention of Caribe, and telephone talk.
630  PUERTO RICO WSKN La Super Cadena, San Juan  AUG 21 0902 - Good, over WPRO; Cadena ID and news.
640  VENEZUELA Union Radio, Puerto la Cruz  AUG 21 0905 - Good; "Noticias Union Radio" and news.
705  ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES NBC Kingstown  AUG 22 0205 - Good; lively soca music.
750  VENEZUELA RCR Caracas  AUG 22 0150 - Excellent; "RCR Deportes" with futbol report.
790  BARBADOS VOB Bridgetown  AUG 22 0140 - Strong het against domestics, but couldn't pull out any audio, assumed to be VOB on the low side.
800  NETHERLANDS ANTILLES PJB R.Transmundial, Bonaire  AUG 21 0915 - Excellent; Contacto Cristiana program and Transmundial jingle.
880  VENEZUELA Mundial 880, Puerto Ordaz  AUG 21 0230 - Good, over WCBS; promo ID and fanfare, mention of stereo, and salsa music.
960  CUBA R.Reloj  AUG 21 0215 - Poor, through WELI in CHNS null; RR code IDs and minute markers.
1020  VENEZUELA R.Margarita, La Asunción  AUG 21 0205 - Good; "Radio Margarita" instead of Mundial ID's, ad string, and salsa music.
1110  VENEZUELA R.Carúpano, Carúpano  AUG 21 0110 - Excellent; Carúpano ID's, time checks, and salsa music.
1160  BERMUDA VSB3 Hamilton  AUG 22 0115 - Good; BBC World Service Newsdesk with reports on Congo rebellion and new Nigerian cabinet, parallel 9590 kHz.
1190  COLOMBIA unID  AUG 22 0100 - In briefly with "¡Goooool Colombia!" in top of the hour ID.
1241  UNITED STATES WSYY Millinocket, Maine  AUG 22 0030 - Het party between 1240 and 1242 with WSYY dominant at about 1241 kHz, heard with 94.9 Gold Mine oldies request promo and C&W music.
1375  ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON RFO St. Pierre  AUG 22 0040 - Good; talk in French parallel 162 kHz.
1500  VENEZUELA R.Dos Mil, Cumana  AUG 22 0030 - Good, in WTOP null; long ad string, merengue music.

73 and Good DX!

Return to ¡BAMLog! home.