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Early in September the core DXpedition team of Bruce Conti, Brent Taylor, and Niel Wolfish started thinking about a 2013 Prince Edward Island DXpedition, targeting the first week of November. The first challenge was to locate a coastal rental property that would be open so late in the off-season. A majority of them close in October, including the Howe Bay cottage of last year's DXpedition which was unavailable. A waterfront location with exposure to the south and east would be most desirable for tropical and transatlantic reception. Several hours of searching the internert with the Points East Coastal Drive tour map as a reference resulted in the following few potential sites. DXpedition leader Brent Taylor conducted a road trip/survey of the sites; his comments and photos follow each:
Oceanfront Haven, Souris2.5 acres beachfront, 3 bed, 2 bath, off-season "all other times" $1300/week
http://www.vrbo.com/144753
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p144753vbi
This first one is owned by an “Al Fish” of Toronto and is actually at Little Pond, close to Annandale and just a bit west of where we were last year. $1300 off season/3 people is north of $400 a piece before any taxes/fees, so it’s steep – but it looks lovely. There appears to be no heavy industry nearby. The following link will bring up a map. http://bit.ly/1fsUmLN
This was a very nice property, but likely more than we need in terms of space and also money.
Compass Rose Beach House, 60 Jordan Lane, Beach Point (end of Jordan Lane)
2 acres waterfront, 3 bed, 2 bath, $900-1450/week
(46º 0.984 N, 62º 28.2 W)
http://www.thecompassrosebeachhousepei.ca/
The shore here faces NE and has a nice take-off over water for a long distance for Eu/Af/As, and the southern shore is not far behind at all so perhaps Uruguay on 550 will not be attenuated, Niel. I have been along this road many times in my family tree searches. It’s a lovely area, but a little more populated than we’re used to. At this time of year it’s at the $900 rate + tax, and it appears that they will apportion it for fewer than 7 nights, at $128.57/night. There are two beds and a sofa-bed, so it’s three fellas max for this one.
This was not a good candidate, in my view. The photo shows the proximity of year-round neighbors. There are no fewer than four year-round dwellings within a hundred yards. The driveway passes between two of them.
Lakeville Cottage, 390 North Lake Harbour Road, Red Point
$800-1295/week
(46º 22.128 N, 62º 8.322 W)
http://www.theperfectrentals.com/property/115588#description
Looks perfect for SE exposure, and rates in November might be better than the posted $1295. Renters are locals, it appears, and making payment would likely be more smooth than the PayPal rigamarole we had last time. Red Point is a well-known provincial park and beach, and it’s right next door, but in November it’ll be deserted anyway.
There is something screwy with the location of this property. The information does not correspond to the site itself. The website mentions both North Lake and Red Point, which are not close together. I visited Red Point, based on the coordinates above, and did not see a property that resembled the photos on the site. Some of the photos appear to match the North Lake Road property we did see, but there is industry quite close by and there was some buzzing and frying on the radio. Also, North Lake is on the north shore of the Island and therefore does not offer southeast sea exposure. I think this one is a bust.
Glistening Waters Victorian Farmhouse, Murray Harbour North
17 acres waterfront, 4 bed, 1 bath, $800-1200/week
(46º04'N, 62º28'W)
http://www.cottagesincanada.com/peibeachfrontfarmhouse#location
I love this one, both the price and the location. I believe I found the exact house on Google Street View. It’s quite a distance to the shoreline, and that the house is (as described) quite close to the road. It’s about 1400 feet to the beach from the back of the house, but only about 460 feet to the shore of the pond in between. Close enough for my liking, but Bruce is the antenna and feedline guy. I think it might be close to ideal, especially with ZERO neighbours in any direction for quite some distance, I make it about a half a km before there’s any possible QRM source. The ability to use trees may be a good thing also.
This one was very nice, but it IS quite a distance from shore, even farther than Savage Harbour but maybe still good enough. The closest human occupation is a good distance away, which may be a big plus for our ability to control QRM. One drawback could be cellular coverage, neither CDMA nor GSM service was all that great.
MacPherson's Cove, 35 Bayview Lane, Launching
3 bed, $880-1100/week
http://www.coreyscottages.com/index.html
This last one has great water access in the right direction and the price is right also ($880/wk, taxes in). I have found it on Google Earth also, from the directions on the website. Considering the price and the proximity to water, it may be the best combination for us.
This one is really great. I saw no foundation underneath so I’m wondering how it can be used in the colder weather, but maybe November would still be possible. The exposure is wonderful, the price is right, and there should be little or no neighbor activity by the time we get there.
Brent inquired about MacPherson's Cove availablility. Not. However, our next choice, Glistening Waters was available. Eastern to southern beachfront exposure, plenty of open real estate for BOG and loop antennas aimed in the desired directions, no immediate neighbors; make it so! Brent contacted the proprietor and made the reservation. The DXpedition was set for the first week of November, hereby dubbed 'Listening Waters'.
The DXers
(Sept 21) The Listening Waters house could accommodate four DXers comfortably. Three monitoring positions were secured by Brent Taylor, Niel Wolfish, and Bruce Conti, leaving one open position at the table. As word got out about the DXpedition, Bill Whitacre expressed an interest. Bill is an accomplished DXpeditioner, experienced in Pacific coast group DXpeditions and solo Atlantic coast efforts. Unfortunately, Bill had to decline our invitation due to other obligations.Concurrently, Brent was on the west coast where he took a meeting with fellow radio enthusiasts including Walt Salmaniw of Victoria DXpedition fame and Prince Edward Island veteran Nick Hall-Patch. Upon hearing about the availability, Walt immediately jumped in to secure the fourth monitoring position. The 2013 DXpedition crew was now complete!
Antenna Planning
| Location | Bearing | Distance (mi) | Location | Bearing | Distance (mi) | Location | Bearing | Distance (mi) |
| India | 34º | 6957 | Nigeria | 100º | 4790 | New York City | 242º | 685 |
| Finland | 37º | 3414 | Benin | 103º | 4635 | Mexico | 245º | 2770 |
| Afghanistan | 39º | 6098 | São Tome | 105º | 5196 | French Polynesia | 253º | 6898 |
| Russia (Europe) | 40º | 4082 | Angola | 106º | 6146 | New Zealand | 256º | 9641 |
| Mauritania | 107º | 3358 | ||||||
| Georgia | 49º | 4860 | Botswana | 108º | 7269 | |||
| Iran | 49º | 5597 | South Africa | 111º | 7463 | Los Angeles | 274º | 2987 |
| Ukraine | 50º | 4108 | Sydney | 284º | 10477 | |||
| Armenia | 50º | 4995 | Brazil (Rio) | 160º | 4863 | Hawaii | 288º | 5413 |
| United Arab Emirates | 54º | 6154 | Barbados | 175º | 2267 | Vancouver | 297º | 2752 |
| Czech Republic | 56º | 3423 | Uruguay | 175º | 5545 | |||
| Romania | 56º | 4032 | Paraguay | 176º | 4915 | |||
| Kuwait | 56º | 5647 | Guadeloupe | 178º | 2063 | Anchorage | 321º | 3438 |
| Turkey | 57º | 4619 | Argentina (B.A.) | 178º | 5565 | Japan | 344º | 6702 |
| Germany | 58º | 3166 | Trinidad & Tobago | 178º | 2463 | South Korea | 352º | 6648 |
| London | 59º | 2769 | St. Kitts & Nevis | 181º | 1989 | Philippines | 356º | 8316 |
| Syria | 59º | 5016 | British Virgin Islands | 184º | 1907 | Taiwan | 357º | 7586 |
| Cyprus | 61º | 4778 | Puerto Rico | 188º | 1929 | Beijing | 1º | 6491 |
| Saudi Arabia | 61º | 5756 | Venezuela | 189º | 2614 | Vietnam | 13º | 8083 |
| Israel | 62º | 5006 | ||||||
| Paris | 63º | 2946 | Peru | 194º | 4084 | |||
| Greece | 63º | 4204 | Dominican Republic | 195º | 1951 | |||
| Italy | 66º | 3599 | Colombia | 196º | 2945 | |||
| Ecuador | 201º | 3390 | ||||||
| Djibouti | 71º | 6349 | Panama | 208º | 2761 | |||
| Tunisia | 74º | 3746 | Cuba | 219º | 1942 | |||
| Spain | 76º | 2960 | Nicaragua | 219º | 2663 | |||
| Libya | 76º | 4186 | ||||||
| Kenya | 84º | 6736 | ||||||
| Morocco | 87º | 3022 | ||||||
AZ map bearing to western India at 42º (below left) would require a terminated antenna to null the U.S. northeast corridor, especially for reception of the two prime targets; 1071 kHz which may suffer interference from 1060 KYW HD and 1080 WTIC HD digital noise, and 1566 kHz with interference from 1560 WQEW. A bi-directional antenna could be aimed 178º to Argentina (below right) with transpolar targets Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea on the back side.
The following three EZNEC model results are for the natural phase relationship between two side-by-side parallel bi-directional (not terminated) Delta antennas separated by 350 to 400 feet. Each Delta measures 30-ft tall with a 120-ft base at 3-ft above ground. A delay line could be added to a Delta lead-in to produce similar results with less distance between the two antennas. Comparable 'natural phase relationship' results could not be obtained with the same two bi-directional Delta antennas inline. The side-by-side configuration is worth considering for an Argentina/Japan array.
Next the EZNEC results for the natural phase relationship between two side-by-side parallel unidirectional (terminated) Delta antennas.
Proposed Beverage and Delta Array Antenna Layout
Approximate locations of a Beverage antenna and a side-by-side Delta array. A bi-directional two Delta array will be aimed toward Argentina and Japan. Three Delta antennas are shown for reference. The Beverage at 80° may have to be redirected to 90° depending upon the status of the agricultural field. A Beverage at the desired 40° toward India may not be feasible because it would have to run parallel to the road and across adjacent property.
Sunrise/Sunset
Listening Waters Sunrise
Listening Waters Sunset
Sunrise/Sunset Times (UTC November 5, 2013)
| Sunset Across Latin America | Sunrise Across Latin America | |||
| Brazil (Fortaleza) | 20:25 | Brazil (Rio) | 08:06 | |
| Listening Waters | 20:50 | Brazil (Fortaleza) | 08:10 | |
| Brazil (Rio) | 21:08 | Uruguay (Montevideo) | 08:39 | |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 21:41 | Argentina (B.A.) | 08:48 | |
| Puerto Rico | 21:50 | Trinidad & Tobago | 09:58 | |
| Venezuela (Caracas) | 22:03 | Venezuela (Caracas) | 10:20 | |
| Uruguay (Montevideo) | 22:19 | Puerto Rico | 10:26 | |
| Argentina (B.A.) | 22:27 | Peru (Lima) | 10:34 | |
| Colombia (Bogotá) | 22:38 | Colombia (Bogotá) | 10:42 | |
| Cuba (La Habana) | 22:49 | Ecuador (Quito) | 10:54 | |
| Ecuador (Quito) | 23:01 | Listening Waters | 10:57 | |
| Peru (Lima) | 23:09 | Cuba (La Habana) | 11:37 | |
| Nicaragua (Managua) | 23:18 | Nicaragua (Managua) | 11:39 | |
| México DF | 00:01 | México DF | 12:40 |
| Euro/Mideast Sunrise | Africa Sunrise | |||
| India (Rajkot) | 01:23 | |||
| Pakistan (Islamabad) | 01:30 | |||
| Afghanistan (Kabul) | 01:47 | |||
| Oman (Muscat) | 02:14 | |||
| Qatar (Doha) | 02:44 | |||
| Iran (Tehran) | 03:00 | |||
| Iran (Rasht) | 03:10 | Kenya (Nairobi) | 03:11 | |
| Saudi Arabia (Duba) | 03:50 | Botswana | 03:26 | |
| Syria (Damascus) | 03:57 | South Africa (Cape Town) | 03:42 | |
| Israel (Tel Aviv) | 04:01 | Egypt (Cairo) | 04:12 | |
| Ukraine | 04:39 | Angola (Mulenvos) | 04:37 | |
| Greece (Athina) | 04:55 | |||
| Romania (Bucuresti) | 04:58 | São Tomé | 05:14 | |
| Hungary (Budapest) | 05:34 | Nigeria (Lagos) | 05:34 | |
| Kaliningrad | 05:45 | Benin (Parakou) | 05:40 | |
| Italy (Roma) | 05:47 | |||
| Czech Rep (Praha) | 05:59 | Morocco (Rabat) | 05:56 | |
| Finland (Pori) | 06:13 | Algeria (Alger) | 06:16 | |
| France (Paris) | 06:44 | |||
| England (London) | 07:01 | Mauritania (Nouakchott) | 07:05 | |
| W.Sahara (Laayoune) | 07:06 | |||
| Faroe Islands | 08:08 | |||
| Greenland (Nuuk) | 11:24 |
| Transpacific (Transpolar) Sunset | Transcontinental Sunrise | |||
| Hawaii | 03:53 | St. John's NL | 10:19 | |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 07:42 | Listening Waters | 10:57 | |
| Australia (Sydney) | 08:27 | Winnipeg | 13:25 | |
| South Korea (Seoul) | 08:30 | Los Angeles | 14:17 | |
| China (Beijing) | 09:08 | Calgary | 14:36 | |
| Taiwan | 09:11 | Vancouver BC | 15:08 | |
| Vietnam | 10:28 | Alaska (Anchorage) | 17:39 | |
| China (Urumqi) | 10:55 | Urumqi sunrise | 00:51 |
Aerial Photos
Aerial photos of the Murray Harbour North Listening Waters site by Brent Taylor from a recent fly-over.
73 and Good DX!
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