Cape Dx - Gary Deacon: August 2007

Millers Point is a good location for the reception of stations from Asia and the Far East. The actual dx location is close to Castle Rock which is situated a little further south along the coastal road towards Cape Point, approximately 100 metres above sea level. A steep cliff face on the inland side of the road allows for a 50 metre "over the shoulder" long wire antenna with an approximate 30 degree slope towards the south-east.

Good reception from the Middle East and Asia during the early evening of the 19th June included a fair and consistent signal from Yemen Radio, Program 2, English service on 792 kHz.

Engineer and Technical Director Ali Ahmed Tashy kindly verified my email report this evening.

Another recent and relaxing holiday with the family to the serene coastal resort of Ganzekraal on the Atlantic west coast included some interesting AM dxing. Listening from the 9th to 12th August at the beach chalet (pic above) offered the following advantages :

* An elevated position overlooking the bay

* Only 50 meters from the shore line

* A really quiet noise floor when using 12v DC as a power source

* The ability to take full advantage of the ultra quiet circuit of the FRG7 via the preselector

* The reception of Far East stations from around 1430 UTC (4:30 pm local) with the sun still quite high up in the sky !

I set up an 80 m antenna which began as a sloper from the west side of the roof of the chalet and gradually progressed to a BOG (Beverage On Ground) directed towards South America.

Good evening reception was experienced off the back end of the sloper/BOG with some strong signals from China, India, Malaysia and Taiwan. Fangliao, Taiwan on 1503 kHz was usually the first station to fade up at around 1430 UTC.

A pleasant surprise was the reception of the Seychelles on MW for the first time ! I have been trying to hear this station for the past 30 years ! To the best of my knowledge this may also be the first time that the Seychelles has been heard on MW in South Africa.

Other highlights included the reception of Japan (1242, 1278 and 1413 kHz), the Philippines (1062, 1314, 1512 and 1530 kHz) and Zanzibar (585 kHz).

Early morning reception was much the same as experienced during the last visit with Brazil and Argentina dominating the band again. A few of the usual stations from the USA and the Caribbean were also noted briefly around local dawn. Strong peaks from 1640 WTNI and 1660 WWRU were by far the most regular of the few X banders noted from the USA.

The highlights :

Freq Time Country Station

585 1805 ZANZIBAR Voice of Tanzania, Chumbum w news in EE and id as " ... This news is comming to you from Spice FM ... " - fair 10/8

585 1727 INDIA AIR Mumbai w cricket comm India vs England - poor 9/8

720 1631 INDIA AIR Chennai w news in EE - poor 10/8

801 1608 INDIA AIR Jabalpur w cricket comm - poor 9/8

927 1708 INDIA AIR Visakhapatnam w cricket comm - poor 10/8

936 1708 INDIA AIR Tiruchirapalli w cricket comm - fair 9/8

1044 1635 INDIA AIR Mumbai w cricket comm - fair 11/8

1062 1544 PHILIPPINES DZEC Pasig w EZ listening mx incl. "As Time Goes By" - fair 10/8

1098 1600 CHINA RTI Kouhu w "RTI News" - fair 9/8

1134 1624 CHINA CNR1 w ads // 1593 kHz - fair 10/8

1152 1615 PAKISTAN PBC Islamabad in EE w News and Current Affairs - fair 11/8

1242 1604 INDIA AIR Varanisi w cricket comm - fair 11/8

1242 1720 JAPAN JOLF Tokyo w anns - poor (heard briefly) 9/8

1278 1718 JAPAN JOFR Fukuoka w ads and RKB id - fair 9/8

1314 1522 PHILIPPINES DWXI Paranaque - poor 9/8

1323 1606 CHINA CRI in EE w "News Update" - excellent 11/8

1332 1615 PAKISTAN PBC in EE // 1152 - poor 11/8

1368 1738 SEYCHELLES SBC Victoria w live rock concert and some distinctive Mauritian inspired Sega music just before the National Anthem at 1800 UTC followed by s/off. Really pleased with the reception of this Indian Ocean island for the first time after more than 30 years of trying to hear the MW signal ! - very poor 10/8

1368 1804 CHINA Guangshui w anns - fair w good peaks 9/8

1377 1624 CHINA CNR1 Zhengzhou w ads and id // 1593 - very good 10/8

1395 1537 INDIA AIR Bikaner/Chennai w news in EE - poor 10/8

1395 1802 CHINA RGD Silingol w local mx - fair 9/8

1413 1717 JAPAN JOIF Fukuoka w anns - fair 9/8

1449 1610 MALDIVES Voice of Maldives Male in EE w news headlines and wx - fair w good peaks 10/8

1458 1636 MAYOTTE Radio Mayotte Pamandzi in FF w mx and anns - excellent 10/8

1467 1615 INDIA AIR Jeypore w cricket comm - fair peaks 10/8

1467 1546 THAILAND So.Wor.So Sathaanii, Bangkok w discussion - fair peaks 11/8

1475 1520 MALAYSIA Radio Malaysia w EE pops incl "The Look Of Love" and National Anthem w s/off at 1534 UTC - good peaks 10/8

1512 1547 PHILIPPINES DYAB Cebu, Philippines w talk back - poor 9/8

1530 1548 PHILIPPINES DZME w religious px - fair 9/8