Saltspring Island is the largest, most populated, and most visited of the
Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia, Canada.
It was named by officers of the Hudson's Bay Company for the cold and briny saltwater springs on the north end of the island. We found a cabin on the North western tip of the Island, with 14 acres of waterfront and room for lots of wire...
Only catch: I brought a 150' spool... and a Kenwood R2000 as opposed to the Drake R8! :-)
The observations: somewhat abbreviated as I was half-asleep while writing most of this stuff down.
Jul 30 2006 - 1040 UTC 738khz Tahiti - Mahaina Very good levels each time I stopped by, hammering KCBS on 740khz (I really should have brought the R8!) -- little else of note on medium-wave.
Normally troublesome CFAX-Victoria was reduced to a shadow underneath KNX Los Angeles the whole time! - 1048 UTC
2325khz ABC Tennant Creek EE news and talk at good levels // 2310 -
1051 UTC - 3220khz PNG Radio Morobe (t) assume the local music here w/ talk in Pidgen. Good levels -
1053 UTC - 3260khz PNG Radio Madang - as above. collection of 70's or 80's music w/ frequent dialogue. Good levels above QRN -
1056 UTC - 3315khz PNG Radio Manus - superb levels w/ typical PNG programming - oldies pop and lots of talk - 1058 UTC - 3345khz PNG PNG -
Indonesia - several stations mixing it up here. incl. what sounded like some sub-continent music. Lots of Indonesians around the dial; 90,75,60 meters but not writing too many observations down. -
1059 UTC - 5020khz Solomon Islands - SIBC huge with ID and talk in EE and local dialects. Beatiful signal above the lightning crashes. -
1102 UTC - 4872khz Indonesia/Papua - RRI Wamena - Indon talk and mentions of Wamena - 1104 UTC - 4820khz Honduras - HRVC - just spinning by in time for an ID in Spanish -
1110 UTC - 3266.5khz Indonesia - RRI Gorontalo (t) assume the Island music and unmistakeable Indonesian talk - 1115 UTC - 3976.1khz Indonesia - RRI Pontianak (t) same as above - all at good levels above the noise. -
1118 UTC - 4605khz Indonesia/Papua - RRI Serui (t) 70's vinyl "I don't like to sleep alone...' - nothing ever changes in the RRI or PNG playlists! -
1121 UTC - 4678khz Laos - Xam Nua - (t) assume the very unusual SE Asia sounding acoustic string music - 1123 UTC - 4750.1khz Indonesia RRI Sulawesi (t) assume the indon clobbering China -
1128 UTC - 4775khz UNID - subcontinent sounding female vocals at good levels. AIR Imphal? -
1130 UTC - 4780.1khz - Guatemala Radio Cultural, San Sebastion - SS or local lang w/ SS ID on the 1/2-hr - good - 1133 UTC - 4870khz - AIR Bhopal (t) - Indian talk and "Bollywood" style female vocals at wonderful levels - 1136 UTC - 4925khz - RRI Jambi (t) - more of the same RRI stuff.. music, talk - most definitely in Indonesian - 1137 UTC - 4970khz - AIR Shillong (t) - YL talk somewhat weaker than 4870khz but improved by 1148UTC -
1149 UTC - 4920khz - China PBS Lhasa - CC/Lang talk by YL at good levels. - 1155 UTC - 4890khz - PNG / NBC Port Moresby - armchair copy w/ EE News and local patois. July 29 -
1100 UTC - 7120khz - PNG Wantok radio Lite - noted in passing w/spirituals and some EE YL talking over the hour. Remarkable levels for 1kw. This is the first time I have heard Wantok in the clear!