Thanks very much to Guy Atkins for sharing his loggings and observations from his recent trip to Puerto Vallarta. Great location, Guy!
Gayle VH
It was my first trip out of the country (other than visits to nearby Canada) since my 1993 travels toRarotonga. The newest post at www.sdr-1000.blogspot.com has a couple of photos of Puerto Vallarta and a few additional comments.¡Degen Si, Flex-Radio No! On this trip, I had opportunity to tune around onmy small Degen DE1103 receiver, before and after local sunrise. I could onlydream of taking the SDR-1000 and laptop computer along, but it was out ofthe question. I nearly took an Eton E1 instead of the Degen, but I didn'twant to risk losing such a nice receiver to possible loss, theft, or damage.The antenna used with the DE1103 was an 80-foot random wire, strung atop alow row of bushes. It was an idyllic setting beneath palm trees, situatedbetween large swimming pools complete with waterfalls and islands, and thePacific Ocean literally 20 feet away on the other side.Even before the sun rose above the jungle-covered mountains to the east, the tropical bands collapsed abruptly; no slow fadeout like I'm accustomed to inthe Northwest USA. Within 10-15 minutes after sunrise the tropicals weregone, and the 31 and 25 meter bands came alive. The rapid change inconditions each morning seemed to skip 41 and 49 meters; only a few signalswere noted.25 meters was amazing-- like flipping a switch after sunrise, it came alivewith mostly Arabic and sub-contintental signals! A majority of them werestrong to very strong. I did not bring a WRTH or Passport with me, just aprintout of the DSWCI's Tropical Band Monitor, and the Pacific Asian Log(PAL) for references. So, without clear IDs I was just guessing at thesource of most signals on 25 meters. It was quite a kick to hear thelanguages and music from (or broadcast to) the Middle East and India... acompletely different band and propagation conditions than I've everexperienced for 25 meters. Trans-Pacific MW was nearly unheard. I don't know if it was conditions, mylocation, or the modest receiver. Other than a weak hets on a few splitfrequencies and weak audio on 1566, nothing of note was logged. The local Puerto Vallarta MW stations are a real circus of over-processed andsplattering signals all trying to out-shout one another; much worse than theUSA broadcast band scene, in my opinion. I found quite a few 2X and 3Xharmonics of locals appearing in the tropical bands (two are noted below). As elsewhere in Central America, many of the broadcast towers I saw areperched atop modest downtown Puerto Vallarta buildings.I was surprised to find the local noise levels so low; I'd expected difficulty with RFI from powerlines, PCs, appliances, etc., but thebackground level on all bands was low. Each day as the sun rose in the early morning sky, distractions in the formof bikini-clad ladies began to appear. Such is the life of a visiting DXer in Puerto Vallarta! The view from Google Earth: If you have the Google Earth program on your computer, try these coordinates to see the exact DXing spot: 20E37'29.91"N105E13'55.25"W
On to the bandscan...
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: I was very surprised to find *no* hint of the PNG stations at all, from the 11th through the 13th. I was monitoring prior to 1200 UTC(when they should still be on the air), but nothing was heard on the usualfrequencies, not even on the 4890 kHz national outlet (NBC Port Moresby).120
METER BAND AUSSIES: The usual three stations here were weak but audibleon the 11th and 12th, and quite a bit stronger on the morning of the 13th.3240 - 3 X 1080 kHz harmonic noted each morning, plus a spur on 3270. 1080kHz was very strong, so I presume a local Puerto Vallarta station, just like1110 kHz.
3325 R. Nikkei, Japan - strong as ever! I expected a weaker signal than theflamethrower reception we get of Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest USA, but Iwas wrong. It was just booming in each morning while in PV.
3330 - 3 x 1110 kHz harmonic noted on 3330 each morning, at a strong level.I did not catch the callsign, but the promo was "La K Buena", and wasparallel to 1110 kHz. Probably a network, though, as I heard a quick stringof "X..." callsigns given at the top of the hour.
3976 RRI Pontianak, Indonesia - Poor to fair signal at 1210 on 11/11, butimproving to good by 1336. Also heard 11/13 with a good signal and ID at1322.
3995 RRI Kendari, Indonesia - Fair with male talk in Indo at 1337 on 11/11.
4557 Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front, Haeju, N. Korea (pres.) -Elaborate Korean style orchestral music on 11/13, and male with announcementin Korean at 1328. Fair to good signal, and into a radio drama.
4740 Son La RTV, Vietnam - Male announcer 11/13 in Vietnamese; poormodulation but good signal. Primative sounding music and chanting by woman in tribal language at 1340.
4750 RRI Makassar, Indonesia - Fair on 11/11.
4780 R. Cultural Coatan, Guatamala - Strong signal each night, much betterthan I've ever heard them in Washington state. On 11/11, I noted them with achildren's choir signing Christmas hymns (I guess the season comes early to Guatemala) and IDs at 1225. Coatan was still in audio at 1410 (about 50minutes past local SR).
4800 CODAR "Swisher" - I was surprised to hear this annoying signal in the60 meter band, just like we hear it in Washington. My guess is that I washearing a CODAR transmitter from somewhere along the southern California coast. The one we note in the Pacific Northwest is almost certainly nearinfamous "Washaway Beach", a stretch of seaside land with a rapidly erodingcoastline, some miles south of the Grayland DXpedition site. Scientists usethe CODAR system to monitor beach erosion and changes.
4810 XERTA, Mexico - poor under the CODAR signal on 11/11; ID at 1229 withphone number. Noted at very good strength, though, 1345-1415+.
4819 HRVC, Honduras - Fair signal 11/11 with IDs at 1231.
4895 Unid. - strange, quickly repeating and distorted audio loop of Asiantonal language by female, noted at 1225 on 11/11. I suspect a Chinese orNorth Korean jammer here, but I have no idea who they might be targeting.
4940 V. of the Strait, China - heard in Chinese mixing with presumed R. SanAntonio, Peru, in Spanish, on 11/12 at 1310. Fair.
4990 AIR Itanagar, India - Heard at 1343 on 11/13 with nice sub-cont. musicand Hindi talk, but unfortunately co-channel with Hunan PBS. Fair to goodlevel, though.
5010 AIR Thiruvanathapuram, India - Female talk in Hindi, and sub-cont.flute music at 1345 on 11/13. Poor.5020 AIR Delhi, India - Male announcer with commentary in English aboutIndian politics, noted at 1350 on 11/13. No sign of Solomon Islands BBC relay, not even a het.
9440 R. Slovakia International, Slovakia - Amazingly strong signal on 11/11!Interval signal and ID in English and Russian at 1400, and then into Russianprogramming.
11620 All India Radio, India - Noted on 11/12 at 1435 with commentary inEnglish by male, and ID. Fair signal.
11735 V. of Turkey, Ankara, 1400-1428* - Superb signal on 11/12 and 13! Iwas just blown away by the practically local quality signal of VOT.Programming was in English, with an announcement as "Our English service to Australia". Turkish language lesson at 1410, about how to tell the doctorwhen you're feeling sick, how to ask for a vaccination, etc. The strong signal was pinning the S-meter on the DE1103 portable. Sign-off at 1428 withinterval signal and ID.
(Source: Guy Atkins, WA)
