Below are audio clips, pictures and logs from the June 27 and June 28 Rockwork 4 DX sessions, my first ever at the site. My partners were Gary DeBock and Chuck Hutton on the 27th and just Gary and I on the 28th. On both days we had to deal with sleeping motorists at the site as motel rooms were hard to come by. I found that out when I tried to stay over for a third session. I used my usual portable Perseus SDR setup for traveling. With little time to prepare, I purchased some tomato poles and a roll of duct tape for some makeshift spreaders before heading for the site.

June 27: I arrived at the site after the quick drive from my Manzanita lodging in pitch darkness in the middle of the night on Day One, not knowing that the action doesn't get going until dawn. It was warm and clear and the Milky Way extended down to the sea. There were two other cars in the pulloff, obviously not Gary or Chuck. My partners arrived an hour later and we began to setup, the end positions taken by the sleeping interlopers. Sometime during the morning session Gary got his usual spot back as the sleeping motorist awoke and drove off in a huff. The DX was good but not spectacular until 12:40 or so for a 10-12 minute period the floodgates opened and now I understood the allure of this site. Easy copy of the new Magic 702 and loud Newstalk ZB on 1035 and 1044 really got my attention. I was ready for more.

June 28: For Day Two I arrived much later toward dawn but I was put off by the huge motorhome which would be blocking Gary and I and forcing us to run operations mostly out of sight of each other and compare notes only at the end. I was lucky the motorhome was not producing much RF as they did awaken during the session and stuck their heads out the window. My antenna right behind it blew over in the wind just after 12:00 before recording began, blowing a fuse in the ALA-100M module in the car. I had been through that before and had a spare pack of fuses ready to go. Secured the antenna to a heavy battery box and was back up and recording by 12:10. The magic was already happening, the signals were huge and better than Day 1 in every way. This time the huge enhancement was in for at least 50 minutes up to 13:00 UTC and even 1KW signals were being heard well. I was astounded and wound up ID-ing 53 NZ on MW during this one session. Crazy! It was most interesting to compare notes to the Grayland DX operation ongoing at the same time. They had a variety of much larger and more capable antennas (a DKAZ with vactrol control was the favorite) and also shared in the NZ feeding frenzy. Curiously when logs were compared it was determined they were hearing mostly different individual NZ stations than we were down the coast but there were a number of variables which may have contributed to that (such as high band vs. low band antenna sensitivity for our "apples and oranges" antennas).

After this morning I was motivated to stay for a 3rd DX session on Monday but lodging/camping was not to be had. So I made plans to return at the next opportunity in early August for more exciting NZ mediumwave and longwave action.

June 27 pics taken at the site known as "Rockwork 4" just north of Manzanita, OR. (Click on each for enlargement).

The weather had taken a turn for the worse on June 28 with fog, wind and cold temps. For DXpedition II in August I was sure to bring a jacket which I lacked in June. The cold wind went unnoticed anyway as 50 minutes+ of hot DX rolled in from New Zealand resulting in at least 53 Kiwis ID'd Sunday morning. June 28 pics:

Rockwork 4 Pullout just north of Manzanita, OR
Coordinates: N 45° 44' 36.5" W 123° 57' 28.9" Elevation 575 feet (175.4 meters)
GPS Coordinates: N 45 44.608 W 123 57.482
Google Maps Satellite View

Perseus SDR
MSI Wind U100 Netbook with Atom N270 processor, 24% overclocked, 500GB internal SSD.
Wellbrook ALA-100M antenna modules
40 feet multi stranded copper wire, jacketed (Deployed as a center fed delta with 13-foot sides)
Folding stand (from a drum kit, for the cymbal), 2 6-foot tomato poles duct taped end to end
50 feet RG8X coax with BNC connectors

Rockwork 4 DXpedition I 2015 Log

Date	UTC	KHz	Station	Comments	KW	City	Country
6/28/2015	1231	531	531 PI	Loud with OM and YL back and forth in Samoan Lang.d)	5	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1234	549	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828 weak	1	Napier-Hastings	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1234	558	Radio Fiji 1	R. Fiji 1 (presumed) non EE talk, into Choral music	10	Naulu	Fiji
6/28/2015	1225	567	RNZ National	Loudest signal from NZ this morning w/ talk and pop music	50	Wellington	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1253	576	Star	// 981, strong with music	2.5	Hamilton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1240	594	Rhema	// 684, weaker	2	Whanganui	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1241	603	R Waatea	// 765, with musical jingle prior to song	5	Auckland	New Zealand
6/27/2015	1245	675	RNZ National	// 567, much stronger	10	Christchurch	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1241	684	Rhema	// 594; Strongest Rhema station	5	Gisborne	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1257	693	Radio Sport	// 1503	5	Dunedin	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1220	702	Magic	Oldies, "Magic" ID between songs by YL	10	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1220	711	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828	5	Wellington	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1222	729	Radio Sport	// 774	2.5	Whangarei	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1235	738	Radio Premère Polynésie	Catchy up-tempo song, huge signal	20	Papeete	Fr. Polynesia
6/28/2015	1218	756	RNZ National	// 567	10	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1255	765	Radio Kahungunu	// 603, Maori singing	2.5	Napier-Hastings	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1242	774	Radio Sport	// 792 Winning the battle with the Aussie	5	New Plymouth	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1235	783	Access Radio	Spoken word by male announcer	10	Wellington	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1239	792	Radio Sport	Loud	5	Hamilton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1222	792	4RN	DU-accented EE Talk w/ male ann briefly over Radio Sport	25	Brisbane	Australia
6/28/2015	1237	801	Rhema	// 684, strong	1.6	Nelson	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1233	819	RNZ National	// 567	10	Tauranga	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1227	828	TAB Trackside Radio	Distinctive instrumental music looped endlessly	2	Palmerston North	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1244	855	Rhema	// 684, weaker	2	Hamilton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1241	900	Star	// 909	10	Dunedin	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1241	909	Star	Loud with music	5	Napier-Hastings	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1232	927	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	2	Manawatu	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1234	936	Chinese Voice	Commercials in CC, clear and all alone	1	Waiuku-Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1230	954	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828	2	Hamilton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1229	963	Star	// 981, weaker	10	Christchurch	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1229	981	Star	Big signal, best Star affiliate this morning	2.5	Timaru	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1255	1008	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	10	Tauranga	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1233	1017	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	2.5	Christchurch	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1230	1026	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	2	Northland (2 poss.)	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1248	1035	Newstalk ZB	Best Newstalk ZB signal, very loud both mornings	20	Wellington	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1248	1044	Newstalk ZB	// 1035, slightly weaker	10	Dunedin	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1229	1071	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828	6	Ashburton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1255	1098	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	7.5	Christchurch	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1234	1107	RadioLive	Commercials at impressive strength, all with ".NZ" URL's	1	Tauranga	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1238	1116	RNZ National	Music (Elvis: Suspicious Minds); strong	2.5	Nelson	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1219	1125	Radio Sport	// 774	1	Napier-Hastings	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1220	1161	Te Reo Irirangi o te Upoko…	Maori talk and instrumental music	5	Wellington	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1230	1179	Radio Ake	US pop music with Maori ann between songs, strong	5	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1230	1206	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828	2	Dunedin	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1240	1215	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	2	Kaikohe	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1222	1224	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828 good strength and in for 30 minutes	1	Invercargill	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1241	1251	Rhema	// 684	5	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1239	1278	Newstalk ZB	// 1035	2	Napier-Hastings	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1257	1296	Newstalk ZB	// 1035 with music	2.5	Hamilton	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1239	1305	Radio Dunedin	Presumed; Brief talk into music, no parallels, poor	2.5	Dunedin	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1244	1323	Coast	Elvis tune, into "Ooh Child Things are Gonna get Easier"	2.5	Hawera	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1244	1332	Radio Sport	// 774 with male announcer talk	10	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1222	1386	Radio Tarana	Hindi pop music (male vocalist)	10	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1238	1458	RNZ National	// 675 with OM talking	2.5	Westport	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1230	1476	TAB Trackside Radio	// 828 good strength and all alone	5	Auckland	New Zealand
6/28/2015	1253	1503	Radio Sport	Discussion of MMA fighting vs Boxing, // 792	5	Wellington	New Zealand

Audio Clips (MP3):

531 Radio PI (Samoan Language), Auckland 5KW

567 Radio New Zealand, Wellington 50KW

603 Radio Waatea, Auckland 5 KW with musical jingle prior to song

684 Rhema, Gisborne 5KW with ID and commercial following song

702 Magic, Auckland 10KW with "Magic" ID between songs

738 Radio Premère Polynésie , Papeete, Tahiti

765 Kahungunu, Napier-Hastings 2.5 KW

774 Radio Sport, New Plymouth 5 KW

801 Rhema, Nelson 1.6 KW

828 TAB Trackside Radio, Palmerston North 2 KW with distinctive music, endlessly looped

909 STAR , Napier-Hastings 5KW

1035 Newstalk ZB with ID, Wellington 20KW

1107 RadioLive ,Tauranga 1KW Commercials and aircheck

1179 Radio Ake, Auckland 5 KW

Longwave results:

As an NDB enthusiast and member of NDBlist I was interested in including longwave on my Perseus SDR recordings, hoping to find an interesting beacon or two way down in the noise. I was astonished at the powerful strength and easy copy of the following rare beacons (not including the commonly heard powerhouses POA and LLD from Hawaii). In fact not a single beacon listed here has ever been detected at my home QTH just 4 hours drive away despite being only 5 miles from salt water, not even at the bottom of Cycle 23 nor in 6 years of intensive listening. Some of these had not been reported by any listener in several years and TM 1630 had NEVER been reported heard from North America. The receptions at over 11000 Km represent the farthest ever NDB receptions of my career. Whatever is boosting MW signals to such awesome levels at this location is affecting LW to the same degree.

Pacific NDBs Received June 27-28 2015
UTC DATE	UTC	KHz	CALL	KM	LOCATION
6/28/2015	12:26	238	KT	10966	Kaitaia - Waimanoni - Awanui, NZL
6/28/2015	12:18	260	NF	10773	Norfolk Island - Anson Bay, NFK
6/28/2015	12:22	276	TVL	11472	Townsville Apt - RAAF Garbutt, QD, AUS
6/28/2015	12:19	282.5	RT	8071	Avera (Rurutu Island), AUI
6/28/2015	12:23	284.5	MH	7050	Manihi Atoll (Tuamoto Archipelago), TUA
6/28/2015	12:19	327	VYI	4043	Valley Island - Kahului, HWA
6/28/2015	12:18	327.5	RE	7250	Reao Apt, TUA
6/28/2015	12:20	332.5	AA	7344	Anaa Atoll Apt, TUA
6/28/2015	12:38	346	TG	11034	Tauranga Apt, NZL
6/28/2015	12:21	347	TB	8108	Tubuai Apt, AUI
6/28/2015	12:20	348	HN	9692	Honiara, SLM
6/28/2015	12:22	352	RG	8278	Nikau - Rarotonga IAP, CKS
6/28/2015	12:19	355	NI	8451	Nauru - Nauru IAP, NRU
6/28/2015	12:20	358	OA	7158	Rangiroa Apt, TUA
6/28/2015	12:18	376	NP	6886	Napuka Apt, TUA
6/28/2015	12:38	382	WU	11296	Wanganui, NZL
6/28/2015	12:19	393	FK	7210	Fakarava (Iles Gambier), TUA
6/28/2015	12:19	1630	TM	11190	Taumarunui Apt, NZL

NDBs Radar Plot

Available now: Results from Rockwork 4 August sessions on Aug 7, 8 and 9 at the cliffside location. These were all conducted with Gary and Chuck as well. Longwave results have been compiled and submitted to NDBlist. Complete NDB results from June and August reviewed.

New Zealand Map:

Links:

August 2015 Rockwork 4 sessions: logs, pics and audio clips I returned to the cliffside for 3 additional sessions in Aug with Gary and Chuck
July 2016 Rockwork 4 sessions: Pics, MP3 audio clips and my logs from the "International DXpedition"
K7WV Radio Page My Main Radio Page

Gary's June 2015 Rockwork 4 Report Gary's report of his ultralight / FSL results at this DXpedition
Gary's YouTube video showing his Ultralight DX equipment Gary's video of his Ultralight and FSL equipment June 29 2015
K7WV's June Rockwork4 Sessions MW Log (Downloadable in Excel format) MW results June 27, 28 2015
K7WV's August Rockwork 4 Sessions MW Log (Downloadable in Excel format) MW results Aug 07, 08, 09 2015
Bill Whitacre's Grayland logs July 2015 This VA DXer visited the WA and OR coast between the two Rockwork 4 DXpeditions. 160' DKAZ.
K7WV's Grayland DXpedition 2015: My October 2015 logs using a 140-foot DKAZ at Grayland aimed west. Over 40 DU's, 50 Japanese, 18 Hawaii