The field & me at Quoddy House with Campabello Island, NB behind. |
DXpeditionsEver since a trip to Grayland, Washington with Guy Atkins in February 2010 I've been visiting coastal locations to hear far off mediumwave [MW] DX at much better levels than I can at home. In the process I've learned a lot, met some great people and rediscovered a hobby I left behind in 1982 to start a family and career.My style of DXing can best be described as 'TiVo DXing.' I record the MW band throughout the night using a Perseus SDR and JAGUAR software for later review. I'm an early riser and easily bored so I don't enjoy spending hours late at night chasing 'live' DX. My style of logging is different as well. After nearly 40 years working at VOA, I find a sound sample preferable to text describing what someone has heard. If you visit the page links below you'll find the only text is in the headings for the table that contains my 'loggings' in the form of sound samples - accessed via a 'play' button. You'll get the hang of it and might even learn to like it. Each location has a 'master log' so I can track what I've heard over the years. May be of some use to others. |
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Grayland, Washington & San Souci near Florence, Oregon
Grayland is the 'holy grail' of coastal northwest DXing. It's not as far north or west as Walt Salmaniw's place in Massett, Haida Gwaii but it's a lot easier to reach and has been visited by 10's, if not 100's, of DXers over 30+ years.For many years the Grayland Motel was THE place to go for DXing until February 2017 when it closed. Since the summer of 2017 I have been using the Casa Sea Esta [CSE] Airbnb rental house just a few hundred yards south of the former Grayland Motel. Several summers between 2012 - 18 I visited a beautiful cabin near Florence, Oregon called San Souci [SS]. 900 feet above the Pacific Ocean with an amazing view and pretty good DU reception. Results are included in a number of the Grayland webpages. |
Grayland Master LogGrayland 1 - Feb. 2010
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Quoddy House - Lubec, Maine
Quoddy House [QH] is a former lightkeeper's house built in 1855. It was 'discovered' by Dallas Lankford in 2009 as a potential location for good TA DX with enough room to erect several antennas.The quality of DX here is somewhere between Cape Cod and Newfoundland though it does have its share of gems - India, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Alaska to name a few. QH has new owners since 2018 but continues to be rented, thank goodness! There are other locations along this part of the Maine coast and you will see Lubec Bay Cottage [LBC] mentioned in a few DXp webpages. |
Quoddy House Master LogQH 1 - Nov. 2011
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QH 11 - May 2018
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Bay House/Waters Edge - Reedville, Virginia
Along about 2012, in order to get a bit more DX-time in, I found a place less exotic but a lot closer to home in Virginia's 'northern neck' near Reedville. Right on the Chesapeake Bay, Bay House [BH] has an all-water path down the east coast into the Caribbean and Latin America. After the owners of Bay House came home to live full-time I found another, similar, location down the road called Waters Edge [WE] that offered the same great visual and radio views down the Chesapeake.Update Spring 2020: Waters Edge has been sold and I'm on the lookout for another similar location in the area. |
Bay House/Waters Edge Master LogBH 1 - Jul. 2012
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WE 1 - Jan. 2015
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Cappahayden, Newfoundland
Finally, the invitation and my calendar aligned and I visited Cappahayden just a week prior to our twice-anual visit to Quoddy House in the autumn of 2022. Look at a map and you'll see part of what's special about Newfoundland - location! That and the Beverage antennas used make all the difference. |
Cappaheyden Master Log |
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Timeline of major DXpeditions
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Videos
Here's a few videos I've made related to DXpeditions and antennas - mostly the DKAZ. |
Quick Tour QH shack Nov. 2018 |