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An Aussie in Holland  
  
 


   ©2005 David Onley

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Welcome to my Dx Blog
David Onley at FlevoIt seems I have been in the hobby forever. I can't imagine not having Radio Dx as a part of my life. Its one of those hobbies that stays with you forever. You may have your quiet moments, but deep down the passion has remained over the years.

These days I get a big kick out of DXpeditions. This is where my real passion lies. Serious dx can only be done on DXpeditions

Patrick McDonald many years ago nicknamed me Big Bev because of the size of antennas that I would put out. It was nothing to put out 1400 metres of wire and sit on a lake bed, a swamp or even in the middle of a desert listening to dx.

I have listened in some of the most remote regions you could think of. I have tried the most bizarre antennas. We have had so many near death experiences and brilliant times.

The fun part for me is getting away on trips with a couple of mates and really going for the long haul dx.

This is a sensational hobby. I still get a big kick out of it.

August 2009 will be my 3rd year living in The Netherlands. From what first seemed to be a daunting dx task, it has certainly turned out to be a surprisingly rewarding experience.

My first year in Europe was something of a non-event. We were living at Rijswijk just out of The Hague and although it is a great spot to live, apartment DXing is really just not on. The noise levels are too high and you can never get a decent antenna up to catch any real dx.

In September 2007 we moved to the semi-rural location of Pijnacker. It is a small dorp / village situated half way between The Hague and Rotterdam. For those who may know this part of the world, it is not far from Delft and Zoetermeer.

We had a small house there with an equally small back yard. In a dx sense the move to Pijnacker turned out to be a real revelation. I had two Ewe antennas in the back yard (Achter tuin) and it was probably the most quietest and dx friendly location I had ever lived except for the time in the late 70's when I lived on the Pilbara Coast of Western Australia at Dampier.

Sadly for dx in December 2008 we bought a new house in The Hague (Den Haag Zuidwest), bordering Rijswijk. The dx has been pretty reasonable however noise levels are far too high to get the really nice long haul dx I achieved from Pijnacker. However it is early days and I'm working on a few solutions. I'm currently using an ALA 1530 magnetic loop which I bought from Max Van Arnhem. I must say it has been one of my wisest purchases ever. It has the remarkable ability to cut noise levels down. There is just no comparison when it goes up against the Ewe antenna. The ALA wins every time and by a long way at that. So its not all doom and gloom.

Walsoorden

Vincent Wagner, David Onley, John Bernaerts, Jos De Jong, and Marc Vissers at Walsoorden (Zeeland)

In October 2008 and again in February 2009 I had the opportunity to travel to Walsoorden in Zeeland to dx with the Belgian guys from Dx Antwerp. They are a great bunch of guys to dx with and remind me so much of the way the Aussie's go about their DXing. Mind you the Belgians are probably a little more organised than what we were.

I came away from the February trip a re-born Dxer. Of course I am still a very passionate Mediumwave Dxer, however I was shown another very interesting side of the hobby by Marc Vissers, John Bernaerts, Jos De Jong, and Vince Wagner. Navtex Dxing is a really cool way of Dxing. You tune into either 518 or 490 khz in RTTY mode and via the receiver and sound card of your receiver you can start receiving the Navigation forecasts. Well its not so much the looking at the forecasts and messages that is interesting, but its where some of the stations on longwave are propagating from. Miami, Chesapeake Bay, Turkey, Israel etc. Its all quite fascinating waking up in the morning, checking the log and seeing what has propagated overnight.

The other two things I learnt on the trip were NDB Beacons on longwave and also HFDL / AirNav on the HF Band. NDB Beacon's of course is a huge challenge and learning morse code again is something I never thought I would do. However with the aid of Argo it is getting to be a bit easier. The unfortunate thing for me around Den Haag is the noise levels on LW. Maybe I can convince the guy next door with his fish pond pump to put a filter on it. I'm convinced that's where the majority of noise comes from. (Talk about the neighbours water path.. blaaah!)

Craig Edwards erecting Ewe Antenna - Parnka Point South Australia - 2005 David Onley checking BOG at Gove (Nhulunbuy) Northern Territory, Australia August 2006

So enjoy my site. Don't hesitate to email me and say hello.

RECENT ACTIVITY AND NEWS
Thursday May 7 2009
Not much Dxing has been done in the past few weeks. However this week I have got around to putting up my FM log periodic in anticipation of Sporadic E dx. Last year from Pijnacker it was quite interesting to get dx from Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and North Africa. But being in a new location always throws open questions. Is it a reasonable dx site? Are the surrounding buildings a problem. But experience tells me that Spe dx usually comes in on the a piece of wet string. If we lived in a perfect world we would have our antennas as high and as far away from buildings and nearby hills that was humanly possible. Sigh.... Unfortunately I'm a bit of a dx beggar.. getting dx from wherever I can.

RECENT ADDITION - Mini Whip
In the past fortnight I have erected Roloef Bakker's Mini Whip. You can see it in its temporary position on top of the stick on the shed. The guys from Belgium have been raving about its ability on Longwave for NDB and Navtex. Marc Visser's has also said it has performed well for him on the Tropical Bands. Its still early days for me but it seems to be a welcome addition to the shack. Being omni-directional its nice to switch between it and the ALA 1530. In some instances I certainly hear sharper or cleaner signals. But so far it has not found any dx that was not evident on the ALA. However its still early days and I need to get it up higher. But for such a small whip it does a very nice job on the lower frequencies.

FM Log Periodic - ALA1530 - Mini Whip

ALA 1530 - Roloef Bakker Mini Whip on stick and FM Log Periodic

Mini Whip

ALA 1530 and Mini Whip on stick (Right)

My Shack in Den Haag

My Dx setup in Den Haag in May 2009 - Top Shelve - Old Radio G'day transmitter (6 - 15 Mhz)
Drake SPR4, Trio 9R59DS, Drake SW4 A, National Panasonic DR 49, Realist Pro 2004 scanner

Setup

Icom R75 & Marantz FM tuner


The Den Haag setup - Left top Realistic Pro 2004, Trio 9R59-DS, National Panasonic DR49, The RAAF wartime Kingsley AR7 Next to the PC under the lamp is a Quantum Phaser, Icom R75, Drake SPR4. The valve transmitter on the right is the former Radio G' day pirate transmitter that I used in Australia mainly on 11400 khz. It was heard in North America, New Zealand and Japan. It transmitted between 6 - 15 Mhz. Below that is a Drake SW4A and a Marantz FM tune

ALA 1530

The ALA 1530 and my Ewe antenna

DX Shack

The DX Shack here in The Hague before the antennas went up

AR7

Kingsley AR7 - WWII Royal Australian Air Force Receiver