LEM281 29.10 update

29.10.

The evening started "slow" again, however again with early signs of the direction being to the Great Lakes area. No LA or east coast "early openers", but directly to stations like WWKB-1520 and WRRD-1510.

At 23 UTC signals were barely above the level that it seemed worthwhile to have the SDR´s recording. One hour later, somewhat stronger and from time to time readable signals even on the graveyard frequencies. The general feeling was that it was worth listening but little hope of any "big fish".

Morning started slower than most mornings. At 06 UTC practically nothing, at 07 UTC a bit better, but still weak. From there on, no big signals either, but every now and then an interesting station "popped in", so the interest for listening was kept alive. Around 10-12 UTC the going was good and the direction was concentrated to the Great Lakes with morning programs in full swing due to the advantageous situation regarding the U.S. move to Standard Time only this coming weekend.

But again, the fun would not last forever...for some reason the condition started to weaken already before 12 UTC and practically died out shortly there after. Only some of the most usual west coast remained on the band until 14 UTC.

In between, quick checks for the Pacific and Japan gave a couple of stations, even if the conditions did not appear very interesting - just lots of difficult languages...

Earlier we reported that it would be unlikely that any new stations from the 24 October NZ-opening would be found. We were wrong, since we forgot to check also the Radio New Zealand national service frequencies: RNZ 1458 (Westport) and RNZ 819 (Tauranga) were noted...shame on us !

Some of the more interesting stations last night and this morning: WNWI-1080, WPDR-1350, KCAR-1350, KRFO-1390, KFIZ-1450, KBMW-1450, KMSD-1510, KCHA-1580, KOKB-1580, KGUM-567, KUAM-630.

North Platte's ESPN

KOOQ 1410 kHz from North Platte, Nebraska has been in my hunting list for some years now. If you hear ESPN on 1410 kHz it usually appears to be WPOP. However, on ENOX17 on October 11, 2009 this frequency offered ESPN from KOOQ instead of WPOP. The ID was clear on the top of the hour. The station management verified my report and easily recognized their station on the mp3.

LEM281 update 28.10

28.10.

CBG-1400 appeared early, at around 2030 UTC, but the conditions towards NA did not develop too well. Instead, lots of LA started appearing quite early and it was Spanish all over with good signals. NA started to join the party around 0000 UTC, but it was already too late for anything remarkable.

In the morning NA started to stregthen rapidly after sunrise with good signals, mainly from the Rockies to West Coast, once again. But all the time there was more and more concentration towards Southern California and from around 08 UTC to about 10 UTC it was better than either one of us had ever experienced. Stations seldom heard or never before logged came in with crystal clear signals. There will be a lot of interesting stuff on the recordings in addition to those already identified when listening "live".

As you would expect, such fun cannot last too long, and the peak of the conditions was gone after 1030 UTC. Only some of the most common stationswere left with "dizzy" signals. And even those died out before 14 UTC. No Pacific or Asia in general in the afternoon/early evening.

But in all, what a day !

Best stations logged live: KUGN-590, KGEZ-600, KWDN-720, KCNO-830, KHHO-850,KPAM-860, KLFF-890, KXLO-1230, KLBS-1330,KPRK-1340, KVTO-1400, KSUN-1400,KCLX-1450, KLIV-1590.

LEM281 27.10 update

27.10.

Interesting developement: better indexes, generally worse conditions...

The night started with absolutely no signals before 01 UTC, then some LA, but nothing fancy. In the morning, between 06-07 UTC, fair to good signals from NA, but without direction. At this time with general type conditions it is almost not worth to listen to anything else but TOH and half hours, since local nighttime programming has very little content from a DX-ing point of view.

However, the signals abruptly died out totally before 08 UTC and did not return but at around 1130 UTC. Then one hour fair-good signals towards the Rockies-West Coast, but only to the northerly states, except a few interesting signals from California and Mexico in the same direction. Again, signals died completely out around 1330 UTC. Before that, a couple of interesting NHK-2 from the 1320 break, but no Pacific at all, just "mediocre chinese" as far as we can tell...

Highlights of the day (with a couple from recordings from the previous days): KERR-750, KFMB-760, KPDQ-800, XEKE-980, WZFG-1100, KBND-1110, KGRG-1330, KPRK-1340, KTAQ-1340, KCAP-1340, KWRM-1370, XEKT-1390, KMOG-1420, KZNX-1530, KWBG-1590, JOSB-1602, JOFD-1602, JOCB(JOFD)-1512, JOTC-1467.

KOGA - a fine NOS -station on 930 kHz

After identifying KOOQ North Platte on 1410 kHz on ENOX17 I took a look at stations' locations and distances from Enontekiö in Nebraska and surrounding states. I found out that among the stations that should be audible at the same time is KOGA in Ogallala, Nebraska on 930 kHz. So I tuned to 930 kHz and after a couple of minutes a station with local ads and PSA for Ogallala faded in. It also played fine tunes like Steven Bishop's "On And On" from 1970's. I made a mp3 -clip, wrote a report and sent them to the KOGA's personality that Roland Sandberg kindly let me now.
A nice email along the verification came in about 24 hours.
Tnx Rolle fr v/s!

LEM 281 update 26.10

26.10.

The conditions started fairly late, at around 23 UTC and opened directly towards the Great Lakes. A lot less impressive signals than in the previous night and less concentrated. Only a handful of interesting stations and weakening signals after 01 UTC. Little better in the morning with very much varying signal strengths; practically no conditions in the afternoon, neither to the east, north or to the west. So it was good to check some recordings.

Highlights from today and the night before: KSUB-590, KCOL-600, KDWN-720, KUAI-720, KKZN-760, KBGN-1060, KDYL-1060, KVNI-1080, KHIL-1250, KOLY-1300, KLIX-1310, KROP-1370, KMOG-1420.

LEM281 - 24-31.10 (HAS,HN)

LEM 281 = Hannu Asikainen and Hannu Niilekselä, both from the capital district. Lots of NRD-535´s, SDR-IQ´s and one Perseus.

24.10 - 25.10

We arrived to Lemmenjoki at noon on Saturday 24th. The first plugged NRD gave hints of NA with fair signals from the western parts of the U.S. However just the usual stuff, as far as we could determine while unpacking and installing our rigs.

Gradually we got the technical side somewhat in shape and started to take a more serious touch to what was going on. We could only confirm what we had anticipated - nothing of true interest from NA was coming in. But stregthening signals towards Hawaii kept our interest awake, even if in the end only the most common hawaiians were logged. BUT, they led us to monitor also the rest of the pacific, just in case. And that certainly paid off. As we noted a couple of the most common NZ st.ations, we naturally started to search for more. And more we heard, which also left the anticipation that "there still might be something on the SDR/Perseus recordings".

When we started going through those, the cold truth was revealed: we had experienced the once-in-a-lifetime opening towards NZ - not a single aussie (except for a couple of the most common ones on the X-band) were noted. But NZ, yes. No logged stations in the lower end of the mw-band, but the further up we checked, the wilder it got (sorry about the possible mistakes with + for first in Finland, these are "out-of-the-memory"):

1035 Newstalk ZB, Wellington
1080 Newstalk ZB, Auckland
+ 1107 R Live, Tauranga
+ 1161 Te Reo..., Wellington
+ 1215 Newstalk ZB, Kaikohe
1224 UNID with Sporting News Flash
+ 1233 R Live, Wellington
1296 Newstalk ZB, Hamilton
1332 R Sport, Auckland
+ 1341 Newstalk ZB, Nelson
+ 1359 Coast, New Plymouth
+ 1377 R Sport, Levin
1386 R Tarana, Auckland (superstrong)
+ 1413 Newstalk ZB, Tokoroa
1476 R Trackside, Auckland
+ 1494 Southern Star, Hamilton
+ 1503 R Sport, Wellington/Chirstchurch
+ 1530 Coast, Napier-Hastings
+ 1557 Coast, Hawera
1593 tent. R Samoa, Auckland
1602 tent. 2XA, Levin

The signals partially peaked at times when Newstalk ZB had breaks with local commercials. The recordings have been quite thoroughly checked, so it is unlikely that the list would get any longer...

From NA the night 24/25 was an interesting one. No east coast in the evening, but opening directly to Colorado and Idaho, with signals coming in with power from clear daylight. Nothing spectacular listening live, but maybe something in the recordings...Some LA in the morning and later in the day stations fading in and out with fair signals for short periods, mainly west coast again. Almost dead in the afternoon

The best station from NA so far + KEZY San Bernardino CA. More to come...

WJDY 1470 - a CNN affiliate in Salisbury, MD.

WJDY has became an usual guest on 1470 kHz during this season. It's one of those stations which seems to be easier to pick up in a good QTH located in Southern Finland than in the listening posts on the Arctic Circle. However, I heard WJDY during ENOX17 with a decent signal for a moment.

I got a short email last night from WJDY. They were quite amazed after listening to my mp3 and they easily recognized the WJDY's ID and programming on the audiofile.

WTCM Traverse City MI 580

Once in a while the lower AM offered quite strong and interesting signals on ENOX17. WTCM has been my hunting list for some time but not anymore. This one faded in with CFRA with a very loud and clear signal with C2C and a couple of local ads and a fine ID. I waited for an answer to my report a couple of days and yesterday I got a kind, long email from the station. WTCM is my MI #32.

LEM279 up and running (10.10 - 15.10.2009)

Greetings to you all, fellow DXers!

We (JSN & MKA) arrived to Lemmenjoki on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. UTC. It took about an half and hour when our DX-gear (3 x Perseus, 1 x SDR-IQ) was up and running.

We have enjoyed the great weather here: clear skies, snow some 10 centimetres, temperature in the mornings between -8 to -14 Celcius.

Fog is rising up from Lake Kuivajärvi at sunrise

Here's a short summary what has happened on the radiowaves:

Sunday 11.10: Mediocre NA, good MEX-opening in the morning. In the afternoon the best HI/AK-opening I and Martti have ever experienced before - though, not a "brilliant" one. 1330 & 1430 AK were heard. But have not been checked from the recordings.

Monday 12.10: Nice Orinoco opening at local sunrise. Mediocre NA.

Tuesday 13.10: Improved NA-conditions: At 04:00 UTC the conditions favoured the Rocky Mountain area. At 07:00 a big swing to the East Coast. In the afternoon an early opening to HI/AK. Unfortunately not as strong as on Sunday.

Wednesday 14.10: NA with nice signals from 00:00 UTC. After 05:00 UTC also Andean stations. Later on, stations from TX and the Rocky Mountains area. We spent the whole afternoon in Sevettijärvi area testing a promising, possibly new, QTH. Our main concern was a 20 KV powerline. We were equipped with a laptop, an SDR-IQ and a 900 meters longwire erected almost parallel to the powerline for our testing purposes. Luckily, we didn't detect any electrical "bruises".

Extreme DXing in the "middle of nowhere".

During our visit to Sevettijärvi there were quite nice conditions to the Far-East. In the evening nice opening to the Philippines at 20:00 UTC. East Coast NA started at 21:00 with some daytimers.

Thursday 15.10: NA with nice signals till 07:15 UTC. Then a small disturbance from the sun wiped out all TA-signals. We left Lemmenjoki at 11:00 UTC and drove to Oulu where we stayed the night at JPR's QTH - many thanks JPR for your hospitality! On Friday morning at 04:30 UTC we continued to Vaasa. Martti and I are both very satisfied with the results. There's a lots of work ahead to go thru all the files.

Something from our log books ("On the fly"): WLCM-1390, KALL-700, KUTR-820, KZOO-1210, KLHT-1040, WSBB-1230, WFOY-1240, WMMB-1240, WTMA-1250, Japanese utility (maritime) stations on 1649.5 & 1663.5, Rete Italia, Darwin(?)-1611, DZNL-783 (split), WCHP-760, WFIF-1500, KDAL-610, KLSQ-870, WKYW-1490, WTNY-790

Besides DXing, we've enjoyed culinary cooking and good wines as usual.

Our pedition log will be pulished at: http://www.netikka.net/jsn/LEM279_loki.xls