LEM278 DXpedition Report

[Mika Mäkeläinen]

In this thread you can follow what's happening in Lemmenjoki on DXpedition LEM278, which began on October 3, and is scheduled to last for a week. A more comprehensive report and log will be published later on the DXpeditions page of DXing.info at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions

The beginning of October was the earliest I have ever been to Lapland for a DXpedition, so I anticipated rather short peaks of intensive listening only at sunset and sunrise. Capturing these brief moments of good propagation conditions was however easier than ever before, because both I and accompanying DXer Pertti Äyräs were equipped with software-defined receivers. LEM278 was the first DXpedition where I didn’t even bother to take along a single traditional communications receiver, and I have no regrets. Working with two Perseus receivers and two laptop computers has been much less hassle.

We met – for the first time in years - at my new home in Vantaa after midday Friday, October 2. Pertti had begun his travel already a couple of hours earlier from his hometown near Turku. Pertti left his car at my place, and we loaded both our stuff to my Nissan Murano, which became full even though one would expect DXpedition luggage to begin shrinking along with the size of the receivers. Maybe it is us who keep on growing. We set out at 1 pm, and drove north until 8:30 p.m. when we arrived at the summer cottage of fellow DXer Jari Ruohomäki in Muhos. His cabin is a well-known and well-equipped AM listening base, but we spent the evening enjoying Jari’s gourmet Indian cooking as well as admiring his collection of Latin American verifications – with plenty of drinks to compensate for any possible dehydration on the way.

We woke up at 6 a.m. when Jari was already listening to Venezuelan AM stations. We left just before daybreak around 7 a.m., and eventually arrived in Lemmenjoki at about 3:45 p.m. in the afternoon. Although road conditions this early in the season were very good, on the way we had to keep a constant watch for cops and other wildlife, both of which can cause expensive surprises. We saw reindeer on the road several times, and once, close to the village of Pokka, a giant bull moose crossed the road in front of us. An awesome sight.

In Lapland, having no snow on the ground, and temperatures hovering comfortably around freezing point qualify as summer. And indeed everything was very different from the winter. There was no ice on the lake, the landscape was mostly green, and most importantly, the sun was still up. All this makes for a pleasant difference compared to mid-winter, when any outdoor activity easily turns into a survival lesson.

For us, LEM278 marked the end of the transition phase in receiver technology. For the first time we used exclusively software-defined receivers, so there was more room on the table, and the listening experience was more relaxed. The biggest worry was to ensure that the laptops and the Perseus software are working normally, and then you could just sit back and enjoy the sounds. Or, as we are passionate to make new discoveries on the dial, use the extra time to keep on checking for some more exotic targets.

Our preceding DXpeditionists Jim Solatie and Håkan Sundman had captured a record haul of Australian AM stations, so we also had high hopes. We began assembling our computer-based equipment, which to an outsider basically looks like a bunch of boxes with an unbelievable amount of wires running around. In an hour or two the first rigs were operable and we were able to immediately check out the sunset session of Asian stations. Here is a more detailed look at the propagation conditions so far. More updates will follow.

Saturday, October 3

We arrived in Lemmenjoki early enough to get first recordings running by 1400 UTC, when the first Far East stations were starting to push through the noise. Conditions improved a bit by 1500 UTC, but were still very wide, so everything from Japan to India was found on the dial. The 1600 UTC top-of-the hour was best, and conditions favored China, Indo-China and India. Bangladesh on 693 kHz had a booming signal. No sign of any Aussies despite frantic scanning of the X-band for any signs of life.

Sunday, October 4

The first Newfoundland stations (590, 930, 1210 and 1400 kHz) appeared around 2100 UTC on Saturday evening. A couple of the most common daytime stations were logged tentatively, and reception of trans-Atlantic signals improved gradually. Conditions seemed to favor the East Coast of North America, Ontario, and later in the morning around 0400 UTC, also the Rockies. During all that time, stations from Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico were relatively strong. Latin American signals peaked around 0500 UTC, and especially the lower end of the AM dial offered nice surprises. Our instant catches include Radio Auténtica, Bogotá (540 kHz), ZIZ Radio from St. Kitts (555 kHz), WUNO San Juan PR (630 kHz) and Caracol, Bogotá (810 kHz), but there is bound to be many more. Signals lost power rapidly, but 0600 UTC was still quite good. I turned the receivers off after 0700 UTC, when only a bunch of regular catches, mostly from Canada, remained audible. In the afternoon, a few Alaskan and US West Coast stations appeared when the sun was still high up, but nothing worth listening to. Chinese stations became audible around 1230 UTC, earlier than the previous day. Signals from Asia were overall very strong, but conditions were spread over such a large area that finding new stations is going to be a challenge. Again no coveted Aussies, except for a few weak X-band stations.

[Mika Mäkeläinen]

Monday, October 5

This night offered pretty good conditions to North America. The first Newfoundland stations were heard around 2200 UTC Sunday, and with nightfall creeping westwards, new stations became audible all the way to the West Coast, where darkness fell around 0200 UTC. Conditions were limited to the upper half of the AM band, but signals were strong and European interference weaker than usual. Graveyard channels began yielding recognizable signals after 0200 UTC. Among the best catches was KTNO University Park TX on 1440 kHz, which probably forgot daytime power on, judging by its monster signal. Overall however Canadian stations were on top of the pile, and such northerly U.S. stations as the new KYES Rockville MN 1180 kHz and KFNW West Fargo ND 1200 kHz were audible for hours. This was the best propagation from North Dakota that I have ever experienced, including such catches as 1370 KWTL and 1450 KZZJ. In the morning, while North American stations remained dominant, there was a very nice opening towards the southern half of South America at about 0415-0500 UTC, with a few other Latin Americans in the mix, and focused luckily on the lower end of the dial. I have never before heard so many Latin American stations on the bottom AM frequencies (including Radio Colonia, Uruguay on 550 kHz). Soon after 0500 UTC signals from all over the Western Hemisphere began to lose steam. The northwestern corner of the U.S. and a handful of dominant stations from elsewhere lingered around past 0600 UTC and didn't fizzle out for hours. It was quite impressive to hear a handful of stations from the Rockies and the West Coast sticking around long into the afternoon, even though signals were weak. A few common Hawaii stations were heard for hours, but nothing new. Later in the afternoon, Japanese stations popped up around 1300 UTC, but conditions soon degenerated into a typical pan-Asian mess with stations from all around – except from Oceania.

Tuesday, October 6

Newfoundland stations opened the night as usual on Monday evening, followed soon (2230 UTC) by WEGP 1390, and the most common Puerto Rican stations at 2245 UTC. Most North American stations soon disappeared, while a mixture of Latin Americans kept us guessing what to hunt next. North Americans returned gradually around 0100 UTC, and improved until the signals quickly deteriorated around 0530 UTC. The most common West Coast stations remained weak on the dial for hours afterwards. In the early morning signal strength was decent, but conditions favored the same area as before, Minnesota and North Dakota, as well as the Canadian Prairie. There was a short morning opening to Latin America around 0400 UTC. Our best catches include KATL Miles City MT and KKOB Albuquerque NM on 770 kHz, as well as KOOQ North Platte NE on 1410 kHz. In the afternoon, the first Japanese stations opened the Asia session at 1300 UTC, but once again conditions covered such a wide area that finding anything new is challenging. Vietnam easily beat Norway on 630 kHz, which – fortunately – has sounded relatively weak this week. Australian X-band stations were noted at 1500-1600 UTC, but nothing out of the ordinary, or at least not before we get to review our recordings.

[Mika Mäkeläinen]

Wednesday, October 7

Trans-Atlantic signals emerged gradually after 2300 UTC, with North America dominating after midnight UTC. The signals were fairly strong until around midday, including even stations from the Eastern half of North America. Canadians tended to dominate frequencies, but also some Mexicans were heard. As stations from all over the continent were represented, it was difficult to get any decent signals on the graveyard frequencies, and even elsewhere, frequencies tended to be dominated by the usual suspects. Around sunrise there was a typical opening to the Caribbean, Colombia and Venezuela. It was a pleasant surprise to hear some Alaskan and Hawaiian stations in the afternoon, especially the Hawaiian music played by KKNE Waipahu on 940 kHz, audible past 1600 UTC, although this is of course not a rare station. In the afternoon, I began recording Asian stations at 1220 UTC, and gradually signals grew stronger than on any previous day. However, again everything from Japan to the Persian Gulf seemed to flood the AM band at once. The most common Philippine stations (954, 1062, 1233 and 1314) were noted in the mix. Bjarne Mjelde was simultaneously listening in Norway, and alerted us to New Zealand on 1035 kHz, but not a trace of the station was observed here. How unfair – seems like the border control extends even to the airwaves... Just before surrendering the AM band to Europeans, a few Koreans were identified at 1600 UTC, among them KCBS Wiwon on 719.87 kHz and HLKG Daegu on 738 kHz.

Thursday, October 8

The night session began on Wednesday evening at 2200 UTC with quite good signals from Brazil, but unfortunately the national “A Voz do Brasil” is aired precisely at that time, so getting station identifications was impossible. After the end of the program, conditions had shifted further southwest, favoring Argentina and Uruguay. Our catches include Rádio Tupinamba, Brazil, on 1120 kHz, and Radio Azul, Argentina, on 1320 kHz. North American stations emerged around 0220 UTC, after which conditions focused on Atlantic Canada, Canadian Prairie and the Pacific Northwest. Cubans were heard after 0500 UTC for a couple of hours, but then conditions to all directions dwindled. Recordings will hopefully reveal something more, especially from South America earlier in the night, but conditions towards North America were still disappointing. In the afternoon, Japanese stations marched in force around 1200 UTC. During the ensuing four-hour Asian session especially Chinese signals were very strong, but once again conditions tended to favor such a large area that finding anything beyond the common dominants is challenging.

Friday, October 9

Brazilians were the first to cross the Atlantic around 2200 UTC, but weaker than the previous day. Nighttime conditions were similarly mixed, with Atlantic Canada being consistently strong, and weak outbursts from the La Plata area, Puerto Rico and East Coast North America (catches including Radio Antares from Argentina on 1650 kHz and WKOX Newton MA on 1200 kHz). In the wee hours North American propagation improved, and by dawn there were stations on just about every frequency. Signal strength is currently very good, but there is no apparent focus area.
24 hours to go before leaving….

[Mika Mäkeläinen]

Everything good comes to end, including this DXpedition. I have added comments and pictures to compile a full report of the LEM278 DXpedition, which you can read at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/lem278rep.dx

[John Plimmer]

Most interesting report Mika - thanks for posting it, I really enjoyed the photo's and the text.
Pity you didn't get your Aussie's.
Otherwise you got nearly everything else = well done!

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, SOUTH AFRICA