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The highlight of the
expedition was undoubtedly the visit from my American
friend, author Eric Weiner, who journeyed to Lapland
to immerse himself in Sámi culture. Together,
we traveled north to Utsjoki, braving the deep cold
and perpetual darkness of the Arctic winter. DX-wise,
however, the AIH206 DXpedition proved rather underwhelming.
Propagation conditions remained stubbornly static,
with the dial dominated by familiar stations from
the Canadian Prairies and the US Midwest.
Wiping the
slush off my windshield, I set out to drive through
the relentless sleet to Pasila railway station in
Helsinki, the first stop on my journey to Lapland.
I left early enough to be loaded first onto a car-carrier
wagon. Why? First in, first out in Rovaniemi. At
this time of year, it would not be unthinkable to
get stuck behind some tourist who has lost his car
keys along the way.
Before boarding
the train, I still had over an hour to kill before
departure, so I enjoyed a sumptuous buffet at Teppanyaki
Tripla. The train turned out to be chock full of
tourists, and the selection of languages heard was
impressive. I knew to expect an exceptionally cold
morning in Rovaniemi, so I hauled a bit more stuff
to the comfort of the cabin's above-freezing temperature
than usual, treating a bag of external hard drives
and other sensitive electronics with extra care.
Mika waiting for the train
at Pasila Railway station.
The overnight ride
was smooth, and I woke up rested on the Arctic Circle
in Rovaniemi
(Santa's hometown, BTW), where the train arrived
on time. It really felt Arctic with a temperature
of -20°C, and tourists around me immediately
began taking selfies in front of snow- and ice-crusted
trees. The sense of entering another world was unmistakable.
Railroad officials open
the doors in Rovaniemi early Saturday morning, allowing
cars to be driven off the train. Click the photos
in this report to view them in full resolution in
a separate browser window.
Being the first in line, I sped off just before
8 AM and headed north on Highway 4. There were several
herds of reindeer on the road and roadside, and
the surface was snowy, but not slippery at all,
so it was a pleasure to drive.
As it was so cold
outside, I shopped already at Lidl in Sodankylä,
where the prices are cheaper than further up north.
Since my trunk was at the perfect fridge temperature,
I could keep the groceries there for hours. For
the first time, I drove straight through Ivalo and
only stopped in Inari to fill up the car and myself
— with a blue cheese burger from Scanburger
at Neste. Not that there even were other fast-food
options to choose from. At some point before Inari,
departing DXers Patrick Willför and Timo Klimoff
drove past me.
Considering it was winter,
driving conditions were very good.
Along the way, I
caught the last rays of the sun, as the polar night
would soon creep further south. The world outside
felt suspended between day and night. I arrived
in Aihkiniemi at 2 PM local time, when it was already
turning dim. I got my first receiver up and running
before the next top of the hour, 1300 UTC, but the
conditions to Asia were mixed, and I didn’t
notice anything thrilling on the dial.
I arranged my gear
and left a total mess in the cabin until I would
need to clean up at least a bit before the arrival
of my American friend Eric Weiner a week later.
The evening turned
cold, bottoming at -28°C around midnight as
I was taking advantage of an opportunity to enjoy
and take photos of aurora borealis. Although the
sky was nominally clear, there was still a lot of
moisture in the air, so only hundreds of stars were
visible — instead of thousands under ideal
conditions. In any case, this is a perfect place
for stargazing, ranked 2 on the Bortle scale. The
silence and isolation were profound, broken only
by the occasional crack and echo as the lake ice
grew deeper into the water below.
Northern lights over a small
lake right next to the Aihkiniemi cabin.
Despite
the magic of the starry sky and the surrounding
nature, the most important thing in Aihkiniemi remains
DXing. We have 13 horizontal wire antennas, each
about a kilometer long, oriented in these directions:
Below is my diary,
in which I describe in more detail the progress
of the DXpedition and the stations I heard with
my three Perseus receivers.
Sunday, November
23, 2025
Overnight conditions
were mediocre, with nothing new. Most stations were
from the Midwest, and faded a couple of hours after
daybreak. 1240 KEJO & KMHI, 1340 KROC, 1440
WEEI, 1450 KZZJ, and 1470 XERCN "Radio Bahia"
were some of the identified stations.
Latin American stations
were quite weak earlier in the morning, but for
instance 1240 Radio Paysandú, 1360 Radio
41, and 1430 Radio Durazno were logged. In the afternoon,
Far East stations appeared already before 1000 UTC,
and even V7AB from the Marshall Islands was heard
briefly.
I didn't venture
out to check the antennas yet, because it was so
bitterly cold, close to -30°C (-22°F). There
would still be plenty of time for that during the
following 12 days here.
A mixture of Asian
signals was heard in the afternoon, but only at
2000 UTC did the NHK-1 opening offer one personally
new station, namely a low-power relay of JOFP Fukushima
on 1161 AM. It was nostalgic to hear the local station
identifications of the more common NHK-1 stations
as well, because Japan is planning to combine NHK's
AM networks by New Year, and such local station
identifications might become a thing of the past.
Ice crystals growing upward
from the frozen surface of the lake.
Monday, November
24, 2025
Conditions to the
US improved a bit, but the usual suspects from the
Midwest and the West tended to dominate. Identified
stations included 910 KJJQ, 1240 KICD & WOMT,
1400 KART, 1450 KGRZ & KATE, 1490 KBKR, KRIB
& KOVC, and 1550 KMRI. Luckily I scored one
personally new catch — KMTT from Vancouver,
WA, on 910 kHz, a station I had been hunting
for decades.
The temperature
continued to hover around -29°C, so no antenna
work today either. We should be used to temperatures
like this, but it still causes some inconveniences.
The drainage pipe in our sauna freezes daily at
these temperatures, so the first chore to do there
is to pour near-boiling water in the drain to melt
an opening and be able to wash and use the sauna.
In the afternoon,
at around 1300 UTC, there were some stations from
East Asia, including 1206 Shanxi Nongcun Guangbo
and 1467 Fujian Jingji Guangbo from China, but again,
nothing new. European signals rose quite early and
strong. As a sign of desperation, since nothing
better was available, I logged a few Dutch pirate
stations on the X-band, which hasn't happened for
over a decade.
I always set up my gear
on the same side of the listening room.
Tuesday, November
25, 2025
My hopes were raised
for a good opening, as 1230 CBC, 1500 WLQV, and
1520 AM WWKB were heard strong already before 2000
UTC on Monday evening. Also, 1120 KMOX identified
almost two hours before local sunset. However, things
turned downhill fast. There was a minor geomagnetic
storm, resulting in weak and erratic reception of
North American stations. Reception peaked modestly
at 0700 UTC, but daytime was quiet. Logged stations
included 1400 WGIL, 1450 KMRY, 1490 WOLF & WLCX,
and 1560 KLTI. Latin America was, surprisingly,
almost absent.
Finally, the temperature
crept at least a tiny bit upwards, so after daybreak
at -25°C, I ventured to the forest to check
the first two antennas. Fortunately, I did so, because
a branch had fallen on the 270-degree wire, pushing
it to the ground, where reindeer had been eating
something — maybe beard lichen — from
the branch. They could easily have gotten stuck
in the wire with their antlers. That would have
been a nightmare for us. What a relief to avoid
that scenario.
In the afternoon,
the first Japanese stations became audible at around
1130 UTC, but nothing major appeared from the east
over the afternoon. Some Australian X-band stations
gave weak signals. My focus shifted to Europe, from
where I heard the oddly named "This is Radio"
from Italy with traffic reports and pop music on
1233 AM.
Eventually at -25°C it
felt warm enough to start checking the antennas.
Wednesday, November
26, 2025
The overnight was
a rollercoaster ride, which is typical during disturbed
conditions. At one moment, stations were crackling
through the static, and the next they were gone.
Signal strengths were nothing to brag about, and
focus tended to be westward again. Identified stations
included 1240 KRDO, 1340 KACH, 1490 KBKR, 1520 KRHW,
1550 KESJ, 1560 WRHC, 1580 KGAF, and 1600 KUSH.
As the day dawned,
I once again set out to scrape antennas of snow
and ice, this time walking along our easternmost
wires at 94 and 82 degrees. The terrain there is
a bit treacherous, with countless slippery boulders
under the snow, but at least the antennas were OK.
Eastern stations
arrived late, not really rising above the noise
before 1200 UTC, when it was already becoming dark
outside. Nothing of interest was found during my
preliminary inspection. Similarly, European stations
remained faint and elusive.
The idea is to scrape snow
and ice from the antenna wires.
Thursday, November
27, 2025
Overnight was once
again unproductive, although maybe further review
of recordings could reveal something surprising.
Also, daytime was mostly quiet on the dial, but
a couple of interesting peaks at around 1000 and
1200 UTC centered around the Midwest were enough
for me to find something new. Other identified stations
included, for example, 610 KRTA, 860 KPAM, 920 WBAA,
960 WSBT, 980 WITY, 1340 KGFW, 1400 WGIL, 1450 WFMB
& WDLB, and 1560 KTUI. Just like on previous
mornings, the lower end of the AM has been stronger
than the upper end, which is unusual.
Can't hope for a more
beautiful morning!
The dawn was gorgeous,
with clouds lit bright orange from underneath. In
daylight, I inspected wire antennas pointing at
207 and 63 degrees. Thankfully, everything was in
order, and I only needed to scrape some accumulated
snow and ice. The temperature kept rising, reaching
-2°C, while southerly winds picked up.
In the afternoon,
the NHK-2 close-down at 1445 UTC was audible, for
a change, but nothing more than a few of the most
common stations were heard. Asian DX remained stubbornly
faint overall. The surprise of the evening was to
hear Radio a Colori from Italy on 1602 AM. Still
waiting for their response, however.
A female great spotted woodpecker
(käpytikka), at the northern edge of its range,
competing with a great tit (talitiainen) for sunflower
seeds.
Friday, November
28, 2025
A few Latin American,
mostly Brazilian, stations were heard at around
0200–0300 UTC,
but nothing spectacular. US stations had a sturdier
signal than on previous days, and signal levels
were quite good at around 0500–0800
UTC, after which they dipped. Graveyard frequencies
initially offered stations from Ohio, and then gradually
from the more familiar territory of Wisconsin, Iowa,
Nebraska, and Kansas.
At least for the
moment, the best discovery remains XETAM Ciudad
Victoria TM on 640 AM, first identified by Jari
Luoma at Kontio, but it was audible in Aihkiniemi
as well.
I spent the best
daylight hours in the forest checking a total of
four antennas, which was quite a workout. In the
evening, I also drove down to the Kontio remote
DX site to collect a couple of external hard drives
and install new ones for the remainder of the DX
season.
A tuna melt with leek, the
height of my culinary endeavours when I'm up in
Aihkiniemi just by myself.
Saturday, November
29, 2025
For the first time,
there was a bit of an opening to Brazil and Uruguay
during the night, precisely at the time when I had
some recording problems. Oh well, there's still
bound to be something interesting, as the Brazilian
AM landscape has been changing since my previous
expedition (see the AIH194
DXpedition Report from a year ago).
Around daybreak,
the reception of US stations improved for a couple
of hours, and there was a mother lode of stations
from Indiana to Wisconsin and Iowa. This is generally
an area where new discoveries are rare. Identified
stations included 980 KMBZ, 1010 KDJW, 1250 KCUE,
and 1410 KFLD.
After daybreak,
I drove to the nearby Kontio remote DX site to inspect
the one sole wire antenna that we have there. The
roads had become slippery as temperature rose to
0°C. Just a few kilometers from Aihkiniemi,
there was a van that had driven off the road. A
tow truck was already present, so my help was not
needed. Then, right as I arrived in Kontio, I ran
into moose hunters. The timing was fortunate, so
that I was able to remove my car and park it without
hindering their use of the remote dirt road that
runs parallel to the Kontio antenna. After checking
Kontio and driving around reindeer standing in the
middle of the road, shoveling snow became the second
exercise of the day. Never has a sauna felt so well-earned!
In the afternoon,
the first Asian stations emerged around 1200 UTC,
but my attention remained mostly on the morning
recordings from the Western Hemisphere. However,
I did stumble upon a local station ID from 1431
JOHL BSS Tottori at 1759 UTC. I wonder if this was
an exception or whether the various transmitters
of this commercial broadcaster always identify locally
at this time?
Mika checking antennas
with Eric Weiner.
Sunday, November
30, 2025
Not much overnight,
but Sunday morning looked promising. However, I
didn't monitor the AM band in real time, because
at 9 AM I started driving to Ivalo to pick up my
friend and colleague Eric Weiner, who had flown
in from Washington DC on Saturday evening. Eric
is an author who will be staying in Aihkiniemi for
the rest of the week to work on his next book, which
will include his experiences from Lapland and especially
on Sámi culture.
The road was a bit
more slippery than normal, because the temperature
had risen above freezing. With Eric, we went grocery
shopping in Inari and had lunch at Restaurant Aanaar.
In Partakko, we bought fabulous fresh trout, as
well as frozen whitefish and king crab, from Pekka
Kokkonen, a local fisherman. Gourmet doesn’t
get more local than that.
In the afternoon,
Japanese stations were quite strong but had vanished
by the time when NHK-2 signed off — and would
give a local station ID — which on Sunday is
later than on other days.
Eric getting a taste of antenna
checking in the Arctic.
Monday, December
1, 2025
More of the same
today, including a couple of hours of Brazil, Uruguay,
and Argentina in the wee hours, while US stations
were relatively strong around daybreak, and partially
recovered around 1200 UTC. That's when Midwestern
daytimers could have been heard, but I had no such
luck.
At 10 AM, I set
out to the forest with Eric to check the last remaining
antennas. We walked along the 10-degree Alaska wire
to the very end, after which Eric took charge of
checking the 30-degree wire, while I inspected the
46-degree wire in brisk winter weather at -15°C.
In the evening,
it was time for an exquisite seafood meal, prepared
by Eric, and plotting tomorrow's adventures.
A plate full of king crab,
would you like some?
Tuesday, December
2, 2025
Signals from the
US improved steadily towards the morning, and also
stations from the southern half of South America
continued to be heard almost until dawn.
However, instead
of listening to the radio, we spent the day road
tripping around Utsjoki, the northernmost community
in Finland. Since Eric hadn't visited Norway yet,
we drove over the Sámi Bridge just enough
to score him a new country. And for my part, I took
advantage of the opportunity for a classic roadside
pit stop.
Reindeer couldn’t
care less about cars but run away from humans.
Then we hiked to
the top of Mount Áilegas and looked out over
both Utsjoki and the Teno River, as daylight was
already slipping away to the west. The landscape
was etched in pale blue, and a howling wind served
as a constant reminder of the north.
After returning
to the car, we needed something to warm us up. A
salmon soup made by Vuokko Mikkola, owner of Rastigaisa
Pub in Utsjoki, was a proper ending to our excursion.
Sightseeing was limited by the short daylight hours,
but luckily Eric had already photographed plenty
of reindeer on our way to Utsjoki.
Back at the cabin
in the evening, a brief initial inspection didn't
reveal anything special in the recordings of the
day.
On the left is Finland, and
on the right, across Teno (Tana) River, is Norway.
Most of the afternoon on Tuesday
we were the only customers at Pub Rastigaisa in
Utsjoki.
Wednesday, December
3, 2025
Latin American emisoras
were rather weak overnight. US stations occupied
practically every frequency in the morning hours,
but I didn't find any new ones. Among the identified
stations were 960 KLAD, 1240 KSUE, 1320 KXRO, and
1450 KHIT, mostly around 0700 UTC.
It had been snowing
around the clock, so I spent quite a lot of time
shoveling the driveway.
In the evening,
Alaskan stations were very strong, and magnetic
disturbances seemed to have increased from G1 to
G3 level geomagnetic storms, so the following hours
might be the last opportunity to hear anything from
afar. Or so I thought.
Thursday, December
4, 2025
US stations were
heard from coast to coast, along with a bunch of
Mexican ones, but once again, no new discoveries
instantly. After some 2200 verified North American
stations and 200 Mexican stations, finding new ones
has become quite demanding. Identified stations
included 690 XEMA, 1090 XEAU, 1160 KCTO, 1240 WJON,
1280 WGBF, 1300 KCSF, 1450 KWBW, 1460 KDMA, 1550
KESJ, 1560 KTUI, 1580 WLIJ, and 1600 KUSH.
During the day,
we explored a kammi, an old shelter built
by the native Sámi near our cabin ages ago.
The hut was partially collapsed and so small it
would barely fit one person lying down. Times have
truly changed since then, back when survival was
never guaranteed and this was an area of real hardship.
As was tradition, we ended each day with a sauna
— a ritual that was entirely new to Eric. He
embraced the experience with enthusiasm, and just
a few days later, he published his reflections in
an essay titled "Ode to the Sauna" on
his Substack
channel, "A Sense of Wander."
Imagine sheltering from the
elements in this tiny kammi in Lapland.
Friday, December
5, 2025
Same old, same old
in terms of DXing and weather. Latin American stations
remained on the dial a bit later than before, but
I haven’t yet looked into my recordings. I
would typically use 2–3
Perseus receivers to record the entire AM band from
a direction which at any given time sounds most
promising, so there remains an enormous pile of
recordings to check. Then, a bit of snow shoveling
again.
Reception was best
from around Wisconsin and Minnesota, so finding
anything new was once again practically impossible.
In the evening,
we met Katja Jomppanen and three of her children
at their cozy home just a few kilometers from our
cabin. They are our nearest year-round neighbors,
while some small cabins closer to us are used only
seasonally.
Visiting our neighbors Katja
Jomppanen and her daughters Inga-Sara and Inari.
Saturday, December
6, 2025
Happy birthday,
Finland! It's our Independence Day, so not just
any Saturday morning. For me, though, it was a rather
ordinary one, with hectic cleaning and packing up,
all while trying to keep at least one receiver recording
the AM dial from the direction of North America.
I pulled the last plug just after midday at 1007
UTC, and within 45 minutes, we were on the road
heading south.
Fellow DXer Harri
Kiikeri had arrived a bit earlier to continue monitoring
the dial for the next week, marking the 207th DXpedition
in the history of Aihkiniemi.
Our first stop was
in Inari, where Eric would stay for three more nights,
soaking in the Sámi culture, before flying
back home. His room at the Wilderness Hotel Juutua
was even equipped with a private miniature sauna,
so he would be able to continue the daily sauna
tradition.
The beginning of the polar
night near Partakko.
My drive south went
smoothly. On arrival in Rovaniemi I grabbed an oversize
Megahampurilainen at a strip mall Hesburger
restaurant before loading my car on the train. Restaurant
Alvari at the railway station was once again full
of tourists from around the world, but after I boarded
the train, the surrounding bustle gave way to the
steady clatter of the rails.
As the lights of Rovaniemi faded into the distance,
I was filled with both contentment and a quiet longing
for the Lapland wilderness. While most Finns watched
the pageantry of the Presidential Palace on their
televisions, I just listened to my recordings from
the DXpedition. For an Independence Day, this was
a highly unusual way to spend the evening. As you
have made it this far, perhaps you, too, have felt
the unique appeal of DXing taken to the extreme;
the thrill of chasing distant signals under Arctic
skies.
Text
and photos: Mika
Mäkeläinen
Published on January
1, 2026
  
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