THAT´S IT FOLKS!

The last 24 hours of LEM343 proved to be quite mediocre. Some better African signals in the morning. NA-band died at 6 utc.


Team Lurx signing off ....

UPDATE

A small update of the last few days events:

Tuesday evening; quite average African cx with small exception of four Mozambique stations audible at 22 utc.

Wednesday morning; great cx to U.K. however, as usual, only stations from the north, so nothing worth mentioning. Signals were exceptionally strong. Poor cx to NA and SA.

Wednesday evening; again nice cx to Asia with the Philippines, Japan and Korea. And China. Pretty much the same as on Tuesday evening. Again average Africa cx later in the evening. At 22.34 utc there was an "almost X-flare" (M9 category blast) which effects landed during the early morning hours on Thursday.

Thursday morning; some nice NA signals at night (f.ex. 930-WPKX) but the cx died at 4 a.m. utc. African cx died an hour earlier. After that only some European signals.

Thursday evening; Asian cx started with Intia about three hours later than two earlier evenings. Followed by pretty decent African cx. Stations fading up and down. Another smaller M-flare occured at 19.19 utc, but had no noticeable effect on the band or the cx.

NA-cx started as early as at 22.00 utc, yes, signals far from the sunny side. However just some dominants on 10+ fq´s. NA cx continued until 5.40 utc Friday morning when all NA signals disappeared suddenly within couple of minutes. A quick check at the files didn´t gave any new ones for us, but cx seemed to be around IA-SD. Before that cx the most western NA-stations heard were from Colorado, but now we heard some dominants from California as well, so we finally reached the Pacific coast in the west too.

Simultaneously with NA cx the best African cx for this pedition (f.ex. 666-Sudan). Loud and clear signals. Valo finally saw some light from Africa while Marko was listening to "the light" of Edmonton!

Friday evening has just started with mediocre Asian cx - a mixture of little bit everything but nothing specific. So, we have now our last night of the LEM343 ahead of us.

"Jos lapsesi ei ymmärrä radiosta kuuluvaa ulkomaankielistä puhetta, käännä se pienemmälle."

REST FROM THE WEST, FEAST FROM THE EAST

On Monday evening African-cx got slightly better giving us nice signals from f.ex. some more rare Egyptians, Ethiopians and also the first powerful entrance of 1224-Mozambique. Nothing new though for us from Africa.


On Tuesday morning NA-cx took a step backwards - less fq´s open, less stations, weaker signals and more interference. No new ones for us caught on the fly. But a quick look at Monday mornings files gave us three new ones on 1450 AM identifying inside six minutes; WKXL, WNBP and WSNO ... Not bad. There should be something also on other fq's...


Today the first Asian stations came to the band at about 11.30 utc - over two hours earlier than before - and we got our first signals from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. Mostly Chinese stations though. Best Asian-cx so far without a doubt.


Aphorism of the day: "Kamalasti pelottaa", sanoi huumekuriiri tullissa.

THE LURX - CONDITIONER

THE LURX - CONDITIONER; a brand new Team Lurx innovation giving 200 percent thicker signals, ultimate antenna performance and thus EXCELLENT CONDITIONS all day long - also extends the continuity of conditions at least twice longer than normal conditions - an ointment spread on antennas (no blue pills involved) - buy 2, pay for 3 - moneys lost forever guarantee!!!


Ja vielä pikainen päivitys päivällä tiedotettuun lurkkien tiedeuutiseen, jonka väite läpimurrosta saattoi olla hieman ennenaikainen - reilun viikon jatkuneet kokeilut oravakepin ja raportointipukin risteyttämisestä saivat tänään vähintäänkin nolon lopun. Marko ja Valo olivat koko viikon yrittäneet kesyttää oravapukkia ja kiivetä sen selkään, joten ei ihme, että kyseinen luontokappale oli kohtelustaan jokseenkin tuohtunut. Uusi otus osoittautui harvinaisen kookkaaksi ja komeasarviseksi urosporoksi, jonka naapurin kiukkuinen isäntä kävi tänään illalla hakemassa pihalta pois. No, kerrankos sitä ...

STEP BY STEP

Things are getting better. Saturday was again a slight improvement in cx´s. NA -cx again a bit better than earlier "ESPN-1520" being the only ID we got. It´s amazing how slowly these cx are getting better considering that all should be well for long distance reception.


We had also some problems with our 1km long Afro-coaxial so we spent most of the stormy day outside trying to fix it. And of course we got it fixed - it took about three hours and lots of running around in the forest. We also managed to implement a switchbox out there so now we can use 180 and 73 degrees antennas with a flick of a switch in the cabin.


Finally on Sunday morning we had a little over half an hour worth of NA-action between 0430-0500 utc. The best station noticed so far is 1360-WIXI. Not so many fq´s opened, but there is still some hope that we can dig out other catches from our files. Orinoco-cx lasted about two hours but only some common ones identified. Nevertheless, once again a big step forwards!


After that we enjoyed some nice cx to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Also some Thai-stations were noticed and of course Iranian stations - what would the AM-band be without them?!


African-cx has been next to non-existant for the last couple of days which was predictable.


This morning was again a big step forwards on transatlantic cx´s. Cx started again around 0430 utc and signals went down at 05 utc as earlier, but this time they came back up and the last NA-signals were received at about 09 utc. Cx was mainly EC all around, mostly dominants, but also some goodies; 1450-WKXL, 1600-WAOS - and other more common ones like 1310-WLOB, 1320-WDER ... almost all files are untouchable so there will be more. So, now we are getting somewhere! We want more of this!


TIEDE-UUTISIA. Team Lurxin tiedeosasto on pitkään tehnyt geenikokeita ja nyt on läpimurto tapahtunut: kaksi merkittävää DX-eläintä, oravakeppi ja raportointipukki, on lopultakin saatu risteytymään. Uudesta otuksesta toivotaan tehoja antennivetoon ja raportointiin, tosin ainakin prototyyppi on hyvin äreä, eikä se suostu lähtemään metsään ollenkaan, eikä myöskään päästä ketään selkään. Itse asiassa se pitää nyt Lemmenjoen pihapiiriä kauhun vallassa ja juuri tällä hetkellä ulos on turha yrittää.


Euphorism of today: Vampyyri tilasi ravintolassa vain litran kokista. 

LAUANTAI ON LURKKIEN SAUNAILTA!

Pöydällä on nyt runsaasti mukeja, joissa on paljon erilaisia juomia. Juomme kustakin mukista.


Some kind of cx towards Asia (Thai-India). Some common Orinoco-stations in the morning.

SOMETHING OLD, NOTHING NEW ...

Oh, how the time flies by when you are up to your elbows in fun! The title above is a kind of a spoiler because that pretty much sums up the last two days. Africa cx getting worse day by day - not possible to get much more worse, Asia has given some pleasant signals to us the last couple of days - yesterday some Thai´s with China and India - not yet anything further than that. Iberians have been mostly stations from the north giving no reasons for shouts of joy. You would think that when African cx is getting worse then you could get better transatlantic reception - well, we have had better reception but the speed of change is frustratingly slow - Thursday morning we heard one U.S. station on 1510 AM for about 15 minutes - no identification, and this morning we were able to identify the very first NA -station for LEM343 - 1400 CBG Gander!!!! Not a local identification though, hopefully we´ll get one tomorrow night ... So we can´t really say that the cx are not improving because they are!


If one station should be mentioned of the last two days conditions that should be Radio Mahabad. Valo has been deeply overwhelmed by joy because he was able to hear this most wanted station!


The DX-vocabulary-section of our blog begins with the word "announcement". Word originally comes from words "unknown" and "cement" - the story goes likes this: some centuries ago a guy gathered the village people (not the Village People) and told them that he was going to build his new piggery out of unknown material called cement. Thus words "unknown" and "cement" were related to that announcement the guy made. So thereafter notifications like that have been called announcements. --- Nowadays all cement used in buildings is known - there is no cement we don´t know about, or is there? How could we really know about it if the cement is unknown? Or could we?


The aphorism of the day: "Kissat protestoivat menemällä naulakkoon" (OJS: please don´t even think about google-translatings these, there's no miau-strike in Google translator).

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW ...

Fourth night in a row without NA-signals. Also continued not-worth-mentioning cx to Africa or to any other continent for that matter. One identified Brazilian - Rádio Educadora AM on 1390 kHz - which gave best signals with 300 degrees (U.S. East Coast) antenna. Nothing spectacular in the morning either.


Team Lurx solar weather report to all radiowave-surfers for today; sunny all day long, temperatures between 3.000 and 5.000 degrees Celsius, occasional plasma showers may occur, be aware of heavy winds exceeding 300 km/s and powerful downward currents nearby sunspots. Due to heavy radiation sunscreen protection factor 38.500 or more is recommended. Stay tuned in for updates ...


While our Finnish readers have been able to and will enjoy Team Lurx´s timeless aphorisms (the fruits and berries of our official biannual Team Lurx Sauna -meetings) our English readers (while wondering how pretty Finnish language really is in written form) will be treated in our next issues with essential DX related vocabulary; what´s truly behind those magical and mystical words ...


While waiting for that here´s the aphorism of the day for today; "Juoksu ilman Ahtisaarta on Maraton".


99 days to the World Cup!!!

 

UUSI RANKKI, part II

Viimekertainen rämärullaryhmärumarankki-aloite saikin aikaan jo nyt valtaisan innostuneen vastaanoton. Meille on saapunut lukuisa määrä ennakkoilmoittautumisia, joten tämä rankki tulee taatusti toteutumaan!

Nyt mukana ainakin Marko N. Savunhaju, Valo Piiparinen ja Arnold Bragdens. Toimi Kalpa ilmoittautui heti. Myös James Liito tulee mukaan (laittoi kuvankin, hänellä oli Näemmä Neilikka napinlävessä). Eräs kuuntelija ilmoittautui puhelimitse ja oli tästä niin innoissaan, ettei nimestäkään oikein saanut selvää - taisi olla Kissoja Suus (ja ehkä jopa Susiakin Joskus). Oikeastaan kaikki ne kuuntelijat, jotka aina Illoin Penkeillä istuvat, taitavat olla mukana (korkeintaan homma tyssää
Äkilliseen Nuhan puhkeamiseen, mutta eiköhän lopulta kaikille Näillekin Ahneus iske).

Eihän tästä Kuviosta Rähinä tule, eihän ? Ehkäpä pian vähemmistöön jäävät ne, Jotka Ruokkivat turhia pelkoja eli ehkäpä Nekin Karjuvat pian riemusta osallistuessaan rämärullaryhmärumarankkiin ?

Siis kaikki mukaan, ilmoituksenhan tekee Sekunnissa Jne. Rivi vaan tulemaan! DX-kuuntelussa on Ilo Kimpata ja rankissa on Jalo Rampata ylöspäin!

STACK BANANA TILL DE MORNING COME ...

African-cx getting worse, but still no sign of NA-stations. Some Brazilian stations with modest signals during the night - not worth going through.


However morning-cx offered us a real surprise. Spaniards and U.K. stations started to boom in at sunrise but they didn´t fade out before 7 a.m.as they had done earlier mornings. Instead they kept on going and going... Picture this: at 7.45 a.m. UTC on RNE local break we managed to hear several stations with crystal clear signals even without using signal amplifiers - the sun rose up at 5.20 a.m. in Lemmenjoki and for example in Ciudad Real, Spain at 6.40 a.m. So, this was full dayzone propagation. Cx continued well over 8 a.m. The magic of DXing at it´s best ...


... DAYLIGHT COME ... AND ME WAN´ GO HOME ...

UUSI RANKKI

Alussa oli kaukokuuntelu...

... mutta sitten jossain välissä tuli kimpparaportointi ja pilasi kaiken kauniin. Mutta eihän tämä tietenkään vielä tähän lopu, kyllä evoluutiopirulainen keksii aina uusia muotoja. Kuten hiihdossa (perinteinen => luistelutyyli) tai luistelussa (perinteinen => kaunoluistelu, pariluistelu, jäätanssi).

Voisiko kaukokuuntelukin vielä kehittyä lisää ? Kaukokuuntelusta kaunokuunteluun ? Kimpparaporoinnista parikuunteluun, ryhmäkuunteluun tai jopa radiosäätanssiin ? Entä jos kuuntelija on ruma => rumakuuntelu ? Tai jos koko ryhmä on ruma, kuten Team LURX ?Ryhmärumakuuntelu ?

Team LURX tulee kuitenkin koko ajan olemaan kehityksen kärjessä, eikä mene rähmälleen haasteiden kasvaessa: tulevassa kesiksessä Team LURX tuleekin esittämään katsauksen tulevaisuuden uusiin DX-kuuntelumuotoihin perustuen Charles Darwinin ja tohtori Pasasen yhteistyössä kehittämään "DX-Lajien Synty"-teoriaan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01xKuYCHZ7o

Ensi vuoden alusta Radiomaailmassa aloittaa jo lukuisa joukko uusia rankkityyppejä, joista mielenkiintoisin on varmaan rämärullaryhmärumarankki. Perseukseen asennettavia rullia voi jo nyt tilata kauttammme, lisäksi Rollen asennuspalvelu palvelee 24/7.

Päätös kuitenkin edellyttää vielä liittokokouksen hyväksyntää ja voi olla, että esim. rämärullaryhmärumakuuntelijoille laitetaan vain rrrr-merkintä nykyiseen rankkiin. Kaikki merkit viittaavat kuitenkin siihen, että asia selvinyytyy parin viikon sisällä joten uskomme että ...

... lopussa on ainakin rämärullaryhmärumarankki.

GOT WHAT WE BARGAINED FOR!

Two nights behind and still no confirmed transatlantic reception. The furthest reception so far is Mozambique - briefly at 22 utc last night. No signals received from the east beyond India. Best catch so far is RNE1 Catalunya, Girona 801 kHz which came this morning surprisingly with it´s whole signal path in daylight beating the mighty Bayern station.


The aphorism of the day goes like this: "Vihanneskauppiaalla meni hintalappu väärään kurkkuun."

READY 2 RUMBLE

Traditionally LURX –peditions have been very successful – even judging by DXing results. This time we wanted to make sure that there wouldn´t be 10 TB´s of recordings per Lurk to go through – more time for the “fun” stuff and relaxing etc. – so we decided to schedule this trip to the beginning of March. Considering the results on earlier expeditions at this time of a year, this should be a pretty safe bet.

The coax cable for 180 degrees antenna is done and working like a Romanian AM transmitter - loud and clear. At the moment handful of Ethiopian stations on AM band.

Special greets to Mr. Ilo Kimpata - five Lurx thumbs up for the choice of name!

Today's aphorism in Finnish: " Mykät kissat ovat mauttomia " ... more tomorrow, sleep tight, we won't ...

Valo & Marko