LEM286 - The Howl Raiser of 2009

SHOW MUST GO HOME

2009-12-12T11:13:00.000+02:00

LURX has left the building (lost in translation: "Lurkkien rakennus on tuolla vasemmalla").

No more radioactive waste from LEM286.

LEM286 on the fly

2009-12-12T09:42:00.002+02:00

IBERIA:
855 RNE-1 Galicia, Pontevedra
1125 RNE-5 Castilla y León, Soria

ASIA:
1368 JOJG NHK-1 Yamagata via Tsuruoka
1368 JOLG NHK-1 Tottori
1512 JOZB NHK-2 Matsuyama
1584 JOTG NHK-1 Aomori via Fukaura
1602 JOHC NHK-2 Kagoshima via Nahe
1602 JOGB NHK-2 Kumamoto via Hitoyoshi

NORTH AMERICA:
540 CBT, CBGA1, CBEF
550 WSAU, WGR
560 WGAN, WEBC, KPQ
570 CFCB, WMCA, WKBN
580 WTCM
610 KNML, KDAL, CKTB
760 WCHP
810 CJVA
860 KNUJ
870 KPRM
920 KWAD
930 KHJ, KSDN, KKIN
970 KQAQ, WNED
990 CBY
1020 KJJK
1030 KCTA
1060 WILB, WBIX, KYW, WLNO
1070 WAPI, KVKK, WTWK
1080 KRLD
1100 WZFG
1110 KBND, WUPE, WJML
1150 KASM
1180 KYES
1200 WKOX
1210 KUBR, KOKK, KHAT
1220 KDDR
1230 KOY
1250 WGAM, KBRF
1260 KWYR, KDUZ, WPNW, WXCE, KROX
1290 WNBF, KOUU, WKBK
1310 WLOB
1320 KXRO
1340 KDLM, KWLM
1350 WOYK, WARF, KDIO, WCMP, KCOR, WOAM, WPDR
1360 KUIK
1370 WGIV
1380 KCIM
1390 WLCM, KJAM, KHOB
1400 WBIZ, KMHL
1420 KMOG
1460 KKAQ
1470 WJDY
1480 KSDR, KKCQ
1490 KXRA, KLGR
1500 WFIF
1510 WWSM, CKOT
1520 WNWT, KOLM
1550 WHIT, WRHC
1560 KZIZ, KGOW, KBEW
1580 KCHA
1590 KWBG, WVNA, WARV

CENTRAL AMERICA:
570 R Cristal, Santo Domingo
840 4VEH Cap Haitien
960 XEK Nuevo Laredo

SOUTH AMERICA:
1240 R Lider, Arequipa
1310 R Libertad, Arequipa

The End is Near ...

2009-12-12T08:25:00.002+02:00

... because the signal levels are still on the raise (with KHOB in the afternoon and WCHP and WTWK in the early night). The official DXing part of LEM286 ended with Louisiana 1060, after that it was time to go to sleep before the massive dismantling process started (real hassle at this moment). Automated DXing continues up to 10 UTC.

Our three previous DXpeditions have been LEM248, LEM264 and LEM286 - so it's obvious that we have to wait until LEM428 for our next AM Carnival (for us AM stands for "Arctic Madness").

Thanks to all our viewers and commentators. We'll compile the final update with our "live loglist" soon. And as usual, Pandora's boxes are still unopened, those will multiply the number of fine catches in the next few years.

Sheer LURX-fun at this end, hopefully some smiles at your QTH as well.

For Sale

2009-12-11T12:43:00.001+02:00

2 x "4VEH-kelihousut". Slightly used, minor color damage.

Impressive Signal Levels ...

2009-12-11T12:39:00.001+02:00

... but not the kind of cx we had hoped. Huge opening to NL from 19 UTC (for example CFCB 570 finally logged), after that the East Coast joined in --- but no AL/LA/MS. Strong signals at night (incl. WJDY,WMCA,WKBN), but in the morning "all wide open".

Right now we are waiting for the beginning of our last afternoon session. Hopefully something else than MN this time.

CKSQ Stettler AB 1400 logged at 16'53 UTC

2009-12-10T18:55:00.000+02:00

Weird ...

2009-12-10T18:31:00.002+02:00

Day 12: Nothing spectacular in the evening, sleep for five hours, standard morning, average afternoon (with some nice catches: KKIN, KCOR) and prolonged evening cx. For example KOUU is still audible when writing this at 16:35 UTC. Also 1400 is still open !! We are a little bit afraid now: it seems that the next 24 hours will be VERY hectic... (and all this without the ping-pong balls).

Ganzfeld Procedure

2009-12-10T09:04:00.002+02:00

Are you ready for the next DX revolution - would you like to hear the station of your dreams ? It is possible !! SDR's definitely changed the DX world but you ain't seen (or heard) nothing yet: THE GANZFELD PROCEDURE is a quantum leap to the next level. We have tested this "final solution" on LEM286 and the results were impresive offering access to the stations of our dreams. This method is easy and cheap, all you need is a pair of ping-pong balls and a piece of tape. Unfortunately the recording interface is missing so far, so you have to rely on our testimonials.

LURX is becoming a real Dream Team.

Minnesota Hotspot, Part II

2009-12-09T16:29:00.000+02:00

Most of the day dominants only, but then it happened again: after 12 UTC the wild ride in Minnesota continued for one hour. MN is almost empty now: KASM, KNUJ, KXRA and KPRM being the best ones today.

The Early Days of DX

2009-12-09T08:45:00.003+02:00

Our grandfather Arthur Lurx is widely known as the pioneer of DXing. In the early DXpeditions of the 1920's there were no switchboxes available for antenna selection so he had to use extra work force for quick switching between different antennas. More info about Arthur and the background of LURX can be found here.

PS. Alabama 1070 heard on LEM286 !

Minnesota Hotspot

2009-12-08T18:09:00.000+02:00

Day 10 was full of action. It started with NL & ON, but the highlight of the day was DXing with a new style: next MN - next MN - next MN - next MN. Well, there was some SD included but we haven't experienced such a tight regional Minnesota cx before. KDIO, WCMP, WZFG, KSDN, KOKK, KSDR, KROX, KBRF, KVKK, KQAQ (superpower), KJJK and many more.

Still Alive

2009-12-08T08:40:00.001+02:00

Day 9 offered stations like KYW, WNED, WHRC, CBY and WARV - these describe the direction of the conditions. Better this way than ylämummo and we definitely have many iPods.

Last evening WBIX already at 2100 UTC with many other promising signals, later at least KGFX and WPNW with strong signals. Now the morning session has started with opening to Cuba and the East Coast.

UNID 1300 - Solved !

2009-12-07T08:30:00.002+02:00

We heard this one yesterday around 2200 UTC. Even though our combined DX experience is way beyond 100 years, we had real difficulties in identifying this (our whole team spent more than 3 hours and it seems that we lost some daytimers because we were so concentrated in solving this). After a careful study and numerous replays we found out that the announcer probably mentions "WOOD" twice (at 00:05 on the clip) so it seems obvious that this is just Newsradio WOOD 1300 from Grand Rapids MI.

Greetings to KEIN Great Falls, MT

2009-12-06T18:18:00.002+02:00

Some stations just do not reply to reception reports. It has been painstaking to notice that sometimes we don't get what we want in spite of how hard we try. QSL's can be regarded as valuable "collector's items" but sometimes it also works the other way round. This picture shows the board of directors of KEIN Great Falls MT proudly presenting their collection of JHU's reception reports and follow-up's. They started collecting them in the late 1980's and they are eagerly waiting for the next score every month. We have good news for them: they'll get one from LEM286, too, followed by several f-ups in 2010. They are very proud of their collection and would like to score way beyond 1000 reports. This is already the largest genuine "JHU Collection" in USA.

Identification Day

2009-12-06T18:01:00.003+02:00

The 6th of December is the National Identification Day of Finland so the high-ranking officers of the LURX Military Wing (Captain Morgan - JHU, Major Storm - IPA and General Electric - RS) welcomed the parade of stations passing by:

KRLDCFACKRNTKUBRKOKKWDAYWBAPWLSWTCMWWJWWKBKOZ
YKNOXCFMBWXYTKCTAKWYRKFNWWYLLKOLMWRIGKLIZCFRB
CFMJCHCMCFZMCBGACJVAWNAXCFRACKGACBYCBNACKCMKM
ONCINFCHMLXEWWWGRCBEFKGYNKCHAWBIZKMAKVGBKSENK
FBKKXTLKDUZKVANKKOLKVNSCJVBKLINWLCMCKPCWGIVVO
ARCFAVKQDS...

The time is now 16 UTC and the march still goes on.

Hectic Times

2009-12-05T22:37:00.003+02:00

Day 7 was the best so far - lots of interesting NA stations from the East Coast and the Great Lakes starting from 21 UTC. Haven't had much time to confirm the best ones. Today we had a long visit to Inari and now we are ready to take what we are given next week.

During the day we faced another obstacle and we lost yet another piece of cabin (fixing the door took surprisingly long time).

Gone with the Wind

2009-12-05T09:24:00.002+02:00

No, you didn't know that Clark Gable had an identical twin brother, Coax Gable. And no, this time the solar wind didn't take away all the stations from the dial. On the contrary.

Late last night JPR called us and informed that solar wind is raising. At the same time we had noticed that the floodgate was opened somewhere and the wild DX ride started.

Stay tuned. We'll be back.

Getting colder

2009-12-04T17:17:00.002+02:00

Day 6. Yesterday we already had -15C (5F). This begins to be a good temperature because all the fake Santa Clauses from Lapland start to move South (people there just have to remember the rule of thumb: White Beard = Santa Claus, Black Beard = Osama Bin Laden). We are still waiting for a little bit colder weather, because a real Lurk doesn't leave the cabin for antenna check-up until it is -20C (-4F) or colder.

Conditions ? Yesterday afternoon gave us some hope with stations like KUIK but later we didn't even get our happy hour after 21 UTC. And things haven't improved much after that even though the K-index seems to have frozen to zero --- as well as the interesting stations logged. We had some directionality in our afternoon session (WY & AZ) but this week has been far from what we expected.

Anyway we have "interesting Prospects on disks" from previous days. We feel that listening to iPod will finally save the first week of LEM286. In addition, things may change any minute --- and there's still another week left. We shall never surrender.

// loggings

2009-12-03T20:42:00.002+02:00

Thanks MNA for raising up this question (your comment at "We Have to Remember ..."). We had here an open and thorough discussion on this subject. Now we have less furniture available and three separate divisions in LURX. One is pro, one is against (whatever we were discussing about) and one is against having separate divisions.

After repairing the chairs again we will create a committee trying to figure out the causes that lead to this and solutions how to normalize the situation.

Thank you again MNA for raising up this important question.

Pain in the Arse (x 3)

2009-12-03T15:45:00.001+02:00

Parviaisen Tuska is getting worse (not a single new African station heard yet), but Turviaisen Paska does not bother anymore (canned chili tunafish is still the number one fluid). The third (and most serious) pain is caused by the situation on the dial: the band is often crowded with NA stations but dominants mostly block all the interesting stuff behind them. And because each of us has already 5-40 stations QSLed on most frequencies the level of frustration and tension is rising. The mismatch between indexes and real conditions is astonishing. The scary part of last night was the long and weird howling (it seemed to come from the west).

Time between 21 and 23 UTC was the only "happy hour" for us yesterday(with stations like WFIF, WWSM and WNWT), otherwise: BOOO-OOOORING. Waiting for the better (what else we can do ?).

Stop blog: JHU just heard JOGB Kumamoto/Hitoyoshi relay on AM 1602 at 13'20 UTC. It seems that we still have hope. No losses of equipment or furniture today.

Great Bend !

2009-12-02T16:34:00.000+02:00

Day 4: Our ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off our foreheads and we can no longer focus anything. Did we get anything ? (... "Hi guys, did we get anything... ? ..."). Everyone is shaking their heads. Well, at least we tried.

Start with CBG at 1930 followed by many NL-stations, signal levels rising and everything was very promising. Later 1520 and 1510 gave some nice signals (incl. CKOT). After that nothing special. Morning was the worst so far and the day was a catastrophe. KYES was one of the few new stations to us. One of the few surprises was the strong signal of RN RASD signing on at 07 UTC on 1550. The Massey-Ferguson index level was the highest observed so far (6 on scale 1-5). M-F index is calculated from the observed level of distorted signals and overall noise and their effect to overall v...tus.

This day was Great Bend ("Suuri Pyllistys") to us. But nou hätä, we have lots of "interesting prospects on disks".

PS. KVGB was heard loud and clear.

We Have to Remember to Eat Daily ...

2009-12-02T10:28:00.001+02:00

... but Team Lurx will never take part in the modern hype of presenting gorgeous DX-pedition menus with quality wines etc. We regard that as gay stuff. Team Lurx has always had and will always have traditional Hell's Kitchen. The highlight of the week is when we'll sweep the floor and make "pyttipannu" ("pytt i panna" in Swedish or "Scandinavian Hash"). So no crab for lunch. Crap rules.

P in the Soup

2009-12-01T16:31:00.001+02:00

Day 3: Night started with ON, but nothing spectacular appeared so we all went to sleep. More mourning in the morning, praying for the better pray during the day but all our hopes faded away. The overall noise level was high (between headphones and between participants) and signals on the dial sounded like they were driven over by Massey-Ferguson.

Losses of the day: one receiver & one chair. WXXI, KKAQ, WGIV, WVNA, KWBG & interesting projects on disks. One flashback from yesterday: "Sports Radio 6-10, The Sports Animal" was a welcomed addition to The LURX Zoo.

Smell of Success !

2009-11-30T16:28:00.002+02:00

The odour detected here earlier has had nothing to do with success, but now... 4VEH has been on our lists for decades and earlier we have heard it only tentatively (mostly at 1VEH level or max. 2VEH), but last night we finally succeeded in nailing it. We still have a few ever-hiders on the Caribbean (including the Island of Bob Marley, Captain Morgan and Usain Bolt). No sign of Jamaica last night even though the nearby Haiti had strong signal levels. Sigh.

Day 2 offered a decent NA scene but almost nothing from Africa, Asia, Oceania and Iberia. NA signals continuously from 21 to 12 UTC, again a wide scale from Coast to Coast: CBT, WCAT, KUGN, KOY, KPQ, KHJ and some other goodies also from the Caribbean (Radio Cristal, Santo Domingo 570 etc.). Many prospects on disks.

The KBS Story

2009-11-29T18:06:00.002+02:00

In September JHU got a message from KBS Korea (after one of his numerous KBS reception reports) that they would like to come and make a TV documentary about our DXpedition !! WOW, that's something new and different for us. Someone there was really fascinated on this extreme hobby and wanted to make an exceptional story telling about guys spending their free time in the middle of nowhere and just listening to radio 24x7. We agreed and after preparations everything was 98% ready. However, just before their trip they had to cancel the plan so our career in the film scene ended before it started. It would have been interesting to be on the spotlights even though our team doesn't have much media appeal. It's a pity because we even had already planned the movie poster.

Live and running...

2009-11-29T17:13:00.000+02:00

... with no surprises on the dial. Stations from Peru to West Coast, but Standard & Poor's would probably rate our first day as "Standard and Poor". Radio Lider 1240 & Radio Libertad 1310 .... XEK Nuevo Laredo 960, XEP Ciudad Juarez 1300 .... KGOW, KQAQ, WLCM, KBND ... and lots of common graveyard stations with strong signals. Many prospects on disks.

Warmin' Up in Dixie

2009-11-28T16:52:00.002+02:00

We arrived a few hours ago, it was a little bit chilly so we made a fire and we are still setting up our hardware. Soon we'll be freakin' out as usual when the AM dial opens up for us. We are going to monitor the dial "24 days a week" or "Kuunnellaan niin, että tukka lähtee" as we say at LURX. In a few moments we'll power on our mighty receiver orchestra --- which may cause unpredictable large-scale results. The worst case scenario can be seen here (hopefully nothing like that, we would really like to include also some Californian stations into our log).

WARNING: This blog will contain highly radioactive material in the near future - viewer discretion is advised. Hold your hoses !

We Gonna Rock the World

2009-11-27T12:12:00.003+02:00

The Lurks are screwloose again: LEM286 is about to begin. As the starter why not spend some time with the clip telling about our previous gig (LEM264) back in October 2008 (link on the left).

Our travel up North to Dixieland will start this evening. Captain Morgan and his cabin crew welcome you to this blog channel. Stay tuned.