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I am slowly writing few words about my World Wide Flora Fauna trips. Last I wrote before this was one Ritajärven suojelualue OHFF-0279 in September. Same day, the 30th of September, I continued to Sovion metsä (The Sovio Forest). It is on the East side of Karkku village center, next to Jyränvuori (180m above the sea level hill). The area itself is also some 100-120m above the sea level with the nice takeoff to SouthWest to Lake Rautavesi. To reach the area, you need to turn from the road 2505 to the northernmost smaller road going to South. The road before it has the closed gate.

Jyränvuori has actually SOTA-reference, maybe somewhere in the future I will activate that one too – just to check the wiev. OHFF-0200 had nice old mixed forest, old spruces, pines, birches and lots of moss. At the end of the road there was quite nice area to park. Then I needed to “climb” 50-100 meters into the reference area. At the border there was a green protected area sign. QTH was very good and reference was rare too – only the 2nd activation, so pileups were good. My signal sounded loud even I had to set my station up to the small aread between the woods to the sloping ground. I made 182 qsos and 163 unique calls in less than 2 hours. It was my record after 9 references.

Last two days went with Tromsa K-index in the bottom: zero/one. It also means that propagation was quite boring – now Great Lakes and Canadian dominants were really loud on the band. About Canadians: we finally got IDs from 530 kHz CIAO Brampton ON. “Ciao” was audible on several mornings, usually with one or two Cubans (Rebelde and probably Encyclopedia). On Friday 14th MW band opened to West really early – 1140 and 1400 were there already after 19z. We still need to check our recordings but we noticed several daytimers/daytime power stations like 1360 WWOW Conneaut OH and 1510 WRRD Waukesha WI. On Saturday morning Japan was also very early – we could hear 0859z regional programmes from NHK1 and then 0959z local IDs.

We “closed” our station local time in the afternoon and set up few “cold stations”: laptops and hard disks for Aihkiniemi owner gang. Then 12½ hour drive back to Vaasa with one pizza stop in Rovaniemi. Another Aihkiniemi adventure was behind. Now next 12 months we spend by listening to our recordings and sending reception reports. See you next year!

It is always difficult to follow the propagation when pedition goes on as we are usually working with the earlier days files. Plus we have other activities. On Thursday we went to our annual trip to Kirkenes, Norway at 9am and returned around 3pm. As beer connoisseurs we make pre-order to Norwegian alcohol monopoly Vinmonopolet and pick up 100+ different Norwegian beers. The manager of the shop greets us like the old friends. Why not, we have been there last five years – once a year and we are the only ones who import beer from Norway to Finland… We also went to two local grocery shops Rema1000 and Kiwi and found some new lighter Norwegian beers. And as usual at the border in Näätämö we did some food shopping at NordMarket and K-Market for the remaining days. Patrik also bought some reindeer meet for home.

So what about the propagation? K-index (Tromso) was almost all day zero. On radio it means that now West Coast propagation was over … now band is
open all over and the dominants are back. I noticed that at 09z East Coast was loud and I found from the files few very interesting catches: 760 WLCC Brandon FL (1st time in Finland) and 1190 WIXE Monroe NC (2nd time in Finland). Probably in NC stations were running daytime power because of heavy weather conditions. We need to check more files at home.

We also have a friend here who we have not seen. From the tracks we would say it is a fox. He/she has also shitted two days in a row just next to our front door. Usual suspects are the birds who seem to like peanuts. As well as squirrel…

For dinner we had beef stew in a beer sauce and rice. It was very good as we cooked meat for over an hour. The best beer was Jämmerdalen Astronauts. Jämmerdalen is quite new and very small brewery in the Northern Sweden. The beer world has not heard of them but they should as Jämmerdalen brews world class sour/wild beers.

I am writing this on Friday and we are leaving on Saturday. Probably the last parts of DX-pedition blog will be published next week. K-index is still zero …

Sorry our report is short this time: we spent a lot of time with earlier files and we hadn’t time to listen Wednesday files much. Solar propagation is getting better as coronal hole’s effect is away. But same time here it seems to mean that bands get dull to North America. Those dominants which were not present at the beginning of this trip are back again. Hopefully we get something new later on. Some new ones included 1010 KIHU Tooele UT, 1080 KRLD Dallas TX and 1550 KMRI West Valley City UT. Also nice Hawaiji opening at 11Z: 590 KSSK Honolulu HI and 760 KGU Honolulu HI were new ones.

In the afternoon we went to Sauna. There are the rentable cabins some 5+ km away, where you can use sauna. They also have the dish washing machine and proper water toilet … We enjoyed sauna, Finnish TV and couple of beers.

Our dinner was spaghetti with minced meat and cream sauce. The best beer of the day (and the week) was Evil Twin / Westbrook Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break. Runner-up mentions to Bryggverket Kaakao Kaakao and Stigbergets Galore.

We log what we hear almost in real time to HCDX Online Log (OLL). From US/CAN we normal log the stations which we have heard 0 to 2 times before in Aihkiniemi.

4th day and weather was fine – sky was clear and we could see stars, probably Venus and red Moon. Temperature dropped to -18C but it warmed back up to -12C. The day went with some outdoor activities, radio listening and beer drinking. Although forecast said that the geomagnetic field would be quiet, we got Tromsa K-indexes from zero to five during the day.

We have not checked much of nighttime files – South American (especially Brazil and LaPlata) propagation was down. At 07Z stateside started to rise and what an opening it was. Condx were peaking to the states of MT, NV, ID, UT, WA, OR, CA and BC in Canada. 0800z hour sounded good but then 0900z hour was probably the best ever we’ve had in Aihkiniemi. Those files are still in process but we already got several first timers for us: 580 KMJ Fresno CA, 650 CISL Richmond BC, 700 KXLX Airway Heights WA, 720 KDWN Las Vegas NV, 750 KERR Polson MT, 890 KYWN Meridian ID, 930 KMPT East Missoula MT (afaik FFF!), 990 KTMS Santa Barbara CA, 1050 KBLE Seattle WA, 1060 KDYL South Salt Lake UT (using its daytime power) 1390 KLTX Long Beach CA, 1460 KTYM Inglewood CA (2nd time in Finland?), 1540 KMPC Los Angeles CA and KBLA Santa Monica CA. But more will be found from the files for sure.

Band opened to Hawaiji as well. It was open already at 0800z and then 1400z. 900 KMVI Kahului HI was the new one.

From Asia we noticed that propagation is really getting better as Japan was strong from time to time. Nothing was heard during NHK1 sign-on at 20z but some NHK2s were strong at their sign-off at 1540z. We also noticed few Aussie-stations: at least 1548 and 1620 were audible and then later few possible 6th district stations.

Our dinner was this time Aihkiniemi Ramen Wok with pork, beef and vegetables. The best beers were Olutmylly Rautarouva pils and Lockeby Imperial Stout.

On Monday coronal hole stream and unstable conditions were still going on but some good things were happening – perharps because of this. In the early morning LaPlata and Brazil were strong. We need to check our files but stations heard included 1050 CX26 RNU Radio Uruguay and 800 ZYJ457 Rádio MEC. The band was totally closed to USA during the night. But it became alive at 08Z and especially to West Coast and Rocky Mountains. After peaking at 0830Z band dropped down to rise up again around 13Z. All time new ones noticed were 590 KID Idaho Falls ID (their ID has been heard before from KWIK), 870 KLSQ Whitney NV, 960 KALE Richland WA (with Christmas format and “Santa 106.1” slogan), 1230 KBAR Burley ID (our 700th NA station in Aihkiniemi), 1340 KPRK Livingston MT (simulcasting KMMS) and 1390 KLGN Logan UT. At 0830Z also few Mexicans were noticed but no new ones.

In the afternoon Timo noticed that Aussie stations 729 and 891 were quite strong and decided to check if there are any other signals from Australia. Suprisingly the band seemed to be open to South Australia between 1630-1800Z. New ones 720 6WF ABC Perth WA, 765 5CC Port Lincoln SA, 1161 5PA ABC Naracoorte SA, 1197 5RPH Adelaide SA and 1242 5AU Classic Hits Port Augusta SA were found with few others who didn’t give any ID. Otherwise we didn’t pay much attention to Asia. Condx were poor/zero to Japan.

Our dinner was oriental sweet and sour pork with boiled rice, cucumber and tomato. The best beers of the day were Põhjala Szechuan Bänger and Oud Beersel Bersalis Sourblend Grand Cru.

The second day – the first full day. It is always like a day to get used to DX-pedition-life. You start to remember all your routines and start to work by them (this is our 5th trip to this same place!). Weather was stable, only some new snow in one point which was nice as we got some outside work to do.

Coronal hole’s stream was in action. Propagation was unstable but we were still able to catch a couple of interesting stations. The morning was good to South America. Brasil was strong, one of the best catches was 1380 kHz ZYJ831 Radio Frequencia, Garopaba SC. But it was mixed bag – Rebeldes were also strong and lasted till 0800 UTC. Nighttime propagation to US was weak. During the day NA condx were spotty, only new one was 1680 KRJO Monroe LA. Propagation was to East Coast (nothing special) in the early morning then shifting to West Coast. Suprisingly FBC Fidzi 990 was strong at 1049z with some common Hawaijian stations. In the evening coronal hole stream started to effect more and we couldn’t hear any Far East etc. India and Iran were strong. From East we got 1215 CNR7 Voice of Old China (Huaxia zhi Sheng), Zhuhai (GD), but we haven’t check much of those files. Propagation forecast claims that condx will be better on Tuesday. We will see…

Our dinner was the almond potatoes with chicken and Koskenlaskija cheese in cream sauce with Aihkiniemi Salad. The best beers: tie with two strong Swedish beers – Dugges Plum Spices Imperial Stout and Electric Nurse Barrel-aged Dark Skull.

AIH91 DX-pedition kind of started already on Friday when Timo (TIK) and Patrik (PW) traveled 14 hours from Vaasa to Ivalo. This year we drove our trip in two parts as we stayed for the night at River Camping Ivalo. Basic new cottage for two cost 45 euros. They also served breakfast (for money) but we went to Hotelli Kultahippu for a bit better breakfast buffet. Our aim was to be in Aihkiniemi at 12:00 local time as this was the time when AIH90 JY & YK finished their DX-pedition. Before driving to Partakko, we visited The Samí Museum Siida. Very interesting exhibitions about Finnish sami history. Then to the DX cottage – we noticed several reindeers on the way. Not so much snow on the ground this year.

We changed few words with Juha and Ykä and started unpacking. The boys told that propagation has mostly been to the West coast. We started listening immediately and 11 UTC the first recordings were made. The bands to North America didn’t sound very promising but after careful listening of 1100 UTC file produced two new stations for us: 940 KFIG Fresno CA and 980 KFWB Los Angeles CA “La Mera Mera”, which sounded like an ad first. Next hour produced 1220 KHTS Canyon Country CA so the best propagation was to California. Weak opening continued till 1400 UTC when another new CA was heard: 1650 KFOX Torrance CA. Coronal hole from the sun made band unstable and India & Iran were strong quite early at 13 UTC. We even noticed two Africans 845 and 950. 891 and 729 aussies were on the band briefly but so far we have not found anything interesting from East. We also recorded a bit on shortwaves and got new Danish station Radio OZ-Viola on 5825 kHz.

Brasilian stations were noticed already at 2100 UTC. At 2130 UTC there was a short US opening before the band closed to USA. No daytimers identified anyhow. Propagation forecast says that the effect of CH will be on the band next two days, on Tuesday condx should improve.

And yes we also had a dinner – pasta and ground beef with cream sauce with Aihkiniemi Salad. Our beers for the first evening were below average but the best ones were Braufactum Clan and Brewski Pango IPA.

Me and Patrik (PW) are soon on the road towards Partakko in Inari and Aihkiniemi DX Cabin. On Saturday the 8th of December will start our 5th Aihkiniemi DX-pedition, to be known as AIH91. We expect less snow than before this year but temperatures should be around -15C at the start of our trip. Propagation looks promising too.

My next trip was to Karkku, which is a former Finnish county now a part of Sastamala county. We drove about one hour to Lake Ritajärvi protected area. This place is quite large and there are several options where to operate. We went to the parking place near Lake Alinen Ritajärvi (=lower Ritajärvi), from where a marked path to the lake started. Not an easy task with all my QRO equipment as it was about 600 meters walk. The place itself was nice, there was a fireplace, a building to arrange the meetings, a toilet and the wooden benches and tables. So I could build very comfortable place to operate. And I could set up the antenna also nicely just few meters from the lake. Before I started to operate Saku OH2NOS came to visit. Saku is the prominent Finnish WWFF-activator and he is not living too far from this place. We chatted a while and same time I build station up. There were also lots of other visitors in the site, this lake seems to be extremely popular among the hikers.

Operation went smoothly. This is the 2nd activation of this reference. Very good pile up in the start on 40m CW. I worked 36 qsos in 17 minutes before moving to 40m SSB which produced nice pileup as well. From here 20m SSB was also in a good shape. Perhaps the reason was that I started operation around 10Z, later than normally. Total qso count was 160 with 132 unique hunters. Operation time was 2 hours and 10 minutes.

OH2NOS filmed a short YouTube-video: