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Tekijä: JTK

Utö17: Over And Out

What a DXpedition that was! Conditions every single day from June 8th to 19th (except the 11th)!

Saturday was the last full day at the camp. Morning brought us France and a little Spain, the afternoon some good quality Italy starting from Rome, and the evening a slow, jumpy and at times boring opening to the Balkans and thereabouts. Sunday caught us tearing down the rigs, cleaning the place and packing up under an all-sorts up and down opening.

After lunch on Saturday we were lazying in the beautiful warm sunshine with no wind at all. Luckily we had taken a look at the weather forecast that showed clearly that we were right in the eye of a serious low pressure system. We just managed to get the big Körners down before the system moved and we got all the wind & rain in the world from its edge.

Gone

The storm arrived with the antennas gone except one 8 element Triax (pic: MB).

Here’s the hasty log of Saturday 18/6:

87.900 18.6. 0827- E: Cadena 100, Pamplona. Local px and ads to Navarra. 2458 km. Utö17
89.500 18.6. 1306- I: Radio We, Roma. JTK/Utö17
91.900 18.6. 0700- F: Neptune FM, L’Ile d’Yeu (85). JTK/Utö17
94.000 18.6. 1325- I: R Classica, Milano. RDS ID. JTK/Utö17
94.600 18.6. 1319- I: R Hinterland, Binasco (MI). JTK/Utö17
94.600 18.6. 1736- ROU: Argeş Express, Curtea de Argeş (AG). Old station, new name. JTK/Utö17
96.300 18.6. 1330- I: R Panda, Garbagnate Milanese (MI). JTK/Utö17
96.600 18.6. 1735- ROU: R Somes, Bistrita. Utö17
97.700 18.6. 2023- + GRC: Avena FM 97.7, Alexandreia. JTK/Utö17
99.700 18.6. 1737- ROU: Atlas FM, Alba Iulia. ”Join us at www.atlasfm.ro”. JTK/Utö17
99.800 18.6. 1310- I: R M100, Roma. New name. JTK/Utö17
106.900 18.6. 1310- I: R Mambo, Roma. JTK/Utö17
106.900 18.6. 1316- + I: R Miele, Trento. Moena (TN)-tx. HPI confirmed that this is station #19 ever heard in Finland from Trento. JTK/Utö17
107.400 18.6. 2001- GRC: Libero 107,4, Thessaloniki (25). JY/Utö17

88.000 18.6. 1722- ROU: R Impuls, Bucureşti (BU). JJS/Utö17
89.100 18.6. 1820- UKR: R Dacha, Sevastopol (KR).  JJS/Utö17
89.600 18.6. 2034- TUR: Anadolunun Sesi, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
93.800 18.6. 1734- ROU: Focus FM, Buzau (BZ). JJS/Utö17
94.100 18.6. 1904- SRB: Hit FM R, Beograd. JJS/Utö17
94.200 18.6. 1833- KOS: Radio Kosova e Lirë, Prishtina. JJS/Utö17
95.500 18.6. 1902- BIH: R Grude, Grude. JJS/Utö17
95.500 18.6. 1948- BUL: R 1, Sofia. Myös 90.3 aiemmin. JJS/Utö17
96.900 18.6. 1936- ROU: Gold FM, Bucureşti (BU). JJS/Utö17
97.200 18.6. 1959- GRC: Athlitko Metropolis, Serres (28). JJS/Utö17
100.000 18.6. 2002- GRC: FM100, Thessaloniki (25). JJS/Utö17
101.700 18.6. 1739- BUL: R Bumerang, Gabrovo. JJS/Utö17
104.400 18.6. 1956- + SRB: R Belle Amie, Niš (Srb). Tx Dimitrovgrad /Basara. JJS/Utö17
104.700 18.6. 2015- GRC: Rock R, Thessaloniki (25). ex-Geronimo Groovy probably JJS/Utö17

…plus hundreds of Romanian and Bulgarian network outlets…

Until next year! 🙂

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Utö17: …And Then There Were Four

Yesterday Friday was a big teaser. As a game-changer the best part came already before lunch with a stomping three-minute full band opening to Libya. Presumably a case of Mediterranean tropo with a continuation ticket with Es. (At least the F5LEN tropo forecast maps have been all red there recently.)

The evening gave us a long run to Russia (Krasnodar region) and Ukraine. These conditions never really took off but didn’t move or fade away, either.

Today three listeners left the island. But as I write this, Es keeps on teasing us with a French half-opening. Hopes are high with some 197 MUF spots around the Balkans, so far out of reach from here.

The best of Friday 17th:

68.000 17.6. 0720- RUS: Russkoye R, Rostov (RO). Loval ads. JJS&JTK/Utö17
88.000 17.6. 1020- I: Radio Toscana. JJK/Utö17
88.000 17.6. 1703- RUS: Elektron FM. QTH missing. JJS/Utö17
88.200 17.6. 1021- I: Radio Modena 90. JJK/Utö17
88.300 17.6. 1250- RUS: Radio Dacha, Krasnodar. JJK&JTK/Utö17
88.900 17.6. 0847- + LBY: R Ram, Misratah. RDS ID. Koran reading. 3079 km. Utö17
90.000 17.6. 1647- RUS: Russkoe R, Belorechensk (KD). Local ads without even mentioning the city, but Eldorado can be found at Ulitsa Mira 75 and a Yandex search will tell the rest. ID & local telephone in the end of the ad block. JJS&JTK/Utö17
90.400 17.6. 1655- UKR: Retro FM, Mariupol (DO). JJS&JTK/Utö17
90.500 17.6. 0847- + LBY: Tentative: BBN FM Benghazi. PI:5000, rolling PS: ”EuroTel Broadcasting Spa”. Utö17
90.600 17.6. 1645- RUS: NRJ, Krasnodar. Local ads and telephone 2555211 JTK/Utö17
91.600 17.6. 1330- UKR: Tentative: Lux FM, Kryvyi Rih (DP). ID + local sounding ad with Kryvyi Rih mentioned. JTK/Utö17
91.600 17.6. 1649- RUS: R Shanson, Belorechensk (KD). JJS/Utö17
101.000 17.6. 1630- RUS: Pervoye R, Krasnodar. Mighty IDs JTK/Utö17
102.400 17.6. 1300- RUS: Kazak FM, Krasnodar. JTK/Utö17
103.600 17.6. 1341- UKR: Lubimoe R. Kryvyi Rih (DP)-tx. Just the network ID between songs. JTK/Utö17
104.000 17.6. 0849- + LBY: Sawt al-Madina, Tripoli. Full speed programme and a fine ID! PI: D031. OSY/Utö17

Ram

Libyans rammed the band for a few minutes.

Sunset

Utö sunset seen through heavy rain at 22.45 local time.

Leaving

Otso the bear surrounded by two wolves, ready to head home aboard M/S Eivor

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Utö17: Irish Afternoon Coffee

Thursday was the 7th day of Es conditions during the DXpedition and, as I’m writing this, Friday will be another one as well. Not bad.

In Euro 2016 the afternoon game was between Northern Ireland and Ukraine, while on the band it was about Republic of Ireland against Ukraine. The best catches below.

And the winner of the annual Utö Championships in Huutokauppa (Oh Hell) is… JJS. It was a hands down win without any question from the very beginning. While there was a constant battle for the runner-up position… JTK finally ended up second and JJK third. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Hell for the rules of this great game. We did it from 13 tricks down to 1 and back up again)

92.500 16.6. 1404- + IRL: Tentative: Phoenix FM. Rose over Corca Baiscim with patient stories. Similar was found in their web stream   OSY/Utö17
92.500 16.6. 1401- IRL: Tentative: R Corca Baiscim. Non stop Irish music. Utö17
95.300 16.6. 1400- IRL: Live 95FM, Limerick. Local news. Utö17
95.300 16.6. 1401- IRL: Tipp FM, Tipperary. Utö17
96.200 16.6. 1415- IRL: R Kerry. Cahirciveen/Kilkeaveragh-tx 500W.  JTK/Utö17
102.100 16.6. 1418- IRL: iRadio. Derrybrian-tx. Alone up there. JTK/Utö17

 

Ocho

OSY behind his control screens

Sea

Drizzly foggy sea during our evening walk that was interrupted by a Ukraine alert

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Utö17: Staccato Day

A lot of hopeful squares spread around the Sherlock map yesterday, but the openings were really stingy and short-lived.

The first alert brought us running back from the hotel buffet lunch, and the second round interfered with our evening le foot session (however, no Albania present on the band).

We also had the time for the traditional sauna & the first sea swim of the year (for most). The sea was warmer than anyone had expected. Which doesn’t quite mean warm.

Here’s the fish of the day:

72.920 15.6. 1639- UKR: Chernomos’ka Khvilya, Odesa (OD). JJS/Utö17
88.000 15.6. 1715- BIH: R Postaja Orasje, Orasje. JTK/Utö17
88.500 15.6. 1900- I: RCB Radio per passioni, Ostuni (BR). Martina Franca-tx. JTK/Utö17
89.500 15.6. 1711- HNG: Music FM, Budapest. JTK/Utö17
89.800 15.6. 1900- BIH: Radio Slobomir. JJK/Utö17
89.900 15.6. 1717- + BIH: Radio Ask, Sarajevo. MB/Utö17
90.300 15.6. 1715- HRV: Radio Banovici. JJK/Utö17
90.300 15.6. 1715- HRV: Radio Banovici. JJK/Utö17
90.800 15.6. 1823- SVK: R Košice, Košice. Tx Prešov / Lysá hora. MS (or Es triggered by MS?) JJS/Utö17
90.900 15.6. 1716- + BIH: Antena Sarajevo, Sarajevo. MB&JJK/Utö17
90.900 15.6. 1722- HNG: Jazzy R, Budapest (Bud). JJS/Utö17
91.100 15.6. 1908- I: R Cattolica in Blu, Troia (FG). JJS/Utö17
94.500 15.6. 1909- I: R Farfalla, Mottola (TA). JJS/Utö17
95.400 15.6. 1901- I: R Argento, Monopoli (BA). JJS/Utö17
95.500 15.6. 1900- BIH: Nes Radio, Banja Luka. JJK/Utö17
96.100 15.6. 1900- HNG: Magyar Katolikus Radio, Budapest. JJK/Utö17
96.300 15.6. 1900- BIH: R Doboj, Doboj. JTK&JJS&JJK/Utö17
107.600 15.6. 1338- D: Radio Lausitz. MS. JY/Utö17

WP_20160613_16_18_24_Rich

The shipwreck in front of our antenna field, pictured by OSY from his canoe. Spot the lighthouse through the gape in the hull.

WP_20160612_13_18_34_Rich

Toasting to Mother E. From the left JTK, JJS, JUS, JJK, MB, JY. Pic:OSY

WP_20160612_09_17_01_Rich

The Spaghetti Incident between the listening posts of JJK, JTK and JUS.

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Utö17: Close Range Conditions

Another day, another log. A promising Balkan opening in the morning targeted the western shores of the Black Sea. But instead of moving west to the Greek honeypots, Es decided to move north and eventually came too close.

In the evening we had a patchy Russian OIRT opening, also then most of the stuff came too close for comfort. With interference from the Icelandic football team 😉

Highlights of the day:

87.800 14.6. 1409- NOR: NRK Sørlandet. Hovdefjell-tx. 734 km tropo with regional px. MB/Utö17
89.000 14.6. 0924- TUR: Joy Türk, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
89.400 14.6. 0855- TUR: R Denge Kurdi, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
90.700 14.6. 0942- MDA: Aquarelle FM, Chisinau. JTK/Utö17
91.700 14.6. 0905- TUR: Tentative: R Gül, Gebze (mam-koc). 6 minutes of ads to Gebze. JJS/Utö17
92.200 14.6. 0902- TUR: R Gözde, Yalova (Yal). JJS/Utö17
92.200 14.6. 0937- UKR: R Pyatnytsya, Izmayl (OD). Local ads. JJS/Utö17
92.700 14.6. 0913- TUR: Romantik Ses, Adapazari (mam-sak). JJS/Utö17
93.300 14.6. 0943- MDA: R Zum, Chisinau. JTK/Utö17
93.500 14.6. 0942- MDA: Hit FM, Chisinau. Cimişlia-tx. Just network ads, blah JTK/Utö17
93.500 14.6. 0904- TUR: R Mehtap, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
94.400 14.6. 0906- TUR: R Nikomedya, Izmit (mam-koc). JJS/Utö17
95.400 14.6. 0911- TUR: R Gebze, Gebze (mam-koc). JJS/Utö17
95.500 14.6. 0935- TUR: Bayram FM, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
96.900 14.6. 0918- TUR: Kemençe FM, Sakarya (mam-sak). JJS/Utö17
97.600 14.6. 0914- TUR: R Müzik, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
98.600 14.6. 0910- UKR: Grad FM, Odesa. Izmail-tx. Has replaced the Moye103.8 (Odesa) network. JTK/Utö17
99.800 14.6. 0916- TUR: Power Türk, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17

If Madeira will be confirmed (it may be tricky since there was no local content in the Radio Renascenca show; however it’s the only known Renascenca transmitter on the frequency and the bearing was just right), it will be FM radio country #71 heard in Finland. The new ones heard in the 2010s are:

#68 LBY 26.05.2010 JY
#69 IND 01.08.2013 MSO
#70 CHN 04.07.2014 MSO
#71 MDR 12.06.2016 OSY/Utö17 (pending confirmation)

(The other 2010s highlights – ARM, CYT, MLT and GEO – were already part of the old count.)

 

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Utö17: Ireland 0 Sweden 4

Yesterday Lady E made an appearance during the Republic of Ireland – Sweden match @Euro2016. It was a draw in Saint-Denis, but in Utö the Irish only had a brief upper hand as the regular Swedish tropo stations dominated the band.

Later in the evening there was another Es cloud, this time above Finland, that brought in OIRT stations from the Kola peninsula and Murmansk. But the highest frequency we got was only the TV sound on 83.74 (and most of the crew couldn’t take their eyes off Belgium vs Italy). A pity as there would be a lot to discover there.

Here are the best players of the Irish team:

95.500 13.6. 1639- IRL: LMFM, Drogheda.
96.600 13.6. 1640- IRL: R Kerry. Killarney (KY) tx 100w.
97.300 13.6. 1639- IRL: KFM Kildare.
98.100 13.6. 1640- IRL: 98FM, Dublin. Three Rock Mountain tx.

Wolves

The Wolves of Uhtua, JUS and JJK, keep themselves busy sweeping the cliffs between Es openings. The weather has improved steadily, all day sunshine and up to +18 C in the shade.

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Utö17: French Football Fever Continues

Madame E seems to be really fond of the Euro Finals, as we had a great 3-hour French opening yesterday evening, right in the middle of the evening game, again.

The beginning and the end were the best. In the middle the band was a mush with too many stations, including Belgians and Germans. At times topping 75 dBf on the XDR scale (noise level is around 10 dBf with our system).

Some Spanish stations in the mix, and highly likely the first ever log of Madeira in Finland. Though there was no local content for a 100% match.

As all things come in threes, we’ll be expecting the next ”le foot” feast soon 😉

Highlights off the top of the heap below:

87.500 12.6. 1559- D: Kick!fm, Gelsenkirchen (NrW). Tx Essen (NrW). JJS/Utö17
88.000 12.6. 1816- + MDR: Tentative: R Renascença. Pico do Silva -tx. ID. The only Renascença on the fq… and the bearing matches exactly. 4111 km. OSY/Utö17
88.400 12.6. 1819- I: Antenna R Esse, Monteriggioni (SI). Tx Monte Argentario (GR). JJS/Utö17
88.700 12.6. 1901- E: Cadena 100, Madrid (MAD-M). 93.6 COPE (RDS), 100.0, 90.2 SER (RDS), and 89.5 (”gooooooooooooooooooool de Alemania!!!!!) In Galicia, Lugo province most likely. JJS/Utö17
89.200 12.6. 1900- F: Fréquence 10, Dinan (22). JJS&JTK/Utö17
89.400 12.6. 1810- F: Plus FM, Blois (41). JJS/Utö17
90.100 12.6. 1800- BEL: DH Radio. Perwez (wal-bra). JJS/Utö17
91.700 12.6. 1827- I: Radio Orte. JJK/Utö17
92.300 12.6. 1657- F: RJFM. Montluçon (03). JJS&JTK/Utö17
93.400 12.6. 1752- F: Latina FM, Paris (75). Troyes (10)-tx. JJS/Utö17
94.900 12.6. 1630- + F: R Graf’hit, Compiègne (60). JTK/Utö17
95.800 12.6. 1753- F: Latitude FM Troyes (10). JJS/Utö17
96.200 12.6. 1613- BEL: 7 FM, Wemperhardt. Tx Gouvy/Beho in Luxembourg. JJS/Utö17
98.400 12.6. 1649- F: Sensations, Guyancourt (78). JJS/Utö17
98.800 12.6. 1646- F: R Espace, Lyon (69). JJS/Utö17
99.000 12.6. 1624- F: Nevers FM, Coulanges les Nevers (58). JTK/Utö17
100.000 12.6. 1833-1841 E: RPA Radio del Principado de Asturias, Gijón (AST). Local football. RDS ID only. Utö17
100.100 12.6. 1835- F: RCA, Saint-Nazaire (44). JJS/Utö17
100.300 12.6. 1840- F: Océane FM, Questembert (56). ”Océane a Pontchâteau sur 94 5.” Faux local announcement. JJS/Utö17
101.000 12.6. 1641- F: RFL 100, Tours (37). ”Notre radio en Touraine, ce RFL 100”. JJS/Utö17
101.700 12.6. 1646- + F: Maradio Cristal, Mantes-la-Jolie (78). JJS/Utö17
103.500 12.6. 1643- + F: Virgin R, Paris (75). ”Virgin Radio a Paris 103 5, 103 5.” Real local ID. JJS/Utö17
104.200 12.6. 1609- BEL: Warm FM, Seraing. Liège-tx. ”Your daily prescription of electronic music”. Yum. JTK/Utö17
104.500 12.6. 1629- BEL: Must FM, Habay-La-Neuve (wal-lux). Tx Rouvroy / Montquintin. JJS/Utö17
106.500 12.6. 1626- BEL: Metropole Radio, Gaum. JJS/Utö17
107.300 12.6. 1620- F: R Alpa, Le Mans (73). JTK/Utö17
107.900 12.6. 1554- F: N’Radio. JJK/Utö17

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Utö17: Blue Sky DXing

Beautiful morning, but no sign of DX (save a little UK opening before 0500 UTC). Time to delve into yesterday’s loot…

Antenna_field

The antennas reaching out to the Baltic Sea

Lighthouse

The lighthouse and the pilot station. Both pictures taken from the balcony of cabin ”A” – can’t complain about the view!

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Utö17: Football fever

Great 3+ hour opening started today before 1000 UTC with MUF @108 to Russia (KD) and Ukraine, shifted later then to Turkey and the Balkans, and died out slowly. At one point, Istanbul stations covered the whole band with their very narrow 200 kHz spacing.

In the afternoon, we got a new start to the UK and Ireland, but MUF barely reached 98 MHz. And, of course, to celebrate Euro 2016, we got a brief stint to the west coast of France during their opening match in the evening.

Here’s what we have found so far (+ means First in Finland):

87.900 10.6. 1110- UKR: R ERA FM, Odesa. Local ads.
88.200 10.6. 1252- ROU: Stil FM – R ZU, Călăraşi (CL). Tx Olteniţa.
88.800 10.6. 1915- SUI: R BEO, Bern.
89.900 10.6. 1320- BUL: R Focus, Plovdid. Local ads
91.000 10.6. 1110- UKR: R ES – The Voice of European Union. Tx Odesa, ex-Gala R.
93.200 10.6. 1215- + ROU: Smile FM, Vaslui.
94.200 10.6. 1303- GRC: Status R, Alexandroupolis (33).
94.500 10.6. 1026- TUR: R.Müzik, Sanyer (Istanbul).
95.800 10.6. 1138- TUR: Bayram FM, Istanbul.
96.300 10.6. 1346- G: Heart Bristol.
96.400 10.6. 1355- G: The Wave 96.4, Swansea.
96.900 10.6. 1148- + TUR: Kemençe FM, Sakarya.
97.100 10.6. 1354- G: R Carmarthenshire, Llanelli.
97.600 10.6. 1050- LTU: Radiostotis M-1 Plius, Vilnius. Kaunas tx. Tropo.
98.100 10.6. 1206- TUR: Raks FM.
99.600 10.6. 1020- + RUS: R Hit FM, Krymsk (KD).
100.000 10.6. 1025- TUR: Power FM, Istanbul.
100.300 10.6. 1023- UKR: Radio More, Simferopol.
101.100 10.6. 1232- ROU: Sky FM, Constanta.
101.100 10.6. 1005- + RUS: Avtoradio, Sochi (KD). Local weather by local sponsor (Охрана Плюс).
101.200 10.6. 0958- RUS: Retro FM, Krasnodar. Local ads
101.300 10.6. 1158- MDA: Radio Sport, Chisinau. 101 i 3 FM Radio Sport.
102.100 10.6. 1155- MDA: GRT FM, Comrat.
102.300 10.6. 1029- UKR: R Sputnik Krimu, Simferopol (KR).
103.500 10.6. 1030- TUR: Haber Radyi Samsun.
104.700 10.6. 1010- RUS: Nashe R, Krasnodar (KD). Local ads
105.000 10.6. 1029- TUR: Tutku FM, Samsun.
106.900 10.6. 1015- + RUS: Dorozhnoye R, Sochi (KD). Local number for advertisers
107.500 10.6. 1009- + UKR: R Pyatnytsya, Berdyans´k (ZP).
107.800 10.6. 1022- TUR: Radyo Hevi Istanbul.

 

Somerset

BBC Somerset promised something better from the UK, but not much more materialized. Well, maybe later…

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Utö17 DXpedition: Antennas Are Up

After some wind-related erectile dysfunctions, we’re finally all set!

Below is a scene from the shoreline, with a vertical 15 element Körner closest and another horizontal one further down, both equipped with a Research Comms 1301 masthead amplifier (28 dB). Both antennas are then split to each listener. The ”power budget” seems to sustain the losses from the cables and all the splits just fine, without any loss to the S/N ratio. Some even split their end once more to serve multiple receivers without noticeable degradation.

The two cabins are in the background, some 80 meters away from where the picture was taken.

In addition, there is one common Band I/OIRT yagi and one horizontal 8 element Triax with the same pre-amp per each cabin to cater for the insatiable needs of our tens of receivers 😉

Masts

From left to right: MB, JJS, JY & OSY

Da_Hood

And that’s me (JTK) behind the camera. JJK was shutter shy, and we’re still waiting for JUS to join us Friday evening.

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