Last week, we were once again at our DX spot at Knollehof in Veurne for a five-day DXpedition.
In spring, there was some uncertainty about whether we would still be able to use the fields for setting up the long Beverage antennas, as the farmer was a bit uncooperative. Allegedly, we had not adhered to agreements, but it was all a misunderstanding.
Together with Hugo (our local DX-collegue), I launched a charm offensive to convince him. With considerable effort, we managed to restore trust. However, the farmer did set a clear condition: we could only use the fields after the end of the hunting season in December. This led to a change in the schedule: the DXpedition was moved to a midweek, from Monday, December 2, to Friday, December 6.
Fortunately, there were no floods in neighbouring municipalities or farmer protests blocking highways like last year.
Most of us arrived around noon. After setting up the shacks, we got to work outdoors, erecting the Beverage antennas. The morning rain had cleared, and our new participant, Cornel, already had experience setting up Beverage antennas elsewhere. We set up a North America beverage (300°, 300 m), a RevBev Japan/Argentina (45/225°, 400 m), and Africa BoG (150°, 300 m) antenna.
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| Preparing for the field work. |
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| When looking carefully you can see the Alvear Tower in Buenos Aires at the end of the antenna. |
The Africa antenna quickly delivered a hit with a clear signal from Radio Nacional de São Tomé e Príncipe.
However, the conditions were not in our favour for the rest of the trip. It seemed that all antennas were mostly only picking up European signals. A creative attempt to improve the conditions with a so-called "one-million dollar antenna" yielded little result. The team began to suspect that the radio gods were not smiling on us.
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| The one million Dollar conditions booster |
On the second day, we set up the Far East/Colombia Beverage antenna (80/260°, 400 m). Jan had brought a whole arsenal of antennas: a vertical antenna (7 meters) with a balun, an AL1 loop antenna from Van Dijken Elektronica, and an LZ1AQ antenna. Additionally, a T2FD and a Sony AN1 were also spotted.
Cornel, also an avid Jaguar user on medium wave, also conducted other experiments with an RTL-SDR patch antenna for the L-band (1525–1600 MHz). The setup was improvised, using a garden chair, but the results were excellent. Even 10500 Bd data and 8400 Bd voice channels came through clearly. Software such as Jaero (aviation) and Scytale-C (maritime) was used.
Leen explored the fax frequencies, including the Pacific, Honolulu (11090 kHz), Wiluna (15615 kHz); Asia, JFX Kagoshima (16907.50 kHz), Tokyo JMH (7795 kHz), and Shanghai (16539 kHz). Even though the conditions were not special, it’s always better than being at home.
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| Shanghai 16539 kHz |
Frank Huyghe focused his attention on Navtex and Fax projects that he built himself. If I heard correctly, I caught him exclaiming, "Murmansk Fax !"
Aart, Frank Thijs, and Guido doggedly persisted with MW-DX, but their determination yielded little. The anticipated conditions on medium wave completely failed to materialise. Moreover, we discovered a few days later that the North America antenna was performing very poorly. After inspecting various connections, we eventually found that the termination resistor was defective. The 1 kOhm potentiometer had a maximum value of only 170 ohms. In the future, we will replace it with a more robust fixed resistor.
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| The DX-gang : Frank H, Jan, Aart, Frank T, Leen, Guido and Cornel. |
In between, we also went hunting for TII codes from the DAB+ transmitter in Oostduinkerke. Since DAB transmitters use a Single Frequency Network, you can only reliably determine the transmitted TII code near the transmitter itself.
The conditions remained lacklustre. Evidence of this was reflected in our condition barometer.
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| Conditions barometer in bad shape. |
The DXpedition ended as it began: with typical winter weather. It was dry, but the strong winds made dismantling the antennas a challenge. Everyone worked together to wrap up safely. By around 12:00 local time, everything was packed up.
The 14th edition of the Knollehof DXpedition came with its own challenges and surprises but, as always, featured the indispensable radio experience.
Although the 14th Knollehof DXpedition did not experience the best conditions, the team once again brought out the best in themselves. The setbacks strengthened the collaboration and enthusiasm to keep experimenting. With a new participant like Cornel and the lessons learned, we are already looking forward to the 15th edition in February. Who knows, it might bring better radio conditions and more success.
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