First Logs from KNL-12.

No matter how bad the propagation conditions are, It's always interesting to dig into the files.. There is always something new to pick up. Here are the First Logs from KNL-12.

Angola	Uruguay	Brazil
Brazil	Brazil	Brazil
Dominican Republic	Canada	KFLC - USA
KNMY - USA	WJLK- USA	WMBD - USA

KNL-12: A Challenging DXpedition in Adverse Conditions (17-21 November 2023)

The KNL-12 edition proved to be a test of resilience and adaptability for the participants. Originally scheduled to take place from November 16 to 20, unforeseen circumstances forced a last-minute change. Just like last year, hunters would make the fields unsafe on the first days. So everything was moved one day. But there was more to worry about. In the preceding days, the local media were filled with reports of floods in the neighbouring municipalities. 

We were overwhelmed with pictures like these the days before.

The last-minute change resulted in a reduced participant list, with Leen van Oeveren, Jan Feenstra, Han Hardonk, Frank Huyghe, Frank Thijs, Aart Rouw, and Guido Schotmans being able to rearrange their commitments.

While the first day we had to take in account that hunters would be still present on the fields, we started to unroll coaxes and putting up a LIRA-antenna but sometimes we were startled by fleeing frightened hares. That LIRA experiment was unfortunately a disappointment.  Suppressing backward stations was good but forward sensitivity was absolutely not on par with the beverages.  

After the hunters were out of sight the team started setting up a few beverage antennas just before sunset. However, the wet and muddy conditions of the clay soil made the process arduous. Despite the adversity, the North American and Argentina, beverage antennas were successfully erected. 

Next day the team worked tirelessly further, facing the sticky soil to complete the setup. The shortwave and utility-oriented team members focused on installing the LZ1AQ antenna, a Sony AN1, a T2FD, a ALA100-loop and a vertical. The team continued work on the beverage antenna farm, completing the 400m reversible Far East/Colombia beverage and a BOG to Africa. The latter one was shortened because the last part of the field was way too muddy to go any further. The Japan Beverage antenna was also not set up because we feared that we would not be able to rewind the 2 x 200m coaxial cable (which just fits on the reels). 

As the first night descended, it became apparent that DX conditions were not favourable.  Reception of North American signals was already notably noisy throughout the week at home, with constant very low signal levels. Here at Knollehof, the signals were better but still not like we were used to see a few years ago.  That is acknowledging the impact of the solar cycle on propagation and the recent bursts. Stations from Japan, the Philippines (PHL), Thailand, and Korea were almost absent. Minimal reception was achieved from these regions. 

But time for food ! Regular Chinese takeout and Hugo Matten's provision of delicious Belgian waffles kept spirits high.

While the team was savoring the delicious Belgian waffles generously provided by Hugo Matten, someone couldn't resist teasing, "These waffles are so good that they should actually come with a warning label: 'May cause uncontrollable happiness and a strong urge for a second serving!'".

The laughter that ensued was almost as sweet as the waffles themselves, proving that even amid technical challenges, a good joke and a plate of tasty waffles could elevate spirits higher than the tallest antenna (1).

The performance of the Argentina antenna during KNL-12 did not match the success of the previous year. Significant noise interference plagued its operation throughout the DXpedition, creating challenges for the team. The usual clarity experienced in previous editions was notably absent, impacting the antenna's ability to capture signals effectively. Despite the adverse conditions, the team persisted in their efforts to overcome obstacles and extract valuable logs from the challenging environment. Interestingly enough, there were still a few First catches on this antenna like Caribbean R Lighthouse, Jolly Harbour (Antigua) 1160 kHz,, R Perfil, Llavallol (ARG) 1190 kHz, R Nacional Buenos Aires 870 kHz. And maybe there are waiting many others hidden in the recordings. 

Frank Thijs his new Antigua QSL

What was also remarkable is that we encountered prolonged and pronounced long fading, further complicating signal reception. This phenomenon posed a challenge in maintaining consistent and clear reception throughout the DXpedition. Throughout the DXpedition, participants grappled with unfavourable propagation conditions. The anticipated radio wave propagation was hampered, leading to decreased signal strength and increased difficulty in capturing distant stations. 

Signals on the North American beverage were better but also there long steady signals were absent. Also on this antenna a few stations were audible that were never heard before like WWJ on 950 KHz, and a CBC station on 1230 kHz that could be the one from Iqaluit, NU, but no definite ID was heard.  

The guys active on the shortwave bands gained high scores in DSC-mode. Leen got a seldom Fax catch from Chile and Frank Huyghe got Bahrain in Navtex. 

The final day saw the daunting task of dismantling antennas amid persistent rain, transforming the fields into muddy pools. Nevertheless, the team successfully concluded the DXpedition, returning home with tired bodies and computer disks full of files for analysis. The resilient team that faced these challenges contributing to the success and unique experiences of the KNL-12 DXpedition. 

Special thanks were extended to the owners of Vakantiewoning Knollehof for accommodating the abrupt changes and ensuring a comfortable stay. 

In the face of unexpected challenges, KNL-12 stands as a testament to the dedication and adaptability of the DXpedition team, highlighting the unpredictable nature of radio exploration. Conditions might be down but it is still nice to be together with like-minded hobby friend.  

Frank H, Hugo, Frank T, Guido, Leen, Aart, Jan and Han.

Tuning the terminator	The LIRA parts
Frank T. and Aart on their way to Colombia	Han struggling to reach the top of the list.

Leen his Fax picture from Chile received on 17 MHz. 

Frank Hughe's set-up	Sony AN1, two LZ1AQ and a vertical reaching out for the airwaves.
The T2FD antenna that caught the Chile Fax.	A new popular DX mode is Earth-bounce reception 😀

1. This joke was generated by ChatGPT.

Edit:

No matter how bad the propagation conditions are, It's always interesting to dig into the files.. There is always something new to pick up.

Here is a list what was found by Frank T. and me so far. And the Argentine El Destape Mundo looks like a very nice one.

760	MEX	XEABC R Canon La 760, San Sebastian Chim
870	ARG	R Nacional Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires-Ge
940	B	Super Radio Brasil / Boa Vontade
940	MEX	XEQ La Q 9-40, Mexico D.F-Col. El Vergel
950	USA	WWJ, Detroit
980	CLM	RCN R Cali
1070	ARG	El Destape Mundo, Wilde
1160	ATG	Caribbean R Lighthouse, Jolly Harbour
1190	ARG	R Perfil, Llavallol
1220	USA	WHKW Cleveland OH
1230	PTR	WNIK, Arecibo
1360	USA	WSAI Cincinnati OH
1440	USA	WMAX Bay City MI
1476	BEN	TWR Africa, Parakou-Serarou

KNL11 - Knollehof DXped 2-6 February 2023

Knollehof night view

It was with mixed feelings that we left home for our DXpedition KNL-11. A few days earlier reached us the news that Pieter, the landlord of Knollehof passed suddenly away during a cycling tour on the Kemmelberg (known as one of Flanders classics).  More can be read about the story (in Dutch) here. Our thoughts are with Hilde, his wife. It will be difficult times. 

This time the weather was nice an dry. A little bit cold and windy but so different from last time in November when we had to dabble in the mud.

Although we arrived somewhere at noon, the 300 meters beverages to North America and Japan and the 400m to Argentina were ready long before dusk.  So we had time to run out a 300 meter beverage-on-ground to Africa. The reversible 80-260° beverage had to wait for the next day. A few others guys more interested in shortwave reception were putting up a T2FD, a vertical, a Sony AN1 and an LZ1AQ loop.

This time we were with 8 participants:

Leen van Oeveren, Dave Onley, Marc van Leemputten, Guido Schotmans, Marc Vissers, Frank Thijs (and Kastaar, the local pet), Jan Feenstra and Frank Huyghe signed present for the picture. John Bernaerts who always takes care that financially is handled correctly paid us a visit again and Hugo Matten, our local contact man was also present one day.

The first day, Marc Vissers was fiddling around with his laptops. A few days earlier he copied his Jaguar SDR folder from his PC to his laptops not taking in account that the licence key file wouldn’t correspond with the hardware and left the software running in Lite mode. After some time of banging his head against the wall he finally found the correct licences in an old mail archive.  But another strange thing occurred.  Quite heavy QRM on certain frequencies hit Guido’s and Frank T’s set up. It sounded like disk writing but even with no disks connected the QRM stayed. The strange thing was that this was not audible on Marc’s set up although everybody was connected to the same antenna set. After a while it went away but it reared its head every now and then again. 

It turned out that erecting a BOG to Africa was a good idea while that delivered nice reception from Mozambique, a very nice "First" from Emisora Provincial de Inhamabe, from RN Sao Tomé and Posto Emisor do Funchal in Madeira, several Nigerians and TWR Benin. Also Radio Free Africa from Tanzania was often strong but it took a long time to give a station's ID when signal was much weaker.

Thursday the 2^nd and Friday 3^rd were the better days for Africa. Saturday the 4^th was the best morning for Trans-Atlantics, both North and South. The afternoon was nice to the Far East. Marc was the first to to squeeze out an extremely nice Philippines log of DYVS-AM FEBC, the Sweet Voice of Salvation on 1233 kHz. That is very seldomly heard in Europe but has of course to do with the fact that UK’s Absolute Radio left the channel.   

  

On Sunday the 5^th several Koreans were heard and still one Japanese (1278 kHz JOFR).  The differences from day-to-day were much larger than seen before. Often there was also a lot of choice stress. Do I stay on this antenna or switch to another one ? Marc made the right decision just in time to get a nice ID from TWR Benin on 1476 kHz before their close down for the day.

Besides DXing, there are also other tasks to take into account like keeping the wood stove burning. Or keeping Kastaar, the local cat outside. Tasks that should not be underestimated.

Soon it was Monday the 6th and it was again time to leave Knollehof for this edition.  But just before starting to pack Cadena 3 (700 kHz) from Argentina, Radio Maranatha (1440 kHz) Managua, Nicaragua and Radio Monte Carlo (930 kHz), Montevideo, Uruguay and hit our antennas. The latter one was however very weak.

Guido Schotmans · Cadena 3, Cordoba (ARG) 700 kHz 2023-02-06 03:32 UTC

Cadena 3  - 700 kHz from Cordoba, Argentina had a lot of European splatter but still a readable ID. 

The achieved logs are not so astonishing like a few years back during the solar minimum but still very nice and it’s not only about catching the rarest stations but have a good chat and it is always fun to stay here with friends and like-minded soul mates.

KNL-10 Update : conditions less bad than first thought.

It seems we have to come back about our initial idea that conditions were bad. They were bad to North America indeed, but after analyzing the files from the night of the 24th of November things tuned out to be very different.  There were a lot of, sometimes short lived signals from Argentina.  Some of them leveled to good audio but were not giving any ID. Others stayed more or less in the background but with ID.  There were a few exceptions that gave ID's at moments with good signals. Radio Dos from Rosario is such an example. Here you can hear a nice clear identification from the station. My report to Mr. Adrian Gallo was kindly confirmed after one day. 

(continues below the picture) 

Guido Schotmans · R 2, Rosario 1230 kHz 2022-11-24 - 0300 UTC

And it seems that the Argentines are in a winning mood. So far no less than 7 stations were positively identified and 3 other are tentative. Extraordinary !

KNL-10 Frank Thijs own experience about the last DX-pedition

My ninth DXpedition in Knollehof, Veurne, would be completely different. We would now leave during the daytime for our DX location. During the previous DX weekends, I left at 5am and drove most of the time in the dark. The visible environment was usually limited to the road you were driving on. Here and there you could see something of the area when traffic and lighting allowed you to take a look around.

The drive to Knollehof was pleasant, less traffic on the road, no peeping in the dark and it was as if the 'heavier' traffic had less of a morning mood or stress.

Stress, yes… it's something I experience every time a DXpedition announces itself. The 5 coax cables must be checked and repaired if necessary. An audio switcher had to be replaced, some cables had to be ordered and that did not go smoothly. Is everything okay with the external HDs and the laptop and PC? Is there a neighbour who can take care of my cat, Floshke, for a few days. Anyway, these are just a few concerns that can be solved almost immediately. In addition, there are also the questions of how the conditions will be and that was very bad for the many weeks before the DXpedition. Will it rain and storms, are there any deviations that will require me to drive through small villages? How are the fields? Will the antenna setup be a Sunday walk or will it be toiling, sweating, cursing and gruelling for mind and body? Well, this year it was especially gruelling and that especially during the tearing down of the antennas. The more I think about it, the more I feel the pain in my back and legs.

All those questions that made me restless and I'm not even talking about the health that was playing tricks on me a few weeks before the start of the listening pedition. Stress is not unknown to me, but it didn't stop me from starting the 200 km ride with a great desire and living the days in joy among skilled DXers.

Frank at his listening post

The closer I get to our DX location, the calmer I feel. The countryside of the Westhoek gives me a kind of spiritual peace. The silence, the desolation, the somewhat gloomy impression and above all the history of the region in which we spend a few days. A history that is perhaps not or not enough known by the younger people. A history where thousands upon thousands of men and women from all over the world from just about every continent fought and died. A history that is commemorated every year on November 11 in many countries, the history of Flanders Field. There, in Flanders Field, we have been meeting twice a year since 2017 to DX, but also to meet and live together.

The conditions were not good but for some, if not all, participants it is also a relief. The disruptions in our home locations are increasing and an improvement is hardly feasible. The lucky ones among us who have room for FLAGs, KAZ antennas or a beverage also enjoy their antennas less and less due to all kinds of interference that suppress the DX stations. Then a location such as Knollehof does offer the opportunity and the joy of fun stations, even if the conditions are not optimal.

Frank's favourite, Kastaar the local mascotte.

Hopefully I'll find some nice surprises on my recordings, but I'm already happy with some medium wave logs like Sudan and North Korea that I never heard before. Also Nigeria with a nice ID, as you can hear on a recording that Guido made, but Kuwait is also a station for me that I could not often put in the logbook. Hopefully they will answer my reception report.

My listening post consisted of a PC and laptop connected with a Perseus + Jaguar software and an external 4 TB hard disk. The beverages to North America, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Columbia and Africa plucked the radio signals from the air.

All in all, and despite my grumbling before and during the DXW weekend, I enjoyed the midweek. These are days of DXing, discovering, interacting and sometimes clashing, enjoying, looking ahead and looking back and making plans for the next session in Knollehof in Flanders Field.

Frank Thijs.

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