KONG51 Day Seven - Proton Rule - End in Sight?

Enhanced proton levels don't go away just like that, but the intensity does seem to wane off a bit so we're hoping for better propagation in the coming days.

This morning at around 05Z the polar signal path opened up a bit and we could at least see some signals, although the noise level was high and readability poor. Despite that, many more of the most usual stations we heard yesterday were audible. Progress! Sort of...

So, in the afternoon propagation to Asia got better and at 14:45 at NHK-2 network close down we got a nice selection of IDs including two not previously logged on this DX-pediton, JOKB Okayama-1386 and JORB Kochi-1152. Very strong signal from the most common Aussie here, ABC Capricornia QLD-1548. Newcastle NSW-1512 was also audible.

The NHK-1 network local ID at 20:00 was uneventful although we heard a few. A tell-tale sign of disturbed northerly paths is that the usual super-dominant on 1485, NRK Svalbard, is subdued in favour of Spain's SER Santander.

Unrelated to long-distance DX I let two SDRs record the MW band overnight from the 50-degrees beverage. Its backlobe points to western Europe. I used the usual Perseus/Jaguar combo on one PC, and an RSPdxR2/SDR Console combo on another. While hearing is a subjective matter, and the RSPdxR2 had less amplification than the Perseus, I think it's reasonably safe to say that for audio near the noise floor Jaguar does have the edge vs. Console. And that's the kind of audio we're chasing.

And then it's time for this DX-Pedition's second signature dish: Reindeer tenderloins. Local product from animals that may have grazed around these antennas. 60 seconds each side in a hot pan, then cautiously baked a few minutes at 100 degrees Celsius. Served with a paste of root vegetables - carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swede/rutabaga, seleriac. A brown, quite fat and tasteful sauce to follow. A good red wine from Rhône completed the course.

For dessert another local variety and tradition often used in major celebrations - fresh cloudberries in whipped cream. Grappa and Disaronno with the dessert.

Quite nice weather today. Windy overnight, but calm, cloudy and mostly dry today with up to 4 Celsius. Snow gone! In the evening light rain and calm and a bit warmer with 5 Celsius.