KONG51 - Day Two

Windy and rainy morning at the KONG HQ, 2 Celsius. I woke up at 05 local (03:00 UTC) and noted that trans-polar signal levels had increased steadily since 22:00. Even as late as 15:00 today there were a few signals on the band. The first ID-ed NA station (of interest) of the DX-pedition was WLRS New Albany IN 1570 at 01:00, but around 22:30 we lost several stations that powered down from their day power before we could catch any ID. Some of the other stations noted in my logbook were KPRZ-CA 1210, KORT-ID 1230 (audible for several hours!), WMMB-FL 1240, KMBY-CA 1240, KXRO-WA 1320 and WRHC-FL 1550.

Sunrise...

Afterwards, signals zig-zagged in strength and provided little of interest. 

The main objective for Saturday was to get the alt-Loran beverage site up and running. Fiddling with small screwdrivers etc. in rain, gale-force winds and just above freezing is not our favourite pasttime, so we tried to wait out the weather until it was "as good as it gets" before driving off. Apart from a nasty rain shower we timed it pretty well, and began the return drive just after sunset. Not quite done yet, tomorrow we need to repair a faulty far-end grounding with its terminating resistor, but that should be an easy fix. The initial impression is that it's working very well already. We will see after we have collected the recordings tomorrow morning and compared them with the KONG beverages.

Kjølnes Lighthouse, near the alt-Loran site

Pacific stations were heard early today, Tonga-1017 with marine weather forecast around 10:30. Radio Majuro-1098 and Gold FM from Fiji on 990 were also very strong until China's sunset spoiled the Pacific party like so many times before.

One interesting catch was the looping announcement on AFN's stations in Japan on 1575 kHz at 11:00, that due to the government shutdown, the AFN radio channel had been temporarily suspended, followed by a long pilot tone. We tried to figure out if this was the case with AFN's Korean stations on 1440 as well, but interference from STV Sapporo was too strong. A check later on 1575 kHz at 16:00, AFN seemed to be back to normal (?) programming with ABC news followed by automated pop music with canned announcements - typical for overnight programming.

Dinner! Yes we admit, we love a good meal. And we are not fans of heat-and-eat meals. Today is salmon day. Sushi-grade salmon loins marinated in balsamico crema, olive oil, dried herbs, spices, garlic and ginger root. Baked in the oven for 8 minutes at 200 Celsius. Served with tagliatelle and pesto with parmesan cheese, and chopped bacon. Good shit, especially when served with Calles Riesling.

Salmon looking forward to some heat treatment

Dessert:The whipped cream was excellent. The Tokaji wine was delicious. The Apricot with Almonds cake - uhm...maybe we should have opted for something else. But the Disaronno was great!

We have already discussed the weather - a favourite point of conversation among Norwegians. To sum it all up: Windy and rainy early in the day, calmer and less rain in the afternoon and a maximum of 4 Celsius.  Now at almost bedtime, calm, mostly dry and 2 Celsius. The forecast for Sunday is calm winds, occasional light rain and 2 Celsius.