The 178th Aihkiniemi DXpedition far exceeded my expectations. At a point of the solar cycle when solar maximum is approaching, being able to wittness stunning northern lights was very impressive. Even more rewarding was to realize that the biggest solar storm of the DXpedition resulted in an excellent opening towards the Great Smoky Mountains. This brief window for rare AM signals lasted only 17 minutes, but led to the discovery of 17 new stations, most of them broadcasting at their daytime power and pattern.

Just two weeks after the highly successful AIH176 DXpedition, the allure of Aihkiniemi beckoned once more. Pursuing the DXing passion would be unsustainable without the unwavering support of an understanding spouse and an employer equally accommodating. I count myself very lucky and grateful to have both pillars in my life. On this second expedition of the season I was alone, allowing me to flexibly balance remote work commitments while fully immersing myself in the adventure.

Following tradition, I boarded my car onto a train at the Pasila train station in Helsinki, securing the fortunate position of being the first in line. Afterwards, I made my way to the Mall of Tripla for dinner. The mall, with its dozens of restaurants conveniently situated above the railroad tracks, provides quite an array of choices. Opting for Teppanyaki this time around was a good move. The 22-euro Japanese buffet was both filling and quite tasty. Afterwards I shopped for some goodies to get me through the night on the train.

First in, first out—that's a guarantee against any delays at the destination. CLICK the photos in this report to see them in full size in a new browser window.

The IC 265 train embarked on its journey with a somber note, as a medical emergency resulted in the evacuation of a person at Tikkurila. Fortunately, this incident did not cause any lasting delay, and the train reached Rovaniemi promptly at the scheduled time of 7.20 AM local time on Saturday morning. Moving the car carriers and unloading of cars was remarkably swift, allowing me to exit the train station by 7.40. I was on the road north faster than ever before.

Mika in Rovaniemi before dawn, awake enough to start driving further north.

Having already enjoyed some snacks for breakfast during the train journey, I seamlessly drove a straight 300 kilometers to Ivalo for lunch and grocery shopping. The travel proved to be a breeze; despite the temperature hovering around -20°C, the road conditions were excellent, traffic was minimal, and the wintry scenery presented a charming spectacle. I decided to take a detour to drive atop Fell Kaunispää, only to find it shrouded in mist with zero visibility. Thus, no photos.

Upon reaching Ivalo, I encountered a minor hiccup as my regular grocery store, S-Market Vaskooli, was closed due to some oil leak. I then pivoted to K-Supermarket, where I procured enough groceries to last the entire two weeks.

In Ivalo I also devoured a huge double burger at Restaurant Ivalo.

Arriving in Aihkiniemi at around 14.15 local time (1215 UTC), I found that the DXers of the previous week, Jorma Huuhtanen and Lauri Levanto, had departed just before my arrival. By 1300 UTC, when I had my first receivers up and running, a mix of stations from Asia filled the airwaves, though there was nothing particularly noteworthy from any specific region.

As the evening unfolded, the sky remained clear, presenting a good opportunity to capture an initial set of northern lights photos. The endeavor was not without its challenges. During periods of tranquil solar weather, only a slender arc of faint light typically graces the northern sky. Undeterred, I braved the frigid -23°C temperatures for a couple of hours, finally reaping the reward of about ten minutes of captivating aurora action.

Aurora borealis over Aihkiniemi.

Situated in the darkest regions of Europe according to a global light pollution map, our DX cabin Aihkiniemi, north of Lake Inari, provides optimal conditions for stargazing and aurora spotting.

Purpose-built for DXing, Aihkiniemi's isolated location in the wilderness enhances its standing as a premier spot for AM DXing. For those unfamiliar with AM DXing, the BBC offers an excellent introduction to the hobby in this video report. For seasoned DXers seeking to delve deeper into the unique aspects of Aihkiniemi, a YouTube video and this article provide valuable insights.

In my DXing endeavors, I employed three Perseus SDR receivers equipped with Jaguar software. A selection of 14 permanently installed Beverage-type antennas, each spanning approximately 1 kilometer (3,300 ft), are pointed at these directions to maximize reception of signals from all interesting target areas:

The peak of the busy Nordic AM DX season had already passed by the time my expedition in Aihkiniemi commenced. While Hannu Tikkanen was engaged in DXing in Lemmenjoki during my second week, I'm not aware of any other concurrent Arctic DXpeditions in the Nordic countries. However, numerous remote listening stations now operate 24/7 across Lapland and northern Norway.

Beyond the realm of DXing, I took the opportunity to visit several friends and neighbors, with the closest residing three kilometers away. It proved to be a great antidote to any potential cabin fever symptoms, providing a welcome respite from the solitude.

A significant portion of my time was dedicated to capturing the enchanting northern lights. The pinnacle of this experience occurred late in the evening on November 21, with some of my shots featured on national TV on the following day as part of the weather forecasts. Using my new Sony a7R Mark V paired with Sigma's 14mm lens was a sheer joy, despite the challenging task of operating the camera barehanded in the -25°C (-13°F) weather. I am grateful to still have all my fingers intact after such frigid photo shoots.

The Aihkiniemi cabins. The DX headquarters is in the left cabin, while there's a sauna, kitchen and a bunk bed in the right one. The shelter in the front houses a well.

Over my two weeks in Lapland, the outside temperature fluctuated between a bone-chilling -30°C (-22°F) and just slightly below freezing point. At the start, a meager 10 cm of snow covered the landscape, growing to about 25 cm by the time of my departure.

However, for us DXers, our primary focus lies not on the weather but instead on solar weather. We diligently monitor changes in solar indices to forecast AM DXing conditions. The traditional rule of thumb dictates that low solar activity tends to be favorable, resulting in stable geomagnetic conditions and predictable reception of distant stations, particularly to the northwest, north, and northeast of Lapland.

Experienced DXers, however, often challenge this traditional belief, as stable reception tends to favor the usual suspects. They argue that a modest solar storm can be preferable as it disrupts the status quo, introducing an element of unpredictability on the dial — provided it doesn't completely obstruct long-distance reception. To substantiate this perspective, consider these selected geomagnetic indices during AIH178, meticulously gathered by Jan Alvestad and available on solen.info.

I have highlighted November 25th because that's when the A index surged to almost a hundred, and K indices were also notably high. At 2000 UTC, Kyoto's DST index plummeted to an extreme low of -99. Traditionally, most DXers would associate these figures with incredibly poor reception conditions on the AM band. Conventional wisdom would suggest that it's time to call it a night and forget about DXing, perhaps hoping for, at most, some African stations from due south.

However, what unfolded on the AM dial on November 25 defied expectations. It marked the best-ever opening to North America I've experienced in my 43 years in this hobby! It was a remarkable event, albeit also one of the shortest openings ever, making it easily missable. Without this unexpected bright spot, the entire DXpedition would have been a disappointing affair.

We have a close relationship with the great tits and Siberian tits of Aihkiniemi! No seeds were needed to lure the bird, I just stayed still for a couple of minutes.

Here's a day-to-day account of how the DXpedition unfolded — with some surprises.

Sunday, November 19, 2023

With solar indices looking highly promising, it came as no surprise when US stations permeated the airwaves overnight. Initially, some faint signals emerged even before sunset at their respective locations, although I had no luck with any daytimer stations.

In the morning, roughly between 0600 and 0800 UTC, signals from the East Coast to the Midwest exhibited considerable strength. However, as the day progressed, conditions shifted westward while also losing much of their initial vigor. Stations identified during this period included KYFI & KHOW 630, WTNY 790, WDMC 920, WINZ 940, KFJB 1230, KWVR 1340, WNYY 1470, and WPAY 1520 AM. Notably, no personally new stations were identified.

A sharp but gentle knock on an antenna wire is usually enough to get rid of snow.

I ventured into the forest to inspect the first two antennas, clearing them of accumulated snow. Upon my return at 0920 UTC, some Asian signals were already audible, but there wasn't a distinct focus for several hours. The strength of South Asian signals increased notably after the sun set in that region around 1230 UTC.

Although I typically don't pay much attention to pirate stations, Radio Mi Amigo presented quite a surprise with a formidable signal on 1503 AM persisting for hours. The transmitter location seemed relatively close, possibly in Scandinavia.

Later in the evening, I visited friends in the village of Partakko, so I don't have a clear idea if my recordings captured anything noteworthy. Antti and Päivi had prepared a delightful dinner featuring fried perch, moose fillet, and mushroom risotto — all locally caught and picked by themselves. The meal concluded with cloudberries for dessert, rounding off a delightful evening.

Antti Kokkonen, a fellow journalist with a cabin in Partakko, used a saw to carve this huge slab from the 30-cm-thick lake ice.

Monday, November 20, 2023

Throughout the night, a few US stations emerged early on, but their signals were weak, and the selection of stations was both limited and very typical. Around 0200–0300 UTC, there appeared to be some activity from around Brazil and Argentina. Signals from North America were comparatively weaker than on Sunday, and even with the sunrise, there wasn't much of interest. All the identified stations were familiar ones, including KTRF 1230, KDLR 1240, WKBK 1290, WIBA & KNOX 1310, KWVR 1340, and KDBM 1490 AM.

Throughout the day, faint signals from the Pacific Northwest lingered on the dial, but I opted to spend a couple of hours in the forest instead, clearing antenna wires of accumulated snow.

Asian signals made a belated appearance, with my recording starting from 1300 UTC onward yielding little of interest. By 1500 UTC, South Asian signals began to dominate many frequencies. There were no noteworthy Australian signals to speak of, with just a couple of the most usual suspects making an appearance. From Asia, for instance BCC Taichung on 927 AM was identified. In the evening, I dedicated some time to crafting additional BNC cables for the users of Aihkiniemi.

This is what the listening room equipment looks like: three Perseus receivers, coupled with Jaguar software on three laptops, and amplifiers for the antennas.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

The overnight period was rather lackluster, but in the morning, roughly between 0600 and 0800 UTC, North American stations exhibited relatively strong signals. Conditions particularly favored the Prairie states and the Rocky Mountains. While there were no personally new stations identified at this point, familiar ones such as XECL 990, KDIX 1230, KORT 1230, KFBC 1240, KGLB 1310, KTOQ 1340, and KPRK 1340 AM were among those recognized.

Throughout the day, the AM band remained relatively quiet, prompting me to spend a considerable amount of time in the forest, where I checked and cleaned several antennas.

The Eastern front proved once again to be less exciting, and in the late evening, despite the -24°C weather, I spent hours outside chasing auroras. The results of this endeavor can be found below. Interestingly, for the first time during this DXpedition, the light show included some fast-moving light phenomena, which were particularly impressive on video. The shakeup in geomagnetic conditions also favored AM reception, leading to the early appearance of New England stations that peaked at the ideal time of 2100 UTC. While I did observe some tracks of daytimer signals on the Jaguar display, they were either familiar cases or remained unidentified.

CLICK the aurora photos to see them in full size in a new browser window:

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Overnight, US signals exhibited greater strength than on any previous night, marking a welcome change. It was finally a night of recordings, warranting some inspection later on. However, around 0600 UTC, everything vanished to the extent that not even any RNE stations were heard during the 0625 and 0645 UTC local breaks. The AM band mostly recovered by the next top-of-the-hour, 0700 UTC, but then subsided again. Among the identified stations were CHTM 610, WPRV 790, WHCU 870, XECT 1190, WTKG 1230, WMMB 1240, and KICD 1240 AM.

The daytime remained relatively quiet, with the exception of a brief burst of Japanese stations around 1000 UTC — an ideal timing, as it coincided with one of the only two daily breaks for NHK's 1st channel local station identifications. Fukushima outlets were particularly strong, and a Fukushima relay station on 1341 AM proved to be a new discovery for me.

More antenna maintenance occupied my day, followed by a disappointingly poor afternoon showing of Asian stations. The airwaves remained relatively quiet, with static and atmospheric noise dominating. DYSI 1323 AM was among the few stations from the Philippines around 1330 UTC, but by 1500 UTC, the focus had shifted to India.

In the evening, the outside temperature rose substantially to around -10°C. Some of my aurora shots ended up being featured twice on YLE TV news in the evening as a lead-in to the weather forecast. They also gained popularity as a social media post. I suppose freezing my toes off was worth it in the end.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Measurable North American signals only surfaced after midnight UTC, but improved significantly around dawn, coinciding with the period when reception typically peaks. The signals reached their zenith around 0600–0800 UTC and were concentrated in the Canadian Prairie, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana — though no groundbreaking discoveries were made. Identified stations during this time frame included WRTO 1200, KASL 1240, KVXR 1280, KDLM 1340, WJOL 1340, KEYL 1400, KQDJ 1400, KXGN 1400, and KCOW 1400 AM, all of which are very familiar.

During daylight hours I completed the inspection and cleaning of the remaining antennas, marking the conclusion of this duty for my DXpedition unless any urgent fixes are required. Subsequently, I tackled shoveling the yard and driveway after a snowfall of close to 10 cm over the previous 24 hours. After all these activities, the sauna felt even more rejuvenating than usual.

The afternoon opening to Asia was unremarkable, as is often the case this time of year, with little trace of Aussie stations.

Friday, November 24, 2023

North American signals exhibited notable strength around 0000 UTC, and with a bit of back-and-forth movement, dawn brought robust signals from the Great Lakes and the Great Plains. However, despite these favorable conditions, the quest for new stations remained a challenge. Among the identified stations were KGHL 790, XERDO 1060, KFTI 1070, KDMR 1190, WKAN 1320, WLBK 1360, WKMI 1360, KFRU 1400, WRMN 1410, and KFIG 1510 AM — all of which I have already verified. The highlight of my catches was WKTA Evanston IL on 1330 AM, likely a first-time reception in Finland.

This was the last time I saw the sun before the polar night, when sun no longer rises above the horizon.

Later on, the Midwest was succeeded by some fairly common stations from the Pacific Northwest, including KMYC 1410, KYKN 1430, KLBM 1450, and KBKR 1490 AM. Once again, the North American path folded well before any stations with a pre-sunrise power hike could be spotted.

A curious case emerged with KMXA from Colorado on 1090 AM. Its signal had been strong for several days, but when it closed programming at 0600 UTC, without any sign-off information, it continued to air a monotonous non-stop tone for as long as it could be heard.

Snow work awaited me in the afternoon until it became too dark to toil outside. The eastern window opened relatively late. Japan exhibited considerable strength when NHK1 had a regional break at 1255 UTC, allowing me to hear, for example, Sendai on 846, 963, 999, and 1584 AM, as well as Hokkaido on 927, 945, and 1161 AM. Following some common Chinese stations (such as Wuhan PBS on 1242 and Qinghai EBS on 1251 AM), the band was overwhelmed by European powerhouses.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

The big day arrived. Transatlantic signals emerged around midnight UTC and continued at varying levels until around 0900 UTC. Latin America was practically absent, as it had been for most of the past week. Even North American signal levels were lower than on Friday. Contrary to NOAA predictions, space weather conditions turned unfavorable again, and listening in daylight became quite limited when indices hit minor storm levels. While I didn't catch anything new, I did identify, for example, these stations: WNCO 1340, WAGN 1340, WMAN 1400, KBMW 1450, and WPVL 1590 AM.

Initially, there were quite a few Japanese stations on the dial, but later on, the eastern front sort of collapsed, with mostly static or Arabic stations remaining.

Ice crystals growing upwards from a swamp.

In the evening, a geomagnetic storm reached the G2 level, and northern lights were visible throughout Finland — except in this region, where the sky remained cloudy. The Kyoto DST index plummeted to an impressive low of -99. Here is what NOAA's solar weather report indicated:

MODERATE (G2) GEOMAGNETIC STORMS OBSERVED – 25 NOVEMBER 2023. Periods of G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storms were observed on 25 November due to the passage of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The CME, which is likely associated with an eruption from 22 November, arrived at Earth at around 15/0835 UTC. Minor (G1) geomagnetic storm conditions were observed beginning at 25/0859 UTC, with Moderate (G2) levels observed at 25/2003 UTC. Additional periods of Moderate (G2) storming are expected through the end of the UTC day on 25 November, and Minor (G1) storming is expected to continue until 26/0600 UTC.

Despite the bleak outlook, some common New England stations were heard faintly and briefly at 2000 UTC. The first sign that something extraordinary might be unfolding was the absence of the usual dominant WLQV on 1500 AM, replaced instead by WFED, heard loud and clear after 2100 UTC. This developed into an exceptionally productive opening toward West Virginia and surrounding areas, unimpeded by the usual suspects further north in New England and the Great Lakes blocking frequencies.

The narrow opening to the Great Smoky Mountains was strongest from around 2145 UTC and delivered a motherload of true rarities. Here's what Jaguar's J-index (JIX) and AM frequency spectrum looked like during this night. The arrow points to a oval (darkened for clarity) which marks the timing of this narrow opening:



It helps to be a Jaguar user to interpret this, but to summarize, Y-axis shows the time in UTC. X-axis includes a vertical display for each channel from 530 kHz to 1700 kHz at 10 kHz intervals. Black/blue indicate no audible signal, green denotes a carrier wave or a very weak audible signal, while yellow and red would be a stronger signal. The red line on the left indicates the amount of frequencies occupied by stations. The further right it extends from the y-axis, the more stations are audible at any given time.

Even though on the Jaguar display signals appeared to be stronger a couple of hours later, the direction of the opening and the selection of stations had already returned to normal, which hardly offers anything new if you've already collected 2,000 verified stations from North America. I messaged to Hannu Tikkanen in Lemmenjoki that the beginning of the night was simply fabulous, but he wasn't convinced. Maybe this opening was much less impressive in Lemmenjoki.

Here is a chronological animation illustrating the progression of the Appalachian opening — or more narrowly the Smoky Mountains opening — using the Jaguar map as a backdrop. The animation showcases the southwestward movement of the sunset line and highlights all the personally new 18 stations that I identified within 26 minutes, including 17 of them within the most intense quarter-hour. Nearly all of these stations became audible well before local sunset. The final frame depicts the locations of all the new stations combined, neatly concentrated around the Great Smoky Mountains, with many still in daylight when this propagation path closed just past 2200 UTC. To replay the animation, refresh your browser window.

The night's list of reported personally new stations is unprecedented for such a short time frame. Never before during my 43 years in the hobby has anything like this happened. Stations marked with a plus have never before been heard in Finland, and except for one (WQCH), probably not elsewhere in Europe either. Links in the station names open a verification sent to me by the station. They are PDF files opening in a separate browser window.

A closeup of how ice gradually expands.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

The lingering traces of this opening to the Great Smoky Mountains persisted even beyond midnight UTC on Sunday. This particular opening, confined to the Southern Appalachian Highlands, stood out as the highlight of the DXpedition. However, strong solar activity had its impact later in the night, particularly in the morning. Significantly, North American signals predominantly dissipated after 0800 UTC, preceding sunrise. It was still possible to identify for instance WJMK 1250, KROX 1260, WWWI 1270, KPRK 1340, KDLM 1340, WCCY 1400, WKNW 1400, and WATW 1400 AM.

In the afternoon I paid a visit to a neighbor and returned to see Japanese stations booming. This continued for hours. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to spot new ones without NHK local ID breaks. The opening persisted until the NHK2 closing time of 1600 UTC. In addition to two personally interesting catches, other NHK stations identified at that time included 1125 JOLC Tottori, 1467 JOID Oita, 1602 JOFD Fukushima, JOSB Kitakyushu and JOHC Kagoshima.

A Siberian tit aka grey-headed chickadee is the most common visitor at our feeding station.

Monday, November 27, 2023

Transatlantic signals appeared very slowly in the wee hours but improved steadily until collapsing around 0830 UTC. The strongest stations were from the Canadian Prairie, Minnesota, and the Dakotas, so there are hardly any surprises in my recordings. I identified, for instance, WMTR 12540, KGLB 1310, KDLM 1340, KQDJ 1400, WATW 1400, and WVTL 1570 AM.

I was working when Asian stations were heard, but after reviewing the recordings later, there wasn't much new. NHK2 stations closed down at 1440 UTC. Around 1400–1500 UTC Australian ABC stations emerged briefly on 1062, 1233 and 1431 AM, but I already have them verified. In the evening, Greek pirate stations seemed to occupy several frequencies on the AM dial. A couple of nice surprises from the east, however, including a new Chinese station solved by fellow DXer and China expert Chris Kadlec:

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Daybreak brought some common North American stations up for a while, but it didn't last long. Asian stations started popping up before 1100 UTC, but then retreated for a couple of hours later in the afternoon. I spent the day working, so I assessed reception conditions in detail much later. The outcome of my recordings turned out to be crappy, with nothing interesting from any direction.


Otsamo Fell as seen from Highway 4 when I was on my way up to Aihkiniemi.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

While trying to work, I hardly took any notes on this day. The morning and the afternoon didn't appear very impressive, and further scrutiny confirmed my suspicions. From Asia, it can be mentioned that DYRD on 1161 AM was logged at sign-off 1501 UTC, but this is of course not a rarity.

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Transatlantic signals were extremely slow to emerge, but when signals finally became reasonable at dawn, there were also stations from Colombia, Peru, and Puerto Rico in the mix. The emphasis remained on the East Coast relatively long before shifting to the Midwest. For the first and only time on this DXpedition, some midwestern stations lingered until past 1200 UTC, which made it possible to search for daytime-only stations using pre-sunrise power. Unfortunately, signal levels had fallen so low that only the most common dominants were still audible, such as WLCM 1390, WXNT 1430, and WCGO 1590 AM.

Focusing on work, I didn't really observe Asian stations except to note that the NHK2 closing time at 1440 UTC didn't reveal any rarities. Late in the evening, when stations in the Philippines began a new broadcast day, I was lucky to hear two personally new stations.

There are some sharp turns on Highway 4 at its highest point near Saariselkä.

Friday, December 1, 2023

Overnight was a disappointment, because theoretically this could have been the best night of the month to catch daytimer stations, but conditions just were not good enough. At least the morning peak at 0600–0700 UTC was pretty strong. The emphasis was even further north than normally, favoring stations from Ontario, Michigan, and New York. Graveyard channels produced better signals than before, although nearly all stations turned out to be familiar ones. For instance, the following stations were identified: KYFI 630, WFIR 960, WKHM 970, WSOO 1230, WOMT 1240, WTAX 1240, WENK 1240, WCBY 1240, WBBW 1240, WJIM 1240, WGDJ 1300, WKAN 1320, WNCO 1340, WAGN 1340, WWWL 1350, WOYK 1350, WGIL 1400, WWWS 1400, WMAN 1400, KFRU 1400, WRJN 1400, WSAM 1400, WNGL 1410, WLEC 1450, WIOE 1450, KMRY 1450, WMRN 1490, and WPAY 1520 AM.

After my workday, I visited Antti's brother Pekka and his wife in Partakko. Pekka is a talented fisherman, and this time of the year he uses nets under the ice. I was very grateful for a fresh trout fillet, which he gave, and which I froze for Christmas.

Later on, it was time for the last sauna, cleaning, and filling up all the water buckets. Late in the evening, Asian stations were pretty strong, including Thai stations before sunrise in Thailand.

Saturday, December 2, 2023

The day of departure. Transatlantic signals were quite weak overnight but began to improve a bit after 0600 UTC. Reception was decent around 0700–0800 UTC, and turned gradually downhill thereafter. I started to pack my DX gear but waited until 1000 UTC to pull the plug from the last receiver.

For example, these stations were identified: WLAK 1260, WSKO 1260, WMKT 1270, KGLB 1310, WQSC 1340, KVBR 1340, WOND 1400, WATW 1400, WKEI 1450, KATE 1450, and KGFK 1590 AM. The morning catch contained one especially neat station, which should not even have been on the air. I sent a reception report to Kentucky right away and received a friendly confirmation.

I had made a lot of preparations already on the previous evening, so hauling the last bags to the car was pretty quick. After cleaning the cabin, I was on my way south before 13.00 local time.


Joakim, Jari and Mika at Neste in Inari.

Driving conditions were again very nice, but daylight didn't last too long. At a Neste service station in Inari I met Jari Luoma and Joakim Weckström, who would be spending a week in Aihkiniemi after me. This was the first Lapland DXpedition for Joakim, and I'm convinced he will be overwhelmed by the vast amount of new stations he is going to hear.

The pizzas at the Rovaniemi railway station were pretty good – although Hannu's pizza wasn't the one he ordered.

Then I continued straight down to Rovaniemi without pit stops, and caught up with Hannu Tikkanen, who was taking the same train. After we loaded our cars, we enjoyed beer and pizza at Restaurant Alvari at the Rovaniemi railway station. My unsurprising choice was the "Rovaniemi" pizza based on smoked reindeer.

The train ride home was uneventful and quite relaxed. AIH178 was one of those DXpeditions when a positive outcome was already in the cards and not dependent only on the catches to be made during months of intensive scrutiny of SDR recordings.

This season I spent a total of four weeks in Aihkiniemi, and I have to say that reception conditions were a really positive surprise considering that we are almost at the peak of the solar cycle. I have much more recordings to dissect than I originally expected.

Here you can check out the full log of new stations in frequency order and the log listed by day and time (PDF).

Text and photos: Mika Mäkeläinen

Published on January 30, 2025

AIH178 DXpedition Log

AIH178 DXpedition Log by date and time (PDF)