LÅ164 DXpedition Report
January 7-9th 1999
by Mika Mäkeläinen
This DXpedition was different
from the others in many respects; it was short (just
two days), the target was narrow (only stations
from the United Kingdom) and the location was different.
The participants were Mika
Mäkeläinen and Jim
Solatie. Jim is a pro in DXing UK stations,
and he only had a few stations left to catch, while
Mika had not done much serious DXing of the UK.
Långåminne
is located in Maalahti, south of the town of Vaasa,
near the west coast of Finland. It's a five-hour
drive from the capital Helsinki. This is one of
the few areas in Finland, where most people speak
Swedish as their native tongue. DXers in the area
of Vaasa have long used a small cabin in a Långåminne
camping area as their base. In winter the camping
area is otherwise deserted and is free of any interference.
The westerly location of Långåminne
makes it an ideal location for catching stations
from the Western hemisphere, especially UK, Spain
and Latin America.
Albeit short, the DXpedition
was a success. Jim got what he wanted, a 1-watt
hospital radio on 1575 kHz, and Mika logged about
20 UK stations which were new to him. Conditions
on Friday, January 8th, were pretty neat, as UK
stations came booming throughout the day and not
just in the morning as usually. Here's the complete
LÅ164 DXpedition log - and for more on the
DXing hardware, check out our equipment.
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