Norway Norway - Arjen Kamphuis, 47, Dutch citizen, Bodø, 20 Aug 2018

[ZaZara]

Without saying anything about the witness from TV2's credibility and the conditions they have been observed (darkness, distance, football match on television with friends etc). The first observation is probably the one that causes the police to name a particular train departure. The next one at about 20:00, he walks towards the slipway, with his luggage (as the witness saw when he was heading away from the main railway stations in Rognan towards the center). At about 21:00, he witnessed him again without luggage going against the slipway.
According to the current timetable runs the last train Ronan-Fauske at 20: 30-20: 46

I cannot get over this. If AK wanted to make a last kayak trip on his last day in Bodø, why did he wait until 14.00 to check out of the hotel, and then wait another 3 hours to (possibly) catch a train and then start to unfold the kayak around six o'clock in the evening? With a chance that he might miss his train to Trondheim? And be cold and wet and no hotel room with a hot shower?

He had almost an entire day available and he waits until the last moment. If true, I'd say this is irrational behaviour and probably most unlike the Arjen his family and friends know.

 

[Lorrie]

Summary: The article questions if the radarstation at Fauske could be the place he went to. His friend Ancilla van de Leest thinks he would go there to get a selfie or something with the station in the background. She thinks it is a mystery to where the rest of the luggage is gone - why take it with him in the kayak? And the condition of the kayak isnt good.
It is also a bit about the speculations and teories on web - connection to Wikileaks, something criminal act done against him or he has been arrested. And then the pings in Indre Salten (not spesifict Fauske, but the area that covers Tussvika) and at Vikeså...

 

[Lorrie]

I cannot get over this. If AK wanted to make a last kayak trip on his last day in Bodø, why did he wait until 14.00 to check out of the hotel, and then wait another 3 hours to (possibly) catch a train and then start to unfold the kayak around six o'clock in the evening? With a chance that he might miss his train to Trondheim? And be cold and wet and no hotel room with a hot shower?

He had almost an entire day available and he waits until the last moment. If true, I'd say this is irrational behaviour and probably most unlike the Arjen his family and friends know.

Because the weather was bad earlier in the day and then got a little bit better? He probably had to pay extra at the hotel to stay longer according to Scandic Bodø hotel website...

 

[Cave]

Hi Cave!

Welcome to Websleuths!


A mobile signal may not necessarily be picked up by the nearest tower, is that correct?

Normally your phone would primarily be connected to the cell tower with the most strongest signal (that is: a cell tower that matches the carrier that you have selected... most phones would be on 'automatic selection of network/carrier' in order to find the closest tower where such a match with your choosen network/carrier is possible).

Without making things to technical, your phone can switch from one cell tower to another (technical term: 'hand off').
I'll try to explain the basics here (no geek or smart guys or nerd additions please, just trying to only explain the basics here in order to keep everybody happy and alive )

When you drive or walk there is a point in which a 'new' cell tower comes into sight and if you drive or walk closer to that new cell tower, there will be a point where both the old and new cell tower have equal strength.

Theoretically your phone could now switch (been handed off) to that new tower, but that would cause your phone to play a game of ping pong several seconds (or minutes) during the time that both signals are equal or somewhat equal in strength.
Why ping-pong? As soon as you phone switches to 'new' station, the 'old' station (the one your phone just came from) looks to your phone as being the next 'new' station, and because the strength matches (or perhaps fluctuates and is at some moments better then the one you are now on) your phone would jump to that 'old' station and this process would go on and on.
This process would theoretically go on for a certain time until one of the two cell towers is too weak to be considered a worthy 'alternative' for the cell tower that you are currently connected to.

In order to prevent that ping pong game from happening, the handoff process will normally only occur as soon as the signal strength of the new tower has reached a certain EXTRA amount of signal strength compared with your current connection to your 'old' station.
As soon as the the conditions for performing the handoff have been reached, the actual handoff takes place (that handoff process is too technical to describe here, but I'm happy to do some explaining if it is needed for the Arjen case, for now we'll just assume there is a technical process called 'hand off' ).

So to answer your question:
Normally you would always be connected to the cell tower that offers your phone the strongest signal, but as soon as you travel, there might be one or more 'new' cell towers that your phone could be handoff towards, but this will only take place if the new signal and conditions are reasonably better then your current connection.

So you could be walking around, having one of more 'better' or 'stronger' towers in sight, but your phone would only switch to those newer 'better' or 'strongers' towers if the threshold of the handoff point is reached.

Hope this helps to have insight of basic cell tower operation.

Cave

 

[Cave]

Summary: The article questions if the radarstation at Fauske could be the place he went to. His friend Ancilla van de Leest thinks he would go there to get a selfie or something with the station in the background. She thinks it is a mystery to where the rest of the luggage is gone - why take it with him in the kayak? And the condition of the kayak isnt good.
It is also a bit about the speculations and teories on web - connection to Wikileaks, something criminal act done against him or he has been arrested. And then the pings in Indre Salten (not spesifict Fauske, but the area that covers Tussvika) and at Vikeså...

Luckily i've said it earlier: Let's check the lockers

Cave

 

[Cave]

For local people: can you indeed make a selfie from Fauske trainstation with Fauske Station (the listening post) in the background?

If not, what possible locations would be to make such a selfie?

Cave

 

[worldwatcher]

If there was a key or lockercard in the bumpbag,the police has it in their possesion and you would assume that they checked it..

But just in case I did send an email
Dont really know if the own the lockers there

 

[worldwatcher]

Normally your phone would primarily be connected to the cell tower with the most strongest signal (that is: a cell tower that matches the carrier that you have selected... most phones would be on 'automatic selection of network/carrier' in order to find the closest tower where such a match with your choosen network/carrier is possible).

Without making things to technical, your phone can switch from one cell tower to another (technical term: 'hand off').
I'll try to explain the basics here (no geek or smart guys or nerd additions please, just trying to only explain the basics here in order to keep everybody happy and alive )

When you drive or walk there is a point in which a 'new' cell tower comes into sight and if you drive or walk closer to that new cell tower, there will be a point where both the old and new cell tower have equal strength.

Theoretically your phone could now switch (been handed off) to that new tower, but that would cause your phone to play a game of ping pong several seconds (or minutes) during the time that both signals are equal or somewhat equal in strength.
Why ping-pong? As soon as you phone switches to 'new' station, the 'old' station (the one your phone just came from) looks to your phone as being the next 'new' station, and because the strength matches (or perhaps fluctuates and is at some moments better then the one you are now on) your phone would jump to that 'old' station and this process would go on and on.
This process would theoretically go on for a certain time until one of the two cell towers is too weak to be considered a worthy 'alternative' for the cell tower that you are currently connected to.

In order to prevent that ping pong game from happening, the handoff process will normally only occur as soon as the signal strength of the new tower has reached a certain EXTRA amount of signal strength compared with your current connection to your 'old' station.
As soon as the the conditions for performing the handoff have been reached, the actual handoff takes place (that handoff process is too technical to describe here, but I'm happy to do some explaining if it is needed for the Arjen case, for now we'll just assume there is a technical process called 'hand off' ).

So to answer your question:
Normally you would always be connected to the cell tower that offers your phone the strongest signal, but as soon as you travel, there might be one or more 'new' cell towers that your phone could be handoff towards, but this will only take place if the new signal and conditions are reasonably better then your current connection.

So you could be walking around, having one of more 'better' or 'stronger' towers in sight, but your phone would only switch to those newer 'better' or 'strongers' towers if the threshold of the handoff point is reached.

Hope this helps to have insight of basic cell tower operation.

Cave

I understand this,thanks but also do remember saw it on ID (I think )'that even if you are closer to lets say tower A and that tower has a overload or a lot of phonepings your phone can switch to tower B in order to process that ping,who is futher away then towel A ?

 

[Stizzi]

Okay well all is confusing about AK disappearance...at the time the coastguard was searching and the post of the cargo ship was mentioned,I also looked at Gratis AIS-volgsysteem van marineverkeer - VesselFinder and wanted to find out if the voyage of the Beautrophy could be tracked to see if it matched the timeline..but it also seems you have to pay for that.
And without knowing for sure if this was the right vessel..(by previous post here) it looked very doubtful to me...

I used the Norwegian "kystinfo" service in this case. Adjust the yellow line in the calendar at the bottom with the date and time and adjust the playback speed of the arrow at the edge of the same box. I have to go through the route again, as I will measure the distance on the long stretch where they sail at low speed around southern Norway, seen in relation to the high speed through the narrower fjords in Norway and Germany. I also think the AIS data seems unstable (partly off-grid), but I'm not used to using a ship tracker.

kart.kystverket.no

 

[Lorrie]

For local people: can you indeed make a selfie from Fauske trainstation with Fauske Station (the listening post) in the background?

If not, what possible locations would be to make such a selfie?

Cave

Nope, it is easier to go from Rognan to the radarstation than from Fauske.. You cant see the radarstation from Fauske railway station at all.. And from the centre it is on the other side of the fjord... You can see the domes from the Fauske area, but you are nowhere near it....

 

[ZaZara]

Because the weather was bad earlier in the day and then got a little bit better? He probably had to pay extra at the hotel to stay longer according to Scandic Bodø hotel website...

Could be the weather, but how reliable is the forecast?

If AK had travelled to Rognan ahead of the night train he planned to take, he had about 4 hours time to spare.

Walking from Rognan station to the shore takes half an hour. Getting the kayak ready takes 15 minutes. He would also have to fold it back again, another 15 minutes and return to the station, another half hour. His luggage was heavy, 15 kg if I remember well.

So he has 4 hours to spare and he needs at least 1.5 hours for transport to the shore and back. This leaves him with 2 hours of kayaking time, to be on the safe side. And for this he has been waiting an entire day.

If the weather turns bad when he arrives in Rognan, he is stuck for hours in a very small town.

Even if I take the weather into account, the planning is strange.

 

[Lorrie]

Could be the weather, but how reliable is the forecast?

If AK had travelled to Rognan ahead of the night train he planned to take, he had about 4 hours time to spare.

Walking from Rognan station to the shore takes half an hour. Getting the kayak ready takes 15 minutes. He would also have to fold it back again, another 15 minutes and return to the station, another half hour. His luggage was heavy, 15 kg if I remember well.

So he has 4 hours to spare and he needs at least 1.5 hours for transport to the shore and back. This leaves him with 2 hours of kayaking time, to be on the safe side. And for this he has been waiting an entire day.

If the weather turns bad when he arrives in Rognan, he is stuck for hours in a very small town.

Even if I take the weather into account, the planning is strange.

Yep, agree about that... I seems to remember the weather was not the best the days before either... Maybe it was the last chance?

 

[ZaZara]

Yep, agree about that... I seems to remember the weather was not the best the days before either... Maybe it was the last chance?

He must have been desperate. Or addicted. There are lots of places where you can go kayaking near his home town. Not as spectacular as the fjords of course, but there are lakes, canals and rivers where he might have gone. Beautiful places too. It is not like he depended on Norway to go kayaking.

 

[Lorrie]

He must have been desperate. Or addicted. There are lots of places where you can go kayaking near his home town. Not as spectacular as the fjords of course, but there are lakes, canals and rivers where he might have gone. Beautiful places too. It is not like he depended on Norway to go kayaking.

Yes, I wouldnt do kayaking in the fjord there, but I am not kayaking at all.. Seems much nicer in the pictures I have seen out in the archipilago north of Bodø than in the fjord.. Nowhere really to take a pause but private places.. So maybe the friend had right that he wanted to take a selfie close to the radarstation and as it is not easy to go there without at car so he choose the kayak to get there?

 

[Lorrie]

New information with more pings in Rogaland at the same time as the one in Vikeså: Nye mobilspor i Kamphuis-mysteriet

 

[Zoe1234]

New information with more pings in Rogaland at the same time as the one in Vikeså: Nye mobilspor i Kamphuis-mysteriet

That's interesting. I wish the police would put out a list of all the pings from the time he arrived in Norway.

 

[ZaZara]

Raymond Johansen‏ @RayJoha2

Raymond Johansen on Twitter




#FindArjen UPDATE An hour ago the police told a national TV show more about #ArjenKamphuis cellphones being turned on in Rogaland county. The two sim cards was registered at 3 cell phone towers. They cannot confirm whether the phones were moving or not. https://www.tv2.no/a/10100144/

#FindArjen cont. It is possible for a phone to be stationary and still ping all three towers. However all these towers are along the Europaveien, (E6). A highway road following the coast. The phone was turned on Aug 30th for 20 mins. No confirmed sightings of him in Rogaland.

CORRECTION: I misnamed the high way "Common to all the cell towers is that they are located along the E39. If you drive this route from Bråstein, through Vikeså, and stop at Ualand, it will take around 1 hour and 15 minutes to travel from the first to the last."


BBM


FINALLY something I can understand IMMEDIATELY. This one is EASY.

On August 20, the phone fell into the water. It was rescued, and put into a bag of rice. To dry. Ten days later, someone says: Let's see if that phone is dry at last. And tries to switch it on. And miracle, it works, but the battery is low so they have to load it in the car. There are at least two of them. One is driving. The other is busy with the phone and the simcard.

Riddle solved. All IMHO.

 

[ZaZara]

Another update from Raymond Johansen on twitter:

#FindArjen UPDATE In the last week several Twitter users have commented on the fact that the kayak shown in photos from the police shows it being in a bad state and that it would not have been sea worthy. The police did not want to comment on that to the TV show above. (!)

BBM

 

[Jaclin]

Luckily i've said it earlier: Let's check the lockers

Cave

I was just wondering if the rest of his luggage was found. It doesn't make a lot of sense to go kayaking on the same evening you're supposed to be taking a train out of town, and if he did get the itch to go out just one more time, he would have had to stash the rest of his luggage somewhere.

 

[Jaclin]

Could be the weather, but how reliable is the forecast?

If AK had travelled to Rognan ahead of the night train he planned to take, he had about 4 hours time to spare.

Walking from Rognan station to the shore takes half an hour. Getting the kayak ready takes 15 minutes. He would also have to fold it back again, another 15 minutes and return to the station, another half hour. His luggage was heavy, 15 kg if I remember well.

So he has 4 hours to spare and he needs at least 1.5 hours for transport to the shore and back. This leaves him with 2 hours of kayaking time, to be on the safe side. And for this he has been waiting an entire day.

If the weather turns bad when he arrives in Rognan, he is stuck for hours in a very small town.

Even if I take the weather into account, the planning is strange.

seems like the kind of thing I would plan to do before missing my train and getting stuck at the train station. would 2 hours be enough time to paddle out to this radarstation, take a selfie, and then paddle back?