Dialing up Classic Hits Radio from Finland

Both of our AM radio stations CJYM Rosetown and CFYM Kindersley can be heard all around West Central Saskatchewan; but do you believe that 1330 and 1210 can be picked up on radio dials as far away as Finland?

Graham Bell is a radio hobbyist who did just that, as part of a trip to northern Finland back in December for a hobby called "DX". Bell was pleasantly surprised when Classic Hits Radio appeared on his station at the Aihkiniemi radio base during the early morning hours of December 6th back here in Saskatchewan.

A picture of CJYM Rosetown 1330 spiking on Bell's radio dial (Photos via Graham Bell) 

This is not the first occasion that our signals have been encountered by someone like Bell, and it certainly won't be the last. He is one of many involved with the hobby that hunts for AM radio signals all around the world and then works to verify the source.

Originally from South Africa, Bell is a current Oxford, England resident who made a trip to the Finnish Lapland where the signal reception is immaculate. Individuals like Bell set up shop in the country's far north because it points to all directions on the compass complete with a setup of copper wires installed on 4 metre pole. Each antenna is 1000 metres long or more according to Bell, providing the directionality needed so that they can search for signals across different parts of the world.

From there the equipment records the whole AM spectrum at one time, and in Bell's case he just goes through the recordings at his own leisure to see any potential hits.

The two cabins. The one on the left is where the radios are setup, and the one on the right has a very Finnish feature in a sauna according to Bell! (Graham Bell)

The location also brings another key feature as Graham explained. There is a reason that natives to the region are DX fanatics.

"That's partly because where they live, there is a lot of darkness," said Bell, who shared the sun didn't actually rise above the horizon when he was there in December, "The one picture that I sent, the full moon is there all day, but the sun doesn't actually get up. You get a bit of light, but not any direct sunshine."

The full moon rose for a long time, but the sun didn't during the second week of December (Graham Bell)

"There is virtual, perpetual darkness. So there is always a signal to be heard somewhere in the world."

Bell shared that one hour you could be tuned in to Japan, and the next in Saskatchewan. DX can be done from all over, but the setup in northern Finland is where you get the best bang for your buck. That alone makes Aihkiniemi a truly magical place, "a place with nothing like it in the world" according to Bell.

"My wife thinks I'm a bit crazy, but she has gradually come to realize that it is pretty amazing that these signals travel these distances."

We haven't been the only ones crazy enough to check in with Bell. Not only did we interview him from across the pond, but our sister site at Discover Weyburn conducted a video interview earlier this year as well after he sought out the confirmation of CFSL AM1190.  

Bell uses logged conversations like the ones mentioned to help share and explain his hobby with people around his life. 

"The video that I made with Weyburn, and I've done some others, I send them out to family and friends and they see what it is all about. It is pretty amazing. It's not coming over a wire through an optic cable or anything like that, it's actually zooming through space so that makes it pretty exciting."

Transformer to connect the antenna to the switches in the cabin (Graham Bell)

Bell shared that he is only one of a few people from outside Finland to even visit Aihkiniemi, and he believes the locals have taken to him quite nicely. There are DX groups closer to home, but nobody like these guys.

"Ten of them own the property, and they are all local Finnish guys who are just there all the time in winter."  

Bell has been into the hobby for decades. He recalled one time he picked up a CBC station out of Iqaluit. While in Finland he picked up stations from New Zealand which is over 16,000 km away. While in South Africa he was able to pick up California stations which would be around the same distance away. Reaching the radio station out of West Central was a lesser feat, but still great for the hobby.

"The distance from Aihkiniemi to Rosetown is about 6,125 km almost exactly." 

Another amazing story saw Bell pick up reception from a station in Tonga shortly after a natural disaster, being one of the first people to listen in as Bell actually helped confirm the signal and let them know they were back online. Connecting with the real people behind the radio signal is a very important part of the hobby for Bell.

"It's really good of you guys to contact me and respond like this. I really appreciate it. It's good for the hobby, and good for the relationship between us DXers and yourselves."

There is so much more technical talk to go through when it comes to the hobby of DX, as working at a radio station, a majority of us working here don't even know how the waves work!

Bell will look to keep adding to his list of confirmed signals (with another trip to Aihkiniemi likely already being planned), and there is a good chance he connects with another Golden West Radio station. Listening to radio across the world is a good way to expose yourself to different culture.

One example? Bell loves the music featured on Classic Hits Radio. Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones was playing when he came across our station. That was a nice surprise, but another honest remark Bell had to make was on the fact that we have such interesting country music.

Bell is used to AM stations either featuring talk radio or music similar to Classic Hits, but was pleasantly surprised with the selections of Shania Twain and hopefully more.