“Nothing happens
unless first a dream”.
(Carl Sandburg)
By
Trevor Twyman
This is the brief history of the founding
of an amateur commercial radio station
Scandinavian Weekend Radio (SWR). Starting with
the original concept idea of the station to the
success of making the first broadcast. Plus
reality of the ongoing running of a radio station
between the years 2000 to 2006. The events
recorded here are an attempt to record the
history and development of the station.
The idea and birth of
Scandinavian Weekend Radio (SWR) was the brain
child of a group of 9 radio hobbyists which
between them had many years experience in
DX-listening, ham radio, and free radio,
electrician and scanner radio. Who decided to set
a challenge of forming an association with the
objective to build and run a new short wave radio
station? The Association behind Scandinavian
Weekend Radio (SWR) is "Vaihtoehtoisen
radiotoiminnan tukiyhdistys ry" or in
English the "Association of supporting
alternative broadcasting" Some of the
original founder members are still actively
involved with the development of the radio
station and still continue to broadcast from the
station on a regular basis.
The association was founded in December 1999 and
in only ten months the founding group members
planned and built the radio station which became
known as "Scandinavian Weekend Radio"
and is Scandinavia's first private shortwave
station. In that time they raised funds, filled
out the licence forms, built up the transmitter
devices and the studio complex. The location for
the station was an old disused chicken farm at
Liedenpohja on route 66 just north of Virrat in
Western Finland (N 62°23' E 23°37'). SWR is
Scandinavia's first private purpose built
shortwave radio station. Pictures of the original
building work can be found in the photo gallery
for the year 2000 on the main SWR website.
The original founding members of SWR where Dj Tex
Willer, Dj Haka, Dj Frank, Dj Radiojack, Dr Turo,
Dj Laso, Tech Esa, Janitor Pasi, Webmaster V-V
(Ville-Veikko), a new member Dj Madman joined the
group at the end of 2000.
2000
The year 2000 proved to be a
momentous year for everybody involved with SWR,
apart from the building work for the studio and
sleeping accommodation which was necessary as the
members come from various parts of Finland. There
was the main problem of building a transmitter
and getting it through the testing and approval
with the Finnish Authorities. The design and
building of the transmitter was carried out by
Esa Saunamaki. Approval was granted in June 2000
and with the main antenna mast now in place
everything was ready for the first transmission
which would take place in July 2000. In July SWR
took to the airwaves for its first ever show
which hosted by DJ Tex Willer on the 25m band
using by 50 watts of power and the station
continued to broadcast on the first Saturday of
the month for the rest of the year.
The schedule for the first historic transmission
is listed below:-
Schedules: Timetable for the 1st transmission:
01.07.2000
(SKA-Finnish Summer Time)
00 Nyt se alkaa - It starts now, Tex Willer
01 Frank & Jack Show
02 Radio related songs by V-V
03 HÄKÄShow TechoHour by Dj Häkä
04 Lasol Show by Dj Lasol
05 Frank & Jack Show
06 Continental Night Shift by RadioJack
07 History Of Finnish Radio part 1 by Tex Willer
08 Lasol Show by Dj Lasol
09 Demotorio by Dj Frank
10 Virrat tänään - Virrat Today by Dj Häkä
11 Soundcheck & Hottentotti by Frank
12 Rockin'Rhythm Show by Tex Willer
13 Hevitunti by Dj V-V
14 Hottentotti by Dj Frank
15 Ekoratio by Rariojaska
16 HÄKÄShow VinylMania by Dj Häkä
17 Lasol Show by Dj Lasol
18 Lasol & Turo Show
19 History Of Finnish Radio part 2 by Tex Willer
20 Turo Show & Ekoratio
21 HÄKÄShow SoulTrain by Dj Häkä
22 Radio Top 20 by Tex Willer & Dj Kirsi
23 Radio Top 20 by Tex Willer & Dj Kirsi
2001
The arrival of 2001 saw more
technical changes as in June of that year the
station went live on the 48m waveband for the
first time and powered by 100watts. This meant
that the station was now broadcasting on both the
25m & 48m wave bands simultaneously plus June
was the 1st birthday of SWR. In August of this
year and at its annual conference the Finnish DX
Association awarded SWR a Diploma as station of
the year in recognition of the achievements of
the station and its contribution to the short
wave radio community. Also in this year SWR
received and verified its first QSL reception
report from the USA. Work on the buildings
continued with the renovation of the old sauna a
must in Finland. DJ Haka introduced a current
affairs programme called Virrat today which meant
that the station was not only playing music. The
year ended with a Christmas Special broadcast on
Christmas Day yet another first for SWR.
2002
The new year of 2002 opened
quietly but this was not to be the case for long
as there is always something going on when the
SWR crew around. The crew engaged in some tree
felling around the studio at which a poor old
tractor got hit fortunately not the antenna
masts. The station also staged a live music jam
and broadcast it from the front terrace of the
station "SWRFest" featured
"Humantush" and some menders of the
station crew. The station also took part in
August in an EDXC Special broadcast in
co-operation with FDXA at which Esa Saunamaki and
DJ TrickyTrev gave a presentation on SWR. By far
the most spectacular event of the year was in
August when DJ Miki dropped in by parachute to
host his show and the 48m transmitter celebrated
its first birthday in June. The year ended with
the traditional Christmas Day broadcast with
Father Christmas in attendance at the studio and
the introduction of yet another first for SWR
Wine and Cheese tasting on air!
2003
2003 proved to be yet another
busy year for SWR with lots going on in and
around the station. In April Goestea and
TrickyTrev manned an SWR stand at the local trade
fair held in the sports hall in Virrat. In June
the height of the 48m antenna was adjusted to
give wider transmission coverage and in August
the antenna had a close call as lighting stuck
tree very near the antenna. The summer season saw
the SWR open doors or "SWRfest" with
live music from a local group
"Relention" who are still going strong
and a group called Mental Hospital all of which
was broadcast live. After the August show the old
25m antenna was taken down as it was in need of
some repairs. Once again the year ended on a very
high note with the Christmas Day transmission and
the by now traditional wine and cheese tasting.
This bought to an end another successful year for
SWR judging by the number of QSL, SMS messages
and phone calls received by the station from all
over Europe. By the end of the year the 25m
transmitter had been increase to 100 watts as the
station increased it broadcasting range.
2004
The year 2004 would prove to yet
another busy year for the SWR crew as two major
projects would be under taken in the course of
the year. Firstly a new transmitter room would be
built in one of the out buildings and secondly
the launch of a medium wave transmitter on 1602
kHz. However, before this in February SWR
transmitted some live ambient music by the artist
"Sarana" once again this was a first
for SWR. Still in the spring with snow still on
the ground Radio Jack did an outside broadcast
from the front of the main building and at the
same time the height for 48m antenna was increase
again. With snow still on the ground the station
received a group of visitors from Jyvaskyla on a
day trip to SWR. In May SWR suffered a power
failure which took them of air for 20 minutes
before an emergency generator restored normal
service. RadioJack and Pasi continued work on the
new transmitter room throughout the summer. The
old 25m antenna was replaced with a new 3 element
one and on the 30th October SWR went live with is
new transmitter on the MW using 1602kHz powered
by 100 watts. This produced another first as this
now meant that SWR was now transmitting on three
different frequencies simultaneously yet another
in the long line of firsts for the SWR crew.
2005
As SWR entered 2005 the New year
brought some new faces to the station, firstly
radio mad DJ Janne he was followed by Dj's Jiri
& Jari who brought a different type of music
to SWR. Also later the work continued and was
completed on the new transmitter shed and all the
transmitters where moved out of the main studio
building into their new location. Work carried on
thought out the summer on laying the coax cable
for the MW antenna and building the antenna base.
The laying of the coaxial cable involved running
the cable from the transmitter shed underground
for about 250mts to a nearby field where the MW
antenna would be located. Perhaps the most
ambitious project by SWR was the hosting for the
first time of the FDXA's annual conference. It
takes place in August and was held in the local
town of Virrat and gave some members their first
chance to visit the SWR radio complex. At the
conference Esa Sauamaki received an award and the
members where entertained on the Saturday evening
by TrickTrev doing a one man show on "Brit
humour" The event appeared to have been well
received by the members and more people attended
than originally forecast. In the autumn the new
MW mast arrived at the station and was just
awaiting completion of the mounting base which
had been delayed due the amount of rain on the
location site. The rest of the year passed along
without any other major events taking place.
2006
The new year of 2006 brought even
more changes for SWR starting in February when a
large group of international students paid a
visit to SWR. Around about the same time a TV
crew for the local cable channel came and did a
report on SWR. April saw some more new faces in
the shape of two lady DJ's Waquera & Vikki
who took to the airways doing there own
programme. (Not an April fool) Also a very large
group in fact a big bus load of International
Students who where on a conference locally in
Virrat paid the station a visit, it would appear
that SWR in now on the tourist map. The final
work was completed on the new MW antenna base
over the summer and on 23.09.06 under clear blues
skies and a sunny day the new 40m high MW mast
was lifted into place. (See SWR photo gallery
2006/3) This was now the completion of the most
ambitious project carried out by SWR in its short
history. October saw more new faces at the
Station when the "Brits" DJ Martin
& Luke took to the air for a couple of hours
of music and British humour. In December the wine
jury consisting of DJ's Esa, Miki, Peeveli and
Pena-setä (Uncle Ben) reappeared to give it
verdict once again and round off another very
successful year for everybody associated with
SWR.
2007
The year 2007 started out quietly in January &
February with Esa & DJ Miki carrying some
much needed repairs to our some of our antenna
cables and making a new half wave gage dipole
aerial was completed in the time for the
broadcast. The March broadcast started out with
DJ Peeveli & Miki playing a board game live
on air. This proved to be a very busy broadcast
session as the station was invaded by the “Brits”as
Dj TrickyTev was again joined by Martin &
Luke but time they were joined by Laruel making a
total of four Brits in the studio at once which
once again produced hours of British houmor. In
March more improvements where made to the
technical side of the studio by the fitting of
new microphones. In June Radiojack created
another SWR first by hosting stag party live on
air. The start of the summer season saw us move
to out OB venue with DJ’s Miki & Peeveli
& Pena-setä broadcasting from the station
grill area. The summer also saw the arrival of a
motor bike club at the station and Peeveli been
tattooed live on air and yet another live wine
& cheese tasting. Once again SWR provided a
live studio for the summer FDXA meeting which was
held in Ylöjarvi and. Also the &Koskenkorvan radiohullut&
celebrated their 10th anniversary in
the SWR studios over the weekend. October
provided SWR with its biggest news story as a
local sports hall was set ablaze and SWR where
the first news outlet to report this incident
live. The incident was covered by Dj’s
TrickyTrev & Häkä and the photos are in the
gallery. A new "broadband" connection
to the SWR studios was completed and this lets us
do programming in remote studios. First user was
Madman near Polar Circle, Rovaniemi. Also we
increased the power of our 25mts & 1602 kHz
transmitters from 100-400 watts. The rest of the
year passed quietly with yet more wine &
cheese tasting on air in what had proved to be
another exciting and momentous year at SWR.
2008
As 2008 arrived nobody at SWR was sure what the New
Year would bring after the last momentous year.
It started at a gentle pace then exploded in
March when we had over 40 visiting International
students from 12 different countries who were
attending a local conference visit the station
all at the same time. In May we had two quest
presenters on air. Bart & Sander who were
Dutch students studying at the local college in
Virrat. Also a the summer approached the whole
studio area was cleaned up and our last analogue
TV set came to a fiery end & our OS broadcast
moved into the grill area where Pasi could be
seen grilling lots of nice things. This summer all
so saw us doing a Midnight sun broadcast to
coincide the Midsummer celebrations held in
Midsummer town of Virrat. The station also
provided the studio for the EDXL 2008 conference
which was held in the Hotel Silveria,
Vaasa and was run by DJ’s
Hakka & Madman. DJ TrickyTrev gave a
presentation in English on SWR and he also
provided some stand up comedy on a Brit living
and working in Finland. Towards the end of the
year DJ Mkki seemed to catch some bug called
Geocaching from which he seems to have recovered.
The year ended with our last couple of broadcasts
and we sat down to plan for the next year 2009.
2009
The year 2009 brought us some technical challenges in
particular damage to our 1602 KHz antenna which
lost its top section and having a live acoustic
session in the studio. The live acoustic was by
Dimitrios a visiting Greek student who gave us an
unplugged version of his music. On the same day
we had two more Dutch students Erik, Johan who
were on air with DJ TrickyTrev. All three of
which we managed to get to model our SWR
tee-shirts. In March SWR was subject of a program
presented by YLE Tampere Radio at breakfast show
6.3.2009. Where they interviewed our technician
Esa and dj Peeveli about the history of SWR. Once
again the Midnight sun radio took place and
was supported in the studio by our good friend
from Koskenorvan Radiohullut and we also celebrated our
9th birthday with the big one coming
next year. We were honored once again to provide
the live studio for the Summer FDXA meeting which
this year was held in Turku and representing SWR
Where DJ’s Häkä.; Madman & Pena-setä
(with very hot conditions).
This year for a change two young DJ’s used
our live studio to do their own shows live from
the conference center. On a sad note Dj Haka also
did a tribute show to the late Michael Jackson.
The year ended with SWR introducing the “Kitchen”
show was our attempt to do a live cookery show in
the studio kitchen yet another first for SWR. In
break with our normal practice this year we
decided not to do a Christmas broadcast this
decision was to have far reaching consequences
for us in 2010.
2010
The year 2010 started off very badly firstly once
again our medium wave antenna was damaged but
worse was to come as when arriving to fix it we
found the main studio building had suffered from
a burst frozen water metre which had flooded the whole
building. The result of this damage meant we had
to clear whole the studio building of everything so
that repairs could be carried out and this meant
that we were off air till April.(See the gallery)
The April broadcast went ahead in our new studio
complex although not everything was completed we
just wanted to be back on air. On the 3rd
June we threw open the station doors to celebrate
our 10th Birthday which was well
attended by over 30 visitors on a beautiful sunny
day. We had nice coffee and cake table for the locals and
other visitors. Despite a major setback we had made it to
10years and still going strong (who wants to live
forever). Having still some problems technically
and with studio it was decided that November
would be the last broadcast of the year to allow
time to fix these problems.
Finally
In compiling the history and story of this radio
station I have not mentioned all of the staff of
SWR if your name hasn’t been mentioned I
apologise no slight was intended. For the moment
the story is based on the photographs’ which
are on the website and covers the years 2000-9.
The station currently has 13 members and four
supporting members plus several programme
assistants all of whom have made this station the
great success that it is today. This success can
be seen by the number of QSL in the studio
by our good friend from requests received by the
station from all around the world. But also by
the amount phone calls and SMS messages received
by the station mainly from Europe. To some people
the risk was too much to contemplate running a
station where the DJ’s are free to do what
they want and not restricted by record company
play lists, the other material or politics. These
could be the things that has made the station so
successful and very entertaining listening.
The radio website can be found at www.swradio.net
Copyright © 2012 M T Twyman
Downloadable version (pdf)
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