“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
Midsummer 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.
2011
The new year of 2011 would bring many changes
to SWR with a host of new people making their
radio debuts. Also due to maintenance
requirements a shortened broadcasting schedule.
The spring also saw some students from the PIRKO
College in Virrat joining us on air for the day.
In June we did a two day Midsummer broadcast with
various visiting DJ’s taking part. July saw
DJ Janne testing some new outside broadcast
equipment from the newly renovated grill area
& TrickyTrev was having a funny hat on air at
the same time & Haka bumped into a load of
German tourists visiting the local area. August
saw the annual SDXL-FDXA conference &
broadcast this year from Korpilahti. September
saw the launch our new Facebook pages under the
watchful eye of DJ TrickyTrev who hoped to
provide listeners with a more interactive way of
contacting our listeners. The October
broadcast was the last one of the year due to
urgent maintenance requirements, however we had
the pleasure of welcoming some new presenters
from the TAMK the local college the students
taking part where Lyydia , Paulina, and Hendrik
who would later became part of our dream team.
2012
The year 2012 may have proved to be the most
significant year for a few days due to the large
amount of new happens at the station. Firstly
over the Christmas break & ready for our
January broadcast the station had taken delivery
of & installed a hot tub much to the delight
of DJ Miki. February saw our Dream Team increase
from 3 to5 with the arrival of Lotta & Aapo.
In March we installed a new mixing console in the
main studio. The April broadcast saw a lot of
work on our 25mts mast in preparation of
installing a new FM mast. In the May broadcast
the Dream Team held the fort on air while we
installed the FM mast & made our first FM
transmission on 104.20 MHz. The June broadcast
once covered a lot of engineering work as we
replace the 2 element FM & upgraded it to a 4
elements giving increased coverage around Virrat.
In November all the decking around the hot tub
was completed& a team of new presenters four
in total broadcast for the first time. The team
of Tiia, Evelina, Aarne & Joni, where joined
for the December broadcast by Essi, Sini &
Eeva making 8 in total. Also at the same time a
film crew arrived to record a program for our
local cable TV channel which will be shown on the
13 March 2013.
2013
This year stared with our first broadcast
taking place in February the reason for no
January transmission was due to a large amount of
engineering work carried out in the shutdown
period. Our first transmission of the year saw us
launch our new FM transmitter on 94.9 MHz packing
a mighty 1Kw ERP and covering the whole of the
VIRRAT area. The honor of making the first FM
broadcast on the new frequency went to TrickyTrev
& the station also received a donation of 50
Cd's covering various styles of music. We also
had a studio visit from three Hungarian students
Hajnalka, Gabriella & Petra who were studying
in Virrat. In March we increased the power on our
FM transmitter and this in turn increased our
broadcasting area to 40-50 Kms from the studio.
On the same broadcast Esa also introduced his new
Golden Microphone & the news item on SWR was
aired on 12 March. In April we published some
pictures taken from the top of our 25Mts mast
& in May due to some technical difficulties
we had stop transmitting four hours earlier than
scheduled. June saw us with our regular &
Midsummer transmissions. In July as part of our
birthday celebrations we left the studio and made
a three hour outside broadcast from the
Rantaterassi in Virrat. Unfortunately out August
broadcast was cancelled due to lack of paper work
arriving from Helsinki. However we bounced back
in September with a live broadcast on a boat from
one of the local lakes. This broadcast was a
delayed celebration of Radio Caroline. October
saw us return to the studio where a retro theme
was taking in place with both DJ's Miki &
Radio Jack playing 33 & 45s. Some 78s played
also. In November we celebrated50 years of
Finnish radio by using a newly built Tube
amplifier & December saw Eesi & Tiia
return with information about the local TV cable
channel plus Milja making radio debut &
fulfilling one of her dreams.
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 apologize no slight was intended. For
the moment the story is based on the photographs’
which are on the website and covers the years
2000/13. The station currently has 13 members and
four supporting members plus several program
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 © 2013 M T Twyman
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