Video: BBC Global News Podcast features Aihkiniemi DXing cabin in Lapland, northern Finland

Absolutely brilliant to see Mika Mäkeläinen giving a tour of the Aihkiniemi DXing cabin in Lapland this morning via the BBC World Service website:

(Source: BBC World Service)

The radio man listening to the world from the Arctic

Mika Mäkeläinen is a radio enthusiast who listens to stations from around the world in a remote corner of Lapland, 400km north of the Arctic Circle.

He and a group of fellow hobbyists have set up 14 wire antennas in the forest to capture weak signals from low-power stations, thousands of kilometres away. Mika explains why Lapland is a perfect place for listening to distant radio stations and how his hobby continues to inspire him 40 years after first discovering it as a child.

Video by Erika Benke

Click here to view on the BBC website.

If you’d like to see a proper detailed tour of the cabin (with DXers in mind), check out this video Mika made a couple years ago.

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13 thoughts on “Video: BBC Global News Podcast features Aihkiniemi DXing cabin in Lapland, northern Finland

  1. Mika Mäkeläinen

    Many thanks for your interest in Aihkiniemi and the BBC’s coverage on AM DXing! You can find all answers concerning Aihkiniemi in either this article http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aihkiniemi_dx_cabin_for_rent.dx or this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stlUxm3uSiA&ab_channel=MikaM%C3%A4kel%C3%A4inen

    You might also be interested in the latest DXpedition report from there, which I posted online just today: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aih163report.htm

    The BBC relay in Oman was actually heard on 1413 kHz, so it is indeed on the air on the AM band as well. However, such a high-power transmitter is a daily catch, and not considered a DX achievement up there, but naturally the BBC wanted to hear how to pick up BBC 🙂

    Reply
    1. mangosman

      Mika,
      I searched for the most up to date BBC WS program guide and they only mention the ones I listed. This is not the first time that I have found that because transmitters have been subcontracted to an external company, that some transmitters are missing from their list.

      Has All India Radio Digital Radio Mondiale been received and decoded in Lapland? Particularly Rajkot Western India, on 1071 kHz with a digital power of 870 kW. This pure DRM signal contains no carrier which can be between 67 -100 % of the transmitted power in AM. You will need a DRM receiver or some ICOM receivers have a 12 kHz output to be fed into the sound card of a computer for demodulation and decoding using software. There are 36 other DRM transmitters most of which are simulcasting with AM. https://www.drm.org/what-can-i-hear/broadcast-schedule-2/

      Is 0459-0600UTC BBC World Service 3955 kHz Daily English NW Europe target UK, Woofferton Tx site 100 kWRMS 114 Degrees Azimuth ?

      Reply
      1. Mika Mäkeläinen

        I haven’t decoded any AIR DRM transmissions, and I don’t know if anyone else has either. Of course they are audible, but they’re not really considered DX, since transmitter powers are massive. These transmitters are basically just nuisance, preventing the reception of more interesting stations on the same frequencies. Also, I don’t think anyone has checked BBC on 3955 kHz, because it can be heard so easily even with modest equipment. The azimuth map for Aihkiniemi can be found at http://www.dxing.info/images/map_finland_aihkiniemi_antennas_2021-11_750x750.jpg

        73
        Mika

        Reply
        1. mangosman

          https://youtu.be/kkD01FuXOsg is a DRM broadcast from Radio New Zealand International received in Spain which is a 19800 km path over the North Pole.
          16180 km path 45 degree Azimuth. from Lapland. ttps://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen I understand that these frequencies are outside of your antenna system but you might consider installing some rhombic antennas for coverage of the high frequency bands.

          Reply
  2. Jock Elliott

    That is so cool, I can hardly stand it!

    That wonderful short piece simply whet my appetite for more and raises a bunch of questions:

    – How did the cabin come to be?
    – How do you get to it?
    – Is there anything special that you do with the results?

    Mika, is there a website or other source where I could find additional information?

    And, on the flip side, it helps me to understand the appeal of barefoot ultralight DXing.

    Cheers, Jock

    Reply
    1. Mika Mäkeläinen

      Hi Jock,

      Thanks for your comments! Some more specific replies to your questions:

      – How did the cabin come to be?

      The first established DXpedition location in Lapland was Lemmenjoki (http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/lemmenjoki.dx), However, it was busy – too busy for folks like me, who didn’t get enough opportunities to DX from there. And it wasn’t perfect. So a group of DXers wanted to take it a step further, and establish the perfect DX cabin. We found a good place, bought the property and built a modest cabin in 2010, and have been improving it ever since.

      – How do you get to it?

      Here’s how I get to it: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aih163report.htm. But any DXer can rent it, see more at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aihkiniemi_dx_cabin_for_rent.dx

      – Is there anything special that you do with the results?

      Many of us, including me, actively search for new AM stations from around the world, and send reception reports to the stations, so we still collect QSLs, and have quite large collections of them.

      Reply
  3. Paul Manoli ,KB1NCD (member RSGB)

    Interesting and informative. Excellent location for a listening station. Julian White (OH8STN) is also in Finland, north of Arctic circle.

    Reply
  4. Jerome van der Linden

    So jealous of that RFI free and electrically quiet listening location. I think man made noise is the one thing that may kill AM radio (MW & SW) listening.

    Reply
  5. mangosman

    What a great advertisement for DX reception hobby!
    I suspect that the reception of the BBC World Service Oman was actually high frequency (Short Wave) AM, rather than medium frequency (Medium Wave) AM?
    Merry Christmas from a hot Australia!

    Reply
    1. mangosman

      The Lapland site uses Beverage antennas which need to be 1 wavelength or longer. The Medium Frequency band has wavelength between 187 – 564 m. Note: Amplitude Modulation (AM) is used in the Medium Frequency (530 – 1601 kHz) and the High Frequency band 2.3 – 30 MHz. The same frequency bands can also carry Digital Radio Mondiale instead of AM giving excellent sound including stereo.

      Currently there is no BBC WS MF AM transmitters in Oman. East Africa service is transmitted in the High Frequency band from the United Arab Emirates or FM power is unknown.

      In remote Western Australia and in remote South Africa there is one square kilometre of antennas for the Ultra High Frequency and Super High Frequency bands as a radio telescope. https://www.industry.gov.au/science-technology-and-innovation/space-and-astronomy/ska-project-australia

      Location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Australian+SKA+Pathfinder+Telescope/@-26.6969812,116.5960444,11323m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x2bc2541a91ad5969:0xb88854399e851933!8m2!3d-26.6969812!4d116.6310633

      Reply
  6. Jack Dully

    Mika,thank you for your entertaining and informative video.Your location is outstanding and very cozy I figure, out of the winds and deep cold, yet right out of your windows you can see much and the critters that you share your space with.Ideal ! Fortunately a few times a year I rent a small cabin in the woods and the trees are my buddies for putting two 60′ dipoles up in them E & W and N & S with an isolator switch for listening.Like you said “You never know what you will tune into”.That is the great part,the mystery and fun of it all and I consider myself lucky for being able to do it.HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!!

    Reply

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