The history of longwave radio in Finland
1927 Lahti
Finland's longwave station was built in 1927 on what is now called 'Radio Hill' in Lahti. Two 150m tall masts were constructed that held a Marconi T antenna. The station was inaugurated on 22 April 1928 running a Telefunken 25kW transmitter on 197 kHz. The following year the power was raised to 40kW and the station moved to 167 kHz.The station moved frequency in 1934 to 166 kHz. In 1935 a new building was built with a new Marconi 150kW transmitter. After the second world war the station changed it's frequency to 160 kHz. The transmitter was replaced in 1958 and ran 200kW. During it's early years the station had to change frequency several times but settled in on 254 kHz in 1950. In 1978 regulations came about to standardise 9 kHz channel spacing on the AM longwave band so later as with many other longwave stations YLE moved to it's final home of 252 kHz. On the 31st of May 1993 YLE ceased broadcasting on 252 kHz longwave and that was the end of longwave radio for Finland.
Lahti was not the only longwave radio station in Finland's history. By 1939 Kuopio was transmitting on 253 kHz with 1kW and Joensuu on 310 kHz also with 1kW although technically by today's designation it was 10 kHz outside the 'longwave' LF band.
Also in 1942 German troops founded 'Soldatensender Lappland' in Rovaniemi on 297 kHz with 20kW. It was said to be operating with 15kW during 1943.
The decline in longwave has continued with many countries citing the high costs of running this old technology. Today there are only six full-time broadcast radio stations on longwave being; Romania on 153 kHz, Morocco on 171 kHz, Iceland on 189 kHz, UK on 198 kHz, Poland on 225 kHz and Algeria on 252 kHz. Mongolia also broadcasts on a sporadic basis on 164, 209 and 227 kHz but is rarely heard in Europe. The former French station from Allouis on 162 kHz is now a time clock (a silent carrier can be heard on your radio). Iceland and the UK are due to close their longwave stations very soon but exact dates have not been given. Iceland plans to end it's last longwave transmitter during this year of 2024. The UK had planned to end the 198 kHz service but it keeps getting a reprieve, sadly though it's closure remains firmly on the BBC's cards. The BBC keep repeating the poor excuse of it's very old valve transmitter but since the closure of many European LW stations more efficient and modern transmitters are available at significantly reduced prices. One could argue the power saving alone would keep the BBC's LW service going for many more years.
Sadly since writing this Iceland has shut down it's last LW transmitter marking the end of another LW station. The reasons cited were that the FM network has been upgraded and now covers a larger area and also the decline of LW in car radios. The auto manufacturers are largely to blame for the decline in LW due to their endless profit chasing and reluctance to invest in radio noise suppression for AM radio in cars.
As we start small we realise this historic step towards reversing the decline. Longwave radio has great reach and can be heard many km away so we feel its relevance in the Arctic area. The return of longwave radio to Finland after 31 years is a historic moment so join us in this new venture as we begin very soon....
The future ... --- ...
As far as longwave broadcasts go it's now left mostly in the hands of private individuals and organisations as the running costs are very high for these powerful transmitters, it is not considered viable to keep these as FM and internet based radio are considerably cheaper and more cost effective. Even MW AM radio has all but disappeared from many countries.
We hope to increase our reach with a more powerful transmitter and better antenna. Along with this we plan to include other languages as we really hope to keep alive the heritage of longwave broadcasting and make it work in this modern world. It's said that there are still millions of radios capable of receiving LW and even today new radios are being built with LW still present.