August 9th marked the first test of the Nautel ND2000 transmitter on a temporary antenna. The test consisted of test tones.
August 24th marked the first broadcast of prerecorded audio content.
The transmitter is currently on a temporary antenna so our reach is only 150km (groundwave) at present. The proper antenna is yet to be moved and installed but this should take place in September before the winter season.
The Nautel ND2000 is currently running at 600W carrier and 750-800W peak modulation. The losses in the temporary antenna are huge! Further changes will mean more power at a later date. We are on the lookout for a Nautel ND4000 and it's ATU.
Audio enhancements are being carried out so we are still in a testing phase using prerecorded programming.
If you can help the station in any way it would be great to hear from you as we are also still in need of a MW and SW transmitter plus an Optimod audio processor.
A huge and grateful thanks for those of you who have supported the project, it has taken a long time to get to this point with many ups and downs along the way but we are there, after 32 years a new LW station from Finland is on air, albeit a small start.
The old beacon antenna was finally removed from it's original site and is now in pieces but the delays in taking down this big antenna has meant Winter is upon us and work has to stop. The weight of the antenna made it very difficult to move and erecting it requires help next year.
It has been decided to close the station down for the time being until next summer when the antenna is up and more equipment has been bought. An audio processor is still needed.
Whilst the station is off air it felt a good time to apply for a new LW frequency and that request has been accepted and is being submitted to the ITU. It will be a long wait to hear back but hopes are that Arctic can finally have a clear channel and get started properly. It's far better to start with a clear channel next year than carry on with a temporary antenna on a channel that has already a powerful transmitter that can even be heard here.
The project continues despite it's slow advance and all hopes are now with the ITU agreeing the new frequency.
We'll be back next year......
The weather in Northern Finland has been very wet delaying the antenna mast base construction. Work will be completed by the end of Autumn and the new antenna finally erected. The antenna base joint needed welding and that work was carried out and the top hat wire connections all cleaned up. Hopes are to extend the height of the antenna by adding a section.
Arctic is still awaiting a new frequency but what is urgently needed is a new oscillator board built to enable easy frequency change. If anyone has the knowledge to build one please get in touch. The crystals (2-4 MHz range) for the current board are just not available anywhere so flexible frequency change is impossible at the moment. The PLL boards originally used with these transmitters have also been impossible to find.
Finally a solution to the frequency change has been found with thanks to those involved. The parts will arrive soon and be fitted as an add-on to the original oscillator board. The groundwork has been done for the new antenna site and the mast base constructed. The original beacon antenna will be extended by another 5m making it 20m tall. This is far from ideal and way too short but a taller mast will hopefully be found later next year. Help to erect the antenna is not available so this may have to be put off until next summer.
Sadly Arctic still has no decision from Traficom about a new frequency despite doing all the communication to find out legally how we stand with broadcasting on a clear channel within the ITU rules. The decision is solely in the hands of Traficom and they have the authority to make this decision alone, yet a year later Arctic has no answer. It is frustrating and demoralizing as the sheer amount of time put into this project has been immense. Logos and jingles cannot be updated, nothing can move forward without a clear channel. Programme creators have left the project and overall confidence in the station ever starting has been lost.
The Arctic LW project will be put on hold as the stress and frustration of this blockage is taking it's toll. In the background work will continue with infrastructure and MW tests will be carried out for a partner station but the details will not be elaborated on until we have everything in place for this.
What Arctic is most in need of is advice from an RF engineer, somebody who can advise on ATU settings, audio improvements to the modulator board etc. Somebody who has a bit of time to discuss and talk through these things. Help has been available but on a sporadic email only basis which has been difficult to implement due to the limited knowledge here. If you would like to help get the station up and running please get in touch.
The antenna base has been built after the land was cleared. A new mast section was purchased that had to be mm perfect so it would fit in between the top hat section and lower pole. The new mast section needs guyline supports welded and bolt holes drilled to make sure the electrical connection to the top hat is good at all times. In total the antenna will be 21m high with a 10m top capacitance hat. Nowhere near what LW requires but the best that can be done at present.
A mini-PLL board solution has arrived and can be tested on new frequencies if Arctic gets the permission from Traficom.
Sadly that's it for this year as winter has arrived and the antenna could not be raised in time (no help available). Hopefully next summer the antenna will be raised and Arctic can start properly. One man alone in this project is in no way enough to complete it in a timely manner! It's been a slow project.
Arctic may test on 252 kHz using a 1.6km long wire this winter but range will be limited to about 300km with good receiving equipment. The power that actually gets out out from this antenna is very small although audio is good.
Update: Due to the amount of interest it has been decided to start test transmissions again on 252 kHz starting from November 14th (see details on the schedule page)
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