top of page
Search

A quick question from a WLPK 1580 listener

Finland on the Map
Finland on the Map

The letters below were sent to the owner of Whitewater Broadcasting in March 2025. It is truly amazing that our radio station has been listened to in Finland!


LETTER #1

Dear Mr Rodgers,

 

I’m happy to inform you about the long distance reception of your 1580 AM broadcast here in the northernmost corner of Europe – with a radio receiver and an outdoor aerial, not through internet. It was a truly exciting experience to pick up your broadcast signal several thousands miles away on the radio waves instead of the internet stream. I’m kind of a radio amateur with a passion to listen to the distant radio stations at night on the AM-band with my receiving equipment. 

 

Some time ago I sent a message to you with the information about this extraordinary signal propagation, but I can only imagine the amount of correspondence you receive, and it might be a challenge to reply to all of them. I hope you’d find a brief moment to read this information and to reply shortly. 

 

I've been using Eastern Standard Time in my report instead of Daylight time, I wasn't sure, when EDT commenced this year in USA.

 

I’d be delighted to hear that this message has been received at your end, thus indeed just a short reply would be highly appreciated! Looking forward to your reply and comments, thank you also for taking your time for this public relations correspondence.

 

Best regards,

Hannu Tikkanen

Espoo, Finland


LETTER #2

 Dear Mr Rodgers,

Hello from the northern latitudes! This might be the most surprising news of the day – it is


my great pleasure to inform you that your 1580 AM station signal was received on a radio here in Finland, Northern Europe! This was a genuine reception through air waves, with the transmitted signal bouncing back from the upper layers of atmosphere down to my receiver and an outdoor copper wire aerial. I’m an old timer radio enthusiast, kind of a radio amateur, and my favorite pastime is to listen to the distant stations on the AM band at night. It’s a lot of fun trying to identify the signals rather than tuning into web streams, as odd as it may sound!


I was amazed to pick up your station, so I’m enclosing an audio clip with the identification I heard to show the reception quality. Please use headphones, when you listen to the audio, from the loudspeakers it’s always a bit hard to hear the content.

There’s one crucial question for which I’d love to receive your response. Was it really your station I heard? The reply to this question would be highly appreciated! A simple “yes, it was us” would be excellent! I believe I was correct in my assumption based on the announcement, but I’d like to be sure.


The reception took place on 1580 kHz, March 12th 2025 at 6.10.-6.25 hrs Eastern Standard Time PM with music programming. Rapidly the signal vanished after this 15-minute reception. The following identification is included in the audio clip:

6.21  music ended, and the identification followed:


           “...If you’ve been sleeping...From your home for the best music of the 80s, 90s and more – the Mix, 106.9…”



Thank you very much for the programming, it was a pleasure to tune in! I only wish the reception had lasted longer. I’m also enclosing pictures of my equipment and the aerial; I hope the material gives more background about how your station could be heard on the other side of the globe. In one of the pictures a three-thousand-feet copper wire aerial runs in the forest from tree to tree some 12 feet above the ground. This antenna effectively picks even the weak radio waves over huge distances, just like yours!

A few words about me, Sales Development Director, 65, just retired on New Year after 40-year service in a fast-moving consumer goods business company. The company I was working for uses radio advertising a lot, so my work had a link into broadcasting activities too. I didn’t personally buy air time but I was responsible for this media budget and followed the results closely.

  

Thank you for taking your time for this correspondence! Looking forward to your reply and comments, I remain,

 

Cordially yours

Hannu Tikkanen,

Espoo, Finland


Below is a pdf file of a note that was also sent to let us know about the area of Findland and the listener.



 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page