Radio Story: Pekka from Kotka

My name is Pekka and I have been a radio enthusiast for over 50 years now.

I was born in the summer of 1964. I spent my early years dismantling all the radios in the house and “adjusting” them, trying to get foreign radio stations to sound better. Usually, it did not go well and daddy had to buy a new radio. That happened many times.

I remember as a little boy (around 10 years old), carrying a Sankyo radio-cassette recorder with me, and when the evening darkened, I tried to show and tell my friends how unbelievable it is that Radio Luxembourg plays rock music, and the station can be heard all the way here in Finland. I don’t remember anyone getting excited about it, which I didn’t understand at all.

So, I started the hobby of dx-listening as a young boy. First came listening to foreign service radio stations and sending reception reports to them. It already very early felt like hearing a new country was “the thing.” Gradually, on medium wave (MW), the Brits caught my interest and have been close to my heart ever since. North American radio seemed very difficult to hear in the early years, but slowly they accumulated too. There are also QSL treasures from the medium wave Afro stations – in a shoebox where I keep the QSL cards from the early years.

I stopped dxing for a little while (35 years!) when I went to study and work to a different town. Then suddenly I had got myself couple of kids and a lovely wife and years went by. We are still happily married but children are all grown up now and moved away from their childhood home. That is why I now have more spare time and I discovered radios and dxing again.

I love to build different kind of antennas and experiment with them. Today’s dx-listening is not just listening to radio but also fighting against radio frequency interference (RFI) and I am proud to say that I am highly skilled in that field by experience. I read and learn from the internet all kinds of things in that matter and I can’t wait to test something new.

Remotely controlled KiwiSDR receivers are also my passion. I have set up half a dozen of them for others to enjoy. It is a radio receiver that you can listen to via internet. You only need a computer with internet and a browser, no other software. In terms of education, I am an IT technician. It also helps.

Radio Delta has become my favorite radio station. I listen to it every Saturday and Sunday if I am not at work. Radio Delta has gathered voluminous and keen fan club with members all around the world. In Finland we have a Whats App -group with 34 members from which many listen to Radio Delta at weekends. We chat with Mr. Delta during the broadcast and send music requests to the studio. Many of them we can hear on Sunday’s “The Finnish Hour” which is exceptional and very unique radio program in the history of short wave radio.

From me to you, A Very Merry Christmas and A Prosperous New Year.

Pekka, Kotka from Finland.