You know that 1420 WBSM is your Townsquare on the air here in New Bedford and all throughout the SouthCoast, but through the internet and our WBSM app, we reach a global audience.

But sometimes, even our AM radio waves can reach out to others around the world. Recently, we received an email from an excited listener in Finland!

Though it's not the first time this has happened, we are equally enthused to hear from our listeners, whether on the SouthCoast or anywhere around the globe.

Here's how the letter read:

Greetings from your listener in Finland!

Thank you for a very special listening experience. I was surprised to briefly hear what I think was WBSM 1420 here in Finland on the 2nd of February 2018. At the top of an hour 9.00 PM EST I was hearing station
identification: "New Bedford's News Talk... Newstalk 14-20 WBSM...bringing worldwide ...on WBSM and WBSM.com" and ABC News. I have made an audio file for you to listen (1420WBSM.mp3). If the station is WBSM 1420, I would be grateful if you could confirm my reception. It was great to hear your signal so far away and I hope the recording is of interest.

My name is Jouni Keskinen. I am 44 years old living in Pirkkala, south west Finland. I am working as IT-instructor and web master at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Tampere. My favourite hobby is listening to foreign radio stations (DX-listening).

As you may know, DX-listener is a person who tries to catch radio stations from far away countries and sends reception reports to the stations which he has heard. Personally I have verifications from over
150 different countries and about 1200 different stations. Now I would like to add the verification of your station to my collections.

When I have free time, I like to spend it listening foreign radio stations in a small cottage only a couple of miles away from the Tampere city centre. In our listening cottage we have many antennas pointing to different directions. Because of long antennas, long Finnish winter nights and good atmospheric conditions I was able to receive your station. The receiver I used was a Perseus SDR communications receiver.

I received your station as follows:
Date and time of reception: 2nd of February 2018 at 9.00 PM EST.
Frequency: 1420 AM

On the attached audio file (1420WBSM.mp3) I have recorded WBSM station identification: "New Bedford's News Talk... Newstalk 14-20 WBSM...bringing worldwide ...on WBSM and WBSM.com." Because of the long distance there is a lot of static and the signal strength is weak, so I recommend using headphones.

My home town Pirkkala is a small county (population about 18000) next to the city of Tampere which is the second biggest city in Finland. My place is situated in South West Finland some 200 kilometers from the capital city Helsinki. Here in Tampere area we have a local radio listeners club, The DX-Club of Tampere. We have some 30 active members, regular meetings and our own listening cottage by side of Lake Näsijärvi. We also publish our own 'Kantoaalto' (Carrier Wave) -magazine. As the editor of our magazine I would be glad to write some words of your station too!

This was the first time I heard your station. I am very interested to know more about your radio station. I would be very grateful if you could answer this letter and verify that I heard your station. It would be great to receive your verification letter, QSL-card or e-mail. Thank you very much in advance.

All the best to the whole staff of your station! I am looking forward to your reply in the near future.

With the best wishes,

Jouni Keskinen
jouni.keskinen@gmail.com

Maybe some of you out there would like to become electronic pen pals with Jouni in Finland. If so, drop him a line!

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