ZoomRock FM is a new station broadcasting with 730 Watts only on 1242 kHz from Turku, Finland. Despite the fact that the provisional loop antenna that I use at our temporary house is directed east/west, which is not optimal, I was able to receive this station in the first two weeks of April, identify a couple of songs and record an ID. Harri was so kind to reward my reception with a nice QSL.
The station shares the frequency with the 200 kW strong Radio Sultanate of Oman. But after 2h UTC that station (listed 24h) is either off air or fades out (I don’t know). Between 2h and 2:30 h UTC ZoomRock FM is audible.
Below a MP3 clip with the “bassy” ZoomRock FM station ID. Poor reception quality. If you want to hear a better recording, you can find one at Hugo Matten’s site.
I had a nice email conversation with Harri, the man behind ZoomRock FM. He told me that he received 130 reports, my report was the 2nd from The Netherlands. On the Facebook page Harri shows his equipment. A neat transmitter, but also an impressive antenna set up as he is apparently allowed to hook up his 2×58 m dipole to a commercial antenna tower.
It also turns out that Harri is an avid DX-er. Using two virtual SDRs he is trying to receive Transatlantic FM signals. Two YouTube videos show the locations and the stunning scenery:
- In Jurmo, SW Finland archipelago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMmuC5fW5OY&t=21s
- In Kilpisjärvi, Lappland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xeinfzM3Mg&t=8s
