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 Previous: Surfin': Finding Ham Radio in Popular Culture |  Next: Going Back in Time |
By Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF
July 22, 2006
Of all the beautiful countries in the world, Sweden ranks near the top of anyone's list. Combine such beauty with Amateur Radio, and you get a winning combination.
 One of the most active clubs in Stockholm province -- SL0ZG (contest call sign SL0W) in Norrtälje. Leif SM0AJU (left), discusses some log entries with club members and visitors. [Photos by Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF] |
 Left, Kamal, 4S7AB "portable SM0," tries to get in touch with friends at home in Sri Lanka, while Ramon, XE1KK (right), from Mexico dropped in to the same club near Stockholm to talk to Central America on 20 meters. |
 Leif, SM5KNV, lives near Nyköping (south of Stockholm) and is a member of the local club SK5BE. |
 Leif, SM5CEU, upon retirement moved out of town and has a nice antenna farm now. He is a successful DX hunter and a very skillful contest operator. |
 Leif SM5CEU, left, thanks Östen, SM5DQC, for checking his QSL cards for DXCC. Östen is one of two DXCC Field Checkers in Sweden. |
 Leif, SM0AJU, points to his DXCC Challenge plaque on the wall for Denny, KX7M, a vistor from California who was on his way to Market Reef, a small rock in the Baltic Sea that is part Swedish and part Finnish. |
The legal aspects of the Amateur Radio Service in Sweden have been revolutionized in the past two years. In April 2004, the Morse code requirement for HF access was removed and the privileges equalized for all. Six months later, on October 1, the term "Amateur Radio License" disappeared from the vocabulary of the Post och Telestyrelsen (PTS), the Swedish equivalent of the FCC. The PTS ceded all procedures and handling of applications for Amateur Radio call signs to the national society, Sveriges Sändareamatörer (Amateur Radio Transmitting Operators of Sweden), abbreviated SSA. The society, a member of the IARU, was founded in 1925, and has approximately 5500 members today. The society's Web site is in Swedish and contains all necessary information; the English language information is brief and not always correct or up to date.
Swedish Call Signs
An SSA-conducted proficiency test and an eligibility screening are compulsory, but the requirements are uncomplicated. These can be, reluctantly though, handled by the PTS office at a much higher cost than the $50 that the SSA charges new applicants. The new call signs will have a prefix of SA, a district figure from 0 to 9 and three letters for individuals, or 2 letters for club stations. As of this date, all new and previously issued call signs are valid for life.
In 1999, the SSA was granted the right to be in charge of special-event and short call signs for contesting purposes. Today there are hundreds of such call signs assigned with assorted prefixes, ranging from 7S through SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, SF, SG, SH, SI, SJ, SK, SL, SM to 8S. The scheme creates a slight mess, but generates some income for SSA in the way of a $20 annual fee levied for each such call sign. The confusion is produced by two things -- one person can be entitled to use a few different call signs simultaneously, and the same call sign can be used by someone else after two years, if payment is not up to date. I personally find it confusing to not be able to immediately associate a person, a face or a name with a call sign any more.
A few examples -- the call signs 7S0A, SA6A, SI6A, SJ6A, 7S6A and 7S6J are assigned to the same person, who also holds a regular SM call sign. Another person has bought 7S0K, SA0K, SE0K, SF0K and SM0C to be used along with the original three-letter SM call sign. One of these call signs was used by someone else a few years ago. Fortunately, these short call signs are not on the air too often, so the confusion is not extreme.
Historical Amateur Radio
One of these short call signs is not causing any confusion. The call sign SA6Q is used by a group of hams from Sweden's west coast. They look after the historical radio telegraph station in Grimeton with the assigned call letters SAQ. The station was completed in 1924 and transmitted on VLF across the Atlantic for decades. Initially, two identical 200 kW electromechanical generators produced carrier wave on 17.200 kHz, remote-keyed from Gothenburg and later from Stockholm. Today, only one generator is intact and amazingly still in use. The station is only operated a few times per year, and the dates of activity are announced well in advance. Alexanderson Day was celebrated on July 2, 2006, at Grimeton. Ernst Alexanderson was the Swedish inventor who designed these 50-ton generators over 80 years ago.
Another Swedish inventor, as well as a QEX author, Leif Åsbrink, became a ham radio operator at the age of 16 in the early 1960s and is still both active and respected world wide as SM5BSZ. Leif became interested in the VHF bands before there was hardly any commercial equipment available for amateur use. He later discovered the advantages of putting computers to work on radio frequencies, and today he is doing extremely advanced work in digital signal processing, measurements and design. SM5BSZ is one of a few moonbouncers in Sweden who I have visited; his antennas are small, but optimized to the edge. Leif is extremely patient and helpful, assisting experimenting hams with advice and a solid knowledge of physics.
Sweden Leading the Way
 Christer, SM5IOT, lives in downtown Stockholm, but has an impressive EME antenna farm up in the country. Here he gets ready for a Sunday barbecue. |
In general, the level of technical knowledge is high among Swedish hams. There are industrial traditions here, and telecommunications has been an important sphere of the country's economy during the past century. An extensive and excellent collection of vintage telecommunication equipment is gathered at the Telemuseum of Stockholm. Unfortunately, the museum closed a couple of years ago due to lack of funds, but the Amateur Radio station SK0TM, for decades a part of the exposition, was moved to the Science Museum in August 2004; it is open to the public. This station, manned by volunteer operators in Stockholm, recently gained the 5BDXCC award from the ARRL.
The number of Swedish operators who have qualified for different DXCC awards is huge -- it could be the highest in the world, per capita. The number of issued call signs is over 12,000. The highest activity is from the countryside, in spite of larger population figures in the metropolitan areas, as outdoor antenna is often banned in urban neighborhoods.
The VHF and UHF bands attract many users. The weekly Nordic Activity Contests above 30 MHz draw well over 100 participants from Sweden alone. HF contests are less popular, and the least popular of them all is the IARU HF Championship in July. The reason is summers are short and very intense here -- everyone wants to be outdoors. The propagation, due to the sunlit nights, is not favorable and most people are away from home during the summer holidays.
In spite of this, the SSA headquarters station, SK9HQ, sometimes operates this contest. The figure 9 in the call sign indicates an extraordinary station -- other such stations with the figure 9 in their call sign are SJ9WL on the Swedish-Norwegian border, SI9AM devoted to the King of Thailand, and 8S9M, used on the Swedish part of Market Reef, better known as OJ0. The figure 8 in call signs is usually issued to those stations located on ships and boats outside of Swedish territorial waters. The large island in the Baltic Sea, Gotland, has a figure 1 in the prefix; the activity from here is higher in the summer, thanks to vacationers. You can see the call sign distribution in Sweden on this map.
Strong and Growing
The average age of hams in Sweden is on the rise, but there is a steady stream of young people who are attracted to Amateur Radio. Recruiting new members has been one of major issues in the recent years for the SSA, along with fighting BPL and simplifying licensing formalities. It seems that the organization has done well, and Amateur Radio in Sweden looks to be in good shape, of good standard and growing stronger. Easing the requirements has not degraded the overall quality of skills of Swedish Amateur Radio operators.
Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF, lives in Sweden, but was born in Poland. He was licensed there as SP5AHL, but upon leaving in 1975 for Sweden, he obtained his current call sign. He also holds Amateur Extra class license K6JHF.
Seldom active in Sweden, Henryk enjoys operating from rare places, such as the Aland Islands. While
he used to build his own equipment, today he focuses mainly on antennas. Henryk
enjoys the social side of Amateur Radio -- traveling, meeting other hams and the
studying impact of radio on society.
| Previous: Surfin': Finding Ham Radio in Popular Culture | Next: Going Back in Time |
