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DX Listener Reports for KVBR, Brainerd, MN, USA

I'm writing to you of a KVBR AM reception in northern Sweden. This night was really bad as there was a geomagnetic storm going on but suddenly KVBR had a boost! I've never heard Brainerd Business Radio 1340 KVBR before!  AM radio is full of surprises! 

Details: KVBR Brainerd MN,1340 AM, November 25,  2021, 9.59 - 10.01 PM  Central Standard Time.   9.59 pm   Weather "Thanksgiving weekend high of 31. Saturday snow and flurries. Down  to five in to the afternoon.  The latest weather forecast on 1340 KVBR."
 10.00 pm.  Station ID: "News, Information and 1340 KVBR Brainerd Business Radio, 95.1 FM W236DF. The national news is next."

                                        
I'm a 68 year old retired electronics engineer interested in AM radio and I've been active scanning the AM band for North American stations for 50 years with good equipment at good locations. My antenna is 3,000 ft wire pointing to the northwest at my summer house in Furuogrund, Sweden.
                                

Sincerely, Bo Olofsson, Kage, Sweden

 

 


Hello:  My name is Kimmo and I am 40 years old Elevator specialist living in Helsinki, Finland. One of my hobby is DX`ing. It means listening to foreign radio broadcasters, just like your station. Your station belong here in Scandinavia is very very rare. It requires special conditions of radio waves, antennas, and good luck!

In Aihkiniemi DX-Camp, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, here in Finland I had the pleasant opportunity of tuning in to your transmission.

I heard your station KVBR Brained on December 21, 2013, on the frequency of 1340 kHz at 1.00 AM your local time.  I heard  KVBR 13-40.

Although I know that your program are not aimed at the international public, I hope you might find it interesting to know that your broadcasts can occasionally be heard thousands of kilometers away.

In my photo, the shirt has the wrong flag, but from Scandinavia, however :-) 

Very best regards and all success also in the upcoming year 2014 with your truly nice station! 

Kimmo Vuorela
HELSINKI, FINLAND

Also see:  http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aihkiniemi_dx_cabin_for_rent.dx

 
Dear sir, my name is Tore Johnny (TJ) Braatveit, and I write to you from Norway.  I am very pleased to tell you that I heard KVBR on AM 1340 kHz, when the ionosphere allowed your signals to skip all the way to arctic Norway. I am a radio enthusiast who spend much time hunting for long distance radio signals on the AM band.  An important part of this hobby is to collect confirmations from the radio stations I have been able to pick up.

KVBR visited my radio in December 19, 2013, at 2 AM Central Time. 1340 kHz is often a quite difficult and challenging frequency, but also extremely interesting, due to all the radio stations that can be heard there. KVBR had a readable signal into arctic Norway, although it was not alone on the frequency. What I heard, was the end of a program reminder: "... Monday mornings at 7, on 13-40 KVBR." Then it was the signature for a news bulletin.

But, please let me introduce myself a little further. I am 49 years of age, and I work full-time for the Norwegian state, in the National Support System for Special Education (Statped). The general purpose of Statped is to give guidance and support to those in charge of the education in municipalities and county administrations to ensure that children, young people and adults with major and special educational needs are secured well-advised educational and developmental provisions. Most of my job tasks are related to either Braille, assistive/adaptive technologies for the blind - or both. By the way - I am blind myself. In my spare time, I am spending much time to promote the interests of guide dog users in this country, being the chairman of the Norwegian Guide Dog Association, a small non-profit organization owned and operated by the guide dog users community.

I live in central Norway, in a semi-rural municipality called Melhus, located at 63 degrees 10 minutes north, 10 degrees 18 minutes east. My nearest city is Trondheim, if you know Norwegian geography. I live alone for the time being with a dog who is my fifth guide dog, a 5 years old golden retriever girl called Onney. She is such a nice personality, and she is very focused on her job.

The DX hobby - which is all about listening to foreign radio stations via the airwaves on shortwave, medium wave and so forth - was quite unknown to me until about 1980. Since then I have been active within this hobby for most of the time. I still find this hobby extremely interesting. Reception conditions over long distances change all the time, and the listening experiences are therefore often unpredictable. It is like hunting or fishing; you know what you want, but not what you'll get. :-)

The DX hobby does not work very well in areas with much noise from home electronic equipment, like plasma television sets and such. I live in such a place and have therefore no possibility to have a radio to listen to at home. I have therefore set up two "listening points" that I visit in person from time to time. Additionally, I can also access them remotely from home, thanks to the digital radio receivers and computer technology. At both places I have a radio receiver connected to a computer, which again is available through a secured Internet connection. This means that I can sit at home and listen to what is being picked up by the remote radio receivers.  One receiver is located at an archipellago on the west coast of central Norway, at a small island called Kalv�ya (Calf Island), at 63 degrees 23 min North, 7 degrees 56 min East.  The other listening point is in Kongsfjord, a small and quite remote place on the northern-most coast of this country, at 70 degrees 43 min North, 29 degrees 21 min East, right on the shore of the Barents sea.

My radio receivers are WiNRADiO WR-G33DDC 'Excalibur Pro', which are computer controlled. This means that I have them connected to a computer which is used both to control and operate the receivers and also to store all the recorded signals from them. At both listening points I am using so-called 'Beverage' antennas - or long wire antennas, pointed in various suitable directions. Their length vary from about 225 meters up to 550 meters, and they are all elevated about two meters up from the ground.

Collecting verifications from radio stations we are able to hear is an important part of the DX hobby and receiving a verification from a distant radio station is of course always highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!

Sincerely, Tore Johnny Braatveit, MELHUS, NORWAY  (Editor's note:  TJ is seen intently listening for weak signals)

Dear Sir, Greetings from Finland!  We are Jarmo and Vesa, two AM radio hobbyists from Southern Finland.  We are writing to inform that we have succeeded to receive your signal in Finland!  Every year in winter season we travel up to Lapland, the northernmost province of Finland. The area is ideal for catching fascinating long distance AM radio signals as yours.

Our reception of KVBR took place on 1340 kHz AM on December 10, 2013, at 2.00 AM Central Time.  We heard your top-of-the-hour identification: "...1340 KVBR Brainerd Business Radio...

This long distance reception was possible with Microtelecom SDR communications receiver connected to a half mile long wire antenna directed to your area.  Thank you very much for your transmission! Wishing you and your staff all the best.

Sincerely,
Mr. Jarmo Patala / Mr. Vesa Rinkinen
AM DX CLUB "TEAM KIKDX" 
FINLAND


I'm so delighted to tell you about my reception of 1340 KVBR Radio in Norway, which was a great pleasure on November 26, 2013!

At 5.00 a.m. CST I heard male announcer: "1340 KVBR, Brainerd."

I have enjoyed this fascinating hobby of DXing for 35 years, and have a collection of reception confirmations from no less than 61 AM radio stations in Minnesota!

My total number for USA is 1287.

Your station on 1380 AM, KLIZ, was one of the first US stations I heard, back in 1988.

Hearing 1340 KVBR here in Norway really makes me feel I'm alive!

Arnstein Bue
Trondheim, NORWAY

Editor's note:  Arnstein also heard KKIN in Aitkin, Minnesota, on December 7, 2010.

Photo of Heidi and Arnstein looking out from Norway to the world.


Dear all at KVBR!  My name is Jan-Erik �sterholm.  I am 61 years old and am an eager radio enthusiast (DX-er) for almost 50 years now.  I am married to Heidi (57) and together we have two beautiful daughters Anna (29), married to Antti, and Lotta (25).  Anna is finishing her Ph.D in Analytical Sciences and Lotta her Masters in Politicial and Economical Sciences.  I myself graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Missouri in 1982 and my wife got her M.Sc in Materials Science from the same institution. We have all together stayed almost seven years in the USA (Missouri 1978-1982) and Southern California, Santa Barbara (1990-1993).  Now we live in Borg, a city 50 km east of Finland's Capital City Helsinki.

During a  DX-expedition last week to the northern part of Finland, north of the Arctic Circle (Lemmenjoki, Lapland), I managed to hear your station KVBR on 1340 AM.   We were equipped with 12 directional beverage antennas of 2000-3000 feet each as well as with several receivers. Sitting up here in the dark in Lapland, Finland and the cold listening to radio stations on the other side of the globe is fascinating!

On October 22, 2012, at and around 00.00 AM (midnight) Central Time I managed to catch your ID during an extremely good and unusual opening towards the Mountain and Central states of the U.S. This is the first time I have done this.  Your ID at 00.00 a.m. goes like "AM 13-40 KVBR Brainerd's Business Radio". 

Best regards,
Jan-Erik Osterholm
Borg, Finland


Dear Mark, I am a radio enthusiast who enjoys listening for long distance radio signals. About two years ago I heard WVAL on 800 AM and got your confirmation, thank you once more for that!

Now, on November 1, 2011, I had the pleasure of hearing KVBR broadcasting on 1340 kilohertz.  At 11:59 PM an ad (or PSA?) with many diseases mentioned, phone# 888-980-3325 and web "Oneworld .. com", your station identification:  "money matters .. Weekday mornings at 9, 1340 K-V-B-R, Brainerd's Business Radio" and ABC News.  Even though the reception was possible for a short time only, it was fantastic to hear your program so far away, I really enjoyed it!

I spent a week in October/November 2011 in Lemmenjoki (Love River!) listening to North American AM-stations. My setup consists of a Perseus SDR-receiver and the antenna system, consisting of long wires hanging on the branches of trees, was designed for DX reception on the AM broadcast band.  Because of the long antennas and favourable atmospheric conditions I was able to pick up your signal. 

With best wishes from Finland,
Sincerely,
Hakan Sundman
Helsinki, 
Finland


Greetings from Finland, from the northernmost corner of Europe!  I am one of the distant listeners who has picked up your broadcasts on radio waves with my special communications receiver, here on the northern latitudes of the world. This communication indeed took place with a radio receiver, not via Internet. I was lucky to hear two stations that your company produces services for, so I'm happy to report them in hope that the material could be confirmed with an email verification.  Thank you already beforehand for the reply.

I'm a 51-year old Sales Development Director, and my favorite pastime since early 1970s has been to listen to the distant radio stations with my special receiver - I still like to listen to a distant radio station with a communications receiver, together with the adjacent noise and interference, though a net stream is available for many stations. 

I live in the capital area, which is the southernmost coastal area of Finland.  Every winter I rent an old house in the northern part of our country, in the region called Lapland.  This location is very remote, 30 miles to the nearest small town to buy daily supplies; and there are just a few houses in the whole area, which is called Love River in English. The only purpose for me to go into the middle of nowhere for one full week is to listen to the North American AM stations in perfect peace and tranquility.

 

The reception of KVBR Brainerd MN on 1340 kHz,  November 1st - 2nd 2011 at CDT, just at your local midnight:

12.00   The end of a network program, and the identification by a male announcer:
                "..Money Matters..weekday mornings at 9, at 13-40 KVBR Brainerd Business Radio."
12.00   Fade out, possibly into network news.              

I used a special communications receiver, Perseus SDR, and the aerial was a directional beverage, 3000 feet, directed to central USA. As Perseus SDR receiver is a software defined radio with a large scale recording function to cover the AM band at the same time, I was able to record the medium wave band with this software program, and to listen carefully each frequency on the top of the hour, afterwards. That�s how I was able to record and hear two stations on different frequencies at the same time. The signal strength and the reception in general was moderate during this short reception on both of these frequencies.  Thank You for taking time for this international correspondence!

Best regards,
Hannu Tikkanen
Espoo, 
Finland


Dear Mark,  Thank you for confirming my reception of KKIN AM 930 a while ago.  Cool to see the report with my picture on a webpage!

In the meanwhile, I have continued careful listening through the data files from my DX-ing expedition to the North of Finland just in front of Christmas.  While I heard KKIN on December 19, there was also a fairly decent atmospheric skip your direction on December 18, 2010, at 6:05 AM Central Standard Time.  On that day, I had the pleasure to hear KVBR AM 1340 programming.

The KVBR signal was audible just for a short moment, after the hourly news, and I was able to hear a promotion given by Jim Bohannon, the famous talk show host. He says something in the order of the following:  "Hi, this is Jim Bohannon inviting you to join me..on Brainerd's Business Radio 1340 K-V-B-R...conversation of the hot topics of the day...politics...Wall street..."

As with KKIN, I was listening with my Perseus SDR ( Software Definer Radio) utilizing a 3000-foot long-wire antenna pointed roughly your direction.

Very best regards
Hannu Niileksela
Helsinki - Finland


November 17, 2010 e-mail: Subject: KVBR 1340 AM heard loud and clear in Finland!  Hi friends, I am an eager listener of medium and short wave broadcasting stations from all over the world.  Especially I am interested in North American stations that are heard regularly here in North Europe in the middle of the winter with signals travelling over the North Pole to thousands of miles away.

I had the pleasure to listen to your station KVBR AM on 1340 Kilohertz on the 17th of November 2009 at 04.55 am to 05.05 am CST.  The signal strength was moderate and fading moderate. 

My receiver is an American SDR IQ (Software Defined Receiver) with an 800 meter (2625 foot) long  antenna pointed towards the Midwest U.S.

Here are some program details to authenticate reception (time CST ): 04.55am Talk programme by a male announcer.  04.59 am Station identification by a male announcer: "You are listening to 1340 KVBR , Brainerd Business Radio."             

I am a 56-year-old telephone engineer living in Central Finland near Jyvskyl, home of well-known university and also the headquarters of Valmet Paper Machinery. During some 40 years I have heard  broadcasting stations from some 200 countries.  My special interests are North American stations.

It was very nice to listen to your station in the middle of snow and darkness in Lapland, North of the Arctic Circle in the company of wolves and reindeer !  I was there with a friend on a DX-pedition.  In the temperature of some minus 40 degrees Centigrade we erected five antennas of some 800-1000 metres in length (what a feat it was !) and sat in a small cabin for a week listening to North American AM-stations.  We logged some 450 in all!  The only company were some local inhabitants with their dog, reindeer, and a couple of wolves.

I'd like to send my best wishes to all Finnish-oriented people living in your area.  Wishing you successful broadcasting and greetings from Finland with warm greetings

Mr Yrjo Kainulainen , MScEE
Palokka, FINLAND, North Europe



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